The Hill And You

 It can be a love/hate relationship and sometimes you just want to quit but when you push because you know what's at stake, you find out what you're capable of. Now that can be a lot of things in life and some will take it to extremes even to the point of extreme conditions to prove how tough they are but in the end, there has to be balance amongst the chaos. For this specific reason I'm going with Hill Sprints here.

When you're at the hill and you sprint up that son of a bitch like your life depended on it, there's a lot of things going on that many don't realize. The hill can be your best friend or your worst enemy depending on how you do it and treat it as such because believe it or not, that hill is like a coach. I teaches you what you're doing wrong, how to correct your stride, how you proceed with the right speed and how to apply the strength of your fortitude to its demanding presence. If you have someone to go sprinting with, that's great and you could push each other and encourage each other but even that is rare to find unless you're training for a sport like Football or Wrestling or MMA. The majority of the time, a Hill Sprinter is by him/herself, locked onto a specific goal with nothing but the clothes on their back, the surroundings and the ground they're sprinting on.

Hill Sprints are of a different animal than other forms of Strength Training or Interval Training. The hill fights you and wants you to not be able to tackle it's angle or dimensions. It doesn't want you to succeed but you push on anyway. It can be intimidating and it can even speak to you saying "you can't beat me, I'll make you feel like you're dying inside" or something along the lines of "Try me and find out what it feels like to know you need everything just to even get pass me by a few yards." It doesn't discriminate, it doesn't care where you come from, it doesn't matter what color, creed or if you're a world champion, it will beat you to a metaphorical pulp if you let it get to you. 

As of late, I've completed about 70 Sprints so far in my training and it doesn't get any easier. I've had to reduce the number of sprints because I did sense something wrong after doing too many of them too soon and that hill was laughing in my face. I still managed them but I was going back home on fumes and my body was in shock along with shot to shit. When I reduced the number to 5 sprints instead of 10 per session, things felt better, I felt stronger both during and after. The hill taught me a valuable lesson and that's to never underestimate its ability to kick your ass and ravage your ignorance. I don't sprint at 100% cause that would only be a few seconds and my legs would be shot, I sprint just hard enough to go for 10-15 seconds to hit that sweet spot. That gives me the opportunity to show that hill that I'm listening to not only it but to my body and finding that balance of going hard but not to the point of possibly getting hurt. 

The progression is simple and I nearly found out the hard way that simplistic progression and not all out high number of sprints is the way to go. I'm not Walter Payton or a Shamrock or Brock Lesnar, I can only be me. Right now I'm in the final week of doing 5 Sprints per session, by next week I'll be going after 6 for a max of 4 weeks and then add 1 more and so on and so forth. I don't bring my cell, I don't bring a backpack or water bottle with me, just the clothes I wear and the shoes on my feet to get me there. Walk to the hill, do my sprints, walk home and that's my workout. Depending on how many sprints I do, door to door takes about an hour or so from the time it takes to get get there, sprint and go back. There's beautiful trees, a cool park nearby and nobody bothers me unless they honk their horns driving by to cheer me on or give me a thumbs up. It is seriously one of the friendliest places I've ever been in. Most of the time with people coming by, I just nod and have us both be on our way. 

The hill I run on is a hill where my grandmother-in-law lives next to and it's a hill that leads up to the mountain where my Father-In-Law lives. Beautiful hill to even just climb up and there's a little trail on the side of the mountain that overlooks the road leading to the lake. Nobody bothers anybody, very civil and very little of the time you see an asshole drive by or some nutjob trying to see how fast he can go in his pickup with a MAGA Sticker & Gun Rack on the window. Always careful where I'm at and aware of any cars coming by cause the lane is barely small enough for a bike. When I walk back down to recover, I shift over to the ditch on the side. 

It's not the steepest hill but it is fun to sprint on and every now and then, you get some deer close by just sitting or looking on. If you like Hill Sprints and have a hill near by, use it to the best of your abilities, just be careful depending where it is. Keep being amazingly awesome and hope you have a great start to the week. 

