An Adventure That Never Gets Old

 It's important to keep learning and finding what works best for us. Improvement should be always be a long term thing because once we stop improving, it could become boring and there isn't much Self-Discovery left. I love my workouts of Isometrics, Step Ups, Cable work and messing with either the Sandbells or the Hammers but the one thing that always brings me back and with incredible levels of enthusiasm is the Animal Workouts.

It's an adventure that never gets old and helps me find more things to discover. The random workout game I do with the 20 Sided Dice not only keeps me from doing the same order over and over again, it gives me opportunities to discover whether I'd be working hard early or later on. Anything can pop up on that thing, one day you're doing mainly lower body exercises, others the upper body or on many occasions, do a bit of both and do different variations of the exercises to make things easier or harder. It lights me up.

Animal Movements are not just for warm ups in martial arts or to sprint on the football field with, the movements in and of themselves are pretty simple and people think simple and easy are the same thing, they're not. They can be tough as hell especially if you play the dice game and you choose to do double reps or a set of yards per animal. One day, me and the wife took our niece out to a park to get us some fresh air and to knock out some excess energy the kid had. I took the dice game to a different level and we played tag. I would roll and whatever animal came up, either me or her would try to tag the other while being that animal. The objectivity is to give enough space for the person to get a bit of a head start and the person tagging has to keep moving until they tag the other. It took about 5-6 rolls until she was down for the count. Afterwards, she caught her breath and went on the swings or watch the dogs roam around. 

It doesn't take very long for those workouts to kick your ass. If you can last even 10 minutes, that's more than most can handle. The movements work so many muscles it's not even funny. Try playing tag and you have to do the Frog Jump, that round may only last less than 30 seconds because you would have to break to catch your breath and if the person trying to get away from the tagger is gassed, you have a greater advantage of winning. How about doing a race or doubling the reps per animal, it can get brutal fast. That's the beauty of it though, you don't need long workouts to make something work.

Training should have an adventurous element to it because if it becomes boring and you don't have that excitement, you won't last too long being consistent with it. It can be hard for sure but once you get the idea of turning it into play, the hard part is taken more as a challenge with a smile. It takes you back to your childhood where being carefree and full of imagination was at the peak of our minds. It puts you in a calmer state after a workout or should I say Playout, it develops coordination and balance, let's not forget incredible strength and conditioning. It also creates stronger brain functions because for one, you need to be quick and because of the coordination, you have to constantly stay balanced and perform with greater cognition. 

It does take time learning them and if you had previous injuries like many of us, you might have to coordinate differently and work an animal move best suited for you. When I do a Frog Jump, most of the time I only jump less than a few inches off the ground whether in stationary or moving forward and backwards, it works for me. Because of my leg injuries, trying to jump like Michael Jordan or a high jumper would be not good for someone like me so I have to do things accordingly. I definitely don't do explosive movements involving the upper body like jumping using the arms because it's not good for my shoulders, wrists and elbows so I came up with movements for the upper body that better suits my way of moving.  

Be adventurous, take a chance and find what works best for you. Unleash your spirit animal and move the way we should be moving. 

December Results 2021

 I'm not the biggest fan of posing for pictures. Quite frankly I don't even consider myself a ham since picture taking wasn't always my favorite thing to do but every now and then, I like to show off some of my progress. As you know my training changes quite a bit but the results speak for themselves when I get into something or stay as consistent as possible with what I feel like doing. 

I'm a fanatic on conditioning but not in the habit of wanting to get shredded and have a ridiculous low level of body fat so I'm actually happy with the results I've accumulated. These are the results of my work with Isometrics, Hammer Training, working with cables such as the Chest Expander & TNT Cables and Animal Movements. The Isometrics have done quite well for me lately and keep the exercises to basic elements of curls, deadlifts, upright rows and Overhead Presses doing at least 2-3 positions for each exercise, the other Iso Exercises supplement to the basic ones are Arm Wrestling, Zercher Squat, Step Up, Bow & Arrow, Handcuffed and Overhead Pulls. I do my best to work as many angles as possible for that day, also added in Isometrics for shoveling. 

Not looking to grow 24 inch pythons (even if I wanted to, probably wouldn't be good on my 5'10 frame and look like I can't wipe my own ass) but having strong arms along with having a good build for them has its perks lol. Being laid up in a hospital bed all those years ago, I had to rely on the strength and condition of my upper body at the time to hold me up as long as I could whether it was getting into a wheelchair, into the tub, or keep me up in my walker. I never want to wish that on anyone. It was my drive to maker my arms and the rest of my upper body as strong and functional as possible so I spent many years developing them since and you've seen what I was able to do. 

