Being Creative In How You Make The Basics Work

 It can distracting AF when you have all the information at your disposal but have no true clue what to do with it. It happens to a lot of people (me included sometimes) but it's important to learn the value of how we process that information by taking bits of it and molding it into our own style. It's not always easy, it's not meant to be, but it can bring greater value to what we want to achieve. 

Having knowledge of the basics lay the foundation to what we can do to move forward. That's the beauty of what training is about, it's the idea that you can use simplistic approaches to what gives you the greatest benefit for your individual needs. Become a master of your domain (channeling Seinfeld IYKYK) and harness a creative entity in how you use the basics. When it comes to fitness and training, people are fixated on certain things and shove all sorts of methods down people's throats. I do my best to not do that but to give you resources that could bring you incredible results because I want you to succeed and get the most for what goes on in your life. 

Not everyone has the mindset to do an hour long workout, some do and it's awesome that they can pull that off and make time for themselves. However; sometimes it's not always an option so if you're short on time, it's important to find what can give you the best out of your time you need to train. It's one of the reasons why I advocate and respect the Red Delta Project. With a series of courses dedicated to making your training effective with basic exercises and with little to no equipment, you can create a workout just about anywhere you wish. With fundamental training, you have the ability to do what works for you with the time you have. 

Books like Suspension Calisthenics, Overcoming Isometrics & others, these build a level of knowledge and wisdom that seldom use even by today's standards. Although some exercises look plain and boring to some people, it doesn't take away the fact that they not only work but have a far greater outlook to how you train for the long haul. You don't need to do 20 sets of every single body part or train for  1-2 hours in order to get results. Hell, yesterday my workout barely lasted 45 minutes if that and I'm feeling a bit of it today. Did 8 exercises that hit just about every muscle from the shoulders down to the legs and did no more than 3-4 sets on each of them. The main focus was technique and tension using only 1-3 movements per muscle group. Here's what I did to give you an idea......

Push-ups x 13, 12, 10

Suspension Curls x 14, 11, 10

Split Squats (Per Leg) x 16, 14, 10, 10

Side Hip Raises (Per Side) x 12, 10, 8

Suspension Squats x 15, 15, 10, 10

Power Wheel Knee Pull Ins x 12, 10, 8

Power Wheel Rollouts x 12, 10, 8

Suspension Incline Rows x 15, 15, 10

Not complicated, didn't take up a ton of time, rested as long as needed for a fresh set and kept things simple and focused on the muscles worked. No jolting or bouncing, no mindless reps and made the exercises work for me. Train for what matters and make the time work in your favor and not against you. Sure I can do far more reps on each of these exercises if I wanted but it would defeat the purpose of what I wanted to get done. Again with the mindless reps, it boils down to intent and what needs to be done to stimulate the muscles. You're not going for world records unless that's your intended goal or you have a goal to do 500-1000 reps of something consistently. Those are all well and good and they work (to a degree) but finding a way to stimulate for growth and strength is utilized in a more condensed but basic approach. I used a countdown method for my reps in the workout above for a reason and it was to create more tension into the muscles I was working to build a greater level of concentration and focus without resorting to going to failure.

The number of reps you do is arbitrary for others but what really counts is how you apply muscle control to those reps that makes the difference in the quality over the quantity. You can make 10 reps feel like 100 if you know the right physical and mental aspect of the control of your muscles. That's the idea of what RDP teaches. It shows you how to control every movement you do so you can get the most out of your workouts in the best amount of time possible. It gives you tools to be creative but also have the best knowledge even at low skill set exercises. Create opportunities to build your body that will not only bring you great joy but also a sense of gratification that you can do amazing things on a basic level. Keep killing it and keep being amazingly awesome.   

Train With What Your Body Will Allow

 Every now and then at times we push ourselves to get a workout in or get in a good training session. It feels good and our bodies do thank us but other times, it can be daunting and making a change or two isn't the end of the world. Since about late April, I've been doing DDP Yoga as you know and doing workout after workout every single day has helped me immensely getting my strength, cardio and flexibility back. After taking a couple days off from it this past week due to just needing a break, I found that doing it has been great but start doing it more like a few times a week and focus on other things.

I still love DDPY but it isn't going to kill me to not do it all the time plus some of those workouts do take some energy out of you. I don't mind spending 30 minutes to an hour doing that stuff but at the end of the day, I still want to do other stuff too and not make it my life. Putting energy into other things is good too. I've been going down to the lake lately here which is a mile and a half down the road. Sometimes I'll carry either my Thor Hammer or a kettlebell or the clubs down with me and make that my ruck day or something. Swinging the hammer by the water and looking at the mountains is just awesome. Swimming for a bit and chilling out listening to tunes and watching the world go by. I'll get a few looks here and there but I don't bother anybody and nobody bothers me. 

