Do You Swing?

It's always fun finding something that peaks your interest or you want to try out certain things. I normally don't do swinging movements when it comes to training but I decided to give them a go by making a video of doing various swings (1 & 2 Handed) with different implements that hit different muscles but also at different weight. The way I was taught kettlebell swings was kind of funny by one of my friend's brother. I could rep out ok when it comes to the swings but they weren't a big priority.

One of the guys in my Isometric & Alternative Fitness group on Facebook was talking about Kettlebells and something got inside my head that I should get a video going of swinging not just the Kettlebell. It was fun actually and made it a bit of a Micro Workout. For the most part, swinging a Kettlebell can be beneficial but there's technique involved that should be trained properly so you don't hurt yourself. It's explosive and can get you into decent shape with practice. It was one of the things that helped Bud Jeffries with his big weight loss years ago.

The implements I used were the loadable Soft Kettlebell, the Thor Hammer, Sandbell & Darth Vader Kettlebell. They ranged from 30-70 lbs which is more than enough for most people and because of the change in how you hold them in order to swing, you are hitting muscles not normally associated with the typical swing. There's a pinch grip, a vertical grip and the normal grip. Doing these one handed can be tough especially with the hammer and sandbell, those made me work extra hard just so I don't drop them.

I might incorporate the swing into my training more since it's a fun move especially with the Vader one. A few rounds of that with sledge work and/or step ups, be a hell of a workout. 

I Will Be Iron By Bud Jeffries 

Hiking And Step Up Challenges

 Leg Conditioning can go a long way in how to determine your true level of fitness and not always how you look. Strength is always a good thing but how long does it last? A few minutes, an hour, all day? Some do Leg Work either for sports reasons, bodybuilding or to maintain some level of endurance and or strength endurance but what would the main point be?

Challenging ourselves is a good way to test our abilities but how often should you do them and the intent behind the challenges? People train for months on end to just compete in the Crossfit Games (don't get me started on that) or do a Tough Mudder or Spartan Race, so where does it end? The purpose of a challenge is not just doing the physical aspect of it but also where and how we set our minds to those challenges. My biggest purpose is to maintain a certain level of conditioning for whatever comes up at a moments notice and that's where I like to test myself with Step Ups and as recently (or at least for a time) hiking.

One of the Step Up Challenges I've done recently was doubling up the amount of reps per leg with the deck of cards. The most I've ever done with a deck doing Step Ups was 1000 and that was a doozy. I wanted to see what I can do by doing twice as much on a card and testing my cardio more than anything. For the cards I did, I made it to 436 and that was the amount I was willing to do that day. Normally with a deck for a joker would be 100 reps (50 per leg) but this time when that asshole came up I had to do 200 (ended up doing 2 sets of 50 per leg since it was my first tie trying it) and already had done a few cards prior that were 12-20 per leg. It was a hell of a challenge and sometime going to see how much further I can go.

As for the hiking, that was always fun for me. I've hiked around the mountains of both the east and west coast and some were pretty nuts like some in Lake Tahoe and in the Redwoods. A couple times now, I wanted to test myself to see what my conditioning would be like to hike up around here wearing my 40 lb weight vest. The first time was a couple weeks ago on a Thursday and just hiked up this hillside near the house that had some steep areas and came back which took about an hour, not too bad. Last week, I wanted to go even further, so I hiked up to a further area and just before coming back down, I went through a forest trail that's above the road leading to the lake and did a portion of that, than I went back to the hillside and back home. The whole hike/walk took 73 minutes which is one of the longest I've ever gone with a weight vest on. Came home covered in sweat like I was just under a waterfall and ended up losing 3 pounds in the process during that hike. 

Hiking is a great form of exercise but adding a weight vest to it is a whole other animal and I'm happy I got to experience it and can't wait to do it again. I love being in nature and seeing what's possible for me to do. Was I sore when I came back from that hike? I felt the affects but not to the point where I couldn't walk the next day. It's a hell of a conditioner and it was more of a mental thing than physical. After maybe the first 20-25 minutes, it felt smooth and my breathing was really good and the last 10 minutes or so, I had this burst of energy and was basically power walking back home and didn't feel fatigue. Maybe it was just adrenaline but I loved it. 

Test your abilities and see what's possible for you. Get out in nature and just experience what has to offer. Our world these days is just crazy and full of people hating on each other and not experiencing the beauty of things. Find the beauty and hold onto it. It is out there, you just have to look. 

Play To Get Stronger

 When we were kids, we played all kinds of games that kept us physically active. Played football, baseball in the streets, the different variations of tag and that goofy duck, duck, goose game. It's to help us fine tune our motor skills and establish foundations for how we handle or bodies and our brains in other areas of life. As we get older, we succumbed to the things in life where we utilize certain skills in order to even make a few bucks and at times, have made us miserable and we wish we could be a kid again.

These days, being playful is considered taboo and childish because we have to be hardened and just live through life and roll with the punches because let's face it, as an adult, we can't be child-like. Now, that doesn't mean that we run away from our responsibilities as an adult because we do need to take care of ourselves and do what we can to live a life; with that being said, why can't we still find the time to have some fun and find that level of happiness that we had as kids?

The older we get, the more we need to establish the fact that yes, we don't have the same exact energy and spry we had as kids but we can still be playful and use certain forms of exercise to keep us active and maintain our motor functions because we don't want to be like those old folks who fall and break their hip. Being active can be hard, especially when we reach a certain age and the attributes begin to diminish like our flexibility, our strength, agility and coordination. 

Some people play sudoku to strengthen their brains, others use the gym to help maintain their strength in their muscles and tendons but also make use of their time by gardening, help carrying things and hiking. A favorite exercise I like to do every now and then is flipping and catching something. I would use all kinds of stuff but my absolute favorite is flipping and catching my sandbells. With the 20 lber, I would sometimes do it with one hand or flip and catch with the opposite hand. With the 50 lber, it's a little trickier and takes a lot more strength because it's not like trying to catch a ball, the coordination and strength need to be on point, plus it adds in having solid grip strength and agility cause you don't always know if you'll be catching it with a palm grip or pinch grip. 

Now you don't need to flip and catch with a heavier weight, just regular flipping or even learning to juggle is more than enough. For developing a stronger body overall, playing around with things like Animal Flow, Ginastica Natural, Gold Medal Bodies and other movement protocols are awesome at that. Hell, just being active is a solid start and developing a habit out of it. Age is just a number, it's up to us to defy the aging process and make the most out ourselves to live a quality life and not feel weak as we age. 

60 Seconds Throughout The Day

 A minute may not sound like much but you can get a lot done in that time more than you think. What if you could do one stinkin' minute of exercise throughout the day? How many exercises can you get done if you were to do one on the hour every hour? Sometimes as a busy person, you might have to do that in order to get what you want out of your training. It happens at times.

Not many believe that you can get any form of exercise done in a minute....If that was true, than do one minute of Burpees. Not many can do that especially in good form but it is an ass kicker. How about something easier like, a minute of Hindu Squats or a Wall Sit? Why not a fist plank or punches? You see, some exercises are very simple to do but they're certainly not easy.

Short or Micro Workouts throughout the day, have many benefits as to how we can make exercise and fitness productive. Not everyone has the luxury of getting in one full hour of training let alone maybe 30 minutes so this alternative can make a big impact on how you can get what you need done and give yourself little windows of time and make the most of it. 

Here's an example of spreading your exercises throughout the day. A program Darebee has in this section, one minute HIIT workouts can be done either all in one session or you can spread the workout throughout the day if you wish. You don't have to go all 30 days and do all three levels. This is ust an idea. 

Some exercises or intensity may be too hard for you which is understandable, you can lower the intensity and/or do an easier variation to make that small workout doable for you. Make it work to your advantage and get the most out of it because in the end, one minute is better than nothing. 

Some of my workouts on various days are micro like doing 60 seconds of Hindu Squats or Step Ups, within an hour I would do another 60 seconds of let's say Bear Crawls or Duck Walks, later on do Burpees or go hard on the tire with Big Barry (25 lb Giants Hammer), it just depends on what I'm in the mood to do. It can be very energizing and satisfying. 

