Whenever I watch a movie that inspires a certain subject I like to look at from a fitness stand point and see what kind of dtermination and mind/body/spirit that represents it.
1. Vision Quest- The story of a high school wrestler who wants to drop an extreme amount of weight in a dangerous short period of time just to take on the top guy in the division. He puts himself through diets that can probably kill the average human being, runs a great deal on a daily basis and with all this going on, he falls inlove with an older woman. It never ceases to amaze me that a young man at that age goes from a confused hormonial boy to a determained and strong man.
2. Pumping Iron- This movie takes place a few months before the 1975 Mr. Olympia Contest where the top dog Arnold Schwarzenegger takes on the best of the best plus a newcomer in Lou Ferrigno. The focus of this film was to see how grueling the training is to be a top bodybuilder and to see how the mind works against the competition. Arnold in Venice Beach, CA is putting up hard workouts and using phsycology on his gymmates to make them either work harder or go home even though these people put on the same thinking caps, Arnold was running the ship. In New York, young Louie at 6'5 nearly 300 pounds was the largest bodybuilder at that time and pretty much doing things on his own under the guidence of his estranged father. You don't have to be an expert to understand how hard he fought not just for himself but to beat his idol Arnold.
3. The Longest Yard (2005)- A washed up football player is sent to prison and gets blackmailed into coaching and playing with his fellow cons against the sadistic guards. Not knowing how he's gonna pull it off he recruits some of the meanest people you can find and puts them through a typical NFL type training program but yet they don't have the heart and mind to play as a team. When you have 40 cons assembling as a team and some of the strongest and basddest people on the planet I don't believe a top 3 college or NFL team can stop them.
All in all, no matter how you put it fitness always plays a role in film whether its through the mind or through physical activity and i'm not talking about pansywaist machines or pink dumbbells or even a few toe touches no i'm talking hardcore, in your face do or die will power and don't give up. There are many movies that represent this so you can pick out what you want but give these 3 a try and see how you feel about them.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Never Stop Learning
Whenever you hear some know it all fitness expert say "Do what I do and you'll go far" or Never do this or that" obviously he hasn't learned much and whos to say is the ultimate expert in physical fitness. There is no ultimate expert but a man or women who knows fitness like the back of their hand doesnt stop learning what works and what doesnt, not "this works and thats all i'll ever do" thats fine with them and more power to them but will it go for other trainees and? I don't think so.
I started learning physical fitness at the age of 13 and it all began with weights and machines. I picked up a few things here an there for the last decade and to my knowledge I still got more to learn. No matter if you're a fitness enthusiast or a business man or a military officer you still learn things on a day to day basis, if you believe you know everything there is to know then you shouldnt be living or at least brag about it. Its not who knows what works and what doesnt and whos the smartest to learn from the best and act upon it.
My knowledge in fitness is pretty high at my age but yet there is at least 10 people in the world who have much greater knowledge and learnings then I have so i'm not calling myself an expert but a learner. No one has all the answers to every single question in this world even some of the smartest people in the world don't always have an answer. Its who has the answer for themselves not for everybody else.
Call me a prick or an asshole but whenever I see a gym full of dumb ass looking posers with skimpy shorts and lifting the entire rack and calls himself a fitness expert and knows how to be healthy I would just laugh and say "If you're such an expert why do you hurt so much" and not the sore feeling either but being in pain after lifting so much weight. I'm not saying he's not a strong guy thats call good with him but dude how can you can be in pain after that. Training is not about pain or strain its about feeling good and knowing that after a hard session you got some more ground to cover.
No matter what we do in life we always learn something even small things make a difference. Don't listen to people who call themselves experts and let them tell you what to do. Use your mind and heart and listen to your inner-self. Learn to observe things and act upon them in your daily life. Since I won't put any sites up for this post, thought i'd let you be the judge and see whats right for you not what I think is or what my opinion is.
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
I started learning physical fitness at the age of 13 and it all began with weights and machines. I picked up a few things here an there for the last decade and to my knowledge I still got more to learn. No matter if you're a fitness enthusiast or a business man or a military officer you still learn things on a day to day basis, if you believe you know everything there is to know then you shouldnt be living or at least brag about it. Its not who knows what works and what doesnt and whos the smartest to learn from the best and act upon it.
My knowledge in fitness is pretty high at my age but yet there is at least 10 people in the world who have much greater knowledge and learnings then I have so i'm not calling myself an expert but a learner. No one has all the answers to every single question in this world even some of the smartest people in the world don't always have an answer. Its who has the answer for themselves not for everybody else.
