Can Music Increase Testosterone?

 

When you workout, do you notice a difference in your energy when certain music plays or not? What about the level of energy when music doesn't play at all? Strangely enough, when certain music plays, there's an area of the brain that is triggered and it could supply an extra level of adrenalin or decrease a level of energy. Now I'm no scientist and I'm not sure how much study has been done on specifically music targeting levels of testosterone in men and increased or decreased levels of strength due to the type of music being played.

Most people who listen to music for workouts (from my observations and knowing people) tend to tune out anything else around them and just go through exercise after exercise. Others however, use music not just as a motivator but as a way to wake their ass up and have that burst of energy, keep it there for as long as the workout goes and go into this trance where it feels like you're invincible and every exercise you do becomes a cake walk or your strength is powered up and can lift or do bodyweight exercises with solid energy. 

For us guys, going to war is a human habit and fighting for what we want to achieve. That feeling of wanting to go into battle and feeling that adrenalin rush course through our veins. Where our awareness, focus and physical abilities jump up to 11 is the pinnacle of a strong workout. Music provides a key to unlocking our mental and physical abilities and aiding our strength in ways we can't always get on our merritt. Does it increase testosterone? Depends on the type of music you hear I guess. Now I don't consider Abba or Madonna to be very manly type of music if you're going into battle with a heavy deadlift or going after 500 Squats but some people have specific preferences of what drives them. 

Now I personally feel the best music for having that testosterone fueled feeling is various types of Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Tribal Style, heavy riffs, certain classical music and just hard nosed balls to the wall Rap styles like DMX. Music can alter our brain chemistry and send us on a path that either channels our primal instincts or take us to a place we've never been before, the sound of a great tune could potentially give you a surge of power in your body and amplify your ability to withstand incredible amounts of strength, endurance and agility. 

Some feel it's best to not train with music playing because it's thought of to be a distraction from channeling your inner self. I use to think this way for a long time but nowadays, I sometimes workout with music on or off depending on what I'm feeling that day. It is kind of funny at times to do an exercise and a random song comes on that might throw you off like for example, I was doing Step-Ups one day doing my 1000 Rep workout with the cards and Blue Moon by the Marcels came on and just threw me for a loop for a second, luckily it's a favorite of mine but things happen. I don't consider Disney songs to be very powerful for fitness but if you're working out and having a good time, it isn't a bad thing in that area. 

Find the music that drives you and fuels that fire within that just makes you feel so damn powerful bullets can bounce off of you and you can tackle an exercise without fear or remorse. Strength should come from within, but music is like gasoline to a flame if you do it right. 

Here's a great song by The Hu that will make you feel you can ride into a battle and conquer your enemy with incredible strength and power surging through you. I've split wood with this song playing and felt like I had no fatigue and the splitting maul thrusted down faster and even more powerful. The amount of strength in my veins was out of this world, you may not understand the language of the song, but the sounds of the instruments just fires you up.  

Are Hundreds Or Even Thousands Of Repetitions Necessary?

 Herschel Walker, Bruce Lee, Gama, Dan Gable and Karl Gotch; what do they all have in common besides being some of the very best in their field of Sports or Art? They have literally done thousands upon thousands of repetitions of exercise over their lifetimes. They were also some of the fittest if not the fittest athletes in their time. The amount of push-ups, squats, sit-ups, sprinting, going over moves more times in a day than the average person would in a year. Were they necessary for their chosen endeavor?

These guys were at the top of the food chain in what they did. From Walker making records as a running back, Lee with his expertise in Martial Arts, Gama with his Undefeated Streak in Wrestling, Gable's unlimited endurance and Gotch's unbelievable Condition and Wrestling Knowledge. For them, being in top condition required countless reps to stay ahead in the game and outlast opponents with ease. Does the rep count in Calisthenics and Moving Weight really matter to become the very best? The truth is, in order to become the best in your chosen sport, you have to consistently do that sport to get better ad better. Very few ever reach the pinnacle of success. 