Last but not least, you can't go wrong with 60 second Isometrics. Just hold a certain posture throughout the day has great benefits such as: Strengthening the tendons, keeping the joints healthy, cardio (because of the breathing), no joint impact, it's quick and you can do a limitless amount of exercises that won't damage your body. Work with what you have and keep windows open for the exercises you want to do or can do. Compromise with yourself and you health. 

Bundle Of The Day: Crescent Wolf Essentials Bundle

Herb Of The Day: Cognitive Enhancement Tincture

Hammer And Burpee Combo For A Conditioning Recipe

 Experimenting different things can be fun and it makes you work your brain. If anything, experimenting with different combinations can make your training interesting. With the resurgence of Hammer Workouts since I got the Stronger Grip Tactical Sledgehammer, I mainly use it to do a couple variations of the Sledge Strike and as a form of training like the Mace. 

Conditioning is just a favorite of mine and doing what's possible to keep myself from being bored. I use decks of cards for high reps in my hammer workouts ranging from 100 to about under 600 these days. I also do my supersets to make things interesting instead of always doing one exercise or one variation at times but I don't always combine 2 exercises as if it was one thing that's blended. 

One of my biggest inspirations is Bud Jeffries and his constant encouragement to experiment and making workouts look amazingly awesome. His creativity and simplicity just builds you up and makes you want to do things you've never done before. One of them is through his Sledgehammer Course which you can find here....The amount of exercises being shown is just the tip of an enormous iceberg of ideas and training modalities that take on a life of its own at times. I saw a demo he did on Youtube where he took a sledgehammer and combined it with striking and a burpee. I wanted to give this a shot.

I don't have any real experience with this combination so it does look awkward from a certain point of view but I don't care, I wanted to give it a chance and put it on film. Since I got the hammer with the San Francisco Giants logo, I also wanted to just have fun and make videos of my workouts while decking out in my Giants Shirt (Willie Mays #24) and my hat on Tik Tok and adding heavy metal to them. I have even added them to the baseball pages on Twitter like the Giants and the MLB, it felt exciting to do that. It's not something you see people do often, talk about being a Super Fan.

That's the beauty of training is that you can do all sorts of stuff and have fun. I love training at home or anywhere, the gym can be great but it's really just a building, you can create a gym anywhere if you have the right mindset and basic understanding of exercises. Since getting the hammer, I feel my condition has gotten better, gaining speed, my grip is getting stronger, putting on some muscle and gaining power in my tendons. Although it's just a tool in reality but in my imagination (and anyone who's worked out with hammers can relate to this), it's a tool of the gods that grants me strength that I didn't know I had before and makes me work harder to make the most of what is possible.

Conditioning The Legs Using Step Ups

 Don't you hate running? I do too. The only thing that will give me a reason to run is by sprinting which is far more natural and meant for humans than jogging. What can be an alternative to running or even squats for that matter? The next best thing would be the Step Up. Hey if it worked for Wrestling legend Bob Backlund which he still does in his 70's, could it work for you? 

The Step Up has been around for a long ass time and it's a great test for cardio and how to determine certain levels of fitness. From a conditioning stand point, it's one of the very best especially since it has far less impact on the joints than running or sprinting and for some, it's easier on the knees than squats. Off and on for years, I did hundreds of Hindu Squats and doing 1000 or more on a couple occasions and as great as they are and are a great conditioning tool, I always had weird days after doing them. When I got into Step Ups, I had greater results and it gave me better focus to strengthen and condition my legs one at a time instead of both at the same time. Some days I'll do 10-20 minutes straight, others go for 30 and on a few occasions do 1000 or more reps in under an hour. I find them much more enjoyable than Squats.

Where did the Step Up originate? Nobody really knows or sure because throughout eons, we've done some for step ups like stair climbing, hiking and some form of lunging but the Step Up itself was a test of endurance and heart rate testing in 1942 called the Harvard Step Test where an individual was tested to see where his heart rate was by performing 25-30 reps a minute for 5 minutes and where his recovery rate was. The height to perform this test was 20 inches for men and 16 inches for women. In my opinion, this is a gross overestimated and hurtful idea to test a person because for one, 20 inches for men could overextend his hip joints if he's a short man (under 5'8) and 16 inches for women could be too short because not every woman is under 5'4 so the height roles could be reversed unless the test was conducted for those specific heights for men and women. Also not every man or has the same upper and lower body ratios. For me, a 12-14 inch step up is perfect and doesn't extend the hip joint to a higher grade. For someone like my wife who's 4'11, a 10 inch step up works great for her legs.

Although the Step up is geared towards more aerobic exercise (or exercise using oxygen), it has incredible benefits of improving cardiovascular conditioning and strengthening the lungs as opposed to regular aerobic exercise where there's some lung strengthening but no where near the level of a step up or fast squat and/or sprint. Ric Flair in his early days would do Step Ups to increase his cardio in the ring, later on in the late 70's to about mid-late 80's, he would work with a stair climber and work with that for extended periods of time, still does it to this day I believe in some capacity. 

One of my favorite benefits of Step Ups is the joint strengthening and cardiovascular work for hiking. Hiking is a great form of exercise and awesome for getting in some fresh air and being out in the woods or the mountains. At one point in my life, hiking was tough for me and my cardio was nowhere near where it is right now and these days, it is damn near impossible for me to get tired on a hike. I might want to sleep when I get home because the endorphins are kicking in but on a hike, I can go for quite a while without getting winded. A lot of that was because of Hindu Squats & Step Ups. 

This is an awesome exercise for people who want an alternative to running and can't do a lot of squats or don't want to do squats. Start with 10-20 Reps per leg which would take about 60-90 seconds at a decent clip and work your way up little by little to 100 total (50 reps per leg) and go from there. When you can go 10 minutes without a break, that's a pretty decent workout, 20-30 minutes, you're in pretty damn good shape, if you can go an hour or more without a break, you might want to call Mr. Backlund and see if you can work out with him because he's the man to really give you insights into conditioning with the step up. You can even test yourself with a weight vest and/or ankle weights but you might want to get into better shape to do this. 

Here's a 10 min workout I did with Step Ups while working with a Sledgehammer to get more out of my conditioning and work capacity. 

Walking And The Things You Think About

 On Saturday, I went for a stroll around the neighborhood wearing my 40 lb weight vest. Still a great way to get cardio in without having to run. As I was walking along, getting in tuned with my breathing and just taking in the fall air, I tend to think the most random things and for some reason they pop up without notice. I think about where I've been and how I got to this moment, I think about random movies like Spaceballs and just start cracking up laughing. That's the beauty of walking and letting your mind free to wonder and learn things about yourself and the things around you.

Sometimes I think about certain people and visualize how they're doing or what it would be like to talk to them. I think about Bud Jeffries often and hope he's doing ok and kicking ass as usual at the things he does. I think about Johnny Grube at times and how hardened he is and if that dude ever shows any compassion for anything with a pulse and just live life without having to tear many things apart like it's ever going to do anything. I wonder if he has a small hint of compassion in his soul?

There's never a day when I'm not thinking about something and at times that can be both good and bad because if you think too much, you won't sleep as much and it becomes freaking exhausting. Many become overinflated when we hear, see and react to things we notice online, in the news and in the political arena. This country is so damn divided it's ridiculous. We have become a country that hates on people who want to use pronouns, the lgtbq+ is a disease (it isn't) and someone either gets verbally or literally slapped across the face for not wearing a mask or didn't get the vaccine. Seriously, the world is a mad, mad, mad place in certain areas.

Despite what you, we and what others think, in reality, it's up to us as a whole to make things a better place and whether you get the jab or not, consequences go with both and there's risks to both and we should make the choice to take those risks without getting hate for it. Even now at this moment, like others I'm still learning to just let people be and if you're an asshole, make asshole friends, if you're a good person, make friends with good people that share your values. It is just so damn easy to hate on others because at times we don't always understand what the hell we're hating on. 

I do feel blessed to live in an area where many do get along and crime rates are far lower than where I came from and being able to hang out and have fun with good people. I hope you do as well. These are the things I think about not just on walks but throughout daily life. The one thing I hope gets better (without personal agendas or deception) is others show as much compassion as possible and not try to tear each other a part because in reality, many people higher than us want that and we can't let those assholes win. 

