Sometimes in our training, we want to have those days where rep & set schemes don't matter and just have a little fun. It's like playing hooky but from a fitness point of view. If that is the case, I just about play hooky very frequently. Routines for me don't matter as much as it does to others. I'm a kid at heart and although I take training seriously, you want to make an adventure out of it too.
One of the reasons why I love the way Animal Flow works is that you can be spontaneous and come up with flows and combos you never expect to do, sure you learn how the movements go but after getting the basics down, what's stopping you from creating some cool moves on your own? Ginastica Natural has that same effect, it comes from different disciplines including Yoga, Gymnastics, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Animal Style movements. I love watching the master of this method at work and get a kick out of the scene from Choke where Rickson Gracie just flows through exercises and his breathing is incredible.
When you combine 2 very awesome methods, the sky's the limit and you can create so many things out of it and never be bored. It's playful movement at its finest and molding it to your abilities and creativity is just the tip of the iceberg man. Play opens up the brain and gives you the opportunity to be creative and doing something that is challenging but exciting, even eventful for that person.
It is so beautiful to see what possibilities are out there and be able to do it anytime and anywhere makes it all worthwhile. One of my favorite videos is of GN's Master Instructor Alvaro Romano is when it portrays him doing different animals and breezing through them in the jungle of Brazil. It is almost majestic yet breathtaking. Very cool video to check here.... If you want to learn the basics, go here and the DVD versions are pretty cool too as they take you through routines in a group like format.
Animal Flow has similarities to GN but focus on other components into a style that incorporates Capoeira, Gymnastics, Breakdancing & Animals. You take in exercises based on more animal specific movements and switching them out into combos, freestyle, ect.
Make it adventurous and share your progress, no matter how big or small. Be encouraging and open up your wild side. People love to see creativity at work, it's inspiring.
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Monday, March 11, 2019
Taking A Page Out Of Gama, Zass & Justa
With the new Isometric Power Belt I have aquired, it has given me a new outlook on the men who have used Isometrics to better their health, fitness, overall strength and creativity. The Great Gama would tie a belt around a tree every morning for over 2 decades and tried to throw it, suplex it, push it, pull or anything to get it off its roots. It never happened but that's not the point; the point is, that tree made him so strong that he could toss opponents around like rag dolls either in practice or in competition of Kushti Style Wrestling. The belt and the tree gave him an advantage that nobody can match and was undefeated his whole career.
Alexander Zass was an old-time strongman who could bend bars, twist steel and other feats that were extraordinary in his day. He started becoming The Amazing Sampson when he was a Prisoner Of War in World War 1, breaking out of prisons a total of 4 times. He made it his mission to snap the chains that held him and bend the bars of his cell that kept him captive by straining as hard as he could until something moved or broke. He utilized Isometric Exercise in order to survive and that made him a legend among strongmen.
He took what he used and molded it to an act show of bending bars, snapping chains and twisting the toughest steel at the time. He once developed a book using Isometrics as a base for strength and exercise. He used an apparatus that was a long chain with 2 handles attached to each end. You can shorten or lengthen the chain and do a series Isometric Exercises to strengthen the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the body. Some people got so strong the chain broke and would have to replace it. The Isometric Power Belt can duplicate those same exact exercises and no way of it snapping on someone and safer to use than a chain. I did a workout one day using those exercises and felt amazing afterwards. Great training to say the least.
Steve Justa out of all three of these men has got to be the most oddball. That is what makes him great though is his uniqueness and his no BS style of training. He became a believer in Isometrics when he was bailing hay and the guy much smaller yet muscular than him was pacing like a madman and had this incredible endurance for manual labor. Steve tried for 2 years lifting and moving heavy weight but barely made a dent in his labor work; worked for a few months on isometrics and was moving faster and could keep up with his co-worker with ease and his strength was insane along with amazing stamina. Isometrics shed a great deal of body fat, developed strength in his tendons and ligaments and was doing workouts that lasted from several minutes to a couple hours, working every single angle he can come up with and varied the intensity from 30%-100%. He has a course out called Iron Isometrics that shares his story along with how diet and Isometrics got him off diabetic medication after nearly losing his life to Type 2 Diabetes. There's another book you may have heard of called Rock, Iron, Steel that also has an entire chapter dedicated to Isometrics.
