Fun Animal Workout At The Park

 Yesterday, thought I'd take a stroll to the park and get in the Animal Dice Game. Roll once for animal, roll again for the number of steps of that animal. Man Eddie Baran was a genius coming up with that when he published Animal Kingdom Conditioning all those years ago. 

Went at it for 30 minutes. Walked it off when I needed to and did as many rounds as I can run with it. Lots of Crawling, Jumping, Hopping, Squatting, Going Backwards and feeling the INTENSITY. That's what I love about this type of training, expecting the unexpected and getting in some natural movement. It had been a while since I've done this specific workout so I kept things basic and not go Speedy Gonzales on it. It's still one of the best workouts I'll ever do in my life.

It's the type of training that makes muscles pop (more than just the core or abs), builds great leg strength and conditioning (some quack has said "If you ain't squatting, you ain't training" which he stole that line from Matt Furey but in reality, animal squats and leg movements IMO, are way more interesting than typical squats), makes you feel like a kid again and have that sense of relaxation afterwards that gives off vibes of feeling like a Bazillion Bucks all day long. 

Been doing this off and on since the Combat Conditioning Days and even more so since AKC came out in 2008. The fun of it just makes training come alive. It turns you into a RAGING BEAST that makes you feel unstoppable. I would at times go for more than 45 minutes on this and my longest workout was 82 minutes long, I just didn't want to stop and my energy was off the chain that day. Now does it give you the rank of Superhuman? In this day and age, quite possibly but it's important to not let ego hit you and do something foolish. Be smart about how you do it but also let it thrive in that adventurous nature.

Some of the exercises can be overwhelming at times. Hell, even though a few upper body movements can give you shoulders like boulders, don't forget that it's more about the movement than what specific muscles they build. After some workouts from this, it can make you hungry as hell, the intense movements that make you breathe hard with a fucking vengeance can build up quite an appetite. Still, it's great to get that Rugged, Animal-Like build that it can give. I still say my two favorites are the Gorilla Hop/Jump and the Bear Crawl. Giving off that Grizzly Power vibe that turns you into a fucking stud. Ok that was a bit lame and over the top huh? In reality, the classic Bear Crawl can never go wrong, it has been a staple for wrestlers and fighters for eons. It's one of the exercises Eddie taught to gymnasts as a conditioning coach to help build their handstand strength. One workout of the bear crawl I love to do every now and then is what I learned from some Blue Collar guy where you sprint or at least crawl as best as you can for 5 yards, walk back and repeat until you've done 20. The most I've ever done in this fashion is 45, I've filmed doing more than 30 in just crawling without going into Sonic Mode (this took 10 minutes or so to complete, very hard workout).

Overall, being able to train in a beautiful environment, fresh air, sweat dripping like Niagara Falls and breathing hard like it's going out of style is just awesome. Moving like a beast has a unique effect on the body and when you do it on grass, touching the earth, feeling the soil and letting it into your soul is something like no other. Animal Workouts are almost poetic in a way, it's weird but hey, weird is good in this case. Be wild, be free and be amazingly awesome. 

3 Workouts = 3 Ways To Have A Bad Ass Time

 Some days, you just have that jolt of energy that lasts and you want to use it the best way possible. For me, yesterday was a fun day to do not one, not two but three awesome workouts that were fun to do and felt great in all of them.

Started out with working my neck doing some neck mobility work, moved onto my joint loosening routine to keep things flowing and relaxed, got in one minute of side kick throughs and an agility exercise as well in this workout. A little while later, did a Dopa Band Routine at the park where it was a HIIT style workout where it was 5 exercises for 45 sec on/15 sec off 3 times totaling 15 minutes. After getting back home, chugging some Cherry Liquid Death and chilled for about an hour watching a show on Netflix, went down to the gym, brought my 20 lb Death Star Slam Ball with me (Yes, us Star Wars nerds workout too) and filmed doing a short 5 min session of slamming the ball for 15 sec on/15 sec off for 10 rounds. 

Training like this is a bad ass way to stay active and keep things going when you can't always cram one big workout in. Could I have if I wanted to? Sure, I love going for a half our or longer some of the time but those types of workouts give off killer vibes especially if you want to get projects done later on and get to do a little something here and there throughout the day. 

 The perks of training is learning how to be adaptable and even get a little creative at times. Some don't always have the luxury of getting in an hour long workout, so it's important to figure what you can do in the moment or have that little window of opportunity. There are certain days where I have stuff going on and it's not possible to get some of the workouts in I'd like but that's ok, micro management bro, you can also cut down the amount you normally do or cut down the rest periods. Always keep an eye on the prize though, don't sacrifice form or the feeling of being rushed ruin something good in the timeframe you have. Look into the book Micro Workouts to get more ideas on what you can accomplish in the time you can use. 

Patience isn't one of my biggest virtues or I get anxious when I feel rushed. I never go a day without training, I've written about this enough for you to know by now when it comes down to training every single day without fail for the last 2 decades. This is where knowledge is power and wisdom is strength when you can do something no matter what even if it's for a few minutes. Hell if you have less than 10 minutes, get some squats and push-ups in, do 100 Rollouts with the ab wheel or a small suspension training thing. Isometrics is perfect for those short on time like Horse Stances, Push-up Holds, Handstands, Iso Rows, Wall Sits, whatever tickles your fancy. Be adaptable and if you need to, get something in one the fly, you got this.