Hammer And Slam Ball Tag Team With A Kettlebell As An Enforcer

The Road Warriors, the Rock And Roll Express, Edge & Christian, the Steiner Brothers and lets not forget the Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Ole & Gene Anderson); all incredible legendary tag teams in Pro Wrestling. The strength, the agility, the athleticism, the power and whether you loved them or hated them, they got your attention when they came into the ring. A great tag team were two people who had chemistry and flowed with each other to create an impact on opponents and captivate people's imagination. 

Some tag teams had an enforcer but for the most part, the team alone were more than enough. When there was an enforcer, it was someone to keep them in check or get that extra pop with the crowd to get more out of the match and end it with great importance or as a set up for the next event. Now, what the hell does this have to do with exercise? Good question, here's your answer.....A lot of my workouts are based on conditioning and tackling areas of strength, agility, muscular endurance and cardio all at once if possible. Using Supersets to really dig into the nitty gritty of physical work (If it were 4 exercises, in pro wrestling analogy that would be a stable) and just put as much as possible into that kind of training.

I mainly like to use Sandbells, Step Ups, Bear Crawls & Cables for Superset Training but the other day, I wanted to try something different that I've never done before and that's mixing Hammer Work with a Slam Ball. What I ended with was SEVEN + MINUTES OF HELL!!!! On top of that monstrosity of a workout, I added a couple exercises with the Darth Vader Kettlebell as a god damn finisher. I must be out of my damn mind to do something like that. Am I crazy? Most likely. Shit man, I was breathing so hard it made Sprints feel easier. Micro Workouts can be very demanding if you can figure out the right intensity. 

Doing about 10-11 Rounds of the Superset & 10 Presses/10 Swings with the kettlebell, that was more than enough for me for the day and did it with practically no rest. It was brutal but that isn't a workout I want to attempt again for a while. The hammer was my 25 lb Tactical Sledge and the Ball was a 20 lb Death Star Slam Ball. The objective was to do 10 Sledge Strikes (5 each side) and slam the ball 5 times, continually repeating that as many times as you can. 

Just because a workout is super short, doesn't mean it isn't an ass kicker. You will breathe hard like crazy and it's a hell of a testosterone booster along with building natural HGH. Who needs steroids when you can train like this? For real though, there's really no need to juice up when there are better alternatives to strengthening your manhood so to speak. Train with intent to kick ass at many things and make the most of what you have even it's just you and no other form of equipment. 

 

Relaxation Lovers Rejoice

Fall is in the air, and maybe you’re in a climate where that gentle, chilly breeze is starting to fill the air. Lost Empire Herbs has an herb known to make people feel cool and calm on the inside as well. It’s one of their most powerful tinctures for stress and it’s now back in stock. 

Ashwagandha, known as Indian Ginseng, has been the go-to for lowering cortisol (the stress hormone) and increasing relaxation for the people in India for thousands of years.  

Studies on the herb have shown it can reduce cortisol levels by up to 26% in humans!

Not only that, it has also been shown to......

·       Increase memory and focus so you can master skills quicker.

·       Faster reaction time to help you flow through activities without hesitation.

·       Promotes anti-aging activity for a youthful appearance.

·       An easier time falling asleep and higher sleep quality.

·       Supports testosterone and sperm health in men.

·       Can help with Thyroid issues, especially in women.

·       Shown to increase endurance, strength and muscle mass.

This Ashwagandha Tincture is anything but average. It’s biodynamically farmed which allows for the highest quality roots and most nutrients to start the process. 

It is cultivate it right on a farm in Oregon, making it the only commercially available Ashwagandha in the United States. How much Ashwagandha you consume is largely up to you, but many studies use a dose of 300-500 mg. Lost Empire recommends you experiment until you maximize its effects.

Hammers And Anger Management

Every now and then, we need to blow off steam and just let loose. Sometimes we get carried away because anger can consume us and take over our emotions. Anger can be a very powerful emotion that at times can blur the lines between reality and what we think we're angry about. Many times, it's just in our heads and need to get it out of our system but in a productive way. There's no need to hurt someone or hurt yourself, that's just bad ju-ju magumbo.

We would vent about our anger by going on social media and tell everyone why we're angry especially about how society is run today. Other forms of getting rid of anger is talking to someone you trust, going to therapy, get drunk, eat a bunch of food till you're in a coma, watch funny movies, read a good book and than there's exercise. Exercise is a very productive form of anger management because it gives you something to do, it channels your energy and focuses on a task that requires skill, coordination, sometimes speed and velocity and we'll work it until that emotion leaves our system.

Have you ever heard the quote by Yoda on Fear? here's a recap....."Fear is a path to the dark side, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." When we are led to anger, it can put us down a path that would be very difficult to come back from and for some people, it has consumed them so much that anger and the path that unlocks that door closes behind them and the key is thrown out never to be seen again. Like I said before, sometimes we just need to blow off steam, so where's the true nature of anger and it's destruction to a person's path? If we let anger consume us to a breaking point, we suffer for it and others around us suffer it as well.

Exercising with Hammers can be very beneficial to a certain extent. It's not a 100% cure for anger issues just like there's no cure for the common cold but we can learn how to channel it to our advantage and not do damage to ourselves or others. No you won't be 100% immune to an injury with exercise but with the right training, you can prevent injury as much as possible and still become strong and resilient. Hammers are a great tool because when you hit a tire, it becomes more than a tire, it becomes something you are doing battle with and productively battling your own demons. In reality, a tire is just a tire to use as target practice but in your imagination it's something else.

There are workouts with hammers I have done where at the start, I would just want to go off like a loose cannon but the more I got into it, the more it became meditative and focusing on my breathing while forming as good of a technique as possible because one screw up and you can have issues for a while. That's the beauty with training, you can have all the emotions you want or feel so many things but if you can't channel an exercise to the degree that you can't pay attention to what you're doing, you can get hurt. Regardless of what I'm feeling, when I swing or thrust down a hammer, I would go until the pump in my arms or the tension becomes something I need a break from. Walk it off and breathe and than go again till I'm done.

Depending on your strength and conditioning, if you need to blow off steam and use the hammer and tire, I would recommend a light hammer (no more than 25 lbs) because if its too heavy and you can barely handle it, if you are in that angry state and trying to handle an object too great for your britches, you might end up with broken toes or horrible back and shoulder pain. With a lighter hammer, you can use it for speed and velocity as you go to town on that tire. 

Is it a boss you hate? A co-worker that rubs you the wrong way? Having a bad day? Can't stand how society is and just want to slap everyone upside the head? Channel that anger and make it productive in a positive way because being negative about it over a period of time will be less valuable to everyone. There are times where we are angry and we don't know why but we don't want to keep it in our system. Every time I go out there and smack a tire with Big Barry (my Giants Hammer), I always come out feeling better, less tense and have an overwhelming sense of calm and tranquility. What's your idea of handling Anger in a positive way? 

Bud Jeffries And Hammer Training

 When it comes to variety and testing as many things as possible, nobody takes it to such lengths as Bud Jeffries does. He's not just a machine, he's a modern barbarian that makes most fitness gurus run out of their shorts. You want to talk about ridiculous strength, that's just a compliment compared to the real amount Bud has acquired. Whether you watch him or have trained alongside him, there's no doubt on this planet that you can get stronger and more conditioned from just the vibes you pick up on him. 

It brings me back to training with him before my wedding and we did a hammer workout together using Big Bertha (who was 59 lbs. at the time) and we would rep out on the tire and just explode with velocity and power on that tire. Off and on since then, hammers have been one of the most awesome tools I've used to not just get a workout in but also use as a form of therapy or something to really test my strength and endurance. 

