Adding Isometrics To Build A Strong & Muscular Body

Building muscle isn't always easy for some people and many would go to extremes to build a body so muscular that it looks like they can't wipe their own ass. Often, genetics does play a role in how you develop muscle. It could be quicker but for others, it takes longer to build the muscle they want. The real problem is that people want something right now and magically have a better body in a matter of days than weeks/months/years. 

Now when those say "oh he's built like that because he's a genetic freak and it's impossible to look like that otherwise", haven't done their homework on the old timers and how muscular they were despite starting out looking so sickly, they've should've been put out of their misery sooner than later. It's true some develop muscle at a greater rate than others but it's not all that black and white. Let's take Herschel Walker for example: He's looked fit since his college days and even in his 60's now I believe, he's got greater muscle development than men half his age. You forget, he didn't start out looking like he was carved from granite, he was a chubby youngster in rural Georgia that couldn't keep up with other kids his age. He made a change and not only busted his ass to get where he wanted physically, he achieved his muscular potential over and over throughout the rest of his life and continues today. 

One of the greatest posers in the early 20th century was Otto Arco who many in the physical culture world argue was the most muscular man of his era who had a build you thought would be from steroids; they weren't. Steroids were non-existent in his time so how the hell did he develop such a powerful body despite being less than 5'6 and 150 lbs soaking wet? He achieved his genetic and muscular potential through many methods including weight lifting and gymnastics but his greatest method was the style of Muscle Control: The ability to flex and relax the various muscle groups at will and portray the type of body they make charts out of. He looked a man that people would make statues out of and looked like a greek god of ancient Athens. Muscle Control is another form of Isometric Training. 

Alexander Zass was another legendary strongman that utilized Isometrics to not only build a muscular body but had strength very few in his time possessed. How did he get so damn strong? Before the events of WW1, he was a traveling strongman, lifting crazy things and doing feats that wowed crowds throughout Europe and Russia but during the war, he was captured multiple times and was shackled to the floor with chains that weren't made to snap and break. During his confinements, he would push, pull, grip and find every angle he could think of to rip those chains apart and eventually he did. He shattered the links in those suckers and even bent the bars of jail cell window and broke out. He was caught a total of 4 times and each time, he broke out and escaped. He would go on to built an act that consisted of bending steel bars, lifting things with his teeth and even made a course for Isometric Training with a customized device of a chain with handles so others can learn to get strong from many angles without ever moving a muscle. Today you can do some of the same exercises with the World Fit Iso Trainer.

All three of these men had used Isometrics to aid in their development and had some of the greatest physiques the world ever knew and did it without the use of steroids or PED's. Many before and after them got great results as well including myself. Below are a couple pictures to give you an idea. The first one is of the Back: To let you in on a little secret, I don't do pull-ups that often and was never consistent with deadlifting and weight training for the back. My muscular potential was developed through hard work of Bridges, Hammer Training, Animal Movements & heavy rows and pulldowns with fat gripz training over the years but when I add in Isometrics in addition, my strength goes through the roof and put greater development of the muscles surrounding the Back. 

The second picture is my left arm zoomed in. For close to 17 years, I've built my arms through all sorts of training but Isometrics and various Feats Of Strength have given my arms the best genetic natural development possible. No steroids, no growth hormone or TRT, just old fashioned hard work and training. Thick and solid but not looking like a bodybuilder. I was never able to achieve arms like some of the old timers but because of steel bending over the years, thick handle work, push-ups, crawling, handstands and other forms of Isometrics, this is the best I got and I'm very proud of it. If you've ever seen my arms zoomed out especially the forearm development, you know that it took a long time to make those results happen. 

Make Isometrics a part of your regimen and see results first hand of what you can achieve. You don't need to be built like me or anybody else to achieve your greatest potential, you've got your own journey and your results will come with consistency, recovery, mindfulness and being aware of what works best for you.  

Are Fat Gripz The Key To Major Upper Body Strength?

 I first learned about Thick Bar Training around 2003-2004 from Iron Man and showed some of the things used for it. I didn't touch a thick handled dumbbell or barbell till about 2007 or 2008 and it was at my friend Logan Christopher's house. It was pretty heavy and only held it for 10 seconds, couldn't do anything else with it. When I finally got around to wanting to do more Thick Handle Training, I learned about the Fat Gripz and how they can be attached to dumbbells, barbells and machines in seconds. 