The Difference Between Being Euphoric And Being A Zombie

 

The first 3 workouts of my current sprint training program didn't start off on the right foot so do speak. I started out at 10 sprints a session and without realizing it, it just didn't seem right. Something was off especially after the sprints and walking back home. When I did my third session and finally understood what I was feeling, I changed it up and went down a few notches. After each of the first three sessions, I was feeling like a zombie walking home. No energy, walking on fumes and feeling dead inside. It felt like shit and my body didn't completely respond well until I decided to make one change. Reduce the amount of sprints to half of what I was doing and progressively build up to 8-10 again.

When I made this one small change, it became something bigger than the previous three workouts. Cutting the sprints down to 5 not only changed my outlook on the workouts but felt the complete opposite of what I was doing before. I felt that I did enough but still had something left in the tank. I felt a sense of euphoria, that happy energy and bustling with life and vitality. Walking back home felt great and easy. Here's the main difference between the two opposing effects of being euphoric and feeling like a zombie: The feeling of euphoria is like a 70's Hippie in a meadow, just feeling great and high without an ounce of hate or negative feelings towards the world. Feeling like a zombie however; feels like nothing matters, the world goes on but you have no life in you, there's no usefulness and the feeling of no purpose, you just don't give a shit. Your body is moving or being still but there's nothingness as well, the energy feels empty and no sense of vitality whatsoever. 

This isn't just a feeling from sprint training, these can happy during any form of training or having such a long day at work or during work that it either sucks the life out of you or give you a reason to be happy and full of life. To me, training is about having something left in the tank but also feel like there's vigor and power that still runs strong while feeling great at the end. If your workout ends where there's nothing left and there's no life or energy coming from you internally or externally, there's something wrong there. If you're a competitor training for a sport, sure you want to work hard and make efforts to go against the competition but if there's no energy left for when the game even starts and you're just playing without an ounce of vital energy, what good was all that practice for? Practice with the intention of being at your best before, during and after whether it's a workout, training for a sport, at your job or whatever that keeps you being vitally strong. 

Now when it comes to awareness, you should always be aware of your surroundings. When you're naturally high and full of euphoria, you still know where you are and what's going on. When you're high out of your skull and have no sense of awareness whatsoever, that has a very high risk of killing you. Overdosing and things like that is what I can't condone and taking drugs to feel good just isn't right. Be vital and strong in your euphoric state with a solid sense of awareness. Don't go so far that that not only life is sucked out of you but there's no energy and strength left to do anything that it seems like you're dead but still moving. Be amazingly awesome and live with happiness and strength.   

Do Binaural Beats Work?

 

First off, what in the bloody hell are Binaural Beats? It's the perception of sound we create in our brains. If there is two tones we hear each at a different frequency and each in a different ear, our brain creates a third that we can hear. That third tone is a Binaural Beat. Our tolerance for various frequencies depends on the individual but the idea is to promote relaxation and be put into a deep state of meditative like format. Whether for a few minutes or for several hours, massaging the brain can have a profound affect positively on our psyches. That doesn't mean we should overdue it. Like training the body, we have to progressively build up and keep a balanced level of tolerance in order to strengthen the brain. 

I've been listening to a lot of these lately and varied the volume I use on my headphones and my speakers. Ranging from meditative music for increasing dopamine (the happy hormone) to testosterone/HGH and even attracting unexpected money from sales. I don't go all day listening to these but depending on what I want to do or to keep my energy levels up, I listen to different tracks. I would loop one track over and over for about up to 15 minutes or so since some are just over 2 minutes long while others may be over 5-10. During my Dao Zou Training (meditatively walking backwards), I would listen to Becoming Happy which is over 10 1/2 minutes long and would listen to this three times. This is supposed to help with ridding the mind of negative thoughts and energy and strengthening serotonin and dopamine while increasing positive thoughts and energy. Yeah it sounds very "New Agey" but hey, it's far better than popping pills and taking loads of muscle relaxers. I listen to this at night before going to bed and so far it has worked and I sleep like a rock, calm and relaxed. 

