The Art Of Bodybuilding Without Ever Picking Up A Weight

Going to the gym can be fun, exciting and learn a few things about fitness but most people don’t have time for it or since gyms these days don’t have real world-class training and instruction for lifelong health and fitness it’s better you find alternatives. There are those who also don’t have much money since the economy has become a bit of a downward spiral what can one do to get fit? I’m a fan of old school bodybuilding and I’m talking about long before the Arnolds and the Lou Ferrignos, I’m talking of guys like Bill Pearl, John Grimek, Reg Park, Otto Arco, Maxick and the likes.

 There have been decade(s) long debates about building muscle and how to acquire it, some say you need to lift weights, some say do bodyweight exercises and others have certain things in between. I feel from my own experience you don’t need a gym to get in awesome shape and certainly don’t need weights to build muscle. One of my all-time favorite methods is what’s called VRT or Visualized Resistance Training. This is a system where you mimic lifting a heavy weight using the mind/muscle connection and use tension to move through the exercise. This is another look at Muscle Control, being able to move individual muscles however you want. In bodybuilding today and yesteryear this is a look at posing.

 Using your own tension and resistance creates blood in your body hence forth the pump you get from an exercise. Think of a curl that targets the biceps, you do a certain amount of reps and blood rushes to the muscles and builds a pump, you can do the same exact thing without ever lifting a weight. You can create any exercise you want with this program, you can visualize lifting a car or pulling on the toughest of cables. It’s all about using your imagination while flexing the muscles in a dynamic movement. This is effective because not only does it build muscle but it protects the joints and can give you a bit of a cardio workout from breathing hard after doing an exercise.

 This was created by one of the most underrated Physical Culturists of our time named Greg Mangan who discovered the way to a better alternative from weightlifting. Not saying weights are bad this is just another option you can use to get a quick workout in anytime, anywhere. Infusing the mind/muscle connection is the key ingredient to this program and Greg will show you how that works. In his course he even states you don’t have to do the routine layed out for you, you can create any type of routine you want. I once tried some bodybuilding programs from the champions in Joe Weider’s Ultimate Bodybuilding book and they wiped me out and I didn’t have to switch stations, just stand or sit where you are and have at it.

 Muscle Control is one of the coolest and mot effective ways to build muscle and did you know that when Arnold was winning his 7 Olympia titles, he would stop lifting 6 weeks before contest to work on his posing to build that definition and symmetry and it worked, that’s another look at Muscle Control, forget the steroids and all that crap this was done back in the early 20^th century, Sandow did the same thing and one of the greatest artists of MC was a man named Maxick who looked like he was carved from granite. Lifting weights is fun to do I get that and whenever I do hit the gym once in a blue moon I want to hammer out as much as I can get my hands on but at the same time it does get expensive and gym memberships are crazy expensive and only less than 5% of those who do go to the gym actually do it the other 95% quit after a while because they get burned out and are tired of driving, changing and god forbid wait for some douche to get off his set so you can do your thing. 

 You have a choice and you have more options than you realize. Don’t get frustrated trying to get fit, find alternatives that suit your lifestyle, this could be one of them and you don’t need to do 2 hours of training for this to be effective, 20 minutes a day is really all you need and if you don’t have that amount of time, start with just a minute and work your way up. Make it happen for you.  

What Wrestling Taught Me & What You Can Learn From It

 When I was a senior in high school back in 2002, around this time during the year I wanted to join up the wrestling team. I knew some knowledge about wrestling but never understood the training of it as only seeing glimpses of wrestling training. I was in a rude awakening, up until then I didn't have any credentials on conditioning and how to do it and I’m here to tell you here and now I got the crapped kicked out of me, technique drills, push-ups, squats, sprinting, running up and down stairs, it got to the point where in my 2^nd or third workout I had to tape up my hand because of the beating I put on it. My training lasted three days because I ended up hurting my knee in a training match and once the adrenalin wore off I was in bad shape. One of my friends at the time named Jesse who was an assistant coach told me to keep trying and not quit. I wish I had listened to him but I was way too stubborn and a bit of a wimp back then and just quit the team. If I had any regrets in sports it would be this but it gave me a lifelong lesson later on in my later years.

