"You Too, Can Have A Body Like Mine."

Slogans and certain phrases are some of the basic principles in how you get people to buy a product period. A product in and of itself is just a tool, no more, no less but it's the idea to make it look like a million bucks that gives it life or death. We've all seen ads about building the perfect physique since the days of the early muscle magazines and pamphlets from mail-order giants like Bernarr MacFadden, Charles Atlas, Maxick & George Jowett.

When it comes to how even a product works vs. the reality of the end results aren't always congruent together. Sure there are products and programs that do work for many but there's no such thing as the "one size fits all" ideal construct. Back in the early days, like say 100 years ago; there were no scientific principles on macros, steroids were non-existent and supplements were not a major thing or if at all from today's standards. The products back then did work to an extent especially from MacFadden who was an advocate of healthy living, bodyweight/Self Resistance oriented style training and other things. 

Building a powerful physique takes time, patience and dedication. However; you have to remember, some of the greatest physiques back in the day were more than just show, they were a marvel of pure, unadulterated strength and vitality. Even more so, many of those who had an awesome body weren't that big either. The average weight of a man with a great physique back then was about 145-185 lbs. Only a fraction compared to today were bigger guys like Saxon, Hackenshmidt, Groener and a few others. Today, small guys with a physique that look like they were carved out of granite are considered weaker than those who on average range from 215-275 or in the 300+ lb range that look like Comic Book characters are believed to be considered strong. It can be confusing but it's what social media, news, ads and magazines are telling us what is considered strong "looking" and what is considered weak "looking."

In reality, when you develop your own physique, you're not going to have the exact physique of an Arnold or Ferrigno, hell even a Coleman or Cutler. Why would you want to? What purpose is it really to have a body that looks like a billion bucks but end up with $2 strength? I'm not saying you shouldn't build a body that looks awesome, what I 'am saying is, when you put yourself on a program and follow it to a "T", your results are going to be what you put into it and sometimes your genetic make-up will factor in and what happens when you're not doing it. The sad thing is, you're also being duped into believing that a lot of influencers these days that they build their physiques just by what they preach in their ads when in reality, there are things going on you're not aware of and outside the commercial spectrum, chances are very likely, they're on other things or have photoshopped themselves to make you be even more gullible to believe in their product. Where do you go from there and how can you trust what they're trying to present to you?

 A body will only last so long for so many years no matter how dedicated you are but what you consistently do to make your life as best as possible and being as strong physically and mentally, will have you go further into your years than just a cool looking body. It's important to develop and maintain the vitality and quality of our training and not always rely on how we look. Looks have their place and merit but it is the progressive and wisdom of developing realistic strength and condition that factors in our lives. We all have different strengths & weaknesses, some people have greater realistic strength and live longer than those who go to great lengths to build a body that will win them some mini statue of a dead physical culturist. Just because you have the body of a comic book character, doesn't mean you'll live a long and healthy life. 

Get strong and develop a body that is resilient and powerful regardless if you're big or small, whether you want to lose weight or gain weight, natural and realistic strength comes first, the body will come and the results again are what you put into it.  

Recovery While Sprint Training

 There are things we are taught especially in sports where we have to go hard every single day in order to become successful in what we want to do. The truth is, only a fraction of athletes ever truly become successful if you looked at things from a perspective. We were taught to give 110% and to not show weakness, be a robot that doesn't show emotions; in a nutshell you're not meant to act human. I'm all for giving it the best you can, but doing too much that your body can't handle it could kill you. 

What about the average person just trying to better themselves and develop things little by little? Most of us are not some world-class athlete who have trainers at our beckon call and we certainly don't have the luxury of having a nutritionist telling us what we can or can't eat to make our performance better. For the most part, we must learn to rely on ourselves to make the most of what we can. We have to be our own nutritionist, coach, trainer or what have you. There are people in our lives that can guide us but it's up to us as individuals to put in the work.

Ever since I got into Physical Culture and studying different methods, being taught by various people and reading up on some of the best conditioning and strength programs on the planet, I end up really being my own guide. I have been given advice which I still use to this day from people I admire and have learned from but at the same time, when you're on your own, you learn things about yourself.

