500 Rep Deck Of Cards Workout With Dopamineo Bands

 Working on your conditioning is one of the best things a person can do for their health. The ability to last as long as needed whether for sports or for daily life is a gift as well as a necessity. There are a variety of ways to make it happen, while some methods can seem boring, others can be very interesting especially if you use specific things that can target various muscle groups in the blink of an eye. Dopamineo Bands are one of those things.

Some of the best wrestlers in the world train with these bands to keep their skills up and enhance their cardio to last in as many matches as they can. There's a reason why several wrestlers in the UFC like Khabib didn't know the word tired. The man was a machine and outlasted many opponents. These bands provide a level of resistance that takes stamina and long lasting strength into space where it may seem endless. It doesn't take a ton of time to train with these so no need to go as long as a marathon. 

Since September of 2023, off and on, I've used this band to amplify my own cardio and keep me in shape for whatever lies ahead of me. Done many workouts from circuits to HIIT to just a quick and simple session. Every time I put my hands on it, I feel like I'm learning from the most conditioned athletes in history and trying out various exercises at different speeds and technique. 

I took an idea from my own workouts using a deck of cards and wanted to see what it would be like to do it with the Band. Consists of 5 Exercises (Push, Pull, Squat, Jump & The Propeller Exercise) and do 500 Total Reps going through the deck. It's intense and simple. It's not easy and sure AF isn't for the weak at heart. It can be done as warm up for athletes, a post-practice cool down or it can be on its own and focusing on targeting areas you want to be better conditioned in. Here is how it goes.....

Hearts: Push Exercise (e.g Chest Press)

Diamonds: Pull Exercise (e.g Chest Pull Waves)

Spades: Squats (e.g Uppercut To Squat)

Clubs: Jump Exercise (e.g Ski Jumps)

2-10 As Is

K/Q/J Is 10 Reps

Aces Are 16 Reps

Jokers Are 50 Propellers

This particular workout hits many muscle groups that keep you on your toes. Focus on technique, let the speed come naturally (you're not trying to break world records here) and pay attention to your breathing. You can start with a few cards and work your way up over time or you can go through the whole deck and take breaks periodically and each workout you reduce rest time until you can get through with very little rest other than flipping a card and adjusting the exercise. If you ever wanted to experience what a wrestler or fighter may feel during intense training and not be a competitive athlete, this is pretty damn close. This is also a way to get fit without all the hassles of gym training and getting a good session in 15-30 minutes depending on how long it takes you to finish. 

Have fun with this one and let me know how it goes for you, love to hear your feedback from this workout. Be amazingly awesome and keep killing it in 2025. Save a few bucks using my Discount Code POWERANDMIGHT to get 10% OFF. 

High Rep Grip Training

 In my last post, I wrote about the pros and cons to High Rep Training. That was more on the lines of Bodyweight Training but it still goes along with weights and other things. What about Grip Work? Just like with anything else, it's important to look at what could be useful and what could be harmful.

When it comes down to it, High Rep Grip Work can go either way and depending on your fitness levels, previous injuries or if you've ever suffered from Elbow Tendonitis, Carpal Tunnel, Wrist Problems or whatever, be mindful about what you're getting into and how to handle stress with Hand and Finger Exercises. Certain things aren't meant for some people because of old injuries and what have you but if you can adapt and learn certain protocols, it's possible to be able to train the hands efficiently.

I first got into grip work when I was bending steel, tearing phonebooks and levering sledgehammers because in order to perform these things, my hands needed to not just be strong, but also supple and flexible along with making sure the tendons and ligaments were healthy. I did some high rep training for them and also just in general because back in high school I did have problems in my elbows and hands from throwing shot put & discus and didn't take care of them the way I should have. If I knew then what I know now or even in my 20's, I probably could've gone further with the throws. 

When people talk about high rep training, most would say to train doing lots of reps in a single set and continuing for a period of time. My style really is by the totals, not always single set numbers. Yes I can do certain things at 100 reps or more in a row but some exercises or numbers become mind numbing and wondering if it it's really doing anything? Stimulating the muscles or smaller muscles is more important than just an arbitrary number and most numbers I go after these days are really no more than 25-50 depending on the exercise. 