 If you’re not use to be being in that environment, you better learn quickly or are like me at the time and quit. It gives you a reason to be tough but if you’re not tough enough you won’t get very far, I now know that and have been through training sessions that I could used back then and might be in way better shape now. I’m happy with where I’m at and I continue to improve and because of this lesson I've increased my toughness by 100 fold. Being tough is not who’s the strongest, the most agile or who has better guns, being tough is taking that extra crawl from taking all the torture and still willing to keep going and its about making your limits go beyond your capabilities.

 The one thing about wrestling that I've learned was that even though in school and teams you rely on points and having a bit of a team effort, in reality when you’re on the mat, no ones there to help you or fight your battles and the only person you can rely on is yourself. It’s like this in life, if you want to make something happen you do it, people can show you a few things but after that you’re on your own and you win some, you lose some and when you lose you can’t blame anybody but yourself. You don’t need to be a wrestler to understand this, this happens not just in sports but business, relationships, life and it’s up to you to get the things done for yourself. Even after 10 years I’m still learning this and it continues to improve but not easier, actually the opposite but that’s the beauty of it.

 Respect is one of the biggest things you can have not just for yourself but those who were around you. Even to this day I have high respect for wrestlers and other world-class athletes, they get the job done and they take the torture with a grain of salt. That assistant coach I mentioned earlier, me and him grew up together and were still friends to this day and I consider him one of my brothers. Another guy I have found respect for what he accomplished in his life is Luke Rockhold of MMA fame who is I believe still or was the Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and why am I saying this, I wrestled in the same exact gym with him back in High School. I don’t know him much and never really had a chance to get to know him and hope one day I will but I’m proud I got to be in the same room with a world-class champion for a short period of time.

 Whenever you win at something it’s awesome and you learn certain strategies or keep that same strategy to run that winning formula but it’s the losing that makes the big difference. Losing makes you think about what you did wrong an what you can do to correct or just quit but in this case quitting is not an option, make it a habit to learn your mistakes and turn them into strengths and later on understand your winning ways when you find that formula. Hating to lose means you can’t stand it and you want to find out what you can do to prevent it, losing with pride is a whole different ball game and this goes one of two ways, being cocky when you lose or you understand what the mistakes were and handle them OK  Overtime I've come to hating losing because I want to be the best at what I do, I want to be stronger and more conditioned, be a better writer and learn more to do better business and bring in money and when I lose at times its frustrating but you learn your mistakes and make them your strengths by working smarter, harder at times and push it the way you want it to be.

 Life in general is a wrestling match, it’s a game of Physical Chess, you win or lose, you have good matches, bad matches, certain things work and some don’t and it’s usually unpredictable. The key is to keep fighting, keep driving to get better and make adjustments, be adaptable and learn to use your intuition. Find what works and stick with it and throw out what doesn't  Bruce Lee even knew this and now he’s one of the biggest Icons in history. Be consistent, make it happen and who knows, you might find yourself being a winner but even as a winner, you want to remain who you are and not lose sight of what’s important. Believe in yourself and trust in who you are because no one knows you more than that person you see in the mirror every day. 

Why Is Conditioning Important?

 Being in condition for anything you want to be good at is as important as anything else is but what makes it important? First off having the strength to do something awesome is great but how you keep up that strength in the long run is up to you. The importance is that to get good at something, you condition your body or in other words practice the type of condition you want to achieve whether it’s Juggling Kettlebells, doing Handstands, playing sports or whatever you want to teach your body to withstand that particular subject. Even conditioning your mind is important because the stronger your mind is, the easier it is to find how to condition the body henceforth connecting the Mind/Muscle together.

