One of the best ways to get in super condition is not through bike riding or running for miles on end. Take out a deck of cards and draw/shuffle them 2-3 times. Now flip a card over and do a number of reps of squats or push-ups. Try finishing the entire deck with good form. At a good clip this shouldn't be more then 25-30 min. Its one of the most brutal workouts you can be put through just ask the japanese wrestlers.
This type of training was built by one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time Karl Gotch. Nicknamed "The God Of Pro Wrestling" in Japan cause not only did he influence pro wrestling and martial arts but a real test of ones conditioning training. He put the wrestlers through workouts that would make Dan Gable think twice about. Not only can you get a hell of a workout but it makes your mind much sharper and more balance for your workout and how much you can handle.
Try out the push-up and squat workout and after doing the entire deck try other exercises like v-ups, isometrics ect. If you want to get into super condition w/out the use of weights and find other forms of training in the deck of cards these are the way to go.
Matt Furey
Scientific Wrestling and look for Submission Master and Conditioning For Combat Sports
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Friday, April 27, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Strongest Bodyweight Practitioners: The Gymnasts
You won't find another athlete that is as strong using his/her own bodyweight then a gymnast. Gymnastics is a sport where you must use your body from many angles and most of them are very difficult. You would see a gymnast on the still rings, pommel horse, high bar, platform ect. and notice how they move themselves through such grace and power. There are well over 200 elite gymnasts in the world and there is a reason for that. Today when it comes to Olympic Gymnastics you first think of the Hamm twins. They're probably the greatest brother duo on the planet no question and they're huge for they're size at what 150 pounds.
The women are just as awesome as the men but I wish that the women had the chance to do other routines like the rings, you never see a female gymnast on the rings, I certainly havent. How awesome would it be if you saw a female athlete on the rings and having the strength to swing, hold and do the iron cross. Unfortunenitly many people don't see women having that kind of strength, to me thats total BS. They can already do unbelieveable routines and yet the one event they never do is the rings. I hope one day we see an olympic female gymnast do that event and win the gold.
Back to my writing here lol. Gymnastics is one of the hardest sports in the world next to wrestling. It takes balance, coordination, strength, flexibility and speed. One of the main ways to develop strength in gymnastics is through handstand training: walking on your hands, HS push-ups, free hand hops and walking up steps. It takes such great strength just to hold one of these, and you must keep the body tight at all times or you're on your ass or head. I haven't gotten up to free handing yet but I can do pretty well walking back and forth, side to side on the wall and i've put up some good strength in my upper body. Nothing makes you stronger then walking on your hands, think about it, we walk on our legs all day cause thats how our body is developed but imagine having the ability to walk on your hands, you know how much strength you're building. Crazy.
Whenever I watch gymnastics on TV i'm always impressed by what they do and I never believe the judges give them enough credit. My favorite event is obviously the rings cause its the one event where it tests your entire body through range of motion, your grip, muscle control, your core, shoulders, arms, back, hams, quads every muscle needs to be controled in order to hit the right movement or you're gonna fall. Hope I go to a USA Gymnastics event soon cause that'll be huge to me cause I practice a bit of gymnastics every day, even just doing bridging or walking on my hands with the Power Wheel its still a form of the sport.
If you want to see how gymnastics are in film check out the movie Stick It. Good story and a real teenage flick but has some surreal stunts.
Want to learn how to walk on your hands or practice handbalancing heres a couple guys that'll help get you there and one of them has a book coming out very soon keep checking daily with John Peterson's Site.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
www.mattfurey.com
www.superstrengthtraining.com
Gymnastic Abs
Gymnastic Handstands
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
The women are just as awesome as the men but I wish that the women had the chance to do other routines like the rings, you never see a female gymnast on the rings, I certainly havent. How awesome would it be if you saw a female athlete on the rings and having the strength to swing, hold and do the iron cross. Unfortunenitly many people don't see women having that kind of strength, to me thats total BS. They can already do unbelieveable routines and yet the one event they never do is the rings. I hope one day we see an olympic female gymnast do that event and win the gold.