That's when I get into things like Sprint Training or better yet; Hill Sprints, I rely on my own instincts and take in things from various sources. For instance: The act of recovery as you perform Sprints 3x a week at max. In the past, I would do my sprint days near my home and do the typical lollygagging down the hill after a hard sprint and give myself an opportunity to catch my breath and than repeat for however many sprints. On my off days, there were times where I felt I had to be just as hardcore or slightly less than my sprint training and would do hammer workouts, circuit training, animal movements, deck of cards workouts or whatever and within a few weeks to a month or more I quit cold turkey and don't do it again until almost a year. I became my own worst enemy when it came to recovery.

Recovery is not an enemy, it's an ally and the older we get, the more recovery becomes our biggest asset. When you're in your teens and 20's, there are things you can get away with and believe me, I got away with stuff in my own training in my 20's but now since I'll be a couple years shy of 40, training will be different and although I love doing crazy stuff, still need to be wise enough to find the right tools to perform at my best. When I need a recovery day or just something to get my energy levels going, doing little things seem to be easier than just going balls out in one shot. Isometric Exercises here and there, some reps of bodyweight or cable work and maybe some weight vest walking or hiking. The most important thing to take care of on recovery days is definitely your joints, next to that is rest. Anything else will fall into place with the right mindset.

Most people can drive to a hill (if there's one in their area) but mine is a 20 min walk, that's my warm up. I get to the hill, do some Joint Loosening and than go for it doing as many bursts that I want to do that day and than walk 20 minutes back home. Overall takes about an hour door to door and it knocks my ass out cold at times. Maybe that's a good thing because I listen to my body and recover as much as I need to and than go about my day. Your body is the only one you have, get the most out of it but also have the wisdom and knowledge to keep it maintained and keeping things in gear.

There are people who don't always have the luxury of sleeping it off after a hard sprint day and it is understandable. The point is, is if you're doing any sort of hard training whether it be Sprints, Weight Training, Sports Conditioning or whatever and it doesn't matter if you're average joe or freaking Lebron James, if you can find some sort of time to recover, take it for as long as you can and it may be 5 minutes or when the kids are taking a nap or out playing, make the time for you when you can. 

Recovery is letting the body take care of itself and it varies from different people how well they can recover. Too much of it however, can hinder your progress but too little can get you hurt and you'd be useless to people who may need you. Just like the Three Bears, there is something there that is just right; you just need to discover it and take advantage of it. 

Train hard, recover as best as you can and be your own success. You got this and you are amazingly awesome. 

Cheetah....What...Cheetah...What...It's Yo Ass

Most people in this generation would not even remotely get the title mentioned above and I think very few today can even reference it. So let's have a little fun with this one shall we? I grew up on Stand Up Comedy from George Carlin to Robin Williams, Sam Kinison, Andrew Dice Clay & Eddie Murphy but the one that took them all was the legendary Richard Pryor. The title above is actually a line from what I call Pryor's Magnum Opus when he performed in Long Beach, California way back in 1979. If you ever need a laugh, this is about as epically awesome as it gets. This line is part of a bit he does about a trip to Africa or something of that sorts. 

Now why in the blue hell would I be referencing Stand Up Comedy when it's supposed to be about fitness? Well, for one, that comedy show is one of the funniest you'll ever hear and it's the one show that made Richard not just a legend, but a mega star in the comedy world. Now onto number two...It's pretty damn funny the way he expresses the idea of being chased by the fastest cat in all the land. Ok, I've had my fun and I hope you did too.

The cheetah is the ultimate symbol for Sprint Training. Think about how lean yet explosive this wildcat is and what it has to do to catch its prey. If you ever watched one in slow motion, it almost looks like it's flying because if you slow it down enough, you may find when it gets to top speed at 70 miles an hour, it spends actually more time in the air than on its feet. That's really freaking incredible to watch. Plus, unless you know how to outsmart it, if you're chased down by a cheetah, it really is your ass that's going down. 

Now how long does a cheetah run to catch food? Even at the highest speeds it can go, it's no more than a few seconds and most likely it'll be the only time of the day it'll go that hard because even in the Serengeti, it can get pretty damn hot and an overheating wildcat can be fatal, even deadly. So it ends up either eating or going hungry and sleeping about 80-90% of the day, maybe even more.

Sprint Training is hard whether you wish to believe it or not. You're literally taking off at the fastest your body can manage and you have to have incredible balance and coordination not to mention some crazy strong tendons and ligaments because without those things, you would be falling on your face and getting some nasty bruises, scrapes and scars. When it comes to Hill Sprints, you're not going to get as fast as you would on flat land but it also becomes something just like resistance training. You're not just being explosive, you're targeting every muscle in your body and when you're huffing and puffing, you're also generating greater levels of natural HGH than you would in a typical training session.