With the Isometric Power Belt, that is 28 ft long you can get creative and like Justa, develop strength from all sorts of angles and work the tendons like a madman. You can hold certain positions for long periods of time or shorter periods it is up to you and what your goals are. You can work around injuries (be careful on that) and develop greater speed. The longer holds are what Justa called Aerobic Isometrics (I guess it sounded cool to him lol) where you lower the intensity of a contraction and stick to that position for 30 seconds to several minutes. Think of it like the Shaolin Monks who hold several positions such as horsestances, fingertip push-up holds, handstands and such for long periods of time. That takes serious strength and mental conditioning. This is just an idea, it's not the end-all-be-all.
Isometrics can help you go beyond plateaus and even possibly help you recover from injuries. Be careful on how you breathe during these exercises, it is very common to want to hold the breath which is a huge no-no bro. With higher intensity like around 60-85%, as you exhale breathe out the letter S as in "sssss". For longer holds and less intensity say around 30-50%, breathe as deeply and calmly as possible. With longer holds, you can get quite a cardio workout as the muscle fibers are firing and your breathing becomes a factor.
Now what are the best ways to build muscle and burn fat with Isometrics? From my experience and learning from others including people like Bud Jeffries, Steve Justa, Logan Christopher and others who have practiced Isometrics; the shorter holds with higher intensity tend to give you more definition while the longer and less intense holds give you more of that "pump" and put on more natural muscle mass. I can't prove this scientifically so it's up to you to find this out for yourself, I'm going on what has happened with me. So take a page out of Alexander Zass, The Great Gama & Steve Justa and hit up some isometrics in your training. Get the Isometric Power Belt when it is available and develop some insane strength in the process.
Alexander Zass was an old-time strongman who could bend bars, twist steel and other feats that were extraordinary in his day. He started becoming The Amazing Sampson when he was a Prisoner Of War in World War 1, breaking out of prisons a total of 4 times. He made it his mission to snap the chains that held him and bend the bars of his cell that kept him captive by straining as hard as he could until something moved or broke. He utilized Isometric Exercise in order to survive and that made him a legend among strongmen.
He took what he used and molded it to an act show of bending bars, snapping chains and twisting the toughest steel at the time. He once developed a book using Isometrics as a base for strength and exercise. He used an apparatus that was a long chain with 2 handles attached to each end. You can shorten or lengthen the chain and do a series Isometric Exercises to strengthen the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the body. Some people got so strong the chain broke and would have to replace it. The Isometric Power Belt can duplicate those same exact exercises and no way of it snapping on someone and safer to use than a chain. I did a workout one day using those exercises and felt amazing afterwards. Great training to say the least.
Steve Justa out of all three of these men has got to be the most oddball. That is what makes him great though is his uniqueness and his no BS style of training. He became a believer in Isometrics when he was bailing hay and the guy much smaller yet muscular than him was pacing like a madman and had this incredible endurance for manual labor. Steve tried for 2 years lifting and moving heavy weight but barely made a dent in his labor work; worked for a few months on isometrics and was moving faster and could keep up with his co-worker with ease and his strength was insane along with amazing stamina. Isometrics shed a great deal of body fat, developed strength in his tendons and ligaments and was doing workouts that lasted from several minutes to a couple hours, working every single angle he can come up with and varied the intensity from 30%-100%. He has a course out called Iron Isometrics that shares his story along with how diet and Isometrics got him off diabetic medication after nearly losing his life to Type 2 Diabetes. There's another book you may have heard of called Rock, Iron, Steel that also has an entire chapter dedicated to Isometrics.
