Advancing In Short Bending

 

When it comes to being a strongman in the old-time style, one of the main feats to perform is bending a short piece of steel whether it is a nail, bolt, spike, rod or even an extremely tough piece of silverware. Steel Bending is one of the toughest forms of strength there is period. Anyone can lift a weight or pick up an object one way or another but to bend steel is a whole different realm.

 There are different types of Steel to bend. There are even pieces of steel that my not be of the same structure, for example when you bend a 60D Penny Nail, you can find certain types of that nail that can be as easy as it can get but that next nail may not take it so lightly. I have experienced about three types of 60D nails that are extremely easy, a few that are difficult and even one type I can’t bend at all because the structure is different, the size is the same but the steel isn’t. You will come across this in your bending endeavors and be careful what you find and learn the aspects of different steel.

 Progression in Steel Bending is like anything else, you start with that are easy and build yourself up, once that becomes too easy, find ones that are slightly more difficult, after that you find ones that are extremely tough and practice with those. The best form of training for steel bending next to progression is Isometrics. Isometrics give you that positional strength with the case of bending if you hit a spot you can’t bend; you do an isometric contraction until it becomes your strong point.

 The very best benders in the world have frequently used Isometrics to destroy the toughest of short bending objects and because of Isometrics; they have built a level of strength that can be only explained by experience. One of the biggest names in the old-time strongmen-lore is the great Alexander Zass. He was the man at one time in Europe that mangled more steel then anyone at that time, his trademark was long piece bending but he was no stranger to the short styles and what was his main form of conditioning? You guessed it Isometrics. You can find a new book devoted to the beloved Strongman here.

 Whether you’re a performer or a person who wants to have insane strength, short bending is an art and builds levels of strength that you can’t even imagine. Picture this when you learn about Steel Bending….

 

Iron Cord like Forearms

 

Powerful Wrists

 

Hands as tough as rock

 

A strong upper body

 

Eagle Claw like Fingers

 

Tendons that are as strong as Steel

 And there’s plenty more but you get the jist of what I’m saying. I want you to do what you love and if you’re not into Steel Bending that’s fine, there’s plenty of other feats to choose from and many of them are worth putting on a show for because no matter how you slice it, every one loves a strongman.

Die Hard Pull-ups

Pull-ups are one of the most difficult forms of strength and conditioning because it’s the one basic exercise most people have trouble doing. It doesn’t have to be a burden to learn how to do pull-ups. Once you learn the basics an can do a few reps what’s next? Just doing a few reps alone makes you a strong person at that exercise but it’s really the quality of the reps that count and not so much the quantity. Repetitions in any exercise up to a point can be boring like the 500 push-ups or the 1000 Hindu squats or even the military goal of 20 or more pull-ups to get 100 points on your PT Test. I like doing reps but I get bored easily so to enhance my interest I change grips and do them as best as possible. To get the greatest benefit in your reps, work different parts of the pull-up and try different tempos in speed and precise movement.

 One of the most common neglected parts of the human body is training your grip. Without grip strength, how will you hold onto something such as a baseball bat, opening a jar of pickles, picking up heavy weights or squeezing a Captains Of Crush hand gripper? Working your grip has more of an impact on your training than doing a bicep curl, a press or swinging/juggling a kettlebell, think about it, how would you be able to do those exercises if your grip can’t even hold on? Grip strength is essential to your training and the more likely your grip strength is the better your lifts and feats will become easier. If you don’t believe me than learn from two warriors of pure unadulterated gripping power and that’s Arthur Saxon and Slim The Hammer Man.

 A lot of people have this notion that pull-ups and chin-ups are just for the Biceps and Back, obviously they haven’t done much research because when you really get into doing this exercise, the back and arms are just the tip of the iceberg. You are working the upper body in ways not many other things can do and eventually you’ll be working the whole body. When you use certain tools to put more into your pull-up training, you’re learning the key secrets to challenging your grip, mind, body and your coordination to keep tight and tough in order to make the quality reps.

 If I had to pick one of the strongest pound for pound athletes in the world, it’s a guy you don’t hear of quite often unless you live in Vegas and know something in Gymnastics and that is Dutch Gymnastics Champion and Performer Cees De Kok. I once saw this old school gymnast do a show in Vegas called Bite, a vampire type production where heavy metal is blasting and a Circ De Soleil type action styled performance happened. In one of the epic scenes of the show, Cees wrapped a chain around his wrist and started flying around the audience and out of nowhere grabs his wife in mid air and twirls around the stage like a figure skater in space, it was unbelievable and one of the most awesome displays of strength and agility I’ve ever witnessed. This guy was just incredible and he has the mastery to even teach you the secret andmost impressive ways to build pull-up strength.

 Who are the strongest climbers in the world? Not humans sorry guys it’s the mighty Apes. Animals like Gorillas, Orangutans, Chimps and Gibbons are the most powerful species of this caliber because the way they need to move either on the ground or in the trees takes grip strength to a level only rock climbers have come the closest to and yet we still can’t match their strength and agility. Training like an Ape however is a key to opening a new door of strength and fitness that can only be explained by experience and experimenting. I’m not a climber nor am I a tree swinging jungle man but I have practiced brachiating, hanging and pull-ups from many different angles and at 240+ lbs. I’m surprised I can actually do it. Training this way works your tendons and muscles to their very brink and if you truly want to feel real gripping strength, hold onto a pull-up bar with one arm and see how long you last.

 In many areas of fitness today, we don’t do much in the way of pulling movements unless it was a curl or pulling on a cable and deadlifts aren’t really that big anymore but yet pulling movements that work major muscle groups even out the front and back portions of the upper body since most gym rats focus on what they can see in the mirror as oppose to neglecting the back. If you can’t pull yourself up than you’re in trouble my friend. It is important to work your body from as many angles as possible while working as many muscles in one or more motions as possible and when you work on your pulling strength, it’s going to help you in other parts of your life you may have not realized and I’ll let you figure that out on your own.  

Make Just About Any Angle Your Strength

The legendary Catch Wrestler Karl Gotch once said that to become strong and agile you always work your muscle from every possible angle. Muscles grow and look larger than life but like everything else there’s a consequence, if you work too much muscle and not enough of your tendons, you will be more vulnerable to injury. Isometrics is the key method not to just hit a muscle from a certain angle but every angle imaginable. Holding a certain position and hammering in only that particular spot will give you a sense of great strength from that position. One of the beauties of Isos is if you hit a spot where you can’t go anywhere else, that’s where you press, pull, squat or whatever to get beyond that position and no matter how you slice it, your strength will skyrocket with enough practice.

 If Isometrics had its own star pupil it would most likely be Steve Justa. This man has got to be one of the most odd ball characters in the entire realm of Physical Culture but yet the way he works his strength and power takes on a whole new dimension both literally and figuratively trust me watch what he does sometime. Out of everything he’s accomplished in the world of Strength, I believe his most treasured wisdom is when he brings up Isometrics. A lot of strongmen credit Isometrics but no one has put them in the same realm as Justa has. His story about his hay bailing and the way he told Bud Jeffries about his dilemma about Diabetes and how Isometrics both saved his life and job is nothing short of remarkable.