Training is not always about one thing, you do what your body can do and switching things up is never a bad thing. There are still things you love to do but it's important to not push yourselves so hard that it becomes a burnout. It does happen to the best of us. As great as DDPY has been to me, it's there when I need it but also want to keep doing things like Rucking, working the hammer, do my Dopamineo Workouts and be more in tuned to what makes me happy. Fitness in and of itself is great and it's essential to your quality of life but if it starts to feel like a chore and it stops being something you enjoy, it's time to rethink things. It's about finding that balance, life is already tough for most people so why do something with your workouts that's going to turn into something you hate? It's not worth it. 

Work and play with what your body will allow and enjoy the journey. It'll be tough at times but always utilize what is possible and switch things up every now and then to keep things fresh and consistent. Hell, ever since I learned the Propeller Exercise with the Dopa Band, it has become one of my favorite moves. It's a great exercise, do I do the band all the time? No but when I do it, I know what I'll get out of it. Another focus I've been at recently is working my neck and doing Joint Loosening work again to get things flowing to the areas that feel stiff especially in my knees and ankles. Wanting to thicken my neck a bit doing this routine I came up with that I learned a couple "new" moves and doing a isometric and dynamic move mix. This routine feels incredible and my neck has increased a bit in size because of it and it hits all the muscles while strengthening and stretching it. No, it doesn't involve bridges or resisting with my hands.

Do something everyday, if you only have a few minutes that's awesome, got some time on your hands, great but do something that will benefit you and make it worthwhile even when it can be tough. Those Dopa workouts can be nuts at times and mixing various DDPY workouts together are tough as hell but if it's something you can get enjoyment out of it and you look forward to it, that's what makes it worthwhile. If you need to backoff a bit and do something else, do it. Listen to your body and expand that comfort zone. I'll be writing more about the Comfort Zone thing in a later article and it's not what you think it is. 

Have an amazingly awesome day. 

Having The Strength Of A Vampire

           

              I’ve been a fan of Vampires ever since I watched the Blade films that started back in the late 90’s. Although I’ve seen Vampire Films before that, I just didn’t really care about that stuff until Wesley Snipes started kicking ass and yes I think the series is far better than Twilight. As an athlete and Physical Culturist, I’m always looking to get stronger, healthier, more energetic and creating energy from within. No I don’t dress up in cloaks, wear teeth fangs, drink blood (wine basically) and pretend that I’m a vampire. However, I like the mythology and learning how they get their strength end energy.

            In the movies, we all know Vampires suck blood or in the case of Leslie Neilson in Dracula: Dead & Loving It sounds like he’s sucking out of a straw but in the real world it’s the development of super charged energy. Drinking blood to a Vampire is the key to keep on living and “feeding” yet in reality, how we express our energy and how to utilize it like the Force in Star Wars is what keeps us living along with food and water of course. Harnessing this energy isn’t always easy, for some they might get it right away but the majority has some trouble unlocking it but its there. There is good energy and bad energy yet we need both to be in harmony but it’s different for everyone. Being energetic doesn’t always mean you’re hyped up and ready for action, it can also mean you’re energetically focused, charged with intense concentration and enduring to withstand even things that get dumped on you emotionally and spiritually. Different energy but same principles.

            Building real Vampire Strength comes from within and taking in different ways to keep that strength intact throughout the day and you can have it if you apply yourself. One way to develop this is to exercise throughout the day, even watching TV or while stopped at a red light. A course called Muscle Reminders teaches how to utilize your body’s physical attributes and apply exercise no matter where you go whether you’re out grocery shopping, eating at the dinner table, washing dishes, brushing your teeth and more.

            There are great and mysterious ways to develop incredible power both from within and outside your body. Vampiric Ideals is no exception. One of the most notable aspects of Vampires is how fast they are, the way they talk, the way they move with fluidity (at least some that I’ve seen). The power you can have in this lifetime is not only real but it has potential to triple your strength, help you speak to people, use natural flowing movement and be far more flexible than you ever imagined possible. It is said that at best at our highest potential, we only use 5-10% of our brain power, but what if you can unlock even 1% more to reach another level of strength and brain potential would you want to know how? One tool that has a series of them is called CoreForce Energy; it is the place to learn how to unlock the power within you and unleash super strength and speed that can aid you not just in sports or the gym but to even save a life if it came down to it. Accessing your potential to be more confident, more useful in the workplace, being a competitor in the sports field, more focused and anything else in between to release even 1% more of what is said that cannot be reached.