For my grip training, I focus on health and doing enough to really tackle things. One of my favorite courses I do for my hands is what's called Finger Gymnastics by Garin Bader. I've written about this in previous years but for someone who's new to the understanding, I'll do my best to give you an idea....

Finger Gymnastics is based on the principles and simplicity of Garin's training system that kept him in good shape for the things he does. He's a magician that also performs incredible stunts along with playing several instruments including the Piano which he is famous in his field for. The way he performs with his hands is a sight to see and his grip strength is awesome. I've felt it myself when he trained me for a time back in 2010 when I visited him at his Vegas home. He takes simple finger and hand exercises and utilizes implements and mental techniques to create a style that gives a person the strength, suppleness, flexibility, durability and other attributes to do things in everyday life or even as an entertainer such as a musician, performer in cirque du soleil, dancing and other things. It's a great course that everybody should have in their arsenal and I don't say that for a lot of things.

Totaling in high numbers has its perks but can also have its drawbacks if you're not careful and overwhelm the muscles and the things holding you together. I recently got this Hand Training system called Alpha Gripz where it has three levels of Doughnut shaped hand grippers and Finger Bands to work the Extensor muscles or the back of the Forearm. Already done workouts where I did up to 400+ reps in a single session going back and forth with the grippers and extensors. Kept it to about 25-50 reps and they're not too difficult but they're not easy either. Working more on the lines of building greater dexterity in my right hand because for nearly 40 years of my life, I've had nerve damage due to the meningitis, so it's a continuation of that long journey. I can't open my hand on my right hand fully with even the Level 1 Extensors because of the 4th and 5th fingers having no dexterity. I can't move most of my fingers in that hand individually so I have to adjust. 

If all you do is open and close for countless reps without having any stimulation, there's not a whole lot you're getting out of it, sure it's better than nothing but in order for the hands to be effectively strong and supple, there's more digging than you normally go towards. With certain focus, you can build strong hands that not only can have a crushing grip, but also have a greater delicate feel to them. Think of a Barber who uses scissors like they're electric, build that up over a period of time, that man has some insanely strong and supple fingers. How about a farmer that carries buckets or milks the cow, all that holding, tugging and pulling builds incredibly powerful hands. 

Use exercises that give you great benefit and build up a total, not just how many you can do in one shot. Strong hands have built foundations, supple fingers have written masterpieces, thrown 100 mph fastballs, played guitars with such accuracy and precision, bent steel, lifted heavy weights and can be so powerful, a fighter can have trouble getting out of a hold. The hands are the tools that have created, destroyed, fought, made peace and strengthened societies since the dawn of man. Don't just be a handful, be mindful as well. 

Be amazingly awesome and keep your hands healthy everyone.   

Pros And Cons Of High Volume Training

 Depending on your goals, high volume work can be beneficial and have you building a solid physique. There's nothing particularly wrong with doing workouts that go high up in reps but there are drawbacks just like anything else. High Volume can be time consuming even if you do them throughout the day so it's important to be wise with what you're willing to do. 

Bodyweight exercises are specifically more geared to high volume training since you're using nothing more than yourself as resistance. Doing exercises like Squats, Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Lunges and others work well for this and they can be done anywhere, anytime. Two distinctive athletes that did well with High Volume in this manner was the Great Gama & Herschel Walker, both excelling in their chosen sports of Wrestling & Football. They were doing repetitions well into the thousands almost daily and had success in that manner. The drawback to this is, not everyone can do thousands of reps everyday and they've got lives that do take up some of their time like work, kids, all kinds of things. These 2 men lived on training and were practicing stuff all the time so when it came to their conditioning, they had to maintain that elite level and not do a whole lot of anything else.

When it comes to weight training, this was more along the lines of bodybuilding from guys like Arnold, Lee Haney, Lou Ferrigno, Robbie Robinson and others who trained more than 3 hours a day along with their diet, maintaining steroid cycles, recovering and other things. For a regular guy, it's not the most ideal but if it helps them and they make that kind of commitment, it can work well in their favor. It takes a different mindset to train this way. Wrestlers are known well for their conditioning and doing rep after rep of calisthenics, weight training, drills and other forms in order to take on incredible extremes. Dan Gable was a master at this and during his coaching career, he pushed athletes in ways that other colleges didn't have. It's the reason he won 15 NCAA Championships as a coach and dominated college wrestling with fierce competitiveness. High Volume work does work in ways we can't imagine.

