A Dinosaur Style Thanksgiving Workout

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd get in a workout that will build a serious appetite later when me and the wife will visit family tonight. Not just a typical workout I do but one that's in the style of Brooks Kubik's Dinosaur Training. It's nothing special but it's brutal, nasty and really hard. It hits every muscle in the body and all it takes is 3 exercises. You don't need to do tons of exercises that only hit a one or two muscles at a time, just pick a few that hit multiple groups at the same time and go at it hard. In this case, it was using only one implement; the 50 lb Sandbell.

50 pounds may not seem like much, hell it's just a few pounds over a barbell plate right? The main takeaway, this is live weight and it shifts so this isn't just a solid implement, it makes you bust your ass in more ways than one. Sandbag training has been around for ages and has been used by the strongest athletes on the planet. When you work a bag hard, you're hitting the body in places that most conventional training can't even touch. Some guys work with up to more than 200-300 lbs (that's for truly elite powerhouses) but 50-100 can be just as beneficial and tough when you get after it like a madman with a thirst for hardcore training. 

This workout consists of the Clean & Press, Bear Hug Squat & Bent Over Row; it is done in a Tri Set which means you do one right after the other and then rest. Do 10 Reps each exercise and then walk it off getting as much rest as needed for the next set. It'll get you breathing hard quick so you'll want to catch your breath just enough to be fresh for the next round. The more sets you do, the heavier that bag will start to feel. It's very simple but sure as hell isn't easy. I managed 10 full sets of this workout and it was so thrilling for it to be over. I wanted to quit around the 6th or 7th set but something in me wanted to just keep going and really test my mental toughness. If I had to pick an exercise out of the three that made me rethink things, it was the Squats for sure. Around the 4th or 5th set, my legs felt heavy. 

Once it was over, instant relief, a much felt endorphin high and a high level of gratitude for it to be over. What are the benefits of this type of workout? A full blown level of strength and power, a good string of cardio because of doing three exercises back to back, Testosterone and HGH booster, great calorie burner and some serious muscular strength & endurance. Keep it simple but never underestimate what it can do especially when exercises like these with a sandbag has some real carryover into areas of regular life. 

I' am thankful for today, to my readers and to my friends and family. Have a great and wonderful Thanksgiving, eat well and train hard, earn that Turkey and those amazingly awesome sides.   

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Changing Up The Squat In The Legs Deck Of Cards Workout

 Changing things up can be a good thing in order to keep interest and develop something new to stay ahead of the game. Although I'm not the biggest fan of High Rep Squats, I do understand their value and what they bring to the table in conjunction with Step Ups instead of just purely Squats. On Sunday, I decided to change it up doing my Legs Deck Of Cards workout since I was having a bit of  rough day and wanted to get some shit out of my system. I switched up the Hindu Squats I normally do and threw in the Pan Squats instead. 

The Pan Squats are another variation of the Bodyweight Squat or more specific the Goblet Bodyweight Squat. You can view the exercise here to get more of an idea but the point is that I wanted to see what I can do with it since it has been a while. I learned this simple exercise from Strongman Kevin Wikse who learned it from a Troupe Of Dancers when he put it out in his Leg Training course from Heroic Evolution some time ago. This exercise may not seem much like other versions of a Squat but it is a good one where it takes certain pressure off the knees and builds some decent strength & conditioning when done for high reps. 

The one big deference between this Squat and other variations isn't really the placement of the legs but the placement of the arms. You put the wrists and forearms together as best as you can like you're holding an imaginary chalice or (if you're religious and/or seen Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade) the cup of Christ which opens up the scapula while pushing the chest inward which constricts the breath a bit. I've been doing this exercise off and on for years and have done as many as 500 reps in a workout and it's a doozer. It was named the Pan Squat after the God Pan, the mythological creature that runs the forest and hones the sexual desire for the Nymphs. It's a representation of building healthy hormones by doing leg training and having a strong libido as Pan himself is well known to have. So in the Deck Of Cards, I did 500 Step Ups & 250 Pan Squats, shirt was drenched afterwards. 

I have always believed Squats have their place but not always looked at with a Dogmatic Approach. Conditioning is a platform that should be used throughout anyone's lifetime and having a healthy and strong libido even into older age is a hell of a perk to have. Things like Squats, Step Ups, Lunges, Split Squats and others are great for this and don't need to be done in high reps to make things work. You can hit them in different manners like going fast or doing them slower to hit the leg muscles hard and build strength from there. It's really a matter of your goals. In this case for the article, I tackled the Pan Squats with the Step Ups to get a different feel of my leg training. Unlike the Hindu Squats, the Pan Squats felt heavier cause I can feel it way more when I did the Step Ups. Hindus give more of a spring like movement which is great for building your cardio and speed, Pan Squats tend to put more tension into the leg muscles which in turn hits the lactic acid buildup much quicker from my experience. This in turn can bring greater strength and developing the muscles in the thighs. Imagine doing 250-500 of these, it's a nasty exercise despite its simplicity. 

Overall, it's just a different exercise that hits the muscles in another way, it's really nothing special or in terms of its name a GODLY exercise. I like them because every now and then especially in the winter time up here, my shin and ankles do tend to have more tenderness and putting pressure on them in certain formats causes major discomfort that makes me uneasy so I need to train accordingly. With these Squats, I can take the pressure off the knees and ankles and focus more on the thighs without feeling that discomfort. It feels good in that regard and although soreness comes easier with these squats, I can still do hundreds of reps whether in a row or in total without feeling tender in those areas. Not to mention I feel more testosterone build up from this exercise than I do the Hindus by maybe a good 20-30%. Give it a go.

Kevin has said in his course (which I'm sure he'll still tell you if you manage to get a hold of him) that when he learned this exercise from the Dancers, they would do this for probably no more than a thousand reps but it keeps them in superior condition for their chosen endeavor because it hits the legs to a degree where they can move with ease without pain in their joints since we know many injuries that occur in Dancing tend to be the knees, ankles and hips. This exercise strengthens those areas so these people can dance with little effort and with less injury. Now this isn't just for Dancing, it can be used for Combat Sports, Football, Wrestling, Soccer and other activities. 

