Goal Setting Vs Intention

Goals were never my strong suit and for good reason, whenever I talked about them, I always put more pressure on myself than what was originally intended. I have failed more times than I can count but I've also been successful in what I wanted to achieve. My intentions were always to be fit and be able to do things with ease. My training changes constantly and the idea of sticking with one thing because of what a goal was just never made it through, at least not to its fullest extent.

When I set my mind on something, I intend to do it with the best of my abilities but when it came to a goal, my intentions were in the right place but always felt like I was setting myself up for failure and I have myself to blame for that. When I was weight training, I never really knew what the hell I was doing and couldn't think of a goal to go after because all I really cared about at the time was just being strong but never set a specific amount of weight to go after, I just did it and suffered in the process. After my accident, I did have a goal to get stronger again but it became something more and it became an obsession once I stopped looking at it as a goal, I was just determined as hell to find out what I can do.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with setting a goal and you want to accomplish something, I never want to take that away from anyone. You set your mind to something and you go after it but also be prepared if things don't go your way. Sometimes when we set goals, they become such a part of our psyche that it puts everything else that could be great aside and set the tone for losing more than gaining. Michael Jordan had incredible goals to achieve and put so much on himself that eventually that fire burnt him out and when he retired for the first time, he needed to go in a new direction.

Walt Disney was an awesome visionary and set goals to create one of the most powerful empires in entertainment history. He took every bit of his vision and spirit and laid it out to build something nobody thought he could achieve and made a mark on the world that will live on forever whether it's good, bad or downright ugly but he did it. He set goals and achieved them but also failed. Setting a goal can't just be on just taking a risk and expect something to happen, you have to be prepared for the unexpected and understand that a goal could potentially point you in another direction that you didn't intend to be in or go forward with. The idea of intentionally going after something but understanding the risks involved whether you fail or succeed brings in the foundation of really making something happen.

With intent, you put forth in the direction you want to go and learn the risks you're willing to take and have the courage to fail. It's not about failing intentionally, it's about understanding the direction you intend to go and that the potential to fail is there. Success can be a powerful thing and you intend to become successful with where you want to go. Now there are things that we need to be successful in in order to stay alive, that's something very different but if you have a route and you want to be successful towards that road to your destination; what are you willing to do in order to get there? Will you have the mindset to take failure as it is? Are you willing to take a shortcut in order to get there faster? What about changing routes that may seem harder or smoother? What are your true intentions?

What are my intentions with what I do? I intend to do what is possible to make myself the fittest I can with little to no injuries along the way. I intend to be better at writing little by little and I will make mistakes in that area of the journey but they're also lessons I can continue to learn from. I intend to use what I have to keep myself in solid condition for as long as I live and not rely on the gym. My biggest intentions is to have fun with what I do while at the same time learn when it's time to be useful when I'm needed. 

Silly Rabbit Trix Are For Kids

 It is true, certain things are geared towards children and raise their levels of imagination and seeing some cool things. Until you grew up and still watch yet collect something like My Little Pony and you're a 50 year old man who hasn't seen the sun in 20 years. Having eaten Trix only a handful of times in my lifetime, it's safe to say I could go the rest of my days without eating it. We as a society develop certain aspects of entertainment and food towards a demographic that gets people excited or something to grab, the odd thing is, kids get toys and cool looking cereal boxes while adults get medication for every possible thing under the sun and whatever is wrong with them, they take something for it.

There's got to be something that's geared for everybody or at least a good amount of people that has spanned generations? Movement is something that's geared for everybody isn't it? I mean as a kid (at least a generation or two ago), we ran, went swimming, played out our favorite animals and didn't have a care in the world if we slipped off the slides, monkey bars or swings. What the hell happened? Being careful has become a little over the top and although I believe in being safe, I also believe in being able to explore and learn what your creativity is and seeing what it feels like to have an imagination and be able to move without being so damn analytical about everything.

When it comes to movement, the basics should be taught and build a foundation but after that, how you pursue it is up to you, find your way to master them to become better and getting creative with your skill set from those basics and progress through your own admission. We all progress differently and some are slower than others and some are faster and learn quicker but the principles are still there. What we haven't learned at least in today's world from a fitness standpoint is catering to an individual's abilities whether they're a beginner or advanced and what we are taught is the same curriculum and expected to progress the same way and follow along as if we know what the hell we're doing. 