Although you can do 100's of reps per day with any given exercise, it's not going to make you a better athlete. It can have a heavy aid as a supplementation and laying down a foundation for what your goals are. Rickey Henderson was the greatest speedster and lead-off man in Major League history but after all that training and 25 years in Baseball, he was still 3 ticks shy of 300 career home runs. Karl Gotch has said Conditioning is your best hold yet some of the most conditioned fighters still lost or made mistakes. I do believe in being in great shape, but doing hundreds or even thousands of reps isn't always the key.

Nobody can outlast father time and eventually, we have to change how our bodies react and recover from certain aspects of training. If someone who's 20 years and in awesome shape can do 500 Push-ups a day, by the time he's 70, that number won't be that much of a priority. If you set goals and want to go after certain numbers either as a challenge or on a consistent basis, that's one thing but our bodies aren't always exceptional like world-class athletes, we can't train like them and anybody who says you can is a liar. Injuries can occur, reaching a level where boredom becomes frequent and recovery is as much a priority as the training itself. 

I have literally done thousands of push-ups, squats, step-ups, club swinging, hammer striking, nail bends and animal moves in over 15 years of everyday training in total, there comes a point in time where you need to reassess what you want to accomplish. Where does it end and what have you really done? People forget or haven't completely learned how to use their intuition or learned how to be aware of what their body can do and what it can't. A football player can't hold a candle to a Navy Seal and a Catch Wrestler won't always win a street fight, it's a different process of what the body can handle. Yes, it's incredible we can find ways to tap into our minds and get that second or third wind but you always seem to see that either in competition, survival modes and through a challenge, rarely ever on a whim. 

We don't need to do thousands of a ton of things to accomplish something, sometimes we only those few that will get the job done and get results that was meant for you to have. 1000 crunches won't get you six pack abs, 500 Push-ups a day isn't always going to help you in a fight and 2000 Squats a day won't always help you in an hour long wrestling match. Conditioning is a key but there's more than one way to skin a cat to get in incredible shape. High reps do crossover into other endeavors and have a helping hand but it isn't going to make you the healthiest person. 

Train with intention of what you need to accomplish and do it not for the sake of doing countless reps but to develop the quality of those reps and the quality of your body's level to be in energizer mode consistently regardless of age. The quality of life is more important than a number of reps in an exercise.

My Morning WOD

 It's one of those days where the energy levels are just right, the sun is shining beautifully and you're feeling pretty damn good. You may not get those days all the time but when the opportunity arises, take advantage of it and do what makes you happy. I got up and did a routine that I combined a few things together that opened up the body and stretched the living hell out of it without really straining and relaxed as much as possible. It was GLORIOUS!!!!

Started off with Matt Furey's 5x5 System using a few exercises from Combat Conditioning.

The Neck Chi Kung Routine were next and felt everything in my neck open up.

Joint Loosening Exercises were next and worked everything from head to toe, opening up the meridians and getting rid of unwanted tension.

Did 5 Minutes of the Farmer Burns Stomach Flattener which built up a pretty good sweat and strengthening the internal organs and deep breathing.

Finished off with 1 Minute of Shaking everything out and relaxing the entire body, opening up the lymphatic system and just feeling the great energy.

I have no idea how long this took but I'm guessing around 30 minutes or so but everything we by so quickly and with such flow and intuitive awareness. It's better to wake the body up with internal intention than just muscles, muscles, muscles. The practice of releasing energy that radiates and gives off powerful sensations of endorphins and relaxation. Power comes from within, not always how fast you move or how much you can lift, that's secondary. 

The Neck Chi Kung exercises alone can wake you up and help prevent headaches, migraines and groggyness, the rest is just icing on the cake. These are not your typical run of the mill type of routine, it is a great way to strengthen the neck without needing to bridge. It works all the muscles that keep your head in tack. 

The 5x5 System, stretches and strengthens the muscles, the tendons and ligaments that help build flexibility in the shoulders, spine, legs and hips. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.