Whether on land or on a hill, when you run hard, run as if you're going after a gazelle or if you need to run for your life to live and fight another day. When you rest, you can lollygag for a bit just walking back or going down the hill but once you reach that starting point again, take off like the Flash man. Be like the cheetah and visualize taking something down with a vengeance. There's no mercy in this Dojo. 

How many do you do and how long? For the most part, you don't need to do more than 10 for 10-15 seconds for a full on sprint. If you're reaching 20 seconds to a minute, you're going to start slowing down to the point where it'll feel like a jog more than a sprint. Your top speed whether you're a Usain Bolt or just the average guy, 10-15 seconds will most likely be the peak. When you start out, depending on your fitness level, 4-5 should be more than enough for a few weeks and than you can add one for another few weeks and so on and so forth. Sometimes just climbing the hill is something you can start with if you can't sprint yet, build up to it. Remember, a cheetah cub isn't born racing out of its mother like Michael Johnson at the '96 Olympics. It learns and mimics and even play in order to understand what it takes to survive.

Why I Put Music In My Videos

As long as I can remember, music has been a big part of my life ranging from my mom playing cassettes and records of the best songs from the 50's to the 80's, to listening to my big brother on the guitar playing blues & rock and all the way up to now listening to metal and hard rock. Some of my taste may give people the impression of "how can you listen to that noise" but also I have a taste that goes with many styles including some classical like Beethoven or Mozart. 

You go through various stages in life and that will include music and although a lot of it can be off putting, some of today's music isn't all that terrible. When I was in grade school in the 90's, it was Tupac, Biggie, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and Metallica (talk about a weird combination of taste). In High School, it was Ozzy, Disturbed, Godsmack, Eminem and others. Once I hit my 20's, it was almost purely rock and metal. I still listen to the oldies and always loved 80's rock but more often these days it's a mixture of things from bands like Fozzy, Peyton Parrish, The Hu and others. 

For years on Youtube, I would do my thing of demoing exercises and workouts such as bending steel, push-ups, bridging, swinging a hammer or mace and many more but something didn't always feel right and sometimes it just seemed boring or too quiet to do something. Once I learned about TikTok, that gave me the boost I needed to give my videos something more than just doing a movement or set of exercises. You can put music on Youtube but it can get tricky, with TikTok, you can do samples of thousands of songs to add into a video in a snap. 

Putting a hard rock song or metal or a combination with a symphony just gives the video something more than just viewing. For me, the music may not always suit what I'm doing or demonstrating but it works for me and I get to pick some pretty cool songs that people might enjoy. I love metal so you'll hear that more often but other times you'll hear epic instrumental movie style music like from composer Antti Martikanien; his style ranges from pirates music to Celtic, Viking, the Highlands and pure classical. 

I don't just show exercises, I want to give people an idea of the type of music I love and even be able to time the music with the exercise(s) being shown to make it a little more epic or fun (sometimes just being goofy). It also gives an impression that I like music while training. It puts you into another state of being and it can jack up the nerves in your body to get some crazy strength. Concert Virtuoso & Strength Training Extraordinaire Garin Bader knows this better than anyone and understands the true power of what music does when you workout. 

One of my favorites is a warm up song I use from time to time is actually a remake of a Disney song from the 90's film Mulan by Peyton Parrish called I'll Make A Man Out Of You. The original is awesome in its own right but Peyton's version just makes you feel that raw, passionate and fire within you and want to conquer anything you put yourself through. Hell, if you have a dog, it might turn into a bad ass wolf the moment you put that song on. I've used a sample of it in several videos and it never ceases to make me feel like I can take on anything and do things I've never done before. That's the power of music.

Some will say that playing music while working out can make you lose focus and hinder your mind and body connections and it's best to train without music. Who really came up with that concept and who's to say it doesn't increase your level of awareness? Some do amazing workouts without music, some do amazingly awesome with it. There are a lot of benefits to listening to music while training (I wouldn't recommend the gym because most places does have shitty music and it's not always somebody's preference) but when you're at home in your garage or at a park or the beach, put some headphones on, play your favorites and get cracking. You might come out of that workout changed and feeling more alive. 

Listen to the type of music that gets YOU going and kill it with your favorite bands or listen to soft style music like from a Japanese garden or meditation music for Yoga or for a stretching routine. Listen to music that makes YOU happy and gives you the thrill of being in an epic workout.  

Is There A Better Style Of Isometrics?