Thick Bar Training has been around for decades, even more than a century because the old time strongmen worked with them. Reading more about it in Brooks Kubik's Dinosaur Training book, I wanted to see what I can do. When I went to the gym in 2018-2019, I would attach the Gripz to the dumbbells as heavy as about 50-60 lbs and they were tough as hell to handle. Did a 225 standing overhead press with them for a few reps and that almost killed me. For years before that, I used them to attach to the handles of the TNT Cable System from Lifeline Fitness. 

When I used them for the TNT Cables, that put in a new perspective on making things interesting to train with. Whenever I need a boost or a challenge for strength training that's what I would do. I would work with about as heavy as I can handle and do mainly Overhead Presses, Curls, Pulldowns, Rows & Chest Presses. Talk about alternative to weights. These can be just as challenging if not more so than a hunk of junk iron weights because with the fat gripz, its forcing you to work even harder than usual and every fiber of your being comes into play. 

Thick Bar Training challenges even the strongest of men and strikes fear into many that would run away at the very sight of it and for good reason. Fat Gripz are no joke and will test you in ways that makes muscle building all that much more torturous yet sweet at the same time. First off: In most cases when lifting, your grip will give out more often than most muscle groups and the bigger diameter of a handle, the less weight you'll end up using. If you're even a 600 lb Bencher, you wouldn't even come close to that if you tried with a thick bar, it's almost impossible. 2nd: With Thick Bar work, you're firing far more than just the muscles used in any specific upper body exercise, your entire body has to be in unison and it tests even your core strength to be stabilized enough to control the movement. 3rd: Controlling the lift or movement itself takes far greater concentration than with a regular implement. You could get away with being a little awkward with a lift with a implement that's normally what 1-1 1/8th inches in diameter but with a handle at 2 inches or more, you can't be sloppy, your form has to be damn near perfect otherwise you'll easily slip out of holding it. 

The power of Fat Gripz training can even give a boost of testosterone as it forces you to fire the nerves into the muscles on a larger scale and attack the system with a vengeance. Doing compound exercises with a thick bar or fat gripz does produce another level of boosting testosterone. Muscles will grow pretty fast with Fat Gripz training but also the recovery and rest will be different as well because even 1 or 2 sets can wear someone out rather than a typical 5-8 set workout with a particular exercise. 

One workout I did with Fat Gripz & The TNT Cables was to go as heavy as I can handle and do 4 exercises for 1 set each. The objective was to do as many reps as possible in 90 seconds for each exercise. This to me was one of the most brutal workouts I've ever done and my forearms were pumped like crazy. They were thick and I was feeling a burn rarely ever taking place. I would rest as long as I needed between exercises and I didn't count the reps, I just kept going as much as I could for that 90 second set. On the exercises, I would stop for maybe 1 or 2 seconds to catch my breath and keep going, they were hard as hell and you can't possibly know what that feels like until you've done them yourself. 

It would definitely put a little more lead in your pencil if you catch my drift. I normally don't go for the pump but I just wanted to see what I was capable of. That's the beauty of training, coming with things that are fun to do and creating challenges for yourself you don't normally do. When I really need some upper body muscle work, Fat Gripz & TNT Cables are a way to go and they're easy to travel with.  

Get a set of Fat Gripz, more than a fraction of the cost to an actual thick bar. Most gyms don't have thick bars because for one, the average person or even bodybuilder is afraid of them and two; even by the intimidation, the space isn't that great either. The Fat Gripz can be attached to most dumbbells and barbells plus a machine. The most weight I lifted with these attached to a barbell was a 315 thigh deadlift and I thought that was crazy to do. Imagine the kind of strength and muscle you can develop with these bad boys, they are a pinnacle of learning the difference between boys lifting weight and men lifting weight. Go ahead, I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU!!!!

Below here's a video of doing Fat Gripz Curls with a 100 lb Resistance Cable. Without the Fat Gripz, I can do as many as 25 in a row but with those things attached, I can only manage 16 here and that was killer on the biceps and forearms while maintaining good form and not trying to cheat (you can't really cheat with these cables). 

Here's what I did with the same resistance but without the Fat Gripz...

Just Call Me Angel Of The Morning

 It's great that when you think of a certain song, you can't help but laugh. That's why every time I hear those words in my head, my mind goes to the Opening Scene in Deadpool. 

