When you do a workout, at times after finishing a set, you'll want to sit and chill for a bit or play around with your phone and twiddle your thumbs and text somebody or something; this is a bad idea. Training is a sacred time and it's better IMO to keep moving and not stopping because you're focusing most of your energy into the exercises you do and what is called active recovery keeps your body from going into complete rest mode.
Now unless you're an athlete (Pro or Ameteur), it's a different ball game because you're training for a specific sport and the set up is quite different than someone who is just working out. Competing or training for competition takes a different mindset and rules of engagement in how your workouts are set up. Personal Trainers have a different set of rules in how they apply the set up for the person their training; each person is different and they'll either work them to death or aren't always clear how that person handles their way of doing things.
My way of training even by a year has been very different. I haven't done 500 Hindu Squat Workouts this consistently since 2017 and even then the workouts were night and day. These days, I don't do 500 straight through, I use the deck of cards which I have written about and if I need a break, it is because at times I carry a lot of tension in my lower back and need to let it wind down, this brings me to the point where the title of this post becomes relevant. If I end up sitting down in the middle of a workout or even an exercise, I might as well end it there because I could get too comfortable and not want to continue, so i'll either walk around so I can keep moving or I would grab the Ropeless Jump Rope. This keeps me from being too comfortable in the middle of my training.
Personally, I don't like sitting down, especially if i'm breathing really hard because certain things in the body can be rushed too fast and one of two things can happen when you get up....One, you're either struggling just to stand and your body might end up aching like crazy or two, you stand up too fast and you get dizzy AF and you'll have to rest even more just regain your damn composure. That's an extreme way of putting it. I've pushed myself so hard that one time in the gym, I nearly blacked out and felt like I was having a heart attack, this was at 19 years old BTW.
The best way that keeps me going these days where I don't have to sit down and continue working out is using Active Recovery. Using the Ropeless Jump Rope as a way of "rest" keeps my mind sharp and helps with my breathing so when I'm ready for another set or number of reps with the cards or during my animal workout game, I'll have the strength and endurance to go at it again. This keeps up my endurance and works my conditioning as well. When I do Circuit Workouts like from Darebee, my objective is to not rest whatsoever unless I mark off the set and then move on to the next without hesitation, this is a real test of your conditioning.
If I'm going to be sitting, it's either writing, watching a movie or tv show, talking to people or messing around on my phone promoting stuff or hell when my wife works out and needs my help pointing things out to her, never when I actually train. The sign that tells me that you absolutely have to sit down in a workout is you pushed a little too hard. I look at it like it's a wrestling match at times, there's no rest in wrestling so when you workout, you keep moving, you can slow down a time or two but never stop. You tweak a few things or you listen to your body but the less time you completely rest, the more in shape you'll be.
You could say that completely resting is a weakness, it is to an extent so I'm not completely throwing it out. If you're a beginner and learning how things go than sure, take a seat if you need to or you're at an advanced age but if you're in good shape or even pretty damn awesome shape, sitting shouldn't even be an option unless it's a wall sit. Keep moving and if you need to slow down, do so but DO NOT STOP until your workout is done. This is a test of mental toughness.
Monday, January 27, 2020
Friday, January 24, 2020
Bodyweight Exercises For Real Life
From a general POV, Bodyweight Exercises have a lot to offer in terms of a solid construct of fitness. The problem with today's aspects of Bodyweight Training is that it's not treated as a sacred area of developing practical and proper applications for real world situations and is treated mainly as a source believed only used for endurance and doesn't generate a lot of strength. You can develop insane skills and build a crazy physique like those Barstarzz guys or do things that create great skill for certain competition but where does it go in the real world?
In things like Crossfit, they push to their absolute limit without regard for safety and practical applications. Most of the time, the pull up in that system isn't a true pull up and they're setting themselves up for injuries beyond their understanding. A real pull up develops strength for real life and has a greater rate of building an injury proof back, shoulders, arms and core. If you want to test your endurance and your lung power, go for a good hike, one of the best exercises for developing stamina for hiking is the Step-Up.
The basic principles of Bodyweight Training is to develop what Johnny Grube refers to "Conditioned Strength", you know I've written about him in the past and even though I don't agree with him on certain things, I have high respect for his conditioning. If you can't carry firewood without getting winded or be able to walk up stairs easily, there's something you need to do in order to counter those things. You're not going to be able to chop firewood from benching or able to swim by doing machine curls but if you apply exercises such as animal movements, squats, core work and sprints, you'll be in shape for days.
I have said that most Bodyweight Exercises are boring to me because once you get into the high reps within the triple digits, where do you really go after that? That doesn't mean they don't work like a charm, they most certainly do and I can attest to it by being able to do things that don't get winded in real life, I've hiked for long periods of time, chopped wood without losing strength and can swim pretty well. A key aspect to have a hold on is how you breathe, the better your breathing, the more endurance you have period. This is a critical element in a combat situation and I learned the hard way that if you can't control your breathing, you might as well be dead. In No-Gi Grappling, at first I was putting too much emphasis on my strength and not seeing how my breath work went and I was gassing out quicker than you can say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Little by little, I relaxed a bit more and focused on my breathing while rolling and was lasting longer in rounds.
You don't need to do hundreds of crunches and you certainly don't need to do muscle up upon muscle up to use your training in the real world. Use the basics down to a T and that's really all you need. You can gain more advanced skills but the basics will save your ass more than those advanced moves ever will. Also, if you're getting injured in training more than in the real world, there's something wrong there. In training, it's more controlled and applying things that are useful and learning what works, but in real life, not everything is in our control and sometimes injuries at times are inevitable but we do the best we can to not let that happen.
Get in condition not just to look like a million bucks but to use it when the time comes to either go on hikes, help a friend move, do some labor as a job or to help people in need or to even save a life.
In things like Crossfit, they push to their absolute limit without regard for safety and practical applications. Most of the time, the pull up in that system isn't a true pull up and they're setting themselves up for injuries beyond their understanding. A real pull up develops strength for real life and has a greater rate of building an injury proof back, shoulders, arms and core. If you want to test your endurance and your lung power, go for a good hike, one of the best exercises for developing stamina for hiking is the Step-Up.
The basic principles of Bodyweight Training is to develop what Johnny Grube refers to "Conditioned Strength", you know I've written about him in the past and even though I don't agree with him on certain things, I have high respect for his conditioning. If you can't carry firewood without getting winded or be able to walk up stairs easily, there's something you need to do in order to counter those things. You're not going to be able to chop firewood from benching or able to swim by doing machine curls but if you apply exercises such as animal movements, squats, core work and sprints, you'll be in shape for days.
