The Jump Rope And Its Impact

Rope Skipping has been around for ages and has been used by some of the greatest boxers and wrestlers ever from Olympic gold medalists to the pros. I love to play around with the jump rope every now and then and would use a ropeless or cordless jump rope indoors so I don't hit the ceiling or anything and it's one of the most portable pieces of equipment you can use. I'm not the most coordinated and just do a couple basic exercises but I know how much of an impact it can be on conditioning and saving time and money. 

Now it's no question some of the best athletes around skip rope and have taught some incredible workouts. However; there are some people out there who claim that they're course is the best in in existence like this one Jump Rope Mania but I hate to break it to you, it really isn't. Learning from this dude is not the way to go and quite frankly, this course should not cost you $150 for a fucking book or close to $55 for Kindle, like seriously why buy a book that costs you an arm and a leg (maybe a few other organs too), it's ridiculous man. If you want to learn the best of the best when it comes to Rope Skipping, go to a guy who's not only an Olympic Wrestler but one of the most underrated as well and that's Anthony "Buddy" Lee. In his book, he shows you over 100 exercises with a jump rope from very basic to some of the most incredible jaw dropping exercises you'll ever witness and this book is around $15. There's also another book Jump Rope Training by Lee for under $20 on Kindle that has better quality training than some Fitness hack that rips off guys like Matt Furey.

Building a foundation for conditioning and stamina is very important and one of the key aspects is to learn from those that have not only been through the ringer but know the true secrets to those that came before them. Lee was not just an Olympian but was one of the best College Wrestlers of his time and was a Marine that could mop the floor with just about anybody. One of the best teachers when it comes to conditioning training with minimal equipment and making fitness fun and exciting while kicking your ass. 

Mike Tyson, Karl Gotch, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Mohammad Ali, Dan Gable and many others are legends of their respective field and all did rope skipping. Talk about an all star lineup. Learn from people like them, you don't even have to do the crazy advanced stuff, just get good the best you can with the basics and you can't go wrong. Jon Hinds' father Bobby was a hell of a skipper in his time and could do 68 jumps in 10 seconds which was a record at the time, that's pure badassery. 

Be versatile and when it comes to minimal equipment, you can't beat a good Jump/Speed Rope. Stay strong, get conditioned and keep being amazingly awesome.

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Power Up Your Legs With The Portable Power Jumper

If you had to pick one athlete that had some of the most powerful yet conditioned legs in all of Physical Culture, The Great Gama would be at the top or close to the top of a short list. For being undefeated for decades and doing more squats daily than the majority will ever do in their lifetime, it's a wonder how he stayed in shape for so long. His regimen has been grossly exaggerated but at the same time, you can't deny the sheer strength and power he possessed. 

Leg work such as Squats, Lunges, Step Ups and Jumping movements are an essential to staying physically fit. You don't always need to do hundreds if not thousands of reps to reap the benefits. There are many ways to do leg work and you can make them easier or more challenging but in the end, making leg work a priority is one of the best things you can do. One of the things that Gama did to make his squats more challenging was using a Ring Weight called a Gar Nal where you put the inside of the Ring onto your shoulders and do squats that way. Now, that's about as bad to the bone as you can get when it comes to strength and conditioning in the old traditions of Physical Culture but at the same time, it's not as compatible or versatile for most people. There is another way though.

This device is not necessarily meant to make squats or other leg exercises "easier", but it does get the job done and has been used by the pros and by fitness enthusiasts the world over and that's the Portable Power Jumper. It's an apparatus that you can put your feet into a strap and put resistance cables onto your shoulders. This can take your leg conditioning to another level in the modern day. There are other forms of resistance cables you can do for the legs but most give you limitations but the PPJ can have you doing all sorts of stuff, even Hindu Push-ups & The Back Bridge. It's awkward as hell and as long as it doesn't snap on you in the hairy peaches, doing the bridge with this thing really tackles the back, core and legs like nobody's business. For a period I would do this for a few reps rocking back and forth and hold for about a minute (it's a miracle it never hit me in the coconuts) and I would feel it almost immediately. It really helped strengthen my bridge and one of the reasons why I could hold a nose to mat bridge for three minutes any time I feel like it. 