Now that I got that stuck in your head...

Why is meditation important? What makes it such an essential aspect of your well-being? It could be done in many ways but the most common is either sitting or standing for up to several minutes to an hour or more at a time. It's therapeutic to some people. It can be a hell of a stress reliever especially with those who suffer from anxiety and/or depression. Working out can be considered meditative because it's about going to a place where it feels right and you're in a zone full of piece of mind. 

Meditation isn't just making sounds and trying to center yourself in a Yoga Class (unless you just go there to check somebody out in the downward facing dog), it's really about finding yourself and being at peace internally. Hell, some people like me love heavy metal and that helps things from time to time. Ever watch NCIS? The gothic but loveable forensic scientist Abby Sciuto puts on metal or rock and does some of her best work, if the music isn't right or there's no music, she's thrown off and feels out of place. For her that's her form of meditation, it works and puts her in a focused state. 

There's forms of meditation meant for everyone that don't always come from sitting and saying "ooommm" for god knows how long. For me, it's either training or doing Dao Zou; the backwards walking program Matt Furey put out many moons ago. Hew may have his flaws but his programs aren't terrible either and Dao Zou is actually a favorite of mine. I used it yesterday as a form of meditation before a Dental Appointment. I hate seeing just about any kind of doctors and always had issues with seeing dentists. This time, it kept me so damn calm, it felt like a breeze being in the chair while the doc was checking things up. BTW everything is actually fine and just need a typical cleaning. You get what I'm saying though? Many people just have issues with hospitals and dental work that they overwhelm themselves or the environment is overwhelming to them and it's understandable. 

Today; despite heavy road construction literally a few yards away and a worker doing a job on my next door neighbor's house, I focused on my breathing and breezed through another Dao Zou session and felt at peace. It felt great, feeling the earth on my feet, the wind blowing and seeing the blue sky, hearing the birds chirp, it was awesome. Those moments you have and letting things pass you by without giving them a second thought is one of the true aspects of meditation. Externally, yeah there's things going on around you and you can't always escape them but internally, you're naturally forming a level of tranquility and the mindset to not just want to be at peace but accepting it without having to fight yourself. 

Some of the best meditative practices don't come from a self-help book or a New Age/Quantum Physics level of learning, they come from making the choices to feel something that they normally don't get during parts of the day. There are places in the world and even in this country where there's negative energy, violence and anger on every corner, surrounding a building or a street. Nobody can tell you how to do certain things when they themselves don't understand your circumstances but you can make choices that determine your peace of mind and do what you can to make the best of them. 

Find your style of meditation and find your inner peace the best way you can. Make it worth living and basking in the glory of having that tranquility we all are looking for. Sometimes it's easy to meditate, sometimes it takes practice more than the average person can handle and other times, it's just there and you can choose to keep it or fight it. 

The Battles With Yourself And The Ways Of What You Were Taught

 For the most part, nobody is more critical than the person you see in the mirror everyday. The wars you have in your own mind and the battles that you keep surviving yet left scars, put you in a state of what's to come and what you're prepared to do. Many of these battles is how to determine what's good and what is wrong with what you have been taught. 

It can be very difficult to trust people for some especially those you admire or have admired and taking in the teachings and wisdom of those you learned from. You learn what to do, but also learn what not to do and we don't always know what the real difference is. You get caught up in other people's crap and getting sucked into something that isn't meant for you but still battle to get out of. It happens to everyone at some point and it can be a pain in the ass yet for some, it's easy as pie. 

I trust an extreme few people and one of them isn't even alive anymore so when that extreme few starts reducing, it becomes harder and harder to find someone you can go to whether for help or want someone to listen and they still have your back. I battle with myself everyday figuring out what lessons I've learned that I can apply to certain things or do the right thing. My parents taught me things I will always carry with me and apply to my life but they've also taught me things they don't know about what not to do and some of it is easy and some of them are not. It's decisions you make that keep you moving forward or putting yourself backwards.