Call me a prick or an asshole but whenever I see a gym full of dumb ass looking posers with skimpy shorts and lifting the entire rack and calls himself a fitness expert and knows how to be healthy I would just laugh and say "If you're such an expert why do you hurt so much" and not the sore feeling either but being in pain after lifting so much weight. I'm not saying he's not a strong guy thats call good with him but dude how can you can be in pain after that. Training is not about pain or strain its about feeling good and knowing that after a hard session you got some more ground to cover.
No matter what we do in life we always learn something even small things make a difference. Don't listen to people who call themselves experts and let them tell you what to do. Use your mind and heart and listen to your inner-self. Learn to observe things and act upon them in your daily life. Since I won't put any sites up for this post, thought i'd let you be the judge and see whats right for you not what I think is or what my opinion is.
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Matt Furey-Modern Day Fitness Icon
In this day in age there are many heroes and icons and men of immortality in the depths of time and yet I havent heard Matt Furey being mentioned in that category. Most of you know him as a controversial fitness/conditioning writer and being mentioned as a scam artist and full of shit. With all that being said heres what I would say about the guy. Hes got balls coming into the fitness world going from a highly stressed trainer to millionare businessman and still has tricks up his sleeve.
Heres a guy who grew up in Iowa in America's "Wrestling State" and became a champion wrestler/swimmer and football player, learning all the tricks and traits of some of the strongest wrestlers and conditioners. In his teens he learned wrestling and conditioning from many books and his coaches at the time and won a few matches here and there but in college that was the beginning of the greatest years as a wrestler by being trained under legendary coach Dan Gable and showing him some of the best tricks to win a match and put him through some of the most brutal workouts that would make world-class athletes come to their knees.
After three years he transfered to Edinboro University and put some big numbers and won the Division II championship in the 167 pound class i believe. After college he bacame a personal trainer working long hours to support a wife and make ends meat and trained in the martial arts more knowingly Shauio Chuo (Oldest Style Of Kung Fu) and won world titles and national championships. In one championship he trained for the World Championship in China. Now bare in mind that no american at the time has won a world title on chinese turf in that martial art.
He didnt have the money to support the trip so he made a video that showed how he trained and what he used to keep him fired up and alive. It became a huge seller and it made more then enough for the trip. The day after Christmas in 1997 Furey did the unthinkable and beat the chinese on their home turf and became now the only american to do so. This would be a stepping stone of whats to become of him. After spending 16 months training people and making champions and working hard to support a family he would another trip that would change his life forever.
He met who argue the greatest hooker of all-time (submission wrestler) Karl Gotch and he made a believer out of Furey that what he was currently doing was way off and in no way good for the body and for combat. He taught him the value of bodyweight training. It only took a couple exercises to convince him that this is the safest and most effective program. Some of Gotch's workouts were considered barbaric and inhuman and totally outdated and yet the exercises he put him through are thousands of years old and no matter what you put you're money on it can either kill you or give you a hard time, Furey used the ladder and began a program that would lead to his Best Seller: Combat Conditioning- Functional Exercises For Fitness & Combat Sports!!!!!
Matt has written many other books and courses that take you to a whole new demension in physical fitness. Although every one of his courses are very valuable and very useful Combat Conditioning is his foundation. You can check him out and theres going to be some bad things and good things said about him one way or another you have to give the guy credit for making a living supporting his wife and 2 children Frank & Faith plus giving other people second or many other chances of reaching new goals in their lives that doesnt need to involve fitness. He may be a controversial son of a bitch but he can bring out the best in all of us one way or another.
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Heres a guy who grew up in Iowa in America's "Wrestling State" and became a champion wrestler/swimmer and football player, learning all the tricks and traits of some of the strongest wrestlers and conditioners. In his teens he learned wrestling and conditioning from many books and his coaches at the time and won a few matches here and there but in college that was the beginning of the greatest years as a wrestler by being trained under legendary coach Dan Gable and showing him some of the best tricks to win a match and put him through some of the most brutal workouts that would make world-class athletes come to their knees.
After three years he transfered to Edinboro University and put some big numbers and won the Division II championship in the 167 pound class i believe. After college he bacame a personal trainer working long hours to support a wife and make ends meat and trained in the martial arts more knowingly Shauio Chuo (Oldest Style Of Kung Fu) and won world titles and national championships. In one championship he trained for the World Championship in China. Now bare in mind that no american at the time has won a world title on chinese turf in that martial art.
