Ben's Power And Might Writings

Friday, July 6, 2012

Do This, Do That…You Know What Screw It

I really get pissed sometimes when I hear people tell others what they should or shouldn’t do because they feel they’re right and you’re wrong. Certain personal trainers just don’t really care about what the person they’re teaching is really fitness. I’ve even heard some trainers who have had previous injuries tell some poor shmuck how to do an exercise that got the trainer injured in the first place. What’s the deal with that?

The real opportunities come with a feeling of learning to do something for you. Becoming your own trainer is like learning to be your own boss, you control certain things and you use the best resources to get your job done, unlike trying to be someone else and busting your ass so much, you forget what’s really important and that’s you. Idolizing a certain method or trainer isn’t a bad thing but remember to find out what works for you and find something that suits you.

There are experts, and then there are “experts.” The difference between the two is that experts show the real side to having fun exercise and teach you to find who you are mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The “Experts”, steal your money and if they’re in shape, they make you feel worse and brainwash you into thinking their method is the end all be all, plus some guys aren’t even in that decent of shape and yet still have an ego the size of Candlestick Park.

Learning for yourself and your goals are more important than trying to follow someone’s exact program. You can learn exercises but you need to find how they are suited for you. I hate routines with a passion, I get bored easily and I need something to keep me interested so I would do certain exercises I’m in the mood to do and go with it. If you like a routine that’s great but build ones that suit your goals best.

If you want real results, doesn’t matter if its in a gym, your house or the park for that matter, use basic elements and have fun with what you have and don’t let anyone give you crap about it. Learning to use what you’ve learned to help reach your goals gives you more power than any trainer who gives crap about this or that, many guys are one dimensional and they don’t think outside the box, the day you can think outside the box, you’ll be on your way to becoming a master of your own endeavor. Take a step back and learn from as many people as you can and find the best resources that suit for you and yourself only.

Being a first rate individual as oppose to a second rate know it all, remember the expert vs. “expert”, is not very common and when you learn to be different, you’re finding what’s more important. Bruce Lee’s philosophy was that to be the best you can be, you must find yourself and learn how to use your whole being as if it was different from everyone else. Self Mastery is a rewarding goal and being different out of the norm and telling those that this is right or that is wrong to screw off because you are better than that. We have the same muscles, same two eyes, two legs and arms so what’s so different of having two sides of the same coin. You’re getting greater benefit becoming your own trainer than to completely follow someone else. Find who you are and dare to be different.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

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.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Swimming, Nail Bending & Isometrics

So far across the country, the summer is in full blossom, heading to the beach, hiking, running, playing and plenty of parks to go to with the kids however in Idaho, I’d like to call it MPD weather (Multiple Personality Disorder). It’s almost as like weather by Sybil, the temperatures change everyday and it can rain or be hot within a given minute. Hell it’s had thunderstorms and rain off and on lately, when it is warm out you better make sure to take advantage it. That’s why as of late I’ve been going to a lake a couple miles away to go for a dip in the water and just have a blast. When I do go I’d like to bring my cell for music on Pandora, bring a few bottles of water and vitamin drinks and best of all, and bring my 60D penny nails to mess around with. No I don’t show off for all the kids and pretty girls there, I like to do a little training while I’m out in the sun and practice various styles.

When I’m not at the lake, I usually stay home or go out to dinner with someone but when it comes time to train, I get psyched since I have a 18ft leather strap isometric belt, I wrap it around the tree in the front yard and turn into the greatest wrestler in History, the Great Gama. I push, pull, arm wrestle and put everything I have into bringing that tree down. It’s a lot of fun and when it’s all over, you got veins popping out, forearms are blasted and you felt like you just ran a whole marathon in a 10-20min. period. Take it from me, if you can use something to pull a tree, one way or another you will be strong as hell.

Swimming is one of my favorite things to do in the summer, just getting the urge to jump in, let the shock of the water hit you for a bit and it’s just riveting the rest of the time. The last couple times I went to the lake, I bring my stuff on the dock, lay down my towel, jump in, swim for a few minutes, get back out, dry off, squeeze and twist the water out of the towel to build some wrist and crushing strength, whip out a couple 60 Pennys out of my bag, wrap one at a time and just destroy that mofo. Jump in the lake, repeat the process until I have bent every nail I brought. Builds strength, agility, flexibility, coordination plus you’re working every muscle in your body, got to love it man.