Whether you're training for a sport, needing that extra nudge in your training or just want to stay in shape, this awesome set of bands can do a lot in a short span of time. Work your legs hard in lesser time to get results that would astound people. It'll save you time and is affordable. Get it as a gift to yourself or for someone you care about and learn how to expand your horizons in the realm of fitness. Take it with you anywhere....To the gym, in your hotel room, at the park, during a break at work, in your bedroom, hell even on mars maybe one day. Get conditioned, stay strong and have a kick ass Christmas Weekend everyone. Be amazingly awesome to yourself and your loved ones. 

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Hitting 1000 Even Faster In Step Ups

Yesterday, I attempted to do 1000 Step Ups again just to see where it went. Recently for Step Up Workouts, I would go for 30 min or more non stop. Never counted how many total, just set my timer and went at it doing 12-15 per leg repeatedly. I have tested myself to see how fast or consistent I can do a certain amount of reps per minute, my fastest is 30-33 within a minute, at a decent clip for pacing it's around 24 per minute, so for a 30 minute workout that means I'm ranging around 650-720 reps. 

If you hear someone say Step Ups are a lazy man's form of leg training, they're talking out of their ass and have no clue how tough that exercise can be, he's feeding you bullshit for something else in order to make a buck. Last time I did a thousand was about a couple years ago or so and managed to complete 1000 reps in 50 minutes. That to me was beyond crazy and I didn't think I would go any lower than that. This was using a deck of cards and just going with the numbers you would do for each suit. This time, I used a deck of cards again and something incredible happened, I went even faster.

Now when I did the amount in 50 minutes, I was using a 14 inch step stool which was relatively difficult and I was feeling it in my hips, lower back and knees. Since then I changed it to a 12 1/2 inch stool which is only an inch and a half difference so nothing huge in terms of a matter of speed and consistency. This height is perfect for me when it comes to consistency and keeping pace without feeling discomfort in my hips and knees along with the low back. This time, I not only went faster, I shaved off a ton of minutes. I finished 1000 reps in 41:23, nearly 8 min and 40 seconds were sliced off. That was fucking incredible and it's an awesome feeling.

There were times where I was practically sprinting and other times keeping a solid pace. Around 3/4 of the way I wanted to quit and just say fuck it and call it a day but I felt something encouraging me to keep going and telling me I got this. For some reason, I kept hearing Bud Jeffries in my head and he wouldn't have let me stop. I know that sounds New Agey and full of shit when it comes to the paranormal stuff but it was weird that I felt his presence and just felt like I couldn't let him down, so I kept going. I don't know maybe it was the endorphin high, the heavy breathing, the mental state I was in or whatever but it was surreal and I couldn't stop to let it sink in, I had to fight a bit but I made it and I did it.

Doing that many reps in that span of time was on another level of fierce will and determination along with mental toughness and the ability to push through even when it got hard. I have no fucking clue where that puts me in the realm of fitness nor do I really care, I just wanted to see if I can do it again and god damnit I did and it was absolutely glorious. You have no idea how it feels to do that many until you've done it yourself. You can talk shit all you want and contradict what the idea is but that means you couldn't possibly fathom the mentality and the physicality to push that hard with such a simple exercise. I don't know if I'll do it again any time soon or even go past 1000 for that matter but I can say I did it and I was cruising through that shit with the spirit of a dear friend encouraging me and the will to make it happen even when I was fighting myself. 

When you take on a challenge, you may completely know what the outcome is or where that challenge will lead you. A challenge is more than just attempting something physical, it's a challenge to your mind, the heart you have and the fire that burns within in order to accomplish that challenge no matter what it is, so big you can see it through space or so damn tiny it's barely microscopic. There's a time and a place where you push yourself to limits that most people would fear for their life. It doesn't have to be all the time, you're not setting world records in your workouts, but it is important to have that curiosity and see what you are capable of. If it's with a friend or a workout partner that's great but also when you're by yourself and there's no one to help you, you have to dig deep into the very depths of your soul and there's no one to blame if you fail. 

1000 reps in anything whether it be push-ups, squats, pull-ups, step-ups or moving weight over a period of time or in one workout is a feat for anybody. If you do it consistently, you're in far better shape than the highest majority of the population. No matter what your challenges are, face them and find out what you can do. You may fail quite a bit but sometimes those challenges can make you succeed and you're putting in the fight to succeed. Don't be afraid to fail yet make your successes as pieces of a puzzle that is your journey. There's always a piece that fits, question is, how many pieces does it take for you to get to the big picture?

Kick ass everyone and I wish you all the successes you make, if you fail, pick yourself back up and keep fighting whether it's right there or at another time. Keep being amazingly awesome.

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