Every once in a blue moon, I'll do a 1000 rep workout with either hammers or step ups or whatever I'm doing using a deck of cards. It does get boring after a while if you've done enough workouts with that many reps so now when I do my deck workout, I just do as many cards as possible and try variations such as with the sledgehammers and that is inspired by Bud. Sometimes just doing one variation can be great if you want to master it but why not do other variations in order to work other muscles and work your brain in other ways? Being in pretty good shape, even with hammer workouts, I don't get as sore as much and I love that. I've also learned to recover better when I do high rep workouts with hammers because the heavier the hammer, the more you need to be aware and handling variations that won't cause an injury but with a lighter hammer, you don't want to compromise form as you speed up on the exercise and get injured that way either, there needs to be a balance.

I've never used gloves with hammer workouts and I found out the hard way which style of hammers breaks skin more than others. The ten pounder I have that use for speed and velocity along with technique practice actually tore up my hands more than the 25 lber I have or even the 73 lber because the 10 has a handle that edges almost rectangularly as opposed to the circular style handle. Depending on the variation, gloves might be more appropriate and you don't want to be tearing up skin and have to recover from it for a week or 2. With a circular handle, I literally never have to worry about any skin breaking or start to rip. 

There are plenty of people to learn from but I always found Bud to put things in not just simple terms but using analogies and references that make training sound interesting and captivating. When you listen to him, he talks as if you were there and he's being himself while at the same time showing you how to handle things without getting hurt or compromising your body's ability to withstand the blows of a workout. He's one of the few people that make training fun to do while developing strength you didn't think you had in you. His hammer style is crazy but it's explosive and shows what strength and power is all about and how it carries over to other areas of training. 

Mimicking Blue Collar Vs Actual Blue Collar

 While I was walking to and from Hill Sprint Training this morning, I started thinking about the differences between mimicking blue collar work as opposed to actual blue collar work and where they lie in the reference of strength and conditioning. From a general stand point, blue collar people (construction, tradesmen, rock breakers ect.) are very strong and are amazing at what they do. Going sometimes 14 hours a day is grueling and just flat out nuts. I admire people who are willing to put themselves though that day in and day out.

Mimicking Blue Collar is very different but there's a reason for that. It's not necessarily to mock those who work blue collar as a profession, it's the idea or the imagery of what it's like to bust your ass and understand the meaning of functional movement. I do mimic blue collar because I prefer that over the gym and it's satisfying in some ways like the Sledgehammer Training, farmer's walk with a heavy kettlebell, carrying a heavy sandbell or whatever movements that work the muscles and tendons in a fuller adaptation versus the bench press or using machines.

Now although I do like to mimic, I also have worked on projects that were actually fun (but also tiring AF) and it gave me a chance to help out someone or work with people to get some side money. Helped out a family friend on a job that surrounded the 18th hole of Pebble Beach in Carmel, CA, dug out a walk way on a hill at my ex-uncle's house, moved furniture countless times and hauled kayaks and canoes a time or two and other stuff so I don't just mimic. For me, I train blue collar type movements so when I'm needed, I'd be there and have the strength and endurance to help. 

For the most part, I didn't grow up in a blue collar environment like others have and that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it was just different, plus dealing with things in certain times of my life where I had to learn how to balance out using both my arms or just both sides of my body instead of just using my left from the meningitis. I also had to learn things differently that would be hard to explain to someone who can pick up on things at a faster rate or understand things from a general perspective. My way of learning and working was difficult and figuring out specifics and having to learn that it isn't always a straight shot or this and that, I have to zig zag around things in order to understand them, it's just the way it is.

I've always admired Blue Collar workers, hell my friends worked blue collar jobs before they became successful in their own businesses, one was a musician. My wife's family comes from multi-generations of Blue Collar Workers (Loggers) and her grandfather once owned a Logging company. They're incredible at what they do, that's from a general point of view but on a personal level, some blue collar guys I've been around were some of the nicest and coolest guys to hang out with, shooting the breeze and arm wrestling and laughing it up while others I've talked to were and still are complete assholes and think they're hot shit when in reality they're just another human being trying to make his way in the world. 

I believe in training to be useful, that's what I learned from guys like Bud Jeffries, Erwan LeCorre, Logan Christopher, Tyler Bramlett, Zass and many others. Whether in a profession or just doing side projects, if you have the ability to help people and it gives you a chance to use your strength in ways that isn't from typical fitness, that's what makes it satisfying. There's also nothing wrong with smashing shit up like taking a sledgehammer and breaking down a wall, I love shit like that. 

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

 I don't know why but yesterday I had the urge to go out and do Sprints in the hill while it was pouring outside. After some lunch and shopping, I just felt like it and went for it. That's the beauty of training sometimes, if something is there and you have this motivation or inspiration or whatever and you know how to do it, it's  a hell of a feeling. Maybe I'll go back on Wednesday, you never know.

Now you got that song from B.J Thomas stuck in your head don't you? I'm sorry while most normal people think of that song from Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, I think of Leslie Nielsen in Spy Hard, its a curse and I know it's a a spoof but I laugh every time. Seriously though, when it comes to training, doing something everyday whether it's fast, slow, holding postures or doing something while the commercials are on during a Baseball game (GO GIANTS!!!!), has a powerful and satisfying feeling and making the most of what you can do and/or what you have.

These are tough times and with all these mandates going back and forth and people screaming at each other telling the other to get the damn vaccine or not, it is important to still realize we are human and above all take care of our bodies as best as we can and develop a naturally strong immune system. Fitness doesn't need to be done at the gym and workouts should be catered to a person's goals or needs. We can't all do the same form of training but we can learn how to deep breathe and fill our lungs with natural air and sunlight. A workout doesn't even need to take that long, hell mine are less than 30 minutes most of the time. Find something that works for you.

From a general standpoint, it's hard to completely determine how strong the average person's immune system is because of all the vaccine shots being done, I'm not saying get it or don't get it but what I 'am saying is that the immune system would have to probably adapt or keep up with the vaccine shot and it could possibly be a gamble because you can have a strong immune system that may not suit well with the shot or it could and you'll be fine but overall, be as healthy as you can whether you get the shot or not. Everyone reacts differently to the outcome of a shot and some will be fine, some may not and realistically (not statistically, I'll let you figure that out) quite a few vaccinated don't have very strong immune systems because of either previous conditions or have become or are severely obese and don't take care of themselves. Do your own research.

I'm sure you've heard enough of this Covid Crap and want to try to move on with your lives, I do too to be honest. I do what I can to make sure I'm healthy and can keep going and building strong organs, a crazy strong immune system and develop my body with as natural means as possible. Be healthy my friends, that's all I really ask and be amazingly awesome to each other, being divided sucks and that's what many in the higher ups want to be and many go along willingly or without hesitation regardless of the consequences. Get the shot, don't get the shot, you have a right as a human being to make that decision. 

Here are some cool herbs that have high benefits of supporting the immune system and get those blood cells fighting for you. It is the cold and flu season after all as well.....

Ashwaghanda

Athena Formula (For Women)

Chaga

Elderberry

Goji Berry

Lion's Mane

Remembering My Friend Tom Puckett

 After my meditation walk today, a new facebook friend wanted to know a few things about Tom Puckett (the student who did the exercises in Karl Gotch's Conditioning For Combat Sports DVD) and memories came flooding back to those times me and him met up at the gym and would do conditioning exercises before we hit the weights. 

This guy was about as hard-nosed as you can get and was a tough son of a bitch, even when he started getting sicker. The things he showed me when it came to submissions was about no more than 3 holds but they were real and I felt them. Tom would tell me things about Gotch if I asked him and about other guys and it was an honor to learn about Gotch from someone who actually trained around him. 

The hard-nosed style of his was his military style background along with being pushed by Gotch and his conditioning methods. He didn't let up on me for the most part and when I struggled, he gave me tips to make things feel "easier" like the Hindu Push-ups. I felt defeated at times trying to keep up with him but it was a humble experience and he was legit. The one thing that always makes me laugh about him was when we went to a park one day to do some conditioning, we got to the bridging portion and I struggled at times to keep my hands off the ground in the Front Bridge and he just blurted out "Keep those hands up grandpa", I still hear that to this day when I bridge. 

