Developing The Ability To Create Any Workout You Want

 Fundamental training entities is a fascinating study of developing not just knowledge but actively participating. Most people who work out only go with what's in the gym and stick to that mindset where you can go to a place where "everything" you need is right there and don't need to think of anything other than what you're doing. That's one side of the coin to what you can apply to when you have the idea of working out.

The gym can be a great place to go to and get away from the world for a little while, it's like a safe space and you share it with like minded people, for many that's more than enough for them but there's more to it than just going to a building to build your body for whatever purpose. Physical Culture is it's own Universe, it has worlds, styles of exercise, colorful characters and different areas of what is the best.

I first picked up a weight in PE way back in 1997, think it was a 35-40 lb Dumbbell and although I wasn't hooked at the time, it did start something that evolved my development into what I do today. Back then, I was just a 13 year old kid going through many things besides Puberty and wasn't THAT interested in weights and didn't even know the words Physical Culture or the names of the old timers existed. Had no idea what I was doing and just mimicked those around me. By high school, I was still greener than grass when it came to the weight room and although I picked up a few things from my teacher who was an army dude back in the day and the Baseball coach, I just couldn't figure out what to really do with the stuff I was doing. I was naturally strong, at least to some of the guys, but had no one to give me the finer points of a rep/set scheme or work with me with REAL technique practice. I just lifted and did random number of reps with whatever I can work with. Felt like a fish out of water most of the time.

When I got out of high school by '03, I had some knowledge under my belt but something hadn't kicked in yet. I picked up a few books and one of them had articles Brooks Kubik wrote about thick bar training and there was some bodybuilding stuff but I still haven't quite picked up on things that would make me an athlete or even just a strong guy, I was lifting good weight but had no idea how to handle circuits or splits training and had no knowledge of the 5x5 system or that great of technique. Wasn't until my accident that something inside of me wanted to learn EVERYTHING about training starting with just bodyweight. 

Over the course of my self-rehab, I just dove into things and picked the brains and paid attention to my friends Logan Christopher & Tyler Bramlett. Logan lived about a mile or so down the road from me and Tyler lived literally two doors down from me. Went over to his house a lot and saw what he was doing with bodyweight stuff, kettlebells and the like. I just began to absorb whatever they were doing like a sponge and was still adamant about bodyweight training cause at the time, I was told it was the best style of training. Within a couple years after my accident, I had more knowledge on bodyweight training, Physical Culture and the old time strongmen feats than I did all the 6 years prior to picking up that fucking dumbbell LOL. 

This isn't to brag or to tell you I'm just some bookworm and workout guy, this was my life and I studied everything I can possibly do to study and practice. This wasn't an overnight thing, it took me years to develop all this and it took patience, determination, mental strength & physical application to be able to create any workout I want from anywhere I want. It's like a second language to me and that's where I like helping people who have struggled for years to understand or even believe the gym is the only place to train. The world is your gym, it's a matter of how to apply it to any environment you're in. Doesn't matter if you have equipment or just yourself, you can develop knowledge to train with anything you put your mind to even if it's nothing but 4 walls and a floor. 

Yes it took me nearly 30 years to build this knowledge but you don't have to go that long to build it, I can give you resources and ideas that can help you get into that mindset far quicker than I ever did, I want to point you in the direction that leads to a better you, practice what is useful to you and the rest will fall into place. Keep being amazingly awesome and you got this. 

Why Dopamineo Bands Are Great For Those Over 40

 Getting older can suck at times depending on how you live but it doesn't mean you can't build a better quality of life after a certain age. Some people believe they peaked in high school, others in their 20's and 30's but very few (more than past generations at least) believe you stop at 40 and just live it out the rest of your life. One of the greatest legends and one of the last of the oldtime strongmen Slim The Hammerman once said he didn't even peak at 40. He said between his years of 40-50, he felt like he was invincible and dangerous. That's a bold statement considering what he put himself through day after day working as a back breaking stone cutter with a 16 lb hammer and on top of performing the heaviest sledgehammers that to this day almost nobody can match.

