Heading Back To My Animal Roots

I go through many phases of training to keep my mind wanting to try new things or experiment with combinations of methods but what draws me back more than anything else is the Animal Movements and the Free Flowing Combos. Hell, I did a 4 1/2 minute workout straight through to this song by Beasto Blanco on the spot and just let the exercises come on their own. It felt great and also felt like a splash of cold water water on my face waking my ass up. It was natural and instinctive. Included Crawling, Stretching, Mobility, Switches, Backward Rolling & Shin To Feet Jumps.

Training this way takes out all the stuff about set & rep schemes and just move. The practice of getting into a flow, breathing into it and let your instincts takeover isn't easy to do but once you get it, there's nothing like it. Sort of like Rickson Gracie going into a meditative state as he moves throughout a workout and let's his intuitiveness handle it instead of just thinking about it and analyzing everything. That's one of the things I'm drawn to, a few sets and reps of something is cool but to go into a place in your mind as the animal within takes over is a whole other ball game that many don't quite understand.

We rarely ever use our instincts and we are told by some that our instincts aren't valued and we need to pay more attention to detail in the sense of thinking too much and analyzing the way we go through life. The analyzing can be good to a degree but at some point we need to learn how to just let go. If you've practiced the mechanics of any exercise method long enough, it becomes a muscle memory and instincts can shoot up depending on the situation. You've done it so many times that it becomes automatic. That's one of the key aspects of Animal Movements and Flow Combos, you practice them until they become a part of you, to the degree where you become something else for a few brief moments and your mind goes blank but your body is flooded with all this Physical Memory (if that's the right term to use).

With the Animal Deck Of Cards, sure there's reps to do. I've gone through enough times to wear the reps or steps are just part of it but I get in tuned to it more than any other type of workout using a deck of cards. It's not just a conditioning type workout, it's not just to get a sweat going and it sure as hell isn't a workout for the sake of working out, it's to embody being animalistic and letting go of all the crap around you. Without the cards, I free flow and see where it leads me. I play and develop that meditative state of just letting certain things take over. That's the true art of physical exercise. 

When I went through that workout while the song played, something just clicked that I haven't experienced in a while. Everything felt right, didn't think about anything else and just had this drive to let the music in and help me in that state of mind. It wasn't like an out of body experience or anything like that but I was in the moment, in the now and get in touch with my inner animal. I was conscious but the thought process wasn't really there and just let the body take over. It was surreal.

When you can train like that, there's no other feeling like it. The world you live in for a mere moment doesn't exist and all that is is the connection to your body and mind, no more, no less. Animal Movements can give you that in ways other exercises can't (at least in my experience). Give them a chance and see where they take you. You don't need to do exercises so damn advanced that they seem impossible, work the basics and form a way to flow through certain things. Let it be fun, challenging and not so much a chore or something that bores you to death. 

Be instinctive, build that mind/muscle connection with the aspects of nature and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Here's a little Push-Up & Scorpion Combo Flow you can try out to get some mobility, coordination, strength and agility. Do this as many times as you like and it can be a warm up or cool down in your regular workout.

Are Step Ups The Lazy Man's Equivalent Of Leg Training?

I saw this recently and it kind of made me laugh and just thought "wow, what kind of bullshit is this?" Now granted, Step Ups don't get as much attention as Squats and other forms of Leg work such as Sprints, Lunges and others but in reality, they're one of the key ingredients to building some crazy conditioning. Just ask Bob Backlund, think he's lazy?

Step Ups have been used for a very long time and they're a simulation of what people do everyday such as climbing stairs or going on rugged terrain, going up a ladder, hell if you're really ambitious you may find a tree to climb the branches. One of the things it was used for from a Fitness standpoint was to test students at Harvard to determine how their heart rate was after a 3 min set. Hence the name, the Harvard Step Test. Ever see those delivery boys going up and down those stairs in apartment buildings in New York or Chicago? You'd have to have some good legs in order to keep that job and some of those guys can haul ass. Doesn't sound lazy to me?

Bob Backlund, in my eyes was the man when it came to Step Ups. He started doing them sometime either during or after his reign as world champion before Vince Jr. took over the WWWF and made it the phenom today. After years of running jarred his knees and needed something to keep his legs strong yet durable and conditioned, he found out about the Harvard Step Test and since then, he's probably done more reps in more sessions than some of the greatest athletes before or since. He was still capable of doing high level reps in squats, push-ups, burpees and other exercises but he still believed the Step Ups made him the most conditioned he ever felt.