 I feel that if you want to accelerate your strength and speed in any sport you do, add in Isometrics and tell me if they didn’t improve your throw or shot or even your ability to kick a ball. Isometrics build positional strength and in sports you need to have a strong position from every possible angle whether its tackling, throwing a football or baseball, shooting a basketball from a long distance or kicking a soccer ball down the field you want to have the ability to be faster than the other guy. Think about this, you’re a pitcher for the New York Yankees; you have a good arm and can throw a hefty 93 mph fastball or a ok 86 mph slider, would you want to increase your speed of the ball by 3 mph on any of your pitches? Be pretty damn sweet if I say so myself and the ball will feel lighter in your hands as if it was the size of an egg, light and strong until it cracks the mitt like speedy Gonzales running into and past a brick wall. Each position you bring the ball as if simulating a pitch from little spots here and there will get stronger to the point where when you throw the actual pitch, it’ll take off like a rocket and the batter won’t realize what the hell hit him.

 Grip strength is the basis not just in sports and the strongman business but in your specific business like carpentry, plumbing, construction, landscaping even a bagger at a grocery store, you need to able to handle things and your hands need a certain amount of strength otherwise you won’t be able to do your job very well. Would you believe that most of your grip strength is mainly isometric? It’s true if you really tested it and if you practice holding an object with your grip for a short or extended amount of time, you’re going to feel it whether you like it or not. For us strongmen, we need grip strength to perform the feats we do, sometimes the things we do don’t always involve the grip but it is practically mandatory otherwise you won’t perform the feats you want to tackle. Bending steel and tearing phonebooks are two of the purist forms of grip strength and like I said before, Isometrics are usually the most credited method for pushing beyond the limits.

 Another form of Isometrics is Muscle Control which is mostly used in Yoga, Martial Arts and Bodybuilding. Contrary to popular belief, muscle heads are pretty smart when it comes to certain things and the way they pose is just unbelievable despite how big they are. Back in the day however, a few guys named Maxick and Otto Arco took this to a level that can never be duplicated again. Their posing was unprecedented and even bringing the little muscles were just off the chain. Check them out sometime on Youtube if you can find them and just watch how they can change from one muscle to the next in heart beat its awesome.

 Now that you’ve read a little more on Isometrics, I think you’re getting a sense that there really are no excuses and you can do this method just about anywhere, if you go to church and pray you can do it, think about it you put your hands in prayer and when you ask for guidance press the hands together hard and tell me you don’t feel a little more energized? You can be in class and press or pull on the desk and you can have no one ever notice it. You can be watching a movie and flex during certain scenes so don’t ever say you don’t have time to exercise because you usually can make the time but it’s up to you to make the effort.

The Simpler The Better

Ever since cardio machines and big monster machines that work only 1 or 2 muscles, exercise has become a confused and out of whack form of strength training that just won’t cut it. Sure there’s Hip Hop Abs, 8 minute abs, Tae Bow, P90X and other infomercial products that are “designed” to give you the body of your dreams. Hate to break it to you but once it does happen or “if” it happens, your body will look great but your health will be in the slammer because they expect you to train hard all the time for the rest of your life and that’s just not ethical.

 The machines that are designed to work a certain muscle is not a realistic approach to functional training and should really only be used for rehab or if that. Isolating the muscles may make you stronger but you’re only stronger with that particular muscle. To build a functionally strong and healthy body, you only need a few exercises and the less you have the better.

 Back before cardio machines and cables, there were dumbbells,barbells, gymnastic rings and a few racks, which was all that was needed for the old-time lifters and strongmen of the day. They didn’t isolate the muscles and were far stronger and healthier pound for pound than most people today in our obesity, diabetic and cruel twisted world. Would you believe that a man back then only lived to be no more than 50 yet a number of physical culturists lived long lives and actually got better as they aged say for instance George Hackenshmidt lived to be 90, Jack Lalanne was 96, Bodybuilder John Grimek lived to be in his late 80’s and believe it not even a man as little as Joe Greenstein aka The Mighty Atom lived to be in his mid 80’s. Simple training with the right mindset and program that works can give you a long and healthy life.

 One of my all-time pet peeves from certain people in the fitness industry believe that they’re system only works and nothing else does so it’s their end all be all mentality and try to brainwash people into believing that. In reality there is no one way to any exercise system. I use to believe that too until I broke my legs and had to learn how to walk again. I learned to be open-minded and try certain things and if they work, great if not than I get rid of it. Having an open mind gives you limitless possibilities to find what works best for you but knowing and doing the basics lays the foundation to what you can really accomplish.

 It’s never a good idea to torture yourself and be frustrated trying to achieve your fitness goals. I was frustrated for quite some time when I first started training and read about routine after routine after routine in the fitness magazines that no matter what I tried to accomplish something else was telling me that I sucked and needed to do something else. The moment I learned to stop that, everything became clear. You don’t need to go to a gym, you don’t always need thousands of pounds of equipment in your house that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Save your money and if you want to get something, make sure you really could use it otherwise you’re just throwing yourself in debt.

 Remember that military tag line “The Few, The Proud, The Marines.” Great line and remember how many words are there, I counted 6. Six words and it already have a powerful statement. So look at it this way, the fewer exercises you do and you master them, the more powerful and stronger you can be. Here is a new tag line for you in your fitness endeavor “The Few, The Proud, The Basics.” Simple, easy to remember and sends a power message that you don’t have to do everything under the sun, just a few simple things and you’re on your way to fitness glory.

Isometrics: A Golden Key To Super Human Strength

Although everything has been done in the world of Physical Culture we still have much to learn especially when it comes to Isometrics. If there were any true secrets in the realm of super strength, this is it. When done properly, Isometrics get you past plateaus that you never believed existed. It’s no wonder it is one of the most underrated forms of strength training. Those that know its secrets hold the power to unlock true super human powers.

 Focus is a cornerstone in any exercise system whether it’s Muscle Control, lifting a heavy weight, enduring rep after rep or even going long periods of time in one exercise but Isometrics takes on a whole new level of focus and laser-like concentration. It doesn’t matter if you hold a posture for 10 seconds or 10 hours, the focus is still needed and if your mind goes blank, your body will follow. Holding a wrestler’s Bridge for example takes great focus and concentration not just on the body but internally. The real secret to Isometrics is not how long you can hold a posture or how intense the contraction, the real powerful secret is how much internal power you develop.

 Have you ever watched guys like Dennis Rogers, Bud Jeffries, Logan Christopher, Pat Poviliatis, Chris Rider and others like them in action? Some of the things they do are just mind blowing and flat out super human. My favorite form of training of these guys is Steel Bending. I would bet you dollars to donuts that you will get more of a reaction from any of these guys bending a extremely tough nail or bar than you would see someone lifting a 600 pound deadlift.

 Steel Bending is a style of strength training that is unique and builds a level of strength that you can’t get from a weight lifter or bodybuilder. I don’t care who you are or where you come from you will sweat and put everything in your body more from bending and shaping a steel bar 3ft or longer than you would going to the gym for an hour. How do you build that level of strength, from Isometrics? Hell yes you do and I’ll tell you why, because Isometrics gives you the power to give everything you have into one full out moment. Bending Steel is one of the best forms of Isometrics you can get.