Looking back on some of the lessons I learned from Bud Jeffries, I make them a huge part of my life and the knowledge and wisdom he gave me are things that should never be ignored especially when it comes to how you apply yourself to your passion and how to treat people. I have often slipped through those lessons and gotten myself caught up in things that shouldn't really apply to me but it is a force of habit. I've put myself in situations on forums and on youtube that should never have happened. Bud taught me to stay away from forums or at least ones that don't really give a damn about your passion or what you love because many of them are full of opinionated people that don't have any real knowledge and the few people who have knowledge, get caught up in the drama and negative bullshit that leads to keyboard fighting and pecking at people we will never meet. I've told you about my signing up and deleting accounts on a certain forum I won't mention, I admit, I lost my sense of direction and focused on the bullshit more than the knowledge. I put myself in a bad place and part of me feel like I've let Bud down even though he'd tell me "get back up and know that you've made mistakes and that you're human." 

For youtube, I admit I became obsessed with a certain Blue Collar man's channel and got caught up in his bullshit rants and his views on society. I made comments that just blurred out at times and tried going on a quest that really led to nowhere. For the most part, he's nothing more than a misogynistic sociopath who has no sympathy or compassion for basically anyone and sometimes think he hates his own kids. It all goes back to that point of like a car wreck "you know it's wrong, but you can't help but want to look at it" and that's what I did, it was like a drug that I needed a fix. I was weak for doing it and it was stupid to continue doing it. There are far better things to view out there and it's important to see your flaws and correct them before it becomes something much worse. 

We battle ourselves everyday. We keep surviving and it's important to not let our mental battle scars get the best of us and take it one day at a time. You learn to be better by being better with yourself. Some days are harder than others and you don't want anyone to feel your pain. Most people won't give a flying fuck what you tell them and they'll even make comments that will try to shred you to pieces but at the same time, there are people out there who are going through some of the same things and value what you do say and share their experiences to let you know you're not alone and that the world has its beauty and positive influences that can be used to help others because let's face it: in a messed world, even flowers bloom out of the chaos and destructive powers at hand. 

A Worldly Observation

 It's one of those times where talking about training can be set aside and just observe the world around you and take in things to make not just an opinion but an idea of what you see and how you absorb it. This is a time in history where not only things change constantly but people learning different ideals of how they've adapted or get sucked into trends and information that can be either confusing, buy into it or have such a horrifying view that their way is the path to realism or just reality. 

Trends come and go all the time and by the time they're a hit, they're gone within a snap or later. Society comes and go from every culture and not everyone sticks with that society or areas where as a whole, it is destroyed or revamped. I mean come on, do you really want a society where women have no say in anything important or segregation? There was a time when that happened and in some areas in the world and in the U.S still happens. In every generation, there's always a group of people that want to stick with the previous and think their generation was the best when in reality, every generation had its flaws, corruption, degenerates and many other things. Change is constant and many fear it like the plague.

Some of the old timers like the Baby Boomers or even Gen X have this notion that their generation was the best because jobs were easier to come by, the music was better, families were more wholesome and you could get away with certain things that can't be done today because of social media or the internet for that matter. Baby Boomers dealt with segregation, the Vietnam War, the hippie era, disco, the rapid outcry of protesting in the south and the fact that for even generations before, being a non-straight person male or female (even trans which did exist) would end up one of three ways: Being shunned from family, got you killed if you were found out or scrutinized because it "brought on an apocalypse to end the population." 

Gen X (Those born between about 67-79) had its fair share of flaws like the era of crack cocaine in areas like LA, Detroit & New York, Aids, the only shows that had any form of women being the true star other than looking like a hot piece of tail like Cagney & Lacy, Wonder Woman and a couple others and the early stages of steroids in sports. They had great music, better understanding of being outside until it was too damn dark and fighting violently to earn respect. Like any other generation, it was just different but those who came before always felt like a future generation was weaker and progressed with shitty intentions. 

The world today has plenty of flaws and a different outlook on how to treat people especially kids plus the ideals of how people express themselves in a much bigger platform than ever before. As a born millennial, I can understand certain aspects and at that dad age, it is hard at times to see what kids and society do to themselves on a daily basis. I grew up in liberal California where diversity was everywhere, LGBTQ+ was normal to see and people taking the "open minded" mentality a little too seriously and created flaws of their own. I've seen old classmates on the streets, friends dying due to drugs or abuse in the home, economies go up and down and dealt with people that make you want to knock their ass out but overall, yes there ae bad places and bad people but there are also beautiful places with good people that are loving and caring and would give you the shirt off your back. You just need to learn where to find them, some never do and some find them just in time.

