Why I Stopped Talking In My Youtube Videos

The attention span of today isn't all that great and for a lot of reasons. A major thing is from Social Media where you have so many things to view that it can be hard to keep up and the truth is, you can't keep up so what's to really focus on. Some live their whole lives and document every single fucking thing in order to feel that they'll be remembered. Hell being a celebrity seems to be far easier today than it was even 25 years ago. All you have to do is make one little comment or show some skin and wham bam, many will come and will either love you or hate you.

Some people will go on youtube and get things off their chest and rant about how much the world sucks and how men are so weak that they can't take a blow to the face by a feather. Others may feel threatened because of something someone said that was not all that was the truth yet took it to the extreme believing that person is trying to bruise their business. Get real bro. I used to talk quite a bit in my videos over the years and quite frankly, I had enough for certain reasons.....

I don't have a ton of patience to explain shit to people about exercises that could raise more questions than answers. Talking to an audience isn't my strong suit and don't look at the camera very much. If I start talking, it could be very short or too long for someone or even for my taste. I always felt like my writing did the talking for me and just film doing exercises and workouts because they're right there and don't need to really say anything, most of them are very self explanatory. Other people are far better at that than I'll ever be like Logan Christopher, Al Kavadlo, Matt Schifferle, Matt Furey and others. The only way I was able to really talk was because it takes me back to doing performances and scenes when I was in School. In middle school, I was in the choir and performed in various places through Santa Cruz like schools, a nursing home, the mall and at the Coconut Grove at the Boardwalk. In High School, I performed in Drama doing plays like Brigadoon, Wizard Of Oz, Once Upon A Mattress and Singing In The Rain mainly doing dance sequences and only one scene in that entire era where I talked, have fun guessing which one and which scene (only those that were there and know me IRL know). 

For the most part, I 'am camera shy and I get nervous pretty easily. Shit I'm not that great as an interview or giving an interview, it's difficult for me. When I stopped and realized that the best way for me to do videos is to just do what I love and shut up. It worked and that makes me feel confident in being on camera. That has somewhat helped me evolve into someone showing his journey without the need to say much or at all. Just do your thing and if someone has a question, do it in an email or in a comment. I may not have the coolest gadgets or do the most perfect form of exercise but I do what I can and make the most of what I know and understand. Some have it, some don't and I'm one of those people who doesn't need to talk in order to get my point across.

Some don't have it but try anyway and I applaud the effort but if you're going to overexplain along with belittling people, you either need some fixing or use a completely different approach. If you're trying to appeal to a specific audience that's great but not everyone is going to want to listen and then try to view you doing something. Can you improve on it, of course. Even for me I may find some words in future videos but just do what you love and train. Just putting it out there can be nerve wracking especially if you're new to it. That's what made it painfully obvious to me was the talking, the moment I learned to shut up and go, things just shot up like a rocket. 

There are so many youtubers, influencers, gurus, trainers and such but an extreme few ever will make it big and better yet, a fraction of them are actually that good and have helped many people. Some are great at explaining things and teaching the mechanics but others just want to run their mouth and act like nobody comes close to what they do, it's sad. I'm sorry but if you're going to boast about how great you are and that you can "coach, train, take you by the hand – and SCRUFF hehe – and WHIP your ass into shape like NO-ONE else out there, I repeat, NO-ONE comes close – even can come close to 'can'" than that's borderline narcissistic and need to fix those loose screws man.

If you've mastered at talking on camera, keep at it and showcase the best to your abilities, if you're just great at showing stuff and don't need to explain it on film, that's great too. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Have fun and be amazingly awesome in your endeavors. 

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How Important Is Form Really?

One of the things I've learned throughout my fitness journey is to be in control of an exercise as much as possible. Making mistakes along the way through trial and error, it's important to understand that although form may not always be what makes or breaks you, it's the control that really pits the findings of avoiding getting hurt and getting injured. In some videos you see people making all kinds of mistakes and flopping around like a fish out of water and can't control themselves if they tried in a fucking boat. 

When it comes to exercises like Push-ups, how far do you go before you lose control of your form or better yet, how much control do you have over the amount of tension concentrated on the movement itself. For some, it doesn't take long before their arms turn to jello or they think that arching the back for a regular pushup is a good idea. Let me put it this way....This is a work of art and control, this is bullshit form and think this is in some way good for people.