 It doesn't matter if you’re in a sport, a workout, a meeting or whatever, you want to be as strong and aware when you first started and still have that amount left in the end. It’s called being in the clutch, still having what’s left in the tank for that one final moment or that one moment towards the end where you’re just as strong as you walked in as much as you want to walk out. Being prepared for a situation that still gives you that awareness and realize that you’re not still sticking with the other guy but chances are he’s gotten weaker.

 The type of people who taught conditioning the most were the most successful take John Wooden of NCAA Basketball fame at UCLA, a man who has taken the Bruins to 10 NCAA championships and produced a couple future hall of famers along the way including Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor aka Kareem Abdul Jabaar. He wouldn't let his players play unless their conditioning was top notch. Another would be the great Dan Gable who coached more NCAA champions in the sport of wrestling than any other before or since at the University of Iowa, he even coached a mentor of mine for a couple years by the name of Matt Furey. Gable made it a habit that his wrestlers are able to be ready for anything on the mat and some of them won matches by a landslide and others won or lost when it was time to be in the clutch. Probably one of the most important teachers on conditioning was the late Karl Gotch (1924-2007) who made it the number rule of all because if you’re not in condition and you lose your touch within the first couple minutes you might as well die in the dirt. If you have the right tools you can get in the best condition of your life but it doesn't just start in the muscles, it starts in the mind.

 Being in serious condition makes you tough and makes you want to get better, one of my favorite Pro Wrestlers is Ricky The Dragon Steamboat who had some of the best technical and scientific type matches and quite a number of them would be one hour draws against the likes of Ric Flair, Harley Race and others and I don’t give a damn the matches are fixed and who wins or who loses, to be able to wrestle and entertain a crowd for an hour straight is a feat in an of itself and the closest I can think of that caliber would be Lou Thesz, Verne Gagne, Ric Flair and Harley Race. Not that making this all about wrestling but the fact of the matter is if you want to master something, condition yourself to get to that level. It takes practice, it takes patience and it takes will, if you don’t have the will you won’t find the way.

 Some guys just don’t have the heart to condition them, are they tough enough, maybe not for that particular thing but in some way or another they’ll be in great condition at something. Being able to handle it is up to the person doing it. If you want to be able to handle such training or competition, your mind has to be more conditioned than your body, once you master that than your body will do the rest. One of my favorite stories of being tough to go through something is the Verne Gagne wrestling camps at his barn or office building in Minnesota, you have a number of guys going through the drills doing push-ups, squats, sit-ups, running and sprinting left and right and getting hammered in the ring, in the end there would be only a handful of guys left who made it when the majority quit. Being tough is not about how strong or fast you are, it’s about going that extra mile and even if you have a little left in the tank, you push through till the end. Being in condition is a bit of the same thing just the difference on developing your strengths to keep going and you’re just as strong if not stronger in the end.

 Learn to handle what you can and progress, that’s all you can do and have fun with it. If you’re too serious about conditioning you’re going to miss having a good time with it, enjoy it, challenge yourself and make it work for you.  

Last Chance At Achieving Kettlebell Glory

Hello,

This is your last opportunity to grab The Definitive Guide to Kettlebell Juggling 2.0.

After Tuesday it closes doors for several months. The generous $1 offer will also disappear for good.

$1 Kettlebell Juggling Offer

Several people are already climbing their way up the progression levels and becoming greater at these skills and stronger with each step.

Why not have fun will getting in the best shape of your life?

You get all 21 Module on Kettlebell Juggling.

You get the Kettlebell Games.

You get the Crush the Rankings Videos.

You get access to the Private Kettlebell Juggling Community.

You get the bonus interviews

You get the Workout Guide.

All for only $1 starting today.

Ben Bergman

P.S. This is also your opportunity to secure your seat for the free kettlebell workshop Logan will be giving just for members. Go here to do it now.
$1 Kettlebell Juggling Offer

It's Official, One Of My Best Friends Has Gone Nuts

What's up guys,

Logan Christopher has always been known as a crazy guy.
From pulling a firetruck by his hair to juggling a kettlebell that's been lit on fire are just a couple examples.

