The Wild Never Stops

 Animal moves have an endless variety but only a few are needed to get in a really good workout. What you choose to master or utilize in your training is up to you but never forget to respect the movements as you practice them. You can go hard, you can go slow, you can even do them in Isometric fashion (maybe not the jumping ones for obvious reasons). It's about building a foundation and finding what gives you the best benefit.

The wild never stops. You keep finding ways to condition your body and put yourself in awkward positions to strengthen areas that conventional or "traditional" training methods can't reach. One of the reasons why I love doing my Animal Deck Of Cards Workout (The Four Animals Of The Apocalypse). It never goes the same way every time and when a Joker comes into play, you get to pick which animal to tackle for reps or distance. The total reps I've done most of the time is around 500 but have done a 1000 total on a few occasions and feels awesome afterwards. With the 500 I would finish around 15-16 min for a full deck which is still quite a workout in itself. These days the main four are....

Bear Crawls

Crab Walks

Bigfoot Walk

Duck Walks

Why did I choose these specific animals? At least 3 are the most basic you see in sports such as wrestling and football since they can be so intense that only a few seconds of them can get you out of breath. The bigfoot walk was what I learned from Vahva Fitness and it's based on movement utilized mainly by wrestlers being in that stance and shifting for balance like in Shadow Wrestling or a match. They get the body in rugged shape pretty fast and when you go hard on even one of them, you're building that explosive conditioning. 

One of my other favorite workouts is a 5 min Tabata Workout of just the Bear Crawl. You go as fast as you can for 10 seconds, rest for 20 and repeat until you've done 5 minutes. That may not sound hard but it's not as easy as it looks on paper. When you have to explode at a moments notice and you're practically sprinting on all fours, it becomes quite the exercise. The first couple rounds you might be breathing hard but the more rounds you go, the more it's going to feel like your heart will rip out of your chest. If you're in good health, this might actually be good for you to do (not every single day though).  It's quick, fast and can be done practically anywhere. I do it in my living space and it kicks my ass every time.

There are so many ways to do Animal Workouts it's not even funny. When you get the idea of moving like a beast in the wild, it doesn't seem like a workout, it becomes a game you can play and being like a kid again. An ancient style of this type of training can be traced back to the art of qi gong and the Shaolin Monks who mimic animals in their Martial Arts practice. In today's style which can has been seen like with Animal Flow and Ginastica Natural, it's been used to target MMA style training and conditioning for certain aspects of Health. It can be fun especially if you combine them but when it comes down to it, you can do all of that and then some with the Movement 20XX fitness course that shows you how to not just work individual exercises but combine the elements of all of them together to form your own style and goals. 

These forms of exercise create an exciting aspect of fitness you don't get with conventional training methods. Yes some exercises may be too advanced for some people but as long as you stick to the basics, you're golden. Just the deck of cards workout I've given you would be a great warm up or a conditioning workout on its own and you can pick your own animal moves to work on. I picked those because they're fun to do. It can be challenging but I find it more interesting to do than hundreds of squats or push-ups. Regular calisthenics are great and should be mastered and practiced whenever possible but at the same time, very few replaces killer exercises like Bear Crawls, Crab Walks & Duck Walks. If wrestlers use them for conditioning, that should tell you how important and brutal they can be. Whether for a few minutes or close to a half hour, animal exercises can be a great asset to your health, your overall strength and conditioning along with building balance, flexibility and durability. Did I forget to mention they're calorie burners as well? 

Get moving by training like a wild beast and have fun. The more fun you have, the better your results will be. Keep being amazingly awesome.  

Lost Empire Herb Of The Day: Seabuckthorn Berry

The "Risks" Of Training Out In The Open

 About 99% of the time, I train by myself everywhere I go and when it's nice out, I'm either at a park, the lake or at the house. It's my "therapy session" or my time to do what I love and make the most of it. Seriously from my experiences it's the best therapy and it's FREE!! Now when people come up to me, it can vary on the mood I'm in.

When you train out in the open, there's a chance some shmuck or kid or whoever might come up to you. In roughly 18 years of doing this (god damn, I'm getting old), I've had maybe less than 10 people ever come up to me. I do my best to be polite to that person but I'm not going to stop what I'm doing and if they find it rude, that's their problem. We are a curious bunch, I get it and I'm guilty of doing it myself. I even went up to an elderly lady at a park one time in Pleasanton, CA who was doing some form of Tai Chi Walking or Crawling and barely spoke any english (or at least pretended to not know at all) I asked her if she could show me what the method was. She politely shrugged me off and I was ok with that, it's her thing and didn't want to keep bugging her.

