Going With The Fundamentals

No matter how you start or how advanced you are, you can't go wrong using the basic principles/exercises in your training. One of the things I learned early on in my adult life since I was 21 years old is that fundamentals are the key to being successful in any endeavor whether its sports, exercise, business, food & many other things. Sometimes we fall by the wayside and think because something is basic and simple that it feels demeaning and we aught to be more advanced and progressed into greater stages. When it comes to exercise people in many cases believe that the basics don't have any real meaning except as a starting point and then don't need them once they progress to a higher level of progression. Yes its important to keep progressing and getting better but at the same time going back to the basics can aid in your success and not feel like you're Demoting yourself.

The things I learned from specific people in the Physical Culture world is that in order to truly become your own expert is to learn the basics and make them a second language. For example in bodyweight exercise men like Karl Gotch, Matt Furey & others taught the fundamentals of Push-ups, Squats & Bridging as the main staple of any regimen beginner or advanced. In the weightlifting world you stick to basic lifts such as Bench Press, Deadlift, Squat, Snatches, Military Press and basic dumbbell work of those specific exercises which when mastered with good weight will put on muscle, increase strength, utilize multiple groups of muscles and hitting them hard.

I always feel the need to change things up but more and more especially since its not the best weather to workout in, I'm going into more of basic forms of exercises that I can do throughout the day like the last couple days I've been doing Push-ups & Squats throughout the day in Supersets of up to 25 reps in a row. One of those days was doing a total of 300 each which is pretty good considering I haven't done that many in quite some time except the squats. At night I would do my bridging and neck resistance exercise to aid in putting on some extra muscle in my neck and strengthen/lengthen my spine using the Front & Back Bridges holding them for 3 min. each. The squats are Hindu Squats and I keep them even with the push-ups even though the golden rule is to double the squats; this works for me and let's me recover for later sets and as I progress to about 500 each in a day in sets of 25, I will eventually add it to 50 per set per exercise and who knows one day I'll go for 1000 each exercise but until then this works for my structure and my ability to recover. With the Bridging I'll add in the Gymnastic Bridge to get a greater stretch and I do 5 exercises for the neck working it from several angles to build strength and rugged power to keep it from getting hurt and/or pinching it.

The most basic upper body movement in all of bodyweight training is the Push-up and it is the king of upper body movement period. Some call it the king of them all but I a disagree in certain areas of but its highly effective and puts on muscle when you do them correctly. Some put on muscle greater using lower reps, others do so with higher reps. It's been used by countless cultures around the world and was a staple for a lot of Hollywood actors today and more than 50-60 years ago. Men like Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster and even guys who played Tarzan such as Jock Mahoney, Mike Henry & the most recent Tarzan actor Alexander Skarsgard used Push-ups to build their physiques for roles in specific films. Seriously if that doesn't inspire you to do Push-ups something is amiss there. The funny thing is basic push-ups are not really enough for some people and try to do variations they're clearly not ready for like one-arm push-ups and plyo push-ups. Don't get me wrong many variations do wonders but there are ones that can hurt you and damage joints if your body isn't in the right setting yet. For me as a big guy at around 270 I stick with 2 arm style push-ups as best as possible and yes I can do one arm and plyo but doing them in high reps is major risk for joint damage and muscle tearing so I stay as basic as possible and have gained results because of this.

Now in terms of how many push-ups one can do, that's up to the individual in what they're goals and intentions are. You are not really competing against anyone to see how better you are or that you can do more than another person; its about training to your fullest potential without risking injury and able to do things on a consistent level. Just because you start off with a low number of something doesn't mean you're a terrible trainee, everyone starts somewhere. I couldn't imagine doing 300 Push-ups or more in a single day when I was a kid because back then to me that was impossible and I could never be strong enough to do that. Not many men my size are doing hundreds of push-ups in a single day since most of them are either out of shape, lifting weights or are strongmen so I'm happy that i'm able to do these and be able to build a physique because of them. Sure I do other things but I'm confident that I'm decently fit for a guy my size. In one workout I did a total of 600 Push-ups in roughly 90 minutes doing Pyramid sets of multiple variations and resting as long as needed. For an advanced person an hour and a half of 600 push-ups sounds pretty weak but I'm not going for records of doing a certain number in a row.

Here's a good solid book of over 60 variations of push-ups you can play with and progress on. Never be bored with dull workouts and be able to train throughout the day or in a single workout your choice. See how many push-ups you can do in a single day and build up to a number you'd like to reach. Make them count. Ultimate Guide To Push-ups

Make Your Spine Your Best Friend

A lot of people look to specific areas of the body that they find the most appealing or the most useful when it comes to sports or just everyday life. Some people look arms as a mighty thing because from the fingers to the shoulders they have the ability to build things, lift heavy weights, bend metal, carry another human to safety, knock out another person or hit a baseball far into the stands. Others like to look at legs as amazing and they are; they give you the ability to run very fast, have the power to kill a person with a single kick to the head, run hard for a touchdown, the agility to steal second base and be able to go for long periods of time in a boxing or wrestling ring. These are all good qualities and various body parts are appealing and all but nothing takes the place of the spinal cord.