I have said that most Bodyweight Exercises are boring to me because once you get into the high reps within the triple digits, where do you really go after that? That doesn't mean they don't work like a charm, they most certainly do and I can attest to it by being able to do things that don't get winded in real life, I've hiked for long periods of time, chopped wood without losing strength and can swim pretty well. A key aspect to have a hold on is how you breathe, the better your breathing, the more endurance you have period. This is a critical element in a combat situation and I learned the hard way that if you can't control your breathing, you might as well be dead. In No-Gi Grappling, at first I was putting too much emphasis on my strength and not seeing how my breath work went and I was gassing out quicker than you can say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Little by little, I relaxed a bit more and focused on my breathing while rolling and was lasting longer in rounds.
You don't need to do hundreds of crunches and you certainly don't need to do muscle up upon muscle up to use your training in the real world. Use the basics down to a T and that's really all you need. You can gain more advanced skills but the basics will save your ass more than those advanced moves ever will. Also, if you're getting injured in training more than in the real world, there's something wrong there. In training, it's more controlled and applying things that are useful and learning what works, but in real life, not everything is in our control and sometimes injuries at times are inevitable but we do the best we can to not let that happen.
Get in condition not just to look like a million bucks but to use it when the time comes to either go on hikes, help a friend move, do some labor as a job or to help people in need or to even save a life.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Animal Movement: The Fun Way To Get In Awesome Shape
A lot of us have suffered through tough workouts and two ways have gone about it; we either strive and push through or we suffer more by pushing through. Through blood, sweat, tears and screaming a time or two, going through certain workouts in my experience never seemed to satisfy a craving for finding the most enjoyable, until I became a fanatic on Animal Movement Conditioning.
Some people will say if you enjoy your workouts, you're not doing it right. I do believe in discipline and striving to improve everyday plus working hard for what I want to achieve. Suffering in training at times is only temporary but over time, it can make you worse than when you started. That's not to say you shouldn't work hard, bust your ass but with intention and not suffer serious injury.
When it comes to Animal Movements, they make me bust my ass and push through the mental barriers more than any other system and for good reason. I don't feel bored and you can be creative in more ways than with typical calisthenics. The fun part about it is it drives you to work hard without realizing you're working hard. Hard work takes discipline, there's no way around that and many successful people busted their ass to get where they wanted to be but there's an opposite side of the coin too; many people who worked hard, showed up and be more than the other person has not only suffered physically and mentally but have gotten the short end of the stick and were never truly recognized for their efforts.
Life is too damn short to live in a suffering state so why not make the most of it even the darkest hours. Life already has you by the balls or if you're a woman, make you feel less of yourself and push your state of mind into a frenzy that can be difficult to get out of. The point I'm making in the case of working out with animal movements is that you don't have to suffer and when you move and feel free, you can take that mindset and work hard outside of that with a better vibe of positive outlooks.
I never felt right when I just dread through a workout and go through the motions and just act like life is just as worse. The power of moving like an animal creates the mindset of having a great adventure and that's what it teaches about life, to quote Peter Pan from the film Hook he says at the very end "to live, would be an awfully big adventure." I've said many times that the Animal Dice Game teaches you to expect the unexpected, to not be afraid of what comes next and see it as a way to play and view things from another perspective, to transform and use your imagination and that is one of the greatest things to strive for in life as well.
Move like an animal and you'll never look at exercise the same way again. It makes you work hard while having a great time and challenging yourself outside normal fitness methods and developing your body that gives you long-term strength, insane cardio, both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, balance (especially if you're over 40), coordination and functional muscles. You can make it high impact or low impact, short or long and it brings out the kid within all of us. It makes you calmer if you're hyperactive, burns calories like crazy and can turn you into a fitness machine in record time. Work hard and play hard at the same time.
Some people will say if you enjoy your workouts, you're not doing it right. I do believe in discipline and striving to improve everyday plus working hard for what I want to achieve. Suffering in training at times is only temporary but over time, it can make you worse than when you started. That's not to say you shouldn't work hard, bust your ass but with intention and not suffer serious injury.
When it comes to Animal Movements, they make me bust my ass and push through the mental barriers more than any other system and for good reason. I don't feel bored and you can be creative in more ways than with typical calisthenics. The fun part about it is it drives you to work hard without realizing you're working hard. Hard work takes discipline, there's no way around that and many successful people busted their ass to get where they wanted to be but there's an opposite side of the coin too; many people who worked hard, showed up and be more than the other person has not only suffered physically and mentally but have gotten the short end of the stick and were never truly recognized for their efforts.
Life is too damn short to live in a suffering state so why not make the most of it even the darkest hours. Life already has you by the balls or if you're a woman, make you feel less of yourself and push your state of mind into a frenzy that can be difficult to get out of. The point I'm making in the case of working out with animal movements is that you don't have to suffer and when you move and feel free, you can take that mindset and work hard outside of that with a better vibe of positive outlooks.
I never felt right when I just dread through a workout and go through the motions and just act like life is just as worse. The power of moving like an animal creates the mindset of having a great adventure and that's what it teaches about life, to quote Peter Pan from the film Hook he says at the very end "to live, would be an awfully big adventure." I've said many times that the Animal Dice Game teaches you to expect the unexpected, to not be afraid of what comes next and see it as a way to play and view things from another perspective, to transform and use your imagination and that is one of the greatest things to strive for in life as well.
Move like an animal and you'll never look at exercise the same way again. It makes you work hard while having a great time and challenging yourself outside normal fitness methods and developing your body that gives you long-term strength, insane cardio, both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, balance (especially if you're over 40), coordination and functional muscles. You can make it high impact or low impact, short or long and it brings out the kid within all of us. It makes you calmer if you're hyperactive, burns calories like crazy and can turn you into a fitness machine in record time. Work hard and play hard at the same time.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Ropeless Jump Roping
Almost sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? Although it isn't very appealing, I don't go for things that look like a million bucks but I do go for things that could work for me. For as long as I can remember, I was never really coordinated whether I was in sports or whatever. I did get good at some things but I never had an equal level of either side of my body. Hence why I was always hesitant with Jump Roping.
As a kid I did the different Jump Rope games we do and played around with a rope in various PE classes over the years but no matter how hard I worked at it, I just never clicked with it, getting hit all the time, never could count my jumps well and couldn't last a minute without to save my life without getting smacked somewhere. Only less than a few years ago, I decided to try the Ropeless Jump Rope. I figured, what the hell I'll give it a chance. Again, I wasn't very coordinated but something felt right with this thing. My practice had better results and yeah it's not the same as a regular jump rope but I can learn all the same exercises without getting smacked around.
Some may ask "What the hell is that? Why not just use a real rope or not have anything and just jump?" They're not wrong, I could just use a real rope, I have a few that even my wife uses from time to time but I like the feeling of having something in my hands and work my body as if it was a regular rope. I can skip, I can sprint in place, jump side to side, do lunges, walk, march, crisscross and other things plus I can use it as a workout on it's own or use it a active recovery tool during regular workouts.