We don't absorb as much as we did as a kid and wanting to explore new things in order to get better at the things we do in life. As we get older, we lose sight of what it's like to have an imagination and think creatively and cater to what we are told what works and what doesn't, become analytical and overthink with caution. You don't need to take extreme risks or measures to do cool shit but just a hint of courage and a bit of a backbone to take a chance on something that can develop skills and strength to move forward with life's obstacles. 

  It's one of the reasons why I love playing my animal dice game, it creates something for both worlds where I get to feel like a kid while at the same time strengthen my body and enjoy the feeling of crawling, jumping, balancing and more the way we were meant to do as human beings. I get to be all sorts of animals and play out cool scenarios in my head as I move. Other aspects of movement such as MovNat, Animal Flow, Ginastica Natural and even Yoga bring out the joys of being human and working towards building something greater than before. To be in condition for the long haul, strong when needed and agile like a kid. It's the enjoyment and exploration of the human spirit. We need to have that in our lives. A demographic is a specific group of people that is catered to, why not strive to have something catered to as many people as possible regardless of age, sex, creed or whatever?

Verne Gagne & Isometrics

 Athletes promote themselves in various ways; Michael Jordan had his shoes, Bo Jackson had his "Bo Can Do Anything" campaign and Hulk Hogan had his weight set (advertised by the late Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff) but oddly enough, there was a time when the legendary wrestler/promoter of the AWA Verne Gagne was showing Isometrics calling it Gagne-Metrics. 

There were a lot of stories surrounding Gagne for decades especially as a promoter and the what wrestlers he wanted along with how he treated people. When I met Greg Valentine at a comic con here in Idaho, he told me that Verne was quite an asshole. There's no denying that Verne was a great athlete in his day; Alternate for the '48 Olympics, exceptional college wrestler, was considered for the Green Bay Packers and was one of the best pro wrestlers of his time. 

If you're a student of pro wrestling, you've definitely heard the tales of how he trained wrestlers in his barn and at his office building in Minneapolis. Legends like Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, The Iron Sheik, Jumping Jim Brunzell & Gagne's son Greg were all tortured and ran through the rigorous training Verne laid out. Now whether Verne had them do Isometrics at that time in the 70's is hard to say but he did do them or at least showed to a regional audience back in the mid 60's. This was also a time where Jack Lalanne was still going strong with his workout show and I think Verne wanted to cash in on something of that sorts.

For the most part, the workout Verne displays is about as basic and stupid easy as you can get and for the record, he has little enthusiasm and isn't very upbeat and charismatic as Lalanne would be. He shows three exercises which you can see in the video below. Don't get me wrong, they're great exercises especially for beginners or those who want to something that's quick. This was also the era where Isometrics were at their peak with the Hoffman courses, Olympic wrestler Henry Wittenberg's course and others. 

Safe to say Verne's Isometric Training never really went anywhere and it's not at all surprising. It just didn't have anything at the time that really got people interested and if anything, it was just another small promotion to advertise for his company and to get people involved somehow with the AWA. Today it is a gem to find and if you got your hands on a book he had at the time, that's a rare thing to have. In the fitness world, he isn't too well known but if you love pro wrestling, he had one of the greatest promotions in the history of the business and just about anyone and everyone who went to the AWA were either stars in the promotion or went on to become bigger legends in other territories eventually in the WWE. Had great matches with the likes of Lou Thesz, Billy Robinson, Nick Bockwinkle and others. Whether you loved him, hated him or just love wrestling, Verne was a legend of his time.

One of Verne's Classic Encounters with Lou Thesz....

   

The Final Nail In The Coffin After 15 Years

A while back in October, I did an exercise that I demonstrated on Social Media called the Hindu Burpee; combining the Hindu Push-up & Hindu Squat. I've written a couple articles on it which you can find somewhere on this blog. It was a great exercise and I learned that particular variation from Matt Furey on his Membership Site. This exercise did have a negative effect or a positive one depending on the circumstance surrounding it that ended 15 years of my association with him.