Keep being amazingly awesome and get some bad ass leg training in. It's good for your health especially the heart.

Thick Thighs Save Lives

 At least from what I've seen. Can never stop advocating for the Step Up Exercise. It truly is one of the most essential yet underrated leg exercises there is. Shit if the legendary Bob Backlund can do them and the strength & conditioning they gave him, why not others? Sure it's important to make sure you're not working with potentially harmful injuries especially in the knees and ankles but for the most part, these can highly be a godsend for building incredible leg strength, health and for your cardio.

I've been doing this exercise for many years now and it doesn't seem to slow me down, matter of fact, has kept me in pretty damn good shape. I hate jogging and Sprinting in below ten weather in the wintertime here is not always an option. If you want an alternative to sprints, do the Bear Crawls bro (read about my micro workout on this exercise). Step Ups especially done in high numbers bring incredible benefits which one of the perks is that you won't get as sore as you would with squats. Now that doesn't mean squats aren't good, they're awesome, I'll do them as part of my deck of cards workout with the Step Ups. Squats have their place and are as essential as any basic movement, I just prefer Step Ups as my go to Leg Exercise. 

Although it doesn't look like much (quite frankly its the exercise equivalent to a leg exercise from Wish to some people) but for others, it brings out all the benefits of cardio training without needing a treadmill or getting burned out from hundreds of squats. You ever hear the story about Backlund and the Marathon runner? I've written about it before but it's for a repeat: So this marathon runner thought Step Ups were pretty easy since after all, he withstands 26.2 miles for a lot of years so he wanted to see if he could give a Backlund a run for his money (no pun intended). So for the most part, this guy thinks this is a no brainer but roughly 20 minutes in, Bob is still killing it and this distance runner walks out the door and is never heard from again. He couldn't take it and it goes to show that you never underestimate the power of a simple yet effective exercise.

I've done my fair share of them over the years in a variety of ways from doing them straight through for 30 min to an hour at a time to doing supersets with other exercises such as Farmer's Walks, shoulder carrying my 50 lb sandbell or bear hug carry to slamming my slam ball. The deck of cards workout where it's Step Ups & Squats ranks right up there with that Rugged Conditioning type of training. The objective is to get to 500 Step Ups & 250 Squats by the end of the deck and if you can finish it in under 30 minutes, kudos for you man; I'm just a notch above the 30 min mark when I finish it. One time, I doubled the reps that came out to 1000 & 500 respectively going back and forth between two decks of cards with barely a break. Until you've done it, it's not something easily to describe. 

 Despite it's overwhelming simplicity, Step Ups gives you not incredible leg strength and conditioning, it's a pretty damn good muscle builder too since you're working your legs unilaterally. It's had me keeping my California Redwood legs in tact so far. My dad doesn't call me a tree trunk for nothing. With natural muscle, strength & cardio, you're looking at some solid boosting of testosterone and HGH. Our legs provide the means to develop our sex organs, energy and power. When you consistently train your legs (safely of course and not getting injured frequently), you're bringing more vitality and desire into play. Don't be surprised if you start to feel like a wild teenager again, it is possible. It's important that we can increase our testosterone as we age ( with the right tools and not always go to drugs) but we also don't want to overload it because too much testosterone isn't always a good thing. Work it until you reach a certain level and maintain that. Mine's in the normal range for men in my age group and normal to elite level of testosterone is around 300 and 1,000 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL); I'm in around the 350's so for 35-45, that's pretty good. It could be better with diet and intense training but take things one at a time. 

Training and eating good gives off incredible boosts but the type of training you do should be intense and rugged like Sprints, Isometrics, Strength Training whether with weights or bodyweight and doing enough to recover efficiently. The diet is not always easy especially if you're on a budget but if you keep the junk to a bare minimum if at all, stick with a good source of meats, eggs, certain fruits and veggies along with drinking plenty of water. We all have our vices but I do love a good steak and eggs or rice with some liquid IV for hydration or make bunless cheese burgers with eggs. I usually scramble my eggs or do them fried with butter. I' am getting a bit better to not eat a ton of bread or minimize a bit more than what I'm doing now. Heavily on the Carnivore type plan but I like my sandwiches and some good Tempura Shrimp & Fries from time to time. You don't want to completely deprive yourself, enjoy things every now and then. 

Overall, add Step Ups into your routine or do them by themselves it's up to you. Start with a few minutes doing 5-10 reps per leg continuously and start adding time. You can add reps especially if you want to test yourself (like with the deck of cards) but if you work 10-25 reps each leg and keeping doing that for up to 30 minutes straight, that's some awesome cardio. I've done 1000 total reps in 41 minutes so I think my cardio is right where it needs to be. Doing Supersets with them is just another addition to boosting your body's natural levels of hormones. 

Train with intent but also make it as enjoyable as possible. Be amazingly awesome. 

 

Results Of My Blood Tests

I didn't want to say anything until I got my results back but I had some blood tests done because I wanted to check where I'm at for Testosterone Levels in my age range and what I need to do to either maintain, improve or cut back on in order to be in the normal ranges. Quite frankly, I was surprised with the results.

They only told me one thing that was concerning and that was my triglycerides were a bit high which I kind of knew would be and just need to continue losing weight which is manageable and I already have set goals for where I want to be at. It was basically taking a look at my BMI which for the most part is pure bullshit because it doesn't take into account of muscle mass, just pure height and weight "charts". 

For my testosterone levels? I'm literally at the bare minimum for my age range which is 352-478, I'm at 353 which I'm actually really happy about. I could jack it up a bit and I have ideas on how to do it without that TRT and Steroids crap. For now, I'm just happy I'm in a good range for a 35-39 year old. All thanks to my training and utilizing the best methods to keep my body healthy and strong. From the research I've looked into, the numbers for a normal human being overall is 300-1000 and I'm at 353 so for a human being, that's pretty damn good. Hammers, Isometrics, Cables, Kettlebells, Slamballs, Step-Ups, Squats, Animal Moves and others have made this possible. I'm already losing weight since I've been at 270-275 and now I'm at around 257 and counting. 