With so much info in this day and age, you'd think we learned by now how to figure out certain things. The truth is, we can very easily become overwhelmed and anxious as to what can be applied to the best of our abilities. When it comes to Isometrics specifically, with the info we can possess, there's always something lurking that we haven't figured out yet.

Isometrics for the most part really is a lost art of strength training. The value in it is priceless and many are wasting away the true essence of how it can develop the body and even prehab/rehab the body. There are several layers of Isometrics which overall are pretty simple such as Overcoming Isometrics: The method of pushing and pulling against an immoveable object or yourself, Yielding Isometrics: The method where you're basically going against gravity and Muscle Control: The old-time method of contracting and relaxing the individual muscles (in other words muscular posing). Simplicity in and of itself is a lost art.

With those layers in mind, what is the best style? Which method brings more to the table? Does one have to compensate for the other? Does one have a greater advantage than the others? Which ones have the bigger value of building extraordinary strength? There isn't an honest and direct answer because the layers of Isometrics all have value in their own way and one does not overlap the other because the pros and cons outweigh the individuals direct goals. Here's what I mean......

Muscle Control for example showcased the ability to show off the individual muscles in their specific groups where the contraction peaked and than relaxed into a state of flow. If you ever did research on men such as Otto Arco, Maxick, Bobby Pandour and even Eugene Sandow, they were the living versions of the Anatomy Chart; the perfection of the muscular system that brought out powerful muscles that were sinewy and full of power and grace. With today's Bodybuilders, Muscle Control has lost its value to showcase the grand embodiment of the muscular layers that brings the perfection of what being "carved from granite" looks like. Today, it's all about the overwhelming exaggeration of the comic book look where the body becomes so bloated, it takes work just to even go to the bathroom. 

If you were to truly harness the level of work and practice into how Muscle Control truly applies, it is on of the most powerful layers of Isometrics that it can help with the digestive system, give you great symmetry and even teaches you how to control your strength. There are old school books on how you can do all that. 

Overcoming Isometrics is a personal favorite because it could be either an add on, something to do in itself or use as a recovery/warm up method to your regular routine. It's to again apply the push and pull against an immoveable object or using yourself in a method of pitting muscle against muscle. This can be done using a wall, a chair, a strap, pulling on a pull-up bar, trying to lift a car or whatever along those lines. It's a teacher of contracting the muscles either for a short time or longer time. If you contract at about 65-90% of your peak, 7-12 seconds is the most you'll be able to do. If you contract so hard but keep going for more than even 20 seconds, you're risking a rupture and could pop a vessel somewhere and tear the muscles or even the tendons and ligaments. However; if you contract with little intensity say at 30-50% of your peak, you could go longer and develop a level of hypertrophy (not from a bodybuilding perspective of the pump). 

Yielding Isometrics are great for a number of things especially training certain areas that could be rehabbed by holding positions that forces gravity on you which means say if you're in the plank position, gravity will try to make you lose that straight back or prevent your arms from staying straight. This method is used in workouts such as Yoga, Horse Stance Training, Plank Holding or holding yourself up in a pull-up. These are just examples. The amount of contraction varies but for the most part, you don't need to do a hard flex or contraction. The longer you're in a pose let's say, the more your body is forced to come into play especially the stabilizing muscles because if you become slouchy or so awkward your body isn't in sync with the amount of control in the pose, it can become a royal pain in the ass and it forces you to learn how to control your muscles from another perspective.

So is there a better style of Isometric Training? It's really more of an individual thing and all these layers of Isometrics have value and there's no reason you can't do all three or even the advanced stages such as Hybrid Isometrics which is a combination of both Overcoming & Yielding. You can learn more about that Here....

I encourage you to research and experiment on which style works best for you and if you happen to use all layers in various formats, that's great. Just have fun with them and make them part of your training or use them on days where you just want to do Isometrics. Some people do Isometrics almost exclusively and just do their daily activities around that. You have options and don't be afraid to utilize them any way you see fit. 

Getting The Most Out Of Push-Ups Without Wearing Out Over Time

I have written before that I'm not the biggest fan of Push-Ups but I do know their value for those who want to do them. I don't particularly hate them, I just have no patience or will to do them in high reps anymore plus my shoulders aren't meant for certain variations so I do them mainly now for demo purposes which you'll see below with a few videos.