In weightlifting or just typical weight training, control is a must otherwise something terribly wrong can happen, granted that the heavier you go, the greater the form and control but even then you can get hurt. Some bodyweight fanatics admire guys like Herschel Walker who's a genetic freak and has done hundreds to thousands of pushups, squats, situps and such a day for decades; the weird thing is, his form isn't always pretty looking and looks like he does half reps or TUT (time under tension) throughout the movements which has worked for him well and is still a hell of a specimen (despite having a few issues in the political arena these days) but those particular movements aren't always meant for people with different body structures. Hell even the Great Gama didn't practice the best form when it came to the Hindu Push-ups, Hindu Squats, Sapates and other things because the form and control was very different in order to work his body for a specific purpose, it sure as hell wasn't completely for health sake.

It can be stingy to how we control a movement and which muscles to focus into as we move throughout any specific exercise. There are certain things you can get away with but you can't teach people the same exact style as you because different body types come with different structed areas of the muscle groups, you can't teach a 6'6 man at 25 pull-ups the same way you teach a 5'1 75 year old granny, the mechanics yes, absolutely teach that area the best way you know how but the structure in order to perform pullups is different due to arm length, shoulder distribution, the control of the torso so it doesn't swagger and other things. 

Training is meant to help prevent injuries as much as possible, not to cause them. There are ways to train like a madman and not have as many injuries or if any if they can help it. We can't 100% avoid injuries from training, it's a part of the game and it's important to understand that no matter what we do, whether microscopic or something completely stupid, there is a chance of injury. However; if we practice our control and keep a solid focus on making a movement work to our advantage so the chances of injury are reduced, that's a far better option than just seeing how many reps you can do and think you won't suffer the consequences when your form turns to shit. 

That's one of the things I love to learn from guys like Matt Schifferle, his style of training is to put tension and control into every movement he does in order to make any exercise he does efficient and maybe not spectacular looking but solid enough to where the muscles are worked and it takes on a life of its own even at a low-skill setting. His books in particular like Overcoming Isometrics & Suspension Calisthenics give you an inside scoop to how you can practice controlling your body in order to make exercises effective to their highest degree. His style is more Low-Skilled compared to say someone like those guys from Barstarzz that at times are so advanced that an extremely small percentage of the population can pull it off. The hand placements, the straightness of the core, the curvature of the spine as it moves and the level of tension throughout the body is what will make or break you. 

Swinging a sledgehammer is another and it's going to tell you if you're in control or not. If you can barely swing it and your core is too loose, it's going to wreck your back and put strain on the hips, elbows and shoulders. People who work for a living with sledgehammers understand this as well and after many years, some are wrecked regardless because it is really hard physical labor. The point of this area is to understand what you are working with and learning the mechanics while training safely and effectively. As you can see here working with a near 73 lb hammer, I have to keep my body tight in many areas otherwise I'm risking serious back problems and greater chances of blowing a disk along with hernia problems. Also, I wouldn't be training with a hammer that big all the time. With a much lighter hammer, the mechanics are a bit different but the principle of keeping your body safe as you work throughout the movements is the key and to avoid injury whenever possible. I can do hundreds of reps if not up to a thousand or more with a 25 lb hammer and not get injured or have any serious issues but it's only because I pay attention to my body and keep on eye on being not so much stiff but keep control of how I move with precision and speed.  

Depending on the type of exercise you do (not kipping pull-ups or crappy form in olympic style lifting), keep control of your body and the movement you perform. Never take such a risk that it becomes a serious injury sooner rather than later. Like I said before, we can't 100% avoid an injury, but we can avoid them a good portion of the time if we learned control and utilizing the best form possible to make ourselves stronger, healthier and in far better condition than the person who can literally be going to the hospital due to stupidity more often than he is training. Be safe yet bold, strong with control and be amazingly awesome in the things you do. 

A Childhood Hero Gone: RIP JDF

 Like many, yesterday I heard the news of Jason David Frank aka Tommy Oliver the Green/White Ranger from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers died. I thought like a lot of people did that it was a hoax but with the confirmation from his rep and former co-stars, it was sadly true. It was said to be suicide but not 100% confirmed. To say it hit me would be an understatement, nearly 30 years of memories came flashing at me.

I have met other Rangers but never got the opportunity to meet JDF which now hits even more. The man was so young yet had so much more going for him and demons just pinned him down. When I was about 9 years old, MMPR came on the scene and was one of millions of kids at the time to watch those first episodes when they aired. The 5 episode event of the Green Ranger was at that time one of the epic things a young kid especially young boys watched. Yeah sure the show was very campy and had cool scenes of martial arts and all that but there were some hidden messages for those young kids especially how to treat people and using your skills to better yourself as a person and not be a bully or a douchebag.