In the last few years, I've only had less than what you can count on one hand come up to me about anything. I did get a little peeved when one guy looking for "buried treasure" got in my way of filming a pull-up video and had to restart the video again. That was pretty rude and should've said something but it is what it is. One guy came up to me after a set of Hammer Strikes on my tire and told me he thought the half tire was part of the park and it was a good little laugh and said something like "nope just mine having fun with the hammer." My favorite is when these two mormon kids going on their "route" to preach and saw me hitting the tire with the 25 lb beast of a hammer I have. They were being kind of rude so instead of telling them to fuck off, I messed with them and had them try out the hammers, neither one of them would touch Big Bertha (my 73 lb hammer) and the look on their faces when I swung that sum bitch was priceless. They did their bit and I shrugged them off. 

Another time was this past summer, I was playing Basketball, just shooting around and this 15 year old kid and his girlfriend came up to me and wanted to play me. Now you need to remember, I'm old enough to be this kid's dad, so he thought I was just another guy in his mid 20's just shooting around. The kid tried to play me and got a bit of an awakening. I was outshooting both him and his girlfriend (whom was already a bit reluctant to even try playing) and this kid was like "what the hell, how are you shooting like that?" It was fun and introduced one another and went our separate ways. This really is a nice neighborhood and many people are friendly. Do I wish it was more diverse and not so Vanilla, hell yeah. If it had as many races and cultures from where I've been and was as friendly as this place is, the world would be very different. 

I understand that when it comes to training, it's your time and you do what you need to do. The problem is, you don't own the park or the lake or wherever it is you train at unless it's at home so you have to be aware of people coming around and being curious. Some might try to tell you what you're doing wrong, others may want to join you, be rude and possibly mormon or just curious as to what you're doing. You can tell them to fuck off or be a complete ass to them because they're in your space but you never know what you're going to get with people. You can't completely control the space you're training in so you learn to adapt and be aware of what is possible in that moment and do what you need to do and let others know without needing to say much. If you're going to get that pissed off and have some kind of meltdown, you're not in the right mind because for one, you chose to go to a place where other people will be and two, it's really unlikely tons of people will come up to you anyway unless you go to some major place like central park or a big park in Asia or India where hundreds may be around but you also got to roll with the punches. 

Training is about adapting, it's about learning the environment around you, where you choose to go and what the workout will entail. You can't control what people do, most of the time if people see me train, they're either minding their own business or might mimic me from a far and never actually come up to me. Believe me, not everyone is going to come up to you if you're training with a sledgehammer or moving like a wild animal, that's not in their interests and frequently, they find me odd and just move along. That's my intent to have people distance themselves from me because unless you plan on getting your ass kicked training with me, you might want to step back and go about your business because I'm not going to stop and show you the ropes, keep up or walk away, those are your only options. 

Be resourceful but also be firm and remember people are curious. Many can be unpredictable so expect the unexpected and do your training the way you need to do it. It's not about catering to people, it's about letting them know you're there for a reason without needing to say much. For the most part, if you're doing things that they most likely cannot even fathom, they'll figure it out pretty quickly and move along. Train with intent, be firm with people and keep being amazingly awesome.

Lost Empire Herb Of The Day: Maca Powder 

SCT: Superset Conditioning Training

 When it comes to a top level favorite of workouts, working with Supersets ranks right up there. For those who've been living under a rock, Supersets are taking two exercises and doing them back to back for a certain number of reps or sets. You mostly see this in gyms where someone would do a set of let's say Bench Press & Curls back to back for one set without stopping, resting and repeating. In that instance, some will do lighter weight or mix it up doing heavy with one exercise and lighter with the next or do heavy with both. It's a style where it gives off more of the pump along with certain cardiovascular effects.

The style I like to do is take two exercises and do them back to back without stopping for a certain period of time. I set my watch to some arbitrary number like 10 min, 15, 20 or an hour. Keep at a good pace where I'm not moving like Speedy Gonzales on a Coke binge but I'm not moving so damn slow the Mars Rover is outpacing me. I use this purely for strength and conditioning purposes mainly in the realm of carrying an object and doing Step Ups. I've done supersets of Push-ups & Squats in the past or do Bear Crawls one way and do Duck Walks going back as part of a sequence. The carrying and step ups provides the idea of using real world application. 

With these workouts, the idea is to rest extremally little or none whatsoever. This teaches your body and mind to keep going even when it gets tougher. Carrying something like a 50 lb Sandbell a couple times and then straight to step ups may not sound tough but over a period of time without stopping, it becomes something more than you would expect. One of the crazy workouts of this magnitude would be to Carry a Sandbell for ten yards on one shoulder, drop and carry 10 yards with the other shoulder, 20-30 step ups (10-15 per leg) and repeat that for an hour straight. That sounds more like a Tri-Set but to me, carrying something one shoulder at a time is one set. I did this workout for 46 supersets without a break (920 Step Ups and Carrying 4600 lb for a total of 920 Yards). 

You can do whatever exercises you want to do, the objective is to keep going. If you're a bodyweight maniac, set a timer for 15 minutes and do 25 Squats and 10 Push-ups without stopping. Micro Workouts are great for this kind of thing. You can also do Isometric type training where let's say you do a 30 second Horse Stance and then go into a 30 second Fist Plank and keep repeating that for as long as you can. If you absolutely need a break, take it between supersets until you're ready for the next set but for the most part, if you need a break than you're exhausting yourself too soon. Utilize a pace where it's not so easy but it's not going slow you down either and you can go without having to stop. 