 If there was ever an athlete that took Isometrics to a level that will never be duplicated is without a doubt quite possibly the world’s greatest wrestler, The Great Gama. Gama was known for his intense and brutal workouts ranging from swimming to wrestling for hours on end to his massive amount of repetitions in Push-ups and Squats and being famous for never losing one match in his entire career which extends to 5000 matches. What you may not have known unless you’re in the circle of Physical Culturists is that Gama was fierce with his takedown and throwing abilities to toss opponents left and right looking like a rag doll. One of his secrets to achieving that level of strength was every morning he would get up, tie a belt or some kind of strap around a tree and try with ferocious intensity and fiery power to take down that tree. He did other forms of Isometrics if I stand corrected but that was a move he was famous for and it made him not only a legend but a force that no one ever wanted to get in the ring with.

 Did I forget to mention that Muscle Control is a style of Isometrics? Damn, I must be slipping at almost 28 but seriously though, practicing the control of your muscles for contracting and relaxing is that of Isometrics and I believe arguably the two greatest superstars to ever do muscle Control was Maxick & Otto Arco. No two men before or since had a level of Muscle Control then those two gents right there. The flexion and extension of the muscles they contracted looked like balloons about to pop out of their veins but did it with grace, fluidity and control unlike anyone else in their time.

 Isometrics gets a bad rap these days because of how it develops blood pressure and that it does more harm than good and this and that but the truth is it’s really all a bunch of crap. If one took the time to actually learn this type of training, they will see that not only will they get stronger physically but internally as well. A lot of people including scientists believe that Isometrics is doing something extremely intense but yet the breath is being held. That’s where the high blood pressure comes in and the head aches, the pulled tendons and the ripped muscle tissue.

 A true Isometric contraction is in the breath. Just like any exercise you inhale and exhale during a movement or a hold. When you hold a posture, you don’t hold your breath now do you? You breathe deeply in order to keep that holding that posture. When you do an intense contraction say for ten seconds do not hold your breath, exhale with power and might. I believe the very best exhale you can do during a very intense contraction would be to make an “ssss” sound, when this happens your body is building more lung power and you’re not just contracting the muscle you want to flex but you’re also contracting the abdominals which in turn makes you strong throughout the entire body. When you hold a certain posture say like the Bridge or a downward facing dog (Hindu Push-up) or even hanging from a pull-up bar, you want to breathe deeply and picture as if you’re breathing into the muscles themselves, believing you’re giving them the oxygen they need to help stay in that posture longer.

 This has been a concept since ancient times and from the old-time yoga instructors to the old-time strongmen, the concept remains the same just in a different juncture. Practice Isometrics often and research the best ways to work them into your own training or just doing them as they are. If you look hard enough and are open-minded, you’ll find yourself in a whole new world of strength training that is better, healthier and more efficient to your bodies needs as oppose to the cardio machines and the pink dumbbells you see too many people doing plus those god damn weight machines that really don’t do diddly squat for you when it comes to functional strength and fitness. The old-timers had it figured out long before we were ever around, listen to them and they will help you, I guarantee it. 

Ferocious With A Vengence

As of late there have been a few strongmen popping up around certain areas around the world. Some ain't very legit and those few that are legit are far and in between. I can tell you first one of those legit strongmen is not only out there but he's hungry and full of fire and passion for the world of Physical Culture. That one man is Matti Merzel.

He burst onto the scene not too long ago compiling feats of strength that need to be seen to believe from bending and breaking wrenches, ripping phonebooks, 6000 Kettlebell Swings and one of the most awe-dropping Snatch test of 304 KB Snatches in 10 min. He hasn't been in the game very long but has already risen through the ranks of one of the fastest growing strongmen in the world today. His passion is unlike any other before or since. He has come into his own using influences by the best modern strongmen today with the likes of Bud Jeffries, Logan Christopher, Dennis Rogers, Brooks Kubik, Ryan Pitts, Pat Poviliatis and many more.

From the looks of him, he looks like the typical, athletic and not very muscular looking guy but that's where looks can be deceiving as underneath that type of physique lies one of the most powerful men today and has more will power than anyone thought possible. He is the personification of being an individual who doesn't need big muscles to be extremely strong and gifted in the Super Human Conditioning category. Because of this, he has developed a style of strongmanism that very have ever achieved and plans to break as many records as possible and quite frankly I have every confidence he will achieve those goals. I've talked to him on several occasions sometimes for more then 2 hours and I will say first hand he is one of the most knowledgeable young guys today and has tremendous wisdom for a guy in his mid 20's. He is without question an individual that will speak from the heart and will tell you what he really thinks and I admire guys like him.

Because of his passion for Physical Culture, he has developed a website dedicated to the strongest of the strongest individuals throughout the history of Physical Culture. He wants to help those who are need for guidence into becoming one powerful individual physically, mentally and even Emotionally. So I encourage you to be open-minded and come on over to http://ferociousstrength.com/ and learn all about the journey and well written articles of this up-incoming Strongman including guest articles by other athletes including yours truely. You will find very valuable information that you'll only find in very few places. I also encourage you to sign up for his newsletter where you'll get great info on health, fitness and history on physical culture plus when you sign up you will get a bonus report on how to develop Emotional Anchors, it is a must read and once you apply even a spec of that report, your results will skyrocket and if you apply all of the info I don't want to imagine how far it'll take you not only in your training but your life as well.

Bringing Gama Back To Glory

Even as a small boy growing up in the Punjab in India,  Ghulam Muhammad was destined to be a great athlete and at the age of ten won contests that displayed grueling exercise tasks including squats, club/mace swinging and wrestling and was last standing out of 400 wrestlers in one of these contests. Nicknamed Gama, he trained in the Sand Pits of a wrestling ring and just took over everyone around him becoming a feared wrestler on the mat not just in practice but in competition. By the time he reached his 20's he was the most feared wrestler in his country and continued to be throughout the globe as he took on all comers and oulasted them all never losing one match in his entire career. Even the top champions in America at the time wouldn't dare challenge him, even guys like George Hackenshmidt wouldn't take him on.

His conditioning was second to none and had routines that would make a world-class champion walk away. He swam, wrestled, swung the mace and clubs, did push-ups, squats and some bridging thrown in there that would go beyond the limit of most men even at Gama's size at 5'7 260 lbs. As heavy as he was, he moved like a little man and had the strength of a siberian tiger (slight exaggeration) but also his routines sound a bit over-exaggerated yet he trained harder then almost anyone before or since his time.

As his legend grew, the exercises he once used started to fade in the mainstream and only very few outside of the middle east ever trained on them. This all changed when a little known catch wrestler named Karl Gotch started teaching these very same exercises to his athletes in Japan and places around the USA and became a big deal. Taking on an athlete named Matt Furey, Gotch had put him to the test time and time again and Furey kept coming back for more. Because of Gotch's influence, this upincoming businessman of fitness put out a series of courses on these same exercises minus the clubs and the mace. Putting three exercises together called the Royal Court which consists of the Hindu Push-up, Hindu Squat & The Back Bridge.

In one course he made, naming it after the legendary Indian wrestler himself, Furey brought variations of the three main exercises and took them to a level beyond his own imagination. He then added some supplemental exercises like Hill Sprints & The Power Wheel as an added bonus along with a plethora of things to use in your arsenal like stretching and Isometrics. Gama Fitness became a cornerstone for what Bodyweight Exercises can accomplish for you.