At this particular lake, you can view the mountains and green trees right in front of you and just see the beautiful sight of nature and the flow of the water just rolling by. I like doing various Muscle Control and visualize myself as one of the old school bodybuilders from back in the day, I realize I’m not at that level but come on, a little exercise while baking in the sun and looking at nature won’t kill you, who knows, a girl might come up and ask what you’re up to and you just have this big smile on your face. Just doing a few flexes and having fun with the people with you or just yourself, who cares who’s looking at you; you’re having fun that’s what really matters.

Going for a swim is one of the best things to do for your body. It builds a level of endorphins in your body that just nourishes your body and it’s one of the most amazing feelings ever. If you don’t know how to swim, no worries, you can learn muscle control simulating swim strokes or treading water. Building that Nerve Force, gives you that positive and powerful energy that help stay young, vibrant and feeling like a million bucks. One of the coolest feelings is going for a swim and going out as open as you can without tiring and going back, when you get back to shore or climbing back up on the dock, let your body feel at ease and just feel that sensation where everything feels great and you can’t help but be happy. If you have a lake, the ocean or a pool near by and it’s hot out, go for a swim and get your body moving. Having fun is one of the keys to a happy life and water is one of the elements that brings life.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Think You Don’t Have Time, Tell That To Slim

A lot of people say they want to get fit and strong but they tend to have this “I don’t have time” mindset. I understand that some of you have children, work at certain stressful jobs and need to take care of your family, I was raised in a day care when I was young and saw the woman that became my second mother get up every morning at five and kids would roll in around six and some would go to school but the majority stayed, there were between 7-11 kids at a time not including the 4 she has of her own and by the time kids were gone it be almost 7 o’clock at night. That’s a hell of a schedule and doing that for over 20 years takes a toll on you.

I’ve learned to make time everyday even on days that I don’t feel well because I’m determined to get something done. That’s a cake walk compared to a living legend like Slim The Hammer Man. This man alone starting as a teenager worked in the Rock Corry and smashed rock and stone with a sledgehammer for 12-14 hours a day up to 7 days a week. Why am I telling you this, yes he busted his ass and you’d think he didn’t have time to do a workout? His job alone was a workout in itself but the point I’m making here is after this long and grueling hours at the Corry, he’d still come home have a little dinner and go down to his basement which became legendary as The Dungeon and bent nails, bars, broke chains and worked tirelessly on his trademark and that was Hammer Levering which you can learn about going to legendary strength and look into the feats of strength section on the site.

No matter how tough your life is or how grueling a schedule you have, if you want it bad enough you’ll find the time to at least some kind of workout. One strongman I highly admire is named Steve Justa and during his early days he worked on hay bailing and worked construction. After long hours he’d still come home and train like a madman because he wanted it bad enough and made an effort. Some of that training even helped him bail hay faster in a shorter amount of time than he did lifting weights and you can learn what type of training he did from my man Bud Jeffries’ DVD set on Isometrics.

Find something you want to make a goal, start small, and do a little exercise here and there. Taking a walk on your lunch break is a start, when you have had a rough day and need some time alone, before you go to bed, take a few deep breaths to calm down, do a few stretches that should take no more than a few minutes and there you go. Morning workouts are the best in my opinion because you can get up before everyone else does, do some deep breathing and stretching, if you’re into Yoga that’s awesome. Every little effort can make a huge difference in your results. More importantly, have a good attitude and learn to tell yourself that when you do exercise, make it fun and enjoyable. Who knows, your kids if you have any might want to join you, encourage them, it helps bring in more positive energy and gives your mind and body a healthy dose of great motivation.

I feel that if you keep making excuses to not exercise, you’re setting yourself up for jail from a mental standpoint and not just a cell, you’re solitary confinement where you’re locked up, chained to the wall and you can’t do a damn thing to break yourself free, do you want that to happen, being stuck with the same things over and over and looking at the same boring and unhappy life? One little change and you can make a whole turn around. I never said give up what you have in your life just to exercise, that would make me sound like a prick but what I’m doing my best to help YOU with is that if you want to get in shape, do what you can to make the time to do even if it’s for one minute. Yes you read that right; you can start doing exercises that will take only a minute to do. You can even do certain throughout the day, make it happen for you.

Having the need to go to the gym is way overrated and it sucks getting there, being stuck in traffic, parking, dressing into gym clothes then you try to find a place to workout and someone else has taken it, you’ve just wasted precious time and I would bet my bottom dollar that at times it takes you as long to get to the gym, park and dress as it is getting the same amount of time as the workout itself. Home workouts are the most valuable places to train because you can listen to whatever you want, use what you have and if you don’t have equipment than check out my buds Matt & Ed’s stuff where you can do exercises anywhere at any time and take as much time as you want and no one would be hassling you and never feeling pressured about using a machine and having some dumb ass give you a hard time cause he needs it too.