Tom was humble when he answered certain questions I had but he was blunt as hell too on certain things especially when I asked him about guys like Shamrock who he thought was a complete asshole and didn't feel he was a legit fighter. Shamrock can go but his knowledge wasn't as great as he talks about. I think there was some bitterness too but that's because Tom was sick and he wasn't getting any better. He didn't have many friends, at least around here and when we hung out together, I think I made him feel a little at ease because he was around someone who wanted to learn and could attempt to keep up with him. He was kind to me and if he didn't want me around, he would've kicked me to the curb long before we had a chance to meet. 

It was an honor to have met someone like him and was a student to one of the most legit wrestlers in the world. I do miss him and I hope he and Gotch are having a blast wherever they are. 

What to Know About Your Body When Even The Environment Is Out to Get You

 It can be tough nowadays to regulate what goes in our bodies. We know that plastic is bad, or that we should eat more organic food. But for most of us, our eco-friendly goals are a second priority. At least until we start to think about what’s actually going on…

Estrogens and androgens, what do we know about them?

We know that both are hormones necessary in both men and women. We know they regulate puberty, sex drives, emotions, and more. But what happens when something else starts regulating the hormones, instead of the hormones regulating us?

here’s a sneaky devil hiding in our food, our makeup, shampoo, even our plastic cups, that’s slowly hurting everyone’s endocrine system. It goes by the name xenoestrogen, and may be the cause of more than one health problem you’ve experienced. 

Xenoestrogens are found in a variety of everyday items, from cosmetics to plastics, food preservatives and many other everyday items. However they can cause a variety of diseases including: 

Several different cancers, including breast, prostate and testicular cancer

Weight gain and obesity

Fertility problems 

Endometriosis

Early onset puberty

Diabetes

Xenoestrogens are categorized as endocrine disruptors. As the name suggests, endocrine disruptors cause changes in your body’s hormones. They are able to mimic your natural hormones, disrupting the balance in your body and causing adverse effects on your health.

Xenoestrogens mimic natural estrogen in the body, causing a condition known as estrogen dominance. These “fake” estrogens aren’t biodegradable, so they are stored in your cells and continue to cause issues to your health. So, how do you fight off xenoestrogens and protect your hormone health in the future?

One of the best ways to combat xenoestrogens is to balance your body’s endocrine system. For the best adaptogenic effects, you need to boost your body’s androgen count. Androgens are a steroid hormone that regulates male characteristics in the body (similar to the “manly” version of estrogen). Both men and women need androgens as well as estrogen, but they need it in a healthy balance to avoid the health risks we talked about earlier. 

Where can you get natural androgens?

The answer is, in your diet. While you can’t increase production of androgens without pharmaceuticals, you can supplement androgens in the body with Pine Pollen. Pine pollen is a rare and plentiful source of phytoandrogens. Phytoandrogens are the plant-equivalent of androgens, which will help balance your hormone levels for a healthier, feel-good body. 

In addition to the phytoandrogens it contains, Pine pollen is also a rich source of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. Now that you know what’s going on inside and out, here’s what you can do about it:

Lost Empire Herbs offers pine pollen supplements, harvested from the finest natural sources and processed for 99% absorption into the body. You can choose the concentrated tincture (optimal dosage for men’s health), or the powder supplement which is ideal for men and women. 

Click. Shop. Save Your Body.

Burpees And Metallica And Hammers Oh My

It's official, I'm obsessed with this damn hammer and I'm not ashamed to admit that. It's fun as hell and brings me a sense of joy when I make videos with it. This app I've been using as a background is fun to use too which you've seen from a recent article when it comes to pictures, the only thing that sucks is making the hammer work into the picture since this app only uses bodies. 

It's a learning process but it's a great experience. I want to find more of my creative side and see where it goes. It gets me excited and makes me think of things I normally don't think about and sharing it. This is purely out of enjoyment. When I get like this, it puts me in a genuine state of mind that I can pursue anything and whether I fail or succeed, I gave it a chance cause there's that great Wayne Gretzky quote "You Miss 100% Of The Shots You Don't Take." 

The hammer itself in reality is just a tool like anything else but with an imagination and the ability to put in the work, you can make something of yourself beyond what we think is possible. When you slam it onto a tire, yes there's an object there but in your mind, the tire doesn't exist; it's smashing your fears, your doubts, your anxieties and your goals into an oblivion. You are destroying things that wear on you and using a productive output to create something better. 

Strength & Power starts in the mind and that's what I want these pictures and videos to represent. It's igniting a fire in your soul and burst into flames of passion. Soar with vigor, intent and shatter walls with a vengeance. I'm going to be honest here; in reality, I'm not a big fan of fire, been burned a time or two when I was a kid and always felt weird around fire pits so maybe in a twisted way, these pictures are slowly helping me get over my Pyrophobia. It may not make sense to people and it doesn't completely make sense to me yet, but it could be little baby steps to being better around fire. 

Metallica has been one of those bands I loved listening to during my high school years and to this day, I still listen to some of their best songs. My personal favorite is Until It Sleeps with the Orchestra that plays beside them from their 1999 S&M Concert in San Francisco. The vocals from James Hetfield & Jason Newsted, the blast of the lyrics and just the power in that song is so well done. I listened to it over and over again many times back in the day and used it as a warm up song when I use to go to the gym from '03-'05. It never gets old and when I learned I can use a sample of it for a video, I jumped on it. I'm doing Burpees on this one and it just felt right to do. I only did 30 seconds of Burpees but for me it worked and brought a love of metal and training that is just awesome. 

The other video I made is with the hammer and doing a more explosive movement doing 10 reps each side and Metallica's Fade To Black is playing. It's something I had an idea for and went with it. Like I said, it's an experience learning how to set up videos with pictures. I love being creative and finding things that expand my horizons because I've never done anything like this before. This is only the beginning and have no damn clue where it's going to go. 

Riders Of The Storm

The hammer is more than just a symbol of strength and a tool of The Gods, it is an implement that represents the vitality and power in a man's soul. Yes striking a tire can wield great results but never underestimate the feeling you have when you hold that hammer in your hands.

When it comes to conditioning, using hammers has a place among the elite and among those who wish to acquire strength from an old school perspective. Fighters and other athletes have used hammers for ages as a means to tackle the body and forge a steel like being. Stronger Grip's Tactical & Epic Sledgehammers bring that old school feel to life that takes on a life of its own. The striking, the swinging and the explosiveness just roars with the thunder of Thor and the armies of the Norse. With a mighty hammer, you become a Rider Of The Storm.

With the Tactical Hammer, I wanted to do more than just have a regular hammer, I wanted something special and meaningful and represent something that holds close to my heart, so I had it engraved with the San Francisco Giants Logo, the team that many fathers, sons, grandfathers and more generations grew up with in the Bay Area and previously in New York at the Polo Grounds seeing the likes of Christy Matthewson, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Carl Hubbell, Will Clark, Mel Ott, Monte Irvin, Matt Williams & Willie McCovey. This hammer represents generations of fans and players that have passed through the halls of ball parks and represents the strength this team has gained and defined tragedy for more than 100 years, the championships, record setting homeruns and the glory of coming back and rebuilding. It is most certainly a Giants Hammer.

How cool is it to have something made for you and engrave something that means something to you personally? Ever since I got it, I've used it quite a few times and already got in tons and tons of reps, it's just so damn cool to train with. It's more than just something to workout with, it's something that gets results and builds strength you can't get in a gym. You're forging muscular strength, endurance and lung power along with muscle building that uses the whole body not just piece by piece in isolation. 

If you're ever in need of training with a hammer, you can go to a regular store like Lowe's or Home Depot but if you want a hammer that is more than a typical one and want something that represents you and what you love, go to Stronger Grip and have Ryan Pitts make something for you that defines you. Ride The Storm with your own hammer and smash your way to getting results like never before. 

Did The Farmer Have It Right?

 In sports and in life, breathing is not just essential, it is literally our lifeline. Go for days without water, weeks without food but yet can die in a matter of minutes if we don't breathe. These are tough times and our immune system and respiratory system are being tested and it's important just as now or at any point in time to strengthen those systems as best as we can. For thousands of years, breathwork has been the cornerstone to some of the most famous systems of health and exercise such as Tai Chi, Yoga, Qi Gong, Martial Arts, Meditation & Sports. Without proper breathwork, it wouldn't be as effective.