He didnt have the money to support the trip so he made a video that showed how he trained and what he used to keep him fired up and alive. It became a huge seller and it made more then enough for the trip. The day after Christmas in 1997 Furey did the unthinkable and beat the chinese on their home turf and became now the only american to do so. This would be a stepping stone of whats to become of him. After spending 16 months training people and making champions and working hard to support a family he would another trip that would change his life forever.
He met who argue the greatest hooker of all-time (submission wrestler) Karl Gotch and he made a believer out of Furey that what he was currently doing was way off and in no way good for the body and for combat. He taught him the value of bodyweight training. It only took a couple exercises to convince him that this is the safest and most effective program. Some of Gotch's workouts were considered barbaric and inhuman and totally outdated and yet the exercises he put him through are thousands of years old and no matter what you put you're money on it can either kill you or give you a hard time, Furey used the ladder and began a program that would lead to his Best Seller: Combat Conditioning- Functional Exercises For Fitness & Combat Sports!!!!!
Matt has written many other books and courses that take you to a whole new demension in physical fitness. Although every one of his courses are very valuable and very useful Combat Conditioning is his foundation. You can check him out and theres going to be some bad things and good things said about him one way or another you have to give the guy credit for making a living supporting his wife and 2 children Frank & Faith plus giving other people second or many other chances of reaching new goals in their lives that doesnt need to involve fitness. He may be a controversial son of a bitch but he can bring out the best in all of us one way or another.
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Friday, April 27, 2007
Poker Conditioning
One of the best ways to get in super condition is not through bike riding or running for miles on end. Take out a deck of cards and draw/shuffle them 2-3 times. Now flip a card over and do a number of reps of squats or push-ups. Try finishing the entire deck with good form. At a good clip this shouldn't be more then 25-30 min. Its one of the most brutal workouts you can be put through just ask the japanese wrestlers.
This type of training was built by one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time Karl Gotch. Nicknamed "The God Of Pro Wrestling" in Japan cause not only did he influence pro wrestling and martial arts but a real test of ones conditioning training. He put the wrestlers through workouts that would make Dan Gable think twice about. Not only can you get a hell of a workout but it makes your mind much sharper and more balance for your workout and how much you can handle.
Try out the push-up and squat workout and after doing the entire deck try other exercises like v-ups, isometrics ect. If you want to get into super condition w/out the use of weights and find other forms of training in the deck of cards these are the way to go.
Matt Furey
Scientific Wrestling and look for Submission Master and Conditioning For Combat Sports
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
This type of training was built by one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time Karl Gotch. Nicknamed "The God Of Pro Wrestling" in Japan cause not only did he influence pro wrestling and martial arts but a real test of ones conditioning training. He put the wrestlers through workouts that would make Dan Gable think twice about. Not only can you get a hell of a workout but it makes your mind much sharper and more balance for your workout and how much you can handle.
Try out the push-up and squat workout and after doing the entire deck try other exercises like v-ups, isometrics ect. If you want to get into super condition w/out the use of weights and find other forms of training in the deck of cards these are the way to go.
Matt Furey
Scientific Wrestling and look for Submission Master and Conditioning For Combat Sports
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Strongest Bodyweight Practitioners: The Gymnasts
You won't find another athlete that is as strong using his/her own bodyweight then a gymnast. Gymnastics is a sport where you must use your body from many angles and most of them are very difficult. You would see a gymnast on the still rings, pommel horse, high bar, platform ect. and notice how they move themselves through such grace and power. There are well over 200 elite gymnasts in the world and there is a reason for that. Today when it comes to Olympic Gymnastics you first think of the Hamm twins. They're probably the greatest brother duo on the planet no question and they're huge for they're size at what 150 pounds.
The women are just as awesome as the men but I wish that the women had the chance to do other routines like the rings, you never see a female gymnast on the rings, I certainly havent. How awesome would it be if you saw a female athlete on the rings and having the strength to swing, hold and do the iron cross. Unfortunenitly many people don't see women having that kind of strength, to me thats total BS. They can already do unbelieveable routines and yet the one event they never do is the rings. I hope one day we see an olympic female gymnast do that event and win the gold.