These kinds of beats have been around a while and has roots in ancient shamanic rituals where music and surroundings put you into a deep state of meditation where you relax the mind and body to heal or have some other worldly type of experience. Almost like those who have taken LSD or Shrooms to go somewhere else in their mind. This has been taken to extremes and yes drugs are bad (in my bad Mr. Mackey voice) but we all want to escape reality at one point or another. With listening to these Beats on YouTube, this is a safer option but you do have to be careful so you don't have volume up so high it could lead to some hearing loss and create headaches. Keep them to a volume that you can hear but are comfortable with and immersing yourself in it. 

With regards to the Testosterone/HGH frequencies, there are some things to be skeptical about especially when it comes to the description of what they do. Some sound a little off the rails but I give it a chance and just listen and do my best to naturally feel the vibrations and what gives the brain a reason to send those neurons to the areas where Testosterone and HGH lead to which is mainly in the sex organs. Creating blood flow and having that surge of masculine energy and sexual vibrancy. Again it sounds weird and there's a reason to be skeptical. Nothing wrong with giving it a shot just to see how it feels. It may not always work instantly but in my recent experiences, listening to them a few times a day on loop like maybe no more than 3-4 times (time can go by fast with these) for a week may give you some insights to how the body feels. One of my favorites to listen to is called Unleash Your Masculinity- Super Testosterone Subliminal For Male Potency, Muscle Gain & Confidence. Talk about a mouth full, it's around 10:40 long and has a lot of vibrational sounds along with using some kind of synthesizer which at times really hits you but it feels good and energetic. I listen to this track once, maybe twice at a time and always come out of it feeling great and feeling like a weight has been lifted and ready to go. 

There are many other styles of frequencies used to target many things for the mind and body like healing certain areas, bone strengthening, recovery, getting rid of cobwebs, enhancing your focus and concentration, sleep, losing weight, gaining weight, attracting wealth, attracting soulmates, stronger estrogen for women, various testosterone building frequencies, helping migraines, brain strengthening and a hell of a lot more. Whatever you may want to work on or enhance, give these a try and see what could work for you. If they don't and you just don't see them doing anything for you, than it doesn't work for you. That's ok, we all experiment with something and sometimes certain things don't work. I find them to be very powerful and helpful. I mainly use them to keep my energy up especially for training and when I'm ready to go to sleep, I have one or two videos to listen to for a period and feel ready to fall asleep. 

Here are some of the channels to look up on Youtube. You don't have to watch the videos, just listen and feel, that's it. On some of them, you can multi-task like doing dishes or writing or even working out. Just don't listen to these while driving or operating heavy machinery. 

Good Vibes Binaural Beats 

Positive Vibes

Inner Peace

Vastu- Meditation, Brainwaves & Healing

Binaural Beats Frequency Wizard

There's tons of others and all have their pros and cons but quite a few are powerful and potent. Last time, being skeptical is very understandable and reasonably so, shit I never thought of listening to stuff like this but I gave it a shot and they work very well for me. Just the feeling of my brain relaxing and getting thoughts and negative crap out of head was the start of it. This is a hell of a lot better than turning to drugs or drinking to stun your sorrows. Be safe, listen with intent and keep being amazingly awesome. 

The Historical Significance Of Movement Training

 Today is going to be a history lesson (sounds boring but I'll do my best to make it as fun as I can). We're going back in time to look at the origins of Movement Training. Some good info here along with learning the benefits, positives and even the negatives. Sit back, put pedal to the medal and let's jump time at 88 miles per hour.