Having a physique has its perks but it's only secondary to what really matters and that's having the strength and the conditioning to go with it, otherwise what's really the point if you look good and can't do a damn thing in the process? You don't even need to have a greek god looking body to be in top condition, besides, having a great body doesn't always mean you're healthy either, being carved out of granite won't last forever and sometimes, having a very muscular body takes a toll on the joints and tendons or even your heart. That's why I love Isometrics so much, it keeps those tendons and ligaments strong in the long haul and helps reduce injury in your later years.

Stay strong and keep developing yourself inside and out making the most of it. Health is one of the biggest things that we need to have in this messed up Pandemic. Get strong, stay healthy and keep kicking ass my friends. 

Is Society Really That Terrible Today?

 Great day to wake up and shovel snow.....said no one ever. Seriously though, it felt good to get up, stretch a bit and take care of some snow on the ground, it can be quite riveting. A lot of people today talk about how bad our society is as a whole and how back in the day, things were better. Some of these same people are those "make America great again" types that just never caught on. Yes there are pros and cons, rights and wrongs with how society has evolved or devolved in some cases but is it really that terrible?

Societies rise and fall all the time and we won't be an exception. Yes social media has it's fair share of issues when it comes to people of certain varieties but let me ask you a question....For those who like to cry MAGA or think society was better during a certain decade, do you really want to go back to a time where women couldn't vote? Go back to a decade where soda was in ads that featured babies, doctors telling people to smoke to lose weight, where a woman was practically a slave to a man, where someone with different skin couldn't or didn't have the choice to sit in an empty seat in the front on a bus, where a "just say no" campaign never statistically worked and drugs were running rampant? That's more than just one question I get it.

Not every kid is shooting up a school, not every attention monger is on social media and not every celeb or pro athlete is an asshole or does drugs. We have become so angry with what others do that we forget that this isn't the only time in history where people wanted attention, where a person with great influence actually did something good and an athlete is celebrated for his accomplishments, not what he did outside of his chosen sport. Society today does have problems and there should be accountability for sure but do we really have to hold those accountable for even trying to do something decent like I don't know actually showed kindness and compassion? 

I think the real issues are not always in Black & White. Everyone isn't always protesting about something in their community but everyone does have a story no matter how boring or extreme and some people go down a wrong path, some thrive and become successful but no matter how you put it, there will be others who want to destroy someone's way of life for god knows what reason. Society as a whole isn't perfect, neither was any society anywhere at any time, it's flawed, it's crude and downright awful at times but there are great times too, places where people take care of each other regardless of your background. 

Now, are there a bunch of dumbasses living among us?  Of course, you can't have a society without a bunch of morons roaming around, sometimes they can make things entertaining but more often than not, they teach us lessons that we don't always realize like what not to do and what lines you don't cross regardless of the circumstance because it is important to realize what really matters. Not everyone survives that but what doesn't survive, something that comes along will, it can be a vicious cycle but also some beauty comes out of it depending on what it is. 

When I was growing up in California, I saw crazy things go down and been around alcoholism, survived an earthquake, survived meningitis, seen what people are like on drugs and observed some really shady dealings. Been around kids of all shapes and sizes and while some I knew lived great lives, others had very toxic people around them and went down dark paths and knew a couple people who've killed themselves. Seeing and being around some of that, you'd think I would be another statistic and go down a path of drinking like many I knew, getting into drugs and all that, well I didn't and there were times in my life I thought about it but something never kicked in me to drink like a fish or smoke like a chimney or do enough drugs to not care about the world around me. I've seen terrible things in society but I never lost sight of what amazingly awesome things happen in society as well. It doesn't make me special or anything, just that I do understand where someone is coming from at times.

Not everyone has it easy growing up in various societies and communities no matter where you are whether it's a rural area, conservative, liberal or whatever. Deep down, some of us will choose life in a very different way than what statistics say and others naturally or forcefully go down roads that very few will ever climb out of. Make your choices and do what works best for you and the people around you. Do the best to your abilities to be there for someone and show compassion until there's a reason not to be and protect each other. Societies rise and fall all the time and very rarely has there ever been a society that wasn't divided in some form. It takes work but at best, live your best life and don't try to destroy someone else's because it's not in your bubble.   