I needed to find out where my levels were for the main reason because if it was too low, something needed to be done and I knew what I had to do. Since I'm actually in the normal, the best thing I can do is maintain it and keep losing weight which isn't the easiest for me but it is manageable and just need to make small changes to my eating that I'm happy to do. If I want to bring my testosterone up, I can with the right tools and eating habits along with training like I said. Training with intensity is a key and understanding how to utilize it with quality rest and recovery. HIIT is incredible for developing solid levels of Testosterone and HGH and no more than 3x a week is enough so go do Hill Sprints, Burpees and other explosive movements like slamming a medicine ball or a Sandbell, 10 on 20 off of Bear Crawling and workouts from Darebee would work as well. 

Loaded carries with Kettlebells, Dumbbells, Sandbells and Weight Vests build incredible bone strength and conditioning along with keeping great levels of testosterone. Being an active man does get the job done but it's not always that simple; quality rest, eating good are a priority but also your stress, your training and other things are all connected together to form a healthy lifestyle. 

For the rest of my results, not one fucking thing was concerning that came up, I have great cholesterol, my blood runs smoothly and efficiently, I have no problems with my cells, no suggestion of parasites and I don't have anything cancerous. Healthy as a fucking horse man. For those out there who may be reluctant to take a test like I did for so many years, get it done and see where you're at. Take care of yourself and do what you need to do to maintain, reduce or bring up. Your health matters and keep being amazingly awesome. 

If you're seeking some good suuplements to aid in building testosterone, check out Lost Empire Herbs & Funk Roberts' Sipplement Shop. These are high quality and believe me, I've used some stuff at LEH and they work. FR is one of the best trainers out there today and has some awesome stuff especially for those over 40 and beyond. 

Recent Workouts With The Weight Vest

 There are times you want to challenge yourself or take on a different approach to training to not only be stronger externally but also internally. This will be my last year in my 30's and I want to get a head start on developing stronger bones and tendons & ligaments. I'll still do some of the same things I'm currently doing but add a thing or two to really bust out some awesome strength & conditioning. 

As we get older, we want to maintain a solid level of testosterone and natural HGH to prevent strength loss, letting our bones get bridle and getting injured quicker. Some people take supplements while training, some train and just eat better and others do what's possible. Compared to those in their 50's, 60's and beyond, I'm still young but also need to wise up otherwise I could become another stereotypical older guy with injuries and talking about how great of shape I was in my 20's but can't do jack shit now that I'm older; I want to prevent that as much as possible. There are already many men my age who're already banged up, had more injuries that would make a pro wrestler smirk and have trouble going up a flight of stairs.

Lately, I've been in awe of some of the things Brooks Kubik is doing with his log walks, dragging them, carrying, holding in various positions and going for miles at a time. The man is in his mid-60's, that's insane. I've even seen a few people on my feeds using weight vests for training. Some are impractical and others are admirable but you can't deny the type of results you can get if done right. I've done Weighted Vest training before, mainly going on hikes and walks with my 40lber and even walked a couple miles with over twice that a time or two. It beats running and burns off way more than regular walking. 

A couple workouts I've done recently with my weight vest was carrying an implement while wearing the vest & doing step ups and just step ups with the vest. They were tough and took my training to a different level especially mentally. The first workout was back on the 24th where I did my 2x carry with a 70 lb Kettlebell and 20 step ups (10 each leg) for 20 min. nonstop but I also wore the vest. I would walk with a total of 110 lbs for ten yards, put the bell down, pick up with the other hand and walk another ten yards, put it down and do 20 step ups. Repeat this for 20 minutes without stopping, it's not as easy as it looks. The other workout was today doing as many step ups as I can while wearing the vest. In 22 min and 12 sec I did 416 step ups, that's a new PR for me. That's basically working with nearly 300 lbs of bodyweight when you add the vest. Gives you a different perspective on Strength & Cardio at the same time.

These workouts already feel incredible and knowing that I'm building my bone strength is a bonus. I didn't rush these and just went at a pace that I was comfortable at doing, as I get stronger, the pace may be faster but naturally faster. You never want to force anything. Train at a pace that you can do and then expand on it as you get better. Do you want to get too comfortable, no but you also don't want to be going speedy Gonzales and get hurt in the process. The idea is to train to prevent injuries, not cause them, that no pain no gain  thing is bullshit. 

Grab one of the best Vests on the market today with the Kensui Weight Vest where you can progressively add weight plates. Do all your bodyweight movements with this on to add some more strength based training to your regimen. The smallest loaded vest maxes out at 80 lbs and the highest loads up to 300 lbs (which quite frankly the only two people to ever be crazy enough to walk with that much weight was Bud Jeffries & Steve Justa). Use my Discount Code POWERANDMIGHT at checkout to get 10% OFF of these vests, you can save up to about $25 when you grab the 300 lb loader vest. Want to know how to utilize a simple progression system, grab Progressive & Weighted Calisthenics: Simple Bodyweight Exercises For Building Real Muscle and Strength by Red Delta Project. 

If you also want to add some awesome supplements to help aid in your strength training, snatch up some herbs from Lost Empire and at Funk Roberts' Supplement Shop. Be safe, get strong and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Maintaining Testosterone As We Age

As you know, testosterone is a steroid hormone that's necessary to maintain a healthy body in both men and women, far more so for us guys. It helps us keep our bones strong, our libido enhanced and strengthens our immune system. As we get older (35+), it starts to drift downward little by little each year, sometimes faster depending on our lifestyle choices or the body's inability to produce over time. Some people have a very healthy lifestyle and have solid levels of testosterone but also for others, even if they tried living with healthy choices like foods and exercise, it can still drift. It happens and the body can be unpredictable to how we react to certain things.

