Are Step Ups The Lazy Man's Equivalent Of Leg Training?

I saw this recently and it kind of made me laugh and just thought "wow, what kind of bullshit is this?" Now granted, Step Ups don't get as much attention as Squats and other forms of Leg work such as Sprints, Lunges and others but in reality, they're one of the key ingredients to building some crazy conditioning. Just ask Bob Backlund, think he's lazy?

Step Ups have been used for a very long time and they're a simulation of what people do everyday such as climbing stairs or going on rugged terrain, going up a ladder, hell if you're really ambitious you may find a tree to climb the branches. One of the things it was used for from a Fitness standpoint was to test students at Harvard to determine how their heart rate was after a 3 min set. Hence the name, the Harvard Step Test. Ever see those delivery boys going up and down those stairs in apartment buildings in New York or Chicago? You'd have to have some good legs in order to keep that job and some of those guys can haul ass. Doesn't sound lazy to me?

Bob Backlund, in my eyes was the man when it came to Step Ups. He started doing them sometime either during or after his reign as world champion before Vince Jr. took over the WWWF and made it the phenom today. After years of running jarred his knees and needed something to keep his legs strong yet durable and conditioned, he found out about the Harvard Step Test and since then, he's probably done more reps in more sessions than some of the greatest athletes before or since. He was still capable of doing high level reps in squats, push-ups, burpees and other exercises but he still believed the Step Ups made him the most conditioned he ever felt.

It really is a phenomenal exercise and many athletes and everyday people use it to help with building strength and stamina in the legs. Some have used it to train for long hikes or expeditions, others such as pro baseball players use it to help with their speed and strength throughout games. It's one of my personal favorites and have found them to be better than squats in many ways, not to say squats aren't good, they're awesome but Step Ups just have a better feeling and they're just different.

I've done hundreds of reps with both Squats and Step Ups and in comparison, Step Ups don't ever make me feel sore. On about 2-3 occasions I've done 1000 Step Ups and the fastest time was 50 minutes using a deck of cards and have done 1000 Squats twice ever and that fastest time was 33 minutes. These days if I did squats, it be around 100-300 and it's been a while since I did 500 in a row but during my circuit workouts, I would do them in sets of 10-20 depending on the circuit and the amount of squats in that circuit. For the Step Ups, around the same amount of reps either in a row or in a circuit. My favorite workout is to do a Superset of Step Ups & Shoulder Carrying my 50 lb Sandbell. Set a timer for let's say 20 min and just go back and forth with those exercises and I'd do around 10-15 reps per leg and carry the sandbell twice (once on each shoulder) for ten yards each without a rest. For circuits, I don't rest on those either. I have tested myself in doing 500 Step Ups and my time was just under 22 min (21:52 to be exact) and feel really proud of that.

Doing this exercise may not be the most spectacular looking, but it does work wonders beyond what some shmuck thinks it does or doesn't do. Take a step stool of about 12-15 inches in height and have at it. Some stools hold up to 300 lbs or more and others lower but for most people, as long as it's sturdy you're good to go and there are some that are foldable so you can store it easier. It gets you into pretty damn good condition if you're consistent with it. Be sure to understand your leg to step ratio because if you have a step up that's too short, it won't do a whole lot for you but also don't use a step that is too high for your legs or you'll overextend the hip joint and put more stress on your knees than you need to. I work with a 14 in stool from time to time and was my primary step stool until I started noticing some weird things in my hips and hamstrings so I switched to a 12 1/2 inch step stool and that felt just perfect for my leg to step ratio and can get in workouts that are challenging but it's not going to hurt my joints in the long run. 

You work with what's best for you and make it your strength. It's all about progressing and finding the right niche in your arsenal to where you're kicking ass but also being safe on your joints as well. I don't even really count reps much these days in this exercise mainly because I've set my goals to do as many as I wanted to test myself with and just make it more of a "moving meditation" type exercise where I set a timer and just do the amount of reps I want per leg and keep going until the timer runs out. Some like to count and time, others may have a goal in mind and go as much as they can, it's up to you and have fun with it. 

