The Olympics

 I watched a little of the Olympics a few weeks ago and from most of what I watched was the majority of Swimming & Gymnastics. The female gymnasts just destroyed opponents left and right and in my humble opinion none of them shined as much as Gabby Douglas. She embodied what a gymnast should have, grace, power, strength and above all fierce balance. Gymnastics is by far one of the toughest sports there is, both Male & Female competition, the training is fierce and it gives you a whole new perspective on Animalistic Bodyweight Training. The closest to Gymnastics would be the Animals although you won’t see a Tiger on the balance beam or a Gorilla on the Pummel Horse but the resemblance is uncanny and like an animal in the wild, you have to be quick, fast, coordinated and extremely strong.

 Swimming was the other sport I couldn’t take my eyes off cause our American squad just took over with a  vengeance in just about every event both men and women. Michael Phelps was the dominant king but the dominant queen in my opinion was Missy Franklin who was no more than 17 and won many gold medals. Just to swim at an incredible pace takes conditioning to a level you can’t even imagine. Like Gymnastics, Swimming takes up your entire body from head to toe and each event looks more grueling than the other the toughest being the Butterfly I think. That sport became a favorite to watch and wasn’t much of a swim fan in previous Olympics but after learning many forms of exercise and conditioning I had a new found respect for certain sports.

 We all know that some athletes have used steroids in the Olympics to increase their performance and chances of winning but it comes with a price. Steroids for personal gain is just plain stupid and there were at times when some of them didn’t realize they were on it because Roids don’t always come with a needle, comes in creams, pills and all sorts of stuff and it’s just plain dumb to even put athletes on it. I realize there is pressure among coaches, families, teammates and the organization to an athlete that they are expected to do great things and many of them are duped into being as perfect as possible even taking serious health risks for seeking that perfection. It’s really tough to avoid that kind of thing when you’re a world-class athlete whether an Olympian or a Professional so to really avoid it, do your research, learn alternatives that bring you more health instead of decreasing it and find that power within you that gives you the strength, speed and endurance naturally and show it that you don’t need Steroids or P.E.Ds (for those playing the home game that’s Performance Enhancing Drugs). This is a suggestion not a general way to do things.

 Training at the highest level of Competition takes practice in ways you can’t imagine unless you’re in your specific sport. One of the greatest amateur wrestlers of all-time Kurt Angle was an Olympic champion, World Champion, NCAA Champion and a profound man on his intense level of conditioning. While he trained for the Olympics, he ran hills as far as 200 yards, lifted weight in very high numbers, once he went to the University Of Iowa where Dan Gable was still coaching and once had a match with one of his wrestlers, this wasn’t your typical hardcore 4-3-3 minute rounds, this was a 40-30-30 minute rounds that made you realize how far you’re willing to go to keep going. That’s not hardcore training, that’s pure insanity and the will to fight to keep up with yourself. I have been in a wrestling room and for a 3 day period, it was till this day, the longest 3 days of my life as an athlete. It’s not just wrestling, it’s every sport you’re in, if you want it bad enough, if you want to be the very best, than you got to train harder than anyone else, you won’t always be the strongest, biggest or meanest cat in the gym or in your field but the will to bust your ass in practice makes you an athlete with the highest of honors and that’s fighting for what you love and smiling while you’re doing it. The hardest part isn’t the training, training actually is the easy part, and the competition is your toughest part because the training you already bled sweated and gotten through, now you got to put that to the test.

 Out of everything you do for a sport, no matter how many opponents you won or lost to, there’s that one opponent that will always come after you and that’s the same one you see in the mirror every morning. The other guy is just another athlete that you’ll face time and time again or face him/her only one time but fighting yourself is the one thing you face every single day. If you can learn to grapple yourself and overcome the challenges you face every day, the rest is a cake walk. After watching some of the Olympics and reading about the other athletes, it’s safe to say with every up and down, won or lost, defeated and conquered every single athlete down to the very last place did everything they could to make it to the highest level of competition but many of them still need to find that one thing that brought them there and make it consistent otherwise, they will become just another athlete with the word Olympian attached to their name.

Muscle Reminders, Vampire Strength

Here's the second Guest Article for the week by my good friend and former European, World & Olympic Gymnast Cees De Kok giving you the chance to find your inner Vampire. Enjoy everyone....

Hi,

My name is Cees and I am the creator of Muscle Reminders.

All my life I have been a gymnast and as Dutch National Gymnastics Champion I competed in many competitions, including European, Worlds and Olympics. After gymnastics I became an entertainer and traveled the world showing of my unique skills as an aerialist. I have always been conscious of my body, shape and condition. It has been and still is a big part of my life. Being fit is so important to a person. For the last 7 1/2 years I have been working in a vampire show in Las Vegas where I play the role of a flying vampire.