If you can get to the gym, great, do what you can and make it an effort. Small steps can reach big heights and only you can choose to climb the mountain or stay at the bottom, believe me it’s not easy but it’s like what Tom Hanks said to Genna Davis about Baseball “It’s suppose to be hard, if it wasn’t everyone would do it…The hard is what makes it great.” Don’t push it but create a challenge and start easing into it and build from there. You can do it, I believe in you and so does everyone that I’ve worked for, with and trained with do to.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

11 Reasons You Must Do Isometrics By Bud Jeffries

Prepared as a Gift for Friends

of Ben Bergman

11 Reasons You

Must Do Isometrics

if You Desire

Strength, Speed and

to be Super Human

By Bud Jeffries

Reason #1

Help you fix holes in your strength

One thing that’s very important to me is to have a complete strength. When I say that I mean a complete range of strength and endurance, ranging from long term cardiovascular endurance, to short intense endurance, to high maximum strength, to real world strength, to individual muscular strength, to strongman based or non linear type exercises, to flowing exercises, to odd angle strength and everything in between.

One of the things I found as I began to experiment and look at isometrics more closely is that I was extremely strong in most of these places, but I didn’t feel that my ability to hold weight, especially a heavy weight still. Or even just to hold my body in certain isometric positions wasn’t as strong as it should be. I certainly didn’t have the strength or strength endurance to hold it for long periods of time in those positions.

Hello, I’m Bud Jeffries and I’ve probably done more with isometrics then just about anyone else alive.

I felt like that was a hole or a weakness in my strength, that was something I should correct. That’s one of those things that if you leave gaps it comes back to haunt you. The ability to pick something up once is fine, but what if you have to pick up something heavy and hold it to save yourself or someone else or simply to test yourself for true strength? It is a mental toughness builder, but it’s an actual physical skill that most of us are somewhat lacking in comparatively.

Unless you’ve done a tremendous amount of isometric training you won’t know or be able to express every bit of power that you have in that particular way without this training. Don’t let there be holes in your strength, because it’s easy to have them and miss them and

it’s easy to not understand that they’re there unless you’ve experimented with all different kinds of strength. This ranges from moving heavy weights fast or slow, to moving extremely light weights fast, to holding light or heavy weights or body positions in absolute still or isometric style training. Isometrics are a great way to train your body and you should be doing it.

Reason #2

Isometrics add muscle to even me!

Everybody has genetic advantages and disadvantages and I admittedly grow muscle fairly easily, but I’ve been training a long time. I’m a grizzled veteran. I’m not somebody who at the drop of a hat, no matter how hard they train, grows an excessive amount of muscle. Plus, I keep my nutrition fairly lean these days and I’m constantly keeping my weight down and cutting more weight. It’s not easy to put muscle on a frame that’s been through every possible type of strength training war that there is in trying to add muscle. Yet I find it amazing that muscle is adding to my frame and to other parts of my body from using the isometrics training that I’d never conceived of and it’s happening very quickly.

The more and deeper I experiment with some of the weighted variations of isometrics and play with the time period we hold the position, the faster the muscle seems to grow. This is pretty amazing considering it’s happening to a guy with 24 years of training experience who has already trained as hard and heavy as anyone else living and is already a big person. With isometrics training you can quickly add muscle, because of the depth of stimulation you get and at the same time, without a tremendous amount of muscle soreness. I found that it’s extremely effective, much more effective than many of the things I’ve tried in the past, such as exceptionally heavy negatives or certain brutal rep schemes, to really add muscle quickly without much damage or wear and tear. I believe the concentration of effort, for instance one 30-second heavy held isometric is equivalent to very high repetition sets with that same heavy weight, because you can work in multiple range of motions and in strong and weak ranges of motion, you can add muscle extremely quickly.

Both professional strongmen, Dennis Rogers and

Mike “The Machine” Bruce are big fans of isometrics.

Why not fill out your frame and its useable muscle? Muscle that’s conditioned and functional at the same time, which is another huge portion behind the training concepts of what we do. There’s no point in adding muscle that doesn’t have the horsepower to back it up. However these isometrics, especially the weighted ones for heavy and extended holds, grow amazing functional muscles quickly. Experience isometric muscle growth now by making sure you get Extreme Power Isometric Training DVDs today!

Reason #3

Isometrics turn your strength on

One of the crazy benefits of isometric training especially in the experiments we’ve been doing and the way we apply it is an immediate boost of strength. I’ve been able to demonstrate this with myself as well as in a workshop format and other trainees that I use, in getting an immediate boost in strength.

