A Performing Arts Degree Unlike Any Other

 What would it be like to go to or learn from a University that not only teaches you how to perform certain feats but gives you the tools to get paid to do it? What would it feel like to bend steel, twist rebar into shapes, rip phonebooks and do other feats that not only blows people's minds but you get to do these things while learning from the very best in the field? What would it be worth it to you to learn some of the coolest feats of strength that has baffled audiences for more than a century?

Mighty Atom

Bud Jeffries

Dennis Rogers

Chris Rider

Lawrence "Slim The Hammerman" Farman

Dave Whitley

Pat Povilaitis

All these men have performed incredible feats of strength that have taken the world by storm but by today's standards, it has become a lost art. From Bending Horseshoes to Ripping Decks Of Cards and turning steel into pieces of beautiful art, you can learn all these things and more from Dave Whitley and others at Strongman University. I've had the pleasure of performing some of these feats in front of people a good few times but never as important as performing with the late Bud Jeffries in the early-mid 2010's. I've done 3 shows with the big man himself performing up here in North Idaho in Coeur D' Alene, Sandpoint & Athol. In the middle of Bud's performances for Anti-Bullying campaigns, he brought me up to show a different type of strength that even he was doing in front of hundreds of kids and their teachers. My feats were mainly ripping a phonebook in half and bending a 6 inch spike while in the wrestler's bridge.

The bending I learned from strongmen like Logan Christopher & Tyler Bramlett but the bridge feat, I took that from John Wood. The phonebook tearing I learned from watching and mimicking Dennis Rogers who had a course on phonebook tearing at one point. I got pretty good at these to the point where I tore a phonebook in half the hard way using sock puppets to make the grip even more difficult to attempt. I've also bend plenty of steel (which you can find in my early videos like this one here). Another feat that I'm very proud of was bending a 6 inch spike behind my head with very little leverage and putting a ton of stress on the shoulders, elbows and wrists. You can view that here.

If you're interested in developing strength that is unique and way out of the norm, come and check out Strongman University and learn from the very best with a combined knowledge of well over 50+ Years in the business. Be a part of a tradition that goes back to the days of Eugene Sandow, Alexander Zass, Slim The Hammerman, Mighty Atom, Edward Aston and many other Vaudeville Style Strongmen. 

Getting The Most Out Of A Workout In Under 30 Minutes

One of the things I've always advocated about training was the importance of self discovery. Finding out what you're capable of doing and testing waters you've never been in, or at least took things to a different level. Just about any workout should be done using simplistic exercises and programming a progressive system that amplifies the workout's ability to make you stronger, more agile and as injury proof as possible. 

This workout I did yesterday went up a notch for me. Did only three exercises by doing the first two as a superset and used the third as a finisher to get that extra oomph in the conditioning department. A very rugged conditioning workout you might say that hits just about everything and can be a hell of a carryover. Here's how it went.....

-Superset (20 minutes non stop)

Bear Hug Carry 50 lb Sandbell for 20 Yards

20 Step Ups (10 per leg)

Immediately went into the finisher by doing my Bear Crawl Sprints for 10 Rounds at 10 Sec on/20 Sec off for approximately 5 minutes. 

The finisher was pretty brutal because my muscles were already hammered from the 20 min superset workout. It was a test to see what I can push on while fatigued. Just starting out on it is hard enough, imagine it as a finisher to something else. Felt great though, I didn't end up on my knees and beg the universe to let me breathe and didn't lie down to catch my breath. After it was over, I walked around and feeling everything in my body and breathing as deeply as I can. Talk about the best damn shower you can ever take. 

Once everything settled and felt "normal" (I hate that word), got some good food in me by having leftover eggs and sausage with a touch of shredded cheese and sliced up chinese pork. Tasted incredible man. Conditioning can go a long way and making you a machine. If you want to give this a shot, just remember that it doesn't discriminate and will try to beat your ass into the ground. It's simple but hard as hell and most people may not be able to handle it cause there's no literally almost no rest with the exception of walking back and getting into the bear crawl position. This isn't your typical run of the mill gym/home type workout, it's meant to try and break you and pin you to the ground. For nearly 30 minutes you're testing your mental strength and seeing what's possible without acting like you're going to die. The moment you start bringing it into your mind, you're dead. 