We mostly have this major increase in testosterone when we hit puberty. Remember those days, where even a kiss on the cheek from a pretty girl can make the soldier salute or if the wind blew a certain way? When it starts to go south, that's where a number of problems can occur like low sex drive, so tired consistently it's almost like you want to go into a deep sleep like Briar Rose from Sleeping Beauty and worst of all; losing our strength. Low testosterone can also increase chances of obesity.

We want to maintain it and keep it as high as we can regardless of how old we are. Now there's such a thing as having over-kill levels of testosterone which can make us either too aggressive to near violent and it can put us in dire strait on our body's system. It's about balance and hitting a solid high mark. Numbers can vary but we need to produce just enough to stay healthy. 

Certain factors beyond aging can develop low levels of testosterone such as negative stress, over-inducing alcohol, smoking (this includes Vaping), lack of training and use of steroids over an extended period of time. If changes need to made, do what's possible. Utilize High Intensity Interval Training 1-3x a week, be in fresh air more often, make dietary changes to where you're developing a greater form of eating protein in natural foods like meats, chicken (personally, T-Bone & Bison are awesome) and other foods. Training formats such as Sprint Training, Isometrics, Circuit Conditioning & Carrying Heavy Objects boost spikes of testosterone. 

Sometimes, guys need or could benefit from Supplements as long as they maintain healthy habits. It's that small extra push to drive into a touchdown of scoring levels of testosterone. Herbal Supplements such as Pine Pollen, Tongkat Ali & even something like Alpha MAX Test . With supplements utilizing as natural ingredients as possible, we can build on giving our body's it's natural release of testosterone without having to resort to steroids or Testosterone Replacement Therapy. Be mindful and keep an eye on your health especially in your sex organs. We want to keep that drive going and have powerful libidos, strength that lasts and energy that keeps us going for a long time. 

Be healthy guys and stay strong. Keep being amazingly awesome. 

Tire Cutting & Smashing With Authority

On Friday, I asked a neighbor of mine (let's call him Jay) to see if he had any tools that could cut my tire in half. He ended up getting the set he needed and was eager to get it going. He never cut a tire before and was willing to help me out. Took 3 saw heads and a butcher knife (Michael Myers eat your heart out) to get the thing cut. It was an enjoyment to say the least and I begged to repay him cause it wasn't an easy job and all he said was "that's what neighbors are for." There would've been too much money to spend on getting a half tire and ended up with two so there was that.

Hitting a half tire with sledgehammers is a more convenient way to get some bad ass training in without a huge tire taking up space and could be hauled easier to places like a park, parking lot, camping or wherever. The flatter surface has a better "bounce" which when hit consistently throughout a set can generate greater cardio benefits and anaerobic conditioning. You've seen my latest posts about Sledge Training from Big Bertha to the Thor Hammers and Big Barry (25 lber) and its benefits on strength, explosiveness and other things. It's taking your anger or aggression and using it productively cause life can be stressful and it's important to manage our emotions as best we can (I know I still have some learning to do).

We all need a release and it's a hell of a lot better than beating on objects or worse somebody else. Ever heard of these places where you pay to go smash shit up in a room? I've seen them from time to time in TV shows and movies. They're in various places around the country where you pay the price of basically a concert or sports ticket to go into a room for 15 minutes with a hammer and just smash the living hell out of everything in site (wearing protective gear including glasses so the shattered glass doesn't hit you). It's supposed to help with using your aggression in a different manner to just let everything out and get yourself to calm down. Some people find it helpful which I'm all for and it's a hell of a lot better than going home and beating up someone you love or destroying property somewhere but others like Psychologists tend to have mixed feelings because it's believed it promotes violence.

Now don't me wrong man, we are a species that is violent by nature and our animalistic instincts tend to get the best of us but also because of our complexity, there are certain aspects of our aggressive nature we still have yet to discover especially when it comes to our brains. When us guys have a very high level of testosterone, it does bring out that animalistic aspect of our DNA and can turn us into a vicious person at times. That's where when it gets to a point where aggression has overrun our other emotions and we can't stop it, it can turn so violent that it's possible to black out and not know what you have done once you've "woken back up" so do speak. 

Testosterone in men is a must obviously and being aggressive is part of our nature. We fight, we wrestle, our sex drive shoots through the roof and the dominant areas of our brain can overload our nervous system. The thing is, like everything else in life, there has to be a balance somewhere, a yin and yang. Too much testosterone and aggressiveness can be a bad thing. Now with that balance, every guy is different and his genetic makeup won't have the same impact as other men so it's important to find that balance even into the golden years. A solid peak of testosterone even at an older age can be a good thing doing physical stuff, great sex, eating real foods and other things. 

Training with Sledgehammers is a powerful way more than what is being seen in order to utilize our emotions, aggression and reproductive health in a positive manner. If you're on adrenaline too much and that level of emotion is so high it can be seen from outer space, you won't sleep optimally, the satisfaction of being calm isn't where its at and if you have that overload of needing to fight somebody and it consumes you, it could have you end up in places you don't want to be (mentally & physically). Exercise is one of those things to channel our nervous system to get stuff out of our system that balances us out. Is hitting a tire violently a good thing? In this manner yes because when you get so wrapped up and need a release it's a hell of a lot better for your health than keeping it held up and turning it into a possible criminal act later.

We do need to find a source to release that dopamine and make the most of what can be used productively to channel our aggression. It's important to not go so far to the point where your faculties aren't there anymore. Control the emotions you have as much as you can and use them when they're needed. We can't 100% not get emotional (unless you're a fucking robot) but it's important to instinctively be able to know when an emotion comes on and be aware of it. When I really need a release and get some of the aggression I'm feeling, get the hammer and tire out, put on some tunes and just whale on that damn thing, sets and reps don't exist, only going until my anger has subsided. 

