Do Six Pack Abs Really Matter?

 Anyone who works out at some point wants to have a better physique than what they started with and many will say would love to have the Six Pack look. Washboard abs that make people's heads turn and thinking that person could be a Supermodel or Bodybuilder. Ripped, Shredded, Symmetrical and Muscle Popping abs that would definitely make someone an elephant in the room; but does it have any real significance?

Having a Six Pack wasn't a major deal until the early era of Physical Culture where you had many strongmen and physique builders sprouting muscle everywhere, men like Sandow, Pandour, Arco, Maxick, Grimiek and others having strong and powerful core muscles that looked like they were carved out of granite. The funny thing is compared to today, many people who sprout a six pack don't have anywhere near the level of strength the old timers did. The mainstream media today shows that having a Six Pack is a source of strength and confidence which part of that is true (not so much the strength part) and it does take some work to develop it along with diet and training but in the end, what does it really show other than the external?

It doesn't take too much to understand that if you have a low percentage of body fat, it's much easier to show some form of muscle but if we took that context for granted we would be naive in the fact that yeah you can show a Six Pack but there's no real muscle behind it and that person doesn't necessarily have to be in world class shape to some kind of stomach muscle. There was a term Karl Gotch used to determine the strength and condition of a person, it was the difference of Counterfeit Muscle & Conditioned Muscle; the Counterfeit was that yeah he looks strong and powerful but if you fought him or put him through certain fitness tests, that strength has little to no value and his stamina and endurance is weaker than a 10 year old asthmatic. The Conditioned is where he may not look like a million bucks but he's got tremendous strength and stamina along with less chances of getting injured. If you want to see this in action, look up Maurice Smith Vs. Mark Coleman. 

A Six Pack can be awesome but if you don't have the strength and endurance to back it up, does it have any value? Some of the strongest people on the planet today don't have washboard abs and some of the weakest do, see where I'm going with this? For the most part, I believe if you want a strong Core, you do things that don't just give you muscle but the strength to take a hit and strengthens the internal organs. One of the very best exercise to build a conditioned Core is the Ab Wheel, just rolling it out and back is a far tougher exercise than the typical sit-up. Most people can't do more than 10-15 let alone maybe 5 but once you can do 20-25, that's pretty good, 50 would get you decent shape and 100 or more would most likely make you damn strong. 

If your goal is to get a Six Pack, go for it, make it work for you and I want you to achieve it but if you also made it stupid strong, than you get the best of both worlds. I want you to have both but yet make them valuable in life as well. So does it really matter? You decide. 

What Are Isometrics Really Used For?

 The concept of Isometrics has been around for ages yet the true nature of Isometrics isn't fully understood. It has been used in a variety of ways to not only strengthen muscles but more importantly strengthen the connective tissue and developing stronger bones. One of the most famous men to use Isometrics was Alexander Zass who used them to strengthen his body to escape prison not once but multiple times during WW1. He used a form of exercise in a real world situation and not only succeeded but made a name for himself in the process.

One of the uses of Isometrics is to sculpt the body like in Bodybuilding. Many champions used what's called Muscle Control to develop the musculature on a more individual level meaning contracting and relaxing certain muscles one or two at a time as opposed to just an entire group. People like Otto Arco, Maxick, Ed Jubinville, Bill Pearl, John Grimek and countless others used this for shaping the body. One of the best yet mysterious figures to use this method was Bobby Pandour who had quite possibly one of the greatest physiques of the vaudeville era yet unlike other Bodybuilders of that time, didn't have a great deal of strength when it came to weights.

When it comes down to it, Isometrics in my opinion are truly made for developing strength from so many angles, we have yet to find out all of them, it's so vast and almost endless it's impossible to determine how many there are. It's used to harden the musculature and strengthen injuries. It's used in self defense and is also one of the greatest fat burning methods around. If anyone that has used Isometrics to not only strengthen the body but to save his own life was Steve Justa who was on the brink of death with type 2 diabetes and used countless exercises of Isometrics to lose weight, sculpt his body and eventually get himself off medication. 

Isometric Training is like developing a suit of armor that is durable and conditioned. Some exercises can be very tough yet so simple to do like holding a mid push-up plank on the fists for more than a minute, it's not as easy as it looks. As we age, Isometrics become more and more valuable as a training tool to prevent bone disease, losing strength in our legs and keeping our posture in alignment. It is truly meant as a way to live with greater vigor and keeping ourselves young. Think of it this way, I like to look at it as Adamantium, the indestructible steel-alloy made for X-Men member Wolverine's skeletal structure. In the real world, we can only wish to have that kind of skeletal strength but the stronger we can make our bones and tendons/ligaments, we become less prone to injury and can hold out better in the long run. 