Back to my writing here lol. Gymnastics is one of the hardest sports in the world next to wrestling. It takes balance, coordination, strength, flexibility and speed. One of the main ways to develop strength in gymnastics is through handstand training: walking on your hands, HS push-ups, free hand hops and walking up steps. It takes such great strength just to hold one of these, and you must keep the body tight at all times or you're on your ass or head. I haven't gotten up to free handing yet but I can do pretty well walking back and forth, side to side on the wall and i've put up some good strength in my upper body. Nothing makes you stronger then walking on your hands, think about it, we walk on our legs all day cause thats how our body is developed but imagine having the ability to walk on your hands, you know how much strength you're building. Crazy.
Whenever I watch gymnastics on TV i'm always impressed by what they do and I never believe the judges give them enough credit. My favorite event is obviously the rings cause its the one event where it tests your entire body through range of motion, your grip, muscle control, your core, shoulders, arms, back, hams, quads every muscle needs to be controled in order to hit the right movement or you're gonna fall. Hope I go to a USA Gymnastics event soon cause that'll be huge to me cause I practice a bit of gymnastics every day, even just doing bridging or walking on my hands with the Power Wheel its still a form of the sport.
If you want to see how gymnastics are in film check out the movie Stick It. Good story and a real teenage flick but has some surreal stunts.
Want to learn how to walk on your hands or practice handbalancing heres a couple guys that'll help get you there and one of them has a book coming out very soon keep checking daily with John Peterson's Site.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
www.mattfurey.com
www.superstrengthtraining.com
Gymnastic Abs
Gymnastic Handstands
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Monday, April 9, 2007
The Lifeline Power Wheel
This unicycle device can turn you into a machine, period. It has 2 sets of ways to work the core and entire body, one way is holding onto the handles and the other is strapping your feet in. Our midsections play a major role in our muscular development. Our abs built our entire strengths and weaknesses so in other words if you don't have strong abs you won't go far. Now with this device we can built strong, powerful abs without having to do sit-ups and crunches.
One of the best exercises that this 5 pound unicycle gives you is the ability to walk on your hands. Now our lower body is 3 times stronger then our upper cause we walk around all day long, but if you knew how to walk on your hands imagine the strength you will create. Its one of my favorites and my #1 reccomendation for a strong core and a powerful upper body. Although that exercise is a major one, the one exercise everyone knows is the Roll Out where you grab onto the handles and roll out as straight as possible either from standing or from the knees.
No matter what if you're a strongman, a tri-athlete or better yet a professinal/olympic gymnast the wheel can give anyone a run for their money. This is by far the best piece of abdomanial equipment and far better then the "ab sissor" or that crazy stupid looking "Boflex" The wheel can make those abs like granite and like it says "Strong abs create phenomenal power and might."
Want the Power Wheel here are the 2 best people to buy from.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Lifeline USA
Lifeline Power Wheel
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
One of the best exercises that this 5 pound unicycle gives you is the ability to walk on your hands. Now our lower body is 3 times stronger then our upper cause we walk around all day long, but if you knew how to walk on your hands imagine the strength you will create. Its one of my favorites and my #1 reccomendation for a strong core and a powerful upper body. Although that exercise is a major one, the one exercise everyone knows is the Roll Out where you grab onto the handles and roll out as straight as possible either from standing or from the knees.
No matter what if you're a strongman, a tri-athlete or better yet a professinal/olympic gymnast the wheel can give anyone a run for their money. This is by far the best piece of abdomanial equipment and far better then the "ab sissor" or that crazy stupid looking "Boflex" The wheel can make those abs like granite and like it says "Strong abs create phenomenal power and might."
Want the Power Wheel here are the 2 best people to buy from.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Lifeline USA
Lifeline Power Wheel
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Sunday, April 8, 2007
The Power Of The Animals
Theres an animal inside all of us and we all at one-time or another leashed out the animal in us on a rare occassion in fighting, business, bedroom endeavours (had to bring that up sorry if I offended anybody) and most obviously in the fitness world. Some of our personalities take on the form of a wild animal and most of us never really know how to use that trait. Mine consists of the powerful gorilla and its physical and mental strength. Now none can have the actual strength of one such creature but we can attain some and even that is enough.