Supersets are awesome for building high levels of conditioning and fat burning effects. If you really want to take it to the next level and shed fat faster than butter in a pan, do Sprints and Circuits as a hybrid superset where you sprint for let's say 10 seconds, walk back and do a series of Push-Ups, Squats, Jumps, Burpees or whatever a circuit may be and than rest for as long as needed. Repeat for a few rounds and that's it. This is more of a HIIT type of workout where even 3x a week might be pushing it so don't do workouts anymore than that, 1-2x a week is ideal. I did something similar to this for 6 weeks and dropped a considerable amount of bodyfat, lowered my blood pressure by a huge margin and was leaner despite only losing a few pounds. That's going hardcore and not a beginner type level of training. 

Another great workout would be doing Farmer's Carries and Step Ups or Squats. Example would be to carry a kettlebell in one hand for x amount of yards, switch hands and carry the same amount of yards and then do step ups or squats. Repeat this for as long as you wish or can handle. Some would take two exercises and do them with deck of cards to really up the ante like Hindu Push-Ups & Hindu Squats, work your legs hard with just Step Ups & Hindu Squats or whatever you choose to do. 

This type of training is very effective and goes beyond just working muscles, you're working your cardiovascular system, you're testing the mental aspects and training muscle groups that are often ignored. Make it work for you and be sure to recover efficiently. If you're into weight training, do supersets that work opposing muscles like a Chest & Back Exercise or Tris and Bi's, Thighs & Hamstrings or Mix and Match. It's not complicated, it's very simple and as long as you stick to the basics, you're golden.

Train hard, recover just as hard and keep up your conditioning so you can last when it counts. Keep being amazingly awesome.

Lost Empire Herb Of The Day: Cistanche 

Yielding Isometrics With A Weighted Vest

 Even with the most basic exercises, it's fun to challenge yourself every now and then to test your physical and mental conditioning for everyday life. During the spring and summer I would go for walks or hikes with my 40 lb Vest on and just get some killer cardio in. On the hikes, I would sometimes lose up to 2 pounds by the time I get back home, they can be brutal. 

As of late, I've dabbled in Isometric Training with the Vest on and that is a whole other sport of conditioning training. Mainly in the Horse Stance & Fist Plank for Tabata style workouts. Do 20 sec on, 10sec off going back and forth for a number of minutes and just see what I can do. Last night I took it a step further and added more time than usual by going for a total of 15 minutes for a workout with those two exercises. Just doing it without the vest is tough, add in a 40 lb Vest and you're going through hell.

This tests not just your strength but also your ability to hold the posture/position as best as possible being still. A lot is going on beyond just concentrating, you're also having to control your breathing because the longer you go, the harder it is to keep your breathing at a solid pace. It gets you breathing pretty damn heavy to the point where it feels like you going for miles even though you're not moving. These exercises also dig into the smaller muscles and works the tendons and ligaments like a motherfucker.

You may not think two basic and plain exercises can get you breathing hard, test your core strength, leg conditioning and grip strength but they do and it makes isometric training all the more reason to do them. They can be just as effective or even more so than doing hundreds of squats or push-ups. Doing hundreds of reps are great but yet it's a very different form of strength when you have to hold a position for as many sets as this and rest only half the time. This workout alone with or without toughens up the muscles and give you that hard and rugged feeling, not to mention incredible speed and power to boot. This is great for martial artists, football players, injury rehabilitation, conditioning enthusiasts and those who are a little twisted in the head. 

As we get older, doing hundreds of reps is not always going to be priority since it becomes more of a thing to do every now and then (you're not going to see many people over the age of 50 doing 500-1000 squats or 500+ push-ups), Isometrics on the other hand can be done by nearly everyone at any age and have unbelievable benefits of strengthening the body from the inside out. You can get a great cardio workout without ever moving a muscle (or in this case being still as much as possible). You think you can't get cardio, try holding a Horse Stance for 5 straight minutes or do the Horse Stance/Fist Plank Tabata Workout for 10 minutes and tell me you're not breathing heavily. 

It's important to do forms of training that make us uncomfortable to do in order to withstand whatever comes our way in the real world. Carrying furniture, going up and down hills, going up flights of stairs, lifting odd objects such as logs and wood chopping all have a hand in how we handle ourselves and Isometrics provide opportunities to make ourselves stronger to do those things whether young or old. 