For those interested, here is a little clip.

http://musclereminders.com/evp/?seed=ceesflying

 It involves playing a drunk guy that gets picked out of the audience and is bitten and turns into a vampire, I fly, I act and also have a fight scene where I have to tumble twist and swing big sticks and fire around. I am so absorbed in my role that I “become” the animal vampire I am portraying. Every small little movement I make is controlled and full of energy and passion. As a vampire you are always alert and you always know what is happening in front and behind you. You are ready for anything. Your body is ready to jump up, make a flip and land comfortably back on your feet ready for your next move.

 And that is the way I am behaving myself during my normal life in the daytime as well. While going about my daily busy life and constantly doing my exercises my body does not sink in. I perform small effective exercises that keep me alert and awake. At the end of the day I have done a full body workout, am energized and still ready for more action.

 Look at the world we are living in and the hectic lifestyle we lead,.... trying to get or stay in shape comes with a lot of hurdles. Our lives are being made comfortable and convenient and society is pushing us in the direction of the easy way out. Remote controls for everything, escalators, electric toothbrushes, etc, etc. And on top of that are we are so busy with everything that our good intentions of going to do a workout are being placed on the back burner. We delay our healthy plans and promise to go the next day, but have to reschedule again and again and finally we give up. There is just not enough time in the day to get to it.

 Vampire Power is known as electrical power consumed by electrical appliances while they are switched off.I use this Vampire Technique to develop Vampire Strength with no gym in minutes a day.While my work-out mode is switched off or on standby I activate the Vampire within me and suck out little bits of energy at a time to do small but effective exercises. The energy used does not drain nor fatigue me. Instead it will feed my Vampire within and generate the used power into strong and powerful muscles without interrupting the course of my daily routine. Many of my exercises are about engaging and controlling my muscles in a way that fit in my daily life but will ultimately give me the strength of a vampire.

 Even in this hectic world we all have an enormous untouched wealth of time that we can use to get a full body workout without changing a thing we do. I use this method already for years but did not know the importance and impact it made on other people. So, I decided to share my experience and expertise and created this series of DVD's. Small effective exercises make my body strong, tight and ready for everything. It does not drain me but instead gives me extra power. Physically and Mentally.

 Do you have a Vampire inside?

Vacation Training

I firmly believe that if you’re into fitness, there’s no such thing as a day off especially when you go on vacation. I was recently in California for a 3 ½ week trip, sleeping in 5 different houses for a week than going up to South Lake Tahoe for the other 2 weeks. Taking time off for your training is not always a good thing because if all you do is take time off than when you get back to it, it might make you a little rusty. No matter where you go, always find time to do some exercise whether it’s for 5 minutes or doing small exercises throughout the day, you always want to keep your body fresh and aware.

 Training while on Vacation can be a good thing because you’ll have some extra time to work on specific goals and possibly break new PR’s like I have when in I was in CA. There’s two types of training you can do while on vacation, you can do Hard training which you only need to do 2-3 times a week at best or you can do what I call Relaxed training, this doesn’t mean sitting on your ass and twit tiling your thumbs, no this type of training can be done whenever you want and do small things like working your wrist, push-ups on a park bench or even doing one-legged squats while you hold onto your chair or couch. Here’s an idea, do both, it gives you variety of what you can do each day and never making an excuse.

 Walking is a great exercise not only physically but mentally as it helps clear your mind and enjoy what you have. While you’re on vacation and going to a different place like a lake, being up in the mountains or going to a retreat, take a nice brisk walk and breathe new life into your system. I like to walk but going too long wears me out and I’d like to do things throughout the day so I brought along with me my PowR Walk Pro which you can find here. It’s a walking device that helps you burn calories, develop muscular and cardiovascular endurance and can do all sorts of exercises with it and it doesn’t take too long to feel the pulling of the cables.

 When I was in Lake Tahoe, I went to the gym one morning with my sister and her husband and although this wasn’t a gym I can ever relate to I still had the urge to do something out of the norm. While I was there I was doing presses with 85 lb. Dumbbells, haven’t attempted that in over 10 years, did some KB work and stretching but when I noticed the Power Rack and the Barbells laying around, I decided to just go for a new Deadlift PR and see how far I can go. I went all the way up to 405 lb. and got it up and a new PR for me. Now I’m not saying you should always go to a gym on your vacation but doing something out of your element with the free time you have will give you a new perspective on what consistent training will do for you.