The time? About 10,000 years ago. As you may know (but just in case you didn't), animals don't actually need to do any form of exercise, our ancestors before the age of Crop Circles or the Agriculture Revolution didn't need to do any form of exercise either. Based on the harsh and cruel realities of life as it was, the environment of that time forced the man to be strong, incredible agile and about as athletic as it could get. Now we can even go back to the future into the 20th century (A century of our modern times) and you'll find that the most common person was in pretty good shape from the physical labor they put themselves through. The greats like Farmer Burns, Bob Peoples and others were laborers that went on to become legends in their chosen endeavor. For back then, it was part of people's lives.

Even before the 1900's, there wasn't a need to do movement type training or exercise unless you specifically wanted to obtain a physique or be fit for war, dance or even sports for that matter. From a human race perspective, we've always been interested in the potential of what the human body can do and what it could develop into in terms of building a mighty physique. When the first Olympics were going on many thousands of years ago and the rise of martial arts throughout the centuries, the ability and capability of the human body was tested in every way you can imagine. Rituals are still practiced to this day in various formats. Innovations in our modern world today have made life a bit easier and had us feel a little laidback so to speak but also stressed as hell in many cases. The quality of life has skyrocketed but in terms of the physique, it could use a tune up big time. When that vitality and vigor starts to dwindle, the mind will soon follow suit.

Many people today do lack mental toughness which could use a tune up as well and our emotional resilience does need some tough love but not so brutalized it drives a person to insanity so it's more of an individual thing. Physically moving and doing things like carrying, lifting or similarities to labor were a natural part of life and has gone by the wayside. It can create issues but we can do the best we can to move daily and as often as possible. Go for walks, lift rocks, carry sandbags, sprint on a hill or some grass, climb, hike, ride a bike, swim; whatever you can do to keep yourself from turning into the Vampire Blob from Blade. 

What else can be a solution to this? Learn from the masters of the early 1900's that took these problems head on and formed the era of Physical Culture. The precursor to MovNat was started by George Hebert whom developed the method of Natural Movement where he utilized patterns that many needed for optimal health. These included running, walking, stretching, throwing, lifting, climbing and many other things that consisted of what a human is capable or "relearn" what it means to move like a human. Bodybuilding was right alongside this with the likes of Eugene Sandow, Bobby Pandour, Maxick, Fred Rollon and others due to performing strongmen who displayed incredible muscularity. This wasn't just about muscle building either, this was more on the emphasis of function. Before the steroid era, guys like John Grimek experimented with so many things and even invented a few things as well to build an incredible body that helped many around the world. He was even an awesome gymnast, talk about training everything even though he was considered at the time a Heavyweight. 

Bodybuilders of that time were geniuses at finding what was possible to train with real intentions and not turn to drugs. If anyone really connected bodybuilding and mental power was the great Maxick. The guy could make any muscle be on their own and move with ease. Another thing was the use of light weights instead of going heavy to reduce the wear and tear on the joints. From the heart of Germany, another Physical Culturists emerged by the name of Joe Pilates. He was originally a gymnast and bodybuilder who went to become a boxer, circus act, a wrestler and a self-defense teacher. His study of Yoga and the movement of wild animals was intense. This level of experimentation was incredibly high to the degree where his method of training that now bares his name taught you how to focus the mind and control your body with such effectiveness that it was insanely efficient.

In the Eastern part of the world, many martial arts masters were so far ahead of their time that it's mind blowing like the ways of Qi Gong. From the east as well, yoga masters taught incredible aspects of flexibility and breathing techniques. Before it became a run of the mill McDonalds level of franchising, Yoga was a pinnacle practice of keeping the body healthy and strong long into old age. The real practices still go on today but few and far between.   

In the era of PED's and marketing, we've become so sidetracked it's not even funny. The days of old have seem to become more of a "lost art" and a way of saying like Indiana Jones "It belongs in a museum" type of mentality. However; in the last 25+ years or so, the style of Natural Training has brought on a second wind of popularity due to people like Rickson Gracie who learned his conditioning techniques from Brazilian Yoga teacher Orlando Cani. Gracie learned the aspects of animal crawling combing the elements of Pilates and Yoga. In Russia, Systema was a hit after the fall of the Soviet Union which is now considered to be a Martial Art. It's more than just a self defense system; it puts a high emphasis on Strength Training and Breathing Techniques. 

