Unlocking the Power of Ziziphus: A Deep Dive into Lost Empire Herbs' Adaptogenic Marvel

In the realm of traditional Chinese medicine, few herbs have garnered as much attention and reverence as Ziziphus, also known as Suan Zao Ren. This revered herb has been used for centuries to promote relaxation, improve sleep quality, and enhance overall well-being. Lost Empire Herbs, a company dedicated to crafting top of the line quality, research-backed supplements, has harnessed the potency of Ziziphus to help certain struggles with sleep and anxiety. Today, we'll explore the fascinating world of Ziziphus, its benefits, and how this bad ass product can be a game-changer for those seeking a natural approach to stress management and improved sleep.

What Is Ziziphus?

Ziziphus, is a type of seed derived from the Ziziphus jujuba plant, a species of jujube tree native to Asia. For centuries, traditional Chinese medicine has utilized Ziziphus seeds to treat a range of ailments, including insomnia, anxiety, and restlessness. The seeds contain a rich array of bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, saponins, and alkaloids, which are believed to contribute to their therapeutic effects.

What Are The Benefits Of Ziziphus?

Research has shed light on the potential benefits of Ziziphus, making it an optimal supplement for those seeking a natural approach to managing stress/anxiety and improving sleep so we can be productive the following day. Some of the key benefits of Ziziphus include:

1. Improved sleep quality: Ziziphus has been shown to promote relaxation, reduce sleep latency, and enhance overall sleep quality. This makes it an awesome supplement for individuals that struggle with insomnia or other sleep-related disorders.

2. Anxiolytic effects: The bioactive compounds present in Ziziphus seeds have been found to exhibit anxiolytic properties, helping to reduce anxiety and stress levels. In other words, give you that calm and peaceful feeling to stay relaxed.

3. Neuroprotective effects: Ziziphus contains compounds that may help protect the brain against oxidative stress and inflammation, potentially reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Meaning, it helps clear the cobwebs along with better focus and reducing the mind being all over the place.

4. Cardiovascular health: Some studies suggest that Ziziphus may help lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and improve overall cardiovascular health. As we get older, this can be a very good attribute to have. 

Here's what sets their product apart:

1. High-quality sourcing: Lost Empire Herbs sources their Ziziphus seeds from reputable suppliers, ensuring that each batch meets the highest standards of quality and purity. No bullshit ingredients that could be potentially harmful to your system. Still, be sure to understand what you're getting into.

2. Standardized extract: The company uses a standardized extract, guaranteeing that the powder contains a consistent amount of bioactive compounds.

3. Research-backed formula: Ziziphus is backed by scientific research, ensuring that the formula is both effective and safe. Do some research on your own as well and find out if it'll be a good fit for your health.

How to Use Ziziphus Safely...

To get the most out of Ziziphus, follow these guidelines:

1. Dosage: Take 1-2 tbsp per day, ideally 30-60 minutes before bedtime. This is what I do as well.

2. Stacking: Consider combining Ziziphus with other adaptogenic herbs, such as ashwagandha or rhodiola, to enhance its effects. It's necessarily recommended but it is an option that could be effective.

3. Be Consistent: For optimal results, take Ziziphus consistently for at least 4-6 weeks.

Something I highly recommend knowing. 

As with any supplement, it's essential to consult with a healthcare professional before adding Lost Empire Herbs' Ziziphus to your routine, especially if you're pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medications. By providing a high-quality, research-backed supplement like Ziziphus, Lost Empire Herbs is helping individuals take control of their health and well-being. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or simply looking to improve your sleep quality, Lost Empire Herbs' Ziziphus product is definitely worth considering. Also as a side note, Ziziphus is not a Sleep Aid, it could improve things but it's not meant as a reliant on sleep.

What is it Recommended For....

- Individuals struggling with insomnia or poor sleep quality

- Those experiencing anxiety or stress

- Athletes seeking to enhance recovery and improve sleep

- Anyone looking for a natural approach to stress management and relaxation

Not recommended for:

- Pregnant or breastfeeding women

- Individuals taking medications or with

Be amazingly awesome and get the best quality sleep you can. It's not always easy to relax and our brains at times go a million miles a second. One thing I do while taking this, I would also do meditations for about 10 minutes or so to get in that relaxed state as well and breathing deeply. As a Star Wars Nerd, I listen and follow along to Jedi Meditations on Youtube. Very cool stuff and helpful. My favorites are Yoda & Obi Wan. 