When it comes to those who are LGTBQ+, we may not be able to 100% change our DNA but the reality is, they all strive to be human and more of themselves. Some of them are assholes like anyone else and some are a little out there in the head but many more are good people who want to be accepted as a person whether they have surgery to change their physical exterior or not or to love someone in a consenting formality. There are those out there that actually believe that anyone who decides to become a man or a woman or screws around with the same sex will depopulate and destroy society; that statement is irrelevant for many reasons and the biggest one is this: 7 and 1/2 Billion people in the world, over 350 million in the U.S alone. The population is more overkill than the reasoning to depopulate. When it comes to kids, it's a very different story and everyone has opinions whether good or bad but the point is, kids can be very vulnerable and easily manipulated and I'm not talking about whether they choose to end up with a same sex or trans person, I'm talking about being just as easily manipulated to hate and to be conditioned to believe it is so wrong it destroys people.

There are many reasons why social media and the internet today is toxic as hell and can make people do things that even the devil itself go "ok that's fucked up" but there are just as many reasons why it can be good to have: To reach out to someone for help, to stand up for others when you can't be there in person, to inspire people to do something that can make big changes in their life. To find a place where people have similar backgrounds and can talk to each other. To express yourself creatively and share your fears and triumphs. When there's one toxic person who just rips people to shreds, there are many others who would do the exact opposite and be encouraging and be in awe of you. There's always going to be very positive or very negative outcomes of Social Media and it's not going away any time soon.

When it comes to the food industry, it has made many points to destroy people's health and due to cheaper foods that have chemicals no average person can pronounce, we have a higher rate of being more gullible to accept those foods as food itself to survive but not everyone is able to buy the best foods and not because of being lazy or their job or because of welfare, it's because a lot of it is designed that way and to diminish the fact that food with less than 5 ingredients that the average person can read costs a person's paycheck if they truly wanted the balanced approach. The average middle class family with around 2-4 kids won't always be able to afford food that balances out a full budget, it is possible and there are tweaks and tricks but it also takes a mindset and where you are that can make that work. It is important to eat as good whole foods as possible but it can be nearly impossible when certain "studies" tell people that eggs can cause heart attacks or meat being recalled so many times because of mad cow or salmonella or whatever diseases an animal obtained, hell vegetables have been recalled like Spinach and lettuce due to poor upkeep and dirtied up when they're shipped out and put onto shelves. Be careful but also be mindful of what you eat and reading the labels.

Like I said, society comes and goes, increase in demand goes up and down everyday (mostly up) and we're about as divided as you can get. We worship things that have almost nothing to do with us, we have people protesting about things that don't have a whole lot of logical sense and we bitch about things so badly that we forget that a lot of time its just finding something to bitch about that has nothing to do with you or yours personally. People whine about people not working enough, men aren't really men anymore and that just about every person under the age of 30 these days don't have a clue on what real struggle is. Struggles are real and some people go to great lengths to hide them well whether they're young or old, some people do bitch about jobs but there are others out there who do want to work hard and make a living but many can't tell the difference and end up hiring those who hate the job more than those who need it and willing to bust their ass. 

In this crazy and messed up world, do your best to find the good in it. Have an outlook that outweighs the bad shit and power through the chaos as best as you can with a mindset that proves that it is possible to have a great life even when things can go wrong. Life is not meant to be easy, but it can interesting and amazingly awesome if you know and observe where to look. 

Building Bridges For A Stronger And More Flexible Body

 Happy Earth Day and remember to get plenty of sun and have a blast with one another....

Getting fit is much more than just a physique and having strong muscles, it's about building the attributes that develops the body inside and out from conditioning to flexibility, agility, balance and more. It's about complete control in the best ways possible. With that in mind, having control takes practice and not rushing the process because the fine line between rushing something and having complete control can mean life and death. This is where Bridging comes in.

Bridging has been used mainly taught in wrestling rooms and MMA Training courses but some Bridging exercises have been seen in Yoga Classes and certifications under different names. It's the ability to put your body in positions that resemble a bridge (I can already hear the word DUH, so I just did it for you) and shows the unbelievable ways that the Spine is in amazing condition. The main reason Bridging is used in wrestling is to show how it protects and strengthens the neck and spine along with the flexibility and movements associated with wrestling such as suplexes (or suples as some call them) and throws that generate power in the hips. 