Be resilient but as safe as possible, build strength without getting injured, condition your bones regardless of your age and develop levels of stamina beyond conventional means. Having muscle on the outside may look great but if you can't back it up, what good is it? Isometrics can show you weaknesses you didn't realize you had, make them strong as hell. This workout also burn a stupid amount of calories and have fat burning effects. Be strong everyone and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Lost Empire Herb Of The Day: Phoenix Formula

My Thoughts On Texas High School Football Coach And The Boys Hospitalized

 There was an article I read a few days ago that was a little different to read but it's partially not that surprising. A High School football coach from Texas (the Mecca of Football) was suspended and investigated for putting his players through a Push-Up challenge as a punishment and the challenge was to do 300-400 Push-Ups within an hour. 8 boys were hospitalized because of it.

Now whether this is just another story that could be fabricated who really knows and I do see both sides to the issue but let's stick to the big thing here. Many kids today aren't in the shape this challenge calls for and yes it can be a tough challenge but it's not impossible to do WITH THE RIGHT WAY TO TRAIN FOR IT!!! Do I think these boys are pussies for being put in the hospital? Hell no, I do sympathize with them and hope they get back on their feet soon. The trouble I have is, yes these boys should train to be able to do that however, since the coach is very old school from what I read, he pushed them to the extent where their bodies didn't have the capacity to withstand that amount of stress. I believe in a kid training for any sport to prepare themselves for whatever challenge comes to them and they weren't prepared. 

Those boys should not be in football if they can't put themselves through that hard training and it's not entirely their fault, the parents should've helped them prepare for that. I'll give you an example: When I was in high school, I was in nowhere even close to the shape I'm in now and I went out for Shot Put & Discus and Wrestling. The Shot Put was purely using Weight Training but even with that, I wasn't that good and didn't need a ton of conditioning but I also had no preparation to handle injuries and I got elbow and shoulder issues because of that. The wrestling was the hardest and if I hadn't gotten hurt from a bad knee and nearly breaking my wrists, I would've kept up with it as best as I could. We did push-ups, squats, wall sits, drills, sprints up stairs, suicide runs before, during and after sparring. It's brutal but I sure as hell never went to the hospital. 

One of these boys was reported to have a disease that was prone to kidney failure and that was what got me because for one, the coach had to have known this otherwise he wouldn't have let that kid on the team and two, the parent(s) pushed that kid most likely or the boy wanted to be on the team so bad that the parents couldn't let go of his ambition and let him do it. That kid needed help. I understand also the need to want to prove yourself even at the risk of one's own health. It's human nature.

These days, many boys have no conditioning or structure or discipline because it's easier to just chill, play video games and not play outside so much since many parents today are either way uninvolved or too involved that it can screw up a kid's future. I've been around kids my whole life and have observed many parents in my lifetime and can't wait to be a father one of these days but if I were a parent, I would challenge my kids to help prepare them so they can handle certain things that will be thrown at them and physical fitness is definitely one of them. Trust me, I didn't really get fit until I was 21 years old and was never a fit kid that could do countless push-ups and sprint till my legs were ready to fall off. Yeah I played outside and all that but I didn't have a coach or a person to teach me how to condition my body or better yet gave me an interesting concept to help me. P.E helped to a small degree but I was never in decent shape until after I was in high school. 

Now that we got all that out of the way, let's play a math game here. 300-400 Push-Ups in an hour is tough but not impossible if you look at the math from a certain point of view. These boys were probably pushed to doing consecutive reps their bodies couldn't handle and they ended up having piss that was darkened and had injured their shoulders and arms. Now if either they, or the coach for that matter, taught or learned the math that shows how it is reasonable and applicable to handle that many reps in that span of time, none of this would've ever happened. I get the punishment and disciplining the kid, I'm not faulting that, kids need a kick in the ass every now and then but not to the point where Life and Death is creeping up at a faster rate than Usain Bolt's 100 meter sprints. 

If a person can do 20 Reps in a span of a minute (which is roughly 3 seconds per rep), it is very possible to do 300 within less time and have a small increment of rest before the next minute. Apparently there wasn't much time to rest according to the coach and no water breaks until they finished (that's a bit of an issue in itself since this took place in fucking Texas where high heatwaves are normal). At that pace, the boys most likely couldn't do that and even tried to do more than that and paid the price for it. If they did 5-7 reps per minute, get the reps in and rested until the time changed and repeated that for the hour, they could've easily done 300-420 reps in that time. 

5 Reps (at a pace of 2-3 seconds per rep) is still 10-15 seconds with a max of 45 seconds of rest time....5 Reps = 1 minute, 1 hour is 60 minutes, 5x60 is 300. Now if they attempted to do the 400 in that time frame which they can do 6-7 push-ups per minute (pace of 2-3 seconds per rep) is still 12-18 seconds for 6 reps and 14-21 seconds for 7, still gives them the rest period of let's say 35-40 seconds till the time changed. 6 Reps = 1 minute, in the span of an hour that's 6x60 is 360 reps. For 7 Reps = 1 minute, in that hour 7x60 is 420 reps. These numbers would've been very easy to shoot for to complete 300-400 in that span of time. Isn't math fun? The parents never saw this (neither did the coach apparently) and all the parents saw was how horrible to put the boys through that many because it's such a huge number (in reality it isn't).

