The Foundation That Starts The Spark Of What's To Come

We all start somewhere and build from the ground up. The beginnings of your journey into a world that has so many possibilities it can be overwhelming. We at times become over ambitious and start out with far than we can handle or can't do exactly what we are told to do. For me, it just started with three exercises: Hindu Squats, Hindu Push-ups & The Bridge. Those three were the genesis of what made me fall in love with Physical Culture and classic/ancient conditioning methods. Yours could be completely different and that's great, we all have our sights and paths to the realm of physical well being and progressing into a conditioned human being.

Getting the most out of your training doesn't start with trying to be Superman or Wonder Woman on the first try. Even those superheroes had a journey that started with figuring out how their powers worked, how to apply them and what paths they needed to choose in order to become the ultimate version of themselves. For us humans, sure we don't have super powers or have advantages or anatomy that gives us superhuman attributes but we all started somewhere. Even bodybuilders started out weak and not knowing what the hell to do, but they persisted and went to great lengths to become something they wanted to be (even most of those lengths took them down a horrifying path). Everybody has a different journey.

Sometimes it takes longer to get results and you may need to adjust from time to time but there are no excuses for quitting because if you stay the course, something will come along and you'll be in awe of what you'll receive with your hard work. I know these days, many want results now or want them to come so quick that it be too easy. That's not how REAL RESULTS work my friend. It's tough, a long road and sure things might spry upward, but your journey doesn't end when the results come or not. They take time, patience and a mindset that a lot of people are afraid to figure out. 

I started small and gradually built myself up. I didn't start out doing 3 minute bridges and 500 Squats, I was weak from not being able to walk for nearly 3 months and needed to build those tiny baby steps; so tiny in fact that it was daunting at times but I kept going little by little down to the smallest fraction. As Philoctetes from Hercules once said "Giving up is for Rookies", I want to add "Persistence makes you LEGENDARY." 

A journey may have moments of tranquility, effortlessness and flow but often times, it'll beat you down, hold you by the balls and make you beg for mercy but that's where you need to fight and keep scratching and clawing. Eventually, things will come to you and you'll be reaping in the rewards. Your foundation, will set the tone and spark of what's to come and with consistency, determination and the mindset of doing little things each day will result in big things in the end. 

Become LEGENDARY in your own journey and make the most of what is possible even in bad times.   

Adding Isometrics To Build A Strong & Muscular Body

Building muscle isn't always easy for some people and many would go to extremes to build a body so muscular that it looks like they can't wipe their own ass. Often, genetics does play a role in how you develop muscle. It could be quicker but for others, it takes longer to build the muscle they want. The real problem is that people want something right now and magically have a better body in a matter of days than weeks/months/years. 

Now when those say "oh he's built like that because he's a genetic freak and it's impossible to look like that otherwise", haven't done their homework on the old timers and how muscular they were despite starting out looking so sickly, they've should've been put out of their misery sooner than later. It's true some develop muscle at a greater rate than others but it's not all that black and white. Let's take Herschel Walker for example: He's looked fit since his college days and even in his 60's now I believe, he's got greater muscle development than men half his age. You forget, he didn't start out looking like he was carved from granite, he was a chubby youngster in rural Georgia that couldn't keep up with other kids his age. He made a change and not only busted his ass to get where he wanted physically, he achieved his muscular potential over and over throughout the rest of his life and continues today. 

One of the greatest posers in the early 20th century was Otto Arco who many in the physical culture world argue was the most muscular man of his era who had a build you thought would be from steroids; they weren't. Steroids were non-existent in his time so how the hell did he develop such a powerful body despite being less than 5'6 and 150 lbs soaking wet? He achieved his genetic and muscular potential through many methods including weight lifting and gymnastics but his greatest method was the style of Muscle Control: The ability to flex and relax the various muscle groups at will and portray the type of body they make charts out of. He looked a man that people would make statues out of and looked like a greek god of ancient Athens. Muscle Control is another form of Isometric Training. 