Why does this happen? I’m not sure you can explain every factor, but here are several. I believe it teaches the body to work in the exact groove that you want to get strong in and it teaches the body to work as hard as possible in that groove either in a specific sticking point or to simply contract harder than normal because you can push through a weight or non-moving isometric style contraction harder than you can with a normal implement. It teaches you to unify your body behind an implement or behind a barbell, dumbbell, kettlebell or whatever you wish to lift and it teaches you to actually use every bit of fiber that you have by being able to forcibly contract.

There are many isometric press variations that can instantly

increase your pressing power.

It’s essentially the same thing you’d get from an overload by turning your neurological system on or opening up the synapses and nerve firing pathways to a much higher level except it can be applied with other implements and very specific patterns. This does some amazing stuff. I’ve watched people press barbells, kettlebells and dumbbells they’ve never been able to lift or press them faster and easier than they’ve ever done. Snatch faster than they’ve ever done, curl faster and stronger, be stronger in jumping, running motions, squatting motions, pulling motions.

It’s a pretty amazing thing because you can apply it to any specific pattern you wish to get better up and you turn the volume up to your muscles messages to how hard they can contract. Once you do that you get stronger, once you get that strength, you can train harder and you get perpetually stronger. It’s a build on top of each other type of exercise. It’s simple and quick to do and can be applied to multiple types of training paradigms for a basic lift or for a totally unusual angle of strength that people have never seen that you can quickly get an immediate strength boost by training them if you just learn how.

Reason #4

Isometrics make you Faster!

This is a pretty amazing benefit of isometrics that I had known about for a while, but never really deeply explored until I decided to delve into every venue and every possibility that there was in training. It’s convinced me more and more that this is a lacking type of training for many sports and specific activities. Isometrics has gotten a bad rap from a sad historic overview that really didn’t take into consideration the advantage of how powerful this training could be.

I had an experience where I tried to pull a bus, and this is explained extensively in our Extreme Power for Isometrics DVDs, but I tried to pull the bus, however could not move it because of a crazy situation with the ground. I spent a large amount of time pulling isometrically, trying to move what was essentially an immoveable object. We then moved the bus to where I could actually pull the vehicle and I moved it faster than I had ever moved it as though it were literally made of air.

Why? Because I had gained absolute, 100% contraction in the very specific pattern I was using for the feat. I essentially then got stronger, my nerves got stronger, my firing pattern got better and my speed went up. I believe this was because of the nervous stimulation and the total ability for my muscles to reach a higher level of contraction, therefore both strength and speed almost immediately increased.

One isometric drill increased Adrienne’s sled push speed immediately afterwards

I demonstrated this with multiple people at the workshop in Tallahassee and it’s all shown on the DVDs. I’ve done this with other people who train with me privately, with myself and with my son. It’s pretty amazing to immediately be able to get faster in a lift, in a bodyweight movement, in your hand speed for punching power, in grappling, to get faster

in strongman movements, to get faster in sprinting and running movements, all with an almost immediate response. It’s a great way to jump start your speed for other events, for strongman, or for just general training or for competition. There are amazing ways to achieve gains plus its super simple and quick to do.

You owe it to yourself to get the Extreme Power for Isometrics DVDs and it’s something with which you can make yourself lightening fast. I believe it’s one of the secrets to Bruce Lee’s and the Shaolin training with their extreme speed and explosiveness with the ability to jump high, punch psychotically fast. This isometric training for speed is all explored in the DVDs as well. I know it made me much faster than normal with my hand speed. You can achieve this too if you simply learn how to apply it. It’s a simple technique. You just need to watch it done a few times till you understand how to do it and then apply it to yourself. It’s an amazing benefit you can get very quickly.

Reason #5

It’s probably the only truly sport specific strength work

There’s been an argument within the Olympic lifting, HIT and sports communities, martial arts and weightlifting groups about the efficiency of lifting or training for sport: If you do a specific movement that mimics a sport are you actually going to get a weighted movement or are you going to get better at that sport or is it going to mess up your nerve patterns or your specific technical pattern?

It’s been relatively established that there are a few movements that, because they are similar in nature but not exactly in the sport specific pattern, that they give you a better general ability but not more specific to the sport. It is believed that you must play the specific sport to gain the nerve patterns and ability. That’s why people who grapple or box can hit very hard or wrestle and be very strong in those positions, even if they don’t train much in other strength movements, because they spend so much time at high-level contraction in those specific moves.