Another idea you can look into is the Ultimate Sleep Bundle that potentially enhances your quality of sleep, relaxiation and destressing to another level. Give it a go and see what it does for you. This book can give you ideas as well.

Is It Truly Necessary Doing Hundreds Or Thousands Of Reps Daily?

 I believe it depends on individual goals. From a perspective it is impressive when you do something outside the norm like doing 1000 Squats or 500 Push-ups or even at times doing 2000 or more total reps of a circuit, but is it necessary from a general outlook? Are you required by law to do an extraordinary amount of reps in an exercise in order to be perceived as fit? No, in reality you are not.

As we get older, the numbers game becomes a blur or even dust in the wind to the general population. Some folks who continue to do an inflated number of reps in whatever exercise do it cause it's a thing that keeps them going. Does it continue to work? Absolutely, but not everyone is needed to keep up with certain numbers. You're not going to find too many men in advanced ages saying "I need to keep up doing 500 squats and push-ups everyday cause it's good for me", in reality, they're most likely going to be happier being able to get up without being in pain or be able to do things that's not going to make them want to stop in the middle of something like gardening, going up a flight of stairs or walk without a cane. 

Don't get me wrong, I love doing hundreds of step ups and do hundreds of squats from time to time and hell get a couple hundred strikes in with hammers but it's not like I have to do them. I'm not going to be able to do that forever and probably won't even care. I'll even do 500-1000+ total reps of training with the Dopa Band but it's not going to kill me if I find myself not doing it anymore one day. I still want to able to chop wood, carry rocks and sandbags, throwdown a slam ball, climb stairs without getting out of breath or be in knee pain for as long as I can. The older we get, the more we want to do simpler things.

Isometrics is still however; one of the most important aspects of fitness that should be a continuation later in life because having strength from various angles can do a lot of good for the things outside of working out. Seriously, 10-15 minutes of doing holds and I'd be happy as a fish to water. It also keeps the joints healthy and durable so we don't have those "I've fallen and I can't get up" days or have brittle bones. 

When it comes down to it, if you're an athlete where it's required to do certain things like repetition for the sport you're in or train a certain way in order to be at a certain level of competition, that's a whole other ball game, we all can't keep up with someone world class or even the average pro athlete because why would you want to? Ego? To say you can be just as good if not better? What's really the point of it? The  truth is, trying to keep up with someone like Lebron or even Chris Hemsworth for that matter is only going to lead to heart ache and disappointment. Many of us don't have the luxury of hiring coaches and doing things that take up more time than we don't have in the daily lives we have. The best thing we can do is to maintain what we can, be able to adapt when we need to and build strength and other attributes that matter outside of the gym or the fitness world in general. Some go to the gym a couple times a week because it works for them and they don't need to be some big shot benching 600 or deadlifting like The Mountain, just being able to train for your health is what makes the real differences, not numbers or ego lifting.

A guy I've written about before named Johnny Grube has some attitude towards specific people or whatever "get off my lawn" bullshit he believes, despite of that, I do respect what he does when it comes to training and being able to go as long as he has as a laborer despite beating himself up over many decades. He's done some crazy shit but he also knows what works for him and knows when things aren't needed anymore. Isometrics is probably the only thing at this point I agree with him on. Below he sent a reply to a guy on youtube about why he doesn't do that crazy stuff anymore. As a person, well let's just say he complains a lot and could use a few lessons in humility.

Any way....Is it true you need to do hundreds or thousands of reps of anything to be fit? No, it's not, matter of fact, it can bite you in the ass later in life if you aren't smart about what you do. You can if you want to, if you even can that's great but it's not a HAVE or NEED, it's a free choice. I might still do some stuff but not out of ego, but for enjoyment. The carrying, the hammer strikes, the step ups, Isometrics, bands and lifting sandbags might be the only things I'll end up doing for "exercise" but still love to swim, chop for firewood, get down and get up without hurting and still be able to stand without needing assistance. That's really my true goal. Train accordingly and be amazingly awesome. 