The cons to doing high volume work in many cases is the risk factor of injury. The more you do, the greater the risk. The other thing is that some who do high volume, aren't always in control of the movements themselves. They tend to screw the form and be explosive which has its own pros and cons but in this case, if you do too many reps that aren't complimentary to the movement, you can cause some serious damage. Doing a thousand squats and push-ups a day can work for a while and some people can get away with it but others have had joint problems, muscle tears, bad knees and shoulder issues due to high volume work. It can take a toll especially if you can't recover enough and you keep doing it over time. Some people go to extremes and think they're fit enough to withstand certain levels of stress. Doing exercises like Burpees in the hundreds is far from anything beneficial other than making some kind of record. There's no value in it that can have you sustain a good quality of life. The exercise itself is very exhausting and works many muscle groups at the same time and has a higher risk factor for damaging joints. Now if you were to do this exercise a couple times a week using intervals that are reasonable, that's more beneficial and less daunting plus there's better form of recovery.

It is important to be wise in order to make high volume work well for you. I do it with exercises like Step Ups, Circuit Training and using the Chest Expander but I don't go so far as to do them for so long its going to burn me out or hurt me which I've learned the hard way. It's not worth your health to do high volume to impress anybody or think you can train the same way as a pro athlete or an Olympian. They go through rigors of training you don't see in the magazines or on the news or sports channels, it's hours upon hours of countless repetition in order to perfect the craft, the majority cannot do this especially for years on end. Be mindful in how you go about it and listen to your body. Some days, you won't always have it and pushing so hard in order to prove something becomes ego training instead of practicality and sustainability. 

The pros of high volume in my opinion is that they can give levels of conditioning and endurance that would put you above many and with the right recovery and having good joint health, it can get you into incredible shape and do things that many can't. Strength lasts longer and you're going that extra mile making things happen. It's just a different level of training, that's all it truly is when you look at the big picture. Many can go long and do well with it but it's not for everyone and that's ok. You do what works best for you and makes you successful. If it's high volume, awesome and keep killing it but don't make it a dogmatic approach and tell people that's the only way to train, that's a sales pitch and more about ego than anything else. 

Updated The Chest Expander

 It was time to toss out one apparatus and get an upgraded model. I've had my Chest Expander since about 2006-2007 and in that time, did many workouts, snapped a few bands here and there and built some solid strength with it. It has been wearing down recently and there was noticeable damage to it. I decided to get the updated model and see what I can do with it. 

Got it yesterday and tested it out. It was so worth getting this fucker because the lock in mechanism kept the bands way more in tact and the handles are longer than the previous version. Because of the better features, it felt more comfortable to handle and I actually felt stronger doing the pulls. With the other expander, I could pull 140 lbs pretty well for 10 reps but start shaking a bit around the 8th rep, with this new one, 12 felt solid and a hell of a lot more stable. 

I love Strand Pulling, it's one of my favorite methods for building strength and developing powerful shoulders. I've tested myself with various amounts of resistance and gotten pretty good around 150-160 lbs. and hit 200 with some exercises but not the gold standard ones like the Hands In Chest Pull. Strongman Kevin Wikse has legitimately pulled 220 lbs resistance in the chest pull. I wanted to see how far I've come and what I was capable of. I filmed a few exercises and they're up on youtube (there's a chest expander playlist I have on there). With the old model, I've now pulled 210 lbs Resistance in an exercise called the Hands Out Downward Pull Behind The Back which I managed 5 reps so that was awesome.