The way it ended was I showed my demonstration on his Private Group on Facebook and wanted to give people an idea of what it meant for me. I never intended to steal it or make a big deal out of it, just showing an exercise all the while crediting Matt and what the exercise is about; it backfired and I not only was removed from the group, he unfriended me and terminated my status as a member to his Inner Circle site. I made the effort to reach out to him and to ask why and if he had such a problem with it, why didn't he ask me to just remove it which I gladly would've done if he directly told me to. All he said was (paraphrasing) "Let me think on it" and nothing else after that.

It devastated me because for over a decade and a half, I bought course after course, sunk energy into learning from him and hell even had a one time interview (which to this day I still think was horrible on my end). It hit me hard because his book Combat Conditioning literally got me on my feet again and changed everything for me when it came to training. Around my second to third Surgery, I got the book and started reading through it, the moment I was able to walk again I focused that first month to nothing but the Royal Court and put everything I had into self-rehabbing and getting in shape. Within less than a few months, I had strength and conditioning I never experienced before and it put me on the path to Physical Culture.

Throughout the years, I made those exercises and other things he put out a priority and made 90+% of my training to bodyweight exercises. He got me into the cables, the qi gong stuff, the pathway to the old time strongmen, him and a couple friends led me to Bud Jeffries, the same man who became one of my dearest friends and officiated my wedding. Furey made that explosion for me to carve out my passion for fitness. I was literally loyal to the cause he created. 

For it to end the way it did without any explanation, no response back at me and just making me feel like I was kicked to the curb, for what? Did he think I was trying to steal his thunder, make a ton of money off of him, upstage him? I couldn't do any of those things if I tried and never spoke to me again and treated it like I meant nothing to him but a follower who was a student to his method. It pissed me off for quite some time, I only told a few people what happened including Bud. I got a reality check about Furey that I won't go into and as I started to understand it better, it made sense on why he did what he did. 

Whenever I try to do Combat Conditioning or some other training methods I learned from him, I couldn't bring myself to really finish anything because it just puts a dark cloud over me and I would at times get angry or don't have the will or desire to get a workout done. I'm not saying his stuff doesn't work, they do and one of many people in the world that is living proof of what they can do. He has done a lot to bring Bodyweight Exercises to the general public but let's face it, his methods for all intents and purposes are refurbished exercises that were taught by Karl Gotch and others throughout centuries of training incredible athletes. Most would say they're knock offs or rip offs of other people's methods but I think the word Refurbished is more appropriate.

I never wanted to be an enemy and it was never an intention to make exercises he put out a thing where I called them my own, things happen for a reason and although it put a hole on 15 years of dedication, like a rock being thrown into a lake, the ripples are there and go away but the lake is forever changed. I was reluctant to write this because I don't know what effect it'll have and I wish things went differently but life goes on and Combat Conditioning served its purpose for me. 

Matt, for what it's worth, I hope you continue to live the life you made for yourself and continue coming up with training ideas that will give people results. You started my path and because of you, I will continue to learn from others and make the most of it.  

Building Great Grip Strength

 

Our hands can be either deadly weapons, smooth & peaceful or they can be used to build & destroy. Training the hands creates powerful entities that can determine where our strengths and weaknesses lie. The building blocks of developing a powerful grip showcase what we are capable of in certain aspects of life whether it be sports, law enforcement, carpentry or blacksmithing. 

My aspirations for developing grip strength was what I struggled for years developing the nerves in my right hand from the meningitis. After learning a few things from the old-time strongmen later on in my life in my 20's, it was apparent that I keep up the various methods of these men of strength. For years I did various feats from bending steel to ripping phonebooks to levering hammers and other cool stuff and I'm proud that I was able to do those things; now in my 30's, some things changed, I can still do some feats but my attention is more on keeping my hands healthy and strong for the long haul. 

Keeping the hands supple and flexible is a must as we age because as we get older, we run a higher risk of developing arthritis and bone spurs in the fingers and wrists. We may not need an extreme amount of strength as we age but have enough to still do things without pain and nerve damage. Finger Gymnastics is one of the very best courses that helps you prevent problems in the hands such as Carpal Tunnel and the other two points I made here, simple exercises that are very effective in developing the strength, agility and suppleness not just in the muscles or nerves but also the tendons and ligaments. Weak tendons and ligaments won't get you very far.