Deep Breathing Exercises can be very simple to do and with studying its principles and techniques, they can be a focal point to how you react to certain situations in intense moments or even relaxed. Techniques can also teach you to tell the difference between panic and focused intent. When we panic, we lose sight of our breathing and eventually channel into fight or flight mode almost instantly, but with control, we can have a better understanding on how to react in areas with better focus and less negative stress. We all have negative stress at certain points in our lives but it is important to learn how to lessen it as best as possible.

Martin "Farmer" Burns who was one of the greatest wrestlers and coaches in American History, emphasized not just the importance of the breath, but how it can lead to not just as a wrestler/athlete but also someone who isn't in athletics. Although his intentions were geared towards wrestling and it how it taught someone to be a man, he threw in wisdom that even the old time yogis could understand. In his book Lessons In Wrestling And Physical Culture, he taught what it meant to practice daily breathing exercises to not just get the blood flowing to the body, but how they'll play out the rest of your daily activities with techniques that break through walls in terms of endurance, control and conditioning. This was talked about more than 100 years ago and it's principles are still being applied today.

In the era of fitness junkies, crossfit maniacs, influencers and bodybuilding; breathwork has its moments in these places but it's almost a lost art unless you're specifically learning how to do breathing techniques in Yoga Classes or Seminars that focus solely on the breath. In MMA, the breath is actually one of the most important factors in how long you can go in a fight and it can determine how you or lose. If you get tired in less than a minute, you've already lost and when you panic breathe, you eventually lose control of your focus and make mistakes much quicker. When you control the breath and are handling the negative stress of a fight or a spar better, your focus can become clearer and you have better chances of finding your opponents mistakes and/or react quicker to finding a submission or a knockout. In my opinion, Rickson Gracie was the man that took this to an extreme in the modern era and is right up there with the best of the best in any sport.

There are a lot of Gurus out there that teach good, bad and at times very ugly ways to teach you how to breathe properly but who can you trust the most? Which ones are the biggest to learn from? The truth is, it depends on who makes it simple to learn and gives you proper application whether in a sport or in everyday life. You can make tweaks to certain aspects of Breathwork such as how Farmer Burns did his style of breathing compared to folks today. His teachings are powerful and do work, but some people need some adjustments and his ideas on breathing and holding the breath can have different effects in how people react to the techniques. I've tried both the actual techniques and the tweaking of those techniques and my areas of tweaking gave me far better results and the actual techniques (word for word) aren't meant for everybody. 

There is a great book that talks about various systems and technique on the breath that is really a nearly "all in one book" concept of what works, what doesn't and better ideas to apply the breath even in dangerous situations. Some Techniques from the Wim Hoff Method to the Breath Of Fire, Upgrade Your Breath is a great go-to book. 

So did the Farmer have it right? With adjustments to your individual needs and applying techniques with proper instruction, he was certainly on the right track and some of his ideas are being used today but overall, from the Farmer to Rickson to Wim Hoff and others, breathing techniques are in your grasp and the better your breathing is, the better quality of life you'll have. 

"Breathing exercises alone, if done RIGHT, will make many a weak man strong and many a sick man well.”- Farmer Burn (1861-1937)

Boost Your Immune System Safe And Naturally With Supplements

 

Your immune system. There is a whole lot that goes into the amazing functioning of the human body to fight off invaders and more. We can divide the immune system in a number of different ways. There’s the nonspecific or innate immune response. Then there is the specific or adaptive immune response. The latter here, is further subdivided into the humoral and cell mediated branches. Perhaps we’ll talk about those another time.

But in this article, I want to keep it a bit simpler than that and give another frame that may be useful in thinking about immune health. And that is as far as time-frame is concerned.

Short Term Immunity (Days)

In the short term we might think in terms of a specific invader, a pathogen such as a virus or bacteria that is attacking you. We can think about this in terms of Germ Theory. Here we identify the germ such as a bad bacteria or virus and thus we want to use something that is specifically antibacterial or antiviral to deal with it. Thus, for short term immunity we can talk about two things. There is prevention in which the invaders cannot get a foothold in your system. This is ideal and related to the longer term functions and if such invaders do get a foothold in your system your body then needs a short-term response in order to mobilize and fight off the infection. All of this can happen in a matter of days. It certainly depends on which invaders we’re talking about but Elderberry is something that they offer at Lost Empire Herbs that I believe best fits into this category. Studies have shown that it may help stop people from getting sick from the common cold in the first place, and if they do lessen the intensity and duration of symptoms.

Medium Term Immunity (Weeks to Months)

As compared to short term with Germ Theory, for medium term immune system response it may be best to think in terms of Terrain Theory. This actually is super important for prevention. If your terrain is such that an invader cannot get a foothold than you’re not likely to get sick in the first place. In that way you get short-term benefits. But you don’t change the terrain overnight, you can think of this in terms of gardening or ecology. It can take weeks or months to setup the terrain for what you want. (For big projects sometimes much longer…which is why Terrain Theory applies to the long term too.)

Some of the other systems of the human body may more strongly come into play here. Inflammation and oxidation are important. Nervous system and hormones too both of which are involved in your stress response. Their best offering in this regard is their new Chiron Immunity Tincture. It is a well-rounded formula meant to make your body more adaptable, specifically in the immune system. It’s to help upgrade the terrain that is your body.

Let’s use an example of one of the herbs in Chiron, Elecampane. According to classic usage, Elecampane appears to be best with more sustained use rather than acute conditions. One example of this may be a cough that lingers. Have you ever been sick before and had a cough that just wouldn’t go away even a month later? Here we need to strengthen the lungs, in other words to rebuild the terrain, to change things. And that is something Elecampane is great for.

Long Term Immunity (Months to Years and Beyond…)

When we’re talking about long term I’m thinking about chronic issues and disease. Most notably here are two things: cancer and autoimmunity.

For autoimmunity, for whatever reason, your immune system is confused. While it normally attacks invaders, here it has identified your own cells as ‘the bad guys’ and wages war. Understand that this is a complex thing that may have a wide variety of causes. Diet is pretty much always implicated (certain cross-reactive foods getting through a leaky gut). Microbiome dysfunction. Viruses that are embedded in your system (herpes, Epstein-Barr, HIV, etc.) that can lay dormant or flare up may also be implicated in at least some cases. And of course, the wide variety of disruptive chemicals, heavy metals and more in our environment causing all sorts of downstream effects.

For cancer, understand that cells going cancerous is a regular and natural occurrence. We all have cancerous cells within us! If things are functioning optimally these will be identified by the immune system and taken out (apoptosis aka programmed cell death). It is when the cancerous process is allowed to go on that eventually we arrive at tumors and a cancer diagnosis.

Many of the same culprits discussed for autoimmunity are also involved within cancer just in a variety of different and complex ways. So when I’m talking about long-term immune system support I also like to think in terms of immune system intelligence. Intelligence to tell the difference between me and not me (in terms of autoimmunity) and intelligence to better detect and handle damaged and deranged cells early on.

In other words, the medicinal mushrooms are extremely helpful here. They help to build immune system intelligence. While each mushroom is great in its own unique ways, for this I trust the process with Mushroom Alchemy.  There is some evidence that the synergistic blend of mushrooms may have even greater effects. At the very least, it will be broader spectrum in that each mushroom does slightly different things.

Understand a Multi-Layered Approach to Immunity

This timeframe approach to immunity may help you to better understand your needs and thus what herbs support you. All of the above is definitely overly simplified but used to help instill these ideas.

This may be why we see some poor reviews for Mushroom Alchemy because of some misunderstanding of how best to use different herbs and formulas and thus expectations unfulfilled. Margie said, “I was taking this to build up my immune system and I’m sick. That was after one whole bottle but I’m on my second one now. It tastes horrible!”

While we have some people reporting immediate benefits, the mushrooms are often more subtle in their effects. They’re not likely to help you to deal with the acute cold you have now. Compare that review to this one from Kahroliné di Passero. “I love this mushroom alchemy tincture! From the first day it began working (this after almost a year taking an inferior mushroom blend from some other company). It’s been a couple months now, and I feel as though I couldn’t get sick even if I wanted to! My skin feel more taut and clearer as well!”