I have done a full 10 minute workout with it non stop and it has been said that 10 minutes of rope skipping is the equivalent to 30 minutes of running. My calves were sore as hell but it was a great workout that had great benefits including cardiovascular conditioning. My main purpose of it is to either wake myself up or as warm up/cool down and between rolls of my animal dice game. The jumping in between rolls of my animal game varies in speed, sometimes I'll run in place or jog in place and when my breath is back at a level where I'm comfortable, I'll go back to the game and continue without feeling tired or fatigued. This helps with keeping up my endurance and not sit around or walk around breathing like a maniac.
Whether you're a beginner or a professional athlete, the ropeless jump rope can be a great tool for anyone and like me, it saves the frustration and feeling discouraged because we don't have the coordination so you can get the job done when you need to. Jump Roping has been a tool for many people that need some solid conditioning, cardiovascular/muscular endurance, stamina and speed. From MMA Fighters to Hockey Players, Baseball stars, Olympic Wrestlers, Average Joes and High School/College Jocks, it's helped many become successful in their endeavor and it's great for people who just want to get in shape.
Reap the benefits of regular jump roping by grabbing the Ropeless Jump Rope and have fun with workouts that will take you to the next level.
Friday, January 17, 2020
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Thursday, January 16, 2020
In Our Imagination The Wild Is A Beautiful Place
What would it be like to live in the jungle? Surrounded by a beautiful forest, come and go as you please, no worries on predators and able to thrive without effort. You get to transform into any animal you wish and play as you develop the great attributes that makes animals be in incredible shape: Strength, Endurance, Stamina, Flexibility, Balance, Coordination and developing Power in the Tendons & Ligaments. You have no enemies and you live in harmony. Pretty cool huh?
When I play the Animal Dice Game, I picture in my mind that I'm at my strongest and most conditioned. Always prepared and know by memory which animal to do and transform into that animal, even for a few seconds. The game is always different, the list is the same but it's never in the same order twice and the body is always on alert as it moves in awkward positions. When I play this game, I feel right at home, I get to live out a fantasy in action and get to move in unusual ways as opposed to regular calisthenics.
It becomes a meditation that dives in much deeper than just sitting and letting the mind go blank. Although I know i'm in a garage or a hotel room or out in a field in real time when I play, I do go into a place in my mind and pretend I'm there than where I actually am. Being able to crouch like a Tiger, crawl like a crab, waddle like a duck and walk/run like a bear to me brings out a whole other level of mind setting than doing hundreds of push-ups, squats and/or lifting. I have done literally thousands upon thousands of reps/steps with animal movement and it doesn't seem to get boring, once i'm in a groove, I go into a trance-like state and just keep going.
The only time I even remotely feel human is when I need to break away from breathing a little too hard but unlike a human, I don't sit or walk around like a zombie, I take out my ropeless jump rope and skip to not only keep up my stamina but stay alert and aware of what I'm doing. When my breath has better control, I put down the rope and get back to rolling the dice and moving. Today alone I did 885 Reps/Steps of Animal Movement and skipped the rope only twice, three times if you count the warm up and it felt incredible. I felt high as a kite and was feeling very happy and grateful. From meditation to joint loosening to doing deck of cards workouts, I've never felt as high or happy than when I do animal moves.
It's not just about fitness or testing the limits of my endurance, it's about enjoying what you do while you work hard and constantly using your brain and your limbs. Moving like a wild animal is by no means easy and it can be difficult to learn for some people, but once you're able to handle the movements and can go for a good 20 minutes or more, you're in for the ride of your life and there's constant room for improvement. No movement will ever be perfect and just like Disneyland, you're never going to be done and there will always be something to build on.
Want to develop Animal Strength & Conditioning, check out Animal Workouts that are on the right side of the blog. Get both the book and DVD for an awesome low price. Learn to do some bad ass moves and move like you're in the jungle.
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Legs Feed The Wolf
The scene that tackles what Coach Brooks wanted out of his team was a punishment these young studs needed to learn. A few of them played a game and were distracted by a few blondes and brunettes in the stands and the coach took notice. Got them onto the ice after the game, exhausted and ready to sleep off the rest of the night, were told to run wind sprints. This drill was one of the most hated yet effective methods in their arsenal and they learned the hard way of what it's like to be pushed to the absolute limit.
In most cases, conditioning is what defines a person's abilities whether on the court, the ice, the mat or on the field. You can have amazing talent, technique and charisma like Hulk Hogan but if you get winded before anything ends or just after it even starts, everything goes out the window. Lombardi would say "Fatigue makes cowards of us all" and even Karl Gotch would say things like "The most expensive car won't run without gas, oil and water." Being in top condition can be the true testament to how you apply yourself in your sport or even in a fight.
What this quote in particular means is that in order for the strongest wolf packs to survive, they need to be aware, be able to endure long distances and have strength even in the most crucial situations so they can eat and live to fight another day. If the wolf isn't in condition, it will starve and potentially die quicker. What does this mean for us humans? Beyond just sports, we need strong legs and legs that can go the distance for certain types of labor, able to move in our jobs that require a lot of walking and at times endure heavy moving of furniture and climbing.
As we age, one of the first areas of the body to lose it's abilities are the legs. Bad knees, weak ankles, injury prone quads and the joints surrounding the hips and groin. I've always understood the value of having long term strength in my legs since I was in my early 20's and I treasure every moment that i'm able to do things that can be beneficial to others and not get blown up. When you train both the muscles and the joints and ligaments with great intention, you have a recipe for developing powerful legs. In our society when it comes to fitness it's all about muscles, muscles and muscles and not enough focus on strengthening the very things that keep us together. Having a pulled muscle heals much faster than a broken bone or torn ligaments and if you do the research, there are more injuries to the tendons than anything else in the body.
One workout I did recently that would condition the legs to a great degree is taking a deck of cards and doing Hindu Squats & Step Ups. Although I prefer animal movements, this workout not only kicked my ass but made me appreciate and respect more on how the legs are so critical to the human body. Made the red cards Step Ups & the black cards Hindu Squats I managed to get through the entire deck but if I started to feel like I was breathing too hard and take a little break I would skip with my ropeless jump rope until my breath was under control and I can go again. This was such a great workout that I didn't feel sore the next day and my knees felt amazing. This had a combination of going down one movement and moving up with another, working the quads and calves in a different format. The total came out to 225 Hindu Squats & 450 Step Ups.
Having strong muscles is one thing but strong tendons and ligaments will help you reduce injuries and be able to keep going. Some of the most conditioned athletes such as Ed Strangler Lewis, Herschel Walker, Rickey Henderson, Jarmoir Jagr & John Havlicek had legs that made them legendary in their sport and had stamina that stood above the rest in their sport and that helped them go on to hall of fame careers.
Like the Wolf, condition your legs in the best ways possible and as you get older, keep them maintained so you can prevent possible injuries and/or having replacements in your hips and knees. It is a sure fire to live a quality life when you can still go no matter what your age.