In working out when us human train very hard and I mean where we are pounding iron hitting very difficult angles in BW exercises some people would say to us "Damn man you're being an animal" which is true. Now there are many ways to train the human body, we can lift weights, do BW exercises and we use certain peices of equipment to get is going but nothing makes you train harder then moving like the animals in the wild. I'm not saying we should pound our chests or jump and feed on prey or speed up and take action no i'm saying move in the form of any animal, a tiger, bear, crab, gorilla, chimpanze, lion ect.
When you see animals in the jungle theres always one thing you notice about them (this goes out to every expert who thinks weights is the only way to make you stronger), theres no barbell, no dumbbell, no machines, no racks and certainly NO WEIGHTS!!!! These creatues of nature are far stronger and far better skilled then us human beings. They stay strong to survive and to defend themselves. The bear chasing down a rabbit at a bw of 800 pounds and run on 4 legs, the gorilla pulling himself up onto a branch with one finger or the cheetah having the ability to take off faster then 350 horsepower muscle car in a matter of seconds. These are all the things we can learn from to increase our cardiovascular conditioning and over muscular strength.
If you haven't noticed already my fav. animal is the gorilla. The king of strength and overall power. They are the first to be developed into humans during the prehistoric age and gave us the ability to create superhuman strength. You notice a gorilla by the way it walks and how it climbs up and down the largest of trees and branches. Although we as human beings don't always understand how intelligent these creatures are but we should damn well know how to create their strengths. The strength of a 400 pound gorilla would be equivilant to the strength 10 heavyweight olympic weightlifters (check out Animal Planet sometime), wouldn't anyone of us would love to achieve that. I certainally would and i'm a big fan of great strength.
You see if you're a fitness fanatic and whatever animal you feel is connected to your personality or you feel you take "shape" of and by that I mean if you're lean and athletic you would have the animalistic shape of a cheetah or a chimpanzee or even a certain preditorial bird. If you're body takes an animalistic "shape" of a big, burely and thick billed you would take on as a bear, gorilla, rhinosaurs or a thick muscled lion. One-way or another we all have the personality or "shape" of an animal thats inside all of us. Which one are you?
Want to train like the wild animals heres the place to get you started and if you're like me and want to feel having somewhat of the strength of a powerful gorilla heres another place you can find.
www.wildmantraining.com
www.mattfurey.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
In working out when us human train very hard and I mean where we are pounding iron hitting very difficult angles in BW exercises some people would say to us "Damn man you're being an animal" which is true. Now there are many ways to train the human body, we can lift weights, do BW exercises and we use certain peices of equipment to get is going but nothing makes you train harder then moving like the animals in the wild. I'm not saying we should pound our chests or jump and feed on prey or speed up and take action no i'm saying move in the form of any animal, a tiger, bear, crab, gorilla, chimpanze, lion ect.
When you see animals in the jungle theres always one thing you notice about them (this goes out to every expert who thinks weights is the only way to make you stronger), theres no barbell, no dumbbell, no machines, no racks and certainly NO WEIGHTS!!!! These creatues of nature are far stronger and far better skilled then us human beings. They stay strong to survive and to defend themselves. The bear chasing down a rabbit at a bw of 800 pounds and run on 4 legs, the gorilla pulling himself up onto a branch with one finger or the cheetah having the ability to take off faster then 350 horsepower muscle car in a matter of seconds. These are all the things we can learn from to increase our cardiovascular conditioning and over muscular strength.
If you haven't noticed already my fav. animal is the gorilla. The king of strength and overall power. They are the first to be developed into humans during the prehistoric age and gave us the ability to create superhuman strength. You notice a gorilla by the way it walks and how it climbs up and down the largest of trees and branches. Although we as human beings don't always understand how intelligent these creatures are but we should damn well know how to create their strengths. The strength of a 400 pound gorilla would be equivilant to the strength 10 heavyweight olympic weightlifters (check out Animal Planet sometime), wouldn't anyone of us would love to achieve that. I certainally would and i'm a big fan of great strength.