For decades and even over a century for that matter; Push-Ups have been the cornerstone of training the body anywhere and anytime. They've been used all over the military, law enforcement, fire fighting and in Martial Arts. In reality, they're a highly valuable strength & conditioning tool of training. The problem however is that most mainstream fitness maniacs treat it as a joke without realizing it. There are variations not meant for some people yet some trainers will force it upon them because "they're good for you." Not necessarily the case. 

Some teach to do a certain number in a row or do a certain amount in a day to describe or assess how fit you are. You can progress to higher numbers because at some point, they can become too easy to do but that can also be dangerous. Over time, you can put wear and tear on your body from doing ridiculous amount of reps like 500-1000 a day or more. If you want to continue making progress into your older years, you could do less reps with harder variations or keep a basic principle of sticking to variations that work for you and do them either slower or faster. The most I've ever done in a workout was 600 and that took an hour and a half and never hit that number since. It becomes boring after a while.

There's always going to be some arbitrary number that tells you how fit a general consensus says you are but where is the real logic in it? There's a huge difference in doing 50 perfect pushups than doing 500-1000 sloppy ones over the course of a workout or entire day. You see some guys either going halfway down or use "tension" style push-ups and it looks like their body is going up and down in places where they're not in sync. Ever see those crossfitters doing push-ups? Most of them look like they're flopping like a fish out of water and put themselves in the hospital for shoulder breaks, elbows twisted and joint manipulation in the wrists and hands. I've seen their handstand push-ups and those guys need psychiatric help just to understand the technique. Horrible.

The best push-ups are the ones you can control and be connected with the rest of your body. Bad wrists? Make it a point to adjust the fingers or do them on your knuckles, do them with handles that keep your wrists neutral. Is your back slouching or putting your ass higher in the air on variations that are meant for keeping your body aligned? Fix your posture so you don't cause an injury otherwise good luck getting those hospital bills paid. 

Some people can get away with being weird looking in their push-ups because of either their arms are structured differently or have shoulder alignments that work with variations others can't but don't try to compare yourself to someone who's either been doing them long enough or haven't done them at all. Recovery is important as in all aspects of training, some will tell you overtraining is a myth but it isn't. If you do too much with very little recovery, you're setting yourself up to be hurt and don't fall for that "I can get you to 500 Push-ups a day in less than 6 weeks" bullshit; not everyone is meant to do that neither that number is needed to be fit and conditioned. 

You can make a variation harder not by speed but by tension. Even with less reps, slower and controlled push-ups tackle the muscles differently and gives you amazing benefits of muscle building and being connected to the mind and muscle format. Let me give you example: For the military push-up variation; if you could do 500 reps at a pace that allows you to do that, could you do the same amount of reps if you each rep was 5-10 seconds long? Most likely not and the strength ratios are completely different as well so who's stronger? The truth is, you can't really compare the two, it's just different. 

When you're young you can get away with (almost) being a little sloppy and recover easier but as we get older, we can't be doing stupid shit unnecessarily and learn to be in greater control. The more you can control how you train, the better you'll be in the long run. 

Have fun doing push-ups but also be safe so you can enjoy them without putting yourself in harms way doing variations that can tarnish your success.

Are Rants Just A Rant? Or Is There Something Behind The Scenes?

 It's easy for many to get mad at the world or at least their surroundings and mouth off how messed up it all is on social media or just Youtube for that matter. When you repeat certain grievances over and over and over it doesn't really become a rant anymore; it just manifests itself into pure hatred for your fellow man and get off on pissing people off to "wake them up." What's really the endgame to all that, what do you really expect to accomplish when you're pissed off on everything you talk about?

Is there really happiness in your life when you tear others down? If that's the definition of happiness for you, you need some serious help. Especially when these "old school" men who believe they're the center of attention and feel like they can just rip people apart especially women to shreds because they're different from you. Sometimes I think when it comes to guys like that, there's something behind the scenes because rants and being pissed off doesn't just come out of nowhere. Maybe you're pissed off at your own offspring, maybe you hate living where you are or maybe you just have the right to get off on seeing and putting others' misery ahead of your own existence. 

Most likely you're just pissed off cause you hate seeing what's in the mirror and are so angry with yourself that you can't control what you want others to do so you turn to bigotry, political loathing (against anyone who votes democrat) and pure hatred for human beings. It's sad but also pathetic at the same time. Being a man is more than just what you project it to be or feel the need to puke up what you feel a man is. As a species, we are a complicated bunch and we fight each other over some of the most ridiculous crap and the majority of the time has nothing to do with us or the people in our lives. We are also our worst critic and start to beat up on ourselves more than anything. The truth is, you're hurting yourself more than you try to project your hatred onto others.