Back to my writing here lol. Gymnastics is one of the hardest sports in the world next to wrestling. It takes balance, coordination, strength, flexibility and speed. One of the main ways to develop strength in gymnastics is through handstand training: walking on your hands, HS push-ups, free hand hops and walking up steps. It takes such great strength just to hold one of these, and you must keep the body tight at all times or you're on your ass or head. I haven't gotten up to free handing yet but I can do pretty well walking back and forth, side to side on the wall and i've put up some good strength in my upper body. Nothing makes you stronger then walking on your hands, think about it, we walk on our legs all day cause thats how our body is developed but imagine having the ability to walk on your hands, you know how much strength you're building. Crazy.
Whenever I watch gymnastics on TV i'm always impressed by what they do and I never believe the judges give them enough credit. My favorite event is obviously the rings cause its the one event where it tests your entire body through range of motion, your grip, muscle control, your core, shoulders, arms, back, hams, quads every muscle needs to be controled in order to hit the right movement or you're gonna fall. Hope I go to a USA Gymnastics event soon cause that'll be huge to me cause I practice a bit of gymnastics every day, even just doing bridging or walking on my hands with the Power Wheel its still a form of the sport.
If you want to see how gymnastics are in film check out the movie Stick It. Good story and a real teenage flick but has some surreal stunts.
Want to learn how to walk on your hands or practice handbalancing heres a couple guys that'll help get you there and one of them has a book coming out very soon keep checking daily with John Peterson's Site.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
www.mattfurey.com
www.superstrengthtraining.com
Gymnastic Abs
Gymnastic Handstands
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
The women are just as awesome as the men but I wish that the women had the chance to do other routines like the rings, you never see a female gymnast on the rings, I certainly havent. How awesome would it be if you saw a female athlete on the rings and having the strength to swing, hold and do the iron cross. Unfortunenitly many people don't see women having that kind of strength, to me thats total BS. They can already do unbelieveable routines and yet the one event they never do is the rings. I hope one day we see an olympic female gymnast do that event and win the gold.
Back to my writing here lol. Gymnastics is one of the hardest sports in the world next to wrestling. It takes balance, coordination, strength, flexibility and speed. One of the main ways to develop strength in gymnastics is through handstand training: walking on your hands, HS push-ups, free hand hops and walking up steps. It takes such great strength just to hold one of these, and you must keep the body tight at all times or you're on your ass or head. I haven't gotten up to free handing yet but I can do pretty well walking back and forth, side to side on the wall and i've put up some good strength in my upper body. Nothing makes you stronger then walking on your hands, think about it, we walk on our legs all day cause thats how our body is developed but imagine having the ability to walk on your hands, you know how much strength you're building. Crazy.
Whenever I watch gymnastics on TV i'm always impressed by what they do and I never believe the judges give them enough credit. My favorite event is obviously the rings cause its the one event where it tests your entire body through range of motion, your grip, muscle control, your core, shoulders, arms, back, hams, quads every muscle needs to be controled in order to hit the right movement or you're gonna fall. Hope I go to a USA Gymnastics event soon cause that'll be huge to me cause I practice a bit of gymnastics every day, even just doing bridging or walking on my hands with the Power Wheel its still a form of the sport.
If you want to see how gymnastics are in film check out the movie Stick It. Good story and a real teenage flick but has some surreal stunts.
Want to learn how to walk on your hands or practice handbalancing heres a couple guys that'll help get you there and one of them has a book coming out very soon keep checking daily with John Peterson's Site.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
www.mattfurey.com
www.superstrengthtraining.com
Gymnastic Abs
Gymnastic Handstands
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Monday, April 9, 2007
The Lifeline Power Wheel
This unicycle device can turn you into a machine, period. It has 2 sets of ways to work the core and entire body, one way is holding onto the handles and the other is strapping your feet in. Our midsections play a major role in our muscular development. Our abs built our entire strengths and weaknesses so in other words if you don't have strong abs you won't go far. Now with this device we can built strong, powerful abs without having to do sit-ups and crunches.
One of the best exercises that this 5 pound unicycle gives you is the ability to walk on your hands. Now our lower body is 3 times stronger then our upper cause we walk around all day long, but if you knew how to walk on your hands imagine the strength you will create. Its one of my favorites and my #1 reccomendation for a strong core and a powerful upper body. Although that exercise is a major one, the one exercise everyone knows is the Roll Out where you grab onto the handles and roll out as straight as possible either from standing or from the knees.