So is the Step Up the lazy man's exercise of training the legs? Hell no and whoever says it is, is either trying to sell you the illusion of something else pr bullshitting his way into some form of training that is superior. That's not the true way to train. What is superior is what gives you the best chance at being fit and continue doing it for a long time with very little chance at getting injured and creating challenges that are interesting to you. If Squats are more your thing, that's awesome and I hope you succeed at them, if they worked for the Great Gama and Jaromir Jagr, I have no doubt they can work for you, if you prefer Step Ups, have at it and make it the best damn exercise you can do because it keeps you wanting to come back to it. Now if you're one of those crazy bastards that has a mind for both, well bro, you've got some serious shit going on and I hope it gives you the most bad ass set of legs ever. 

Be strong, get conditioned, be safe and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Side Note......

Stay safe this holiday season and don't get trampled today for Black Friday. Be with your families and shop with better intentions than to try to go to the stores to get hurt over a damn TV. Here are some cool Black Friday Sales you can check out for your early Xmas Shopping. Happy Holidays and be good to each other. 

Amazon Black Friday Sales

Save 20% At Lost Empire Herbs on selected products using the code: CYBER2022 at checkout

Huge Savings at Vahva Fitness for some of the best fitness programs on the market today from Movement Training to Warrior. Get all three of the top programs there for a stupid price that's a one time fee. 

Check out some cool stuff at Onnit Fitness for equipment, programs and supplements to help your journey. 

Getting Stronger With The Chest Expander

 I don't know if I'm falling in love with the Chest Expander or just really getting into it and reaping the benefits of it. Almost everyday lately, I've been pulling and pressing that thing from as many directions as I can without straining myself. In terms of resistance, I've kept it around 100-140 lbs but some days I'll go lighter and every few days or so I would see what my max amount of resistance I can do for about 3-5 reps. I don't do multiple sets of an exercise, I just do 1 and go from one to another either quickly or after a short rest so I feel at my strongest.

The workouts feel great and I'm feeling a difference in my back and shoulders since this thing works out the kinks where my shoulders may have lacked. Because of doing Bear Crawls, Push-Ups from time to time and other ground movements in animal exercises you're hitting more of either the front or back of the shoulders and not so much all around that area of the body so the Chest Expander really targets the areas that might not be as strong and need a bit of a boost and not getting in just one or two areas. Some cables I'll use relatively the same colors and use all three bands, or two depending on the exercises I do and mix and match to work different pounds of resistance together.

I'm not trying to utilize a bodybuilding approach and nowhere near the level of some of the old timers like Fred Rollon or John Grimek and Reg Park. These guys knew realistic strength better than just about anybody when it came to Strand Pulling. In the old days and even today, the Expanders had springs you can work with up to I think like 6 at one time. There are elastic cables today you can use that go up to 5 but most Expanders have about 3-4. I try to max out what I can do and from my research, one of the tests of strength with it is the Front Chest Pull W/ Hands Inside. This sets the tone for how strong you are with that apparatus.

My max pull right now is at 160 lbs resistance but I know I can do better as time goes on. As you can see above, yes I have to really put effort into it and it's not something I take lightly. It's awesome to experiment but it's also important to respect the bands as well and be in control otherwise it'll hit you hard and it does fight back with a vengeance the heavier the resistance. 

When it comes to the exercises, I try to keep a bare minimum of about 6 exercises that are the foundational pulls and work other exercises to hit other parts of the upper body like curls, tricep extensions, lateral raises with lighter resistance and others. In a single workout, I might do up to 10-12 exercises. If it's a heavy day, I rest a bit longer between exercises and keep the reps to 3-10 depending how much I have in me to pull or work with. For lighter resistance, I keep it around 10-25 reps per exercise for more moderate to near conditioning type training while resting as little as possible to not at all. Have no clue how long a workout is, I just grab and go with it. 