 Swimming is one of my favorite exercises and got to do plenty of it out in CA. Its one of those forms of exercises that makes you feel like a million bucks and it’s impact friendly and develops Nerve Force meaning it gives your body that extra spark of life and endorphins that jut blast through the roof. Now I realize not everyone can swim but standing in water and moving your body will get you nearly the same effect as far as exercise is concerned.

 The last few years going to Tahoe, we usually stay in a cabin near the lake and right on the road where our cabin is, is a hill that Ilike to sprint on. Now I must warn you, Tahoe is at about 6500 ft elevation so it’s a bit tougher to breathe and it almost seems impossible to even do Sprints on a hill at that level. I mustered up the guts to do it and only doing a few sets but this few sets alone builds ultra high levels of natural Growth Hormone which helps keep you young, strong and vibrant. Now there are other options to doing some exercise at a high elevation and one of them is hiking. I’ve hiked a few times and talk about a lung developer and working the whole body, not just your legs.

 Being in shape for Vacation is one of the best things you can do for yourself because if you want to go somewhere where you’d like to do stuff it’s a good thing to give your body a run for it’s money. Not everyone is in great shape and I realize if you have children you want to keep up with them and have fun with them. Never fear as you can go to various places to find certain courses to be in the best shape even if you’re a total beginner and new to exercise, make it happen not just for you but for the people you want to keep up and spend time with.

 Give yourself the opportunity to learn what it’s like to be fit and do the things you’ve always wanted to do. It’s never too late and being on vacation helps give your body a chance to learn new things.

Love to Win, Hate to Lose

Here's another Guest Article from fellow Physical Culturist Matti Marzel giving you another dose of his Ferocious Intensity and powerful messages to the world of Fitness, Muscle Building and Health...Enjoy.

Yeah I know, this Headline sounds like some Spartan/Gladiator type Philosophy that is Hardcore to the Bone and not for most people, so why even bother talking about?! I’ll tell you exactly WHY I bother to talk about it in the first place, and it has EVERYTHING to do with the Major Succes that you’ll achieve in your Training in the shortrun, but MOST Importantly, In the longrun!

  So here’s what I’m getting at with the Title of this Article, You probably already understand that Most people don’t like to Lose at all-in whatever Sport or Training that they’re involved in, and the More Professional & Elite Level it is, the More this applies to it all! But lets take a Dude for example that Trains Hard as hell, Fanatically, Obsessively & with Severe Seriousness that you won’t find easily in this day & age! I’m talking of course about myself over here, as I know more about myself then anyone else in the Training & Physical Culture World out there, and thus I can speak from personal experience, and easily go very far with the examples that I’ll give about myself as well!

 And before you think that I’m here to bragg about myself and show you how cool I am and all of that, you’re completely wrong! It is true that I feel good about myself and see myself in my mind is a Ferocious Animalisticly Strong & Superior Radiant Healthy dude, that’s absolutely TRUE, and you won’t hear me saying or claiming anything else but that! But that’s not why I talk about “Loving to Win and Hating to Lose”. I’m mentioning that you GOT to LOVE winning so freaking much, that even the slightest or tiniest thought of Losing will make you go crazy, apesh*t and lose your mind! You truly gotta create, develop and manifest in the HATE feeling for Losing! If you’re still with me on all of this?! Cool, then you probably also know why I mentioned HOW I look and see myself in my own mind! Because that’s the Whole Idea of LOVING To win! You gotta create that Burning Desire and FIRE in your Heart that Makes Winning SO MUCH MORE then just winning! It needs to become such a Burning Desire, the Winning has to mean everything in the World - scratch that - in the whole UNIVERSE for you personally, as it IS for me, personally as well!

  If you can remember the Soundtrack song from the Rocky IV movie?! Exactly, I’m talking about the Soundtrack song: Hearts on Fire! If you listen to that song, feel the vibe and Emotional Content of that song, then you cannot help but feel emerged by it and Pumped up + Psyched the hell up to Train like a Fanatical Outta Control Maniac! Hell Yeah, this also happens to be one of my Ultimate Emotional Contents for my Own Training before I go Train!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oDTNEEu3Rw

I also Mix this together with Anchors obviously, but that’s beyond the scope of this Article! And If you truly want to learn more about Emotional Anchors, then I highely suggest and recommend you go to My Official Site at www.ferociousstrength.com, and sign up on the Right-Hand Side of my Site with your Name & E-mail adress, to Download my Free Bonus Report: Emotional Anchors for Absolutely FREE! And in that FREE Bonus Report I’ll go into a TON more details as to Why, How, Where and When you should be using Emotional Anchors in your Training!