They can’t, however, generally transfer that to other arenas. It’s also why some people who’ve gained strength in certain types of strength, especially if it’s done in an isolated training fashion or machine based training, in the weight room but haven’t gotten good on the field or playing mat to improve their performance during the sport. It’s the reason that martial artists, for quite some time, didn’t really believe in lifting weights, because they didn’t see actual improvement in their art.

I believe isometrics can solve much of this problem. It may be, and if you really look at the martial arts from around the world and certain sport training, you’ll see that isometrics are the only way to duplicate a sport specific pattern without messing that pattern up and actually become stronger in that specific range of motion while you get better at your sport in that particular way.

Let me elaborate – If you take a baseball pitcher, and this is a classic example of this specific training pattern, and have him throw heavier weighted baseballs, you do not create a better, faster pitcher. All you do is create a messed up nerve pattern, becoming slower and losing control in the pitching.

If you were to take that same pitcher and train each individual phase of his pitching pattern in the exact motion that he uses with a ball, but in an isometric contraction, not with a weight, but against an immoveable object or force – you can exactly mimic that pattern and force for the body to contract at 100%. Lay every bit of leverage into every piece of that pattern without messing up the pattern, because it doesn’t work at off speeds, you’d only actually be pitching with a regular baseball so there’s no slow down – It’s only actually teaching the body to contract at the very nerve pattern, ranges and speeds without throwing it off.

The same applies to kicking, punching, specific strongman movements, or running

movements. They don’t always get better if you try to mimic them with weights, but if you want to get better at sport specific patterns, figuring out an isometric training program and exercise that exactly mimics those patterns and movement without interfering with the speed of the movement or trying to hold weight in an awkward fashion, can create an amazing sport specific gain.

Yes, with isometrics you could train this exact move without the detrimental slowing

effects of throwing a weighted ball.

This has huge implications for football, throwers, grapplers, boxers, martial artists and in fact has been done for centuries in martial arts. You can get some pretty amazing ideas in how to train this in our Extreme Power for Isometrics DVDs and it’s explained further where can see, first hand, how to do it.

Reason #6

Isometrics give real world strength

One of the primary experimenters and I believe proponents, as well as someone who has been pushing isometrics forward in the last 30 years is a guy named Steve Justa. In the ad copy for Extreme Power for Isometrics, my business partner Logan wrote, “Learn what the Nebraska Wildman taught Bud about isometrics.” He did teach me quite a bit. I have learned from him and he has done some amazing personal level research and experimentation in that capacity.

Steve Justa, author of Rock, Iron, Steel, is insanely strong and

has done isometrics of all variations over his lifetime.

One of the things he talked about was having a real-world job bucking hay/custom hay baling for farmers in the Nebraska area. If you’ve never worked with hay – it can be tough job, especially if you’re not used to lifting things, lifting and throwing things in weird ways– it’s a very awkward job. Most of the strength in the real world means exactly that – picking things up in an awkward manner, things that aren’t meant to be picked up by humans. It’s why we do strongman training. Steve talked about the very specificity of this job: Picking up different shapes, weights and size bales on unstable surfaces, moving it for longer periods of time all day long.

A man he worked with there had incredible muscular development and muscular hardness from this type of work. Steve was training and doing a lot of heavy lifting at the time and thought he should be able to really man-handle these bales. On a one-to-one basis he could throw a bale as good as anyone else, but he became tired quickly and he just wasn’t able to translate it as powerfully as he thought, considering the power he could apply to balanced lifting exercises. He began to experiment with what he would call “power aerobic

isometrics.” It’s one of the types of isometrics we talk about and one that I’ve experimented with, which is an extended series of time, angles and efforts over a long period of time, moving from body part to body part and muscle to muscle to create both an aerobic effect, as well as a muscular one. Suddenly the hay baling became easy.

Why? Most of the work you do in the real world requires that extended muscular contraction. The task may not be a simple half-second muscular contraction. It requires it in odd angles. It may not be a balanced lifting environment. It may be against something that doesn’t want to be lifted or at a totally disadvantageous angle, but when you learn to apply full power to those angles for extended periods of time you’ll get the amazing aerobic benefit of the right type of isometric. Also if you do it within the way this course is put together, by mixing them with aerobic or other strength exercises making it at least as, if not more than aerobically challenging.

Isometrics is one of the best and easiest ways to build unique, real world strength. It’s the kind of strength that translates to grappling, striking or lifting at many angles, in a way that most people don’t ever have. You see most of the angles you use in grappling are odd angles. That’s why grapplers attack at odd angles to keep you out of your strength and off balance. You can get strong in many different directions.

