Why In A Rush?

    The magic pill, 6 minute abs, fat to fab in 6 weeks or less, circuits to beat the clock and a very personal favorite of mine; train like the movie stars you see in your favorite trash magazine. In today's society with things constantly changing, people want their quick fixes and if they don't come out right they bitch and moan plus blaming others for their faults. We have become a move it or lose it type people and the latest fads make "promises" of making you look like a greek god or goddess in under a month even if you weigh 300 lbs. and are under 6' tall. It's heart breaking and at the same time pathetic that these money scamming pricks who charge an arm and a leg just so you can have the perfect body here and now as if it was even remotely possible. Hate to break it to you my friend, it's bullshit and it's always been bullshit. Sure some people have a gift of putting on muscle quicker than others or in a lot of cases take drugs and other "supplements" to heighten up the process. There is no such thing as a quick fix or a magic pill that will help you build instantaneous muscle that is remotely healthy or logical.

 
    Why are in such a rush? You excited about what you're going to do and get, are you just beating your body to death just to lose a single pound and are you really going to tackle a workout you're clearly not ready for just to see if you can beat the clock? People want results NOW!!! They don't give a damn about what they do as long as you look like something Michelangelo cut out of stone; don't need to worry about having healthy bones, they'll just break and heal, maybe pop a few tendons and dislocate a few joints all for the sake of having a powerful looking physique. In a way I feel sorry for these people it's sad and gives others who want results and are willing to keep going in a safe manner a bad name. It's like a little 4 year old who wants a piece of candy and if he/she can't have it they throw a tantrum and scream and cry as if somebody was just murdered. Don't believe me, it happens with some people I've seen it first hand and I just have no sympathy for the poor bastard. Results are earned and they must be respected otherwise it will backfire on you and you'll have no one to blame but yourself.

 
    It took me nearly ten years after my accident to do squats and leg flexibility exercises efficiently and with control, for a number of years, I fell, barely balanced on a few things, had trouble standing up for even a few minutes, be able to stretch beyond my toes and never once felt like giving up because if I did, it would've been too easy and I wasn't going to let myself go after coming this far. I pushed through, sweated, was even in a great amount of pain at first because I just started learning to walk again. What's the point to all this; the point is results come when you have earned them and just you didn't make a goal or two and you didn't get what you wanted right away doesn't mean you should quit. You need to be patient, believe in yourself and take responsibility for what you do, if you screw up, it wasn't the trainers fault or the program you did didn't work; you weren't ready and your results became what they were meant to be. Whether it takes you ten years, 10 months or 10 hours, results will come when the universe tells you you're ready to have them. I have busted my ass for years doing plenty of ab work and no six pack but I have built a strong core that can take a beating far better than the guy who does have a six pack. I not only earned what I have, I have tremendous gratitude for it and continue to get better not just in having strong abs but great flexibility, upper body strength that is just crazy and have kick ass speed for my size to swim fast, sprint like a madman and a lower body that is strong, durable and agile. When you earn your results, you'll have a greater appreciation for what you have accomplished.

 
    Challenging yourself is a great thing but sometimes pushing too hard can lead to a lot of problems. I have blacked out from running when I was in high school, I nearly passed out at the gym from dizziness and over exhausting my body and believe it or not I have been hurt to the point where I needed to rehab. There were times where I couldn't get out of bed because every single shred of my joints hurt and I could barely move a few inches without being in great pain; want to know the kicker, I wasn't even 21 yet when all of that happened. Be safe when you go after something, don't sacrifice form just for a quantity amount of reps or sets. Understand how your body works, think outside the box and do the best you can to not get injured or worse end up dead, yeah you read that right people have died from pushing themselves too hard. Don't rush your workout, be efficient, resourceful and use some common sense for Christ's sake. When you challenge yourself, do so by adding a little more than what you normally do, not a freaking ton trust me it's not fun. Challenge yourself by the smallest fraction because little by little when you have made a killing in your obstacles you're building a bigger picture. A passionate painter doesn't take huge chunks of color and slabs it on otherwise it's not going to come out right, he has to take his time, see the picture in his mind as he paints and little by little puts his colors where he wants them to be, he's efficient, cunning and patient. Be like a painter, form your colors to see your masterpiece even by the smallest swift of the brush and when you're done, you have an artistic beauty come to life.