  Having said that, lets focus back on the HATING to LOSE Part! Yes indeed Comrade, YOU got to HATE losing as Much as you LOVE to Win! You see, Love & Hate or both the Strongest Emotions there is when it comes to Emotional Contents, period! I know this from personal experience, so does Ben Bergman, whom I’ve written this Guest Article for, and a Lot more Physical Culturists and Strongmen out there as well! My BEST and MOST Valuable advice that I can give you about HATING to lose, is to first of all: Never be scared or frightened by your Own Hatefull Emotion, or any other Emotion for that matter! There’s truly not a single reason in the world to be afraid of your OWN Emotions… NONE, Never was and Never will!

  You gotta understand that we’re ALL Emotional beings, wether we admit it or not! Wether we like it or not, or wether we try to hide them or ignoring them! Emotions are around us (and around YOU, whoever is reading this right now!) at ALL times, Hell Yeah, read that again: At ALL times! Lets take a Very Strong & Powerfull Physical Culturist out there for example who talks about Emotions as well, and holds it in very HIGH regards as I do! I’m talking of course about Chuck Halbakken! Now if you’re NOT familiar with Chuck, then you definitely should! Now before I recommend you to go to His Site and to ALSO go to the Upcoming “Wizards of Strength” Workshop that is being Held by 2 of My Personal Coaches and Mentors + Legendary Strongmen as well: Bud Jeffries and Logan Christopher, I would like to take a moment to quote Chuck Halbakken over here WORD for WORD about what he had to say personally about “being Emotionally Involved into your Training”… Check it out!

“Lets get into the Emotional Aspects of Training! Ok, so lets just say: can we agree that Patience is a Trainable Skill?! So, you have Patience and Agression, now you can be Agressive and STILL patient.”

He then continues to say this:

“How do you work on Relaxation? That’s an Emotional Thing more then anything else! How do you Generate Tension? Can we say that that is Emotional? Certainly, In Z-Health you learn that EVERY Movement that your body makes (YOU make!) has an Emotion attached to it! Wether you understand it or not, or wether you recognize it or not. So if you attach an Emotion to a Movement, why aren’t you who decide the Emotion for yourself? Rather then let your Brain decide the particular Emotion for you…”

  Now that you’ve heard Chuck Himself mention the Importance of Emotional Content & being Emotionally Involved in your Training as well, I truly hope that by now I’ve convinced you of the Major Importance of using YOUR Emotions in Your Training for the Greater Good!

 Now that we’ve got that settled and discussed, I want YOU, to make Losing in your Training (and in Everything in Life as well, period!) something that you absolutely and totally hate with ALL of your Might! This might sound very drastic, fanatically, insane, extreme and over the top, and maybe it is! But screw that, if you want to WIN ALL the time in Your Training (and who the hell doesn’t?), then you my friend, got to HATE Losing as Much as you LOVE Winning! It’s as simple and straight-to-the-point as that! Wether you agree with me or not, I’ve got the facts to back it up, and I can give you the BEST and most Profound example of a Ferociously Strong & Insanely Conditioned dude that has implied and used these in his own Training as well: MYSELF! Yeah, I know that some of you over here are going to mention the Ancient Chinese saying that goes like this: Aiming High and Losing is NOT a Crime, but Aiming Low and Winning is a Crime! And this same Ancient Chinese saying was ALSO repeated and stressed so much by the Legendary Bruce Lee himself to his students in the Martial Arts that he taught them! But bare with me for a second over here, now I do completely agree with this Ancient Chinese saying, I honestly do, for the full 100%! But that’s not what I meant with the Title of this Article, it may look like it, but it definitely ISN’T whatsoever!

  Yeah it is indeed an Incredible Crime to Aim very Low and to Win, rather then Aiming very High and to Lose! But here’s what I mean with Love to Win, Hate to Lose! I’m saying that you should always Aim super high, Aim so Damn High that it literally scares the living shit out of “normal” and “regular” people out there, and makes them look at you and accusing you of being a MUTANT/Alien with Super powers! Now THAT’s What I mean with Love to Win, Hate to Lose! You should NEVER EVER aim low in your Training at all, that’s just Disrespectfull as hell towards other Super Strong Physical Culturists out there + the Oldetime Strongmen of the past, but MOST Importantly, it’s very Disrespectful towards Yourself!