As the years go on, we keep developing and re-introducing the old style with modern twists and progressively bringing back that heart and soul of what the old-timers did so long ago. With the help of people of Mike Fitch, Eero Westerburg, Erwan Le Corre, Matt Schifferle and others, we can make a difference in how we bring back not only that quality of life but the practice of movement and play/experimentation to stay strong and healthy until the day we die. 

Hope this was a good learning experience and it shows you what we can do to keep the ball rolling. Be amazingly awesome and get moving.  

100 Seconds Of Fat Melting Training Like Nazis Standing Next To The Ark

 

Certain aspects of training can be hard as hell and you do the best of what your body allows you. Even with a strong mind, your body is quite capable of more than we give credit but there's always a limit that reaches maximum. In Sprint Training, no matter who you are, your top speed only lasts mere seconds. In those seconds however, you are training your body to tackle fat like Kevin Greene took down quarterbacks; hard, fast and with ferocious intensity. 

Sprints separate the men from the boys and turns them into lean, mean fighting machines nearly as fast as the Flash. You can have your life flash before your eyes and still see what it would be like to go so hard that you are fighting for your life at the same time. Sprints are primal, intense and full of benefits that we often ignore because of the various things that it does or doesn't do. In simple terms, Sprint Training gives off Warrior Vibes.

For 10 seconds at a time, you can imagine many things to make this as intense as it's meant to be: Chasing down somebody, running from an animal, racing your shadow, being a character, being a real life superhuman or whatever you choose to do, make it so you're creating the fastest version of yourself. Those 10 seconds can determine the ability to burn off fat at a rate that's almost unbelievable to comprehend. Now imagine working those 10 seconds multiple times and rest 2-3x as long in order to recover. It's Strength Training in its simplest form; no complicated things to do, no machines, no gym noise, nothing but you and the ground. 

Hill Sprints however make fat burning the ultimate workout that ground sprints doesn't get passed. Even by mere inches, Hills make your ground work better and you take on a whole new meaning to the words "Mental Toughness." This past Thursday and yesterday, I took on a Hill nearby the house and went as hard as my body allowed me for 10 Sprints at 10 seconds at a time. I wasn't always my fastest, but went hard as I possibly could and made each sprint and my recovery count. It's that time of year where flowers bloom, the weather gets warmer and the days are longer. It's time to hit the Hill to really make the most of what you want to achieve in having a lean physique fast. 

Like the Nazis standing and getting melted by an ancient and powerful box, your fat won't stand a chance with Hill Sprinting. Like always, pay attention to form but at the same time, pay attention to your intentions as well. This isn't some climb up a hill and going for a hike, you're going to work at the hardest you can possibly make it for those few seconds of training. Intensity is the key and your will to go hard as if your life depended on it. 100 seconds is all of the time it takes to induce the largest amount of Growth Hormone and Testosterone possible. Be able to breathe better, sleep better, eat more and feel that urge of sexual energy that every guy wants to feel. 

Training this way is only needed 2-3x a week and it's best to start off with a small number of sets and seconds if you haven't done them in a while. 4x8-10 seconds would be a good starting point, that's a max of 40 seconds of work. Each month, add one sprint and a few seconds to progressively get more out of it. Max sprints IMO shouldn't be more than 20-30 seconds and on most days, 10-15 is more than enough. Max amount of Sprints shouldn't be more than 10 because you're training merely to get leaner and stronger, you're not trying to match Walter Payton who did so many damn sprints it's a miracle his legs didn't fall off his body. At full speed may not be more than a few seconds and probably no more than 10. It's very difficult if not impossible to stay at 100% speed for 30 seconds. 

To build a program on Hill Sprints, check out Josh Bryant's 6-Week Sprint Training Guide to get you started. Also check out his Speed Training book.

Be fast, run hard and keep being amazingly awesome.