Monday, July 22, 2019

Having Fun In The Great Outdoors

From Thursday afternoon to Saturday morning, me, the wife and her bestie went for a nice camping trip up here in Idaho. Haven't camped in 3 years so it was nice to get away from civilization for a couple days. The bestie's boyfriend came up the next morning to join us.

Sitting by the fire, shooting the breeze, taking a dip in the creek and chopping some wood to help get the fire going was just one of those things you can't help but love. Got in some Isometrics and deep breathing down by the creek and just letting nature sink in. Just felt happy.

Had a little trouble getting the tent up the first night but managed and got it going, didn't have the best sleep but hey, it's the woods, you never know what's lurking amongst the trees lol. Because of my hammer training, it gave me some good solid strength to chop some fine wood. Me and Shel Mac took turns chopping various parts of wood for our girls and plus it gave me something to do since it's one of those natural workouts that is very rewarding.

Second night was just a blast, doing practically nothing but laughing, eating and being entertained by our friend's dog which is part Wolf. Creek was pretty damn cold but I didn't care, it felt invigorating and peaceful. With the deep breathing or rhythmic breathing, I was able to stay in that beautiful clear water for a good period of time. Getting away from the city can be a major reset and let yourself relax and enjoy kick ass company.

One of the best moments was our last morning and while having breakfast, a baby moose was running down the creek and turned toward our camp, was only 30 yards away if that from our spot and headed up the road. The third time in my life I've seen moose and you don't know how big they truly are until you see them practically in close proximities, even the babies are big bastards.

Have fun with the people you love and make the most out of a trip that can bring you great joy and happiness. Nature is your gym; chop some wood, carry it, swim in the river/creek/lake, pick up big rocks, climb a tree, do wall sits on a tree, walk in unknown terrain and most of all, have a blast.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Short But Intense Sandbell Workout

Steady and long workouts may not give you the most bang for your buck. Intense exercise is more of a burner than anything else because when you go through intense training, it aids in calorie burning during and after a workout. HIT does this very well and so does HIIT. Some people believe that very intense yet long workouts benefit more but not everyone has time to do something very long. A few minutes is more than enough if you do it right.

Yesterday after doing an Isometric workout for my core, I was in the mood to really get some cardio in but didn't want to do it very long so I went into the dungeon, set a timer for 10 minutes, grabbed my 20 lb Sandbell and had at it doing Slams and Presses for AMRAP. Lungs were firing and felt amazing. This kind of workout is a full body conditioner to a great degree because i'm also doing this with little to no rest between the Superset. Here's what I was working very hard....

Lung Capacity

Grip Strength & Agility

Shoulders

Legs

Core

Anaerobic Conditioning

Upper & Lower Back

Chest

& Power

Short & Intense workouts either as a finisher or on their own burn calories like crazy especially if you keep going without stopping. The Sandbell is an incredible tool and has dozens upon dozens of exercises to work with and forces to work your grip hard. It's not like a dumbbell or kettlebell where you grip the same size handle, you actually have to regrip it every time you use it so imagine the finger strength being developed by this. It strengthens the tendons and ligaments and when you slam it, you're strengthening your lung capacity.

This is just an idea of what you can do if you're short on time but want something effective. Here's the complete workout....

10 Slams

20 Presses (10 per arm)

AMARAP In 10 minutes with little to no rest.

Monday, July 15, 2019

What Kind Of Routine Should You Do For Isometrics???

Although there are limitless exercises in Isometrics and the many ways you can apply them, what should you do if you were to do a routine? The truth is, they can be added to any routine or can be stand alone if you wish. If you're into sports, you can use Isometrics to aid in the development of your skill set whether it's through pitching, hitting, throwing, jumping, shooting, taking down an opponent, slapping on a submission hold or whatever.

You can create a routine where you do one body part a day that takes no more than a few minutes and go on about your day. You can do multiple body parts and round out the whole body within a 3-4 day period. Do one upper body workout one day and do the lower body the next, picking out the various parts of the body you want to work on. It's really a matter of what your goals are.

In the 60's during the Isometric craze of the cold war, Olympic Weightlifters in the U.S used Isometrics to increase the strength not only in their lifts but aiding in their speed and precision. Men like Steve Justa & Alexander Zass used Isometrics to increase their health and strength through sheer practice of various angles and developed their bodies while also increasing the strength of their bones, tendons & ligaments. Henry Wittenberg who won Olympic Gold Medals in Freestyle Wrestling used Isometrics to dominate opponents. The Great Gama used Isometrics to overthrow every opponent he faced and went undefeated in 5000 matches over the course of his career.

The routine that best suits you will be the one that works. I understand that sounds very vague and you want the "Secret Sauce" that will make a routine make you Superman or Wonder Woman but we are all different and we all different sets of goals and we must work according to our level of fitness and getting the most out of what we want to achieve. I've had periods where I did full body Isometrics almost daily or go through a routine where I hit the whole body in a 3 day period and repeated the cycle. Isometrics can do wonders if you act accordingly and learn the proper techniques and breathing patterns that will create results and achieving your goals.

For more info on Isometric Training, check out 7 Seconds To A Perfect Body and learn the key ingredients to create your successful routine.