 So I said that Aiming Low should never even be an Option! And I truly believe in that and stand behind my Word and beliefs as well for the Full 100%! So now what we do? You’ve got to Aim High and WIN! Now obviously you won’t win everytime that you Aim for a Sky High Feat of Strength or Training Goal, there will be definitely more times that you will Lose and get your ass kicked from all directions, then there will be times that You completely own it, destroy it and finally achieve your Training Goals! And right here, Comrades, is where the Headline of this Article comes in the Best! You WILL Lose, and you will fall down and be humiliated by the Feat of Strength or Training Goal that you’ve set upon yourself! But there’s no reason to stay down once you’ve fallen down or to be defeated by the Stupid Hard and Incredibly tough Feat of Strength or Training Goal (for you that is!), Hell no, you should Stand Right Up, Grab that Feat of Strength or Training Goal by the Throat, shake it upside down, from left to right and promise to yourself that you will Beat this Feat of Strength or Training Goal in the end, and so you WILL, there’s NO Stopping you or holding you back whatsoever, unless you stop yourself! You’re a Ferociously Strong & Powerful Tiger on the Hunt, and you won’t  be satisfied untill you’ve Hunted down your Prey (Feat of Strength/Training Goal!), Killed it and then eated it (Destroying your Goal and acknowledging that you finally conquered it!). That’s How you should Look at your Training Goals from here on out, with this same kind of Intensity, Drive, Motivation, Dedication & Brutal FORCE as I personally do as well!

  There’s no two ways around it Comrades, when you do not follow my advice over here, your results will be mediocre or OK at best, yes you will achieve your Feats of Strength or Training Goals in the end, but it will definitely take a whole lot longer for you to achieve them, and with a lot more set-backs, plateaus and Negative feelings about yourself because of it! And who the hell wants to have set-backs, plateaus and Negative feelings about oneself?! I know I sure as hell DON’T, that’s for sure!

  So next time you’re stepping into your Training Area (can be a Garage, Backyard, Living Room, Gym and even an Army Base!), take a moment to Use the Emotional Content of what you LOVE to achieve and how much you absolutely & wholeheartedly HATE It to NOT achieve it! I guarentee you my friend, you WILL achieve your Goals way Faster and more Efficient that way! I can honestly and wholeheartedly say that this is Completely true out of my Own Training and Goal Setting Experience!

  Since I’ve been going deeper and deeper into this kind of Mentality & Emotional Involvements in my Own Training, I’ve seen my Feats of Strength & Training Goals go thru the roof and fly off the shelves, Literally! I’m hitting World Records, New Incredibly and Insane PR’s (Personal Records!) Left and Right these days! If you don’t believe me or think that I’m bragging and am full of shit, then I Highely suggest that you check out my Official Youtube Channel over here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/youmuthafuckayou187?feature=mhee

Now after you checked out ALL of my Feats of Strength video’s (or even some of them!), then holla back at me and tell me how I don’t know what I’m talking about, You’ll be a believer once you check out just a couple of my latest Ferocious & Legendary Feats of Strength! And those Feats of Ferocious and Legendary Strength are just the beginning of the beginning my friend! Better believe it, and to tell you the truth, I haven’t even mentioned or showed ALL of my Training Goals and achievements over there on my Youtube Channel! And safe to say that I’ve got a whole lot more Awesome and Legit Feats of Strenght to come in the near and far future! And that’s a 100% Guarentee!

  Ok, enough of the Bravado stuff! What I’m saying however is that it’s time for YOU, to start implementing and using these strategies and way of thinking into your OWN Training to the Fullest! and thus I promise you that you will reap the best benefits and get the best results that you’ve ever had in your Training thus far! And guess what? It’s only getting better and better from here on out the more you Practice it! I hope that this Article  got you to think more about Emotional Contents and about the whole idea and philosophy of Loving to Win and Hating to Lose! But you gotta do the work for yourself over here, I showed you the Path, NOW it’s time for you to put these ideas and philosophy into Action! And as we all know: Action speaks Louder then Words ever will!

 

 

Untill the next time Comrades!

In Strength & Health!

Matti Marzel!

********

You can find Matti Marzel on www.ferociousstrength.com! On his Site he talks about how to Develop Ferocious Animalistic Strength & Superior Radiant Health… among other things! He’s a Physical Culturist and Strongmen in the TRUE sense of the word, and has developed an level of BOTH Strength & Conditioning that is already considered Legendary and Insane! His goal is to reach and teach the people worldwide how to develop Both Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, Spiritually and Energetically Strength, as well as how to make this Whole Training & Physical Culture a Lifestyle, and not just a Hobby!

One thing’s for sure: Matti would have made the Legendary Oldetime Strongmen of the Past very proud, We both would have BTW!