Alexander Zass was another legendary strongman that utilized Isometrics to not only build a muscular body but had strength very few in his time possessed. How did he get so damn strong? Before the events of WW1, he was a traveling strongman, lifting crazy things and doing feats that wowed crowds throughout Europe and Russia but during the war, he was captured multiple times and was shackled to the floor with chains that weren't made to snap and break. During his confinements, he would push, pull, grip and find every angle he could think of to rip those chains apart and eventually he did. He shattered the links in those suckers and even bent the bars of jail cell window and broke out. He was caught a total of 4 times and each time, he broke out and escaped. He would go on to built an act that consisted of bending steel bars, lifting things with his teeth and even made a course for Isometric Training with a customized device of a chain with handles so others can learn to get strong from many angles without ever moving a muscle. Today you can do some of the same exercises with the World Fit Iso Trainer.

All three of these men had used Isometrics to aid in their development and had some of the greatest physiques the world ever knew and did it without the use of steroids or PED's. Many before and after them got great results as well including myself. Below are a couple pictures to give you an idea. The first one is of the Back: To let you in on a little secret, I don't do pull-ups that often and was never consistent with deadlifting and weight training for the back. My muscular potential was developed through hard work of Bridges, Hammer Training, Animal Movements & heavy rows and pulldowns with fat gripz training over the years but when I add in Isometrics in addition, my strength goes through the roof and put greater development of the muscles surrounding the Back. 

The second picture is my left arm zoomed in. For close to 17 years, I've built my arms through all sorts of training but Isometrics and various Feats Of Strength have given my arms the best genetic natural development possible. No steroids, no growth hormone or TRT, just old fashioned hard work and training. Thick and solid but not looking like a bodybuilder. I was never able to achieve arms like some of the old timers but because of steel bending over the years, thick handle work, push-ups, crawling, handstands and other forms of Isometrics, this is the best I got and I'm very proud of it. If you've ever seen my arms zoomed out especially the forearm development, you know that it took a long time to make those results happen. 

Make Isometrics a part of your regimen and see results first hand of what you can achieve. You don't need to be built like me or anybody else to achieve your greatest potential, you've got your own journey and your results will come with consistency, recovery, mindfulness and being aware of what works best for you.  

Are Fat Gripz The Key To Major Upper Body Strength?

 I first learned about Thick Bar Training around 2003-2004 from Iron Man and showed some of the things used for it. I didn't touch a thick handled dumbbell or barbell till about 2007 or 2008 and it was at my friend Logan Christopher's house. It was pretty heavy and only held it for 10 seconds, couldn't do anything else with it. When I finally got around to wanting to do more Thick Handle Training, I learned about the Fat Gripz and how they can be attached to dumbbells, barbells and machines in seconds. 

Thick Bar Training has been around for decades, even more than a century because the old time strongmen worked with them. Reading more about it in Brooks Kubik's Dinosaur Training book, I wanted to see what I can do. When I went to the gym in 2018-2019, I would attach the Gripz to the dumbbells as heavy as about 50-60 lbs and they were tough as hell to handle. Did a 225 standing overhead press with them for a few reps and that almost killed me. For years before that, I used them to attach to the handles of the TNT Cable System from Lifeline Fitness. 

When I used them for the TNT Cables, that put in a new perspective on making things interesting to train with. Whenever I need a boost or a challenge for strength training that's what I would do. I would work with about as heavy as I can handle and do mainly Overhead Presses, Curls, Pulldowns, Rows & Chest Presses. Talk about alternative to weights. These can be just as challenging if not more so than a hunk of junk iron weights because with the fat gripz, its forcing you to work even harder than usual and every fiber of your being comes into play. 

Thick Bar Training challenges even the strongest of men and strikes fear into many that would run away at the very sight of it and for good reason. Fat Gripz are no joke and will test you in ways that makes muscle building all that much more torturous yet sweet at the same time. First off: In most cases when lifting, your grip will give out more often than most muscle groups and the bigger diameter of a handle, the less weight you'll end up using. If you're even a 600 lb Bencher, you wouldn't even come close to that if you tried with a thick bar, it's almost impossible. 2nd: With Thick Bar work, you're firing far more than just the muscles used in any specific upper body exercise, your entire body has to be in unison and it tests even your core strength to be stabilized enough to control the movement. 3rd: Controlling the lift or movement itself takes far greater concentration than with a regular implement. You could get away with being a little awkward with a lift with a implement that's normally what 1-1 1/8th inches in diameter but with a handle at 2 inches or more, you can't be sloppy, your form has to be damn near perfect otherwise you'll easily slip out of holding it. 