Now because it's mainly an upper body training session, what do I do for legs? Simple really, Step Ups, Animal Walks, Isometrics, Pick Up & Carry Sandbells and there you go. You do want to keep things equal but more often than not, you either do more of one or the other and do your best to avoid injuries and getting stiff. I like to stretch the body out doing my Flow Training or do Isometric Type Stretches from Bob Anderson's Stretching Book but my most common routine are mobility type exercises and loosening up the joints. Flexibility is just as important as Strength Training and regardless of our strength, if we don't have solid mobility and flexibility, what good are we?

Workouts don't need to be super long in order to create results. It doesn't matter if you're into weights, bands, bodyweight, machines or hammers, if you got a good 45 minutes for a long one or 5 minutes for a short one, you can have sessions that will make you feel like you just went through hell. One of my favorites for conditioning is Circuit Training doing Bodyweight & Martial Arts type training. Those are the type of workouts where I can go hard but not rest at all. Keep it to 10 rounds max and you're good to go.

Back to the Chest Expanders shall we? The stronger you get, the more you'll start to see how great the carry over is to other things you may not have realized. Some of the worst injuries for athletes are in the shoulders such as those who are Pitchers, Olympic Lifters, Martial Artists and Wrestlers. Rotator Cuff injuries are the most common and although like I've written before, we can't avoid injuries all the time but we can greatly reduce them by practicing prehab exercises and strength training that keeps injuries at bay for as long as possible. The Chest Expander is one of those tools that can do that even for the most elite athletes. If you had injuries that have a chance of being healed, this thing can work wonders using lighter bands. 

I know people love going to the gym but there are times that it's not always possible like during a snow storm or during hurricane season. I'm not suggesting you try to do workouts in the middle of a blizzard, it's the idea that because Expanders are very affordable that you can have an entire gym in a little bag, it's there when you need it for those days when going to a gym isn't there. It gives you the freedom to train wherever you want and they can be done everyday or 2-3 times a week, it's up to you. Train according to your goals but also make compromises with yourself so you don't feel obligated or frustrated that because you may not always get to do one thing but have something there that can be useful in the meantime. 

Be strong, be resourceful and keep being amazingly awesome. HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Why I Stopped Talking In My Youtube Videos

The attention span of today isn't all that great and for a lot of reasons. A major thing is from Social Media where you have so many things to view that it can be hard to keep up and the truth is, you can't keep up so what's to really focus on. Some live their whole lives and document every single fucking thing in order to feel that they'll be remembered. Hell being a celebrity seems to be far easier today than it was even 25 years ago. All you have to do is make one little comment or show some skin and wham bam, many will come and will either love you or hate you.

Some people will go on youtube and get things off their chest and rant about how much the world sucks and how men are so weak that they can't take a blow to the face by a feather. Others may feel threatened because of something someone said that was not all that was the truth yet took it to the extreme believing that person is trying to bruise their business. Get real bro. I used to talk quite a bit in my videos over the years and quite frankly, I had enough for certain reasons.....

I don't have a ton of patience to explain shit to people about exercises that could raise more questions than answers. Talking to an audience isn't my strong suit and don't look at the camera very much. If I start talking, it could be very short or too long for someone or even for my taste. I always felt like my writing did the talking for me and just film doing exercises and workouts because they're right there and don't need to really say anything, most of them are very self explanatory. Other people are far better at that than I'll ever be like Logan Christopher, Al Kavadlo, Matt Schifferle, Matt Furey and others. The only way I was able to really talk was because it takes me back to doing performances and scenes when I was in School. In middle school, I was in the choir and performed in various places through Santa Cruz like schools, a nursing home, the mall and at the Coconut Grove at the Boardwalk. In High School, I performed in Drama doing plays like Brigadoon, Wizard Of Oz, Once Upon A Mattress and Singing In The Rain mainly doing dance sequences and only one scene in that entire era where I talked, have fun guessing which one and which scene (only those that were there and know me IRL know). 