At the time until maybe Power Rangers Turbo, I was utterly obsessed with Power Rangers. My favorite obviously was the Green Ranger and when he became the White Ranger, to me that was the coolest thing ever. He was one of my first superheroes and a childhood icon. Tommy was the type of character that loved protecting others and treating everyone he cared about with love and respect. The other rangers did as well but there was something different about that character that others related to. I was part of the Fan Clubs, getting those spinners, shirts and other cool stuff. I played practically every video game that was out there and had the afterschool special tapes where it went beyond the TV Show. I even had a custom made Green Ranger Costume with the Gold Shield made for me for Halloween by a co-worker of my mom's.

I loved watching that series and would be literally waiting for it to come on after coming back from school to my second mom's house. It was one of the things I looked forward to before doing homework. Sang the theme song, crushing on Kimberly the Pink Ranger (Amy Jo Johnson) and just watch those guys kick ass, beating monsters and the putties. Had my Dragon Dagger in hand mimicking Tommy as he called on the Dragonzord and just manhandled Evil like a boss. 

When the Movie came out, it was a major highlight of my childhood and watched it so many times I lost count. I was about 11 or so when it came to the Theaters and would beg my dad or my mom to take me to see it. I remember one outing, my dad got us tickets to see Free Willy I believe or some other movie and saw the Power Ranger Movie in one of the closest theaters to it and begged my dad to have us go see that instead, the usher just looked at us and told us it's ok. The toys, the games (even that weird handheld one) and the show itself were my biggest thing. It annoyed so many of my friends and family I don't know how they held it together with me. I did get teased for it quite a bit but I didn't care. The Green Ranger was the man and was my hero and tried to hold onto his every word.

As time went on, like many kids growing up and having the horrific spats of puberty and shyness, I drifted away from Power Rangers and got into things like Pro Wrestling, heavy metal, basketball and other things but I never forgot the series and it's actually the very reason to this day that my favorite color is green. I never got into Karate or Martial Arts back then and maybe I should've, things may have been different.  Fighting was never one of my strong suits and literally had no skillset to speak of. Couldn't punch or kick if my life depended on it but with the influence of the Power Rangers (along with seeing others I knew very well) I never got into drugs or smoking and didn't really drink. 

I had my flaws and all that and that show tried to teach me to believe in myself when even now I still struggle with but gotta keep fighting and making the most of it. It had such an impact on me that I still use some things from it as of this writing. It helped me find passion in my life, to do what I love and share it with as many people as I can even when there those who won't agree with me or just want to hate on me. It helped me to never give up on the things you care about and to be who you are. 

As for Jason David Frank, although I never met the man, I heard so many stories and interviews about how much he loved his fans and I don't think even once something bad about him came up. With all the paparazzi and people finding as much dirt as they can, you didn't hear much of the negative things about him which is a rarity because there's always some kind of crazy thing about a celebrity. He was the embodiment of what a real life hero can be. He was such an influence on so many kids that they took up the martial arts and found a place in this world when for a number of them there was pain, loss and anguish yet rose above all of that. A small bit of me even channeled that influence when I was laid up in the hospital and told myself to keep fighting. 

JDF had his demons like anybody else and just because you're famous doesn't mean you're immune to certain things. For us who grew up on Tommy Oliver, many will never truly know who the man was behind the tables, the interviews, the suit, character the signings or the photo ops. A true martial artist in every sense of the word and made an impact on many of us that we can't comprehend how much it meant to us as a person and repaying him for the things he gave us. The teachings, the philosophy, the belief and the heart we feel for others. He was really a hero to look up to when for a lot, there wasn't. He was the first true superhero I looked up to and learned many things from him. 

Whether it was suicide or not (I really hope it isn't) it's no joke and in this day and age, mental health is in a big stage of finding ways to better ourselves and finding positive things to keep us going. Some are so far gone it's tragic but if we can even make a microscopic influence to help someone, it can be a huge impact and save somebody. I knew someone who killed themselves way back in 2000 and he was just a 17 year old kid, had a bright future and was incredible at basketball that he had aspirations for D1 College and maybe the Pros, he was that good. There was even a relative I knew and although he wasn't the most humble or even the nicest guy, he was still family. We can't save everyone but we can do our damndest to be there for someone even if it's just shooting the breeze, it can do something great.

RIP JDF, your influence will live on in the hearts of fans all over and your heart, your character and your love will never die. You may be onto the next phase of your journey in the afterlife but nothing will stop us from learning from you as time goes on. You were a hero to me and many who grew up in the 90's and are learning about you today. I'm so honored to have lived in a time where men like you can show us the way and be a part of a phenomenon that will live on for generations to come. Long live Jason David Frank and may the power protect you.