The back is the second largest set of muscles next to the legs and for good reason. The spinal cord however are the bones that connect everything together and if one little bad thing goes wrong and one or more set of bones no longer function and broken, you wouldn't have great legs or powerful arms anymore. You would be paralyzed and it could end your life as a healthy individual as you know it.

Its very difficult to come back from spinal injuries and the majority of those that are crippled from a spinal injury don't ever come back and it becomes a painful and stressful life that nobody could ever live with. Look at guys like Christopher Reeve, Darren Drozdov (Puke from the WWE's Attitude Era), Roy Campenella, Issac Redman (Former Pitts Steeler) and others that live or lived with Spinal Injuries that has living in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives. We can't always control what's going to happen in the blink of an eye but we can damn sure control how we train our bodies that has potential to severely reduce injury. Here's one example of this; Brock Lesnar in his match against Kurt Angle for WWE Title at Wrestlemania 19 at the very end, does a backflip off the top rope and accidentally lands on his forehead; BTW this guy is 6'3 285 lbs. of pure solid muscle and was lucky his life didn't end right there because the average wouldn't just be paralyzed, he'd be in the damn morgue. What saved his life and a possible life threatening injury was the strength his neck and spine. All those hours from doing Neck Bridges and moving in every possible direction to build solid power in his neck made that much of a difference and that move was only if at all 2-3 seconds long. Think about that, his whole could've been over without any chance of recovering in that single moment and he came out of it just on a CONCUSSION!!!

The best thing you can do in your training is to strengthen the spine and the neck that literally can save you a hospital visit and save you hundreds of thousands in hospital bills and the cost of medical supplies to keep you alive. I train my neck and spine just about every single day for the sole purpose of staying injury-free and possibly keep me from being aggressively injured  and not able to use my bodily functions again. That's why I consider Advanced Bridging to be the number one course for building a healthy spine and a super strong neck. Don't let the title fool you, it has stuff for beginners too and teaches you everything you need to know on how to handle yourself in various bridges, specific skills and in full detail take you through exercises that build an amazing level of capacity from your neck all the way down to your feet. Because of using this course I have never had injuries to my spine and have never broken my neck or even pinched it to where it was unbearable. Save your own life by training your body in ways many consider to be dangerous and to the extreme.

Back On The Deck

Over the last couple days I've tested myself on the Deck Of Cards Workout changing it up from One variation of 4 exercises to 3 exercises using multiple variations of 2 of them (Squats & Push-ups) doing V-Ups for the 3rd Exercise. So far I've beaten the deck both times and yesterday beating it in just over 30 min. That's a hell of a workout for only 3 exercises but they each lay a foundation for building solid conditioning and building strength, flexibility and agility.

The Squats are 3 variations of the Hindu Squat (Heels up, feet flat & jumpers) where the push-ups are more than a few variations to add variety but still keep them basic (Military, Dips, Different Hand Positions ect.) and the V-ups stay the same variation since it has a full body element of it having both a sit-up and the leg lift in the same movement. I would do a total of 388 Squats, 119 Push-ups and 119 V-Ups for the whole deck. Once its completed I add 12 Squats and 1 rep each of a push-up and v-up for a grand total of 400 Squats, 120 Push-ups & 120 V-Ups. I like to keep things rounded to the closest denominator of specific numbers to even them out.

As I get better I most likely will add reps to the cards to get things even higher for conditioning purposes. I'm not so much going for being ripped or looking like world-class athlete, I'll let this workout speak for itself and the results will come the way the universe will have it. I don't like talking about my personal goals much because whenever I do, 99% of the time I end up quitting early on and when I don't mention them they come quicker. Some will be very open about goal-setting and share them with others which is cool I love that about people but i'm more private about it and believe that they're my own and no one else needs to really know unless under certain circumstances. The reason why I love this particular Deck which I call the Indy Deck because its got Indiana Jones and scenes of adventures in all 4 movies that inspires me and gives me greater energy than music and/or training with somebody else. I know what you're thinking "come on man, they're just cards like any other, what makes them all that special", for one; It's F-cking Indiana Jones and 2; It's got 3 jokers instead of the normal 2 so it adds a challenge and amps up the conditioning even more with the Squats.

Eventually i'll add back the Hindu Push-ups & Tablemakers but they'll be a part of the multi-variation team of Push-ups. This is my way of looking at what Karl Gotch use to say on conditioning "always work your muscles from every possible angle." I do want to hit the 500 Squat goal again and do 250 Push-ups and more than 150 V-ups but it will take time and i'm not going to reveal it until I have actually completed it. I do have the discipline to go after 500 Hindu Squats in a row and I've done it a couple times but I choose to do them in sets for the purpose that once I get up to a certain number in a row, I get very bored and it becomes more of a dull grind than a workout. This way I can shift from one exercise to another and still keep things fresh, fun and exciting. The workout is never the same twice, the reps are the same but each card can be different from the last workout. It builds crazy stamina, strength from doing different push-ups, adds in coordination and balance from the Squats and it gets both the upper and lower abs on the V-Ups where you're working the entire Core using a full body movement and if I had to take a break I would leave my arms overhead and straighten my legs to open up the obliques so I'm getting the most out of the whole session.

 You can do other exercises with your own deck but always use a foundation of basic exercises and keep things fresh and you'll never get bored. You want an Indy Deck of your own? Go HERE and grab them. Have fun and never find an excuse, find an opportunity to train.