For the most part, I 'am camera shy and I get nervous pretty easily. Shit I'm not that great as an interview or giving an interview, it's difficult for me. When I stopped and realized that the best way for me to do videos is to just do what I love and shut up. It worked and that makes me feel confident in being on camera. That has somewhat helped me evolve into someone showing his journey without the need to say much or at all. Just do your thing and if someone has a question, do it in an email or in a comment. I may not have the coolest gadgets or do the most perfect form of exercise but I do what I can and make the most of what I know and understand. Some have it, some don't and I'm one of those people who doesn't need to talk in order to get my point across.

Some don't have it but try anyway and I applaud the effort but if you're going to overexplain along with belittling people, you either need some fixing or use a completely different approach. If you're trying to appeal to a specific audience that's great but not everyone is going to want to listen and then try to view you doing something. Can you improve on it, of course. Even for me I may find some words in future videos but just do what you love and train. Just putting it out there can be nerve wracking especially if you're new to it. That's what made it painfully obvious to me was the talking, the moment I learned to shut up and go, things just shot up like a rocket. 

There are so many youtubers, influencers, gurus, trainers and such but an extreme few ever will make it big and better yet, a fraction of them are actually that good and have helped many people. Some are great at explaining things and teaching the mechanics but others just want to run their mouth and act like nobody comes close to what they do, it's sad. I'm sorry but if you're going to boast about how great you are and that you can "coach, train, take you by the hand – and SCRUFF hehe – and WHIP your ass into shape like NO-ONE else out there, I repeat, NO-ONE comes close – even can come close to 'can'" than that's borderline narcissistic and need to fix those loose screws man.

If you've mastered at talking on camera, keep at it and showcase the best to your abilities, if you're just great at showing stuff and don't need to explain it on film, that's great too. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Have fun and be amazingly awesome in your endeavors. 

Side Note: Be sure to check out the kick ass sale going on at Lost Empire Herbs where you can save up to 20% on selected herbs using the code CYBER2022 at checkout. Find out about Free Shipping and check out some awesome articles about the herbs, the dosage, ingredients and more. The sale is running until the 28th of this month. 

How Important Is Form Really?

One of the things I've learned throughout my fitness journey is to be in control of an exercise as much as possible. Making mistakes along the way through trial and error, it's important to understand that although form may not always be what makes or breaks you, it's the control that really pits the findings of avoiding getting hurt and getting injured. In some videos you see people making all kinds of mistakes and flopping around like a fish out of water and can't control themselves if they tried in a fucking boat. 

When it comes to exercises like Push-ups, how far do you go before you lose control of your form or better yet, how much control do you have over the amount of tension concentrated on the movement itself. For some, it doesn't take long before their arms turn to jello or they think that arching the back for a regular pushup is a good idea. Let me put it this way....This is a work of art and control, this is bullshit form and think this is in some way good for people.

In weightlifting or just typical weight training, control is a must otherwise something terribly wrong can happen, granted that the heavier you go, the greater the form and control but even then you can get hurt. Some bodyweight fanatics admire guys like Herschel Walker who's a genetic freak and has done hundreds to thousands of pushups, squats, situps and such a day for decades; the weird thing is, his form isn't always pretty looking and looks like he does half reps or TUT (time under tension) throughout the movements which has worked for him well and is still a hell of a specimen (despite having a few issues in the political arena these days) but those particular movements aren't always meant for people with different body structures. Hell even the Great Gama didn't practice the best form when it came to the Hindu Push-ups, Hindu Squats, Sapates and other things because the form and control was very different in order to work his body for a specific purpose, it sure as hell wasn't completely for health sake.

It can be stingy to how we control a movement and which muscles to focus into as we move throughout any specific exercise. There are certain things you can get away with but you can't teach people the same exact style as you because different body types come with different structed areas of the muscle groups, you can't teach a 6'6 man at 25 pull-ups the same way you teach a 5'1 75 year old granny, the mechanics yes, absolutely teach that area the best way you know how but the structure in order to perform pullups is different due to arm length, shoulder distribution, the control of the torso so it doesn't swagger and other things. 