I wanted to take it to the next level and test my strength with the Gold Standard Pull Into The Chest at 210 lbs Resistance. This would put me 10 lbs shy of Kevin's Pull and he's one of the legit strongest men on this planet. I was nervous as hell but you never know until you do it and if you know the type of strength it takes to do this, you know this is not something to be taken lightly. I did and filmed it as proof so you won't just take my word for it. It was incredibly exciting and to put it in perspective, I didn't think in my 20's this was possible because I've seen strong dudes much better than me at this do this so for me it was a pipe dream. In my 30's, I figured it wasn't a priority and it wasn't going to be in the cards for me. At 40, maybe give this a chance, the chances of me pulling it off (pun intended) was not only slim but close to impossible in that specific exercise so what do I have to lose? This was one of the coolest moments in my life of Physical Culture and I hope I've honored those of the past in this method. 

It's a different kind of strength compared to weights and bodyweight training for sure but if you look back on the history of this method of training from the Spring Loaders to the modern day of Resistance Bands, the Chest Expander has been used by some of the strongest and built men in that time from Earl Liederman to John Grimek, Lou Thesz and all the way up to guys like Kevin Wikse, Bud Jeffries, Jon Hinds and others. It is one of the best tools for building incredible strength in the upper body and can build some serious muscle that is functional for the real world, not just in the gym. Never underestimate something like this. 

Give this bad ass piece of equipment a chance, you can take it anywhere because it's so light and small enough to fit in a bag to travel with. Switch to various exercises in seconds and adjust the bands easily. Be amazingly awesome and keep killing it you guys. 

All Hands On Deck: Another Look At Step Ups And Squats

 Training the legs can be done in a variety of ways and some of the best exercises don't always involve weights. Working them with weights have their place and many people have been successful at it. Some of us just go in a different direction in how we keep them going as we move along through life.

As you know, I'm a big advocate for Step Ups and how they are one of the best exercises for the legs you can do. They're not superior to other exercises like squats or lunges but they're also not to be underestimated either. They have a way of creeping up on you and they can be a challenging with the way you can go about it. Some of the best athletes in the world have done them from wrestlers to baseball players and others. Bob Backlund made them a huge piece of his training to the point where he can go as long as he wanted, he was just that crazy. Other wrestlers like William Regal did them and even the real Suplex Machine Taz taught them to his students at his school many years ago (he has it on film). 

When it comes to squats, they're awesome in their own right. Hindu Squats were the exercise that helped me get back into shape after my accident but you already know that chestnut by now. The only time I really do them now is when I do my deck of cards workout with the Step Ups and the numbers vary. They're not a huge part of my training where there are some exercises I find better for me but the squats do hold a place in my heart and when I do them, they're firing. When combined with Step Ups, it's a recipe for some killer leg conditioning, there's no way around that and if anyone says different hasn't fully understood the magnitude of them.

My deck of cards workouts for the legs is combining these two powerhouses to the point where on average these days I'll do 500 Step Ups & 250 Squats respectively and that's within roughly 30 minutes, maybe a little longer but I do the whole deck and it's an incredible feeling afterwards. It's conditioning that matters and utilizing both unilateral and bilateral movements together to form incredible stamina and strength. Training this way is fun, challenging and although you reach the same destination, you never take the same road twice when you do the cards. 

Card Workouts have been around for decades, maybe longer and if anyone truly made that with the best of intentions was Karl Gotch and his system of Squats & Push-Ups. Hell, I've done enough of them to where I did 400 Squats & 250 Push-ups on several occasions, it's brutal. Long ass time since I've done it that way and who knows, one day I may do it again, never say never. The point here is, You want to get the best out of your training and make strides to get a little better but also keep yourself healthy. It's not easy by any stretch and it's not meant to be but you do what is possible and expand on it. You can do it everyday if you want or do it a few times a week, it's up to you but you progress to what your body is able to handle. If you need to back off of it, do so and when you're ready, get back at it. You got this.

When you do the workouts with the cards, start with as many cards as you can possibly do. If you can do the whole deck on the first try, that's awesome, you're ahead of the curve, but not everybody is able to do that. Even I had to build up to it and once I did, it felt glorious. A deck of cards can be deceiving and it will kick your ass. It's one thing to do one exercise for the legs in this manner, it's another when you add one more to it and it's all legs. Be humble and don't think it's just a workout to weez on by, it'll make you think twice and it'll put you down for the count if you don't pay attention. 

Take a shot at it, you never know what you're capable of and it's a unique way of training the body that has incredible perks and benefits. Keep being amazingly awesome and kill it in your own training.