Athletes as they age do tend to wind down after years of hard training in certain sports but it doesn't mean they should stop living. We keep driving to be better, make adjustments if we have to but train to keep our quality of life going. We won't always be able to do the same things when we were younger but we can create new possibilities and keeping our joints healthy is one of those steps to making that happen.

I knew going into being 40 that there are things that won't value my style of training but I can create new possibilities and keep testing things out and as it turns out, I'm doing things I wasn't doing in my 30's. Never imagined training hard with a heavy 100+ lb sandbag at 40 or carrying a kettlebell for hundreds or even 1000 yards or more without putting it down. One of the best pieces of equipment I love using and have been using it off and on for a year now is the Dopamineo Band. At first it was to help heal a sciatica injury, than it became something to do for conditioning and now it's basically to not only condition my body but to help keep my joints and muscles healthy. You've seen some of the workouts I do with that thing and it hasn't slowed me down. 

The band is more than just a tool, it's a saver for those who are working around injuries, do drills in some format to keep up with what they did for wrestling or fighting back in the day or to maintain health and stamina after years on the field, the mat or whatever. It gives off that youthful feeling of having great energy, natural dopamine levels, better breathing and being more mobile. You can take it anywhere with you and use it as warm up, a finisher or as a stand alone in addition to your regular routine. It doesn't take long to do, you can get a killer workout in within 15-30 minutes and be spanked but in a good way. The cardio you get alone is often times better than just running on a treadmill, you can switch up exercises on a dime and never be bored. You can make it as tough or as easy as you want it and build a foundation for a better healthy body.

One of my favorite exercises is what's called the Chest Pull Wave or Creating Waves With A Pull In that works the arms, shoulders and back along with working the stability muscles in your core. It's a hell of an arm conditioner and with the intensity and pace to create waves consistently, it builds incredible stamina and lung power. Wrestlers do this as a finisher to keep up their conditioning or use as part of a post practice workout to make sure they have that extra boost for matches later on. From a fitness standpoint, it's a great way to build long term strength in the arms and build muscle in the core and back. 

Being active in your later years is essential to maintain healthy levels of hormones, heart & lungs, serotonin and brain function. Intense exercise adds a great element to being in that active state but it doesn't mean you go so hard that you're dying at the end. Always have gas in the tank and progress little by little. I love Circuit Training and working with 5 exercises or so for 10 rounds with little to no rest so I don't waste time. I want to be done with a workout as soon as possible and on some days I'll do DDP Yoga for longer periods of time so I can maintain flexibility but with Circuits, it is intense, hard and there's no safety zone or net to save you. 

One workout I did with the Dopa Band just a couple days ago or so, I did a HIIT type workout where I took 5 exercises for 1 minute on, 15 seconds off each and did that 4 times for a total of approx 25 min for the whole workout. It was brutal, sweating like crazy and felt a high that was amazing. Never did that level of intense training before and there were times where I wanted to quit but kept going. It's not an everyday thing but going that hard and still having some energy left is just beautiful man. That's one of the very best things about this style of Band Training, you can mimic just about any machine in the gym or work on drills for sparring to keep your stamina up or even use it in addition to your current routine and use it for rest periods between sets for your gym exercises. 

The sky is the limit, be creative and utilize simple techniques so you can get the most out of a workout. When you get a band, you can gain access to a variety of videos and tutorials to give you insights on how you can use the band to your advantage. The band is made for those in certain weight classes like in MMA so you can get the benefit of training with something meant just for you and your goals. Become more mobile, build strength that lasts and have the stamina of someone in their 20's. Workout at home, the park, in a hotel room, at the beach, on break at work, on vacation or wherever. Make it work for you.