Training is meant to help prevent injuries as much as possible, not to cause them. There are ways to train like a madman and not have as many injuries or if any if they can help it. We can't 100% avoid injuries from training, it's a part of the game and it's important to understand that no matter what we do, whether microscopic or something completely stupid, there is a chance of injury. However; if we practice our control and keep a solid focus on making a movement work to our advantage so the chances of injury are reduced, that's a far better option than just seeing how many reps you can do and think you won't suffer the consequences when your form turns to shit. 

That's one of the things I love to learn from guys like Matt Schifferle, his style of training is to put tension and control into every movement he does in order to make any exercise he does efficient and maybe not spectacular looking but solid enough to where the muscles are worked and it takes on a life of its own even at a low-skill setting. His books in particular like Overcoming Isometrics & Suspension Calisthenics give you an inside scoop to how you can practice controlling your body in order to make exercises effective to their highest degree. His style is more Low-Skilled compared to say someone like those guys from Barstarzz that at times are so advanced that an extremely small percentage of the population can pull it off. The hand placements, the straightness of the core, the curvature of the spine as it moves and the level of tension throughout the body is what will make or break you. 

Swinging a sledgehammer is another and it's going to tell you if you're in control or not. If you can barely swing it and your core is too loose, it's going to wreck your back and put strain on the hips, elbows and shoulders. People who work for a living with sledgehammers understand this as well and after many years, some are wrecked regardless because it is really hard physical labor. The point of this area is to understand what you are working with and learning the mechanics while training safely and effectively. As you can see here working with a near 73 lb hammer, I have to keep my body tight in many areas otherwise I'm risking serious back problems and greater chances of blowing a disk along with hernia problems. Also, I wouldn't be training with a hammer that big all the time. With a much lighter hammer, the mechanics are a bit different but the principle of keeping your body safe as you work throughout the movements is the key and to avoid injury whenever possible. I can do hundreds of reps if not up to a thousand or more with a 25 lb hammer and not get injured or have any serious issues but it's only because I pay attention to my body and keep on eye on being not so much stiff but keep control of how I move with precision and speed.  

Depending on the type of exercise you do (not kipping pull-ups or crappy form in olympic style lifting), keep control of your body and the movement you perform. Never take such a risk that it becomes a serious injury sooner rather than later. Like I said before, we can't 100% avoid an injury, but we can avoid them a good portion of the time if we learned control and utilizing the best form possible to make ourselves stronger, healthier and in far better condition than the person who can literally be going to the hospital due to stupidity more often than he is training. Be safe yet bold, strong with control and be amazingly awesome in the things you do. 

A Childhood Hero Gone: RIP JDF

 Like many, yesterday I heard the news of Jason David Frank aka Tommy Oliver the Green/White Ranger from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers died. I thought like a lot of people did that it was a hoax but with the confirmation from his rep and former co-stars, it was sadly true. It was said to be suicide but not 100% confirmed. To say it hit me would be an understatement, nearly 30 years of memories came flashing at me.

I have met other Rangers but never got the opportunity to meet JDF which now hits even more. The man was so young yet had so much more going for him and demons just pinned him down. When I was about 9 years old, MMPR came on the scene and was one of millions of kids at the time to watch those first episodes when they aired. The 5 episode event of the Green Ranger was at that time one of the epic things a young kid especially young boys watched. Yeah sure the show was very campy and had cool scenes of martial arts and all that but there were some hidden messages for those young kids especially how to treat people and using your skills to better yourself as a person and not be a bully or a douchebag.

At the time until maybe Power Rangers Turbo, I was utterly obsessed with Power Rangers. My favorite obviously was the Green Ranger and when he became the White Ranger, to me that was the coolest thing ever. He was one of my first superheroes and a childhood icon. Tommy was the type of character that loved protecting others and treating everyone he cared about with love and respect. The other rangers did as well but there was something different about that character that others related to. I was part of the Fan Clubs, getting those spinners, shirts and other cool stuff. I played practically every video game that was out there and had the afterschool special tapes where it went beyond the TV Show. I even had a custom made Green Ranger Costume with the Gold Shield made for me for Halloween by a co-worker of my mom's.