With the Isometric Power Belt, that is 28 ft long you can get creative and like Justa, develop strength from all sorts of angles and work the tendons like a madman. You can hold certain positions for long periods of time or shorter periods it is up to you and what your goals are. You can work around injuries (be careful on that) and develop greater speed. The longer holds are what Justa called Aerobic Isometrics (I guess it sounded cool to him lol) where you lower the intensity of a contraction and stick to that position for 30 seconds to several minutes. Think of it like the Shaolin Monks who hold several positions such as horsestances, fingertip push-up holds, handstands and such for long periods of time. That takes serious strength and mental conditioning. This is just an idea, it's not the end-all-be-all.
Isometrics can help you go beyond plateaus and even possibly help you recover from injuries. Be careful on how you breathe during these exercises, it is very common to want to hold the breath which is a huge no-no bro. With higher intensity like around 60-85%, as you exhale breathe out the letter S as in "sssss". For longer holds and less intensity say around 30-50%, breathe as deeply and calmly as possible. With longer holds, you can get quite a cardio workout as the muscle fibers are firing and your breathing becomes a factor.
Now what are the best ways to build muscle and burn fat with Isometrics? From my experience and learning from others including people like Bud Jeffries, Steve Justa, Logan Christopher and others who have practiced Isometrics; the shorter holds with higher intensity tend to give you more definition while the longer and less intense holds give you more of that "pump" and put on more natural muscle mass. I can't prove this scientifically so it's up to you to find this out for yourself, I'm going on what has happened with me. So take a page out of Alexander Zass, The Great Gama & Steve Justa and hit up some isometrics in your training. Get the Isometric Power Belt when it is available and develop some insane strength in the process.
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Obsession Can Have Toxic Effects That Can Create Toxic People
The internet is massive (Thank you captain obvious) and has loads of info that can be overwhelming at times. You have everything you can possibly research on but in the midst of all of it, there are very toxic people out there and can have an overriding obsession with certain things, some to the great extreme.
For over a decade I have been off and on forums and a part of at least a few still with a name. Mainly just learning what I can about training and seeing what works and what doesn't. Some forums have very knowledgeable people and are unsung heroes of the fitness industry but yet some take that knowledge and push it down someone's throat and if you don't agree with them, you're a bastard and a monster and don't deserve to live. I will admit I fell into a trap or 2 debating with people and all that comes out of it is worthless BS that doesn't solve a damn thing.
One forum I'm a part of is to do the best within themselves to keep the methods of Charles Atlas alive. It's far from perfect and has a lot of flaws. All I really want to pay attention to is the training methods. The problem with it is, the religious views and political aspects tend to overshadow the fun and excitement of the training protocols. Some of the training protocols are flawed as well because the man who's the big operator tends to repeat over and over the same things without channeling different ideals that can be beneficial. I'm all for sticking to your guns but there are things beyond the world of Atlas and the far too simple bodyweight methods. I do like some of the things represented like being your own trainer and learning how to individually utilize your best capabilities without the need of comparing others. Is it the best forum for information? No, not a single one is and it's because many tend to stick to their own entities and live under the rock.
Another forum I look in on consistently and need to really drop out of my life is nothing more than a place where it bashes, ridicules and downright bully's the forum and it's head guy that I just described above called Aging Macho Men 2 (Great name for the internet's Village Idiots). All they really do is talk, some are fit guys but mainly a bunch of old geezers that can't find anything positive in their lives and just are so obsessed with burying people because they themselves couldn't move on after getting banned. Talk about toxic. They've even gone as far as to just trash me because I wear my heart on my sleeve and they couldn't handle the way I fought back. Now granted, I should've known better to engage with people like them, but it's not easy considering what I'm passionate about and what gives me purpose. I was even open with them and sharing a few personal things and that went south right away. Can't trust people and it's time to walk away because life is too damn short to have toxic people in your life.
Here's an example of what I mean by these dumb fucks......