The Farmer Burns Stomach Flattener is a no brainer but should be done on an empty stomach and start off with only a few reps until you can continue repeating the exercise for 5 minutes. It develops incredible breathing power, strengthen the internal organs and can burn belly fat within 5 sec per repetition. It can be done anywhere and anytime. 

Shaking the body out releases unwanted tension or any more tension that is left in the body. Breathe deeply and relax. It also releases toxins in the body at least that's what I've noticed and releases a great deal of endorphins and gets rid of that emotion of anger, anxiety and excess energy. 

This routine can supercharge the body within minutes and make you feel you can tackle your day with ease. If you also practice protecting yourself from Energy Vampires, having a bad day would be as rare as Al Pacino and Robert De Niro being in the same movie together. Get those juices flowing and feel amazingly awesome to get the day started.

It Is Fun To Do Something For Your Birthday

Turned 36 yesterday and quite frankly, I don't feel all that different. Still feel I'm in the best shape of my life, still look like i'm in my early-mid 20's and can still do awesome stuff. Sometimes when I reflect on some of the birthdays I've had, I do feel thankful I'm still here and get to share my experiences and my ups and downs either with my friends and family or with you guys. I've had some kick ass birthdays and some very really bad ones (including being laid up in a hospital bed or when I was 15 and face planted into a lake after jumping off a 10-15 ft railing and literally smeared my towel in blood). 

A few years ago when I turning 33, I was in this phase of doing up to 500 Hindu Squats a day for weeks seeing how fast I can do them and on my birthday, tried to see how many I can do in 33 minutes, ended up being 1000 doing 80 Squats and 20 Jumpers repeated 10 times. Being in my mid (almost late) 30's now, I do see things a little differently, my training is always changing and learning what I can do and what I haven't done before. On Sunday, I wanted to try something I never did before and that's how fast I can do 1000 Step Ups or get through a full deck of cards just doing step ups. I did 1000 in just around 52 minutes at a BW of 261.8. Figured a good feat before my birthday.

Birthday feats are fun to do, Jack Lalanne was famous for his feats of endurance pulling the boats or doing something crazy after he reached a certain age. Don't think I'm on that level yet but again, the man wasn't even human in his time. For turning 36, thought I would go for a hike with my wife out at a place a mile and a half down by our house. A good trail that was 3 1/4 miles long. The humidity wasn't fun but overall a beautiful hike, awesome scenery of the lake, didn't feel winded whatsoever and felt peaceful next to the most important person in my life. Got in another little workout later on in the day after getting lunch and making our way to an entertainment shop full of comics, funkos, movies, classic gaming consoles. Bought a couple books and given a unintentional birthday sale. Played around with a new Indian Club for my birthday (15 lber) and do 100+ Reps doing swings. 

Some people treat their birthday as if it was any other day, that's awesome and you get to choose what you want to do for it. For me, I choose to celebrate it the best way I can in my own way because I wouldn't have this many birthdays by now if I wasn't saved from the great people who treated my meningitis when I wasn't even 2 yet. I celebrate because life is too damn short and I don't want anyone to go through what I went through. On my 21st Birthday, I wasn't even really allowed a fucking beer because I was having surgery on my legs the following day. 15 years ago today was my 3rd and final surgery to be able to walk again after breaking both of them in a stupid jumping accident. I'am so thankful that my legs have kept me strong and continue to raise the bar on physical fitness.

No matter what your age, celebrate life and making it worth while for you. Share with the people you love and have fun, even if it's just another day, do something different and even find a challenge to do and see what you can accomplish. Set a new goal, do something spontaneous and set the bar for your continuation of life. Have a blast and have an amazingly awesome day.

Isometric Posture For Realignment And Recovery

Often times we push ourselves to the max and see how far our bodies can go. We take on different challenges, man up one another or proving to yourself what you're capable of. Training hard can be a good thing every now and then and some of us train as if our lives depended on it such as: Being ready to fight, have the stamina and strength to move somebody, have energy to play with the kids and saving a life.

