Fatigued?

Do you have physical or mental fatigue?

If so, there’s a little-known class of herbs that can help you out. These herbs, known as adaptogens, help to fight all kinds of fatigue.

Check this out…

This comes from a paper titled Effects of Adaptogens on the Central Nervous System and the Molecular Mechanisms Associated with Their Stress-Protective Activity by Panossian and Wikman, published in Pharmaceuticals 2010.

It was a review of all the other science and studies on these three amazing adaptogens.

Rhodiola rosea is a root that clearly has some amazing effects here in assisting with fatigue and more. This was the original plant from which the term adaptogen came to be.

Eleuthero, previously known as Siberian ginseng, comes in a close second.

Schisandra, a Chinese berry, may look like a laggard here, but it also has other far-reaching effects helping digestion, skin, liver detox and more.

So why choose just one?

Spartan Broad-Spectrum Adaptogenic Formula contains not only all three of these herbs but also Cordyceps, the amazing fungus from Tibet, highly regarded by athletes the world over.

You can read much more about how you can use adaptogens to fight stress and fatigue right here. 

Spartan Formula

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Caffeine vs. Adaptogens

Most people drink coffee for its stimulant and energizing effects. Yet take a look at this…

Stimulants just don’t stack up to adaptogens.

If you’re not familiar with adaptogens, is a group of natural herbs and compounds that, essentially, help the body better adapt to stress.

They’ve got both physical and mental fatigue fighting abilities.

For one of the best sources of adaptogens in a well-rounded blend check this out. 

Spartan Formula

Whether you need more energy for your workouts, your work life, or just back at home so you haven’t crashed at the end of your day this can help you.

Seems like at the very least you should add some adaptogens to your morning coffee!

Find out here all that Spartan Broad-Spectrum Adaptogenic Formula can do for you.

Spartan Formula

Be Awesome & Have An Amazing Day

*This comes from a paper titled Effects of Adaptogens on the Central Nervous System and the Molecular Mechanisms Associated with Their Stress-Protective Activity by Panossian and Wikman, published in Pharmaceuticals 2010.

Shifting To Other Methods At Odd Times (Being Intuitive)

I talked last about staying with doing Burpee HIIT Workouts 3x a week and doing 20 min. Animal Workouts 4x a week and see where it goes. Turns out not so good, the animal workout was so addicting I couldn't walk away from it and Burpees & HIIT went out the door for me. I needed to go with my intuition and go with a method of exercise I'm very passionate about.

You see, I think differently when it comes to training. Most of the time I don't stick with the same program for more than a couple weeks and I went practically 8 weeks with the Superhero Workouts & Burpee HIIT so that's a first for me. I needed to shift gears and go with my strong intuition. Training with Animal Exercises makes me feel more alive, open to ideas and just flat out can't get any more excited about it. To me, the animals are about freedom, the ability to move throughout as much space as possible whether its very little or an entire stadium either way I'm bliss.

Changing up your training at odd times doesn't mean you never had a chance of reaching a goal, sometimes you just feel the need to do something that makes you happy and even take yourself out of your comfort zone. Animal Exercise provides greater variety for me than traditional "human" exercises and it teaches me things that take me out of my comfort zone. Believe it or not, I like the idea of not knowing what will happen in a workout or what will come up next. Putting in a program that is so structured and full of pre-setted exercises and rep schemes that it can become predictable and predictability puts you in that comfort zone. In order to come out of that is to not only go into the unknown but never expecting what comes next.

With my Animal Dice Game, it becomes more than just training; it becomes an adventure and I never know what comes next. I know the exercises down to the letter and know all the moves like the back of my hand but with that roll of the dice, that is something that always keeps me guessing and will I have to do an animal in a beginner or advanced variation? I don't go for speed, only going with the movement and let my body tell me how fast I should go or how slow.

Back to intuition, when I feel the need to do something, I go for it and because my intuition is very powerful I go with what it tells me. Denying your intuition or fighting it is never a good thing to do. When it is that strong, there's no need to fight it, flowing with it is the law of the universe and having it give you guidance and support. Why would not want something to guide you to help you be happy and full of life? Go with your intuition.

How Long Should An Animal Workout Be?

Some programs prefer time limits, others go with a free for all and sometimes they just go by feel. I like to go by feel because even though a structured system is doable, it can also restrict how you feel in a workout. When you're short on time, you want to get in and get out. You make progress or just have fun and goof off; I'm somewhere in the middle.

For the most part it depends on an individuals schedule, they're timing whether its in the morning, afternoon or night and it really depends on their preference and mood. I do believe in making the most out of the time you have but if you want to just have fun and run wild and free than that's your choice. Some of the workouts I've done last no more than 20 minutes. Depending on the physical aspects and my energy levels I keep it at a minimum of 5-10 min.

Animal Workouts can vary depending on the tempo, the amount of exercise, the timing for each exercise and how to incorporate it in a solid amount of work put into it. You don't really need to go very long because many animal movements have you using multiple muscle groups in one solid movement and because of the intensity a lot of them feel, it doesn't take long to get huffing and puffing. Now if you're a wacky speed demon, they'll last even less because you're generating a lot of strength and excess power into the movements as quite a few are very explosive and if you have to move really fast to get to a certain amount of yards, that can wear you out.

I really don't go for speed because just the movements alone and the randomness of a game I play, I challenge my body every time I roll for an animal and move in specific amount of steps. For 20 minutes, I go back and forth playing this game and focusing on the movements and seeing myself as that animal and putting as much effort as possible while maintaining energy levels. I want to be as energized or enough towards the end than what I started with. Going to failure in animal movements is never an issue because it doesn't take long for a movement to bring you down so I do enough to where I still feel it but can keep going without giving out.

Experiment your timed workouts with animal movements and see where you are fitness wise. In reality because these exercises are so much fun, you can do them as long or as little as you want, either way you're benefiting a great deal of building great strength, endurance and agility. Some workouts can wear you out in under 5 minutes if you do it right, others can have you on the ground in 20 so its a matter of finding your right niche. Have fun, be careful and have a blast.

Find out more about Animal Exercise by going to the Wild Animal Section @ ben-bergman.branded.me

The Animals Are Alive With The Sound Of The Jungle

During the winter months up here in Idaho, I have been learning and developing creative ways to stay in shape at home and keeping certain options open and coming back to other training modalities. For a while I was in deep with Superhero Workouts using Sprints/Burpees then a circuit and a Finisher to end it off; it was fun but had to switch things up so I don't burn out or get bored. I still do Burpee HIIT Workouts 3x a week but also want to get in some solid Movement Training so I did Ape Exercises to strengthen my tendons, stretch my back, power up on my arms and shoulders and learn to be mobile in these movements.

After doing this for some time I decided to come back to the Animal Movements that never gave me problems and never got bored with so I'm officially back in the jungle doing my HIIT 2-3 times a week then the rest of the week train 10-20 min. on Animal Moves to enhance my HGH, strengthen my body from awkward movements and relish in the passionate powers of the animals; creating a leaner body while maintaining solid weight (i'm 268 right now) and building on denser muscle along with flexibility and agility.

The animals are the kings of Bodyweight Training and its time to devolve to our animal instincts by moving and strengthening the body in a very old-school way. Hone skills in crawling, jumping, running, balancing, explosive conditioning and strength in the Core that centers all that you do. Man is animal and you must power up on your Animalistic entities that become something more powerful than modern-traditional exercise.