One key element that Gama posessed was the ability to throw opponents as big or bigger then him as if it was childs play and that one element came into being Isometrics. This system of training teaches you how to build strength and speed without ever moving a muscle yet still burn fat and build functional strength that's off the charts. Unlike other exercise systems, Isometrics helps you find the weak spots in your body and strengthens them to increase not only your physical power but more importatly your internal power.

This course to me is one of Physical Culture's greatest creations and it gives you a prespective on how to use your bodyweight in ways that's beyond tradition in the modern era. It was one of the first courses that got me started and taught me how to be my own trainer and give me the chance to change my body and my overall strength. It truely is Bodyweight Training at it's best.

Another key element is what Karl Gotch refers to as "the most important in physical conditioning" is the Bridge. You will find that it takes more then just getting into position and holding, it takes skill, keen awareness and flexibility to fal into the bridge from standing. Practicing this takes on a whole new meaning to the words "holy s*it." Never have you seen stuff like this before and if you want to take it to a whole other level which in my estimation is the peak of Bridging Training is Here and you will learn things that will amaze your friends and your athleticism. You don't have to be a wrestler or gymnast to do this stuff.

There will never be a course like this again because it gives you tools for lifelong health, fitness, strength, flexibility and endurance. Want to learn the old secrets of the indian wrestlers from yesteryear and for centturies before, get your ass over there and grab it asap.

Historical Physical Culture

I believe that the real golden age of physical culture started with the industrial revolution and its first major superstar was Eugene Sandow. He was the Arnold Schwarzenegger of his day. He had strength beyond belief, can wrestle with the best of them and had one of the most powerful physiques of his generation next to the Russian lion himself George Hackenshmidt. During this time on till about the early 60's, the strongmen were the rockstars of their day. In the vaudeville era where theaters flourished with acts of all shapes and sizes ranging from acrobatics, magic, comedy and others but usually the Strongman got it's biggest applause of what they were capable of doing. Sure there were guys who faked lifts and certain stunts but the legit men and women put on a show that can still be talked about to this day.

One of the coolest things that these men did was challenge the audience to their special lifts and put up prize money to whoever can lift and handle it as good or better but safe to say, far too many tried and failed. One of the strongest men of all-time The Mighty Atom, had men of all shapes and sizes come up and try to bend one of his signature spikes and only a handful ever did it and one of them became his one and only student and he was dubbed the nickname, Slim The Hammerman. Atom and others just captivated audiences all over the world showcasing their unbelieveable strength. Some carried horses across the stage, some lifted elephants off the ground, others lifted weights from odd angles and even others would hold a weight in one arm and have a totally different type of apparatus in the other (e.g Barbell and kettlebell, look up Arthur Saxon).

Some still talk to this day about the great impact the old-timers gave and encouraged us to become strong, vibrant and powerful. Some old-timers however have been forgotten and were only mentioned by those who had seen them or read about. I don't believe for a second that those who had been forgotten were that at all, they were just lost in history until one learned how to find them again and there are a few who have done just that. Learning fitness and strength is really learning about our own history as there's information out there that are as good or better today then any modern method of the last 40-50 years. There really are secrets of how the old-timers trained for the things they've done and some of that info is lost in history but now you can find some of that lost treasure here.

I am a firm believer in old school bodybuilding and whether using weights or bodyweight alone, the old school ways are far better then the crap that's used today. Sure some modern methods are good but that's an extreme few. Bodybuilding today is bigger then life and it has its share of ups and downs and almost none of the men and women of today have a damn clue of what true bodybuilding is. In the old days (long before steroids) guys trained to get strong and used natural methods to put on muscle in ways that can never be reached today. If I had to choose between Ronnie Coleman and John Grimek i'd pick the latter. Unlike Coleman, Grimek had a physique that's still unmatched to this day and had the wicked strength to go with it. Sure Coleman is a strong mofo and can move weight as good as anyone but Grimek can actually move his body better. The point is, guys like Otto Arco, Maxick, Grimek and even Reg Park for that matter are the real deal of what it takes to get strong and powerful. Are they even close to the guys of today, hell f*cking no but its also vise versa, guys today interms of health, real strength, power and vibrancy are no where near guys like them.

Reg Park was really one of the first men of his era that showed he can have a powerful physique and the strength to back it up. He was the first bodybuilder to bench press 500 lbs. That was unheard of at that time and the bench press itself was itching its way to becoming a synonum for what someone's strength is. I believe that Park and Bill Pearl were the last of the all-natural bodybuilders that had real world-class strength to back up their physique. They can lift, they can pose, they did it all without ever needing steroids or PED's. They ate good, they trained hard and were actually healthy. Reg Park was the man that got the great Schwarzenegger himself on the track to becoming the most famous bodybuilder of all-time.

In all fairness you don't need steroids to become strong and powerful. The physique stars of the early era didn't need them cause they weren't around then and still don't really need them for that purpose. Media has really to blame whats wrong with how one looks. If you want to be a bodybuilder today, you need steroids, if you want to get ahead in sports, you do steroids, you want a quick fix, you take steroids its all real bullsh*t. Yes genetics play factors but that doesn't give you an excuse to build the body you want naturally. Usually these days if one looks a very muscular guy there's at least 2 things on his mind, "He must be on roids" or "he was born to be that big." I don't always believe either one of those things. Look at guys like Maxick, Charles Atlas an others, if you saw them before they got strong you would've thought they were swizzle sticks just waiting to get their ass kicked and never had a chance in hell of having a phenomenal physique. Maxick was a sick child and didn't have much to look forward to as he was tol he was too weak, too frail to do the simplest activities yet he became one of the first 3 men in history to officially lift more then double bodyweight in the overhead press and had the some of the very best muscle control that no one was close to duplicating. Charles Atlas was a 97 lb weak teenager who would be the target for mos of the bullies in his neighborhood and once had a girlfriend who left him for s tronger guy yet managed to put on nearly 100 lbs of muscle in a few short years and was crowned the most perfectly developed man twice.

Never assume that one is strong because you think they were born that way. In my opinion, the old school methods of physical culture are far better for you health wise compared to the crap used today. Learn your history and find that it doesn't take a whole lot to learn how to be strong. Work hard, create goals, imagine yourself being strong and muscular eat good and use basic principles. Its easy to learn now as it was back then. Let me ask you this, if you didn't have your chrome and fern gyms, your little bity weights and your machines, how would you be able to turn your body into from a weak state to a muscular state? You'd be surprised on what you can find.

All The Reasons To Make Your Conditioning Twisted

One of the golden rules in the quest of strength and conditioning is to learn how you can adapt and improve of what you can with things you have and what things you don't. No workout should ever be the same. Things change and evolve overtime as you get stronger and more conditioned. This can help you learn to focus more on what you want as you don't need to do the same things over and over again. Yet what if you had a manual that gave you options for things you can use and things you don't have and have a kick ass workout?

Some people say its not possible to do strength and endurance workouts at the same time because it either has to be one or the other. But what if you could and you can. How would that go? What would you have to do? In Bud Jeffries' Twisted Conditioning Programs you can do all of that without losing your strength or your endurance, they'll just keep growing.