Be sure to sign-up on the right-hand side of his Site, Ferocious Stength, to Download the FREE Bonus Report: Emotional Anchors! And after you’ve downloaded it, make sure you NOT only read it, but also USE it to the Fullest! ‘Nuff Said, I rest my case!

Advancing In Short Bending

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

Iron Cord like Forearms

 

Powerful Wrists

 

Hands as tough as rock

 

A strong upper body

 

Eagle Claw like Fingers

 

Tendons that are as strong as Steel

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

Learning From The Man Himself

I have been good friends with Logan Christopher for roughly over seven years. He alongside Tyler Bramlett aka Duke T McB are the top two men that let me in the Physical Culture world and taught me everything I know and have learned from some of the best teachers in the game both personally and through courses plus over the phone conversations. If there’s one thing I’m grateful in the world of fitness it’s from them.

 When you have training partners that are also good friends, your training will push you beyond your own abilities. Just because they’re friends has never meant taking it easy on me. Every time I’m around them or Logan in particular, he always has me try some crazy thing like when he had me over at his house when I was in Cali recently he gave a grade 5 hex bolt to bend which I have never even made a kink in my life, since Logan was there to guide me a bit within moments I bent that little monster about ¾ of the way or near full bend and I was shocked.

 Training alongside Logan has been an honor since day one. Believe it or not, he’s seen some of my firsts and possibly some of my only feats such as….

 

First 60 penny nail bend

 

First Grade 5 Bend

 

Falling Back Into A Bridge, Kick over and back

 

Holding a 125 lb. dumbbell with a 2 inch thick handle for ten seconds

 

My one and only time doing 83 reps in 5 min. 53 lb. KB snatch test (never attempted before or since)

 So as you can see, he’s a true coach to me and one of the coolest cats on earth. One of the best things I’ve learned from him and others is how we all help each other get better, its not always who’s better or badder, it’s how we help each other advance in our own training. Personally I know how good I’am but lets face facts, I wouldn’t be that damn good without the Renaissance Man watching my back. I will always be indebted to him for helping me find my own path in Physical Culture.

 Last thing before I brag too much about the Ponytailed freak of nature, when you have good friends to train with, things are a lot more fun and more interesting because you learn new things from one another and teach each other different styles, hell as great the man is, I even taught a couple things but that’s the beauty of it. Having fun is what it’s all about, trust me its better to go through life having fun than being serious and dull. If you have friends out there that you train with, help each other and learn from one another but never forget that the one person you need to train with is not one of your buddies but yourself. Have fun and make things interesting.   

Hard Training= Harder Rest

Every workout should be a small challenge but I believe at least once work a week or a month should be one of the toughest you’ve ever put yourself through. Bust your ass for the exercises that give you the best results and hit them hard with a vengeance.

 Resting is a major factor in your training because rest means recovery and you learn to give your body its time to relax. When I mean rest I don’t always mean between sets, I mean by sleep and letting the body recover overnight. After a hard and brutal session, you’d want to get a good night’s rest which builds hormone levels and builds your metabolic state.

 If there was ever a day I needed to Rest more than anything else was one of the most brutal days of my life. I spent the morning and early afternoon training on hand balancing and even doing some Rock Climbing which I’ve never done in my life. After that tough part of the day, I went to the gym with my sister and her husband and did some brutal lifts with crazy heavy dumbbells, including low reps on the pulldowns up to 270 lbs. and went for reps at the pec deck which maxed at 240 lbs. Pull-ups were added in and plenty of stretching. After the gym, jumped in the pool and did some swimming to cool down my body after a brutal day of training. Can you say insane?

 At the Rock Climbing gym I got to train alongside The Duke and The Renaissance Man a.k.a Tyler Bramlett and Logan Christopher. These 2 were going at it with Handstands, Climbing and various holds that need to be seen to believe. I’ve had a few sessions with these bad asses before and every time I train with them there’s some thing magical in the air.

 When you train this hard or anything hardcore at all, it’s very important you let your body heal and I don’t mean sitting on the couch all day. Sleep and let the body heal itself, eat plenty of natural foods to give your body the nutrients for fast recovery and do little exercises here and there to keep your blood flowing and exercise the joints to keep from injury. Your body adapts to different progressions in whatever you’re doing and it’s not necessary to go hard every day, some of that can lead to injury. Resting your body should be equaled to the training itself as in terms of ratio and various workouts.