Dopa Workout & Weight Loss

 Sometimes when training out in the heat during the summer, it feels like working out in a sauna. Hydrating is important for sure, regular cold water and if you like thirst quenchers, go for Liquid Death (I like the Cherry Flavor) and practice deep breathing in the process.

Yesterday, it was already nearly 90 before 11 am here and decided to go to my favorite park and get in a Dopa Workout. The exercises I did were....

Chest Presses

Wave Pulls

Uppercut To Squat

Ski Jumps

Propellers

10 each and went for as many rounds as I could in 30 minutes practically without stopping. Only stopped maybe once or twice to adjust the handles of the band cause they were starting to slip out a time or two but other than that, never stopped to take a break. Was tough as hell and sweat was just draining out of me like a rainstorm in the amazon. Wanted to test my conditioning and see what I was capable of. Normally, I would do a round, check it off and move onto to the next one until I've done whatever how many rounds. Didn't count rounds, just kept going round after round like my life depended on it. 

After, I wanted to film an exercise for my Youtube Channel that expanded on a better view of either one I've already done or just go hard with something. Got in a few Bear Crawl Sprints (DopamineO call them Gorilla Walks in this case) and just went as fast as I could with that band. Had to do a couple takes usually to test the angle but the second one came out well. In a way they were kind of a finisher and I made me breathe hard like a maniac.

Coming home to take a nice shower, I did a weigh in to see where I'm at and I don't know if it's the workouts, my eating habits, the consistent things going or if I'm just doing the right things but I'm officially under 230 lbs. Scale said then and there I'm 228.3 lbs. I was shocked as hell, not just what the number was but the fact I haven't been that weight since I was probably in my early-mid 20's. It was a great feeling and I'm itching closer to being 50 lb less than at my heaviest ever. Been quite a journey and my weight has famously fluctuated for as long as I can remember. Wasn't even a goal of mine, I was really content to be at 230-235 but with the workouts and some of other stuff, it went down and I had fucking Papa Murphey's Pizza (4 slices) the day before so I guess my metabolism is really kicking in apparently. 

Haven't been on some crazy program or done fasting or cutting out everything, just trained, minimized a few things here and there and walked more just to the park and it's just down the street lol. Proud to pull it off, fingers crossed it stays consistent and keep things going. Maybe it's the heat draining the sweat out of me when I workout I don't know, maybe its the fat melting like Margaret Hamilton, who really knows, it's kind of exciting. 

Keep things going for you and train with a vengeance. Weight Loss doesn't come easily to many, some can, for others it takes time. For me, if I were to truly make it a goal is to take it one day at a time, losing too much weight too fast can cause some issues and it can age you quick (maybe not as quick as Donavan from The Last Crusade IYKYK) so work on doing what's possible, build muscle in the process which will torch the unwanted fat and although it won't be easy, you can make things interesting. Be amazingly awesome. 

P.S Don't forget to use my discount code POWERANDMIGHT when you order the Dopa Bands. 

Diamonds Are Forever And So Is.....

 Egon Spengler? We know who is forever and miraculously still alive (Got to hand it to you naitch). Anyhow...Yesterday was a pretty good day, worked on my neck, got a few joints loosened up and got in some Isometrics to target a few things. Not too shabby.

In the midst of it all, thought I'd film an exercise I haven't done in a while, did a couple takes since the first video looked like you can't see my hands so you wouldn't know what the fuck I was doing. The second worked out well and was the finishing touch. I figured I'd get in some Diamond Push-Ups which are pretty gnarly. They're great for building strength in the Triceps and hitting that inner part of the chest but the true nature of it is being able to control the movement with little to no jerking at all, some might get away with it but when you really focus into it, touch your chest to your hands and back up, it's an awesome feeling. 