The power of Fat Gripz training can even give a boost of testosterone as it forces you to fire the nerves into the muscles on a larger scale and attack the system with a vengeance. Doing compound exercises with a thick bar or fat gripz does produce another level of boosting testosterone. Muscles will grow pretty fast with Fat Gripz training but also the recovery and rest will be different as well because even 1 or 2 sets can wear someone out rather than a typical 5-8 set workout with a particular exercise. 

One workout I did with Fat Gripz & The TNT Cables was to go as heavy as I can handle and do 4 exercises for 1 set each. The objective was to do as many reps as possible in 90 seconds for each exercise. This to me was one of the most brutal workouts I've ever done and my forearms were pumped like crazy. They were thick and I was feeling a burn rarely ever taking place. I would rest as long as I needed between exercises and I didn't count the reps, I just kept going as much as I could for that 90 second set. On the exercises, I would stop for maybe 1 or 2 seconds to catch my breath and keep going, they were hard as hell and you can't possibly know what that feels like until you've done them yourself. 

It would definitely put a little more lead in your pencil if you catch my drift. I normally don't go for the pump but I just wanted to see what I was capable of. That's the beauty of training, coming with things that are fun to do and creating challenges for yourself you don't normally do. When I really need some upper body muscle work, Fat Gripz & TNT Cables are a way to go and they're easy to travel with.  

Get a set of Fat Gripz, more than a fraction of the cost to an actual thick bar. Most gyms don't have thick bars because for one, the average person or even bodybuilder is afraid of them and two; even by the intimidation, the space isn't that great either. The Fat Gripz can be attached to most dumbbells and barbells plus a machine. The most weight I lifted with these attached to a barbell was a 315 thigh deadlift and I thought that was crazy to do. Imagine the kind of strength and muscle you can develop with these bad boys, they are a pinnacle of learning the difference between boys lifting weight and men lifting weight. Go ahead, I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU!!!!

Below here's a video of doing Fat Gripz Curls with a 100 lb Resistance Cable. Without the Fat Gripz, I can do as many as 25 in a row but with those things attached, I can only manage 16 here and that was killer on the biceps and forearms while maintaining good form and not trying to cheat (you can't really cheat with these cables). 

Here's what I did with the same resistance but without the Fat Gripz...

Just Call Me Angel Of The Morning

 It's great that when you think of a certain song, you can't help but laugh. That's why every time I hear those words in my head, my mind goes to the Opening Scene in Deadpool. 

Now that I got that stuck in your head...

Why is meditation important? What makes it such an essential aspect of your well-being? It could be done in many ways but the most common is either sitting or standing for up to several minutes to an hour or more at a time. It's therapeutic to some people. It can be a hell of a stress reliever especially with those who suffer from anxiety and/or depression. Working out can be considered meditative because it's about going to a place where it feels right and you're in a zone full of piece of mind. 

Meditation isn't just making sounds and trying to center yourself in a Yoga Class (unless you just go there to check somebody out in the downward facing dog), it's really about finding yourself and being at peace internally. Hell, some people like me love heavy metal and that helps things from time to time. Ever watch NCIS? The gothic but loveable forensic scientist Abby Sciuto puts on metal or rock and does some of her best work, if the music isn't right or there's no music, she's thrown off and feels out of place. For her that's her form of meditation, it works and puts her in a focused state. 

There's forms of meditation meant for everyone that don't always come from sitting and saying "ooommm" for god knows how long. For me, it's either training or doing Dao Zou; the backwards walking program Matt Furey put out many moons ago. Hew may have his flaws but his programs aren't terrible either and Dao Zou is actually a favorite of mine. I used it yesterday as a form of meditation before a Dental Appointment. I hate seeing just about any kind of doctors and always had issues with seeing dentists. This time, it kept me so damn calm, it felt like a breeze being in the chair while the doc was checking things up. BTW everything is actually fine and just need a typical cleaning. You get what I'm saying though? Many people just have issues with hospitals and dental work that they overwhelm themselves or the environment is overwhelming to them and it's understandable. 