A REAL MAN doesn't need to tell everyone how pissed off he is at the world around them or even in his own city over and over, if you have that much hatred in your black heart, why not just make it useful than useless. Productiveness starts in the mind, if you want to change something, start with yourself and find a better outlook so YOU can be happy. A REAL MAN doesn't NEED to tell people how weak they are, weakness has different meanings for people and sometimes (not always) it isn't a choice. Weakness can be mental, emotional or physical but all three have a a connection, sometimes people are born with a bad genetic makeup, have deformities that they can't completely control or have been in environments that have shaped their psyche to at times extreme circumstances that it's all they know or understand and nobody can tell them otherwise. When you talk about men being weak, are you really talking about yourself or you just hate how men are today that they should just die and be left in the gutter? 

We get mad at ourselves and we don't always know why or even realize it until it becomes more than it should've been. Let's not be like a Amber Heard and make so much shit up we start to believe it in our own heads. I wish in this world we can all just get along and have a better understanding of each other but it really is just a pipe dream and there are certain people out there who just regurgitate their own crap onto other people and think that's the way to help the world. That's not a happy life and it certainly isn't the kind of life that people live long with. Get some help, be better as a human being and stop torturing others with your bullshit about how people should be. Instead of "rants", share what's good in the world, share how proud you are of the people around you and be thankful that you live to see another day. 

Exercise is a hell of a way to get those endorphins kicking and having a better way of expressing yourself.

Isometric Training has many benefits and can do your body a lot of good without ever moving a muscle.

Be wild like a little kid and go do some Animal Movements. Be free to express your inner animal.

Burn off fat like a furnace with some Sprint Training.

Get your anger out productively using a Slam Ball and get the most out of that "happy hormone" at the end.

Challenge yourself with your weight training using Fat Gripz and power up your muscles like crazy.

Take your workout anywhere and train wherever the wind takes you. You've got 0 Excuses for that.

Condition your mind by reading a good book or something that references your favorite Franchise that puts a different perspective on life. 

The Foundation That Starts The Spark Of What's To Come

We all start somewhere and build from the ground up. The beginnings of your journey into a world that has so many possibilities it can be overwhelming. We at times become over ambitious and start out with far than we can handle or can't do exactly what we are told to do. For me, it just started with three exercises: Hindu Squats, Hindu Push-ups & The Bridge. Those three were the genesis of what made me fall in love with Physical Culture and classic/ancient conditioning methods. Yours could be completely different and that's great, we all have our sights and paths to the realm of physical well being and progressing into a conditioned human being.

Getting the most out of your training doesn't start with trying to be Superman or Wonder Woman on the first try. Even those superheroes had a journey that started with figuring out how their powers worked, how to apply them and what paths they needed to choose in order to become the ultimate version of themselves. For us humans, sure we don't have super powers or have advantages or anatomy that gives us superhuman attributes but we all started somewhere. Even bodybuilders started out weak and not knowing what the hell to do, but they persisted and went to great lengths to become something they wanted to be (even most of those lengths took them down a horrifying path). Everybody has a different journey.

Sometimes it takes longer to get results and you may need to adjust from time to time but there are no excuses for quitting because if you stay the course, something will come along and you'll be in awe of what you'll receive with your hard work. I know these days, many want results now or want them to come so quick that it be too easy. That's not how REAL RESULTS work my friend. It's tough, a long road and sure things might spry upward, but your journey doesn't end when the results come or not. They take time, patience and a mindset that a lot of people are afraid to figure out. 

I started small and gradually built myself up. I didn't start out doing 3 minute bridges and 500 Squats, I was weak from not being able to walk for nearly 3 months and needed to build those tiny baby steps; so tiny in fact that it was daunting at times but I kept going little by little down to the smallest fraction. As Philoctetes from Hercules once said "Giving up is for Rookies", I want to add "Persistence makes you LEGENDARY." 

A journey may have moments of tranquility, effortlessness and flow but often times, it'll beat you down, hold you by the balls and make you beg for mercy but that's where you need to fight and keep scratching and clawing. Eventually, things will come to you and you'll be reaping in the rewards. Your foundation, will set the tone and spark of what's to come and with consistency, determination and the mindset of doing little things each day will result in big things in the end. 

Become LEGENDARY in your own journey and make the most of what is possible even in bad times.   

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...