Birthday Feats

Celebrating your birthday shouldn’t be a burden or a way to feel old. Yes we age every year but you don’t have to grow old. Why not grow young? Jack Lalanne became the man when it came to celebrating a birthday in the highest of honors and that’s doing something that makes you proud to grow as you age. On his birthday ever since he was 40 up until the day he died he took it to a level that is unmatched to this day. He created certain feats specifically for his birthday and he did it with guts, unprecedented determination and best of all, did it with that glowing smile us all watched on TV.

 Some people don’t even celebrate their birthdays anymore; they feel that another year has gone by, it’s just another day and that it doesn’t matter anymore. Your birthday is a proud day to be still living and building new wisdom and experiences. I love doing something on my birthday, its fun and as I have gotten older I try to make it more fun. This year as I turned 28, I decided to do something way out of my element, I did exercises in reps and timed certain ones according to my age, I did handstand push-ups, fingertip push-ups, held one-arm tablemakers and walked like a bear and a gorilla on my fingertips to create more of a challenge. I believe in creating challenges for yourself especially on the day you were born because every year as you age, new challenges and experiences arise.

 Feeling old is all a mind set and to avoid this take a look at what you have done for yourself and build some creativity that keeps you from feeling your age or more. I may be 28 but I don’t feel my age one bit, I actually feel 10 years younger and I’m far stronger and physically fit then I ever was as a teenager. Even if you’re in your 30’s, 40’s and beyond, that shouldn’t stop you from achieving new goals in life whether it be fitness, business, family life or whatever, feeling young is one of the greatest things you can create for yourself. Never feel that it’s your destiny to grow old.

 The aging process is not an easy one and it does get harder to be fit as you age but never make excuses that you can do something for yourself and learn to turn back the clock and reverse the “getting old” mentality. Being fit as you age is a wonderful feeling and sure you won’t have the same strength and power you had in your younger years but you can become stronger and fitter than the average person at your age. I’m in my late 20’s but most guys my age today are obese, love to party, feeling no one can touch them and trying to keep going as hard as they can and once 30 hits, they’re done. I don’t believe that. As I get older I understand that I won’t have the same energy as before but I’d be damned that In my age group I’m going to be way fitter and stronger in that group.

 Your birthdays is your day, do something makes you proud to be alive, not saying you should go on a binge and gorge yourself with cake and unhealthy “goodies” but do something that makes you smile and realize that you are a wonderful human being and you have lived to see another year. I’m pretty happy to be growing younger as I age and I continue to build new challenges for myself and do things that make me happy not just on my birthday but for everyday of the week and than some. Happiness starts in your mind, once you master it, put it into action. Happy Birthday everyone.

A Whole Gym In The Palm Of Your Hands

How cool would it be to workout anywhere you wanted, at the beach, the park, your backyard, garage, house, even at the top of a mountain? Having a gym is way overrated. I’m not saying going to one is a bad thing but if you wanted to train anywhere you wanted, what can you do? One way to do it is getting a device that could have endless ways of strengthening everything from your neck to your toes and that’s my dear friend, the Chest Expander.

 This little bitty rubber cable apparatus can work your body from more angles than weights never could and you need to strengthen those areas for overall functional strength and fitness. There are many types of cables to progress with ranging from the easiest to nearly impossible to expand. Weights can hit many muscle groups but the cables hit muscles that aren’t reached by any other method except this. Unlike weights that use gravity, you are fighting the cables because they don’t want you to expand them and you need that kind of power as if you’re fighting a person.

 The cool thing about this bad boy is that you can go from one exercise to the next in a snap, go from a curl to a press or from a row to a lateral raise; this is great for circuit training to help bring that conditioning element. Dumbbells are fun to use if you’re into them but it takes you a little bit to put down the thing, grab another and go through the cycle again, with the cables you can put as many as three on there and if its too much for you than take one off to ease the resistance, I find that more fun than taking the time to switch plates or dumbbells. When you see that you’re working from odd angles, you’re building odd strength and flexibility which can aid you in almost anything from lifting to bodyweight exercise to cardio or even to help rebuild injuries and heal old wounds to get that functional strength back for the things you want to accomplish whether it be sports, your job or helping out your family.

 One of my favorite things to do is use this thing for Arm Wrestling. This sport is one of the toughest forms of strength there is, period and you need well developed grip, wrist arm overall body strength to take even the toughest of opponents. Read about my article about Arm Wrestling Training to learn more details to get an idea of how strong you can get just using cables and never needing a machine or weights to get the job done. This is where it gets even prettier by the second where you can go from using it as a rehab tool to taking it to a superhuman level that even the strongest forces in strength athletics can appreciate.