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
The Cult In Physical Culture
Ever since the world was introduced to Pumping Iron, fitness became a phenomenon much larger than ever before. Long before that film turned people on going to the gym, fitness was more geared towards bodybuilders that had more of a closed circuit with a following and mail-order courses were the norm with the most famous being Charles Atlas' Dynamic Tension. There were gyms around the country but nowhere near the quantity it is today.
If you wanted to get fit, you either learned by word of mouth where to find a gym or you found a course in various ads throughout countless magazines and you learned the ins and outs of lifting weights or doing calisthenics in school or through sports training. Gym training for all intents and purposes was geared towards bodybuilding, Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Some sports training. There was a time when sports coaches banned their athletes from lifting weights because they thought they had slowed them down. It turns out that wasn't always the case.
Back to what this topic is really about. As far back as anyone that ever wrote anything on fitness, somehow, there would be some kind of following. An extreme variation of this is some authors would make claims and instead of trying to help people get fit, it would be more like a snake-oil salesman and put ideas in people's heads that they're method is the very best and nothing else will give you what that method gave. It's marketing and prying on a demographic, that's all it really was and not all courses were that bad and had great success along with people who lived their lives for the better.
When fitness goes to the level of becoming more like a cult in some circles, that's where certain tend to become sketchy. Dynamic Tension was overall very successful and promoted great ideas for fitness, nutrition and what a boy can learn to become more of a man, it worked. The pros did outweigh more than the cons but it's not a course to turn someone superhuman and like a bible thumper, many people thought of it as such. When you treat a course beyond what it is and not think for yourself, you can get caught in a trap.
Here's another example, Alois P. Swoboda's course on Conscience Evolution & Fitness Course. Back before there was Maxick, Charles Atlas and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Swoboda developed a course for exercises purely as a means for living a healthy life without needing weights or other apparatus and focused solely on tension exercises and various calisthenics. Some of the claims he made up were way out there and for all intents and purposes, he was a quack and hard to tell what was truly believable. The people he said that did his course was a list of politicians, lumberjacks, athletes and even Harry Houdini and Charles Atlas which I'll admit is reaching it. He was what you would call a cult leader and claimed nothing came close and his method was the end-all be all. Even at the point where he claimed limbs would grown back, talk about messed up.
This was the norm for many physical culturists back in the day and quite a few were far more famous than others because look at the times back then; there was no internet, no cell phones, no way to truly prove what the best was and many claims never seemed to be real to believe yet many flocked and never had a second thought. It's scary sometimes how people are more like sheep than human.
Many of these courses worked and people changed their lives for the better, some weren't always so lucky and no matter how much they followed it to the T, they either got hurt or didn't understand what they were doing and just went with it without thinking for themselves. Like a typical cult, you want to believe everything a leader tells you, you become one-dimensional and you no longer focus on your individuality, you want to escape to something and if there's any hint of realistic approaches, it becomes painful to bare. Other Physical Culturists or those that claimed to be, pried on people's emotions and self doubt asking them general questions but coming at them with an iron fist while they put a smile on as they do it.
My friend John Peterson is another example of a Physical Culturist that has been known to go off the deep end a time or two and not realize he is drowning. His heart is in the right place and I've learned a lot from him, some good and some pretty damn bad. He does get a bad rap about what he does or claims but without question, he is a fanatic about exercise especially on refurbishing Dynamic Tension in 21st Century Society. His style of training changes quite often, he'll talk about high volume calisthenics one day, weight vest training the next or recently on Isometrics. He has had a bad few years and won't go into detail what those really were and some he has talked to me about were extremely dark but he has delayed his "latest" course so many times, the number is more than the books I've read over my lifetime. I loved his work on Pushing Yourself To Power and has one of the best books on Isometrics out there (even though it's a carbon copy of 7 Seconds To A Perfect Body) but his followers treated it as a one dimensional thing and acted like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, bullshit, they were stuck in their own head and barely had a good physique to show for it.
Fitness courses in a nutshell, are nothing more than suggestions and ideas that doesn't really have anything new and takes bits and pieces of past courses and molded into a method or series of methods that reflect today's society. Don't misunderstand me, I love promoting various people and I love their work and had the pleasure of experiencing the very best but no single course that has ever been written is the GOAT. You can take the very best of what you learned and mold it to your individual goals or ideas that suit your needs. To be the very fittest you can be, you can't rely on one method unless it is all you can do and your body has extreme limitations, stick to the basics, find what suits you and what interests you. Not everybody is going to do crossfit or strongman and not everyone is going to get fit through MMA style conditioning, it's just not going to happen. Pick what interests you the most and adjust your goals to get the most out of your fitness.
Follow your own path, not strictly from a fitness manual.
If you wanted to get fit, you either learned by word of mouth where to find a gym or you found a course in various ads throughout countless magazines and you learned the ins and outs of lifting weights or doing calisthenics in school or through sports training. Gym training for all intents and purposes was geared towards bodybuilding, Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Some sports training. There was a time when sports coaches banned their athletes from lifting weights because they thought they had slowed them down. It turns out that wasn't always the case.
Back to what this topic is really about. As far back as anyone that ever wrote anything on fitness, somehow, there would be some kind of following. An extreme variation of this is some authors would make claims and instead of trying to help people get fit, it would be more like a snake-oil salesman and put ideas in people's heads that they're method is the very best and nothing else will give you what that method gave. It's marketing and prying on a demographic, that's all it really was and not all courses were that bad and had great success along with people who lived their lives for the better.
When fitness goes to the level of becoming more like a cult in some circles, that's where certain tend to become sketchy. Dynamic Tension was overall very successful and promoted great ideas for fitness, nutrition and what a boy can learn to become more of a man, it worked. The pros did outweigh more than the cons but it's not a course to turn someone superhuman and like a bible thumper, many people thought of it as such. When you treat a course beyond what it is and not think for yourself, you can get caught in a trap.
Here's another example, Alois P. Swoboda's course on Conscience Evolution & Fitness Course. Back before there was Maxick, Charles Atlas and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Swoboda developed a course for exercises purely as a means for living a healthy life without needing weights or other apparatus and focused solely on tension exercises and various calisthenics. Some of the claims he made up were way out there and for all intents and purposes, he was a quack and hard to tell what was truly believable. The people he said that did his course was a list of politicians, lumberjacks, athletes and even Harry Houdini and Charles Atlas which I'll admit is reaching it. He was what you would call a cult leader and claimed nothing came close and his method was the end-all be all. Even at the point where he claimed limbs would grown back, talk about messed up.
This was the norm for many physical culturists back in the day and quite a few were far more famous than others because look at the times back then; there was no internet, no cell phones, no way to truly prove what the best was and many claims never seemed to be real to believe yet many flocked and never had a second thought. It's scary sometimes how people are more like sheep than human.