Combining the best of the best elements into a series of workouts that are endless. Do you like bodyweight training, strongman lifts, kettlebells, rocks, barrels, logs, steel bending...Why not all those things and more. Finding what you want to do and build the greatest of strength doing it. Having a variety of choices makes for a never boring type of workout and finding the best at what works for you and you alone. Putting together a program isn't easy but with the right focus and goal of what you want to do, you'll find a way to do and my boy Bud will help you every step of the way, I should know, he gave me a number of tips himself personally. Even if you don't have all those tools, you can still learn to use your own bodyweight in a variety of ways that can help transfer over to other possibilities. For me as an example, about 90% of my training is pure bodyweight training and yet have managed to pick up a 400 lb deadlift without touching nearly a single barbell for over 2 years.

Its all about what you want. What's the image in your mind, becoming a bodybuilder, a strongman, a MMA fighter, sports athlete, just having a body that will turn heads? You can have anything you desire with the right mindset and the will to bust your ass to get what you dream of. Become the best for yourself and transform yourself into the person you want to be. All I can say is on that, don't change who you really are from the inside, however, if you work with the right program for you, things will change in your life and will for the better.

One of the secrets of the old-time strongmen to becoming strong is thinking that you are strong and you will be strong. I can imagine myself back in my early teens when I was flabby, weak and ridiculed for being a heavy kid and all I wanted to be was to be strong, be respected and be larger then myself. I started lifting weights and got stronger in some cases and started having a somewhat muscular body, then I had my accident and had to learn things all over again. I began imagining myself being far stronger then when I was younger and decided to not use the mainstream courses on bodybuilding and strength training. I got stronger to the point where when I did lift weights, the numbers were higher and I can bring up weight however I wanted. Like I said its all about how you want to be strong and what you can do to get there.

An old-time wrestler/strongman George Hackenshmidt wrote that if you wanted to become stronger then you have to combine different elements in order to achieve the strength you wish to achieve. You can lift weights and still do bodyweight exercises, you can still do kettlebells while practicing gymnastics. What's to stop you from achieving what you want. That's the basis of what the Twisted Conditioning courses are is to help you find the best combinations to the goals you want to reach or better surpass. There shouldn't be an excuse where you can't swing kettlebells and do 500 squats in the same workout, there's no reason why you shouldn't want to pick up a partial 600lb deadlift and smash a tire with a sledgehammer in the same workout as well.

Never believe you can't build strength an endurance at the same time, anything's possible with the right focus and the will to believe that yes you can do this and never in any doubt that anyone else is afraid to go for the gold, you're shooting for the platinum. It's finding what you want and proving to yourself you can get there.

If you want to learn this method and others from Bud himself, go the Superhuman Workshop he's co-hosting with Physical Culture's Rennissance man Logan Christopher and possibly a special guest.

Super Human Training Workshop # 2

Hello,

Do you want to master the kettlebell and transform your body into Iron?

Do you want to learn just what makes you tick and how with this knowledge you can double your training progress?

Do you want to discover the lost secrets of the oldtime strongmen and how they used isometrics to do feats still untouched or broken?

Well, you have the opportunity to learn all of the above and more hand’s on in March.

World renown strongman Bud Jeffries, known for squatting 1000 lbs. from the bottom of the rack as well as 3000+ kettlebell swing workouts, has teamed up with Logan Christopher, a guy who pulls firetrucks by his hair, to deliver the Super Human Training Workshop.

And this is the second year. Bigger and better then before.
From March 23rd through the 25th in Tallahassee, Florida they’ll deliver ALL their training information to you in a live, hands on, do the drills and get the skills format.

Super Human Training Workshop # 2

If you’re anywhere near the area this is a no brainer. And even if you’re not it’s worth flying out for. People are already signed up
planning to fly overseas for it.
Not only do you get the workshop but over $800 in additional bonuses just for signing up!
You really have to see everything they’re offering...

Super Human Training Workshop # 2

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Don't miss it.

Ben Bergman

P.S. Be sure to check it out now. You can save money with the early bird registration price, but it goes up in just a couple of days.

P.S.S. Plus they’ve even got a payment plan available.

Super Human Training Workshop # 2

Captain America & How You Can Become Your Own Super Solider

I was watching the First Avenger movie last night with my girl and I couldn't help but be in awe of how powerful the character is and how strong he became. The movie was awesome and I'm always looking for what others can do to become a very strong individual. In the film Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) starts out as this skinny little kid from Brooklyn who wants nothing more then to tackle bullies and do something that's more then himself. Unfortunately every time he enlists, he always gets turned down. He's too small, has symptoms that army recruiters laugh at and just let the kid go. That's similar to what young boys back then were like and hated being small and weak. With guts and the right people to look up to they became strongmen and got what they always wanted and more. Stories like this are from men like Charles Atlas, John Grimek, The Mighty Atom and one of the most fascinating from weak to strong stories of the great Doug Hepburn.

The Army in the film are looking to build a new breed of super soldiers and they found someone to experiment on and that's little Steve. The night before the procedure one of the Doc's who discovered Rogers sat down with him and told him why he was chosen. Doc believed in him because he sees whats in his heart. If someone was big and powerful, he may take that strength for granted and lose value but if a weak man wants strength he values its gift as he learns to be strong. The next day Rogers is put into this little capsule with wires and other stuff strapped to him. He's injected with a certain serum that can turn him into a very powerful man. The experiment works and Rogers transforms into this mountain of muscle. With this he can regenerate quicker, has the metabolism 4x higher then the average human and has the speed of a cheetah.

One of the exercises I learned about Evan's training for the film was doing Handstand Push-ups as one of his primary exercises for bodyweight training. This exercise alone can build killer upper body strength in ways that cannot be done by any other exercise. You are practically in a vertical position upside down and pushing your whole body up. I've always liked this exercise and it made me feel good and admire that an actor trained on that exercise and got super results from it. Now he did do other forms of exercise to get beefed up for the film but its good to know that some trainers know the value of functional strength.

Now can anyone do this type of exercise? A good percentage can but some people lack the structure and body-weight ratio no matter what they do. Those that can practice it can go here at Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups and for advanced trainees can go here at Gymnastic Handstands. This exercise was practiced by the old-school bodybuilders and strongmen of the 30's and 40's and they all had great successes and results from doing this. If you want to do weights along with bodyweight exercise then look no further then here at Strongerman.com where you'll find the very best at learning how to create massive functional muscle without the use of drugs or supplements.

Remember what I said about the Captain's speed? Well you can also do this type of training as well as Sprinting builds lung power and strength in the whole body unlike anything else. You don't need to do a vast amount of time to do this, go to a track or park or better yet find a hill and sprint hard for 8-15 seconds, take a few minutes rest and sprint again, no need to do more then 10 sets of this. If you're a beginner take it easy on this an progress. Do a powerwalk and each session increase the speed. 2-3x a week is all you need to burn off fat like crazy and increase your HGH Levels 10x more then the leading supplements or injections. This helps keeps you fit, young, vibrant and full of energy.

Now we all can't be like the Iconic Capatain but we certainly can become much more powerful then the average human and build a body that will have heads turning. It takes practice, patience, goal-setting and the will to keep driving. Build your foundation and never give up. Just like Captain America the hero that never gives in. For encouragement picture as if the Captain himself is cheering you on and pushing you to get better. If you can keep that in mind you may find yourself looking like him and being as powerful as a grizzly bear.