Training smart is a whole other ball game. You're learning what works, what doesn't and how your body adapts to certain regimens and protocols. Training hard and smart is extremely rare as most do one or the other yet both can co-exist if you are wise enough to understand how both work. At the same time, it is important to train from an internal stand point, conditioning the mind and body in a different format by the use of recovery.

Recovering from hard workouts is crucial to how you will become stronger and healthier in the long run. When in your teens or 20's, recovery isn't as optimal because for the most part, you can bounce back quickly and move on. By the time you're 35 and beyond, recovery becomes a godsend  and you'll need it in order to move and be more efficient in your endeavors. I highly believe in recovery workouts, exercises you can do that don't require a ton of effort but aren't strenuous. You can a low level yoga workout, you can do deep breathing exercises, various postures or you can just literally stand.

Standing postures such as Wu Ji Posture, help realign the body and let's the nervous system repair itself. It's an incredible recovery tool and those who have practiced Tai Chi, Chi Kung or other internal arts have phenomenal abilities at a much older age. A standing posture can be assumed as an Isometric exercise or more accurately, an Aerobic Isometric because you're not exerting as much force and the idea is to relax more, not be loose but relaxed.

It's called a Wu Ji Posture in Chi Kung, the Sponge in Animal Kingdom Conditioning, Standing Meditation and other names of the same thing. Your feet are shoulder width apart, hands at your side, knees slightly bent pelvis slightly tucked and there you go. Relax as much as possible and breathe deeply and naturally. It sounds so easy to do yet most don't understand its true power to literally give your body a reboot or recharge. I would hold this posture for about 5-10 min at a time, every once in a blue moon I'll go for 20 minutes but 10 minutes is more than enough for me to feel recharged. I do it sometimes before a workout, after a workout, as a stand-alone (pun intended) or in-between exercises.

Just the idea of standing there, many will scoff at because it looks like you're not doing a damn thing and it makes you look lazy and resting or something. The truth is, our bodies may not recover as fast as others. Often times, recovery can take longer than you want it to and we push ourselves so hard, it overwhelms the Central Nervous System and our muscles will tear up, if you push too hard the tendons can break and you'll be in a cast for weeks or months. The standing posture strengthens the body on the inside and rebuilds flow to the muscles and the tendons/ligaments. It gives our brains a boost too because with practice, you can learn to quiet the mind and focus on your breathing or do visualization that innates powerful energy.

Start your power from within. Like Yoda says "Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter." Strength is more internal than what we ever do on the outside. Stand and rebuild, stand and harness your power, stand and use it to become superhuman. Socrates from the Peaceful Warrior says "There's never nothing going on", the Standing Posture is a testament to that statement, it seems nothing is happening but inside, everything is going on.

Become Tough As Nails Through Isometric Training

Isometrics can be tough as hell but that's what it was designed for. To toughen up the mind and body through sheer strength from the inside out. Most people don't think twice about isometric training and don't quite understand it's effectiveness to not only strengthen the body but to benefit from it's healing aspects as well.

I believe in the old school style of strength training because quite frankly with all the overwhelming info out there today, you don't know what to trust and understand the true nature of what works. Strongmen of the past and some today use Isometrics as part of their daily training so they can reach levels of strength and conditioning from just about any angle and become almost near Injury-proof.

I can't help but love isometrics and the countless exercises that can be done for just about any type of endeavor. At times I'll use the Isometric Power Belt or do them free handed, use a wall, a tree or using weights, there are so many variations you can do. Can it get boring at times, sure it can and that's why many trainers today think it's inferior when in reality, it can be a life saver.

It is well known that Isometrics are a forgotten style of strength training and although some things of it are still out there today, compared to yesteryear, we don't know the major impact it has.