To really understand certain aspects of strength, training with a thick bar can show you some realities of how strong your grip is. You won't be able to lift as much weight as you normally would with a regular bar but that doesn't mean you can't get strong in that area. One of my favorite things to do in my training is taking the Fat Gripz and attaching them to the handles of the TNT Cable System and really tackle exercises that not only hit the muscles I'm working but also challenge my grip in the process. It's tough work and you don't need to do much to feel it. Just attach them to a pullup bar or a kettlebell and notice a huge difference in your strength, balance and the need to squeeze hard with a vengeance just to work an exercise. 

When it comes to weights per se, I like to really test my grip with heavy hammers such as my Epic Sledgehammer or Thor Hammers. These bad boys will make you humble as hell when it comes to grip strength. The handle on the Thor Hammers are thick enough to where even exercising them like clubs takes a good amount of balance and your hands will be tested. In the video above, I demonstrate doing the bottoms up press with the 30 lb Thor Hammer. You've heard of the Bottoms Up Press with a kettlebell, that's quite a movement or hold as it is but this is a different style of gripping and balancing, you have to almost pinch the ball at the bottom of the handle and shift your body differently than usual. It can be dangerous and is a unique skill to do. 

There are a great many ways to train the hands but the reality is, if you don't train them properly or take good care of them, they can lead to problems in your future and if you're in a job where you're required to use the hands for specific tasks, you don't want to be useless. It's also one thing to get them calloused and toughening them up, many laborers, farmers and those who work in manual labor have some tough hands but very few know how to also take care of them and many have huge problems later in life just picking up a pencil or a mug. 

Condition the hands to develop strength that lasts and creating awesome suppleness and flexible in the fingers and wrists where they can be nearly injury proof. The Indestructible Body is another great course that teaches this. Be safe, get strong and kick ass. 

Are Aesthetics Really That Important?

 Having a beautifully pleasing physique can do a lot for you and it shows the work you have put into the training you do; but does it have any real significant importance? Don't get me wrong some of the best athletes in the world have incredible bodies but how long does that physique even last, a few years, a decade or maybe even a month who knows. Hard work does pay off but even the most pleasing physique can have damaging effects especially if you use performance enhancers or just heavy doses of steroids. 

Just because you have a great body, doesn't always mean you have other attributes to back it up. Here's an example, Alexander Karelin was arguably the greatest Greco-Roman Wrestler of his time maybe even ever and had one of the most powerful physiques that would make the Old Timers' jaw drop and has accolade after accolade of accomplishments but yet in his very last Olympic Match, he got beat by a farm boy who didn't look like he can make it a mile without dying and practically came out of nowhere. Rulon Gardner was so conditioned that despite his looks, wore down the Russian beast and won a gold medal for the good ole USA.

You don't have to look like a classic bodybuilder in order to be a badass. George Forman, Ed Strangler Lewis, Butterbean, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Paul Anderson and others never really had good looking muscles or had abilities other athletes had but they were practically superhuman in their field and made an impact that leaves them in the legendary status to this day. Aesthetics have their place in certain areas but rarely today you have guys with awesome bodies that have the strength, agility and endurance to back it up. 

My physique changes from time to time as you have seen with results from doing Hill Sprints, Isometrics and other things but I know realistically I don't have the desire or the will  to develop a pleasing body, I just want to be healthy and conditioned that even in my later years I can still go and be able to do things. A physique isn't going to save your ass in the long run but conditioning will. This doesn't mean you eat everything under the sun and expect to be in awesome, it does take eating good food to get the most of your training as well but stop trying so hard to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger or think that just because you look like a million bucks you think you can outwrestle someone or hit a homerun 500 ft or even run the 100 yard dash in under 9 seconds, be realistic but also strive to be the best version of yourself because remember, there's only one YOU!!!

When The Animals Call

 Our energy levels vary from day to day and we don't always know when those will dip or just have a moment of pure adrenaline. Some days we'll feel like crap and have various mood swings where we can feel happy one moment and all of a sudden do a 180 and be an ass. We're human, it happens and it's part of our nature. Some days are better than others and we just have that bundle of energy. Having that kind of energy shouldn't go to waste but neither should be at an excess.