Another forum I was on a couple times recently has some people who are pretty knowledgeable and have some awesome insight, especially the main guy who runs it...Former Marine and has his own equipment he sells that can help people get kick ass results. Here's the site. On the other side of the spectrum, there are some of those same assholes from AMM2 who do nothing but bust balls. It's one thing to bust someone, but to repeat it just because it's funny to you becomes a little annoying and sad. Some have even belittle others because they think what they represent sucks and are horrible people. That's the place I had to leave twice because it just became a little too much for my taste and left me wanting to strangle someone. There are a couple guys on there that were cool with me and I was honored to share some knowledge with them and learn a thing or 2 myself but they are so obsessed with that other forum I previously mentioned (the "resurrection" of Charles Atlas) that they went as far as to actually come up with some stupid ass things like I was a spy and that I was this guy's bitch and all that stuff. This isn't the CIA dumbass and the only real thing wrong that was felt was me being friends with this guy.
The point i'm trying to make here is be careful where you go to research and befriend people. It's important to learn who you can trust because the net is full of whackos, psychopaths and grown people acting like teenage bullies. I'm not going to be remotely surprised some of these forums post this article onto their feed and start ranting about it and come up with even more negative bullshit. It just goes to show how low people will go to boost their ego or their "village" and ridicule any outsider. There are forums that people will go to to just to get shit off their chests, others will look for a fight and will either be ignored or get engaged into some of the most idiotic conversations and than there are ones where because they were let go somewhere else, they talk and want to burn the other place into the ground all or the sake of a pity party that only they will celebrate.
I know what it's like to bullied both in life and on the internet. It's a constant learning process and it's important to protect yourself. Celebs have the worst of it and I get that not all people who are famous are the sweetest people but people jump to conclusions all the time and firmly believe they have figured people out. The world is a mighty big place; full of wonders, good people, bad people and downright messed up places but there is good there somewhere. Find what excites you, gives you something to be happy about and treat people well.
Some will see this as a rant, some may see it as dumb and others may ignore it completely. I see it as a means of a warning to those who want to research and join places that might benefit them. Be careful and be amazingly awesome today.
For over a decade I have been off and on forums and a part of at least a few still with a name. Mainly just learning what I can about training and seeing what works and what doesn't. Some forums have very knowledgeable people and are unsung heroes of the fitness industry but yet some take that knowledge and push it down someone's throat and if you don't agree with them, you're a bastard and a monster and don't deserve to live. I will admit I fell into a trap or 2 debating with people and all that comes out of it is worthless BS that doesn't solve a damn thing.
One forum I'm a part of is to do the best within themselves to keep the methods of Charles Atlas alive. It's far from perfect and has a lot of flaws. All I really want to pay attention to is the training methods. The problem with it is, the religious views and political aspects tend to overshadow the fun and excitement of the training protocols. Some of the training protocols are flawed as well because the man who's the big operator tends to repeat over and over the same things without channeling different ideals that can be beneficial. I'm all for sticking to your guns but there are things beyond the world of Atlas and the far too simple bodyweight methods. I do like some of the things represented like being your own trainer and learning how to individually utilize your best capabilities without the need of comparing others. Is it the best forum for information? No, not a single one is and it's because many tend to stick to their own entities and live under the rock.
Another forum I look in on consistently and need to really drop out of my life is nothing more than a place where it bashes, ridicules and downright bully's the forum and it's head guy that I just described above called Aging Macho Men 2 (Great name for the internet's Village Idiots). All they really do is talk, some are fit guys but mainly a bunch of old geezers that can't find anything positive in their lives and just are so obsessed with burying people because they themselves couldn't move on after getting banned. Talk about toxic. They've even gone as far as to just trash me because I wear my heart on my sleeve and they couldn't handle the way I fought back. Now granted, I should've known better to engage with people like them, but it's not easy considering what I'm passionate about and what gives me purpose. I was even open with them and sharing a few personal things and that went south right away. Can't trust people and it's time to walk away because life is too damn short to have toxic people in your life.
Here's an example of what I mean by these dumb fucks......