This is just an idea of what you can do. I love using hammers and having a half tire is just another of platform of training used for health and balancing myself inside and out. It can be very meditative and that feeling at the end where you're blissed out of your skull and and you're full of smiles more than sadness or anger or even depression for that matter. This is my definition of getting high.

Find your resource to channel your aggression without hurting someone else or something that can break easy. Be strong and keep being Amazingly Awesome. 

Sprint 8 And Hammers

Being aggressive can be a good thing when you need to just let it out. Now we do need to control our aggression because we don't want to go as far as hurting someone or worse. Being productive in that is finding an outlet that will get shit out of your system safely and with good intentions. You can get into a fight but unless it's a last resort, we don't need to put anybody either the other person or ourselves in the hospital and regret getting that bill. 

Hammer Work is about as old school as you can get and there's a reason why it's one of the manliest things you can do. It builds Testosterone, it strengthens the tendons and ligaments, it's productive training and it freaks out Mormons (that last one was a joke). Let me give you a side story about the Mormon joke:

A while ago during a workout, I was using a deck of cards as my reps. Around the 5th card or so, these Mormon kids (one was in his mid 20's, the other was roughly a late teen) parked their car across the street and proceeded to go about their route to convert and spread the gospel of the Church Of Latter Day Saints (the church is literally right next to the complex). I was the first person they approached and one of them wanted to try out the hammer I was using (Big Barry 25 lbs). He liked it and gave a good critique on it as he did a couple swings (now remember, these guys are in nice shirt and ties with slacks on). I figured, I'd mess with them for a bit and brought out Big Bertha the 73 lb Hammer. The older of the two widened his eyes and said "you've got a bigger hammer than this thing" and I had him try it out. Didn't tell him how much it weighed, could barely even pick it up and couldn't swing it. He asked if I could do it and I did about 6-8 reps without breaking a sweat and he literally shouts out "HOLY CRAP" and the other kid whispered "holy shit" or something like that. Now imagine making two guys who are spreading Mormonism who've learned not to say certain aspects of language in their religion saying two aspects of words that would get them in trouble for saying them yet it took one big ass hammer to make them do that. That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen happen. That hammer freaked them out that much to resort to that.

Back to the article at hand....

Regardless of the rep/set scheme you use, hammers can do wonders for your conditioning and building muscle. Today I wanted to try out the Sprint 8 Protocol which was rep out something for 30 seconds on, 90 seconds off for 8 rounds. It was a pretty damn good workout and got me breathing hard and I can feel it in my forearms. The pump feels awesome. I've tried various styles of exercise with this method of training from animals to burpees to sprinting in place and others but the Hammer version felt great and was well rested and would go hard as I can each set. You get so many benefits out of it than just firing up the lungs, you build strength, grip, speed, conditioning, cardio and other kick ass things. 

The Sprint 8 Program in this day and age is more on the use of machines like treadmills, ellipticals and other things of that sorts and the course promotes mainly on those to help sell machines. Now does this mean the program isn't useful? Of course it is, you don't need a machine to kick your ass with this workout. Hell from what I understand Dr. Laurence Moorhouse created a similar program decades ago and worked for a lot of people. This program is done no more than 3x a week in my opinion but this method has people going up to almost 5x a week and I don't find that practical or safe because depending on the exercises you use and speed regardless of the rest period, you still need to recover from it. You can do other stuff on the off days for sure just not as intense. Recovery is what promotes growth and I'm talking optimal, not to the degree where you bust your ass on this workout than not do a damn thing for a month. 

Using hammers for this method, use a hammer that gives you the right amount of speed that will get you breathing hard, I would say anywhere from 10-30 lbs would be good for most. If you got the strength to use a heavier hammer than the weights I just mentioned and the speed of it is there, use it if you wish but the heavier you go, the slower the movement will be. Be wise and don't hurt yourself.

If you want a solid supplement to help boost testosterone as you follow this program, grab some Pine Pollen, Stag Swag or get a Tincture Bundle to really get things cooking.  

Be strong, get conditioned and be Amazingly Awesome.

Is Sledgehammer Training A Key To Youthfulness?

The simplest things tend to be the most overlooked or the most underrated because it's not shiny or extraordinary but yet when they happen, the simple things become incredible to do. We're always looking for that fountain of youth and finding ways to feel and look younger, have energy like we did as a teenager or be able to recover quick. One of the simplest forms of training is using a sledgehammer.

In most cases, working with a hammer is about as old school as you can get. The swing, the thrust and the smashing is all taken back to the days of hard labor, men like Lawrence Farman whom made his living smashing up rock and stone, fighters that smash a tire in order to develop their explosiveness and conditioning, boxers like the late Earnie Shavers used Sledge Training & Wood Chopping in order to develop his punching power which he said himself increased as much as 25%; Muhammad Ali himself had said Shavers had one of the hardest punches he ever faced. 

A great perk of Sledge Training is the maintaining or increasing testosterone naturally. Chopping Wood has been known to give us guys that feeling of manhood and being able to last in the bedroom, now think of a sledgehammer. That surge of power, hormones coursing through your blood and having strength that could kill. It's that feeling like you're a god among men. Youthfulness can have many factors such as testosterone, looking rugged, energy that lasts and being almost injury-proof. Sledge Work can be back breaking but there is a progression in the recreational style and reduce injuries along with keeping the back and spine healthy. 

Another perk is the development of your grip. Working with even a 25 lb sledge over the course of a workout will tax your grip like a motherfucker. You don't have to squeeze the handle as hard as an Ironmind Gripper but you do need to grip hard enough to control the hammer as you're training. Over time, that grip strength can carryover to other things and somebody will feel it when you shake hands with them. The heavier the hammer, the stronger your grip has to be and your body is in control because one wrong move and you can really hurt your yourself. 