Some of the exercises used in Bridging might turn some people away because of the positioning of the head and looking dangerous and the thought of being crippled from doing it. It is true that for a small group of people, Bridging can be harmful and isn't to be practiced due to specific injuries towards the neck and spine but there are easier exercises for those areas. For the rest who are in good health (as long as someone approves and gives you the green light) and can start, Bridging can be extremely beneficial and even life saving in certain situations with consistent practice.

One of the few courses out there that actually shows the NECESSARY progressions to being good at Bridging is Logan Christopher's Advanced Bridging Course. It gives you the tools and exercises to build a strong neck, back and spine but also make those areas and the rest of your body very flexible whether you're small or big. Depending on a person's size and shape, some might progress faster than others while some might start already at a flexible level than those who start out stiff as a board. 

Although it's important to be aware and cautious, it's also important to understand that even a small fraction of progress is still progress. I wish I knew these exercises when I first started bridging. I got a glimpse of some of the exercises and learned to hold a bridge and even do kickovers but this course takes on a whole different level. Bridging has its perks and benefits more than what some people try to dispute. It's not meant to turn you into a contortionist or anything like that, what it does is training the body to have a different level of awareness and balance that isn't normally done from a fitness point of view. 

It's because of exercises like these that I haven't had a ton of injuries over the years and have given me the tools to train my body from all sorts of angles even though I'm a bigger guy compared to the average bridge practitioner. Below are some videos I have participated in recently and in the past that show what the body is capable of with practice and progression. From the Hip Bridge to Falling & Kicking Over, it's incredible what you can achieve when you have practiced Bridging.

Last video, the move starts at the 34 sec mark. 

The Alternative Route For The Traveling Gym

Training on the road can reap many benefits especially trying to stay in top condition whether for a sport or going on vacation. The idea is to save money while staying in shape and it's much simpler than we have been led to believe. Going to the gym can be beneficial but there isn't going to be a gold's or an anytime fitness in rural areas or up in the mountains if you plan on camping. It's something to have on hand quick and can be set up so damn fast, even the flash won't be fast enough to get to the door of a gym.

Imagine being able to pull over to stretch and get some gas pumped up, while doing so, take out a Super Band or tubes with handles and be able to get in a quick workout of curls, presses, squats and lunges in a matter of minutes and than drive off to the next part of your journey on the open highway. Simplicity is where it's at and it's mind-blowing at times for people top realize that something so light and inexpensive can bring great health and fitness to you anywhere you go. Think what you can do if you could do nearly the same exercises in the gym as you can in a hotel room, a cabin, a tent, out in the woods, at a gas station, in the parking lot of a restaurant or even down on the beach or next to a creek. 

Some of the best cables and bands are from Lifeline Fitness. I use them often on those days I want to switch things up from hammers, animal moves, sandbell training or even isometrics. Switching from curls to a press or chest pull is so quick, I can get a workout in under 15 minutes. Now some have made grievances about the lack of lifespan some cables or bands have and it's understandable. They're not meant to last for decades or even centuries but I've learned how to keep their elasticity and lifespan going that has lasted me for years of use. Once they do start to wear and tear, yeah it's time to stock up on a new supply but if they haven't torn yet and have some life left, use Armor All Wipes. Just take one or two and grip and slide it along the equipment. These will help them last a few more weeks to a couple of months, keep applying every few weeks or so and you should be fine. Ever since I learned this, none of my cables have snapped, the only ones that did, were ones I didn't apply the wipes. 

What are some of the best cables I've used? Here's a short list that I can fit into a small backpack....

Chest Expander

TNT Cable System

Power Pushup Plus

All three have tons of cables that I can stuff into the bag and be able to close it up. I've even taken it on a plane with me and got in workouts right there before boarding began. Never miss out on getting in some good solid training that can be better for you than twiddling your thumbs on a game on your phone or just sitting in a car while you're pumping gas or whatever. Make it work for you and never forget, the world is your gym, the only limit is your imagination. Stay consistent no matter where you are and be able to save hundreds or thousands of bucks in the long run. 

The Burnout And Making The Best Of It

 At some point in our lives, we all have been burnt out whether from sports, exercise, work or performing as an artist in music or films. You can only go so far and at some point, you hit a peak and it's just wearing you down. We can at times push through and just toughen it out but does that really do anything for your mental health or physical wellbeing? If you're burnt out and you can't perform at your best and it consistently ends up being at your worst, how do you keep going without going insane?