Getting Stronger Without Needing To Go To Failure

 It's easy to get caught up in that warrior mentality of pushing yourself so hard that getting sore, going to failure or even getting injured is considered a badge of honor. Now, I'm not saying don't challenge yourself or half-ass a workout by going through the motions, train to make yourself stronger little by little because over time, it adds up.

Unless you're a competitor, in law enforcement, the military or a pro athlete, pushing yourself to the brink is not always the way to go to make yourself better. When I performed feats of strength such as nail bending, hammer levering, tearing phonebooks or shaping long pieces of steel, I would hammer out what I could do and sometimes I pushed so hard that I did injure myself on a few occasions. Luckily nothing was damaged to where I couldn't do anything but there was a price to pay. 

I believe in training hard without question, however; you can only go as far as you're willing to go and it's important you keep your mental game and body awareness in check. We understand that if you get hurt and you can't keep up with your responsibilities, you're no good to anyone but do we really get what that means? I'm lucky I'm able to train every single day without failure but when I got hurt, I have to adapt, modify and improvise at times in order to do things to help others plus still take on responsibilities that are asked of me. 

Strength is not just physical but mental as well and it's important we understand the differences and similarities between the two. We learn how to progress and do so at our own pace, not the same as everyone else because everybody is different and if we act on the same progressions and the same pace as everybody else, it's not going to pan out well. We learn as we go along and find our strengths and decrease our weaknesses little by little. 

Some days are easier than others but as we pace ourselves and pay attention to our energy, our awareness and the way we can recover, our strength in certain areas will go up even by a 1/10th of 1%. Some never see that or want to think that it's possible, if they're not stronger at a 5-10% increase in a day, they see it as a failure and not a success. Success eventually happens and failure is more of a lesson than a defeat. Now, this isn't the same if you're a policeman, a soldier, a fireman or whatever, if it comes down to life and death, failure can be fatal so building strength and awareness is a completely different area. You train for a specific purpose and do everything that's possible. 

Work on building your strengths little by little. You may fail at some things and you may push to the brink where you can't hold on or move anymore (which I highly don't recommend) but never give up on making yourself better even by the smallest fraction because the tiniest or most microscopic improvements can make the biggest differences in what happens next. 

The Hammerman Now Walks Among The Elite In The Heavens Of The Old-Time Strongmen

There are strongmen and then there's Lawrence Farman. A man who admired the legendary strongman figure of Joe Greenstein, AKA The Mighty Atom and worked hard as hell in the rock quarry, breaking stones and rock day in and day out since the early 50's until he late 90's or so. In between, he learned the craft of strongmanism; bending steel, breaking chains and driving nails through boards. His most unique feat was the reason for his nickname, The Hammerman. The Lifting and Levering with the heaviest sledgehammers that would make John Henry's jaw drop.

When it comes down to records and what someone can achieve, Slim The Hammerman was above and beyond the very fathom of what it means to achieve a level of strength the way he did. His strength and prowess among the strongmen of his time and generations after almost sound like it should've been myth, but in fact was not only very real, made it legendary in ways that put him in a class that should be in the ranks of Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Ed Strangler Lewis and Paul Anderson. 

Slim passed away at the age of 87 and although he is gone from this world, his spirit will live on in the memories and hearts of strongmen the world over. I regrettably never got a chance to meet him but I did have a phone conversation with him once a few years back thanks to fellow strongman Chris Rider. We talked about Atom and Slim's life and how he achieved financial success in his work. How he lifted the hammers using a mental technique he perfected and gave me advice on what I can do in my own strongman endeavors. It was an honor to even talk with him and swapping stories, my favorite is how he gave his high school the bird as he walked out the door and made something of himself.

For all intents and purposes, his records in levering will never be broken. His world record of lifting 2-28 lb hammers that were attached to each other is not only unbelievable, but the mere fact that his wrists weren't even 100% when he made the feat. He achieved this in the mid 70's at Madison Square Garden as the Atom watched by his side. He was also a man among giants, at 6'6 and a max weight of 230 lbs of pure muscle that was sinewy and the toughest of tendons and ligaments anyone could ever thought of. His grip was so powerful that men in recent years who've shaken his hand can attest to the incredible strength he still had. 

Slim, you were a man among men, a strongman's strongman and one of the hardest working people the world had ever known. RIP big man and say hi to the Mighty Atom for us.