 
Here's a little Philosophical Fitness for you on setting goals:

 
When people set certain goals, some are pretty huge, some are doable, even some are very illogical and just so wrong but yet they're goals nonetheless. There comes a point in time when the goal is either in reach, doesn't have a chance in hell of making it or you become so obsessed that come hell or high water it's going to commence with sheer will power and a driving spirit. The reality is no matter how far or close you are even by the smallest fraction, you are making progress one way or another and when progressively increasing that fraction you are still better than when you started. People need to face facts that not everything will happen the way they planned it, however, you do get better despite failing and when success hits, you not only become stronger, you become wiser. Failure is apart of life but there's always two sides to every coin, when failure is evident, success is right on the other side waiting for you.

 

Bodyweight Training: Is It Really Free?

    There are many pros and cons about certain aspects of bodyweight training and it has a mix of critics and praises alike. There are many ways to utilize only your body to the point where weight training won't be a factor for you anymore but like me and others I like a combination of the two but not always applied to barbells and dumbbells. You can learn Hand Balancing, move like a wild animal, do all kinds of push-ups, squats, pull-ups, stretches, rope climbing, jumping, sprinting but the main factor is with all this variety, is it really free?

 
    There are certain programs based on bodyweight training that costs plenty of dough but the irony is it's no equipment required so why pay for a certain course? Some people charge way too much for certain programs but at the same time, some of these are far too difficult for the average person and I can understand why. I do realize some guys are only out for the money and rather make some huge marketing rip off than to actually teach and value a person's reason to get their course in the first place. There are cheap courses out there if you can find them but for people like me, I go for quality and not always some cheap knock off just so some moron with a narcissistic complexity can cash in my money. However, there are things that people may not know about the very exercises they're learning and some seminars based on Bodyweight Programs help put in extra knowledge to get an edge on what can bring results a little quicker just by teaching a few adjustments and showing others how to broaden their horizon and take on certain secrets that others may not know. Nothing is new under the sun we all know that and everyone does certain of the same things just in a different format but it helps finding what is possible that brings us to a new level of mental aspirations for what we already simply do. So when you see certain programs that cost a boat load or less than a few bucks, look into the other side instead of what's written on screen.

 
    There is no right or wrong program, people have different needs, different body types and no program is a one size fits all. In order to find the right program, you can't just go out and buy a shit load of courses and just happen to pick one, you have to find out what you're interested in, what strikes you so deep you feel you need to experiment. I have many books and DVDs on various courses but I don't go out and buy every single course out there otherwise I'd be broke. I look for what can applied for me and what benefits my body. I don't care what scientists say what works or what doesn't, I don't always follow others advice from what I already have but the reason they appeal to me is because I look for courses that are different, meaningful and teaches me not to just exercise but help find the creativity and brighten my passion. So, as far as experimentation goes, do what appeals to you and work on a system of your own design from the people you have learned from because following every course down to the letter isn't always going to cut it, you have to find your own path and practice the exercises YOU want to learn until they become a second language and becomes a reflex like memory.

 
    So is Bodyweight Training really free? It's both yes and no for many reasons but I'll give you the simple rundown of each one…..

 
Yes- Because you can do your exercise anywhere you want and use it however you want. They're a time saver, doesn't cost you a membership or gas to get to the gym and you can set the pace for what works for you in your own home without the distractions and obnoxious sweaty people.
No- Because there are certain ways to help you advance along but to get the biggest benefit of this, you're going to need to add more to your collection, go to seminars, possibly throw down money for a trainer that actually knows his shit and doesn't hide anything or use online training.

 
    If you don't choose to add on anything (its worth the investment) that's ok, being simple and basic is a great way to go about it and you're still doing something. However if you're like me, you want to absorb as much as knowledge on it as you can and might need to save a few bucks here and there but in the end, it's an investment in your health more than anything else. Most rather buy booze, cigarettes, drugs and useless things to put up on their wall in their house yet you are doing something they can't do and you have something they'll never achieve so who's the smarter person here. While someone is drunk off their ass and having a hangover, I'm doing bridges and getting high off the euphoria from holding a position for three minutes; that person who smokes and treats exercise like it's something to pass the time to me is pathetic when they can save all that money and not only save their lungs but put it to better use by getting real food and actually giving a damn about their body. The person who would rather shoot up and get stoned out of their mind can do far better and learn a few things that doesn't involve fear from cops or cost you an arm and leg to get naturally high from the endorphins and ideal less depressive options and doesn't require getting a "quick fix." What about that crap people buy off infomercials and never use them because it doesn't go well with the house and stuff into a closet or under their bed and forget about it, what a waste a money man when you can do cardio based exercises in your living room without a single piece of equipment or get a pull-up bar that you don't have to drill holes into or a set of gymnastic rings that will take down the strongest of men and has far more value than a 500 lbs. piece of crap treadmill. Make your training count and use your body as the ultimate weapon, when you can apply that, adding weights is just part of the package deal.