Life is a pain in the ass, we know that and there are tough people out there gutting it out day after day whether they're at their best or when they're most exhausted and running on fumes just to squeak by. I respect those that push themselves to take care of loved ones or just themselves and make their living but also it can be hard going on and the light is just barely lit enough to where you're crawling and dragging yourself mentally or physically and it can lead to being a bitter person with life draining out of them. 

From a fitness POV, burnouts usually happen when one starts out and just goes for the kill without giving themselves time to progress and think their superman or wonder woman right off the bat. How many times are we going to read or hear that old cliché of going hard for a short period and than just being so broken down it takes a longer time to come back or even the will to come back? The thing is, it can happen to those who've been doing fitness for decades or even a few years and all of a sudden, that candle goes out. How do we come back from that? 

We can make the best of it by either changing something up, recharge and built ourselves back up or we can take that energy and put it into something that gives us that enthusiasm and interest. I can already hear the "easier said than done" set of shouting in my head and I feel you man, it happens to the best of us and it's hard finding a balance but without balance, you'll fall over and one extreme will come more than the other and you're left with scratching and clawing to balance things out again when you're already on your last breath or physical/mental effort. 

I've gotten burnt out from doing hundreds of squats a day, going too long on Animal Workouts, pushed the weights harder than I should've and put stress on myself that it becomes like depression when it's just not there anymore. For me, when that happens, it becomes a battle with your mental self to get back up and find something that helps you get out of that darkness and get back to that level of not just interest but happiness, the thing that makes you you and a level of willing to keep fighting but at a different intensity. When I need a break, I try to do things at much lower intensity like just doing Joint Loosening workouts or going swimming when it's nice out or go for a small walk or do mediation to clear my head. I still train every single day but it isn't hardcore or killing myself, it's about finding ways to refresh everything and powering up the batteries until I'm at my best again.

When you're burnt out, it can affect your performance and when you're off your game for a period of time, the performance can get smaller and smaller until you're so off it looks like you've forgotten completely how to do something right. Yes there is muscle memory and your reflexes are still there but if things aren't in sync or flowing, it becomes dangerous and not in a good way and could end up hurting yourself or others and it wouldn't matter whether it was physical or mental. 

When you're feeling burnt out or about to hit that threshold, do your best to breathe and slowly take a step back. I'm not saying this for every situation because that's not how things completely work but it's important to reassess, give yourself a bit of a breather and possibly slow the pace down. Listen to your body and your mind. 

The Elusive Isometric Power Belt

I was fortunate to be one of the few people that acquired John Peterson's Isometric Power Belt (The lengthier version) and ever since he gave me one (two actually) it has been one of my go-to pieces of equipment for Isometric and sometimes Suspension Training. For years since using it, I have achieved pretty good results in terms of strength, mobility, joint health and power in my tendons and ligaments. 

It has gotten some bad press by people who never shut up about the flaws John had and it's level of verbal abuse because it wasn't ever released to the public because John can be a perfectionist but at the same time, have trouble realizing that you can't keep promising something that goes on for years without showing or truly presenting something. Although it's sad it wasn't ever brought but it's a blessing in disguise because someone who actually owns one can show the awesome exercises one can come up with. With that in mind, it's not a complete waste.

There are other straps/belts out there that you can snatch up such as a yoga strap, the World Fit Iso Trainer, Rings, Suspension Trainers and others that are readily available. Is the Isometric Power Belt any more special than those other things? In reality, not really but it is special to me because it was a gift, it has many uses other than training for Isometrics and since I was given two, I gave the other one to Bud Jeffries during the week leading up to my wedding. Now that he's passed away, his wife is now in possession of it and if she finds use in it great, if not that's ok too because I know it's in good hands or would be passed on to someone. 

The original belt that John had previously put out was about 10-14 feet long and it was loosely based on the design that Dr. James Bailey used or designed for athletes (more notably used by prisoners that John had written about for the exercise booklet for the belt) to have greater variety of Isometric Exercises that you can carry with you in a suitcase. There were different designs that came and gone through the years like for example the Isometric Chain Alexander Zass used to supplement his isometric training based on what he did to escape prisons during WW1. 