 If you want to take it even further my man Bud Jeffries has a DVD course that specifies in Alternate Conditioning Methods which one of them is based on Cable Training and the things he has in stored on there will blow you away and just when you thought you only had a few basic ideas, he takes beyond another level. An extreme few courses out there on this type of training so that should tell you that there are secrets out there that can take your fitness to levels never imagined before. Being fit is awesome, being strong is great but being functionally fit and strong is the most gratifying thing you can achieve and becoming superhuman is that much sweeter.

Arm Wrestling Training For A Super Grip

 Testing one’s strength has been a quest for as long as mankind has been around; fighting for survival or just sport, strength has been the test of wills through physical, spiritual, emotional and mental endeavors. One of the biggest tests for man’s ego or even to prove himself is through Arm Wrestling.

  Back in the day when internet didn’t exist and phone lines were the talk of the town plus the only entertainment you can really find was in a vaudeville theater or watching a silent movie on the big screen for a nickel a pop, people needed to do something to keep themselves interested. Men worked on the farms or in offices in the city or sometimes they became entertainers and put on acts to entertain the crowd. Kids played ball in the streets and some even took up what was called Wrist Wrestling where they gripped their hands as hard as they can and do their best to slam the other’s wrist to the table and jump for victory.

 Arm Wrestling isn’t just a full on test of grip and people will only say that if they haven’t actually done it. I’ve had my fair share of losses and very few wins to tell you it’s a hard and demanding sport where you have your whole body engaged in a tight spot and it takes just as much power to keep from getting slammed as the one doing the slamming. It makes up a powerful grip once you get the basics down and learn from a few masters here and there.

 There are many guys in the world of Physical Culture who have at one point done some Arm Wrestling and were fierce at it. One man whom I consider the Great Gama of Arm Wrestling is the heavyweight powerhouse Ian “Mac” Batchelor, no one can match the level of strength this man had in his time and his unorthodox style of training is just as hardcore as his unprecedented wins over countless opponents. Another legend in the sport is a man that just defies logic in the realm of strength and for a man his size it just seems so impossible until you actually learn what he does and that’s Dennis Rogers. He became a strongman first by becoming an Arm Wrestling champion and winning countless awards and recognition, because of that, he dove into finding things that he can destroy and tear up that no one in the world can do. The way he does things is just surreal and if you want to learn about his specialty feats check out Legendary Strength and find out his secrets to incredible grip strength.

 People have this distinct notion that if you want to be strong, you have to use a gym, hate to burst your bubble pal but most gyms can’t handle the levels of strength being presented. You can build grip without ever leaving your house or you can take it on the road with you. If there’s anyone out there today other myself, Dennis Rogers, Logan Christopher, Ryan Pitts or Bud Jeffries for that matter who can teach you the value of grip strength it’s up incoming strongman of unlimited potential is my boy Matti Marzel. He has the distinct power of having some of the toughest hands in the world, bending and snapping steel, tearing decks of cards from very odd angles and tearing up phonebooks in several pieces like tearing a piece of paper. His fingers are so strong he regularly holds himself up on his fingertips and is working on being an elite rock and rope climber and is ripped to shreds and is one of the closest to having that Bruce Lee type physique. You do not want him on his bad side and he’s no pushover in Arm Wrestling, he has on occasion taken down guys twice his size and puts them to shame with his iron cord like arms and wrists. 

 One of my secret weapons for building strength in Arm Wrestling is using my Chest Expander which you can get at LifelineUSA.com. I take this apparatus and I use fairly medium to heavy cables and use one of the handles on my door and start simulating an arm wrestling technique or match and work up to 50 repetitions as best as possible. I also work on the wrist and do curls and rows to get that edge for that specific grip and work in high repetitions so I can focus on tendon strength. This is a great device because unlike weights that uses gravity, the rubber cables is fighting back from having you extend the cables out almost similar as if you’re in a match and your opponent is keeping you from moving him.

 Another great an inspiring thing about sports or just wrestling in general is that many little guys (under 200 lbs) are extremely strong when they have the right tools to just make your jaw drop. You wouldn’t expect a small guy tearing up guys twice their size and making it look easy as pie. Never underestimate the little guy because he can hurt you and have a big smile on his face doing. Dennis Rogers has made that believable and so has guys like Maxick, Farmer Burns, Matti Marzel, Bruce Lee and others that can just give you hell.

 Working the tendons is one of the most crucial keys to your success in developing your grip and one of the best methods is doing Isometrics. Being able to hold a certain position and make it as hard as possible without ever moving teaches you how to build strength from many angles. Arm Wrestling Isometrics is one of the most fun ways to build that level of strength that just raw and powerful. Get strong and find cool ways to develop your grip to a superhuman level.