The best results come from taking medicinal mushrooms long term. Some have been taking them for over a decade now and they wouldn’t have it any other way. And they use that short and medium term support as needed too.

Big Bertha Packs A Wallop At Nearly 73 lbs

 When you add weight to a hammer, how far can it go or how far are you willing to go? The hammers made by Ryan Pitts at Stronger Grip are made to be filled with various things but mainly steel shot or lead shot. The Epic Sledgehammer starts out at 26 lbs and with steel shot can go up to 70, well I went past that with the lead shot. I have never handled a hammer that heavy and she packs a hell of a punch.

Because of the added weight, I don't have any desire to do hundreds upon hundreds of reps with it and what would the point be? If I felt like it, I might shoot for it maybe once but just to lift that thing takes some serious strength. The technique involved and speed is completely different, it's more methodical and almost no one can put great speed on a hammer that heavy, unless you're Bud Jeffries or Nick Nilsson plus, it takes practically your full body just to move it. At best, 100 Reps done in sets with a hammer that big is more than enough even for the strongest of men. 

For the most part, the heavier the hammer, the more it becomes a feat of strength than a big workout. Even a few reps will have you breathing hard and can give you a pump pretty damn quick. The benefit though, is that you're lifting a heavy ass hammer and with control along with staying as injury-free as possible, you're building some crazy muscle and your tendons and ligaments are tested big time. For a guy lifting a hammer of that caliber size even at something like 50 lbs, would jack up his testosterone like a rocket and feel like he just handled the hammer of the gods. It's not typical strength like you see in the gym, this is on a different level and when you handle a hammer this huge, you're in a category that is far above the average person. 

Imagine having the strength of John Henry or even DC's Steel. The power you can possess and the ability to take strength to a level that even the strongest lifters would make them question themselves. To be fair, I'm just one of those guys who wants to see what he's capable of doing and be able to train hard without getting hurt. This is not meant for hot shot strong guys or the typical gym rat, you'll have to be in a different mindset of crazy or insanity and be prepared if something went wrong. 

I had made a video that not only shows what it takes to move a hammer as heavy as this but actually show the weight of the hammer on a scale that it is legit. Like I said, it's more of a feat of strength than anything but it also took me years to get to get to this point and I'm proud that I'm able to do it. My strength gets a little higher and I have no idea how far I can go. Do we ever truly know how far we can go?

Two Hammers Have Made Some Gains

 Since I got this new Sledgehammer, I've just been going crazy with it. After doing a 1000 Rep Workout with it, I decided it needed to put on a little weight, so I fed it some Lead Shot. After some time, it now weighs 25 lbs which is the same number for my favorite baseball player growing up Barry Bonds. I originally nicknamed the hammer Lou Seal after the Giants Mascot but now with his weight gain, might as well name him Big Barry; if it weighed 24 lbs, it would be a toss up between Big Willie or the Say Hey Hammer (Willie Mays #24) but I think people might get the wrong context if it was Big Willie.

I had some shot left over so I thought I'd feed the rest to Big Bertha (Epic Sledgehammer) and boy, the old lady can pack a wallop. She went from 59 lbs to approx 73 lbs. Just moving that thing was a chore but for this particular Hammer, its not meant for conditioning, just pure strength. Although if you were to lift and slam it down or reps, you will feel it and you will be breathing hard, it's a full body movement. The coincidence of the 73 lb hammer is that it's the same number of Homeruns Barry Bonds hit in a single season and no one has touched it since 2001. 

Hammers are one of the best tools to build real world strength and conditioning. What boy or man doesn't want to hit things or smash something into an oblivion? It's in our DNA to have some form of aggression but it does need to be channeled to be useful and not for going berserk and trying to kill anyone. Hammers are a cheap form of therapy in my opinion. The testosterone results alone would be worth it, not to mention having a killer metabolism and muscles that actually do something instead of looking good. Have you ever wanted to shake the hand of a person who trains or works with hammers? I didn't think so.

For Big Barry, every now and then I'd swing it like a Mace to get some core and upper body conditioning. A hammer is not just something to hit a tire with, it's a tool that has many exercises to choose from and can be done just about anywhere (as long as you don't drop it). I don't know if Big Bertha could be handled like a Mace, it would take some serious strength and power and very few people on the planet can probably do it but I have yet to see it. For me, every few days or so would be good to get one of the hammers out. I've been going nuts ever since I got Big Barry a few days ago and it may be time to take a day off so I don't overwhelm the tendons and ligaments along with creating back issues. The guys who work with hammers day in and out have my outmost respect and to be able to do that for years on end is freaking nuts. 

Whether it's Big Barry or Big Bertha, these hammers pack a punch and are great tools to create some serious muscle and strength building. After messing with them for a while, your forearms might get inflated and look like Popeye Arms. Think of the grip strength being developed and having a hell of an appetite after a workout. Don't be surprised that after a workout, you'll be eating like an NFL Lineman. God I think after one workout I had a 12 oz steak, 5-7 fried eggs, a bowl of cereal and 3 tall glasses of milk and didn't feel full. Hammer away my friends and have fun.  

Disney Metal? Has The World Gone Mad?

 With all the crap going on lately with Covid and making things miserable for everyone, we need to find something unique and step out of the shitstorm. When it comes to today's mainstream music, most of the time it's not that great but every now and then, something comes along and just wakes your ass up and thank the universe there's still some awesome music out there.

I've been a metal fan for the longest time and I'll take it over any pop song of any era but other forms of rock has its perks plus you can never go wrong with Joan Jett or Jimi Hendrix or Metallica. I've also been a born and bred Disney kid and having fun at Disneyland and all that stuff. However, when you mix Metal & Disney, that almost sounds like an abomination especially if you're a die-hard Disney fanatic but for some reason, someone comes along and actually makes it work and sounds so amazingly awesome.

 I never thought I could imagine a genre mixed with the House Of Mouse can be so bad ass yet beautifully done at the same time. If you ever remembered from your childhood, watching the original Mulan from the 90's and seeing what it took for a woman to be among the warriors of men and battling against the huns. That big song I'll Make A Man Out Of You was a great hit and made the movie legendary, what if a new version was sung for a new generation that not only blew the original out of the water but made you feel it should've been in the live version? That song is more than a reality, it's already practically gone Viral. 

A singer named Peyton Parrish does some incredible songs (mainly Viking style metal) and does some covers that are just incredibly powerful but his adaptation of Mulan's I'll Make A Man Out Of You jumped that song into not only the memories of those who adored the original film but gave it a new feel that just makes you want to get up and battle whatever it is you're facing with vigor and inner strength. 

He's been sampling this song for months until it was released yesterday and for me, it was well worth the wait. Hell, I used it as my start up workout of hitting the tire with my new sledgehammer. Did rep after rep until the song was over (over 3 minutes long) and just feeling alive. It was a great way to start the day. 

Has the world gone mad? Sometimes going mad can bring out interesting things and I believe this is more than interesting, it's a vital part of why music continues to inspire us and do things we never thought we could. Listen and let your heart burn with passion and vitality. 

A Hammer For Giants

Growing up in Santa Cruz, I would often watch the San Francisco Giants play sometimes during the week or on a weekend when I use to go to the Catalyst Club in Downtown Santa Cruz with my Step-Dad before he died. I would get a burger and steak fries, get a coke, sit at a table next to the bar and watch Barry Bonds smack bombs out of the park or see some fun double plays. Once in a blue moon I would go to a game, went with my dad a few times and my step dad a couple or so. 

One of my favorite memories as a Giants fan was going to Candlestick Park back in the early 90's and watched Matt Williams hit more than one homer in a game. Saw them play live when they went to the playoffs in 2010 (same year they won their 1st world series as the SF Giants) with my dad. One game where they lost had one of the biggest see-saw battles I ever saw and one bizarre game where they got 8 runs in the first inning and didn't score the rest of the game yet won 8-7 against the St. Louis Cardinals. Nothing compares though to seeing Barry Bonds hit one of his 73 Homeruns in 2001 when he beat Mark McGwire for the crown of most homeruns in a season. 