Many of these courses worked and people changed their lives for the better, some weren't always so lucky and no matter how much they followed it to the T, they either got hurt or didn't understand what they were doing and just went with it without thinking for themselves. Like a typical cult, you want to believe everything a leader tells you, you become one-dimensional and you no longer focus on your individuality, you want to escape to something and if there's any hint of realistic approaches, it becomes painful to bare. Other Physical Culturists or those that claimed to be, pried on people's emotions and self doubt asking them general questions but coming at them with an iron fist while they put a smile on as they do it.
My friend John Peterson is another example of a Physical Culturist that has been known to go off the deep end a time or two and not realize he is drowning. His heart is in the right place and I've learned a lot from him, some good and some pretty damn bad. He does get a bad rap about what he does or claims but without question, he is a fanatic about exercise especially on refurbishing Dynamic Tension in 21st Century Society. His style of training changes quite often, he'll talk about high volume calisthenics one day, weight vest training the next or recently on Isometrics. He has had a bad few years and won't go into detail what those really were and some he has talked to me about were extremely dark but he has delayed his "latest" course so many times, the number is more than the books I've read over my lifetime. I loved his work on Pushing Yourself To Power and has one of the best books on Isometrics out there (even though it's a carbon copy of 7 Seconds To A Perfect Body) but his followers treated it as a one dimensional thing and acted like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, bullshit, they were stuck in their own head and barely had a good physique to show for it.
Fitness courses in a nutshell, are nothing more than suggestions and ideas that doesn't really have anything new and takes bits and pieces of past courses and molded into a method or series of methods that reflect today's society. Don't misunderstand me, I love promoting various people and I love their work and had the pleasure of experiencing the very best but no single course that has ever been written is the GOAT. You can take the very best of what you learned and mold it to your individual goals or ideas that suit your needs. To be the very fittest you can be, you can't rely on one method unless it is all you can do and your body has extreme limitations, stick to the basics, find what suits you and what interests you. Not everybody is going to do crossfit or strongman and not everyone is going to get fit through MMA style conditioning, it's just not going to happen. Pick what interests you the most and adjust your goals to get the most out of your fitness.
Follow your own path, not strictly from a fitness manual.
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Stationary Movements Have Become More Boring Than Result Producing
When I do have the chance to do calisthenics or work with cables or a wheel, I only do enough to where I feel good and I'm not stressing over things but lately around 90% of the time, my mindset is not in that mode of doing calisthenics anymore. Most who are into bodyweight training, get into that mindset and have a better will to improve on them. For me, regardless of the workout, I get bored really fast and not because i'm out of shape or anything, I've done hundreds of push-ups, thousands of squats, tons of sit-ups, step-ups, pull ups and others and quite frankly, it doesn't feel appealing to me anymore.
People who throw certain calisthenics or stationary movements down your throat and say they're the best of all fitness isn't true in the overall general sense. Bodyweight exercises do work, there's no question about it and can produce off the chain results if you do them right, but if your mind and body aren't there, no matter how good you can do them, won't bring the results you truly crave. As far as i'm concerned, if you're in one spot for an entire workout, you might as well as be in prison. That's what it feels like most of the time these days. I love to move around, feel free and go wherever I please, you can't really do that with typical calisthenics.
This is merely my observation for myself, as an individual, it is critical to understand what you want out of your workouts, stock up as much knowledge as you can and practice what suits you the best. As for everyone else, feel free to explore whatever brings you the best out of yourself. The only stationary exercises that keep me interested is Isometrics and maybe my Ropeless Jump Rope.
I use to love doing push-ups, squats and various circuits of bodyweight exercises and every once in a blue moon, if I have an itch I do them but Animal Movements to me are the GOAT when it comes to exercise period. I may not do 100 Push-ups in a row and I'm not going to do 500 Squats everyday but get me in a bear crawl or move around like an ape and you will no one happier than me. My mood is day and night when it comes to animals and calisthenics.
I'm nearing 15 years of doing exercise every single day and that's a long ass time for most people and changes have been made, things go away, some come back, others are a new experience but the most consistent form of conditioning and fitness for me has been Animal Movements. Literally 10's of thousands of animal reps/steps and I never grow bored from it, I can't say the same with other bodyweight exercises. At 35, I've experienced so much in the world of Physical Culture and when it comes to fitness over my whole life, I've been doing it for nearly 22 years. I'm still no expert on anything but I feel blessed with the knowledge I have accumulated and learned what works and what doesn't.
This isn't about trashing calisthenics or saying they're useless because they're not and should be practiced with intent and understanding how they work and experiencing some tough workouts from them but their place isn't 100% with me anymore like they use to be. They're a phase and they'll come and go. Continue to learn and develop your own evolution in your fitness journey because we are all unique and not looked at needing to be the same or worship a method like it's a cult. You have your own journey, with your knowledge, you can create anything you set your mind to. If your heart is into something, go after it with passion and fire in your soul, if you don't have the heart for it, don't do it cause it'll just bring heartache.
People who throw certain calisthenics or stationary movements down your throat and say they're the best of all fitness isn't true in the overall general sense. Bodyweight exercises do work, there's no question about it and can produce off the chain results if you do them right, but if your mind and body aren't there, no matter how good you can do them, won't bring the results you truly crave. As far as i'm concerned, if you're in one spot for an entire workout, you might as well as be in prison. That's what it feels like most of the time these days. I love to move around, feel free and go wherever I please, you can't really do that with typical calisthenics.
This is merely my observation for myself, as an individual, it is critical to understand what you want out of your workouts, stock up as much knowledge as you can and practice what suits you the best. As for everyone else, feel free to explore whatever brings you the best out of yourself. The only stationary exercises that keep me interested is Isometrics and maybe my Ropeless Jump Rope.
I use to love doing push-ups, squats and various circuits of bodyweight exercises and every once in a blue moon, if I have an itch I do them but Animal Movements to me are the GOAT when it comes to exercise period. I may not do 100 Push-ups in a row and I'm not going to do 500 Squats everyday but get me in a bear crawl or move around like an ape and you will no one happier than me. My mood is day and night when it comes to animals and calisthenics.
I'm nearing 15 years of doing exercise every single day and that's a long ass time for most people and changes have been made, things go away, some come back, others are a new experience but the most consistent form of conditioning and fitness for me has been Animal Movements. Literally 10's of thousands of animal reps/steps and I never grow bored from it, I can't say the same with other bodyweight exercises. At 35, I've experienced so much in the world of Physical Culture and when it comes to fitness over my whole life, I've been doing it for nearly 22 years. I'm still no expert on anything but I feel blessed with the knowledge I have accumulated and learned what works and what doesn't.