 

 

 

 
    

Real Functional Strength

The word "Functional" has been one of the most overused terms in fitness today by shmucks who have no clue what the word truly means. Let me brief you in, when they talk about functional; it has no real world value. It is not functional to stand on a ball and squat with a barbell, it is not using a machine that supposedly works multiple muscles for the real world; for the most part, functional is certainly not when you do bodybuilding type exercises. You have been lied to and been sucked into this belief that fitness is all about the beautiful setting of a gym and its ok to do itty bitty exercises for the muscles you supposedly want to grow and look like a bigger shmuck. Functional is when you carry a large weight say a keg or a log, functional is when you use multiple muscles in awkward positions, functional is the ability to squat and stay there for a period of time, functional is sprinting as if your life depended on it and one more example, functional is when you lift weights that involve basic pressing, pulling, squatting, grip work and utilizing every muscle within the exercise.

 
When you see people lifting in Crossfit or those gyms that supposedly share what strength is, very rarely you see real lifting when it really counts. Lifts like overhead presses, picking up heavy objects off the ground, dragging heavy chains, swinging heavy sledgehammers, pull-ups without kipping, moving across the bar, walking with heavy objects like kettlebells or dumbbells, tossing a heavy ball overhead. These are real world exercises and although I love the idea of having fun and making cool workouts, I also believe in when the time comes to use that strength when it matters most. You're not going to help anyone by doing wrongful snatches, wearing out your joints faster and bruising your entire frame just to gain an inch of muscle and you're certainly not going to be saving lives with tricep kickbacks or balancing on your tippy toes as you squat on a bosu ball. Sorry to be an ass but you know what, I'm telling you for your own good. Plus 2 hours or more at the gym isn't helping your cause, if you happen to be in a fight, it's not going to last like a UFC match, you need to handle it as fast as possible when it comes down to it. Focus on what truly matters.

 
One of the greatest exercises you can ever do to get in shape in record time is not lateral raises or 15 pound rows on a machine, it's swinging a heavy sledgehammer on a tire. No you don't have to be like those back breaking dudes who smash rock 12 hours a day (although it definitely worked for one of the last old-time strongmen) but this type of training works the whole body and it doesn't just build muscle but tendon strength as well. Think about it, in order to keep a steady pace of hitting a tire (or pile of dirt/sand) you have to keep a solid grip on the handle; doing this in high repetition will make people think twice about shaking your hand. You can get a typical good sledgehammer at a local hardware store like Home Depot or Lowe's and they're inexpensive but the cream of the crop of sledgehammers belongs to my man Ryan Pitts at Stronger Grip. His hammers are legendary not just for their craftsmanship but the power and strength needed to hold on to even one of these bad boys take a special kind of person to handle it. His Epic Sledgehammer is my all-time favorite next to the Thor Hammers, this mighty tool looks like something that was made on Asgard or Mt Olympus very powerful and breathtaking. You can do all sorts of things with this but the basic swing on a tire turns boys into men in a heartbeat. My best with the Epic (that weighs 26 pounds empty) is 520 reps, that's moving a total of nearly 7 tons of raw power in my hands. So let me ask you this, would you rather have a 3 pound dumbbell that doesn't do anything but look embarrassing or would you like to hold something that looks like it was built by the Gods of Mythology and be able to build realistic and superhuman quality like strength?

 
Functional in reality is building solid muscle that is realistic, agile, flexible and powerful as oppose to bloated shit that only looking good is all that it does. Athletes of yesteryear didn't care that much how they looked but rather depended on the strength they have managed to achieve and not just have it for a short period of time but for a lifetime and use it whenever they could at any time they wanted. Quality is to be respected and made to put effort into, not always the quantity or the "look" that is supposedly the way to go about things. Don't believe me, take a bloated Mr. Olympia wanna-be up against and put him up against someone like John Grimek or Bill Pearl, hell how about George Hackenshmidt and I guarantee you not only would this guy get his ass beat but the other guy wouldn't even have broken a sweat. Real muscle is built on smart training, intense focus and quality food and rest. I do admire bodybuilding in some form but to say these guys are strong and durable (extreme few are) is just laughable. Learn and research the real ability to develop functional strength from the guys that have the real inside scoop on building world-class strength without the need of artificial steroids or any of that drug related crap. Earn it and live it.