No matter what if you're a strongman, a tri-athlete or better yet a professinal/olympic gymnast the wheel can give anyone a run for their money. This is by far the best piece of abdomanial equipment and far better then the "ab sissor" or that crazy stupid looking "Boflex" The wheel can make those abs like granite and like it says "Strong abs create phenomenal power and might."
Want the Power Wheel here are the 2 best people to buy from.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Lifeline USA
Lifeline Power Wheel
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
One of the best exercises that this 5 pound unicycle gives you is the ability to walk on your hands. Now our lower body is 3 times stronger then our upper cause we walk around all day long, but if you knew how to walk on your hands imagine the strength you will create. Its one of my favorites and my #1 reccomendation for a strong core and a powerful upper body. Although that exercise is a major one, the one exercise everyone knows is the Roll Out where you grab onto the handles and roll out as straight as possible either from standing or from the knees.
No matter what if you're a strongman, a tri-athlete or better yet a professinal/olympic gymnast the wheel can give anyone a run for their money. This is by far the best piece of abdomanial equipment and far better then the "ab sissor" or that crazy stupid looking "Boflex" The wheel can make those abs like granite and like it says "Strong abs create phenomenal power and might."
Want the Power Wheel here are the 2 best people to buy from.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Lifeline USA
Lifeline Power Wheel
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Sunday, April 8, 2007
The Power Of The Animals
Theres an animal inside all of us and we all at one-time or another leashed out the animal in us on a rare occassion in fighting, business, bedroom endeavours (had to bring that up sorry if I offended anybody) and most obviously in the fitness world. Some of our personalities take on the form of a wild animal and most of us never really know how to use that trait. Mine consists of the powerful gorilla and its physical and mental strength. Now none can have the actual strength of one such creature but we can attain some and even that is enough.
In working out when us human train very hard and I mean where we are pounding iron hitting very difficult angles in BW exercises some people would say to us "Damn man you're being an animal" which is true. Now there are many ways to train the human body, we can lift weights, do BW exercises and we use certain peices of equipment to get is going but nothing makes you train harder then moving like the animals in the wild. I'm not saying we should pound our chests or jump and feed on prey or speed up and take action no i'm saying move in the form of any animal, a tiger, bear, crab, gorilla, chimpanze, lion ect.
When you see animals in the jungle theres always one thing you notice about them (this goes out to every expert who thinks weights is the only way to make you stronger), theres no barbell, no dumbbell, no machines, no racks and certainly NO WEIGHTS!!!! These creatues of nature are far stronger and far better skilled then us human beings. They stay strong to survive and to defend themselves. The bear chasing down a rabbit at a bw of 800 pounds and run on 4 legs, the gorilla pulling himself up onto a branch with one finger or the cheetah having the ability to take off faster then 350 horsepower muscle car in a matter of seconds. These are all the things we can learn from to increase our cardiovascular conditioning and over muscular strength.
If you haven't noticed already my fav. animal is the gorilla. The king of strength and overall power. They are the first to be developed into humans during the prehistoric age and gave us the ability to create superhuman strength. You notice a gorilla by the way it walks and how it climbs up and down the largest of trees and branches. Although we as human beings don't always understand how intelligent these creatures are but we should damn well know how to create their strengths. The strength of a 400 pound gorilla would be equivilant to the strength 10 heavyweight olympic weightlifters (check out Animal Planet sometime), wouldn't anyone of us would love to achieve that. I certainally would and i'm a big fan of great strength.
You see if you're a fitness fanatic and whatever animal you feel is connected to your personality or you feel you take "shape" of and by that I mean if you're lean and athletic you would have the animalistic shape of a cheetah or a chimpanzee or even a certain preditorial bird. If you're body takes an animalistic "shape" of a big, burely and thick billed you would take on as a bear, gorilla, rhinosaurs or a thick muscled lion. One-way or another we all have the personality or "shape" of an animal thats inside all of us. Which one are you?
Want to train like the wild animals heres the place to get you started and if you're like me and want to feel having somewhat of the strength of a powerful gorilla heres another place you can find.
www.wildmantraining.com
www.mattfurey.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
In working out when us human train very hard and I mean where we are pounding iron hitting very difficult angles in BW exercises some people would say to us "Damn man you're being an animal" which is true. Now there are many ways to train the human body, we can lift weights, do BW exercises and we use certain peices of equipment to get is going but nothing makes you train harder then moving like the animals in the wild. I'm not saying we should pound our chests or jump and feed on prey or speed up and take action no i'm saying move in the form of any animal, a tiger, bear, crab, gorilla, chimpanze, lion ect.