This isn't about trashing calisthenics or saying they're useless because they're not and should be practiced with intent and understanding how they work and experiencing some tough workouts from them but their place isn't 100% with me anymore like they use to be. They're a phase and they'll come and go. Continue to learn and develop your own evolution in your fitness journey because we are all unique and not looked at needing to be the same or worship a method like it's a cult. You have your own journey, with your knowledge, you can create anything you set your mind to. If your heart is into something, go after it with passion and fire in your soul, if you don't have the heart for it, don't do it cause it'll just bring heartache.
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Isometric Straps
We're always discovering something in the fitness world and some of it is downright laughable but there are others that are worth value beyond the dollar. Although Isometrics has been around for centuries and the most convenient form of Isometrics is through resisting limb against limb, it's good to find things that target other areas of the muscle and build tendon strength from angles Bodyweight won't apply.
The only strap I use is John Peterson's Isometric Power Belt and it has worked great for me but I would also experiment with other forms of Isometric Equipment when the time comes. Say for example the WorldFit Iso Trainer would be another awesome option and would be cheaper for most people to buy. They're both travel friendly, you can adjust to do various exercises and can help you achieve incredible strength.
When it comes to equipment, very few can have both dynamic and isometric components and the Hook from Bruce Tackett is one of those ingenious pieces of equipment. The Hook can be used in a variety of ways that is top notch and that is the use of Isometrics with a strap or you can use the handles to put bands in and use it for expander training. That's pretty damn cool. Cable Training, Suspension Training & Isometrics can all be used with this thing and one day I will have it in my hands. Virtually no limit to what you can achieve.
Strength Training goes beyond just muscles, it's about training the tendons and ligaments to a different level and having strength that is useful, practical and even lifesaving. Isometrics has exercises you can do at so many freaking angles, it would take a lifetime to figure out them all. Some of the greatest athletes have used Isometrics to their advantage and when it comes to experimentation, guys like Steve Justa, Bud Jeffries, Bruce Lee, Alexander Zass and Dan Gable are the top of a list that extends more than I can mention.
Steve Justa used Isos to heal his body and strengthen himself in ways that would baffle even the slightest expert on the subject today. Bud Jeffries has worked tirelessly on building strength from every angle in so many aspects it would take an encyclopedia to name every exercise he has experimented on and Isometrics is no exception. Alexander Zass is the Godfather of Isometric Training and has claimed that title for well over 100 years; getting caught 4 times as a POW in WW1 and not only escaping but tearing apart what was meant to shackle him and doing feats of strength an extreme few would ever have the balls to attempt.
Bruce Lee was one of the biggest names to ever come out of Hollywood and Hong Kong Cinema through his philosophy and background of Martial Arts that people still talk about and practice to this day. He used Isometrics to strengthen a terrible back injury and through his practice of this method, had one of the best physiques for a man his size. His striking was so fast that directors and cameramen had to tell him to slow down because they couldn't see his punches.
Dan Gable's Pinning Strength was one of the many results with using Isometrics in his quest to dominate the Ameteur Wrestling scene. Even wrestling guys twice his size made them feel they were in quicksand when Gable would have them down on the mat. He would practice Isometrics as often as he could and even broke a desk or two in his classrooms. Although an advocate of high volume calisthenics, weight training and running, his conditioning wasn't complete without Isometric Training. At the '72 Olympics, not one opponent scored a point on him and getting a gold medal was practically in his grasp from the very first round.
What can you accomplish with Isometric Training? Whether it's with equipment or not, it can be essential and even crucial to your success either in sports, health or everyday living. Train with the best and learn the key elements that make Isometrics work in your favor.
Friday, January 3, 2020
Rope Skipping Can Be Your Best Friend
Now that the new year is here, it's time to discover other possibilities to make your workouts interesting and keeping up with your ability to keep going. As you know, I'm a fanatic on certain areas of conditioning and learning different styles to test my mental and physical abilities. I know full well I'm not a pro athlete and as a fan of real wrestling like Catch & Folkstyle/Greco-Roman Amateur Wrestling, I can never be in the type of condition those men and women are in, but I can however, learn how to handle my body to stay healthy but challenge the norm of just working out.
Rope Skipping has been a staple for athletes for decades from Combat to Football, Olympic Champions, Soccer Players and Wrestlers; so it's safe to say that it can be very beneficial and sometimes overlooked with the way technology is today. I'm not very coordinated with the typical jump rope, I never really was and couldn't put myself through getting smacked all the time. That's where I went with the Weighted Ropeless Jump Rope (sounds like an oxymoron don't you think?) where it cuts out the smacking and do exercises that a regular jump rope provides.
When I would do workouts like the Animal Dice Game, Deck Of Card Workouts, HIIT or swinging the Indian Clubs or the Mace, I would walk around and breathe deeply as an active recovery, I didn't want to just stand there or sit down, I wanted to keep moving but every now and then, I would feel fatigue set in faster from that and my recovery didn't feel right. I started trying something different which I'm sure many athletes learned either from themselves or by a coach which was to use the rope for the active recovery. During my Animal Workouts, if I felt fatigue set in or to the point where my breathing was hard, I'd back off for a bit, take up the Rope and work my legs with focused breathing until I felt ready again. So this has been successful for me and it keeps my endurance levels going and was able to accomplish, 500, 600, 700 and even 800+ Reps/Steps of a workout still feeling energized and not fatigued.
Even if you use a regular jump rope or speed rope, this can be a hell of a step towards developing some serious physical conditioning. It keeps the calories burning, it strengthens the heart and the lungs and builds real world fitness. Start with a warm up of a couple minutes just to get the blood flowing, do your workout and as you "rest", skip until you feel ready again, keep going and then use it a finisher (optional).
Test this out for yourself and see how you do. You don't have to sprint as you recover, just do enough where you're moving at a moderate pace, pay attention to your breathing and have at it. This can help keep you from being tired and able to keep going with less risk of injury. Some like to sit and rest or walk around and breathe deeply like I was but in order to be in awesome shape, you have to keep moving and give your a body a "break" without actually fully resting. Train until you feel like you've done enough. You can be crazy strong but if you don't last long, it can bite you in the ass later. Be healthy, stay in top condition regardless of your age and have a blast wit what you do.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Last Workouts Of The Year
I envy those who don't have to shovel slush and powdery snow lol. It is quite a workout and today I had to do it twice. Snow shoveling all in all is real world fitness where you are tested in many ways including cardio, conditioned strength, grip, rotation and pulling. This is where I do feel blessed to be in shape and not get tired and have strong tendons along with functional muscle.
Today along with shoveling, just keeping my joints healthy and strengthening my tendons and ligaments with Isometric Exercises using John Peterson's Isometric Belt. If you haven't picked that up, I suggest you do, great piece of equipment and a hell of a traveling companion for strength training on the road. If you prefer a cheaper route for Iso Straps yet still very effective, grab the WorldFit Iso Trainer or Bruce Tackett's Isometric/Suspension Trainer. Either one will build great strength and it can be a hell of a cardio workout if you do it right.