            Take your place in the realm of a super-charged, powerful and exceptionally strong human being that can give the toughest Vampire a run for his money. We have more power within us that we care to explain let alone imagine to have. What if we can unleash even 1% of that strength that will aid us in our lives, would you want it? Of course you do, we all want to be strong in some shape or form there is no denying it. Take into consideration that applying these techniques you can have more energy, focus, intensity, flexibility, move more fluidly, lift more weight, run faster I can go on and on but you get the idea. Learn from a Vampire and learn the real secrets of their strength and unbelievable energy, it’s not drinking blood.

Happy Memorial Day guys and be awesome. 

Falling For The End-All Be-All Crap

             For the most part in fitness, you read in the magazine about this workout or in sports you hear about this or that way to throw, shoot or kick a ball but in the end it all boils down to the individual. We don’t have the same structures and our bodies handle things differently than others. That one size fits all bullshit is just getting you to pay up for their little schemes.

            Who can you trust when it comes to your goals? I like to believe that we can always use a coach, a friend, mentor or someone to show us the ropes. We learn and we get to see in action what is being done, however; once we learn a thing or two, it’s up to us to figure out how to put into action according to our own feeling and how we see things for ourselves. I have been trained by some of the strongest and athletic people in the world and learn a ton from them but I don’t always do things their way because if I did, I’d just be a guy that follows yet I rather build my own style from the things I learned from them.

            I've come to learn that there is never one way to do things. A lot of what we see today is generic and not very imaginative. You learn certain things and you get a feel for how they work for you. There is always something different and it’s important to understand that but not many accept it. I love certain methods like Hindu Style Conditioning, Animal Exercises, MovNat, Gymnastics and Grip Training for example but I don’t always go by what I’m told to do and for some it pisses them which I’m fine with. Once you get to a certain point in your training or whatever where you’ll begin to see things from a different perspective, some might see it very clearly right away for others it takes a while. You are one person, you don’t have the same strength as another, you don’t have the type of injuries or setbacks they've faced and you certainly don’t have the same capacity to try and keep up with them. The only thing you should keep up is yourself and what you want to go after.

            There’s always a challenge in training and in life no matter what. If everything were easy it be (in the words of Danny McBride in Your Highness) tedious and boring so find the right challenges for you and don’t try to compete with anybody else. Be creative and utilize what you have learned into forming your own personal quest and not following someone else’s. It can be demanding at times but it’s more rewarding when you set something apart from the general population. There are things I've seen friends do that I would never attempt to do but there are things that I can do that they can’t, that doesn't mean either one of us is better than the other, it just means that we have different views on our goals an we set them to what can be achieved just for us.

            If you have practiced a variety of methods, you’re on the right track to expanding your mind and learning how body handles itself in certain situations. If you just focus on one thing and that’s all you know and ever want to do more power to you but you’re also narrowing your mind set and you’re shrinking the plethora of knowledge that is out there. Some people are just full of themselves and think only their style is the best and everything else is crap. Be objective and expand your horizons. You’ll be surprised what you might find. 

The Power Of Your Will

In one of the recent superhero films The Green Lantern, it shows the power of how one little ring can channel the will and power of the person or alien that wears it. I'm here to tell you that with practical and focused training, you can learn to harness your own powers without the need of a little ring. Sure you won't be able to fly or use tools that came out of your own thought but with the right focus, you can channel your will and surge out levels of strength and speed you never thought you had.

To channel your energy and harness your power, you must first focus your mind and create the image that you want. Imagine in your mind, you're strong, powerful, got blazing speed, the sound of your power you're using. These are the tools you need if you want to harness that strength that's within you.

In your mind, you have an accomplished goal, now make it happen with the power that's inside you. Learn to use the power of your CoreForce Energy. See it as if it's right in front of you and nothing can bend or break that sight and the only it can is if you let it.

You are strong, cunning and vibrant then anything else around you. See it, feel it, live it, your power is your own and the more you shoot that power the stronger you get. In your mind you see your power burning through houses, mega buildings, the mountains, shoot out to the sea, beyond the horizon and burn through the atmosphere. That power is burning through a hole in the moon and shoots past the stars through the planets and beyond the galaxy.