It really is a phenomenal exercise and many athletes and everyday people use it to help with building strength and stamina in the legs. Some have used it to train for long hikes or expeditions, others such as pro baseball players use it to help with their speed and strength throughout games. It's one of my personal favorites and have found them to be better than squats in many ways, not to say squats aren't good, they're awesome but Step Ups just have a better feeling and they're just different.

I've done hundreds of reps with both Squats and Step Ups and in comparison, Step Ups don't ever make me feel sore. On about 2-3 occasions I've done 1000 Step Ups and the fastest time was 50 minutes using a deck of cards and have done 1000 Squats twice ever and that fastest time was 33 minutes. These days if I did squats, it be around 100-300 and it's been a while since I did 500 in a row but during my circuit workouts, I would do them in sets of 10-20 depending on the circuit and the amount of squats in that circuit. For the Step Ups, around the same amount of reps either in a row or in a circuit. My favorite workout is to do a Superset of Step Ups & Shoulder Carrying my 50 lb Sandbell. Set a timer for let's say 20 min and just go back and forth with those exercises and I'd do around 10-15 reps per leg and carry the sandbell twice (once on each shoulder) for ten yards each without a rest. For circuits, I don't rest on those either. I have tested myself in doing 500 Step Ups and my time was just under 22 min (21:52 to be exact) and feel really proud of that.

Doing this exercise may not be the most spectacular looking, but it does work wonders beyond what some shmuck thinks it does or doesn't do. Take a step stool of about 12-15 inches in height and have at it. Some stools hold up to 300 lbs or more and others lower but for most people, as long as it's sturdy you're good to go and there are some that are foldable so you can store it easier. It gets you into pretty damn good condition if you're consistent with it. Be sure to understand your leg to step ratio because if you have a step up that's too short, it won't do a whole lot for you but also don't use a step that is too high for your legs or you'll overextend the hip joint and put more stress on your knees than you need to. I work with a 14 in stool from time to time and was my primary step stool until I started noticing some weird things in my hips and hamstrings so I switched to a 12 1/2 inch step stool and that felt just perfect for my leg to step ratio and can get in workouts that are challenging but it's not going to hurt my joints in the long run. 

You work with what's best for you and make it your strength. It's all about progressing and finding the right niche in your arsenal to where you're kicking ass but also being safe on your joints as well. I don't even really count reps much these days in this exercise mainly because I've set my goals to do as many as I wanted to test myself with and just make it more of a "moving meditation" type exercise where I set a timer and just do the amount of reps I want per leg and keep going until the timer runs out. Some like to count and time, others may have a goal in mind and go as much as they can, it's up to you and have fun with it. 

So is the Step Up the lazy man's exercise of training the legs? Hell no and whoever says it is, is either trying to sell you the illusion of something else pr bullshitting his way into some form of training that is superior. That's not the true way to train. What is superior is what gives you the best chance at being fit and continue doing it for a long time with very little chance at getting injured and creating challenges that are interesting to you. If Squats are more your thing, that's awesome and I hope you succeed at them, if they worked for the Great Gama and Jaromir Jagr, I have no doubt they can work for you, if you prefer Step Ups, have at it and make it the best damn exercise you can do because it keeps you wanting to come back to it. Now if you're one of those crazy bastards that has a mind for both, well bro, you've got some serious shit going on and I hope it gives you the most bad ass set of legs ever. 

Be strong, get conditioned, be safe and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Side Note......

Stay safe this holiday season and don't get trampled today for Black Friday. Be with your families and shop with better intentions than to try to go to the stores to get hurt over a damn TV. Here are some cool Black Friday Sales you can check out for your early Xmas Shopping. Happy Holidays and be good to each other. 

Amazon Black Friday Sales

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Huge Savings at Vahva Fitness for some of the best fitness programs on the market today from Movement Training to Warrior. Get all three of the top programs there for a stupid price that's a one time fee. 

Check out some cool stuff at Onnit Fitness for equipment, programs and supplements to help your journey. 