In recent times, an old timer named Bruce Tackett made a somewhat crude version of an Isometric Strap called The Hook where you can attach handles to the strap and do Isometrics from there, it was also used for suspension training and a DYI version of the Chest Expander. Quite frankly it was a pretty ingenious idea and I wished I had gotten it but never got around to it even though I said I would. Most of that product went to his Sierra Fitness Forum members while one of them got pretty damn shredded from using it. Yoga straps have been around quite a while but the World Fit Iso Trainer has been one of the upcoming brands of Isometric Equipment that has had quite a bit of success. 

This version of the Isometric Power Belt is twice as long as its "older brother" and has a stronger form of handling heavy amounts of weight (like it can take up to 7000 lbs before it tears a part or something like that) so not even the legendary Zass or Bud Jeffries could've torn this thing a part bare handedly. This thing is a combination of many straps/belts in one piece of equipment. John even planned on releasing a book of exercise for the belt (the belt itself is 28ft long BTW) but never released it so it's even more elusive if not scrapped but all I did was take the exercises from the original booklet and amplified them along with making a few additions of my own like Arm Wrestling, Bow and Arrow, Handcuffed, mimicking shoveling snow and used exercises from the book Overcoming Isometrics.

The belt is just another piece of equipment I use in my training and it's neither better or worse than the rings or the World Fit but I'm glad I have it and if John ever releases it one day (which 999.999% sure won't happen) it be a nice thing to add to a collection. I'm also probably the only person with this specific belt that has filmed working out with it so if you ever want to see it in action, here are some videos.....

Fingers As Strong As Talons

Our hands are much more than a few digits that can grip and hold onto things. They're an enormous asset to how things are made; from buildings, to art, music, fitness or starting and ending wars with single gestures and signals. Many times, we take our hands for granted and don't realize how valuable they really are. Like anything else, we've used our hands for evil and have done horrible things to other creatures and human beings but we've also done wonderful things, heroic things and mind-blowing things that can be still talked about to this day. 

Some are born without hands and others have lost the ability to use their hands yet some of those same people have done great things and made the most of what they're limited to. Having a good set of hands are meant for great things but others go on paths that causes blood to spilled, use technology to derail or send messages to kill another person and have caused trauma to many who are young and old. Our hands are a gateway to what we learn and where we are going until we die. 

In the fitness world, we mainly use our hands to grip a bar and either press and pull something whether it's a free weight or machine but in other areas, we take our hands to another dimension when we develop the ability to tear things apart or bend tough steel, lever sledgehammers, snap spikes or do other crazy things. Bud Jeffries use to combine lifting with old time strongman feats such as holding heavy weight while also tearing a deck of cards or bending a spike. That takes incredible concentration and control of the nerves and muscles. Very few in the world was able to do that. 

Another great example of Hand Strength & Dexterity is the legendary Concert Virtuoso Garin Bader. Not only does he have incredible power and agile fingers to do a workout with, but also work the piano or other instruments with ease, dazzle an audience with magic and the ability to work his fingers in such unique ways it's mind blowing. If you want to know more check out his Finger Gymnastics Course. I've seen and felt first hand how powerful he is and he does it without much effort yet you feel like you're in a vice when he gets a hold of you. 

I'm not big on high reps when it comes to push-ups because to me it gets boring after a bit and if you do them too long over a period of time, you can get complications in the shoulders and elbows. I prefer Isometric Push-ups or Slow Tension Push-ups since you don't have to do much to really feel it and Isometrics really tackles the muscles and the muscle fibers than just typical push-ups. I also get a kick out of holding positions in the push-up where I can hold for a few seconds than go to the middle and bottom, working it both isometrically and dynamically. Here are a couple videos where I demonstrate the Push-up from different perspectives....

Another favorite where I don't have to do a ton of reps but get incredible benefit out of is Fingertip Push-ups. These are much harder for obvious reasons and it's a test of the strength in your tendons and ligaments. Just holding a Fingertip Plank is hard enough, now trying to do multiple reps. You'll mostly see MMA or other sports athletes do these because they have the ability to really dig into the nitty gritty of your grip strength and building those forearms like steel cords. These three videos should give you an idea of what I mean....One is just your typical form of Fingertip Push-ups, another is just using three fingers of each hand and the last is where I do 1 Push-up but it's so damn slow that it takes about a minute to complete using tension and control the entire time. 

 

As you can see, when you train the fingers, they can enhance your fitness and other things in your life that have meaning to you. Having strong fingers are great for massaging, better grip control for lifting and carrying, be able to climb better, pinch power, bend stuff, work with tools and more. Strong hands equals a strong body.