Today; despite heavy road construction literally a few yards away and a worker doing a job on my next door neighbor's house, I focused on my breathing and breezed through another Dao Zou session and felt at peace. It felt great, feeling the earth on my feet, the wind blowing and seeing the blue sky, hearing the birds chirp, it was awesome. Those moments you have and letting things pass you by without giving them a second thought is one of the true aspects of meditation. Externally, yeah there's things going on around you and you can't always escape them but internally, you're naturally forming a level of tranquility and the mindset to not just want to be at peace but accepting it without having to fight yourself. 

Some of the best meditative practices don't come from a self-help book or a New Age/Quantum Physics level of learning, they come from making the choices to feel something that they normally don't get during parts of the day. There are places in the world and even in this country where there's negative energy, violence and anger on every corner, surrounding a building or a street. Nobody can tell you how to do certain things when they themselves don't understand your circumstances but you can make choices that determine your peace of mind and do what you can to make the best of them. 

Find your style of meditation and find your inner peace the best way you can. Make it worth living and basking in the glory of having that tranquility we all are looking for. Sometimes it's easy to meditate, sometimes it takes practice more than the average person can handle and other times, it's just there and you can choose to keep it or fight it. 

The Battles With Yourself And The Ways Of What You Were Taught

 For the most part, nobody is more critical than the person you see in the mirror everyday. The wars you have in your own mind and the battles that you keep surviving yet left scars, put you in a state of what's to come and what you're prepared to do. Many of these battles is how to determine what's good and what is wrong with what you have been taught. 

It can be very difficult to trust people for some especially those you admire or have admired and taking in the teachings and wisdom of those you learned from. You learn what to do, but also learn what not to do and we don't always know what the real difference is. You get caught up in other people's crap and getting sucked into something that isn't meant for you but still battle to get out of. It happens to everyone at some point and it can be a pain in the ass yet for some, it's easy as pie. 

I trust an extreme few people and one of them isn't even alive anymore so when that extreme few starts reducing, it becomes harder and harder to find someone you can go to whether for help or want someone to listen and they still have your back. I battle with myself everyday figuring out what lessons I've learned that I can apply to certain things or do the right thing. My parents taught me things I will always carry with me and apply to my life but they've also taught me things they don't know about what not to do and some of it is easy and some of them are not. It's decisions you make that keep you moving forward or putting yourself backwards.

Looking back on some of the lessons I learned from Bud Jeffries, I make them a huge part of my life and the knowledge and wisdom he gave me are things that should never be ignored especially when it comes to how you apply yourself to your passion and how to treat people. I have often slipped through those lessons and gotten myself caught up in things that shouldn't really apply to me but it is a force of habit. I've put myself in situations on forums and on youtube that should never have happened. Bud taught me to stay away from forums or at least ones that don't really give a damn about your passion or what you love because many of them are full of opinionated people that don't have any real knowledge and the few people who have knowledge, get caught up in the drama and negative bullshit that leads to keyboard fighting and pecking at people we will never meet. I've told you about my signing up and deleting accounts on a certain forum I won't mention, I admit, I lost my sense of direction and focused on the bullshit more than the knowledge. I put myself in a bad place and part of me feel like I've let Bud down even though he'd tell me "get back up and know that you've made mistakes and that you're human." 

For youtube, I admit I became obsessed with a certain Blue Collar man's channel and got caught up in his bullshit rants and his views on society. I made comments that just blurred out at times and tried going on a quest that really led to nowhere. For the most part, he's nothing more than a misogynistic sociopath who has no sympathy or compassion for basically anyone and sometimes think he hates his own kids. It all goes back to that point of like a car wreck "you know it's wrong, but you can't help but want to look at it" and that's what I did, it was like a drug that I needed a fix. I was weak for doing it and it was stupid to continue doing it. There are far better things to view out there and it's important to see your flaws and correct them before it becomes something much worse. 

We battle ourselves everyday. We keep surviving and it's important to not let our mental battle scars get the best of us and take it one day at a time. You learn to be better by being better with yourself. Some days are harder than others and you don't want anyone to feel your pain. Most people won't give a flying fuck what you tell them and they'll even make comments that will try to shred you to pieces but at the same time, there are people out there who are going through some of the same things and value what you do say and share their experiences to let you know you're not alone and that the world has its beauty and positive influences that can be used to help others because let's face it: in a messed world, even flowers bloom out of the chaos and destructive powers at hand.