That First Workout Of The Day

Training is not just about building muscle and having a solid level of strength and conditioning. It's about keeping the joints healthy regardless of what your program is because without flexibility and mobility, what good is your program if you end up hurt? Even for me, I need to remind myself that joint health is just as much a priority as my conditioning if not even more so at times. The joints and bones are the true areas that keep everything together and could make or break you if you get injured quicker or less likely.

In our teens and our 20's, we could almost get away with going hard a bit frequently and recover pretty well if we do it right, but once we hit those mid to late 30's and into our 40's and beyond, priorities change. Some people can get away with it to a degree and we all have different body types, metabolisms and bone health. There are some things we just can't get away with as we get older but it doesn't mean we can't still kick ass and stay healthy. 

One of the things that has saved me from many potential injuries is doing some form of stretching and mobility work. I know I need to do this more often and potentially twice a day as the years go on and that's maintaining Joint Loosening workouts and moving the neck around in various directions, not necessarily in the bridge or self resistance although those are still great. Loosening up the joints brings greater flow to the structure of the body and trains your system to be in a calm but energetic manner. It brings great energy to the body's skeletal structure.

Another thing that has saved from potential injuries is Isometrics. Can never truly shut up about Isometrics. If Joint Loosening brings the flow, Isometrics bring the strength and shield that protects them from breaking down easier. Isometrics are the armor for your skeletal system like Wolverine's Adamantium. Mix these types of training systems and you have a much higher chance of living a healthy life injury free than the majority of people at any age. 

I first learned about Joint Health from Matt Furey's Combat Stretching videos from back in the day and at the time, I thought they were just another thing as part of training. Didn't really think about the importance of them until I got older. Isometrics was another thing similar but I kept up with them more frequently. It's important to understand what you learn, it's another to truly discover the importance of what they mean. From an outside perspective, loosening the ankles, elbows, shoulders, knees and hips don't look like much and it's just warm up type exercises. Not always the case when it comes down to it. The flow of our bodies tends to change as we age and if we don't maintain a certain level of flow, we can become stiff much quicker and risk injury at a greater capacity. When flow is relaxed yet also strong, we become less stiff and the risk of injury is greatly reduced.

Isometrics can be done in a variety of ways whether it's being very intense for a few seconds or holding a posture for a minute or more, there's a healing property there and developing that shield of armor. From the Wall Sit to Fist Planks, Overcoming Exercises and Horse Stances, there's a variety that will test anyone and it's not always a matter of how long or intense you can go, it's a matter of control and going after the little muscles. It digs right into the very essence of the skeletal structure. You can start the day loosening up and then holding certain postures for a period or do intense Overcoming Isometrics that essentially will not only strengthen you from the inside out but could highly strip fat like butter on a hot pan. Hybrid Isometrics can be done as well but these are so fucking intense that if you can hold let's say a plank for three minutes, you won't last more than a minute most likely using a strap. Hybrids can jack your heart rate up too which has some value in the cardio department. Don't believe me, try the Hybrid Push-up and see what happens. 

That first workout of the day can give you great energy to start things out and prepare you for what lies ahead, or it can bring you down and feel like shit all day, which one would you rather have? Thought so. 

Be loose but strong, strong with flow and build very strong tendons and ligaments. Keep being amazingly awesome everyone.

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Who Do The Rules Really Apply To?

 We will at times decided to make changes and put first our health and sanity. With the plethora of information out there and the endless debates on what fitness method has the bigger dick, it's hard to not get caught up in the drama of it all especially when it comes to Forums. I have left one forum more times than probably Terry Funk has retired from Pro Wrestling and something just kept bringing me back to it. Had enough and although a couple people on there are cool guys and look for the positive side of things, it's still overshadowed by old geezers who had their prime in the 60's or early 70's who can't seem to stop bitching about things that have nothing to really do with them. I never belonged there.

It's also important to be aware of how someone might try to sell you something great but it's got more piles of shit than cows in a pasture. Out of the thousands of courses out there, which by all intents and purposes work, only a fraction of a fraction of them would benefit the general population. It's the selling of bullshit to get you sucked in. They also want you to abide by their "rules" in order to keep you from thinking for yourself. Their product, their rules so do speak.

If you're willing to invest in a product, it can be a bit of a gamble as to whether or not it'll work for you whether it costs 10 bucks or $100+, it's about utilizing the hard earned money and making it worth while without succumbing to the crap many ads place. Yes, many of these folks make a great living selling books, seminars, kindles and all that but very very few will provide you with great service and have an encouraging attitude instead of a money grabbing douchebag that sells $250 of one product and if you don't like it, he'll write you off as an idiot and someone who isn't a real "doer" whatever the fuck that is.

My personal belief is that when you invest in a product, yes it's important to understand the basics and learn how some of the exercises work along with experimenting with the program (at your own pace of course) but once you understand the basics and formalities of that program, be free to use it however you see fit. Make your own rules, adjust according to your needs, not what the author feels like he should force you to do. Is it important to be safe, yes. Is it important to understand the mechanics, very much so. The rules however, don't apply to everyone and there should be a freedom of doing things that don't always apply to what an author tells you. After close to two decades of (give or take a couple years) learning from so many programs, less than a handful really work for me and I get to say what I do and how I do it. Never feel shackled to a person's pitch and broken promises.