Make the time you have count, learn to love knowing even if you can't always get in what you normally do, there's always something else you can do in the meantime. Doing multiple workouts a day can be very beneficial, you don't need 2 hours or even 1, sometimes 5-10 minute sessions can have a greater impact because you can accomplish something quick and still do what you need to do the rest of the day. 

Train with purpose, but also be prepared for the unexpected. Life can be a bitch, so don't let it get the best of you. You are strong, capable and you're a fucking bad ass. Get at it and be amazingly awesome. 

Dopa Band Discount Code POWERANDMIGHT

On a side note, going off topic for a moment, I want to share with you that my wife got featured in a women's newsletter at Lost Empire Herbs about taking Athena Formula and the results she's had so far with it. You can view it HERE!!! I'm very proud of her progress and she just keeps killing it. Check it out. 

"There Will Be A Player Greater Than Me"

 A line from the GOAT Michael Jordan himself in the last moment of his IMAX Film back in the day. Awesome film and one anybody should check out for some inspiring stuff. Why don't we go into what it means from a perspective. For him, it was about who would succeed him, today, some will say that's Lebron James but in my opinion, the closest that ever came to him was at best Kobe Bryant, he had that drive, that competitiveness, that burning desire to be the best. Now, let's look at it from another angle.

In the world of fitness or strength for that matter, there can be a lot of determining factors on who is really the greatest of us all but in retrospective, there's no real consensus to who is the very best at what. Certain things about being great at a certain lift or bodyweight exercise but is it from a weight class POV or from a vote of the entire population? Say some people believe they're the greatest at pull-ups and push-ups which in most cases is full of shit LOL. Are you truly better than say Jack Lalanne, Al Kavadlo, Karl Gotch, any World-Class Gymnast? The truth is, there is no determined factor to prove you are the absolute greatest or the very best unless it's in your own mind but you try to convince others otherwise and they're still not buying it.

There are many strongman out there who can be considered the greatest like Big Kaz, Big Z, Brian Shaw, Dennis Rogers, Slim The Hammerman, Mighty Atom and countless others but where is the real factor here? Can one be considered the greatest based on whether they're on steroids or completely drug free? In this day and age, the lines can be blurred but the majority would consider going for the one on the juice even though it should considered who's the greatest drug free. In my personal opinion, when it comes to flat out natural strength and drug free lifting and strength feats, Bud Jeffries is probably right up there. 

Being the greatest can have its perks but where is it determined that you actually are? You can't just call yourself the greatest without ever truly proving amongst your peers or whatever. Unless you're Muhammad Ali who was probably the greatest at hyping himself and proving he truly was the best in his sport, hell he beat the very best of his time and even those men considered him the greatest. However, what about Rocky Marciano? Went undefeated and was one of the most conditioned men of his time, if not the most fit in boxing ever and went more rounds that many today can't fathom. 

How about wrestling? Real shit here like the rough and tumble style along with Catch & Amateur Athletics. Some say Dan Gable is the GOAT but what about Danny Hodge, Cael Anderson, Kurt Angle? From an amateur wrestling POV, it can be any of those guys and there will still be an argument that will go too damn long of a debate. In the pro ranks, there's Ed Lewis whom many considered the very best of any era but there's Frank Gotch, Gama, Tom Jenkins, Karl Gotch, Lou Thesz, Billy Robinson, Ad Santel, Farmer Burns; all up for the title of who is the GOAT. 

When it comes down to it, in reality, nobody is truly the greatest because they were only great of their era, unless they're immortal, there's no true way to determine who can be called the greatest. In the case of Jordan, he was the top dog that took on guys like Magic, Bird, Drexler, Malone, Thomas, Hakeem and Payton but they were part of possibly the greatest era in Basketball history yet Jordan never faced Kareem, Chamberlain, Russell or Monroe in their prime because they were of a different place in time. You see, they were all GREAT, there will be no question and Mike will always be the man but being realistic who is truly the GOAT is what we all need to face. 

With that said, there will always be someone better, faster, stronger, more competitive, greater statistically and have longevity. It changes as we go through time, some are a once in a generation, some are great beyond a lifetime of their endeavor but in all of that's universal, the GOAT debates are just that, debates and what if's along with their impacts, their contributions and their legacy. It can be a hard pill to swallow but in the grand scheme of things, a true GOAT is measured by their peers, their skill among the greats of the time and the lasting entity to which that person can be called that. 

Don't call yourself the GOAT or the very best at whatever cause no matter how hard you try, someone will come along to knock you off that high horse ego of yours. It's not worth the time cause the more you brag you're the very best, chances are, you'll have your ass kicked and it won't end well for you. We can be great at many things, become legendary and be remembered but it's better to argue who is the GOAT so it can live on and understand what a time it was to be a possibility. 

Be amazingly awesome and keep striding to get better at whatever you do and make the most of what's possible in this time.