I had experiences in my life like Steve’s that lead me to strongman training and now to isometrics to being able to conquer a level and angle or a type of strength that I didn’t feel was good enough. That’s why we do this and why you should be using isometrics as well. It’s why you should be learning about them and training them. Make sure you pick up Extreme Power for Isometrics and learn how to get real world strong, to train in angles that no one else does, to train in ways no one else does to have something no one else has which is unconquerable real world strength.

Reason #7

Great strongmen use isometrics today and have used it in the past

One of the amazing things people don’t really know about, because they don’t truly study the methods of the old time strongman, is their use of isometrics. Strongman has come back into popularity, but even most of the materials that push the old time strongmen today don’t really delve into some of the most awesome methods they used. Most of the old time strongmen were true showmen and they did amazing feats of steel bending and they often trained in very Spartan environments. The effectiveness of the exercises of isometrics lead them to the use of this training method to be a massive part of their regimens.

Alexander Zass was one of the major proponents of this and was considered the “Iron bar bending King.” He escaped from prison camp four times. He used the bars and chains he was in to train isometrically to maintain and even build his strength when he was a prisoner and was really a pretty amazing human being, able to do some ridiculous steel bending feats. He’s just one of the great examples as there are many others inclusive of the Mighty Atom, who is probably one of the best well known today of the old time strongman along with guys like Arthur Saxon and Herman Goerner.

Alexander Zass, the Amazing Samson, supports an steel beam by his mouth. He was one

of the biggest proponents of isometrics and his results speak for themselves.

Many modern strongmen use them today. Dennis Rogers, one of the most well known

strongmen in the world today, is a big proponent of isometrics for steel bending and the type of strength necessary to do strength feats which is also real world strength. I don’t care what anyone says – If you can bend a 12” crescent wrench as easily as a wire coat hanger, you’re freakin’ strong in a very real sense of the expression. One of the things that Dennis has done and teaches to others who want to learn his craft, is isometrics for that kind of training.

Isometrics are used still in the training of powerlifting. I’ve seen Louis Simmons recommend certain isometrics movements such as abdominal isos for improving your squat and deadlift. It’s massively well received in martial arts and grappling circles today and many of the other strongmen you don’t even know do quite a bit. Strongmen such as Aaron MacKenzie, who is in the old time strongman performing world and is known by the nickname, “Mighty Mac.” Aaron is probably one of the closest successors to Dennis from being a smaller guy, but being incredibly powerful and talented at the feats such as wrench bending, card tearing, short steel bending, etc. Aaron told me very specifically once how he trained to be able to do 100 reps of handstand pushups in one day which was one of his goals, by doing 3 positions isometrics of handstand pushups. I’ll share more about that with you at another time possibly in upcoming book on isometrics. Then there’s the man I spoke of already, Steve Justa, who does his own brand of strongman inclusive of the old time stuff and is a massive proponent of isometrics.

That’s just a few and I would name myself in that group. The more I experiment with it the more impressed I get with the isometrics as far as the development and power you can get. If the best people in the world, the strongest guys around, use a technique and it’s pretty wide spread it’s probably pretty smart. That’s why you should be studying about and learning about isometrics. If you want the strength of the best guys in the world, then you have to train in at least some of things that they do. That’s what they do, that’s how they get awesome and that’s how you can too. Make sure you pick up Extreme Power for Isometrics.

Reason #8

Isometrics are a great fat burning exercise.

This is something that most people have never thought about with isometrics, because they haven’t experimented with the right type or style and they haven’t really been in contact with someone who’s done a lot with isometrics because it’s not a widely known technique anymore. It’s something that was relegated to the past or to simplistic exercises that are for amateurs, but actually it’s a very advanced technique when you do it the right way. The first person I ever heard talk about this is someone we’ve already spoken off who’s had a huge influence in this work – Steve Justa.

When I met Steve in person I was shocked by his leanness and hardness that he displayed for someone who does no conventional bodybuilding, and even though he’s moved toward eating a more natural diet, doesn’t eat anything special at all. However he, like me, was a huge guy, 360+ pounds and rehabbed his body from Type 2 diabetes, back to healthy again with a massive use of isometrics. There’s more to know about this story which you can learn about in the DVDs and Steve’s interview on our site.

He began to talk about it in his book and I never really paid much attention until I started to experiment it for myself. I noticed this fat loss and found it to be an amazing thing. I noticed the other people who really did a lot of isometrics and the parts of their bodies they really hammered with isometrics was very ripped, lean and hardened beyond measure. You can see this demonstrated in Dennis Rogers’ forearms, or Eric Vining’s sides or Slim Farman’s arms or the Shaolin monks’ legs, Steve Justa and now me. You see incredible development in the areas that they really work thoroughly with isometrics and a significant part of it is fat burning. In fact this may be the only style of fat burning exercise that might literally potentially burn sight specific fat.