When you see animals in the jungle theres always one thing you notice about them (this goes out to every expert who thinks weights is the only way to make you stronger), theres no barbell, no dumbbell, no machines, no racks and certainly NO WEIGHTS!!!! These creatues of nature are far stronger and far better skilled then us human beings. They stay strong to survive and to defend themselves. The bear chasing down a rabbit at a bw of 800 pounds and run on 4 legs, the gorilla pulling himself up onto a branch with one finger or the cheetah having the ability to take off faster then 350 horsepower muscle car in a matter of seconds. These are all the things we can learn from to increase our cardiovascular conditioning and over muscular strength.
If you haven't noticed already my fav. animal is the gorilla. The king of strength and overall power. They are the first to be developed into humans during the prehistoric age and gave us the ability to create superhuman strength. You notice a gorilla by the way it walks and how it climbs up and down the largest of trees and branches. Although we as human beings don't always understand how intelligent these creatures are but we should damn well know how to create their strengths. The strength of a 400 pound gorilla would be equivilant to the strength 10 heavyweight olympic weightlifters (check out Animal Planet sometime), wouldn't anyone of us would love to achieve that. I certainally would and i'm a big fan of great strength.
You see if you're a fitness fanatic and whatever animal you feel is connected to your personality or you feel you take "shape" of and by that I mean if you're lean and athletic you would have the animalistic shape of a cheetah or a chimpanzee or even a certain preditorial bird. If you're body takes an animalistic "shape" of a big, burely and thick billed you would take on as a bear, gorilla, rhinosaurs or a thick muscled lion. One-way or another we all have the personality or "shape" of an animal thats inside all of us. Which one are you?
Want to train like the wild animals heres the place to get you started and if you're like me and want to feel having somewhat of the strength of a powerful gorilla heres another place you can find.
www.wildmantraining.com
www.mattfurey.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Training Wherever You Go
When it comes to bodyweight exercises, no matter where you go you can either have a good, tough workout but also you can get the toughest of your life. Gym training is ok if you're into it but look at the contineous fees and equipment use to wait for and the this idea of whiping off someone elses sweat. Screw that i've had to do this more then a few times and its not great to do. I rather be my own gym and want to something for me and nobody elses. I pick the exercises and the time its never determained for me which is something we all want. Now we all need to create some overall development but hey wouldnt it be nice to have an alternative on the road. Try a few BW exercises and you won't be dissappointed if they're too easy do some with one arm or do them at a different pace there are unlimited possibilities.
If you want to get either into this system or amp it up John Peterson and Jom Forystek can help.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
If you want to get either into this system or amp it up John Peterson and Jom Forystek can help.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Ab Training + Bodybuilding Senarios
What makes great powerful abs? Is it doing crunches everyday, is it working out while giving them a good rest or can it be that some of the strongest looking abs in the arnt really that strong? Anyway you see it in today's modern fitness you see bodybuilders, pro wrestlers, baseball players ect. there is just some that seem to look like a greek god but have the strength of 5 year old. I love seeing homeruns smacked, I like seeing someone getting slammed and on a few occassions I think its cool how awesome a bodybuilder's ripped abs look like.
Back in the golden age of Physical Culture, Strongman, Wrestlers, Gymnasts ect. trained every part of the body including the inner portions to keep them strong (the organs of the body) and yet not a single I have read did crunches it wasn't even invented yet. Yet today we see these gadgets, gizmos and "Guarentees" going on that some expert can get you the abs of Zeus or whatever. Personally ripped abs arn't all that appealing and do most of them have any REAL strength. Lets look at a bodybuilder with the biggest looking set compared to yesteryear shall we?
Bodybuilder #1- In this day in age the average muscle man is 5'9 around 225-265 pounds who's ripped to shreds everywhere, strong as hell on the weights he grins and grunts on ab lounge and does several sets of sit-ups/crunches and possibly do a few sets on a stability (to them its too girly its only for chicks) and creates this magnificant 6-8 pack of muscle chromed abdomen. Eats like a horse on meat and protein supplements and eats about 6-9 times a day and then drain themselves to get ready for competition. Lets put him to the test, he gets into a fight or has to pull off a very difficult Keg Toss. The moment he gets punched as hard as the opponent can hit this ripped up looking god goes down in a heart beat screaming in agony. Now the Keg Toss (trust me there needs to be plenty of ab strength to pull this off) he grins and grunts and yet as he gets ready to toss he pulls a muscle in the oblique area at mid range of the toss.
