Why is it important to be creative? Is it to become someone more than the rest, is it about being better and more reliable on your imagination than to do someone else's style? In my mind, being creative in fitness is the toughest thing you can ever be. Doing someone else's style makes you lower than your true potential is. That is not to say you can't learn or be taught a specific way so you can learn your own style later; it just means what you want to do can be learned through your interest, will to commit and the idea to find yourself in what you believe works.
Throughout my life, I never liked being told what works and what doesn't, I made the choice to be creative because my brain operates differently than the majority of people. I learn from a lot of people all the time but that doesn't change the fact that when it comes down to fitness, i'm very self reliant. I feel alive and focused as I create my workouts or my own style of training. My soul is free and I'm able to generate greater inner strength through my creativity. In nearly 20 years I've learned how to lift, hold a handstand, put up heavy weight, bend bars, bend backwards into a bridge, struck a tire with a Thor Hammer and a near 60 pound sledgehammer, I've hung onto pull-up bars with one arm and taken on some amazing lessons from very gifted and stupid strong individuals that believed in what I'm capable of.
Going from one program to another time to time is fun because you're constantly picking your own brain and seeing something new that you may have not seen or felt before. The truth is, I always go back to one particular style of training that keeps me in shape like a lightweight at around 270 and that's the Animal Movements more specifically Ape Training by hanging, moving like a wild gorilla or chimp. I found out that basically I was destined to be an ape like person. My mother jokingly told me that my father got a card for either my birthday or he got it for father's day who knows but she said that in it, it had talked about a chimp and apparently my father seemed to believe that was what I was going to be because I somehow to him acted like one; now I move and train like one and didn't even realize until I got so into it it became natural to me. My creativity is natural for me because if I ever tried exactly what others do, I become disoriented, uninterested and I shut down. I can't do someone else's system to the T very well because my brain isn't programmed for that.
Some people find it difficult to be creative and so they become followers and be more like sheep or soldiers, follow a leader and let him lead you the way, go down their path because that's what they feel is right. Truth is, anyone that is remotely creative in any shape or form are the scariest people on the planet because not only do they think for themselves, they can free themselves without thinking twice about it. Creativity also brings ridicule, attacks on your self-esteem and its a pain in the ass to make people understand what you want to create. People want to suppress those that have critical thinking and shut down what may bring them hell but all in all, they're jealous of what you have the potential to be successful in. Marketing gimmicks, commercials, the news, endless stupid reality shows and magazines that print bullshit that really has no relevance to your true self.
When you train, learn what the mechanics are and make it into your own style that fits your goals and what you decide to accomplish not what others feel is better for you. Do I believe in certain people when it comes to programs and various systems yes wholeheartedly but I do not follow they're rules or believe in everything they do. They're different in their own ways and not all have the same philosophy. I learn what I want to learn and I pay attention to things that interest me, I have never been able to learn by what someone tells me to do so one of two things go down; I either have someone show me up close and personal the mechanics and I go from there or I observe in a book or DVD and learn if it works for me, if its not exactly what they do then I make it my own until I have mastered it. That's how my brain works, I'm not some little puppy who rolls over when I'm told to, I do my own damn rolling. It is important to be creative because in reality good or bad, its the only way to survive at times; not everything goes according to plan and you're never the same person everyday. Be creative because its who you are, learn what's important and make it your own otherwise you're just another dog mastering commands.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Building A Grip Without Needing Weights
Weights in most aspects of Physical Culture is ideal to developing strength and unbelievable power and physique but it's not always the case. In other words, you don't weights for everything unless you're looking for a particular way to build strength. For grip work there's a lot of ways to develop mighty mitts but i'm here to tell you that weights aren't always needed in this manner. I have build a powerful grip without having to do barbell and dumbbell work, I mainly use only a couple maybe three implements that would be considered "weights" but in truth they're just a measuring stick compared to how I really found my grip power.