Exercising is without question incredible for productively getting that energy out. Even if you're in a bad mood and just need to find a way to get rid of it, training can definitely help beyond just getting physical, it could also relieve stress from an emotional and mental stand point as well.

Whenever I need a pick-me-up or have that excess energy or just find a way to chill out, I turn to the animals and just play my animal dice game. It changes my state of mind completely and puts me in a better place to think clearer and feel better all around. Life is hard at times and its important to find the good and positive things that make life interesting. Moving around like an animal has this power to channel stress in ways certain methods can't match, that doesn't mean other methods are crap and what you do makes you feel better and changes your mood should be in your arsenal. 

When the animals call, I go until it's time for me to stop. At times it's only a few minutes but those few minutes can change an entire day. The crawling, the jumping, the walking and the balancing all put things into perspective and harness a strength to be better, to prevent negative things from entering your mind and release endorphins that make the world feel easy to be in. 

Get the most out of the stress you want to get rid of or use what's possible to get that excess energy out so you'll feel more clear headed, be able to sleep better, better control of your breathing and letting things flow. When the animals call, try answering every now and then, you'll be surprised what you'll find out.  

End Of The Road On Hill Sprint Training For Now

 Since May 17th, I wanted to see what I can do doing Hill Sprints and it was a joy to do and I loved it but I don't have the drive to do them for a while. The reality is, it's a 15-20 minute walk to the Hills I was running on and getting there, doing some kind of warm up, sprint and than walk back was putting some stress on my shin and ankles and needed to stop. 

Sometimes you need to change things up to avoid injuries and when you get burned out or have had enough, it's important to not force yourself into something you don't put your heart into. Now if I was less than 10 minutes away walking there, it be no problem but since day 1 of walking again back in '05, it can be difficult for me to walk for an extended period of time without feeling some kind of discomfort which has led to pain at times. 

My results from training on the Hills are pretty good and after about close to 2 months, I've put on some muscle and although I weigh practically the same, my shape is different and lost some fat. It has given me some fresh perspective on what it takes to train with intensity and fortitude to push myself to a different level. Although the runs were short, each sprint taught me how to handle my footing, determine speed and explosiveness during the duration and practice solid rest time for optimal performance. 

On Friday, I was doing 20 second sprints and the distance was roughly the same but the very last one, for some reason the distance was further than all the others and I was pushing hard on the others. When you're determined to find out what you're capable of, you can do things you didn't expect to do. These last results are from June 14th and yesterday. 

When I was sprinting, I would think of myself as the Flash or the legendary Walter Payton, just exploding upward and giving everything I had. That's one of the true aspects of this kind of training, there's more to it than just shooting up a hill. I don't know what I'm going to do next but for the next phase of training, it can lead to anywhere from Hindu Burpees to another chapter of carrying, step ups, animal workouts or whatever comes to mind. It's just a matter of what I make of it to get the most out of. 

Wrestling In Mongolia

Throughout mankind there have been many different styles of wrestling or grappling. In certain regions of the same country, you can find various styles of wrestling and what it pertains to the culture of that region. In today's age we understand the concepts of Freestyle & Greco-Roman Amateur Wrestling, Catch As Catch Can, Folkstyle, some understanding of Kushti or Indian Wrestling and others but how often have you read about a style that is centuries old but rarely talked about such as Mongolian Wrestling?

From our history books, the most famous thing about Mongolia was the rise and fall of Genghis Kahn, the legendary warrior and general of quite arguably the greatest army that conquered nearly the entire world. Did you know that many of his soldiers were incredible wrestlers and highly skilled archers? The reason he chose many wrestlers because they were the embodiment of strength, skill and durability. Archery as you may have guessed was one of the greatest form of weaponry that dates back thousands of years used in War & Hunting. 

Mongolian Wrestling or Bokh (meaning Durability) is a folk style of grappling where in order to win, your opponent's body other than his foot must touch the ground. The match has some Judo & Greco-Roman elements to it but there's no pins or submissions and it's mainly open weight classes and no time limit. In Mongolian Culture, Wrestling is king. It's one of the "Manly Skills" that includes Archery & Horsemanship (In other words the Trinity of the seemingly unstoppable Kahn Army).  Wrestling events were common during the Qing Dynasty that was from 1646-1911 I believe.