Yesterday I did Joint Loosening, Matt Furey's Neck Chi Kung Workout (which I learned from his Membership Site), 500 Hindu Squats and finished off the night with the Front & Back Bridges for 3 minutes each. Some days, I take it easy and do less intense exercise and others, I see what I can do to push myself. It's a learning process and you pick up on things while listening to your body and being aware of what is worth doing and not getting injured in the process.
I mainly shovel snow to help my wife get out of the driveway so she can go to work and take care of the Berms that block the driveway when the ploughs come. They can be a royal pain in the ass but I like making things a tad easier for my girl and helping out a neighbor doesn't hurt either. Believe it or not, I do like to shovel snow and put on some tunes to let the time pass by. If you do have to shovel snow, it is good to be in shape because you never know how heavy or how much snow you need to get rid of in order to either get to work, an emergency pops up or just for the sake of being safe lol.
I'm grateful that Isometrics, animal movements, bridges and keeping my joints healthy helps me do things without getting injured and be able to keep my body strong so I can be helpful when the time calls for it. I would hate it if I got injured and couldn't help my wife cause then she'd have to get up even earlier to get the snow out and try to get ready for work at the same time. She just got a new position at another Albertson's store that's a 40-50 minute commute and it would suck if she had to do that on her own. I'm so proud of her and being able to move up in her company is an amazing achievement so I make sure she does have the ability to drive off without getting caught in the driveway.
Train with a purpose and be able to help out when you can. Be strong to be helpful and condition your body with long term strength and great cardio that lasts. Happy New Year everyone. Be safe, have fun and welcome to 2020.
Today along with shoveling, just keeping my joints healthy and strengthening my tendons and ligaments with Isometric Exercises using John Peterson's Isometric Belt. If you haven't picked that up, I suggest you do, great piece of equipment and a hell of a traveling companion for strength training on the road. If you prefer a cheaper route for Iso Straps yet still very effective, grab the WorldFit Iso Trainer or Bruce Tackett's Isometric/Suspension Trainer. Either one will build great strength and it can be a hell of a cardio workout if you do it right.
Yesterday I did Joint Loosening, Matt Furey's Neck Chi Kung Workout (which I learned from his Membership Site), 500 Hindu Squats and finished off the night with the Front & Back Bridges for 3 minutes each. Some days, I take it easy and do less intense exercise and others, I see what I can do to push myself. It's a learning process and you pick up on things while listening to your body and being aware of what is worth doing and not getting injured in the process.
I mainly shovel snow to help my wife get out of the driveway so she can go to work and take care of the Berms that block the driveway when the ploughs come. They can be a royal pain in the ass but I like making things a tad easier for my girl and helping out a neighbor doesn't hurt either. Believe it or not, I do like to shovel snow and put on some tunes to let the time pass by. If you do have to shovel snow, it is good to be in shape because you never know how heavy or how much snow you need to get rid of in order to either get to work, an emergency pops up or just for the sake of being safe lol.
I'm grateful that Isometrics, animal movements, bridges and keeping my joints healthy helps me do things without getting injured and be able to keep my body strong so I can be helpful when the time calls for it. I would hate it if I got injured and couldn't help my wife cause then she'd have to get up even earlier to get the snow out and try to get ready for work at the same time. She just got a new position at another Albertson's store that's a 40-50 minute commute and it would suck if she had to do that on her own. I'm so proud of her and being able to move up in her company is an amazing achievement so I make sure she does have the ability to drive off without getting caught in the driveway.
Train with a purpose and be able to help out when you can. Be strong to be helpful and condition your body with long term strength and great cardio that lasts. Happy New Year everyone. Be safe, have fun and welcome to 2020.
Monday, December 30, 2019
Star Wars Slamboree
Conditioning comes in many forms and utilizes different aspects for building lung power, long-term strength and endurance. Some exercises to develop solid conditioning are very useful like certain bodyweight exercises like Hindu Push-ups, Hindu Squats, Punching Sit-Ups, Step Ups, Bear Crawling and others but it's not always easy to stay interested. It takes a lot of discipline to do these things and not just for a sport but to stay in top shape in the long run.
Certain equipment can yield incredible results with being in great condition like Battling Ropes, the Clean & Jerk for reps, airdyne bikes and so on but how far does it go with certain equipment? You can't always take a rope or a kettlebell with you on the road, so you do what's possible with what you have in the moment. In my garage gym, there's plenty to go around to get in a brutal workout but very few can top the Death Star Slam Ball.
Slam Balls are a phenomenal workout tool especially for developing conditioning in an explosive manner. That sudden burst of speed and power and firing up the lungs with great intensity. From time to time, I'll play around with the DSSB and make up little things to get going or use as a finisher. From circuits to finishers, it can kick your ass in ways very few can.
This thing weighs no more than 20 lbs but even that can help turn you into a machine with the right exercises and tempo. Just slamming it alone for 30 seconds will get you winded but what about rotational movements, tossing it over the shoulder or picking it up and pressing it over head? One of my favorite exercises is to toss over the shoulder for as many reps as possible in a certain amount of time. I once did 62 reps in 5 minutes with this exercises and that was a hell of a lung burner.
Unlike a Stormtrooper, don't miss on having the best tools to get you in awesome shape and do so that is fun, tough and full of awesome results. Slam away and obliterate the unwanted fat like the Death Star destroying a planet. It is good to be in shape but it's also fun being a geek/nerd at the same time. It is more common these days to be a part of Fandom and be in awesome shape.
Friday, December 27, 2019
It Is Time For A Fresh Start
The New Year is upon us. Many people starting fresh with goals, resolutions and more. For me, it's not goals or resolutions but creating intentions. I intend to take things one day at a time, build relationships, work with better enthusiasm and keep away from the damn forums lol.
This year has been a hell of a rollercoaster, some great, some awful and others pretty damn amazing. Got married, read a few more books, had many reflections on who I'am supposed to be as opposed to who I WANT to be. Learned a little more about myself and what keeps me happy and developing acceptance. There were a few times I've lost sight of myself and focused so much on what others thought of me instead of what I truly thought of myself.
I will admit, I got caught up way too freaking much of the forums online. My brother in strength, Bud Jeffries advised me so heartedly to stay off of them, my wife did the same thing and I'm ashamed that I didn't listen or even hear enough with the best intentions. I was addicted, getting frustrated with myself and was driving myself crazy almost daily with updates of the latest thread that was putting a mental strain on psyche. It was like a train wreck that I couldn't help but stare at and just felt miserable but in awe at the same time.