Another forum I was on a couple times recently has some people who are pretty knowledgeable and have some awesome insight, especially the main guy who runs it...Former Marine and has his own equipment he sells that can help people get kick ass results. Here's the site. On the other side of the spectrum, there are some of those same assholes from AMM2 who do nothing but bust balls. It's one thing to bust someone, but to repeat it just because it's funny to you becomes a little annoying and sad. Some have even belittle others because they think what they represent sucks and are horrible people. That's the place I had to leave twice because it just became a little too much for my taste and left me wanting to strangle someone. There are a couple guys on there that were cool with me and I was honored to share some knowledge with them and learn a thing or 2 myself but they are so obsessed with that other forum I previously mentioned (the "resurrection" of Charles Atlas) that they went as far as to actually come up with some stupid ass things like I was a spy and that I was this guy's bitch and all that stuff. This isn't the CIA dumbass and the only real thing wrong that was felt was me being friends with this guy.
The point i'm trying to make here is be careful where you go to research and befriend people. It's important to learn who you can trust because the net is full of whackos, psychopaths and grown people acting like teenage bullies. I'm not going to be remotely surprised some of these forums post this article onto their feed and start ranting about it and come up with even more negative bullshit. It just goes to show how low people will go to boost their ego or their "village" and ridicule any outsider. There are forums that people will go to to just to get shit off their chests, others will look for a fight and will either be ignored or get engaged into some of the most idiotic conversations and than there are ones where because they were let go somewhere else, they talk and want to burn the other place into the ground all or the sake of a pity party that only they will celebrate.
I know what it's like to bullied both in life and on the internet. It's a constant learning process and it's important to protect yourself. Celebs have the worst of it and I get that not all people who are famous are the sweetest people but people jump to conclusions all the time and firmly believe they have figured people out. The world is a mighty big place; full of wonders, good people, bad people and downright messed up places but there is good there somewhere. Find what excites you, gives you something to be happy about and treat people well.
Some will see this as a rant, some may see it as dumb and others may ignore it completely. I see it as a means of a warning to those who want to research and join places that might benefit them. Be careful and be amazingly awesome today.
Monday, March 4, 2019
Isometric Equipment That Develops Strength From Many Angles And Used For Suspension
A friend of mine sent me a couple of Isometric Belts that is more of a prototype but still holds awesome benefits. He put out a belt years ago one can use for developing strength from a lot of different angles and positions. The belt then was 14 ft long, this belt now is twice the length.
This belt gives you a greater variety of Isometric Exercises as you can adjust to make 2 loops instead of handles so you can do positions in the curls, deadlift, overhead press, upright rows, Shoulder Raises, resistance for the neck and a lots of other muscles that you can work. If you have a door anchor attachment; you can even use the belt for suspension training such as dips, push-ups, pull-ups, ring work, bodyweight curls, flys and a ton more. Karl Gotch once said "Always work your muscles, from every possible angle" and this piece of equipment can hit the little muscles from angles that bodyweight exercises or weights alone can't hit. This is more of an addition to your training or you can do Isometrics on your off days.
Always eager to learn and see what can benefit me, I've already locked in a number of isometrics for various muscle groups and love the feeling of them after a workout. Done right and they can even work the kinks out of muscles that might be stressful on you. I've had knee problems in the past, an on and off tense lower back and building core strength isn't easy for me but even in the short time of using this belt, I'm moving pretty fast in various movements and feeling lighter on my feet. My back feels less tense, my knees feel strong and my core is getting stronger. Now Isometrics alone won't help you in your athletic endeavors or overall health but they're a phenomenal add on and should be a part of everyone's training program. The belt makes it easier on the joints, it's no impact and you an take it anywhere. Great for traveling and makes a good piece of equipment for stretching.
Check out the pics below to get an idea of this thing. This is more of a review than anything and wanted to share my experience with it.
When it does completely come out, should be a fun use for a lot of people. You never know when it'll happen.
This belt gives you a greater variety of Isometric Exercises as you can adjust to make 2 loops instead of handles so you can do positions in the curls, deadlift, overhead press, upright rows, Shoulder Raises, resistance for the neck and a lots of other muscles that you can work. If you have a door anchor attachment; you can even use the belt for suspension training such as dips, push-ups, pull-ups, ring work, bodyweight curls, flys and a ton more. Karl Gotch once said "Always work your muscles, from every possible angle" and this piece of equipment can hit the little muscles from angles that bodyweight exercises or weights alone can't hit. This is more of an addition to your training or you can do Isometrics on your off days.