Are isometrics better then this for fat burning? My answer is YES!

Almost all fat burning is a systemic issue. In other words, when you do exercises, it burns fat preferentially to the areas of your body that are hormonally geared to burn fat and it burns it in an all-over body basis. However if you do isometrics, you will see, and I can wake up and demonstrate this day after day, that the part of the body I really hammered with isometrics would immediately look leaner for the next day and days after. Plus the muscular development would be phenomenal. Steve talked about it being impossible for fat to stay on a muscle that was thoroughly exercised with isometrics and he’s a very lean guy considering what he does! Bruce Lee, as an example, is basically the epitome of super ripped and was a huge proponent of isometrics and I’m beginning to see why.

In this real experiment with myself I’m leaning out more than I ever have, at a higher bodyweight with some amazing results! I think one of the things necessary to do this that people don’t talk about is in an extended isometric. The old school isometrics were often very short and they were great for building power and if you pile up a lot of them it becomes a similar volume effect and does burn quite a bit of fat, but an extended isometric that goes for 30 seconds or 60 seconds or longer or for multiple sets of those seems to have a tremendous fat burning effect.

I believe it’s possible, and I can’t back this up scientifically, but this is my theory – The density of an isometric exercise held for a long period of time is so incredibly demanding on the muscle and so likened to extremely high repetitions, quickly passing through the energy cycles faster than normal exercise into an area that pulls fat directly from a muscle as well as systemically. Nothing is truly isolated or systemic in a fat burning or muscle building standpoint and I don’t mean that, but I believe that the absolute, locked down extended contractions may access fat out of a muscle and pure fat burning for energy hormones, especially because of the differing aerobic pathways it may take as well in a more effective way than other types of training. Whatever the case may be as to “why,” you can demonstrate 100% in the real world that it is a killer fat burner.

Reason #9

They’re easily adapted for strength and endurance.

Isometric training may be the most easily adaptable exercise you ever do. You can adapt it for specific groove, sticking point or for any particular exercise or any angle you may need strength in. So what do you do to train this? You simply apply a couple of different uses. One of the primary ways I like to do isometrics is in a power rack. It’s one of the only pieces of equipment every actually designed to be used for isometrics, so if you use a power rack you can immediately adapt the weight up and down, set the pins to confine your range of motion to do one of the several types of yielding, holding or extended or max isometrics. You can also change that very quickly, adding weight up and down or changing the range of motion or the time period.

You want to get strong? You do a very hard lock down isometric for short periods of time with as much weight as possible. If you’re not going to use weight, if you use a different exercise, use the maximum amount of exertion you can possibly do. If you want to train better for endurance you extend the time period by adjusting the weight down, extending the time or extending the angle.

Here are a couple of things to think about: Dennis Rogers advocates a 6-10 second isometric with a couple of seconds ramping up, 6-5 seconds at 100% max effort isometric and then another 3-4 seconds at 50% isometric afterward to get the most benefit out of your steel bending isometric or your pure strength builder. That’s close to the all time recommendations from both York and other people who’ve done research on isometrics in regards to the, “how.” 6-12 seconds seems to be the time period for maximum power.

That can be with weight or applying intensity. You can adjust that up and down with the percent of intensity especially if you’re not using a weighted isometric. An amazing thing we’ve been experimenting with is light weight in a power rack isometric, but maintained at max intensity for extended period of time. You literally push away off the pin or hold it and push away to a 2nd pin with a moderate to light weight, driving it as hard as you can and continue that as long as possible. If you do that with a max weight you’ll limit yourself to that 6-10 second phase, but if you do it with a lighter weight you may get into the 30-60 second phase. Then you can mix that with other conditioning exercises or move from isometric to isometric without stopping, going for either long holds or repetitive stacked up short holds that can easily build massive levels of muscular and aerobic levels of endurance. Don’t kid yourself, even though you’re not moving, the aerobics are much more intense than you think both from an actual pathway standpoint and from a lung and heart rate, breathing standpoint.

Another way to jump into this is a the way John Brookfield has used it in hand training styles – To use a non-moving exercise and adjust the weight up and down by changing how you grip or the lever you use on the exercise to go from heavier or lighter in your effort. If you’re using a non-weighted isometric simply go from 50% to 100% effort back and forth, but not stopping the isometric, always maintaining some level of tension just

going back and forth. This is a great way to adapt quickly for both strength and endurance

and it pays in off massive dividends.