Push-ups have their place, hell I've done enough of the PUGS that I can attest to this. Doing multiple variations can have a great impact on how you develop. I may not do 100's upon 100's in a workout as much as I did back in the day, hell within a 90 minute period I did 600 doing different types and playing off a ladder format for each exercise going up to like 12-15 (1, 2, 3 and so on) and then go back down. Think one of the last times I did hundreds of them was doing 300 Military Style. That was interesting but been a minute since then.

Personally these days, I'll do them for fun and have thought about getting back into them but at the moment, I'm having a kick ass time with the bands, the hammers, isos and as recently, the slam ball (holy shit that fucking ball). When it comes to push-ups, I like doing Burpees doing the 30 sec on/90 sec off workouts which I hit about 9 or so per round. Awesome workout and a hell of a metabolism booster. 

Training is an adventure, don't let anybody tell you different, its hard at times and it can test your abilities, but don't ever make it feel boring or a chore, sure you may need to push yourself to do it when you don't always want to but that's the beauty about adapting and making the most of it in the moment. It's not always going to be fun nor is it always going to flow right but you do what you can and get at it. Be amazingly awesome and remember, diamonds can be a man's best friend too LOL.  

Fun Animal Workout At The Park

 Yesterday, thought I'd take a stroll to the park and get in the Animal Dice Game. Roll once for animal, roll again for the number of steps of that animal. Man Eddie Baran was a genius coming up with that when he published Animal Kingdom Conditioning all those years ago. 

Went at it for 30 minutes. Walked it off when I needed to and did as many rounds as I can run with it. Lots of Crawling, Jumping, Hopping, Squatting, Going Backwards and feeling the INTENSITY. That's what I love about this type of training, expecting the unexpected and getting in some natural movement. It had been a while since I've done this specific workout so I kept things basic and not go Speedy Gonzales on it. It's still one of the best workouts I'll ever do in my life.

It's the type of training that makes muscles pop (more than just the core or abs), builds great leg strength and conditioning (some quack has said "If you ain't squatting, you ain't training" which he stole that line from Matt Furey but in reality, animal squats and leg movements IMO, are way more interesting than typical squats), makes you feel like a kid again and have that sense of relaxation afterwards that gives off vibes of feeling like a Bazillion Bucks all day long. 

Been doing this off and on since the Combat Conditioning Days and even more so since AKC came out in 2008. The fun of it just makes training come alive. It turns you into a RAGING BEAST that makes you feel unstoppable. I would at times go for more than 45 minutes on this and my longest workout was 82 minutes long, I just didn't want to stop and my energy was off the chain that day. Now does it give you the rank of Superhuman? In this day and age, quite possibly but it's important to not let ego hit you and do something foolish. Be smart about how you do it but also let it thrive in that adventurous nature.

Some of the exercises can be overwhelming at times. Hell, even though a few upper body movements can give you shoulders like boulders, don't forget that it's more about the movement than what specific muscles they build. After some workouts from this, it can make you hungry as hell, the intense movements that make you breathe hard with a fucking vengeance can build up quite an appetite. Still, it's great to get that Rugged, Animal-Like build that it can give. I still say my two favorites are the Gorilla Hop/Jump and the Bear Crawl. Giving off that Grizzly Power vibe that turns you into a fucking stud. Ok that was a bit lame and over the top huh? In reality, the classic Bear Crawl can never go wrong, it has been a staple for wrestlers and fighters for eons. It's one of the exercises Eddie taught to gymnasts as a conditioning coach to help build their handstand strength. One workout of the bear crawl I love to do every now and then is what I learned from some Blue Collar guy where you sprint or at least crawl as best as you can for 5 yards, walk back and repeat until you've done 20. The most I've ever done in this fashion is 45, I've filmed doing more than 30 in just crawling without going into Sonic Mode (this took 10 minutes or so to complete, very hard workout).

Overall, being able to train in a beautiful environment, fresh air, sweat dripping like Niagara Falls and breathing hard like it's going out of style is just awesome. Moving like a beast has a unique effect on the body and when you do it on grass, touching the earth, feeling the soil and letting it into your soul is something like no other. Animal Workouts are almost poetic in a way, it's weird but hey, weird is good in this case. Be wild, be free and be amazingly awesome.