Like I said, I see both sides to the issue and the coach did his best at punishing and disciplining, it just could've gone a different way and both the coach and those players would've been satisfied (even though those kids would've been pissed off at the guy anyway since hello teenage boys). On one hand, if a kid can't handle the stress of the training, he shouldn't be in a sport because sports are hard and if you want to be good at them, you need to train accordingly and sometimes that means taking it to the limit (without suffering injuries of course) in the training process, injuries happen, there's no getting around that but there are ways to limit it. You can't expect a kid to be just thrown on a team and expect it to be just sunshine and rainbows and not feel the wrath of exhaustion or playing a little hurt. There's going to be an injury somewhere on the field but it shouldn't be as frequent in practice. 

All in all, I never want to see a kid hurt in a sport or pushed to the point where he/she ends up in the ER over something that could've been prevented with progressive training instead of pushing so damn hard the body couldn't handle it in the first place. There needs to be balance which many times is thrown off but can be done in most cases because each kid is different and handles physical and mental stress differently. It is a small complex issue but again kids today don't have the same drive as others did even 20 years ago. Much has changed, not always for the better but we can do great things and get fit if we applied it to the individual's needs and not try to make people do the same thing the same way for everyone involved, it's not going to work that way the majority of the time. 

Be safe, get strong/conditioned and if you have a kid going out for a sport of any kind, prepare him/her beforehand in small increments so they can be ready to tackle the challenges ahead and learn how to make the most of what's possible. Keep being amazingly awesome.

Lost Empire And Athletes Drug Testing

With the complexity and ever-changing rules and regulations, you never know what they have on hand to find what can be used as a substance that makes a certain drug illegal to take for athletes at the highest level. Some supplements can be harmful to take and there's always a chip on an athlete's shoulders when it comes to staying clean or finding some perverse way to get a away with by fooling a drug test. I'm all for drug testing for any sport at the highest level because it is important that an athlete remains as pure as possible and don't condone the use of steroids or PED's that would be considered illegal, harmful and putting someone's life at risk.

To the best of my knowledge and of the team at Lost Empire Herbs, the herbs themselves should be safe to consume for competitors in their chosen sport that do drug testing. I've never heard of an athlete failing a test from taking these herbs nor have I heard of anyone dying or having some severe harm come to them from taking the herbs. I keep a close eye on that kind of thing because although I work for the company, I would never want any hurt or have problems that risks their life athlete or not. Some jokers have even repeated on their own sites that I'm selling herbs that are killing people which isn't true and having taken them myself, there has not been one incident that remotely suggests this. 

In all the years that I've promoted this company here and on social media, I was never told of anyone dying or read of a failed test. If there was, I would know about it but until then, this is still one of the very best companies on the planet that takes pride in using herbs that can be useful in the health of just about anyone. The majority of people taking these herbs have never felt better in their lives and Lost Empire does their research (it's on the site talking about ingredients and what's in them to ensure what a potential customer understands how they work). Do you know anyone that has failed a drug test taking these specific herbs and not from another substance while on the herbs as well? Or if you're a buyer from me experienced a failed drug test or has it been smooth sailing for you? If it's been smooth sailing, let Lost Empire know and if there's been a situation where the test came up and you or someone you know failed using the herbs, let them know, they will do what they can to see what they can do about the situation. Thank you. 

I know I normally don't write about this kind of stuff but it is important because I do care about someone's health and well-being, my wife has taken these herbs as well and I would never put her at risk and she never has experienced problems with them. These herbs aren't anything magical but they can be a great asset to one's health and being able to bask in the benefits they do provide. Not everyone is going to like them and some of them are not meant for everyone but I assure you, with the proper dosage and awareness of what's in them, there's great benefit to them that can help you with balancing hormone levels, give you great energy, clarity and can help you with your current training regimen. Are they the best tasting? No and even the company themselves acknowledge that but not everything is about flavor, it's about getting the most for your body's ability to adapt to its natural state and harness levels of your immunity and blood cells. 

Do the research yourselves and find out if they're right for you or not. You owe it to yourself to be in the best health you can be in and this is another output to help you on your journey. Be safe, check out the herbs and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Check out these herbs in the meantime.....

Hercules Pre Workout

Beet Juice Powder

He Shou Wu

Stag Swag Tincture

Horny Goat Weed

Pine Pollen Powder + Capsules

A Traveler's Guide To Fitness On The Road

If you're someone who travels a lot or goes on trips ever so often, it is important to keep fit while on the road. The best type of training you can take with you is really your own bodyweight where you can do your push-ups, squats, lunges, isometric training and all sorts of kick ass things. However; some people prefer to have equipment with them to travel with as an add on to bodyweight exercises. 