To truly understand Grip Strength we need to look back to what makes us very strong or very weak in our hands. It takes a tremendous amount of strength to bend steel, rip a phonebook and/or lever a heavy sledgehammer so to really make that strength possible is to not do something else but get down to the dirty soil and reach down and use those actual tools to build your grip strength. Another way of building great grip power without the iron is doing hangs from a bar or rings; these alone can build an insane grip because in order to even hang you need to have a bit of tightness to grip the handle and just stay there. Some can't hold for more than a couple seconds, some can hold far longer its a matter of practice and focus on the intention.
Finger Tip Push-ups is also a favorite since its very basic and simple exercise yet many can't do it due to issues in the wrists or fingers. The objectivity is to utilize what works best for your goals and achieving progress little by little. I love to move around like an Ape and since my mind is getting more geared towards that Tarzan like state and doing Ape style movements I'm doing exercises like Hanging from the pull-up bar in different grips to hit the tendons and muscles from other angles, walking or jumping like a gorilla by being on my knuckles and putting my weight onto them the majority of the movement and building that pull-up power by isometrically flexing in various stages of the actual pull-up. Training the fingers and hands is essential to building a complete body that is full of strength from a variety of angles.
Training to use as minimal equipment as possible without relying the barbell and dumbbells is very effective and its more natural. The Sandbell is one implement that is great for your grip and no I don't consider it weights, this is more functonal and can be used for practically any movement. I believe without question the best of the best when it comes to pure natural grip strength and powerful tendons are mountain climbers, these guys/girls have pound for pound some of the strongest hands on this planet period. They are the closest to our Ape ancestors by having fingers that could literally tear you apart if you fought them. You don't need to be a mountain climber to build this kind of strength but you will need to find a rock climbing wall or build one around your house or for the cheap route get eagle claw straps to wrap around your pull-up bar and go from there, I've tried these and they're tough as hell and I only managed maybe a couple reps the last time I tested them.
Don't believe for a second grip strength is purely getting from wrist curls and weird machines, if you truly want a mighty set of hands, you need to get dirty and do exercises that really target the hands and fingers while engaging the entire body, isolation isn't going to cut it. Its not a knock to anyone but from personal experience and seeing some of the strongest men on the planet within mere feet up close I know for a fact real grip work comes from those who target the hands in a specific manner that digs into the tendons and builds insane eagle like claws for fingers. Train your grip with a vengeance and you'll learn how tough you can really be with the power of a gorilla.
To truly understand Grip Strength we need to look back to what makes us very strong or very weak in our hands. It takes a tremendous amount of strength to bend steel, rip a phonebook and/or lever a heavy sledgehammer so to really make that strength possible is to not do something else but get down to the dirty soil and reach down and use those actual tools to build your grip strength. Another way of building great grip power without the iron is doing hangs from a bar or rings; these alone can build an insane grip because in order to even hang you need to have a bit of tightness to grip the handle and just stay there. Some can't hold for more than a couple seconds, some can hold far longer its a matter of practice and focus on the intention.
Finger Tip Push-ups is also a favorite since its very basic and simple exercise yet many can't do it due to issues in the wrists or fingers. The objectivity is to utilize what works best for your goals and achieving progress little by little. I love to move around like an Ape and since my mind is getting more geared towards that Tarzan like state and doing Ape style movements I'm doing exercises like Hanging from the pull-up bar in different grips to hit the tendons and muscles from other angles, walking or jumping like a gorilla by being on my knuckles and putting my weight onto them the majority of the movement and building that pull-up power by isometrically flexing in various stages of the actual pull-up. Training the fingers and hands is essential to building a complete body that is full of strength from a variety of angles.
Training to use as minimal equipment as possible without relying the barbell and dumbbells is very effective and its more natural. The Sandbell is one implement that is great for your grip and no I don't consider it weights, this is more functonal and can be used for practically any movement. I believe without question the best of the best when it comes to pure natural grip strength and powerful tendons are mountain climbers, these guys/girls have pound for pound some of the strongest hands on this planet period. They are the closest to our Ape ancestors by having fingers that could literally tear you apart if you fought them. You don't need to be a mountain climber to build this kind of strength but you will need to find a rock climbing wall or build one around your house or for the cheap route get eagle claw straps to wrap around your pull-up bar and go from there, I've tried these and they're tough as hell and I only managed maybe a couple reps the last time I tested them.