Most of the average Sledge Strikers work with hammers ranging from 10-25 lbs. This isn't a knock to anyone and even those weights can turn someone into a machine. Some of us like to go a little higher and testing our strength mainly to see what our bodies are capable of. So far my highest weight and repping it is around 73 lbs. Guys like Nick Nilsson (The Mad Scientist) aren't even human and has repped out a 100 lb hammer and he's roughly 10-15 lbs lighter than me. Bud Jeffries had done 1000 rep workouts with a 40 lb. hammer and we all know the type of strength and conditioning that beast of a man had. Doing reps with a really heavy hammer is a whole other ball game and the amount of power you generate from it, just gives off incredible production of strength.

With lighter hammers, you can go for quite a while and still get incredible results. This is a great training tool to really pack on some muscle and get in cardio shape at the same time. Be strong, slam hard and be amazingly awesome. 

Stronger Bones & Sexual Health Using Powerful Herbs

Getting older can suck but it doesn't have to be. We can still manage if not produce awesome levels of testosterone and power up our bones with the right things. We wouldn't think these two ideals could co-exist with each other or even have a relation to one another even though some of the same hormones affect them. From a Chinese perspective, the two are not just interlinked intimately because of the relationship with Jing but also when you consider that Jing covers both bone and reproductive health. 

Tongkat Ali has been a hell of a pick when it comes to these two and studies have shown what TA's affects on testosterone but also the relation to Bone Health. The positive results were astounding. Another bad ass herb is the Horny Goat Weed.

More studies shown around specifically for Bone Loss, one could take a look at the "active" constituent icariin (it's a mouthful when you read it LOL). There's also been studies done for Post-Menopausal Women where it's common to develop Osteoporosis. It gave the fact that Horny Goat Weed has phytoestrogens and a high potential to help with Bone Growth.

Should us guys run from something like that? Hell no. Both testosterone and estrogen are part of the hormone balancing in both men and women. For women it's finding the balance of utilizing more estrogen yet it's the other way around for us men who need a balance of testosterone that consists of a higher percentage than estrogen. Both sexes need both in some format, hate to break it to you. We need that balance to maintain or develop greater Bone Health & Sexual Health. 

There's also the mighty Cistanche; the herb known as the "stalk enlarger" that shows evidence of Bone Strengthening. Oddly enough, although you can take these herbs one at a time, they're also 3 of the 5 incredible ingredients in the combined herbal product Thor's Hammer. Sure it's used more to help with sex but it could be a great thing for Bone Health as well. You could also look into Pearl Powder and check out the benefits of this. 

That's the one side of the coin for building Bone Health, another side would be doing exercises in Partials such as weight training. Partial Lifting is a hell of an idea on developing stronger bones, not to mention the level of testosterone you can build up. Guys like Bud Jeffries, Paul Anderson and other incredibly powerful strongmen used Partial Training to not only increase their actual lifts but also strengthen the tissue to make those lifts go with limited chances of injury. Check out Bud Jeffries' book on Partial Training and you'll see what I mean. The hormonal effects on this method are astounding. 

Last thing that builds incredible Bone Health & Sexual Health is the simple use of Vitamin D that also consists of hormonal signals as well. Go out and get some sun, get in the habit of spending quality time outside in nature and let the rays hit you (not too much though). Doing all these things should give you an amazingly awesome foundation.    

Circuit Training & The Benefits That Come With It

Circuit Playouts go beyond just moving from one exercise to the other and moving as quickly as possible. The ability to train the body through different tempos and form is a top quality to acquire but at the same time, it's critically important to be aware of breathing and the speed to push through with the best intentions. It challenges your conditioning but it also challenges how you breathe and move throughout a single circuit to multiple rounds.

I have mostly done circuits in the 6-9 range of exercises and do my best to get in 5-10 rounds depending on my mood, the shape i'm in at the time and the difficulty the exercises are. If you're an athlete training for a sport say like MMA, Wrestling, Football, Hockey; you want to be able to move as quickly as possible with limited rest periods between circuits and be able to withstand even great stress. What this teaches is that if you can push through a tough circuit multiple times with very little rest, you can handle extremely well in a competitive environment. However, not all of us can have that luxury because for the average person, pushing that hard can lead to many physical problems and your oxygen levels become more depleted than accustomed to over time.

I believe circuit training can be very beneficial but for the sake of health purposes and a goal to build up strength & endurance over time, its important to focus on the 3 main factors to take on high levels of conditioning; breath control, muscular control (solid form) & tempo. If you move too fast too quickly, your body will shut down in a negative way and you'll need more time to recover, if you move too slow or the playout isn't quite right or not enough you won't make the progress you want. It's like the Goldilocks & The Three Bears concept, there's too much, not enough and there's that one that fits you perfectly. This is where experimentation and focus on how your body operates and is leveled to a particular easy or advanced playout.

Everyone is different so build up to what works best for you and adjust according to your level. On some days it's good to back off and do lesser rounds but on your energetic days you can go for as many as 10-20 rounds if you wish. I also believe in how your energy plays out in this type of training. Pushing to the absolute limit can really deplete your energy levels and you won't be boosting hormones at a great rate; matter of fact your hormones and testosterone levels can drop if you do too much. When your energy levels are leveled to where you can be energized during and after a circuit playout can have a great deal of benefits when done correctly. Circuits can be a powerful way to surge growth hormone, testosterone, strength endurance & energetic properties that lead to greater recovery and accumulate amazing muscle definition & natural muscle mass. It wouldn't matter if its weight lifting, bodyweight, cables or whatever; if you can use the energy to your advantage and use the right form of leverage to where you can be as strong going in as you are coming out of it you're still having a great deal of power throughout your circuit training.

Bodyweight circuits are the best in my opinion because not only can you do them practically anywhere but you learn the sensitivity at a greater rate of your body moves freely than by moving weights because with weights eventually you're moving with the weight instead of moving freely on your own. Be simplistic using pushing, squatting, ab play and some grip to get the most out of your training. You can supplement other exercises but stay with the fundamentals and you'll never go wrong.

Get Them Legs Moving

            For most of us guys, our legs were meant to be strong, powerful and muscular, not look like a bird. I've seen guys in the gym, at parks and other places where their upper bodies look like they were made out of granite but from the waist down, they look like a flamingo on a bad day. Granted I understand for some people, muscle isn't built that easily but yet some have pretty damn strong tendons and a body that is more ripped, defined and looking like iron cords but yet at the same time, they’re still strong in some form or another.