Getting Stronger With The Chest Expander

 I don't know if I'm falling in love with the Chest Expander or just really getting into it and reaping the benefits of it. Almost everyday lately, I've been pulling and pressing that thing from as many directions as I can without straining myself. In terms of resistance, I've kept it around 100-140 lbs but some days I'll go lighter and every few days or so I would see what my max amount of resistance I can do for about 3-5 reps. I don't do multiple sets of an exercise, I just do 1 and go from one to another either quickly or after a short rest so I feel at my strongest.

The workouts feel great and I'm feeling a difference in my back and shoulders since this thing works out the kinks where my shoulders may have lacked. Because of doing Bear Crawls, Push-Ups from time to time and other ground movements in animal exercises you're hitting more of either the front or back of the shoulders and not so much all around that area of the body so the Chest Expander really targets the areas that might not be as strong and need a bit of a boost and not getting in just one or two areas. Some cables I'll use relatively the same colors and use all three bands, or two depending on the exercises I do and mix and match to work different pounds of resistance together.

I'm not trying to utilize a bodybuilding approach and nowhere near the level of some of the old timers like Fred Rollon or John Grimek and Reg Park. These guys knew realistic strength better than just about anybody when it came to Strand Pulling. In the old days and even today, the Expanders had springs you can work with up to I think like 6 at one time. There are elastic cables today you can use that go up to 5 but most Expanders have about 3-4. I try to max out what I can do and from my research, one of the tests of strength with it is the Front Chest Pull W/ Hands Inside. This sets the tone for how strong you are with that apparatus.

My max pull right now is at 160 lbs resistance but I know I can do better as time goes on. As you can see above, yes I have to really put effort into it and it's not something I take lightly. It's awesome to experiment but it's also important to respect the bands as well and be in control otherwise it'll hit you hard and it does fight back with a vengeance the heavier the resistance. 

When it comes to the exercises, I try to keep a bare minimum of about 6 exercises that are the foundational pulls and work other exercises to hit other parts of the upper body like curls, tricep extensions, lateral raises with lighter resistance and others. In a single workout, I might do up to 10-12 exercises. If it's a heavy day, I rest a bit longer between exercises and keep the reps to 3-10 depending how much I have in me to pull or work with. For lighter resistance, I keep it around 10-25 reps per exercise for more moderate to near conditioning type training while resting as little as possible to not at all. Have no clue how long a workout is, I just grab and go with it. 

Now because it's mainly an upper body training session, what do I do for legs? Simple really, Step Ups, Animal Walks, Isometrics, Pick Up & Carry Sandbells and there you go. You do want to keep things equal but more often than not, you either do more of one or the other and do your best to avoid injuries and getting stiff. I like to stretch the body out doing my Flow Training or do Isometric Type Stretches from Bob Anderson's Stretching Book but my most common routine are mobility type exercises and loosening up the joints. Flexibility is just as important as Strength Training and regardless of our strength, if we don't have solid mobility and flexibility, what good are we?

Workouts don't need to be super long in order to create results. It doesn't matter if you're into weights, bands, bodyweight, machines or hammers, if you got a good 45 minutes for a long one or 5 minutes for a short one, you can have sessions that will make you feel like you just went through hell. One of my favorites for conditioning is Circuit Training doing Bodyweight & Martial Arts type training. Those are the type of workouts where I can go hard but not rest at all. Keep it to 10 rounds max and you're good to go.

Back to the Chest Expanders shall we? The stronger you get, the more you'll start to see how great the carry over is to other things you may not have realized. Some of the worst injuries for athletes are in the shoulders such as those who are Pitchers, Olympic Lifters, Martial Artists and Wrestlers. Rotator Cuff injuries are the most common and although like I've written before, we can't avoid injuries all the time but we can greatly reduce them by practicing prehab exercises and strength training that keeps injuries at bay for as long as possible. The Chest Expander is one of those tools that can do that even for the most elite athletes. If you had injuries that have a chance of being healed, this thing can work wonders using lighter bands. 

I know people love going to the gym but there are times that it's not always possible like during a snow storm or during hurricane season. I'm not suggesting you try to do workouts in the middle of a blizzard, it's the idea that because Expanders are very affordable that you can have an entire gym in a little bag, it's there when you need it for those days when going to a gym isn't there. It gives you the freedom to train wherever you want and they can be done everyday or 2-3 times a week, it's up to you. Train according to your goals but also make compromises with yourself so you don't feel obligated or frustrated that because you may not always get to do one thing but have something there that can be useful in the meantime. 

Be strong, be resourceful and keep being amazingly awesome. HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!