Bending Steel Documentary- Process Is Now Underway

There have been decades where when it was time for the old-time strongmen would have the opportunity to not only show what they're capable of world-wide but would it ever get to the big screen? This time, its finally coming true where we will see what its all about when you see how strong the men of this film are. Learning from one of the strongest men on the planet Chris Shoeck is on his way from having self doubts about being a performing strongman to getting on stage and showing how powerful a man of his small stature can be.

In the film it shows Chris learning the craft of the mythical and somewhat surreal feats of the old-time strongmen that were the mega-stars of the early 20th century where you had men and women performing phenomenal stuff in vaudeville and ACT shows in the peak of PT Barnum's Circus. This journey is a heartfelt and somewhat courageous act of will and determination of going beyond the norm and becoming something more then yourself. This little strongman is only 5'7 and around 160 pounds but with inner power and a fierce will of overcoming impossible odds he shines over men twice his size.

Chris' trainer Chris Rider is becoming a legend in his own time. A man at nearly 6'5 and well over 300 pounds is one of the strongest men of our generation. Learning from Grandmaster Strongman Dennis Rogers, he has become one of the best performers of our time and there is no stopping him and you will see why in this film. Performing for only a few years Rider has already jumped up to a status that most other strongmen took more then a decade to get where they're at. He has ripped the thickest phonebooks with ease, bent steel that should never be bent and has become another version of what World's Strongest Man Champion Sven Karlson refers to as "Viking Power." Rider just has that mythical viking style of look and strength that you would see in the stories of the old Norwegian Vikings in middle ages. Take it from me when I say the man is strong he is STRONG!!!!!!

Back in August of this year, Rider, Shoeck and other strongmen performed their legendary feats at the famous Coney Island, NY Amusement Park. It was the first in nearly 60 years that a strongman last performed there. In its rich history as the mecca of strongmen it was only fitting to have the past, present and future strongmen to be at this event, even the last of the remaining old timers Slim The Hammerman was there who had been performing since the late 50's. This event was one for the ages and those who performed couldn't have performed any better then they did at this level. There were many feats performed and each strongman did his own unique style that kept the audience in awe of every performance. If you were there you know what i'm talking about.

The film is now in the process of editing and getting it into theaters by next summer. Paying out of their own pocket its a bit tough to get things done when you have a deadline so with your help they are looking for donations to help get this film finished and believe me when I tell you this its worth every dollar or more you donate because these not only will thank you but you get something in return as well which should be the right thing to do. Within a certain amount you donate you will get a little something back and the more you donate the bigger you get back. If you look up at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sixkillernyc/help-finish-bending-steel-a-feature-length-documen
you will see what kick ass stuff you can get ranging from a sticker w updates to having Rider & Shoeck performing at your business, school or private event being filmed by the filmakers themselves and given a donated credit in the film. Thats a pretty awesome offer don't you think?

Last but not least I know the Mighty Atom would be proud that strongmanism is finally getting what it deserves and thats to show the world how these men of strength give everything they have to make the best of giving the people a show of a lifetime and building strength and power that is just surreal to everything else in this world. If a boy wants to become something that he believes in, a man should help show him the way and thats what this film is all about, having the heart and soul to put everything aside for that one moment that takes you from a boy to a man to a legend. Join me and others and get this film done and let it be shown the way it was meant to...A film for the ages in our sport.

Meaning Of Hard Work In Physical Training

Brooks Kubik...Author of Dinosaur Training is one of the guys I admire that values the meaning of hard work in Physical Training. Why do you need to work hard to get the results? Because it takes more then just flowing through the exercises. Working an exercise into the ground can either make you or break you as a trainee. Training safely with hard training is a common sense purpose and not working so hard into the ground that you get injured.

Commitment is one of the keys to training hard. You have to be committed to the training you're doing that day and making yourself beat the exercise. Exercises can beat you at times but your commitment to at least inch your way past them is a secret of hard training. I've been doing routines for a while now on a divided schedule where I work specific muscle groups on a given day and I drive those exercises into the ground to the point where its tough to breathe and sweating like Niagara Falls. I want to make my exercises hard and keep it at a minimum time and at a max level.

Hard work in your training means you push yourself to levels at times that almost seems nonhuman to the untrained eye. Others will tell you to drive yourself into the ground until you can't get up and that's really unethical but others will also tell you that hard work is hard work and nothing else will do. Here's a real secret that those dumbasses will never tell you.....Hard Work takes mental strength, takes guts to go through a tough exercise or routine, hard work is a game against yourself and only you can win or lose. No one can really tell you how tough you are or how committed you are, the only thing that matters is you putting in the work.

Creating the machine in you doesn't happen overnight or a week after training, it has to come from within. That ultimate power within you to take your training to unspeakable levels and one of my favorite examples is from a strongman I've gotten to learn from recently and hopefully have the pleasure to shake his hand up close one day is Mike Bruce. A former Marine who had a rough childhood grew up and became a soldier, a fighter, a strongman and now a husband. He truly is what his nickname personifies and that's being the machine. Hard Work comes in all shapes and sizes but one thing that any country has the same language, hard work makes you tough as an individual.

If you are new or just a fan of physical culture I encourage you to learn about the Old-Time strongmen, wrestlers, weightlifters and bodybuilders of the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. Study how they used hard work to create superhuman results and how much it makes you a person of character when you train hard no matter what the type of training it is. Learn from them and learn for yourself. Train hard, be tough and get the job done.

Using Different View Points To Create Your Style

Learning different view points from other Physical Culturists is quite a learning experience. You learn what works for them, how they developed a philosophy for training and what can work for others. Some of the best guys in this field have great philosophies and quite a few I agree with but yet for that same line of guys there are things I do disagree with. Its not out of disrespect its because I know what works and what doesn't. If you want to learn from the best you have to do research and experiment. Find what works for you and be open minded about who these guys are.....For example...

Bud Jeffries....A man of great strength and ferocious power is a man of god who uses the best equipment and body weight exercises to create the ultimate athlete and build strength & endurance at the same time with a separation of spiritual strength and strength using energy or qi gong. One guy I have very high respects for and one of the coolest guys I ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Brooks Kubik....Without question one of the greatest writers in the history of Physical Culture for the last 20 years. His beliefs is in Hard Work, Old School time-tested methods for super strength and muscle-building and puts a lot into basic lifts and the great methods of Olympic weightlifting. Work your exercises into the ground and master the exercises you want to do.

Logan Christopher.....A man I would def. call a brother because he's helped me over the years showing me how I can be a good physical culturist with the way I'am and have on many occasions seen him do some of the coolest feats of strength a man his size should not be able to do. He believes that to get the best results is to build a foundation to creating great strength and use the best equipment for mega results whether it be weights, bending steel, tearing phonebooks or using the Indian clubs. Whatever style of training you want to pursue learn the values of what is the best to use.