Use Isometrics as you see fit but remember to use the basic concepts and train them to strengthen the body's structure, not always for looking like a million bucks. You can look like Tarzan but if your strength doesn't match up, it's not gonna mount to much. Some of the strongest people on the planet don't look like a bodybuilder or a strongman or a sculpted statue come to life, they're pretty average looking but have strength that can't be explained. Develop your suit of armor and become stronger to live better. 

The Hindu Burpee And Its Benefits

 The Burpee has been a big trend lately in the fitness world with many variations from Beginner to more Advanced. The "original" concept of the Burpee was a fitness test used to see how fit someone was way back in the late 30's around the start of World War 2 by Royal H. Burpee. The movement didn't include the push-up and jump that we see today in Crossfit Gyms around the country but it did give an idea of a person's cardiovascular fitness.

The basic Burpee today is to squat down, kick the legs back into a push-up position, do a push-up, jump back into a squat, stand up and jump. This movement was designed to kill fat and put on muscle while developing a more anaerobic feel to it in a way you feel from doing sprints; it's fast, tough and doesn't take long before you're huffing and puffing which in turn helps generate natural growth hormone and burn calories even after a workout. Some people prefer to just stand up and not do the jump at the end which for all intents and purposes in some cases is because jumping can cause damage to the joints.

There are so many variations of the Burpee that it is ridiculous and has turned more into how hard can you make it and how many reps you can do even as you get sloppy and exhausted. I've done workouts that when I was done, napping was inevitable. With the injuries I sustained in my early 20's, the jumping portion of a Burpee would do more harm than good in my ankles and left shin. 

I believe the real original Burpee came from India where wrestlers would do literally hundreds or sometimes 1000 or more to build practically superhuman stamina and long term strength. This is called the Sapate which is a combination of the Hindu Squat & Hindu Push-up at a rapid pace that is explosive and with a powerful thrust.  I've tried this exercise a few times and my brain just didn't know how to keep up with the explosive thrusts with the movement and ended up hurting myself more than anything. That exercise is not meant for everyone but if someone's body can do it and do it well, they're on their way to building phenomenal conditioning.

A variation that I use of the Sapate is a combo of the Squat & Push-up based on the teachings of Karl Gotch & Matt Furey. I find this way more compatible with my body and the pace is a lot better and I concentrate better with the movement as a whole. This modified version that doesn't have a jump at the end is still a killer workout and doing it just for a minute or 2 would get you breathing hard, hell for most people, 30 seconds is more than enough. This is the exercise I do at night before going to bed to get any excess energy out, I would do a set, take a breather and do another set; repeat that until I feel like I'm done. Started out with 5x5 and added a set each night until I was doing 10x5, progress with sets of 6 reps, than 7 until I can do sets of 10 reps. I like this system because like sprints, I'll take my time until my body is ready for another set and go as best and fast as I can without doing sloppy form. It's a great combo of conditioning training, stretching, coordination, strength training, agility, durability and stamina. It's also a great Calorie Burner.

The best benefits I have found with this Burpee Variation was being able to sleep better, feeling more energized in the morning, my breathing is stronger during other workouts and my stamina is getting stronger as well. What this also does is burn calories throughout the night and because of the fat burning element, it increases your metabolism throughout the night as well so you may end up losing weight faster as you sleep. I can't say this for sure for everyone because not many studies that are this specific have been done, just going by my experiences. If you wanted to do this exercise more in the day time than at night, go for it, you're burning fat and calories throughout the day. 

How many times a week do you do this? Start with 2-3 times a week and as you get stronger and fitter, bump it up to 4-5 times a week. I do it every single night but if there's a day where I would like to back off, I'll do so. In the beginning, do as many as you can. This isn't an exercise to really prove how fit you are compared to anyone else, this is also done to have good form, if you become too exhausted and your form is sloppy, stop. When it comes to reps, like I said, as many as possible but not to the point of fatigue or feeling tired, just enough to where you can feel it but have enough in the tank for another set. This is to help build stamina and conditioned strength over time. As you get stronger, reduce rest times. If you do any reps to the point of fatigue, you're going to need to recover for a minimum of a couple days. 

Give it a shot and see how it goes for you, if you've had previous injuries or don't have the strength to do the movement, do what you can, go slow if you have to and if anything causes pain, don't do it. 

Is It Good To Workout At Night Before Bed?

 There's always been a debate in fitness on when is it the best time to train? Many say that the morning is the best time because you're waking the body up and getting fresh oxygen into the system. I can agree to that to a degree. I do believe that you'd want to get in some good exercise as soon as you get up whether you have 20 minutes or 1 minute, just getting in some good deep breathing can work wonders. 