Don't believe for a second grip strength is purely getting from wrist curls and weird machines, if you truly want a mighty set of hands, you need to get dirty and do exercises that really target the hands and fingers while engaging the entire body, isolation isn't going to cut it. Its not a knock to anyone but from personal experience and seeing some of the strongest men on the planet within mere feet up close I know for a fact real grip work comes from those who target the hands in a specific manner that digs into the tendons and builds insane eagle like claws for fingers. Train your grip with a vengeance and you'll learn how tough you can really be with the power of a gorilla.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Coming Full Circle With The Sandbell
There are plenty of exercises that really hit the Core Muscles hard but one of the best ones can actually trim your waistline in a very short amount of time. Using the Sandbell, the 360 Exercise produces a heavy target not just on the abs but the entire upper body structure of the arms, shoulders, back and grip; this exercise takes control and focused tension on the muscles used. When practiced correctly, this one exercise can develop powerful and muscular abs.
The constant shifting of the weight makes it even more amazing as you have no choice but to keep control of the bell or else you might hear something crash unless you're outside and you hit a window or a fence. When it comes to weight; I believe to develop great mastery and full flexibility and strength in the exercise itself, be sure to take on no more than 20 pounds, that may not sound like a lot but because of the control and accurate amount of tension it's going to feel way different. I have heard of the 40 lb. 100 rep challenge and for the most part it's basically a marketing ploy. I'm going to give you a quote I made on a forum where it'll give you a complete outlook on why the weight doesn't make you the man, but the consistency:
"Its not the weight that makes you a man, its the consistency to train and learn the value of your body's capabilities according to your range of motion, awareness & the will to stay in peak condition without risking injury. More often than not, ego breaks more than the body does. The physical injuries are just icing on the cake because people buy into the fact that if they don't train beyond their natural abilities they're not worth a damn. I've pushed myself hard for more than a decade and only got one small minor injury during that entire period."
The constant shifting of the weight makes it even more amazing as you have no choice but to keep control of the bell or else you might hear something crash unless you're outside and you hit a window or a fence. When it comes to weight; I believe to develop great mastery and full flexibility and strength in the exercise itself, be sure to take on no more than 20 pounds, that may not sound like a lot but because of the control and accurate amount of tension it's going to feel way different. I have heard of the 40 lb. 100 rep challenge and for the most part it's basically a marketing ploy. I'm going to give you a quote I made on a forum where it'll give you a complete outlook on why the weight doesn't make you the man, but the consistency:
"Its not the weight that makes you a man, its the consistency to train and learn the value of your body's capabilities according to your range of motion, awareness & the will to stay in peak condition without risking injury. More often than not, ego breaks more than the body does. The physical injuries are just icing on the cake because people buy into the fact that if they don't train beyond their natural abilities they're not worth a damn. I've pushed myself hard for more than a decade and only got one small minor injury during that entire period."
Read that with complete mindfulness. Don't buy into the notion that bigger is always better, you don't need to go to extreme reps with a lot of weight to get amazing results. Pace yourself little by little down to the smallest fraction and you'll still get results. I'm a big dude and never needed to move a ton of weight to become strong, the things I have done were carried over because of my training. Trust me when I say this, no matter how big or small you are, you can get crazy strong with minimal equipment and no more than 20-25 lbs. worth of actual weight.
Be in control of your exercise or it will hurt you more than just physically. When it comes down to it, if you want powerful Tarzan-like abs, this is a top exercise to make that a reality. Practice with focus, intention, muscular tension (Muscle Control) and awareness of how your body moves within the exercise. Make it work for you and if you want to increase weight, do it for progressive reasons, not to prove how strong you are. Train smart and train awesome.
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