I loved watching that series and would be literally waiting for it to come on after coming back from school to my second mom's house. It was one of the things I looked forward to before doing homework. Sang the theme song, crushing on Kimberly the Pink Ranger (Amy Jo Johnson) and just watch those guys kick ass, beating monsters and the putties. Had my Dragon Dagger in hand mimicking Tommy as he called on the Dragonzord and just manhandled Evil like a boss. 

When the Movie came out, it was a major highlight of my childhood and watched it so many times I lost count. I was about 11 or so when it came to the Theaters and would beg my dad or my mom to take me to see it. I remember one outing, my dad got us tickets to see Free Willy I believe or some other movie and saw the Power Ranger Movie in one of the closest theaters to it and begged my dad to have us go see that instead, the usher just looked at us and told us it's ok. The toys, the games (even that weird handheld one) and the show itself were my biggest thing. It annoyed so many of my friends and family I don't know how they held it together with me. I did get teased for it quite a bit but I didn't care. The Green Ranger was the man and was my hero and tried to hold onto his every word.

As time went on, like many kids growing up and having the horrific spats of puberty and shyness, I drifted away from Power Rangers and got into things like Pro Wrestling, heavy metal, basketball and other things but I never forgot the series and it's actually the very reason to this day that my favorite color is green. I never got into Karate or Martial Arts back then and maybe I should've, things may have been different.  Fighting was never one of my strong suits and literally had no skillset to speak of. Couldn't punch or kick if my life depended on it but with the influence of the Power Rangers (along with seeing others I knew very well) I never got into drugs or smoking and didn't really drink. 

I had my flaws and all that and that show tried to teach me to believe in myself when even now I still struggle with but gotta keep fighting and making the most of it. It had such an impact on me that I still use some things from it as of this writing. It helped me find passion in my life, to do what I love and share it with as many people as I can even when there those who won't agree with me or just want to hate on me. It helped me to never give up on the things you care about and to be who you are. 

As for Jason David Frank, although I never met the man, I heard so many stories and interviews about how much he loved his fans and I don't think even once something bad about him came up. With all the paparazzi and people finding as much dirt as they can, you didn't hear much of the negative things about him which is a rarity because there's always some kind of crazy thing about a celebrity. He was the embodiment of what a real life hero can be. He was such an influence on so many kids that they took up the martial arts and found a place in this world when for a number of them there was pain, loss and anguish yet rose above all of that. A small bit of me even channeled that influence when I was laid up in the hospital and told myself to keep fighting. 

JDF had his demons like anybody else and just because you're famous doesn't mean you're immune to certain things. For us who grew up on Tommy Oliver, many will never truly know who the man was behind the tables, the interviews, the suit, character the signings or the photo ops. A true martial artist in every sense of the word and made an impact on many of us that we can't comprehend how much it meant to us as a person and repaying him for the things he gave us. The teachings, the philosophy, the belief and the heart we feel for others. He was really a hero to look up to when for a lot, there wasn't. He was the first true superhero I looked up to and learned many things from him. 

Whether it was suicide or not (I really hope it isn't) it's no joke and in this day and age, mental health is in a big stage of finding ways to better ourselves and finding positive things to keep us going. Some are so far gone it's tragic but if we can even make a microscopic influence to help someone, it can be a huge impact and save somebody. I knew someone who killed themselves way back in 2000 and he was just a 17 year old kid, had a bright future and was incredible at basketball that he had aspirations for D1 College and maybe the Pros, he was that good. There was even a relative I knew and although he wasn't the most humble or even the nicest guy, he was still family. We can't save everyone but we can do our damndest to be there for someone even if it's just shooting the breeze, it can do something great.

RIP JDF, your influence will live on in the hearts of fans all over and your heart, your character and your love will never die. You may be onto the next phase of your journey in the afterlife but nothing will stop us from learning from you as time goes on. You were a hero to me and many who grew up in the 90's and are learning about you today. I'm so honored to have lived in a time where men like you can show us the way and be a part of a phenomenon that will live on for generations to come. Long live Jason David Frank and may the power protect you.