In order for traveling with equipment to be efficient, the best recommendation is to keep it to a minimum as best as possible. I don't think it's allowed to travel with a kettlebell or a barbell with plates unless you got a hefty truck to haul that stuff than maybe. If you're traveling by plane, buses, cab/uber rides, it's not the best idea to travel with equipment that weighs more than a couple pounds if that. Some of the best equipment I've ever traveled with that I can pack into my bag and be able to lug it onto a plane or other transportation has been my Lifeline Bands, Ab Wheel & my Isometric Belt. The first two are pretty easy to find and snatch up, the Isometric Belt was specially made by one company but you can get straps or better yet the WorldFit Iso Trainer is a great choice for maximizing your Isometric Training. 

Not every place you go to has a gym and not every single hotel has one (many do but it's mainly a few machines and a little dumbbell rack that is pretty lame in my book). Hell when me and the wife traveled to Tahoe one year, we stopped in Winnemucca, Nevada and that was a night we both want to forget since the first hotel we tried looked like Bates Motel on steroids (we don't talk about Winnemucca) and had to change hotels at like 1-2oclock in the morning. Neither one had a gym and that was ok, had my Isobelt, Wheel & even my 20 lb Sandbell. There's a bad dad joke I made about one of the restaurants that we passed by there that has a reference to the Three Amigos. 

Back to to the task at hand. Being in shape anywhere you go is important and it's vitally important to be aware of how you move around in a place you've never been to or handle certain situations that can pop up on you. It's why I love being able to have certain things on hand that I can to use to stay strong, durable & conditioned whenever something is called upon. Going camping is really important to be in shape for unless you're one of those people who likes to go Glamping and not have to worry about tents and having to build a fire. When we go camping, we set up a tent and areas for food and stuff and it's my job to chop the wood and help get a fire going. Chopping wood is a workout in itself and it builds up a hell of an appetite so we bring along plenty of food. My wife chops wood with me every now and then because she does enjoy it since she's a bit of a tomboy having grown up here her whole life. 

Make the most out of your travels and be resourceful when it comes to training. You can find just about anything to workout with anywhere you go if you know the right ideas and being intuitive. Traveling to Tahoe & Disneyland most of my life, I learned a lot about making the most of what you have. Learned how to hike in Tahoe and going swimming everyday, doing sprints near the cabins, picking up heavy rocks and climbing those torturous stairs at Zephyr Point. Getting in up to 10 miles a day at Disneyland and holding wall sits while waiting in lines for rides in the summer air. Climbing stairs at hotels with bags and not always using the elevator, going on hikes up here sometimes wearing my 40 lb vest to really test my conditioning. It can be really enjoyable.

Travel well and keep exercise equipment to a bare minimum or just use your own bodyweight and use workouts from Darebee to help you find great circuits that kick your ass regardless of where you are. Be adventurous and soak in the best moments. Life is full of wonders guys and we never know what will happen tomorrow. Keep being amazingly awesome and safe travels wherever you go. 

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Free Workouts For Everyone

There's the old lyric "The best things in life are free" which has a lot of meaning especially when it pertains to life but in this case, we're going the fitness route. Believe it or not, you can find some of the very best workouts on the planet without spending a single penny and it's from one of the best resources on the internet. Sure there are great courses out there you can snatch up (not one where an 86 page book costs you $150 to learn how to jump rope) and these courses are the pinnacle like the Grind Style Calisthenics Series, Movement 20XX and others. 

Saving money is always a good thing whenever you can do it but sometimes you don't always know where to look to find that area in fitness where you can find a shit ton of workouts and exercise programs to suit your goals. This is where Darebee comes in. I've written about this site before and it bares repeating, it truly is at the top of the list of the best free resources for training. It's a series of mainly Circuit workouts ranging from complete beginner to elite athlete level and it just keeps growing. Consists of about 95% bodyweight style training and the rest has you using equipment like light kettlebells, sandbags, jump ropes and a pull-up bar depending on where you find them. 

Most of the exercises are about as basic as you can get but each workout you find can either be the easiest one ever or the hardest you've ever been put through. They can be tough as hell but you have options to modify the workouts or make them the best ones for you. I've done workouts that lasted a few minutes to nearly an hour long without a break and I'm telling you, they'll kick your ass. The site however goes beyond the workouts which already has over 2000 to choose from; there are specific collections that target certain groups of people that are themed such as Superheroes, Military, MMA, Anime, Video Games, Street Workouts, Jumping Rope and many more. There are sections that are based on scientific analaysis on breathing, running, water intake, recovery, when to go hard and a bunch more. There's even stuff on diet you can use and research on.

Darebee is a great starting point for those who want to get into fitness or haven't done it in a while. You can spend the rest of your life doing these workouts but they can also be a great add on to courses you can afford to grab. I would at times use small circuits from this place with my Suspension Training or Isometric Training. I would do them on off days as part of recovery and other times I'll go hard and time myself to see how I do without resting (or use the rest period to mark off a set and jump into the next one). I'll even make up a circuit of my own as inspiration like this one below...