As a token of my gratitude as you took the time to read this, if you're interested in purchasing a band or a bundle, I have a discount code you can use that saves you a few bucks or more off the regular price for them. At the checkout punch in the code POWERANDMIGHT to get 10% OFF. There's bands made for kids, there's bundles you can find for Group Classes, MMA Programs, High School/Youth/College Wrestling Programs, A Family Bundle for you, the wife and kids so you can all get fit together and more. Keep the quality of life alive and get the most out of your training so you can still do amazing things for many years to come. 

Have an amazingly awesome day and keep killing it. 

A Gym That Fits In A Corner

 The fitness "influencers" these days like to give people the notion of getting fit in order to look pleasing when in reality, the only thing that looks good is how they "apply" exercises that only takes a person so far and only makes it work in the gym. These men and women who most of the time on Social Media either show off their ass or how bad ass they look doing exercises that in more ways than one are way too advanced for the average person. Basics and Simplicity are thrown out the window faster than Superman.

What really gets to me at times is that these kids (Yeah I' am reaching THAT age) don't have the slightest clue on how to apply any real training that is sustainable let alone understand the old school methods and folks in classic books. I'm all for wanting to make a living and promoting yourself and others but there's a breaking point. You don't want to cross that line where it becomes more of a fantasy than what it really is. If you're going to teach others how to train, I believe in teaching not only the basics but the ideals and realistic approaches to training no matter where a person works out, not just in the gym itself.

I'm not the best on how to teach people in a gym because I don't train in one very much anymore as it is but I do know the basics and how to use certain equipment because I learned how to use them and studied the old school training tools. I do however prefer the minimal equipment (Sandbags, Hammers, Cables, Wheels etc.) and use equipment that are utilized regardless if you're at home or traveling. You learn to use what's available even if it's your own bodyweight. I say to this day, if you can put a gym into a small corner that is cost effective, you're golden. You don't need machines that cost thousands of dollars a piece, hell the most expensive piece of equipment I have cost less than 350 dollars and can do more than a 2000 dollar machine can ever do. 

A gym doesn't even need to be surrounded in a corner, it can be put into a small traveling bag like for resistance cables and Isometric Straps. Less than 5 pounds worth and you can still get the workout of your life in. Some guys like to have barbells and dumbbells set up in their garage which is awesome because Strength Training wise, they can be the best pieces you have and even more so if you use Fat Gripz attached to them, I'm all for that but many in the fitness world have a one track mind and don't think 4th Dimensionally (Like Doc Brown tells Marty in Back To The Future 3). When you start thinking unconventionally with an imagination along with being as safe yet challenged, there's a whole world that can be opened up and you don't have to think like the gym is the only place to go to train. 

Some people see the gym as a therapeutic entity which I understand and I'm all for wanting to better yourself and getting out there and doing what you want to do for your physical and mental health but most of the time, people are conditioned to believe that a building full of equipment is the only way to train and outside of that, very little will work which is complete bullshit. I've reached a point in my life where if I wanted to workout at gym, I'll know exactly the type of equipment to use or adapt very fast to ones I've never done before and make it work but I don't have to do that out of necessity, I can come up with a workout in any environment I choose and that's what I want to help people understand. It doesn't matter if you have a 10 x 10 space or have a wilderness to use, exercise can be done anywhere you choose with the right knowledge and mechanics. I like the gym in a corner because I can pick out what I want and just roll with it and get something awesome out of it. 

Training is about self discovery, being creative and having the discipline & drive to train with anything you set your mind to. There's always a way to train but it starts in the mind first and then making the effort to use what's available whether it's just you or a fucking boulder in front of you. Do we need "influencers", in some cases yes because they can be teachers of what not to do and learn from the original influencers that didn't even use supplements let alone steroids. Seriously, I'll take someone like Brooks Kubik or Matt Schifferle & Bud Jeffries over just about 95% of the "trainers" today. 

Be amazingly awesome and absorb fitness with an open mind and not something that only uses a building for.