John Brookfield, another legendary strongman and proponent of isometric movements.

Are you detecting a pattern here?

Reason #10

You can work at angles you just can’t reach any other way

One of the things I learned about in strength and have trained, is that there are multiple types of strength and most of the training that most people do, especially in the weight lifting world, is a very balanced type of training. Even if you use implements that have an odd balance such as the kettlebell, it generally tends to be a whole body unified straight up and down, or linear, or an efficient angle. One of the things you learn while experimenting with strength is that in the real world it doesn’t always come at those angles. It pulls you out of line, pulls you into your worst center of gravity, your worst leverage. It’s very hard to train those things safely. Isometrics gives you the ability to do that very quickly, easily and safely.

Bud shows Ryan Pitts of Strongergrip how to build very odd

angle strength. This exercise has to be felt to understand the power.

Its one thing to deadlift and an orthodox deadlift done the right way should be kept close to the body, close to the center of gravity. It’s another thing to lift the weight or actually bring the weight far away from the body such as 6-12” away from the body as you begin to pull it up or further. You may not be able to lift much weight this way, but you can quickly and easily train angles like that with almost no extra set up time or effort by simply pulling against a bar that won’t move, set at different ranges of motion or height to do that. You can also train in a million quick and easy changes to go in and out of your strongest ranges to get those tough to reach angles – The kind of things that are trained in grappling and martial arts all over the world to give you strength in ways where you are generally vulnerable.

You can also train by pushing your arms and legs out to different directions that they don’t normally get pushed to give yourself that protective type of strength. Not something that would hurt you or something you could load safely with other weight, but something that will allow your body to maximize its ability to use its

strength as well as to build its strength in other directions. It’s a simple, quick, easy way to build amazing strength in angles most people never thought of. That’s one of the keys to building super strength. Steve Justa talked about building strength in those minor muscles that you may have no other way of reaching. When you can strengthen every little muscle along the chain then you’ve made those big prime mover muscles stronger. They’re normally limited by the weakness of those smaller muscles and you may not find those in conventional exercises and they’ll limit you in your other array of possible strength quests. He believed it’s why, after extended isometric training, he was able to lift things heavier than normal even though he hadn’t lifted a heavy weight because he’d found a way to strengthen muscles that were rarely or never touched in a regular lifting motion. In strengthening those he opened the gate and strengthened the chain for the big muscles to play. You can get super strong with these isometrics and do it in amazing ways. Make sure you pick up Extreme Power with Isometrics.

Reason #11

Isometrics are Easy On and Can Rehab Your Joints

I spent 16 years trying to squat 1,000lbs and after I finally succeeded I decided to lose weight and get back to a leaner version of myself. I began to experiment with different exercises and started running. Running at 300lbs may not be the greatest thing you can do, but everyone should have that skill. I simply took a mis-step one day and ended up with an injury that has plagued me for several years. I experimented with multiple things to bring it back to health and finally just in the last bit have regained the ability to squat from the bottom position, having all my muscles fire in sequence and feel comfortable about not further damaging the joint.

Two of the exercises I spent an extensive time period working on for rehabbing my knee are isometric holds done in yoga style from Eischen’s yoga (such as front warrior held for extended time), and wall sit isometrics held with both bodyweight and weight. Both of these seemed to build my joints and knee back to where it doesn’t hurt, it stays in line on a regular basis and I can lift things I haven’t been able to for the last three years, because things became stronger.

The isometric exercises don’t bother my knee, which is crucial. I’ve got a lot of miles on me and even though I function better than much of the world, having engaged in thousands of hours of crazy and possibly damaging training, I have little to no damage, because I’ve found ways to stop the problems.

Isometrics are great for dealing with previous injuries.

The isometrics seem to be developing muscle in me in a way that’s extremely joint friendly, to help me get back to full squats that helped me in other ways, such as upper body muscles and working around sore spots or injuries from grappling and other things I’ve done that build those muscles in a way that doesn’t cause pain. Isometrics can be some of the best rehab and pre-hab you can do with many ways to do it and you can train a massive amount of strain, strength, endurance and volume with little or no joint damage and always getting them perfectly aligned for the exercises you want to do. It’s very joint friendly with very little problem for a tremendous amount of pay off in what you can possible get out of the training.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this special report. If you’d like a whole lot more information on isometrics including hundreds of exercises, drills and variations to train with be sure to check out my newest 3 DVD set at the link below.

God bless,

Bud Jeffries

www.strongerman.com/go/isometrics-bb/

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