            To get an understanding of how the legs are vastly important, when done right and at a certain pace that’s built up, the legs are the very core to our fertility and our growth hormone levels that help burn fat, build muscle, recover faster, burn calories and balanced increase in Testosterone. Ever heard of the Satyr Pan? He is one hell of a god (or deity whatever stories you read). He can teach us more on leg training than most care to learn but for certain reasons, we would rather give him crap for his lust, uncontrollable sex drive and for “looking like the devil.” In the stories I've read, he has a passion for life and loves the ladies (in this case Nymphs) but he also teaches us how to be free and explore our true selves while being happy and living with gusto and virility. In my opinion, when it comes to leg training, he shows more on how to gain “Our loins” than anybody else by dancing, having a zest for life from within and building our testosterone levels that can go to great lengths without the need for drugs or any of that crap.

            Powerful legs go a long way (literally and figuratively) because we follow them wherever we go, we walk, we run and we even them to exploit our “Assets” in the media. Think about it, for women, legs are the very foundation to get someone’s attention, beautiful and lithe legs with a great waistline and a beautiful butt. For guys, our legs are the key to gaining virility, super strength and boost in natural growth hormone that builds muscle, loses fat, gain strength and testosterone that shoots through the roof more than any lethal injection combined because it gives that natural balance in muscle and tendon strength.

            Think of the energy you can possess if you used real, basic leg training that gives you a meaning to your life, be able to run, jump, squat, dance and be able to live with strength, unimaginable endurance and a love from within that has you smiling without thinking twice about it. Real physical power comes from the legs and it can open the door to health and fitness like you've never had before. Build up patiently and you’ll see the many wonders of health and strength from using your legs.

Tips For Boosting Testosterone Without Steroids

          Many athletes today use those dumb and overwhelming dangerous steroid methods to boost their career stats, recover quicker, heal faster yet it’s slowly killing them. This isn't just for athletes but with men and women, who want to look better, feel like their invincible and will help them get noticed quicker because of its “anti-aging” affects. Why rely on something that is dangerous to your health when there are ways to boost yourself naturally and more safely.

            Your Willpower is like a steroid if you learned how to use it right, when you put your internal strength at a level that gives you that boost of adrenaline, fire and the desire to create instant magic. Imagine being able to create thoughts and make them into actions that can help you be successful in just about every endeavor you desire. As an athlete, you want to boost better running, jump higher, recover quicker, hit more homeruns, score more touchdowns and even win a medal at the Olympics. In fitness, being strong and fit is a major desire for just about everyone but some prefer one over the other. To be strong and fit, you think into what you want, use what’s called Theater Of The Mind to picture yourself as if you were watching your own movie, a movie that has a story to tell, that breaks into the very core of what you want to achieve. If you learn it right for you, you can create just about anything you want.

            One of the key ingredients to successful testosterone boosting is using the strength and power of your legs. Your legs are the very foundation for a youthful body that strives to become not only fit, but crazy strong. When I talk about leg training, I’m not referring to jumping up and down on a Taebo or a P90X video; I’m referring to building strong and powerful legs through basic elements that give you strength, stamina and flexibility. Squats are incredible and with certain ones especially that fit to your interests and your structure, you can boost levels of natural growth hormone you never expected to get.

            For men, picture having strong and mighty legs that can go distances, have strong tendons that can carry over to lifting and/or carrying heavy objects, climbing with ease and have endurance like crazy, for women, picture having sexy and head turning legs that are lithe, beautiful and strong that can make you outrun most men if you’re in danger, having great flexibility that even gymnasts would be impressed by. It’s all within your reach if you want it bad enough, to develop that mind/muscle connection internally without ever needing something dangerous can kill you more than help you in the long-run (pun intended).

            For some, people use cardio to get fit, others use high intensity training. I feel both are essential but yet the shorter the better. They each have pros and cons but each one has more to offer than you realized. I’m not talking about walking on a treadmill or running 10 miles a day, what I want you to know is that cardio can mean different things for example, if you’re doing circuit training for say like 30 min. and it keeps your heart rate at your peak levels, that’s cardio.

            High Intensity Training is a bit different, your workouts are shorter and you bring more of the muscle fibers into play that normally won’t work in the cardio sense. An example of this would be Sprints, you run at a high speed for a certain short period of time say like for no more than 30 seconds. You won’t be running at full 100% of your speed because that can last only for a couple seconds because everything that is fired in won’t have that long to tangle with. Doing sprints at 4-10 sets is great and you don’t need to do them everyday, no more than 2-3 times a week and this alone can burn fat faster, boost metabolism, raise your growth hormone up to 10 times more than the latest steroid injection or pill.

            My last tip for now is the use of Cold Showers. This method has been used for countless centuries and for good reason. You see, hot water back in the old days was more of a luxury than anything else because unless you found a place that has hot water like in the springs or something, you would most likely have used cold water. Let me rephrase the first thing here sorry, I meant to say Cold Water Therapy. Cold Showers is more or less than a couple hundred years but Cold Water like Ice Baths or being under a waterfall or jumping in a cold lake/ocean is more likely to happen. This method helps your body in more ways you can imagine.

            It sucks jumping into cold water or has it poured on you but it builds mental strength just as much as it could help you in a physical sense. When you’re cold water, your body heat shifts into overdrive and unlike hot water which hits the skin more, cold water hits the skin but your body heat shifts more to the organs to keep you warm. When you feel like you’re having a heart attack and you’re breathing heavy, that’s what the heart and lungs are doing to keep you warm. When this breathing happens, it feels like you’re going through hell and like a workout it puts you into another state of mind. Deep breathing in Cold Water brings a whole new way of thinking into your body, letting it work for you and feeling like you can take on the world. Cold Water can help you burn fat; lose weight, build definition in the muscles because of the involuntary muscle contraction and it teaches you to build your body internally. It’s very relaxing afterwards and it gives you a sense of clarity and peacefulness, also it wakes your ass up quicker than a slap in the face.