Always eager to learn and see what can benefit me, I've already locked in a number of isometrics for various muscle groups and love the feeling of them after a workout. Done right and they can even work the kinks out of muscles that might be stressful on you. I've had knee problems in the past, an on and off tense lower back and building core strength isn't easy for me but even in the short time of using this belt, I'm moving pretty fast in various movements and feeling lighter on my feet. My back feels less tense, my knees feel strong and my core is getting stronger. Now Isometrics alone won't help you in your athletic endeavors or overall health but they're a phenomenal add on and should be a part of everyone's training program. The belt makes it easier on the joints, it's no impact and you an take it anywhere. Great for traveling and makes a good piece of equipment for stretching.
Check out the pics below to get an idea of this thing. This is more of a review than anything and wanted to share my experience with it.
When it does completely come out, should be a fun use for a lot of people. You never know when it'll happen.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
It Is Not Easy Being Strong When There's A World Full Of Bitterness
Everyone cannot always be brave, strong and full of enthusiasm 100% of the time, it just doesn't happen that way. Having my fair share of ups and downs, being physically weak and being beaten up physically and mentally, I understand bitterness at times. I have lashed out in a few places and even lashed out towards people I care about but in the end, it's all just being human.
Everyone at one point in their lives were weak whether physically, mentally, emotionally or all three at the same time. When we become strong, it's because in many ways, we had to fight hard in order to achieve it. After accomplishing it, what do you plan to do with it? Some people attack weaker individuals because they know they can't fight back or defend themselves by trying to speak up. Some have even had the audacity to make a headline such as Suicide For Weaker Males Might Be The Better Option. What kind of human being does that? You're basically telling someone to kill themselves because they're not strong according to your ways of life.
Some people do choose to be weak and helpless, that does happen but there's always a story there and whether we think it's boring or moronic or even pitiful it doesn't matter, there's a reason why that is. Others are weak and helpless because nobody helped them and just brushed them off and that's all they know, it is sad yes and we can't always fix everyone but we can do our damndest to try and help someone become strong. The world can be a shitty place, we have forgotten how to take care of one another even with the little things. I'm always learning how to look at things from certain perspectives. Kids today don't know a damn thing but they go on social media, bullying and thinking that they know how a person should live, how they should dress, how they should eat, sleep and be like this or that. They are already trying to figure out who they are but want to turn their confusion and frustration onto somebody else. It is a vicious cycle.
We live in a world where voicing your outrage has become the norm and it overshadows a lot of what is truly positive especially around politics, race, religion, education, social groups, fitness, sports, fashion, body types and a bunch of other things. Sometimes just breathing is hard enough for some people, why do you feel the need to attack? Many people have become so damn bitter and ruthless because of who knows what. Words can break or make a person and it hasn't been this generation that has lost it's element because of a few words. History has shown that words have either ended wars or started them, words that brought people together or have broken them a part, words that manipulated and deceived have also been words that built trust and compassion for others. Words are very powerful, sometimes far more than a deadly weapon and it's because with a deadly weapon, that could easily end a life right then and there, a few words can kill someone slowly over a period of time and suffer for it, that is worse than an easy death.
I do the best to my abilities to be a positive person, be encouraging and help someone who wants to set goals but have trouble reaching them. I'm no different or better than anybody. Bitterness brings nothing but pain and suffering. I'm not saying we should be all lovey dovey all the time but the more negative stress you put on yourself, the more of a black hole you won't be able to climb out of. Being positive can impact a person's life more than you can imagine. Sometimes all it takes is one word, one sentence, one speech, one freaking look to change a person's entire being. It isn't easy being strong in a bitter world, so show someone how to be strong, help them find that genius in them and give them a reason to be helpful to others who were once like you. Weakness can mean a lot of things, but everyone has an opportunity to be strong whether physically, mentally, emotionally or all three at the same time.
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