Dennis Rogers....Pound for Pound the world's strongest man for the feats he performs. A man of god as well who has taken grip strength to a level in his line of strongmanism that is as unreachable as wile e. coyote catching the road runner. The things he does should not be done by a man of his size. He is the modern day little Samson and in my opinion the man with the spirit of The Mighty Atom within him. His philosophy is based on how to develop the grip while using the body as a whole using odd objects, tools and weird looking but effective equipment to get the best out of becoming super strong without the need to be a monster.

Garin Bader....Quite possibly one of the most legendary concert pianists of the last 20 years has developed a style where he develops energetic strength through his imagination and mindful power to create surreal strength, dexterity and speed that is just off the charts. With a way to create sounds and develop the difference of muscular strength and his system CoreForce Energy anyone can provide the strength within them in a very short amount of time. Being powerful using muscular strength and being powerful with CFE is a massive difference and once you see it you'll notice right away how strong you can become.

These are examples of the guys I have researched and learned from over the years and I have the highest respect for them for what they do. Whether I agree with what they all do doesn't matter but what I have learned I have taken and developed a style of my own. You may have noticed that some of their styles are similar but at the same time very unique and different in many ways. My style of philosophy of Physical Culture is to learn the basics, transfer that to your daily life, never be hardcore all the time but never slouch either. You don't need to be big to be strong but in order to be strong you have to think big and being wise about what you want to do. Again my style is a little similar to the guys I've mentioned but yet its very different in many ways. I train for strength and power using many different styles that are the best and not use too many things.

Create your own style of Physical Culture by learning from the best and never shy away from who they are and give them the respect they deserve.

Cables For Building Strength For Strongman

In the last century throughout Physical Culture we've seen many strongmen perform great feats of strength such as bending nails, driving nails through boards, rip phonebooks in half, lever sledgehammers, bend and break odd objects, lift ridiculious amount of weight and in some cases do some crazy hand balancing. Yet with all of these things what did some of theses men used to build those levels of strength that would seem impossible to the average person? Well for starters most of them just practiced the feats just themselves and doing tons of isometrics for those feats but believe it or not some of the most famous names used Cable Training to enhance their strength.

The type of Cable Training I'm speaking of is not the pully machines that were in gymnasiums at the time but something more closer to home and thats what we call today the Chest Expander. Back then it had metal springs and would stretch as far as 12-16 inches compared to the rubber cables that can reach up to 18 inches or more. Men like Charles Atlas, The Mighty Atom, Thomas Inch, Eugene Sandow, John Grimek and Earl Liederman all at one point used cables to strengthen their bodies from various angles that weights and bodyweight exercises didn't hit and what happened when they used this device? Well saying they were damn strong would be an understatement.

The beauty with Cable Training is that you can hit angles in the shoulders, arms, chest, abs, back and the legs that many other systems can't and at times you need that type of strength and flexibility in order to keep yourself healthy and strong. Today Cable Training is more popular then ever with Lifeline USA and other companies using cables for just about every gym in the country. You can use them for just about anything, strength training, sports training, rehab injuries and even for endurance training.

Now there is some controversy in the fitness world and saying you can can't build strength and endurance in the same workout. Well I have friends that defied those odds and have done it myself and yes it is true that you can do this but with the right type of training. One way in this case is to do presses with a light cable and once you hit a high number you switch to a heavier cable and do low reps and you can do all sorts of exercises with this but with proper training you can create Strength & Endurance in the same workout.

One of my personal favorites of this type of training is mimicking certain feats of strength such as ripping a phonebook or bending nails or if you're a weightlifter mimick the one-arm clean & jerk/press. As a strongman I have to be in top condition for consistant strength in my feats so I use cables to help strengthen the muscles and tendons I need for the feats I want to perform.

Whether you're a Strongman, Athlete, Housewife, Hard Laborer, Businessman or just the average joe, cables can give you a really great workout in a much shorter time it takes getting the gym. You can have your gym right in your own bag. All you need to do is make a little effort and make a small commitment to becoming stronger, healthier and more durable with vitality and a powerful body.

Being A Strongman & Pushing Past Limits

As human beings we have the ability to learn what we can or can't do. Most often people find out what they can't do in certain ways because that part of our brains tell us how far we go and whether or not to to get past certain points of pain and discomfort. The Govenor that resides within everyone has been our Jimmeny Cricket to whether we push past certain limits of whats right or wrong of us to do. In terms of strength and Strongmanism, there are literally thousands of strongmen around the world that do some crazy things but yet thats less then 1% out of billions of people that don't know how to get past their limits because that Govenor is telling them they can end up getting hurt.

Now i'm not saying you should be like superman and defy the odds of gravity or go lift up a car or anything that would jeapordize your life but if you want to do something bad enough there are certain things you need to get through in order to make that thing come to life. For the fewer strongmen that are out there they have broken barriers as to how far they're willing to go in order to achieve what they believe is possible. Some of have broken their wrists, some have shed blood and even some that have passed out doing certain feats of strength.

For some readers that do know I have literally pushed my body to links of pain from doing certain feats. I'm serious as I tell you this now I have had black and blue arms and legs from bending long and very tough pieces of steel that most people would've thrown in the towel after 30 seconds. I even had a bloody nose while bending a very tough spike at one time. These are a couple of the things we strongmen endure in order to create some of the most insane strength possible. It takes much more then physical strength to endure certain pain and discomfort. You are really playing mind games with yourself.

There are feats I would never attempt to do from other strongmen not because of getting hurt but because I just don't persue them as much as they do. Take for instance Slim The Hammerman. He's the proud owner of holding the title of World's Strongest Man at Levering sledgehammers. He became so obsessed of lifting the heaviest hammers that he had broken his wrists many times achieving a level of status thats above almost everyone else. I've already broken bones in my lifetime and I really don't want that to happen again. I'm not as crazy as these other guys but I have the highest respect for them and the way they push themselves is just surreal.

A true strongman doesn't show off for his own personal gain or torments anyone cause they're not as strong as they are but a real strongman believes in himself and wants to help others achieve their levels of strength beyond their own assumptions and imagination. A true strongman pushes past the barriers to become extraordinary not to please others but to prove to himself that he can and will be the strongest he can be. Can you believe in yourself? Do you have it in you? The real question is, can you bring it out and devour your own expectations? Think about that for a bit.

My Review Of The Legacy Of Iron Series

Iron Game Author Brooks Kubik has been writing great stuff over the last 15+ years about how to build and develop natural muscle, strength and power. He has written countless articles about the greats of the past and how their methods excel over many of the top training ideas of today. For the most part since Bob Hoffman in my opinion he is the leading authority on muscle building books and teaching others how to use the basics for weight lifting, odd object lifting and fool-proof training programs that have made weak boys into bonified muscle men with no steroids or useless supplements.

Over the last few years he has written a series of novels that has never been done before. Publishing the stories of the old-time bodybuilders and strongmen of the 30's and 40's and creating certain characters that follow the programs and shenanigans of the weightlifters themselves as if it was happening in real life. This series is called The Legacy Of Iron which is now in its fifth volume and who knows what Brooks has been coming with on his new ones. To me everytime I read these books I feel like i'm right in the middle of the men and women of strength that i've read about ever since I began doing Physical Culture.