My dad and step-dad made me a Giants fan since I was old enough to understand the game. Dad was a big fan, growing up in the 60's when guys like Willie Mays and Willie McCovey were at their peak. Mays was my dad's favorite player. The Say Hey Kid was a player I wished I had seen in his day, the guy could do practically anything on the Diamond; hit for both contact and power, speed on the bases and the outfield, great instincts at the plate and is 6th on the All-Time List in Homeruns (Also in the top 3-4 players to hit 600 or more homeruns without the use of Steroids). Just an incredible talent.

When it came to memorabilia, I don't have much but what I do have is special to me. Included, I have a baseball that I got many years ago at a shop that is signed by legendary Giants pitcher Juan Marichal, a Willie McCovey style Jersey, a biography of Willie Mays and a Custom T-Shirt of May's name and number on the back. Since I love researching things, I learned quite a bit about the game and some historical insights of it. My favorite is the Ken Burns Documentary on Baseball that showcases various stages of the game through the decades with the ups and downs, the scandals, the triumphant wins, the heartbreaking losses and controversies of the game's greatest stars. It is one of the most educational series' of all time and anyone who loves a good documentary or wants to learn what it was like for many back in the day (especially the rise and fall of the negro leagues), this is it.

Now, recently since I've gotten back into doing Sledgehammer Training, I wanted to do something unique and something fun to keep some of the excitement going so I bought a new custom sledgehammer but this time, I had the creator (Ryan Pitts of Stronger Grip) engrave the Giants logo on the head of the hammer. The Giants are having a hell of a year this season and seeing the progress they've made as a team, this hammer is a tribute to both the team I grew up with and my love for training. This hammer in particular is made specifically for conditioning purposes and in honor of the team's mascot I nicknamed it Lou Seal. 

Yesterday I got in a hell of a workout with it doing a total of 552 reps. This hammer is 13 pounds empty and can be filled to about 26 pounds with steel shot and probably 30 or more with lead shot which for conditioning is more than enough and I wouldn't go higher than maybe 25 or so. Besides, I want the weight of the hammer at max to honor the numbers of Willie Mays and Barry Bonds (24 & 25 Respectively) so that'll just be icing on the cake. When I was a kid and I played little league, my number was 26 so who knows what number I'll end up with but those 3 would be enough. 

I also did a little video that I planned on doing when I bought the hammer. It's only about 20 seconds long but it was a lot of fun to do and sharing my love for the team the best way I knew how. It's not 100% the way I wanted it but this was good enough for me. I added in a little music to it too that was recently out by this singer named Peyton Parrish that does Viking style metal and videos. He started doing Disney song remakes that are amazingly awesome and well done. If you're a Disney fan or seen the original animated version of Mulan, you might get a kick out of this. 

Make life interesting, be unique and make things exciting to do. Be bold and have fun with what you do, we only get this life one time, make it worthwhile. 

Hammer Training For Strength, Conditioning & Performance

 Methods come and go but very few stay true through the test of time and that is Sledgehammer Training. Burn calories, develop an iron core, full body strength training and conditioning from the old school of hard knocks. It's also one of the best methods of training to get aggression out of your system.

The improved work capacity is a mighty benefit that both men and women can use especially for those who need to be in top shape whether for a sport or an all day job that requires some form of labor. When it comes to Combat Sports especially in Boxing, Wrestling and Jiujitsu, you need to develop a level of endurance or strength endurance that lasts as long a fight is required and if you're tired within a minute, you might as well start tapping or get your ass knocked out. Hammer work also develops wrist and hand strength that helps a fighter get control and keep a lock on a submission. 

A key ingredient in working with a sledgehammer is the rotational aspects: It forces the body to keep control and balance the swing while keeping a certain form of finesse in order to properly slam it down and not risk heavy injuries. Smaller size hammers generate greater velocity and speed where as you explode and keep going, you're generating incredible force. Bigger size hammers (30-50+ lbs) won't have you generate as much speed but the brute force itself and the amount of control needed to create that brute force also creates strength from another perspective. Not everyone can do high reps with a really heavy hammer and there's really no need to break world records in reps so focus more more on the strength and control aspects. 

A personal favorite is doing this kind of training for relieving stress such as getting something out of your system after having a bad day at work or finding a positive solution to relieve negative emotions because as men, we can have high levels of aggression that at times can be unpredictable and have experiences where we are thrusted into our primal instincts and we leave the realm of reality which at times can be beneficial. We do however, need to keep our emotions in check and for some it's a constant learning format plus we don't want to hurt anyone that might be in our way when we go ape shit. This is a great solution to help us become calmer and burn calories at the same time.

Sledgehammer training is a lot of fun but shouldn't be taken lightly. Don't underestimate the power of a hammer and what it can do to improve your performance as an athlete or as an everyday person. It's hard work but with consistency and drive, you can develop that old school working man's strength and have your body handle stress in ways you can't get from the gym. Plus, the added benefit of training in the fresh air and working up a sweat while also building conditioned muscle instead of counterfeit muscle (as Karl Gotch used to put it) is just the tip of the iceberg of what is possible to build a conditioned body that is ready for whatever is thrown at it. Let me put it like this, yeah someone can lift a lot of weight but almost nobody will mess with someone who's got that strength from using hammers. 

What Is The Perspective On What Is Considered Natural Strength?

 When we think of someone being natural in the fitness world, most likely we're talking about someone who's never taken steroids or illegal performance enhancers in their chosen field such as Bodybuilding and other sports. It's not as simple as that. Being natural from a certain point of view to me is picking up on something right away and making it look effortless. They say someone like Michael Jordan was a natural in basketball or someone like wrestler Frank Gotch was just a naturally gifted wrestler or even John Grimiek being the most naturally gifted bodybuiler of his time but the real logical thing is, they all didn't have what experts would call "Natural Talent", they busted their ass in order to be the best at those fields.

Very few people just magically pick up on something and are an expert in a short amount of time. Being natural is more about having the timing that it took to pick up on a given thing and had consistency and figuring out quickly what to do and how to apply it. When it comes to someone with natural strength, I see guys like Slim The Hammerman, Farmer Burns, Eugene Sandow and a few others. Once they took to the thing they became legendary for, they dominated through training, proper application and intensity that made what they did look like a piece of cake. 

Let's talk about Slim, he had that natural gift of strength for his feats because of the back breaking work he did in the quarry and amazed the mighty atom when he asked Slim to bend a nail and Slim did it. Think about this, the amount of strength it takes to bend a spike and never really having any training and just be able to do it without hesitation. That just isn't human and that is one definition of natural strength. Another would be Bud Jeffries, one of the world's strongest men drug-free had to develop his strength through real work and not do anything to chemically enhance it. He developed a gift of strength that even some of the most chemically enhanced strongmen today can't do, that's another definition of what is considered natural strength.

Another look at natural strength is what farmers, laborers, carpenters and blacksmiths do. These people are stupid strong in many areas because of the tools and the way they twist, push, pull, grip and lift/carry their body throughout the day in order to make a living. Have you ever shaken the hand of a farmer or a blacksmith? They're hand strength can often times be intimating. Slim would be along those lines of a crazy strong laborer and could do things that even made other laborers' jaw drop. 

Being naturally strong on one end means you have built strength without the need of steroids or enhancers but another look at it is having that continued strength even way past your prime and having that vim and vigor. From a mental standpoint, it never comes easy but you just do it and you learn where to channel your focus. Does Natural Strength have a certain look? From my point of view, looks aren't always relevant, hell a natural bodybuilder may look awesome but his strength doesn't match up but if you look at average looking guys under 180 that look like they never saw a gym in their life yet have incredible strength it pisses off people that think they know what strength really is. 

Real strength from a natural perspective comes from developing a consistent progression with proper application and understanding the body's capabilities of handling things over a period of time. It comes quickly to some, for others it takes time but the strength that is developed could be carried over to other areas. On the other hand, some people are just born with certain genetics that makes strength building come at a quicker pace with or without proper training or application. So where's the true perspective on having a natural gift of strength? The real answer, there really isn't one, you either build it up, have it right away or not or have some genetic outlook on doing things at a faster or slower rate than others. Everyone is different and have different aspects of strength that either comes natural to them or developing it over time.