            Treasure these tips, not many want to reveal these to you because they feel if they keep it to themselves they’ll feel like they’re better than you and you’re inferior to them. I don’t want to do that to you, I want to help you and give you ways to help yourself and build strength in as many ways as possible naturally and without doing anything dangerous or put you in a state of fear. Be smart but also be tough and have fun.

The Cold Shower Effect

            Recently I just got back into testing out cold showers because of the pop up articles about them lately. Right now it’s to mostly help my recovery from intense workouts and build up my immune system for the winter months here in Idaho. It gets down to as low as 8 degrees at night and the highest this week has been no more than 25-30 so safe to say it gets fucking cold.

            As I experiment with this and so far I love it, it’s one of the best methods to increase your health and vitality. The shock of the water hitting your body can be a bit dramatic for some people but what that’s doing is amping up the heat in your body and move it towards the organs and keep them strong and healthy. When you have strong powerful organs especially the heart and kidneys, you are charging up your body like never before. Think about it, this intense form of therapy can actually make you stronger and more mentally tough.

            One of the very best benefits of cold water therapy (especially for us guys) is the increase of our metabolism and testosterone increase. When you are in a cold shower and it’s hitting you all over the place you have no choice but to breathe hard. Breathing deeply and hard like you are training increases the chance of burning off fat and as you as your body tries to stay warm it’s burning off more calories which can lead to weight loss, bodyfat decrease and at best bring your testosterone up a notch which helps increase lean muscle and take away the fat we don’t want. Screw steroids and PEDs take a cold shower damn it and be a man.

            That old saying from Farmer Burns “Deep breathing alone can make many a weak man strong and many a sick man well.” He made that comment more than 100 years ago and it’s as true today as it was back in his time. When you breathe deeply, you open the lungs and you increase your capacity to sustain great energy and stamina. When you hop in that cold shower and you’re forced to breathe deeply, it becomes apparent that your body is not only getting stronger it’s getting stronger from within which is more important than always focusing on the outside. Deep Breathing allows you to keep going in your activity or whatever you’re doing throughout the day. It builds that inner power within you to live life with peacefulness and bliss.

            Cold showers isn't a new thing, it’s been around since the dawn of man, jumping into cold lakes, rivers and bathing in the treacherous winters has been the stuff of legends. In Japan, masters and students would stand under a waterfall that is ice cold to help cleanse their spirit, in Finland they would sit in the sauna for a time then immediately go out and roll in the snow and jump in the freezing lake. Athletes have used ice baths to help their recovery from workouts and decrease the chance of soreness.

            It’s important to keep natural remedies as possible in this pharmaceutical and technological world of ours because when it comes to the human body, it’s one of the most fascinating elements in our universe and however it was created, we must protect it from harmful affects which are practically everywhere so do the best to your abilities. Be open to becoming a little more natural, you’d be surprised what can happen when you put it into a positive realm.  

Thoroughbred Legs Are The Driving Force

            They say if you have strong legs, you have a stronger body. When it comes down to it, our legs are the driving force for superhuman conditioning. In football, you need strong and fast legs to run down the field, in basketball, you need quick footwork in order to defend or move with the ball, in Baseball; your hips and legs help hit homeruns and steal bases and also running down the ball for a diving catch. If you’re in the military, we need our legs to carry our comrades, our equipment and to run down the enemy in combat. Law Enforcement needs strong legs to take down suspects in the toughest of situations. Let’s face it; our legs are our best weapons.

            In mythology, one of the strongest deities is the Satyr Pan. Although he has a reputation for having a crazy sex-drive and having courting many nymphs, he’s one of the strongest and most agile creatures in the stories. His entire lower body is that of a goat which gives him a distinct advantage in running down his enemies but also defend himself with powerful legs. He is a symbol of virility and superhuman leg strength. Our legs give off more energy than just about everywhere else in the human body because it is the center of our hormones.

            Our legs are the center of our hormones. If you do it right, we give off natural growth hormone which helps us in health, vitality, strength, stamina and an increase of testosterone. For men this is crucial and it’s important to put in good amount of time dedicated to leg training. Our bodies shift into overdrive when you use our legs. One of the key ingredients for mighty legs is to do sprints. For up to no more than 30 seconds we run down somewhere as fast as we can muster. Marathon training is good in some cases but if you want lean muscle mass than you better move fast. Like the Satyr, Animal Training is very good in increasing your testosterone levels to a great degree, say like doing frog jumps, duck walks, running like a bear or sprinting like an Emu, these will create a shift in the body that will develop powerful muscle but increase your conditioning at the same time.

            The foundation for powerful legs is the Squat. You don’t need to lift weights to get an awesome leg workout but with the right tools, you can have that option and is just as powerful. Bodyweight Squats however give off more hormone induced energy in my opinion because there are many ways to do a squat but if you do them in high numbers, a Satyr might have some stiff competition. Another great form of training to get your legs going is doing Isometrics. When you do Leg Isometrics, you’re working the body from all sorts of angles and strengthening the tendons and ligaments that keep the body together. Imagine being on the gridiron and pivoting, running and moving in a diagonal direction on the field and never getting injured because of your strong tendons.

            How many injuries can you count where an athlete or the average person got injured and it was due to torn muscles and ripped tendons in the legs? Countless. I definitely share some ground with this from my injury back in 2005. I had to rebuild my body from scratch and constantly had to work my legs to where it was pain-free. To this day I still have some discomfort because of the rod and pins holding my bones together but can still knock out over 100 squats without batting an eye and maintain great flexibility in my legs that I could never do when I was in my teens. Take the time to work on your legs. For women, you want those sleek and toned but strong legs, squat and get in some leg work because strong legs create a strong person. If you got legs, make them super strong, fast, agile and powerful because it becomes crucial when you need them the most.