I never push to the brink of passing out or being so damn fatigued that I can't move my body because that is dangerous and focusing more on your ego than being aware of what your mind and body can and can't do. Do what's possible and listen to your body. The moment I was done, I got some water and jumped into the shower. Condition your body to make it stronger in the long run, not to the point where you'll end up not being able to move for a month. Training is about discovery, curiosity, grit and getting the most out of yourself possible without spending useless hours on it. Again this was less than 30 minutes and it's a bitch to pull off yet it is one hell of a workout that would humble just about anybody. 

Stay strong, keep getting better and be amazingly awesome. 

Interests, Goals & Pushing Yourself

 Realistically, training can be tough as hell depending on what you do but at the same time, it's important to understand the value of the work you put in along with finding the best ways to train suited to you and your goals. Learning new exercises can be exciting and with the way some ads like to appeal to a certain crowd whether they're everyday joes, athletes or training for specific feats, excitement can also be blinding. Remember Yoda's saying "adventure, excitement, a jedi craves not these things." Now, that shouldn't mean you don't look forward to them. I enjoy loaded carries, step ups, animal movements, sprints and Isometrics but it's not so much a craving to be excited or be adventurous, it's because they provide simplicity along with natural excitement or stimulus. 

If you're interested in something or learning something that appeals to you, it first becomes a curiosity and than it becomes something you're either going to continue doing or do something else that comes along. It has to naturally spark something in you that makes you want to continue on and if it doesn't create some form of natural stimulus, it's not going to keep you from continuing on. Some of the simplest exercises are tough but they're tough for a reason. If you'd rather just follow what the next shiny thing is, you're only going to leave your individuality behind and not learn the value of what it means to really train. 

Pushing ourselves is human nature, it's either going to be that fight or flight mode and doing something beyond our own reasoning to reach a certain level. We can't match everyone and not everyone can workout the same exact way, if that were the case, nobody would be different. We have certain strengths and weaknesses, we can surpass others and we may never reach a certain level but if you generate consistency with the idea of developing that stimulus whether physically or mentally, it leaves you wanting to learn more and create something for yourself. 

I've pushed my body at times where it ended hurt or had close encounters of blacking out but also pushed myself to other levels of strength from bending steel to doing more than 1000 Squats in a workout. I don't like the idea of pushing that hard and quite frankly, unless you're in a dire situation, training yourself to the brink of death is not the ideal way to consistently stay strong, it's a death sentence that will end up either faster or slower in the form of long term effects. It's important to find out what you're capable of and what you'll have to do at times to know what will be the determining factor of life or death but there's a difference between what your ego will do and what you can realistically do. I've pushed myself at times without being aware of it and that is another thing, we don't always know how far we go and when you're in that zone, it's like time stands still.

Goals are great to have and to achieve but at the same time, we have to be aware of the goals we are trying to achieve and what it will do to us later on. We can't 100% know the outcome of the goals we go after cause life will at times throw you curveballs and there might be days where everything just isn't there and we either push on anyway or back off a bit. We fail our goals at times, it happens but that doesn't mean we stay down and bury our heads in the sand, we get back up and try different approaches. When we achieve our goals, it's exciting and we celebrate the victory but more often than not, even if a goal is achieved, you still feel defeated somehow, the toll took everything out of you and you're mentally and/or physically drained. What is the sacrifice you're willing to make to achieve a goal, what's the endgame? What are the long term side effects? Was it worth the heartache and pain? Was it worth all the time and effort to only have it be something that lasts a few moments and then life moves on? Many don't look at these questions, some do don't get wrong but we don't always seem to be aware of the ratio of the consequences to achievement. 

Train to what suits you, be efficient in how you achieve your goals and handle the hits when they unexpectedly hit you the best way you can. Be strong and do what's possible. Times change, things that seemed impossible yesterday become possibilities today but we are still here doing the best we can even if it's so damn tiny a microscope can't even see it. Not everyone will celebrate your victories, most of the time nobody gives a shit or will criticize you. Most of the time, validation is just a thing to boost the ego and it can be intoxicating but remember to still be a human being and take your victories in as lessons and if something needs to change, do what you can to make it better. Keep being amazingly awesome everyone.