But today he's announced that you can get started with the brand new Definitive Guide to Kettlebell Juggling 2.0 for just $1.

Click here to watch the video that explains it all.
Kettlebell Juggling...$1

And check out all the bonuses he's throwing on top.

Ben Bergman

P.S. If building your strength, stamina, and skill is something you're interested in, for just one measly dollar you can get access to several hours of video explaining how it's all done with much more to come...
Kettlebell Juggling...$1

I Want YOU To Become An Animal

 I've written out about Animal Training a few times before but it’s something worth mentioning time and time again because people should learn about this great style of strength & conditioning training. As we get older our hormone levels drop a certain percentage every year starting at around 25 I believe. I'm a couple years shy of 30 and I want to be able to have that great level of metabolism and natural growth hormone levels by the time I hit that age and beyond, I can't imagine the percentages someone over 40 or older has dropped.

 Animal Training is a system where you imitate and move like an animal in the wild, simple as that. One of the most famous exercises in fitness when it comes to bodyweight is the bear crawl, walking or sprinting on all fours and you can do it for reps, time, distance hell even play tag whatever you can do is up to you. It’s one of the most fun exercises there is plus many more. In my experience, I have received awesome benefits from this type of training including….

Better Awareness

Endurance

Strength in Awkward Positions

Higher Metabolism

Stronger Abs

Muscular Definition

Increased Agility

Last But Not Least….Increased Growth Hormone

 These are just the tip of the iceberg from what I received and I'm a big guy over 240 lb. and yet feeling like Tarzan. I don't care if you're big, small or whatever, this will give you lifelong fitness if you take a chance and learn it. I love it and it gives me a hell of a workout or should I say play time in short durations.

 Children these days don't do enough fitness and have gone off the deep end with becoming overweight, lack of strength, water being replaced by soda and not getting enough brain activity to study but yet rather watch TV and text/talk on their cell phones it's ridiculous. I'm not saying you should force your kids to get fit but it wouldn't hurt to help teach them, better yet not letting them know they're exercising but rather playing and having a good time. We all have a favorite animal so why not put it to good use. Studies have shown that exercise increases Awareness, Strength in the brain, increased energy, high endorphins, stronger metabolisms, natural muscle growth and bone density, wouldn't it be awesome to have all those things and more. Parents I encourage you to exercise with your kids, it'll help bring a bond that a family that trains together sticks together. My parents when I was growing up didn't do that with me and rarely ever do it now and have to learn all on my own which isn't a bad thing but I always wondered what if so don't let your kids slip away from you on that notion, work with them as stress-free as possible. Time flies by and before you know it, your kids are gone and going after their own thing, spend time with them before it’s too late.

The biggest benefit of this type of training is not what you get from it but how you do them. Exercise is suppose to fun, exciting and something to look forward to and not looked at as a punishment or feel you need to do it or force yourself into it. Make it worthwhile. One of my favorite workouts is taking Animals and making them like Cartoon characters like the Bear Crawl can be turned into Baloo from the Jungle Book and playing with mowgli, another can be a cricket and turning him into Jiminy Cricket, even turn the Gorilla exercise into becoming King Kong the larger than life Ape. My all-time favorite animal is the Gorilla and as an Avenger Fan I got to see both of that in a Comic Book which you can find right here. The more you realize its fun, the more benefit you'll get out of it.

Being fit for decades to come is a goal we all strive to achieve, some have even made it, one of my mentors is in his 60’s and acts like a man in his 20’s, one man is approaching his 80’s and still has the strength to lift the heaviest of hammers and one of my favorite strongmen can do feats of strength that makes guys in our generation look like weaklings. Its how you put your mind to it, building that Mind/Muscle Connection. Make it a habit to have fun for you, your friends, your children maybe even grandchildren, it’s never too late to be strong and healthy. 