The amount of time you spend on isometrics depends really on your goals and how much you want to put in for particular exercises. My approach is more on the 7-12 second contractions but from time to time like in these videos above, I'll go more than a minute to really target my body while focusing on certain groups of muscles. When I do Bridges, I'll do 3 min in the front and back each to strengthen my neck and my spine. It's not easy but it's a hell of a workout as it hits the whole body and the sensations of euphoria when you come out of them are incredible.

Although size isn't always the goal, being able to stay strong and conditioned in the long run is. Developing real strength is what will help you be useful for other endeavors. I love to chop wood when I have the chance or when we go camping like this past weekend, I love to help carry things when its needed and move things others can't or they're hurt. It puts a smile on my face that my strength and stamina can do things for others and not feel obligated. That's what really gives off when you put the effort into strength for others and yourself. 

Train with Isometrics and understand the value of its beneficial properties not just in health and physical fitness, but overall to have the strength to work, to help others and do things the average person wishes they can do. 

Morning Cardio

There's nothing wrong with getting the blood pumping or getting a little sweat going in the morning. Many people dread just getting up, showering, eat a little and run out the door to get to work. They may have an ok day and come home just ready to drop dead on the couch and watch a little something, eat with the kids/spouse/yourself and head off to bed to repeat it all over again.

Getting some exercise in before heading to work can change your mood drastically and give you a little endorphin high to feel awesome and ready to jumpstart the day. For me, it depends on the mood i'm in but if I get an urge, I might do some skipping, circuit training, step ups, hindu squats, animal movements or swinging the Indian Clubs. Often I'll do Isometrics but changing it up isn't a bad thing either.

Motivation can be a real bitch to get a hold of and the will to actually do something can be difficult for most people. You don't need to do an hour straight of exercise to make it count for something, just a few minutes can do the trick. Do some movements before getting out of bed, put on your favorite music to set the tone and do exercises that are on your level. You don't have to do a crazy crossfit workout or some infomercial program. Do a few push-ups, a stretching routine or some crawls for a minute to wake the body up. Just Bear Crawling for one minute in the morning will not only help you get fit but it'll jumpstart the brain and kick in your metabolism. 

This morning, I felt like doing Step Ups with a deck of cards and ended with 500 Reps. It felt amazing and the level of de-stressing was incredible. Great sweat running down, breathing and going at a solid clip and moving with very little to no rest. It felt therapeutic, it had been a while and didn't want to overdue it but hey it still woke my ass up. 

A deck of cards workout is a great way to wake the body up, develop some crazy cardiovascular conditioning and you don't have to do the whole deck if you haven't hit that level yet. Start out with a few cards and work up to a full deck. You can do Push-ups & Squats, one exercise, 3-4 exercises, work with kettlebells or whatever works for you. It doesn't take a ton of time and is a hell of a calorie burner and you may even keep burning calories some time after the workout. Be sure to drink water and get a little food in your system. A workout like that can build up a crazy appetite. 

One of my favorite Deck Workouts was what I call the Backlund Deck Of Madness in honor of the legendary pro wrestler Bob Backlund. It's two exercises of Step Ups & the Ab Wheel; you flip a card (red for the wheel, black for step ups) and you do the reps for that particular card. I would suggest you spend some time strengthening yourself on the wheel before doing this workout, it's intense, hard and brutal. This will test anyone in the realm of world class conditioning and physical fitness. I talked to Bob one time and told him about this workout, he thought it sounded pretty good. The fastest time I finished this workout was just under 45 minutes, if anyone can do it faster (with safe technique and pace), you've got some insane cardio bro. 

If you're not into doing intense exercise in the morning, do some qi gong or joint loosening exercises, this also wakes up the body and supercharges your organs. If you're someone who's had previous injuries or is unable to do much, do what you can. Life doesn't have to be so dreary and full of the same negative patterns, learn to change your mindset and use some positive energy. Do what is possible and do it on your level and progress. If you create a routine and stay consistent both mentally and physically, your life with have better quality. If you have kids, have them join you and train together as a family. Build bonds and push each other with great energy.