It's really more of an individual thing, some people perform exercises better later in the day like on a break at work and if you're a laborer, you're practically exercising all day long. What about at night though? After getting home from work, having dinner, watch a couple of episodes of something and get yourself to bed or getting the kids to bed, would a workout be good then too? Now you may be thinking working out before bed might be contradictory because you're putting in energy that might disrupt your sleep. The truth is, it could help with some excess energy you might have and getting in some late night endorphins to get the body to calm down. Depending on the intensity, it could also help with burning calories throughout the night and induce more natural growth hormone and burn off fat and build muscle faster. 

I can't speak for everyone who has done this but from my experiences and from doing an exercise recently, a good workout at night an hour or 2 before bed can help tackle unnecessary energy and after huffing and puffing for a little bit, that an help get that energy out and sleep hard. One of the exercises I've done lately to get excess energy out is Burpees or a variation called the Hindu Burpee (a combo of the hindu push-up & hindu squat) and so far, it knocks my ass out once I climb into bed. I've been known to be a night owl sometimes staying up until 1-2 o'clock in the morning but experimenting with this exercise between 10-1130 (depending on my mood and the amount of time to let dinner settle) has made some pretty good results with being able to fall asleep earlier. 

I would knock out a set of Hindu Burpees, rest to catch my breath and repeat the exercise continuing this cycle until I've done enough or just ready to stop. Some nights i'll do 5x5, 6x8, 8x5 or do as many as 10 in a set and see how many sets I can do before I've had enough. My body responds better to this exercise than just regular Hindu Push-ups and Squats and puts me in a state of a high that feels incredible and my body can rest easier. This is a great way to burn calories at a greater rate throughout the night and if you take a cold shower after doing this exercise, you're burning even more calories. This doesn't mean it's for everyone so if it doesn't work for you, don't force it, find some other exercises to do to get that excess energy out. For a period, I was doing animal exercises at night and that helped as well. 

So is it good to exercise at night before bed? I believe it is but experiment and see what it does for you, if you're more of an afternoon person, go for it, if you're a morning person, doing a couple sets of this exercise can do wonders with burning fat and increasing your metabolism throughout the day. Make it work for you?   

Black Friday And Having A Little More Fun In Our Lives

 Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday and it was filled with food, great people and making memories. We had our first Friendsgiving get together and I think the majority of the time we just couldn't stop laughing at everything. Instead of Turkey, we had Ham and all the fixings, think I was the only one that went for seconds of full plates but that was a good thing cause I got in a workout before we went over to my wife's BFF's house. Lots of fun.

Now, it's CHAOS time for BLACK FRIDAY. I'm here to tell you that, there is an option other than going to Hell-Mart or Cost-Your Life-Co so you don't get trampled going for that TV or new Crockpot on sale. That's the sad thing about sales, people want them now and are willing to break someone's face for it, why? Just 24 hours ago, you were thankful to even be alive and be with the people you love, now you want to go into Psycho Hose Beast Mode over a freaking Toaster or a 4K TV? Seriously, be smarter people.

When it comes to Xmas Shopping, you want to find the best things for your loved ones that are affordable right? This is where technology can be your best friend. Maybe you can't afford it so is it worth it? Be with your family, take a load off and utilize this time to find the best things in life and have fun. Personally, for your budget, Amazon is your best bet if you're looking for something for those special people. Do what's possible and not try to get mauled over it either. 

This year has already taken a toll on a lot of people, some didn't make it and it is a tragedy. Society is chaotic as it is, so why make it more chaotic? Make smart choices and find ways to make the holidays fun and safe as possible not just for the kids but plenty of adults as well. Workout together or invest in your health this Holiday Season, forget the TV's, the Crockpots, that new nightstand or Surround Sound System. Get in some Animal Exercises and play games that help you not only get fit but have fun in the process. Now doesn't that sound more important than the cost of a toy? 

You can even get some good deals on powerful supplementation to get that energy and drive. Lost Empire Herbs  is having their 30% OFF Cyber Sale on selected Herbs like Pine Pollen, Thor's Hammer, Nettle Root & More. You get to decide what's best for your budget and making the most of what you can do. Training is already hard as it is, but it doesn't have to be boring or full of tedious rep/set schemes, just get out there and move around like a wild animal and be free. Here's an Animal Book you can get for less than $15 that shows you all kinds of animal movements that are awesome to do and get you in shape just using your own bodyweight. Make your fitness interesting and creative. 

In my opinion, Black Friday is the time to lay low, find better options to use your budget on and be with the people you love. Be safe, take care of each other and have an amazingly awesome Holiday Season.