10 Rounds Of The Following

5 Hindu Squats

20 Punches (In A Horse Stance)

5 Hindu Squats

5 Push-ups

20 Step-Ups

5 Push-ups

50 Standing Punches

Finished this in 23:33 totaling 100 Hindu Squats, 200 Punches In Horse Stance, 100 Push-ups, 200 Step-Ups & 500 Standing Punches. Great for conditioning. 

I love doing 10 Round Circuits because that gives a real rounded total. Darebee workouts mostly have you going up to 7 rounds which is still a great level to achieve especially if you're doing some really hard ones, I just prefer 10. Some workouts are more HIIT based which has you doing an exercises for x amount of seconds each until a time limit is reached and you repeat it for as many rounds as the workout calls for. 

I believe although it's a free resource of training, it encourages you to branch out for more to help guide you into another realm of experiences in your fitness journey. Some folks there use these workouts as add ons for when they go to the gym or as off day workouts, they are used as supplement training for athletes in high school and college, they have been used in classes in P.E, Sports Conditioning, rehab and many other ways. The only real pay you make with this site is the option to donate so they can keep it running or buy their workouts in PDF or Book form such as the Darebee Volume Series which each has over 100 Workouts to choose from. You can print out and make a book for yourself or set up folders in your hard drive that consists of all the workouts you want. I use to do that and if your internet is out, they're right there in your laptop, phone or tablet. 

The only investment here is your time and energy, it is a great option if you truly want to save your money for other stuff in your life. Are they the end-all-be-all, of course not, there are other things you should use if you want to advance in your training but that's up to you. You can still have the best workouts of your life using nothing but your bodyweight. Hell during a 6 week sprint training phase a few years ago, I would use some of the workouts in addition to the sprints, in that time frame, I dropped over 15 pounds and lowered my blood pressure by 32 points in both top and bottom numbers. These workouts can be life-saving and can get you fit in record time. Some of the best training I've ever done was because of Darebee Circuits. I've done them in hotel rooms, the park, in my den, out in the garage and at the lake. You can do many of them anywhere at anytime. 

You have options out there that won't cost you anything and these are awesome for when you really need to save money for special trips, paying off bills, when food is more important than a course and needing new clothes or furniture. We all can use a little help from time to time and these are part of that to help out a fellow human being. 

Have fun and keep being amazingly awesome. Share, Comment & Sign Up with this Blog. 

That First Workout Of The Day

Training is not just about building muscle and having a solid level of strength and conditioning. It's about keeping the joints healthy regardless of what your program is because without flexibility and mobility, what good is your program if you end up hurt? Even for me, I need to remind myself that joint health is just as much a priority as my conditioning if not even more so at times. The joints and bones are the true areas that keep everything together and could make or break you if you get injured quicker or less likely.

In our teens and our 20's, we could almost get away with going hard a bit frequently and recover pretty well if we do it right, but once we hit those mid to late 30's and into our 40's and beyond, priorities change. Some people can get away with it to a degree and we all have different body types, metabolisms and bone health. There are some things we just can't get away with as we get older but it doesn't mean we can't still kick ass and stay healthy. 

One of the things that has saved me from many potential injuries is doing some form of stretching and mobility work. I know I need to do this more often and potentially twice a day as the years go on and that's maintaining Joint Loosening workouts and moving the neck around in various directions, not necessarily in the bridge or self resistance although those are still great. Loosening up the joints brings greater flow to the structure of the body and trains your system to be in a calm but energetic manner. It brings great energy to the body's skeletal structure.

Another thing that has saved from potential injuries is Isometrics. Can never truly shut up about Isometrics. If Joint Loosening brings the flow, Isometrics bring the strength and shield that protects them from breaking down easier. Isometrics are the armor for your skeletal system like Wolverine's Adamantium. Mix these types of training systems and you have a much higher chance of living a healthy life injury free than the majority of people at any age. 

I first learned about Joint Health from Matt Furey's Combat Stretching videos from back in the day and at the time, I thought they were just another thing as part of training. Didn't really think about the importance of them until I got older. Isometrics was another thing similar but I kept up with them more frequently. It's important to understand what you learn, it's another to truly discover the importance of what they mean. From an outside perspective, loosening the ankles, elbows, shoulders, knees and hips don't look like much and it's just warm up type exercises. Not always the case when it comes down to it. The flow of our bodies tends to change as we age and if we don't maintain a certain level of flow, we can become stiff much quicker and risk injury at a greater capacity. When flow is relaxed yet also strong, we become less stiff and the risk of injury is greatly reduced.

Isometrics can be done in a variety of ways whether it's being very intense for a few seconds or holding a posture for a minute or more, there's a healing property there and developing that shield of armor. From the Wall Sit to Fist Planks, Overcoming Exercises and Horse Stances, there's a variety that will test anyone and it's not always a matter of how long or intense you can go, it's a matter of control and going after the little muscles. It digs right into the very essence of the skeletal structure. You can start the day loosening up and then holding certain postures for a period or do intense Overcoming Isometrics that essentially will not only strengthen you from the inside out but could highly strip fat like butter on a hot pan. Hybrid Isometrics can be done as well but these are so fucking intense that if you can hold let's say a plank for three minutes, you won't last more than a minute most likely using a strap. Hybrids can jack your heart rate up too which has some value in the cardio department. Don't believe me, try the Hybrid Push-up and see what happens. 