Your power is your unstoppable force. When giant forces collide they say it's the irresistible force meeting the immovable object, you are one and the same and there's nothing that can break that power. Use this power to tackle the obstacles in your training and take it to a level that only the average human can dream of. Learn to grip that power and never let go.

Learn how to harness your power and find your own style of how to use it. It's no ones power but yours and yours alone. Use the will of your mind to create what you want and turn it into the thing that people never see to believe and become the very thing you dared to dream about and learn everything that you can. Use it wisely as it can bite you in the ass if you're not careful. It takes effort to harness this power so never settle for the easy way. The easy part is actually learning to harness it. The hard part is keeping consistent.

Mastery takes practice, it doesn't happen overnight as you may believe but believe in yourself and your power will run much smoother. Practice it, feel it and get the surging power of your own will. The green lanter's ring isn't on your finger, it's inside of you and you have the ability to harness it however you see fit.

Who Says You Can't Do It?

A lot of people try to get strong and fit not because they believe in themselves but what others think of them. Believing what others say will make you a second rate wanna-be instead of being a first rate individual. "You're weak because someone said you are", "you're pitiful because you can't do a simple push-up", you can't be flexible and be big at the same time", "you will never be stronger then that guy" and my personal favorite, "bodyweight exercise won't make you big and all you're doing is endurance." What's so wrong with this picture? You are a person who has a strong individual waiting to shoot out and take on the world but first you must let aside those negative things people say and turn them into your strengths by going after what you want for yourself but not for them.

You have no excuse for what you want to achieve. What you want is waiting for you to take and take with a vengeance. You are more powerful then you think you are. That's right, I'm not giving you a hard time, not telling you how weak or pathetic you are, you aren't any of those things. If you want something bad enough you make it happen. No one can do it for you and those who say bad things about you want you to not achieve it because they have no will power themselves but you do my friend.

I'm telling you this right here, right now you are responsible for your own goals. If you want to succeed and become strong and mighty then you got to take it with a grain of salt, I can care less if you want to lift weights, do bodyweight exercise, use odd objects or cool looking tools the important thing here is that I believe you can do it and if you want it bad enough then go out and get it. Build the body of your dreams, in your mind you have a V-Shape back, powerful muscular arms, thoroughbred legs, tendons like steel cords, the neck of a lion and well rounded mighty shoulders but you have to make them a reality. It takes patience, time, hard work and will power to get what you want but if you work on the right things, everything will pay off in the end.

One of the key secrets to achieving your goals and achievements is to keep them to yourself. There are people out there that don't want to see you succeed and tell you its impossible or you're putting too much on yourself and something like this won't happen for you. That's a lot of bull because you have more power in you then they'll ever now and never let your dreams die. You are one powerful person no matter what someone says, good or bad. You have the ability to create something that's beyond yourself. Train for yourself an don't let anyone tell you different.

There are people out there however like me who believe in you and what you want to accomplish. These are the people to connect with and share with them what you would like to do but the golden rule is no matter how much advice you are given, you alone need to buil your own style of training and make it your own. Learn to become your ultimate teacher. You are the one who's making the choice.

Never settle for less then what you want to do. You are responsible for your own actions and you have no excuses for what you want to achieve. Don't let others take you down when you have more power getting back up. Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog. You need to train for yourself and don't let anyone tell you any different because you can do it and you will do it. You're the boss. Now get out there and make something happen for you. Become a giant among men whether you're short or tall, you can tower over anything if you put your mind to it.

Can You Become Your Own Avenger? Pt. 3!!!!

As children we fantasize about being something more then we already are. Something bigger, something stronger and something more meaningful. We use our imaginations to get through the day and play at the playground or in the front/back of the house. We want to see ourselves bigger then our regular size, we dream of having superpowers to conquer our enemies and save a damsel in distress. As a young boy from the 30's up until now, comic books were our savior of what was happening in our regular lives and wanted to get away from painful stresses at times as well. You read about your favorite superheroes like Superman, Batman, X-Men, Doc Savage and others, dreaming of being them and having great powers to brush through your enemies to save the day. Well look no further cause one comic book team is coming to the big screen big time in The Avengers. Its been a build up for a few years now and the timing couldn't be any better to bring four some of the best superheroes ever together and create a colossal adventure with action, drama, humor and the will to avenge those in need.