Cave Paintings that date back around 9000 Years (7000 BC) in a Mongolian Province show a match that was surrounded by crowds. Bokh has appeared on Bronze Plates as well within the ruins of the Xiognu Empire. Originally a Military Sport, it was intended to showcase the Strength, Stamina & Skills of recruited Troops. Kahn & other Emperors supported the sport to the degree that today, a Festival called Naadam is the continuing tradition of the art of Bokh.

The competitions are tournament style and has a long list of competitors that one tournament can last about a couple days. The top ranked wrestlers are given titles from their places in the tournament which are.....

Sum Falcon

Sum Elephant

Aimag Falcon

Aimag Elephant

Aimag Lion

National Falcon

National Hawk

National Elephant

National Garuda

National Lion

National Champion

National Surge Champion

National Wide Champion

National Grand Champion

These are the titles out of at times 1000 Wrestlers (But mainly over 500). The Naadam takes place in July every year, the largest competition is the National Naadam in Ulaannaatar which houses the largest number of wrestlers. Two other Classes of the Naadam (Aimag & Sum) are on the bases of Mongolian Administrative Divisions. 

It is quite a site to how important this festival is to many guys who compete. The training these guys go through is pretty insane (what wrestling training isn't insane) and their diet is mainly of meats. A lot of competitors have powerful legs and although they don't have muscles that stand out like a bodybuilder or athlete we're use to seeing, they still have some serious strength and endurance. Some matches only last a few seconds but others can go quite a while but in the end, the moment you fall to the ground it is over. 

To get a glimpse or the idea of how these wrestlers train, compete and utilize the philosophy and culture, here are a few videos to check out. One of the videos is a music video by The Hu that opens a Naadam Festival.

 

The After Effects Of Hill Sprinting

Can we just have a decent amount of weather FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!! Sorry, had to channel my inner Chris Farley for a moment. Training in this heat can be a real bitch and if you have a routine going and it's outside, be careful out there. It was already in the 90's by the time I did my Hill Sprints today. Couldn't do my normal speed but managed to kick my ass. 

All in all, Hill Sprints are still one of the best methods for burning fat and increasing your metabolism while putting on muscle at the same time. When you're resting the majority of the time, that's just one of the perks but also the work itself is so damn short it's ridiculous. Today I did a total of 100 seconds of work on the Hill and especially in this sun, that was more than enough.

One of the best after effects from Hill Sprinting is the endorphin high where negative stress just gets kicked to the curb and you just feel happy and feeling like a million bucks. It feels peaceful and the relaxation feels like you never want it to go away. Those moments where the world is just right and life is at its finest. 

When I finish a session and walking back home, it seems like I'm walking faster going back than I was getting there. Maybe that's the endorphin high kicking in or my body just naturally has that extra pep in my step. Sweat is pouring and I can't help but smile and have that emotional and mental clarity. My stride is perfect and naturally breathing deeply as possible is just awesome.

The calorie burn is another perk I would think many would love and the continuation throughout the day is the cherry on top of a killer ice cream sundae. Food tastes better and at times it'll feel like you can eat a wild elephant, Hill Sprints is for sure the GOAT when it comes to body composition and the transition rom shedding unwanted fat and developing natural muscle.

All this gets the job done no more than 3x a week and never needing more than a 30 second burst. People tend to find that some sprints should be up to 45-60 seconds which in my eyes is pretty unrealistic because for one, you're not even going as fast as you would on flat ground and two, your level of speed can only sustain for so long before you feel like you end up jogging instead of sprinting. 

The last big perk, the cold shower you feel after coming back from a workout feels like you can take on the world and having that feeling of thinking you're having the best shower of your life. Cold showers help burn even calories and increasing brown fat while decreasing white fat (look up the difference and you'll know what I mean. 

For more after effects, research on Hill Sprint Benefits and see for yourself why this method is incredible for a lot of things. Be safe, drink plenty of water and keep having an amazingly awesome summer.