Kettlebell Ranking (Win A Free iPad)

Hello,

Yes that’s right.

Logan Christopher is giving away an iPad as part of a special deal to promote kettlebell juggling.

He’s come up with 20 levels of progression for you to work through, from easy beginner to advanced skills. And when you submit a video of you doing any of them you get entered into the contest.

Not only that but you can even get ranked and Certified as a Master of Kettlebell Juggling.

There’s a whole lot more than I care to explain but you can get the full details here.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4876514

Ben Bergman

P.S. Make sure you check it out soon. This contest doesn't last long. That means you need to watch this video today, start practicing your skills, and send in your videos as quickly as possible.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4876514

Can You Juggle Kettlebells?

Hello,

I've played around with kettlebell juggling in the past and had some fun with it.

But if you truly want to master this art than my friend Logan Christopher is your man.

He's giving away 35 minutes of video on getting started and advanced skills from a workshop people paid up to $1000 to attend.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4872433

If you do anything with kettlebells you owe it to yourself to check out this video. You'll see all the benefits these fun skills can give you.

This isn't just for advanced people, although many people may think it is. Whether you're just starting out, or have been lifting kettlebells for years, you'll surely learn something new here.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4872433

Ben Bergman

P.S. And that's just the start. He's got some even more amazing things in store that will change the way kettlebell juggling will be done in the future.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4872433

Kettlebell Juggling ON FIRE!!!!

Hello,

Leave it to Logan to come up with this idea.

As if juggling heavy weights isn't enough of an impressive skill...

He decided to light a kettlebell on fire and then juggle it!

Watch the video here.
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4872432

Ben Bergman

Pull-ups: Can Women Do Them Or Not?

October 25, 2012, 12:01 am
Why Women Can’t Do Pull-Ups
By TARA PARKER-POPE
This column appears in the Oct. 28 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

While the pull-up has been used by everyone from middle-school gym teachers to Marine drill instructors to measure fitness, the fact is that many fit people, particularly women, can't do even one. To perform a pull-up, you place your hands on a raised bar using an overhand grip, arms fully extended and feet off the floor. (The same exercise, performed with an underhand grip, is often called a chin-up.) Using the muscles in your arms and back, you pull yourself up until your chin passes the bar. Then the body is lowered until the arms are straight, and the exercise is repeated. The Marines say a male recruit should be able to do at least 3 pull-ups or chin-ups, but women are not required to do them. In school, 14-year-old boys can earn the highest award on the government's physical fitness test by doing 10 pull-ups or chin-ups: for 14-year-old girls, it's 2.

To find out just how meaningful a fitness measure the pull-up really is, exercise researchers from the University of Dayton found 17 normal-weight women who could not do a single overhand pull-up. Three days a week for three months, the women focused on exercises that would strengthen the biceps and the latissimus dorsi - the large back muscle that is activated during the exercise. They lifted weights and used an incline to practice a modified pull-up, raising themselves up to a bar, over and over, in hopes of strengthening the muscles they would use to perform the real thing. They also focused on aerobic training to lower body fat.

By the end of the training program, the women had increased their upper-body strength by 36 percent and lowered their body fat by 2 percent. But on test day, the researchers were stunned when only 4 of the 17 women succeeded in performing a single pull-up.

"We honestly thought we could get everyone to do one," said Paul Vanderburgh, a professor of exercise physiology and associate provost and dean at the University of Dayton, and an author of the study. But Vanderburgh said the study and other research has shown that performing a pull-up requires more than simple upper-body strength. Men and women who can do them tend to have a combination of strength, low body fat and shorter stature. During training, because women have lower levels of testosterone, they typically develop less muscle than men, Vanderburgh explained. In addition, they can't lose as much fat. Men can conceivably get to 4 percent body fat; women typically bottom out at more than 10 percent.