"With great power comes great responsibility." A famous superhero tag line for generation after generation and it doesn't make any exception if you develop strength and power in real life. Strength comes from driving over adversity and creating something more then yourself. Power is building a foundation for how you can be creating strength and speed over your obstacles. True Strength & Power together form the ultimate alliance for what goes with the rest of your life. In strength training this is no exception. You wish to become strong the best way possible or you rather do other things like stay in shape, lose weight, build muscle and get rid of unwanted fat. Either way when you learn to understand the true concept of real world-class strength and power, you will learn that the simplest things can make your training that much more complex and formal then using bits and pieces of smaller things that don't really matter.

Becoming an Avenger yourself can be a rewarding experience, whether its for daily life or the pursuit to show others what can be done to help themselves when their time comes. Whether you train to be a superhero or not there's no excuse as to how you can develop your body and mind beyond your own assumptions and limitations. The first rule to being strong is having the will to believe. Believing you can get strong is far more important then just thinking you can lift this or that and do great things and you'll just be strong, no. Belief is the key to all things that you want to achieve, without belief your mind wonders, your body won't do the things you ask it to do and you won't find something to look forward to when you put up a goal you want to reach.

Whether its weights, bodyweight exercise, Chi Training or training with different types of tools, you must believe in yourself that you can get strong at mastering them. Most people look to others to try to believe in them for what they want to do instead of learning to believe in themselves. I've fallen into that trap many times in my life and so have other people I know but once I learned to stop trying to prove to them and believe in myself and believing that I will accomplish something, I became stronger, more powerful, flexible, agile and all with the right tools to get me there but I first needed to believe in myself.

Now there are people out there that are very strong but take it for granted and feel they're more superior then anyone else. They put themselves first before others which in this case makes them look very foolish, stupid and down right ignorant. Now there are weaker people out there who use others that are strong to do what they can't do themselves and put them in the crossfires then themselves (Hence Hitler and look what happened to him). Ignorance is bliss but that shouldn't be an excuse to be something more then yourself. Being strong in reality has real values that almost anyone with a brain can learn from. Real World-Class Strength & Power doesn't always mean you lifted this or do that many reps in a handstand or performed great muscle control, it means that you are a unique individual that can use his strength to help others that are weak and help be better for themselves.

I believe the real superheroes in the world are the ones that help those in need and put themselves on the line then anything else (Firemen, real Uncorrupted cops and pure athletes). I mentioned athletes because there are some out there in pro sports that give back and help the young kids get better then the other pro athletes who like the spotlight and see that they're paid to do charity work. As a master of strength you have a responsibility whether you like it or not. You can help those that have potential to be strong and teach them to be stronger then you.

Now with everything that's meaningful it comes with a price (not always money you greedy bastards lol). Becoming strong in anything requires to go through things that are not in your comfort zone and need to build your strength from your weaknesses. Everybody is different so we all need to find our own to create a goal that we want to achieve. However the benefits of being strong outweigh the things that we're not always comfortable going through. I've been bruised, broken, twisted even was near death as a baby all to come to this moment where I'm still breathing, kicking and pushing through my own demons. We all have demons inside of us, some more powerful then others and there are some of us who control them and not let them affect our lives, others however have let their demons get the best of them and have either died or haven't made a brush with reality.

Being able to tap into your mind and create powerful strength takes effort, practice and the will to want it. Certain types of Chi Training can be less difficult then others but when you learn the best ways to achieve it, you will find yourself having more power surging through your veins all with the power of your mind. Chi Gong is the chinese version of whats called Life Force. Its the power inside you that gives the ability to generate great strength and create ultimate internal power. Some say that's adrenelin but that can only go so far as Chi is the energy that creates power all around you and once you learn to harness it, you are your own weapon of strength, power and might.

Having great tools to build strength does not always mean equipment or machines but tools to help you build your mind and be creative like books and exercises. Some equipment however is not a bad thing if you know how to use for functional strength training. For example, Thor's Hammer is a great tool to have to be creative and to learn to focus your mind on being something more then yourself. Yes it is possible to have this thing in your hands and make you feel like the God himself and believing you can get strong and you can tackle things that run your life. Not to say using it to strike people, no I don't want you doing that, its for tackling and finding that powerful being within you and training to be the strongest person you can be. Since I've had these hammers myself, I feel stronger and more powerful. I'm seeing muscles in a short period of time, my cardio goes up a litte each time and I feel more like Thor and having superhuman powers (grip strength, keen awareness, flexibility and endurance). You can be the same in your own way if you get your hands on them with practice. Use what you can and learn nothing more then the very best so in the words of Bernarr McFadden "Weakeness is a crime, don't be a criminal."