Bodybuider #2- An old time physical Culturist, in the days where strongman and developed human speciamens trained the entire body (including the internal organs) and were very active, ate healthy foods even to gain or lose or to stay at a particular weight. They did ab training through deep breathing, basic exercises in weight lifting and bodyweight. He's very lean at 5'7 maybe 185 pounds of ripped solid muscle (this is in the early 20th century mind you) and just has a great way to devote himself to fitness while maintaining a healthy social lifestyle. Lets say he gets into a fight and wanted it to get over with and gets punched very hard in the abdomen but yet doesnt have very much affect on him, he still keeps going until the opponent can't take it anymore. Now the Keg Toss, even at 185 a keg can weigh around lets say 250, he grins and grunts and without missing a step he swings up then leans back and throws it with every ounce of strength he has and yet never came out hurt or felt injured.
You see the difference in those senarios, they both trained very well in their field and can draw a crowd with ease but yet who do you think was stronger and less injury prone. The first muscle man was todays modern fitness magnet that although he looked big and strong he couldnt take a lick of a punch or the toss. Yet somehow the old time muscle man was stronger and can take monsterous shots and doesnt come out hurt in the toss. These are true stories and i'm sure you can find whom. When us society get sucked into the whacky world of bodybuilding and the so called "experts" show us the way to better to a healthy life and have us take their supplements and yet don't get anywhere as aposse to the old-timers that didnt have supplements and worked hard to get themselves really strong at very lean weights.
Whenever I get asked if I do weights cause i'm big and a bit muscular for my height and say no they don't believe it cause thats where they're brainwashed to thinking that to look good and be strong hit the iron when you can use basic commonsense. Never believe everything you read or heard cause of what they tell guarantrees, if we all had guarantees in life we'd all be a perfect world. Yeah Right! Check things out for yourself and if it works for you and you alone. Train the way you want its your decision not the advetisers who tell you too.
If you feel you want a change in your training and see whats best for you that you feel is right, go to John Peterson, Matt Furey, John Wood or Brooks Kubik and they'll show you the right path as they have for me.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
www.mattfurey.com
www.functionalhandstrength.com
www.brookskubik.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Back in the golden age of Physical Culture, Strongman, Wrestlers, Gymnasts ect. trained every part of the body including the inner portions to keep them strong (the organs of the body) and yet not a single I have read did crunches it wasn't even invented yet. Yet today we see these gadgets, gizmos and "Guarentees" going on that some expert can get you the abs of Zeus or whatever. Personally ripped abs arn't all that appealing and do most of them have any REAL strength. Lets look at a bodybuilder with the biggest looking set compared to yesteryear shall we?
Bodybuilder #1- In this day in age the average muscle man is 5'9 around 225-265 pounds who's ripped to shreds everywhere, strong as hell on the weights he grins and grunts on ab lounge and does several sets of sit-ups/crunches and possibly do a few sets on a stability (to them its too girly its only for chicks) and creates this magnificant 6-8 pack of muscle chromed abdomen. Eats like a horse on meat and protein supplements and eats about 6-9 times a day and then drain themselves to get ready for competition. Lets put him to the test, he gets into a fight or has to pull off a very difficult Keg Toss. The moment he gets punched as hard as the opponent can hit this ripped up looking god goes down in a heart beat screaming in agony. Now the Keg Toss (trust me there needs to be plenty of ab strength to pull this off) he grins and grunts and yet as he gets ready to toss he pulls a muscle in the oblique area at mid range of the toss.
Bodybuider #2- An old time physical Culturist, in the days where strongman and developed human speciamens trained the entire body (including the internal organs) and were very active, ate healthy foods even to gain or lose or to stay at a particular weight. They did ab training through deep breathing, basic exercises in weight lifting and bodyweight. He's very lean at 5'7 maybe 185 pounds of ripped solid muscle (this is in the early 20th century mind you) and just has a great way to devote himself to fitness while maintaining a healthy social lifestyle. Lets say he gets into a fight and wanted it to get over with and gets punched very hard in the abdomen but yet doesnt have very much affect on him, he still keeps going until the opponent can't take it anymore. Now the Keg Toss, even at 185 a keg can weigh around lets say 250, he grins and grunts and without missing a step he swings up then leans back and throws it with every ounce of strength he has and yet never came out hurt or felt injured.