So no matter how fit they are, women typically fare worse on pull-up tests. But Vanderburgh notes that some men struggle, too, particularly those who are taller or bigger generally or have long arms. This is related to an interesting phenomenon: if you compare a smaller athlete to an athlete who has the same exact build but is 30 percent bigger, the bigger athlete will be only about 20 percent stronger, even though he has to carry about 30 percent more weight.

"We're a combination of levers; that's how we move," Vanderburgh said. "Generally speaking, the longer the limb, the more of a disadvantage in being able to do a pull-up. I look at a volleyball player and wouldn't expect her to be able to do a pull-up, but I know she's fit."

Ok, what’s wrong with this picture (or words)? This article suggests that women are pretty much incapable of doing pull-ups. As I do agree to a certain peak about the levels of strength compared to men and women, it still pisses me off that this article doesn't really know a damn thing about Pull-up training. First things first, if you're going to do pull-ups what do you do, you do pull-ups dumbass. Can't expect someone to lift weights using arm and back exercises and have them do pull-ups for a test. I’m sorry but that’s just flat out dumb.






Yes it’s proven that women aren't as strong as men and our testosterone levels are much higher but that doesn't mean a woman can’t be strong at something. To overcome this notion that a woman is incapable of doing pull-ups, you don't listen to bullshit like this and if you really want to do pull-ups, do them and make it happen for you, the mental game is just as important as the physical. Its people who wrote this article don’t know the real capabilities of both men and women. Don't ever feel that as a woman you are weak and not worthy to become strong. You are more than just a beautiful person, you’ve got heart, will and brains to become something that nobody can use against you. You have 2 eyes, 2 arms, a torso, a neck, 2 legs, 2 ears, hair, 5 fingers, 5 toes and 2 feet, what makes you think can’t do some of the same things as a man can? I've seen women overpower men much bigger than them and are stronger in some cases than they are.






My personal take on it is that out of all the scientific crap thrown in this article they messed up on more than 5 different things one of which is about doing what you need to do to do pull-ups. He talks about how they used weights and Isolated the arms and back, hate to burst your bubble pal but crap like that doesn't carry over to pull-ups, if you want to get strong in pull-ups you do exactly that, common sense don't you think? Another is how he talks about men struggling as well, you can't do pull-ups very well if you're this big or have long arms and this and that. I'm more than 240 lbs. This article suggests that because I'm too big I’m not capable of doing many pull-ups but yet I've surpassed 10, where is your logic now? Structure has some factors but if you trained in pull-ups with the right amount for your level of fitness you have the capabilities of doing plenty of pull-ups and it may take you a long time or a short period but in the end, if you are willing to pull yourself (pun intended) you will do one or more pull-ups.






Don't ever fall for crap like this. I realize this was a test for schools and such but if you can't train someone to actually do pull-ups how are they suppose to be able to do them in a test? Women aren’t very capable to do pull-ups, please, look at Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, whether it was her or a stunt woman, a woman was doing pull-ups or the other chin-ups. One other thing this moron talks about is that pull-ups are a back and arms exercise…Wrong it’s Back, Shoulders, Abdominals, Arms, Grip and Chest in other words the entire upper body, an exercise of that caliber needs multiple muscle groups to even stabilize the muscles let alone pulling yourself up.






Women are more than just beautiful people; they are more than capable to pulling off strength feats. I firmly believe that pound for pound, ounce for ounce women in some cases are stronger than men. I once saw a woman press up more than half her bodyweight with a kettlebell with one arm. Even if a woman can do more than one pull-up or chin-up that still proves that crap wrong that women are more than capable of doing pull-ups with the right training instead of isolating them. This is an article that is incapable of showing any real logic or common sense and still tries to put women down. Women are strong in more ways than people like this give them credit for. Testing on something while training a completely different thing isn't going to help your cause, that’s like asking a baseball player to train for football in baseball season; he’s not going to get any better at baseball and might even diminish his levels, so why test a woman on pull-ups if you're training them in weights? To do well in pull-ups, you train in pull-ups plain and simple.