One of the things I love about Red Delta Project and the courses the man behind them provides is that yes he has his convictions about what he believes in but he's also very flexible in helping others achieve their goals and having a very encouraging and energetic attitude. He makes funny references to real topics in the fitness industry and respects what others do in order to achieve their goals. When Bud Jeffries was alive, he wasn't just encouraging, he would literally cheer you on and help you not only believe in yourself but also somehow knew what potential you have and give you kick ass tips to tap into it. He would push you, but never to the point where there was a risk of severely going to the hospital, there was limits to that. He was also loving, caring and saw how great someone could be or already was. His courses are still as incredible today as they were when he first published them. Logan Christopher is another that is highly encouraging and will tell you like it is. He's one of the most honest guys in this field and I value his opinions while highly trusting him with what he provides.

These guys make or made their business with heart and belief but never took a dogmatic approach to things or could make you feel like you were unworthy. Some others however tend to not only believe in their own hype but will go out of their way to treat others like shit and think their stuff is like nothing else out there. Seriously, it is messed up to treat someone like garbage just because others may have said a couple things. Did you know one guy is so damn obsessed with a troll that he put this person as the headline for his book on Profiting From Trolls? That should tell you how warped somebody has to be to use another human being in that manner as a means to make a buck. This is the same guy that charges $200 for a book that is a direct rip off of Matt Furey's Combat Conditioning book and has really shitty quality. Same guy that not only praises Furey yet in the same paragraph will call the man fat and can't do pull-ups, don't you find that a little contradictory? I mean, I had a falling out with Furey myself but I'm not going to insult the man with extreme prejudice, that would be fucking dumb.

This still goes back to who do the rules really apply to? It should in the end be up to the person buying someone's product, not in the sense of telling the author or coach how to do his/her thing but to create their own rules, have the freedom to make a program work for them once they understand the basic mechanics. That would be like a low level college kid in Physics telling his professor how to apply string theory when he can't write down the simplest terms of that field. You just don't do it. There's no limit to how much knowledge you absorb but it is important to learn how you can apply that knowledge later on as you progress and grow. 

Absorb what works for you and carve out your own path, apply what you have learned into what goals you want to achieve and be wise in what you invest. Be safe, get strong and keep being amazingly awesome. 

SBD (Simple But Deadly) Workout That Will Have You Shaking Like Crazy

 One of my favorite workouts as of late has been the Tabata Formatted Isometric Workout where I do the Horse Stance & the Fist Plank for 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off each for a total of 10 minutes. Just a few minutes of this alone would kick most people's ass. When it comes to the rest period, all you're really doing is preparing yourself to get into position. It's one of those tests of your strength and conditioning using Isometrics as a form of training.

Every few times I do this workout, I switch it up and instead of the Fist Plank, I would hold the push-up position mid way during the 20 seconds of work. It gets harder to hold as time goes but it's an awesome way to test your mental toughness. Two exercises that hit the whole body and can be done anywhere, anytime. Builds incredible tendon strength, power in the legs and works the core like a charm. Start with the 4 minute format if you can and build up by adding rounds. The longer you do it, the tougher it gets.

Yesterday, I wanted to amp up the ante by wearing my 40 lb Weight Vest the entire duration of the workout. I was shaking like crazy every single round but I made it through and it felt so damn good once it was over and I took that fucking vest off. I had no idea what was the tougher, the leg work or the Fist Plank because both were killing me and with the vest on, staying straight and sturdy in either one was a hell of a challenge. 

20 seconds in either position doesn't sound all that hard but until you've done it, you have no clue how tough it really is. When you go a full 10 minutes, it's going to take you to another level of strength you didn't realized you tapped into. It's very hard but sometimes you have to do hard stuff to find out what you're capable of. It's a test of will and no one is there to help you and in a sense, it's sink or swim, you either work your way through to keep yourself up and sturdy or you'll drop on your face your ass from exhaustion. 

The Horse Stance is one of those Isometric exercises that's been around since the dawn of exercise especially in ancient qi gong circles where thousands of years of practice has been laid out by generation after generation of masters and students. It's been used by martial artists, wrestlers, fighters, shaolin monks and it has been used to help rehab and heal injuries. To hold even the most basic form takes a certain level of strength and control. The Fist Plank is basically a plank on steroids where instead of being on your forearms or palms, you're on your knuckles forming a fist holding in a neutral position. This really tackles the core, grip, tendons in the forearms, stresses the arms and shoulders and hits the chest differently. Holding up for a minute straight is a great start, some come go as long as 5 minutes or longer, that's high level control and strength. Put them together, they make a lethal training combo.

You can do this workout not only Tabata style but a variety of ways, you can hold each one for a minute, rest and and do another round or go without resting as long as you can. These really dig into the little muscles and work the joints without impacting them like jumping or high reps does. It's a different way to train your body. It puts a spring in your step and makes you durable so you have less chances of getting injured. Isometrics are not to be messed with and they don't discriminate, if you're weak in either position, you'll find out soon enough. Try it out (just bodyweight first) and see how you do. 

Be strong, get durable and keep killing it. Be amazingly awesome in your endeavors. 

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