You see the difference in those senarios, they both trained very well in their field and can draw a crowd with ease but yet who do you think was stronger and less injury prone. The first muscle man was todays modern fitness magnet that although he looked big and strong he couldnt take a lick of a punch or the toss. Yet somehow the old time muscle man was stronger and can take monsterous shots and doesnt come out hurt in the toss. These are true stories and i'm sure you can find whom. When us society get sucked into the whacky world of bodybuilding and the so called "experts" show us the way to better to a healthy life and have us take their supplements and yet don't get anywhere as aposse to the old-timers that didnt have supplements and worked hard to get themselves really strong at very lean weights.
Whenever I get asked if I do weights cause i'm big and a bit muscular for my height and say no they don't believe it cause thats where they're brainwashed to thinking that to look good and be strong hit the iron when you can use basic commonsense. Never believe everything you read or heard cause of what they tell guarantrees, if we all had guarantees in life we'd all be a perfect world. Yeah Right! Check things out for yourself and if it works for you and you alone. Train the way you want its your decision not the advetisers who tell you too.
If you feel you want a change in your training and see whats best for you that you feel is right, go to John Peterson, Matt Furey, John Wood or Brooks Kubik and they'll show you the right path as they have for me.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
www.mattfurey.com
www.functionalhandstrength.com
www.brookskubik.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Pull-Ups/Handstand Push-ups Build Gorilla Strength
When it comes down to building upper body power and strength there are many ways to develop it since most bodybuilders and other fanatics are upper body crazy. There's the Bench Press, there's lat pull-downs, dead-lifts, push-ups, chest expander ect. But I feel the best and most healthy way to develop super strength is through 2 exercises that take you beyond the levels of strength and that's Pull-ups and Handstand Push-ups. Either one of these is not easy to do and to me that's a good thing.
Pull-ups build super strength in the back, grip, arms and shoulders. When you can do these at about 15 reps you got something going my friend. Why does this exercise seem like the strength builder? Look at the gorillas, they're strong, agile and massive, they have powerful looking back cause why, they climb and pull themselves up on a daily basis and they do this to survive and they start learning to hang as babies like a human baby learns to walk, apes do the opposite. I like to train in ways of the primates cause when you learn to swing around and grip and pull you're building strength in places you didn't know you had.
Handstand Push-ups are the upside down version of pull-ups, now holding a handstand alone can be difficult so you're already building strength by holding one. Once you get to the point of going down and back up you're building more power. It takes a great deal to pull off 1 HSPU but if you keep working on them you'll eventually hit 10 or more, my best is 25 consecutively at a body-weight of 230 pounds so think about how much strength I'm building pressing my own weight. This exercise was used by some of strongest men in the world and are a common exercise for gymnasts and look how strong they are. HSPU build strength in the arms, chest, grip, back, shoulders and abs.
When it comes down to it I find no other exercises for building great power in the upper body, walking on your hands is also a great exercise to build that kind of strength but just these 2 where you go up and down. If you want pull-up and handstand strength then check out these guys below and they're courses will get you to where you want to go.
Ultimate Handstand Push-ups
Pull-up Strength Training Workout
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Pull-ups build super strength in the back, grip, arms and shoulders. When you can do these at about 15 reps you got something going my friend. Why does this exercise seem like the strength builder? Look at the gorillas, they're strong, agile and massive, they have powerful looking back cause why, they climb and pull themselves up on a daily basis and they do this to survive and they start learning to hang as babies like a human baby learns to walk, apes do the opposite. I like to train in ways of the primates cause when you learn to swing around and grip and pull you're building strength in places you didn't know you had.
Handstand Push-ups are the upside down version of pull-ups, now holding a handstand alone can be difficult so you're already building strength by holding one. Once you get to the point of going down and back up you're building more power. It takes a great deal to pull off 1 HSPU but if you keep working on them you'll eventually hit 10 or more, my best is 25 consecutively at a body-weight of 230 pounds so think about how much strength I'm building pressing my own weight. This exercise was used by some of strongest men in the world and are a common exercise for gymnasts and look how strong they are. HSPU build strength in the arms, chest, grip, back, shoulders and abs.
When it comes down to it I find no other exercises for building great power in the upper body, walking on your hands is also a great exercise to build that kind of strength but just these 2 where you go up and down. If you want pull-up and handstand strength then check out these guys below and they're courses will get you to where you want to go.
Ultimate Handstand Push-ups
Pull-up Strength Training Workout
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
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