I've been called many names on these different places, a couple I've mentioned on this blog and got caught up in engaging and making it seem like I have split personality when in reality, I couldn't see what I was really doing and that was pouring gasoline on the fire in my mind and giving those jerks what they wanted. One forum had a couple people that were cool with me but others intended to call me out and just sucked me into the rabbit hole of "keyboard fighting" and I hated that I put myself in that position. The other was nothing more than a bunch of guys who spend their time calling out someone else and play school girl gossip games of "who can we go after today?"
I have to let that part of me go, one day at a time. I love my friends, my wife, my family and I appreciate the positive feedback I get from time to time. I know I'm putting a target on my back for some and it is time to just accept for what it is, although they're being negative and I've been negative towards them, I do appreciate in some sick and twisted way of what they do because if you don't get the best from both positive and negative points of view, how do you know if you're doing something right?
There's always going to be some troll or some group that will criticize everything you do and make up their own assumptions without knowing a damn thing about you on the deepest level. I pity them and I hope they find peace someday. Anyone who has truly been around me for an extended period of time knows who I really am on a deeper level and has accepted me for me. All in all, I can get along with just about anybody young or old and I do my best to treat people the way I want to be treated and I help those I love and care about without hesitation and if I have your back, you know I don't shy away from it.
A fresh start isn't about changing who you are, it's about learning who you become from moving forward and taking things one day at a time, it's a journey and no matter where it leads you, make the most of what you have and love with the best intentions. Those forums aren't meant for me anymore, I have made friends, I've made "keyboard enemies" and I don't regret WALKING away from them. It's time to make 2020, the best year to come.
This year has been a hell of a rollercoaster, some great, some awful and others pretty damn amazing. Got married, read a few more books, had many reflections on who I'am supposed to be as opposed to who I WANT to be. Learned a little more about myself and what keeps me happy and developing acceptance. There were a few times I've lost sight of myself and focused so much on what others thought of me instead of what I truly thought of myself.
I will admit, I got caught up way too freaking much of the forums online. My brother in strength, Bud Jeffries advised me so heartedly to stay off of them, my wife did the same thing and I'm ashamed that I didn't listen or even hear enough with the best intentions. I was addicted, getting frustrated with myself and was driving myself crazy almost daily with updates of the latest thread that was putting a mental strain on psyche. It was like a train wreck that I couldn't help but stare at and just felt miserable but in awe at the same time.
I've been called many names on these different places, a couple I've mentioned on this blog and got caught up in engaging and making it seem like I have split personality when in reality, I couldn't see what I was really doing and that was pouring gasoline on the fire in my mind and giving those jerks what they wanted. One forum had a couple people that were cool with me but others intended to call me out and just sucked me into the rabbit hole of "keyboard fighting" and I hated that I put myself in that position. The other was nothing more than a bunch of guys who spend their time calling out someone else and play school girl gossip games of "who can we go after today?"
I have to let that part of me go, one day at a time. I love my friends, my wife, my family and I appreciate the positive feedback I get from time to time. I know I'm putting a target on my back for some and it is time to just accept for what it is, although they're being negative and I've been negative towards them, I do appreciate in some sick and twisted way of what they do because if you don't get the best from both positive and negative points of view, how do you know if you're doing something right?
There's always going to be some troll or some group that will criticize everything you do and make up their own assumptions without knowing a damn thing about you on the deepest level. I pity them and I hope they find peace someday. Anyone who has truly been around me for an extended period of time knows who I really am on a deeper level and has accepted me for me. All in all, I can get along with just about anybody young or old and I do my best to treat people the way I want to be treated and I help those I love and care about without hesitation and if I have your back, you know I don't shy away from it.
A fresh start isn't about changing who you are, it's about learning who you become from moving forward and taking things one day at a time, it's a journey and no matter where it leads you, make the most of what you have and love with the best intentions. Those forums aren't meant for me anymore, I have made friends, I've made "keyboard enemies" and I don't regret WALKING away from them. It's time to make 2020, the best year to come.
Monday, December 23, 2019
Taste In Music
As a kid in the 90's, I did listen to bands like Alice In Chains, Sugar Ray & Rappers like Snoop, Dre & Ice Cube but my big love of music at the time was bands from the 50's-70's. My mother exposed me to some of the best from the past like the Beach Boys, Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Temptations, The Drifters, Jan & Dean and the Marcels. Both my parents were teenagers of the 1960's and heard that everywhere but in my generation, it was more of a dying art and very few kids and adults in their 20's at the time barely even knew who these bands were. Just about everywhere my mo took me in her little Honda CRX, I listened to the oldies on CD or on Cassette (For you young kids out there).
Living in Santa Cruz, CA was purely beach bands of course but one of my favorites that I lost count listening to by the time I was 12 was the Drifters- Under The Boardwalk. It was so fun listening to that on the way to the Beach Boardwalk and as I got older, I would do the Bass Line of the song. I would rock out to CCR even to this day and I always carry a smile on my face even on those hard days.
My family on my dad's side would go to Lake Tahoe every year since the early 70's and for two weeks out of the year, we would be crammed to 1 or 2 cabins (Now 3) and have adventures that would last a lifetime. One of those memories was one day me and my aunt were driving back from somewhere and she would pop on a tape of different bands and the two I remember really on that day was the Marcels- Blue Moon & Moody Blues- Knights In White Satin. It was funny how she described White Satin saying it was about a knight falling in love with a princess, when it was clearly not.
Whenever I went to any beach, I always heard a Beach Boys song in my head or remembering the lyrics to Jan & Dean's Dead Man's Curve while driving with my mom. It was engraved into me at an early age this was some of the best music of any generation. Although I like some music that's played today, nothing will ever beat the classics and that Doo Wop style like Blue Moon or hearing the harmony and pick me up tune to My Girl by the Temptations.
These groups and songs are alive because of the memories we have. Even in the dark days of racism, segregation and Civil Rights acts, there was beautiful and kick ass music. Hell, even the best guitarist of that era was Jimmy Hendrix man, whaling it at Woodstock with the NATIONAL FREAKING ANTHEM (The GOAT of all versions of our American Song). With the emergence of Black Sabbath, CCR, Led Zeppelin, you had a generation that thrived on rebellion and sticking it to the man. Music today even with those my age, it doesn't have the same affect and the will to stand up for something through music.
In Junior High, I was in the Choir and did shows at schools, an Assisted Living Facility and even performed once or twice at the Coconut Grove in Santa Cruz doing different songs like Downtown by Petula Clark and Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton. My memories of that time was meeting a girl who was in my class and I ended up having my first make out session with and getting to meet Jack O'neill the Surfing Mogul on our bus (I think it was that same weekend lol). Those were definitely fond memories.
The more I write, the more memories just keep popping up. With a strong memory, music is really a factor in it because whenever a certain song comes on, I get chills and remember certain moments as if they happened 5 minutes ago. It's a part of your soul and brings a certain happiness to your heart and that's what music of that early era is to me.
It doesn't matter if you're young or old, these groups and sons are Timeless.
The more I write, it seems the more memories keep popping up
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