The books start right in the thick of one subject right after the other and just when you think one guy is about to get outlifted or is apart of the second world war something else just jumps right at you when you turn the page. These books have great rivalries, fighting, courage, conflicts, determination and plenty of beautiful girls to make Harry Paschall go nuts. Never has a series been this taught to the public and have 2 fictional characters learn from the same men and women who have helped millions of strength-infected young men and women to become strong, vibrant and powerful just like their heroes in the real fitness magazines of the time.

I don't want to give away any of the stories in the books but they do make you think of who these guys were whether their stories are fictional or not they will captivate your attention and have you believe as if you were sitting right next to them as if they became your best friends. Learn what true brotherhood means to the people in these books. Yes they did push each other and had a few rivalries but it was all for the same cause and thats to help the other get stronger and give him a chance to prove his metel.

I'm very honored to apart of the Physical Culture movement and I get to sit with the old-timers whenever I pick up one of these books and listen in my mind what they're gonna do next and teach me the true ways of being strong and not always whether its weight lifting or not, its the motivation that gets me everytime. Brooks has made it possible for me and many others to love Physical Culture the way it was meant to be and thats a source of being with your brothers and learning the true value of strength and pure feirce determination to prove to yourself and not others of what you can truely become if you just start putting in a little effort and progress.

Tendon Strength In Steel Bending

Building the tendons with steel bending takes focus, hard work and knowing which ones to start and where to advance. When I first started bending I tried out 40D Penny Nails and some of the Iron Mind white and green nails. Those started becoming too easy so what did I do to get better? I bought steel bars, flat, rounded and re bar. I began bending them like crazy into all sorts of shapes and made some art out of them. Now why am I telling you all this? Its because like me and a lot of up-coming strongmen you want to progress through different levels of difficulty and experiment with what you can and can't do.

As you progress through your training and building solid steel tendons you want to find certain pieces of steel whether short or long and its strong enough to where you can't even budge it. This type of training is a key ingredient to successful training in Bending Steel and that's Isometrics. With Isometrics you learn to hit various points of a bend kind of like a partial lift in weights. Learn to focus your power on a certain point so when you get to bends that you had trouble with before now can be very easy.

Now contrary to popular belief in some circles certain people believe that strongmen use the same style of bending whether braced or un braced (using the legs and not using the legs) which the opposite is actually true. The Mighty Atom for short bending used whats called an Under Hand grip style which during that time was the only thing people knew until his Protege' Slim The Hammer man said once he tried it and didn't feel comfortable to him so he puts his hands on top of the spike and then bent the spike with full force.

Another key about bending is to find your style of bending that works for you. My style is the reverse hand grip which is where one hand is in front of the other. Having your own style will make you unique in how you present yourself in that form of Strength Feats. In Logan Christopher & Bud Jeffries' new DVD set on Feats Of Strength, you will find and learn what bending can do for you as far as strength and endurance is concerned. They will teach you the right and wrong ways of bending because if you're not careful you will get hurt.

These 2 men along with a few others they have learned from are the real experts on Strongmanism. When you learn from a real strongman and learn the correct way to bend, tear and just manhandle anything you can get your hands on you will build a level of strength and fitness that makes commercial gym goers look like wimps. I have learned from both men and without question I immediately got better at what I thought what I was already doing right. This is where you need to have an open mind to learn from rugged and powerful trainers.

Now that you've made it this far LOL....I will tell you first hand that if you apply the techniques and principles of whats on this DVD set you will be one powerful strong wo/man and this course will help you find your nich whether you're an athlete, trainer or just the average person who wants to become strong, this will help you with the best of intents.

Feats Of Strength DVDs

Hello,

There’s nothing quite like the ferocious power needed for feats of strength.

You know like bending steel with your bare hands...

Like tearing a thick phonebook in half in a matter of seconds...

Making a chain explode...

Lifting a person overhead with a single finger...

Can you do these things? Do you want to?

Not only are they phenomenal methods of training to become ridiculously strong, but you can actually perform like an oldtime strongman.

There’s nothing quite like it to impress your family and friends.

Heck, you can even turn it into a career!

That’s just what Bud Jeffries has done. Along with his partner Logan Christopher they’re delivering some awesome information on everything about feats of strength.

Just click here to see this video showing many of them (some of which you’ve probably never seen nor heard of before).
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4424645

If you just want to watch the video that’s cool, but I highly suggest you sign up on that page as they’re going to share more videos with you that teach you the exact steps you need to get started.

Ben Bergman

P.S. Seriously go watch the video on this page now. If you’re not inspired to start destroying cards, nails and more then you can go back to lifting pink 3 lb. dumbbells in your workouts.
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4424645

Strongmen: From Vaudville Onto The Big Screen

In the Golden Era of Physical Culture you had some of the strongest men on the planet doing what they did best on the stage in Vaudeville houses in America, Germany, France, India, Canada and many other countries across the globe. In that time strongmen weren't just a piece of the show, often times they were the rock stars of their era and were the headliners over many top acts. You had great men like Sandow, Saxon, Arco, The Mighty Atom, Warren Lincoln Travis, Apollon and Hackenshmidt. There were many others and the reason why is because people want to believe in the power of being strong, to be able to do anything that gets in your grasp and gets destroyed or lifted with your bare hands.

As time went on like so many things in the world, the strongmen shows started to die out and become a spot as a piece of what once was good and meaningful to the people who came to see these mighty giants give them something to believe in. Now very few people in the world know who even some of these men of strength were and the respect and love they have for them and help spread the word of what can possibly be a comeback starting with its roots all over again. With the growing of a new film just might bring that old school quality of what was is now slowly coming back to reality instead of a memory. The film is called Bending Steel: A Documentary.

The film takes place where a small strongman named Chris Shoeck has big ambitions to perform at one of the most famous strongman sites in the world, Coney Island, NY where men like The Mighty Atom, Warren Lincoln Travis and many others flourished in the realm of strength. To help get him there he is guided by another strongman who's becoming quite famous himself in recent years and that's The Viking Chris Rider. Theres a clip in the film where Rider is telling the little strongman about the crowd and how to channel his fear and overcome it with using his feats. Trust me guys, Shoeck may be short and skinny at stature but he is one strong dude and bad to the bone at what he does. Rider is no slouch either but is a towering giant with some of the powerful hands that's anyones ever seen.

When you watch the trailer of the film don't be fluttered with how great or not great it looks but picture in your mind the love and majesty of who the old-timers were about and what they represent. Its very difficult to perform certain feats of strength but in the mind its a limitless possibility of what you can achieve. That's where the real story comes to life is how far are you willing to go to push yourself with great power and great focus. You will find in this film how far one man will go to perform the biggest show of his life to solidify himself in the annals of strongman history. In one scene where Shoeck is at Coney Island you can almost hear the ghosts of past strongmen and giving him the call of a lifetime (not literally).

This film is set to release in the Summer/Fall of 2012 and I for one and hopefully many of you reading this will be seeing it with love, respect and the true honor of knowing that the strongman are coming back and Rider, Shoeck and others are the driving force of bringing back what truely belongs in this world. The world wants to believe again and now its here.

For more info go on Facebook and "Like" Bending Steel: A Documentary Film at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Bending-Steel-A-Documentary-Film/192032960849713

There you will find a few extras of the film as shooting and editing progresses and friend Rider & Shoeck. Also you will find info on how to get tix to see The Strongmen At Coney Island themselves and see Shoeck in his first performence ever.