That first workout of the day can give you great energy to start things out and prepare you for what lies ahead, or it can bring you down and feel like shit all day, which one would you rather have? Thought so. 

Be loose but strong, strong with flow and build very strong tendons and ligaments. Keep being amazingly awesome everyone.

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Who Do The Rules Really Apply To?

 We will at times decided to make changes and put first our health and sanity. With the plethora of information out there and the endless debates on what fitness method has the bigger dick, it's hard to not get caught up in the drama of it all especially when it comes to Forums. I have left one forum more times than probably Terry Funk has retired from Pro Wrestling and something just kept bringing me back to it. Had enough and although a couple people on there are cool guys and look for the positive side of things, it's still overshadowed by old geezers who had their prime in the 60's or early 70's who can't seem to stop bitching about things that have nothing to really do with them. I never belonged there.

It's also important to be aware of how someone might try to sell you something great but it's got more piles of shit than cows in a pasture. Out of the thousands of courses out there, which by all intents and purposes work, only a fraction of a fraction of them would benefit the general population. It's the selling of bullshit to get you sucked in. They also want you to abide by their "rules" in order to keep you from thinking for yourself. Their product, their rules so do speak.

If you're willing to invest in a product, it can be a bit of a gamble as to whether or not it'll work for you whether it costs 10 bucks or $100+, it's about utilizing the hard earned money and making it worth while without succumbing to the crap many ads place. Yes, many of these folks make a great living selling books, seminars, kindles and all that but very very few will provide you with great service and have an encouraging attitude instead of a money grabbing douchebag that sells $250 of one product and if you don't like it, he'll write you off as an idiot and someone who isn't a real "doer" whatever the fuck that is.

My personal belief is that when you invest in a product, yes it's important to understand the basics and learn how some of the exercises work along with experimenting with the program (at your own pace of course) but once you understand the basics and formalities of that program, be free to use it however you see fit. Make your own rules, adjust according to your needs, not what the author feels like he should force you to do. Is it important to be safe, yes. Is it important to understand the mechanics, very much so. The rules however, don't apply to everyone and there should be a freedom of doing things that don't always apply to what an author tells you. After close to two decades of (give or take a couple years) learning from so many programs, less than a handful really work for me and I get to say what I do and how I do it. Never feel shackled to a person's pitch and broken promises.

One of the things I love about Red Delta Project and the courses the man behind them provides is that yes he has his convictions about what he believes in but he's also very flexible in helping others achieve their goals and having a very encouraging and energetic attitude. He makes funny references to real topics in the fitness industry and respects what others do in order to achieve their goals. When Bud Jeffries was alive, he wasn't just encouraging, he would literally cheer you on and help you not only believe in yourself but also somehow knew what potential you have and give you kick ass tips to tap into it. He would push you, but never to the point where there was a risk of severely going to the hospital, there was limits to that. He was also loving, caring and saw how great someone could be or already was. His courses are still as incredible today as they were when he first published them. Logan Christopher is another that is highly encouraging and will tell you like it is. He's one of the most honest guys in this field and I value his opinions while highly trusting him with what he provides.

These guys make or made their business with heart and belief but never took a dogmatic approach to things or could make you feel like you were unworthy. Some others however tend to not only believe in their own hype but will go out of their way to treat others like shit and think their stuff is like nothing else out there. Seriously, it is messed up to treat someone like garbage just because others may have said a couple things. Did you know one guy is so damn obsessed with a troll that he put this person as the headline for his book on Profiting From Trolls? That should tell you how warped somebody has to be to use another human being in that manner as a means to make a buck. This is the same guy that charges $200 for a book that is a direct rip off of Matt Furey's Combat Conditioning book and has really shitty quality. Same guy that not only praises Furey yet in the same paragraph will call the man fat and can't do pull-ups, don't you find that a little contradictory? I mean, I had a falling out with Furey myself but I'm not going to insult the man with extreme prejudice, that would be fucking dumb.

This still goes back to who do the rules really apply to? It should in the end be up to the person buying someone's product, not in the sense of telling the author or coach how to do his/her thing but to create their own rules, have the freedom to make a program work for them once they understand the basic mechanics. That would be like a low level college kid in Physics telling his professor how to apply string theory when he can't write down the simplest terms of that field. You just don't do it. There's no limit to how much knowledge you absorb but it is important to learn how you can apply that knowledge later on as you progress and grow. 

Absorb what works for you and carve out your own path, apply what you have learned into what goals you want to achieve and be wise in what you invest. Be safe, get strong and keep being amazingly awesome.