You see if you're a fitness fanatic and whatever animal you feel is connected to your personality or you feel you take "shape" of and by that I mean if you're lean and athletic you would have the animalistic shape of a cheetah or a chimpanzee or even a certain preditorial bird. If you're body takes an animalistic "shape" of a big, burely and thick billed you would take on as a bear, gorilla, rhinosaurs or a thick muscled lion. One-way or another we all have the personality or "shape" of an animal thats inside all of us. Which one are you?
Want to train like the wild animals heres the place to get you started and if you're like me and want to feel having somewhat of the strength of a powerful gorilla heres another place you can find.
www.wildmantraining.com
www.mattfurey.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Training Wherever You Go
When it comes to bodyweight exercises, no matter where you go you can either have a good, tough workout but also you can get the toughest of your life. Gym training is ok if you're into it but look at the contineous fees and equipment use to wait for and the this idea of whiping off someone elses sweat. Screw that i've had to do this more then a few times and its not great to do. I rather be my own gym and want to something for me and nobody elses. I pick the exercises and the time its never determained for me which is something we all want. Now we all need to create some overall development but hey wouldnt it be nice to have an alternative on the road. Try a few BW exercises and you won't be dissappointed if they're too easy do some with one arm or do them at a different pace there are unlimited possibilities.
If you want to get either into this system or amp it up John Peterson and Jom Forystek can help.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
If you want to get either into this system or amp it up John Peterson and Jom Forystek can help.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Ab Training + Bodybuilding Senarios
What makes great powerful abs? Is it doing crunches everyday, is it working out while giving them a good rest or can it be that some of the strongest looking abs in the arnt really that strong? Anyway you see it in today's modern fitness you see bodybuilders, pro wrestlers, baseball players ect. there is just some that seem to look like a greek god but have the strength of 5 year old. I love seeing homeruns smacked, I like seeing someone getting slammed and on a few occassions I think its cool how awesome a bodybuilder's ripped abs look like.
Back in the golden age of Physical Culture, Strongman, Wrestlers, Gymnasts ect. trained every part of the body including the inner portions to keep them strong (the organs of the body) and yet not a single I have read did crunches it wasn't even invented yet. Yet today we see these gadgets, gizmos and "Guarentees" going on that some expert can get you the abs of Zeus or whatever. Personally ripped abs arn't all that appealing and do most of them have any REAL strength. Lets look at a bodybuilder with the biggest looking set compared to yesteryear shall we?
Bodybuilder #1- In this day in age the average muscle man is 5'9 around 225-265 pounds who's ripped to shreds everywhere, strong as hell on the weights he grins and grunts on ab lounge and does several sets of sit-ups/crunches and possibly do a few sets on a stability (to them its too girly its only for chicks) and creates this magnificant 6-8 pack of muscle chromed abdomen. Eats like a horse on meat and protein supplements and eats about 6-9 times a day and then drain themselves to get ready for competition. Lets put him to the test, he gets into a fight or has to pull off a very difficult Keg Toss. The moment he gets punched as hard as the opponent can hit this ripped up looking god goes down in a heart beat screaming in agony. Now the Keg Toss (trust me there needs to be plenty of ab strength to pull this off) he grins and grunts and yet as he gets ready to toss he pulls a muscle in the oblique area at mid range of the toss.
Bodybuider #2- An old time physical Culturist, in the days where strongman and developed human speciamens trained the entire body (including the internal organs) and were very active, ate healthy foods even to gain or lose or to stay at a particular weight. They did ab training through deep breathing, basic exercises in weight lifting and bodyweight. He's very lean at 5'7 maybe 185 pounds of ripped solid muscle (this is in the early 20th century mind you) and just has a great way to devote himself to fitness while maintaining a healthy social lifestyle. Lets say he gets into a fight and wanted it to get over with and gets punched very hard in the abdomen but yet doesnt have very much affect on him, he still keeps going until the opponent can't take it anymore. Now the Keg Toss, even at 185 a keg can weigh around lets say 250, he grins and grunts and without missing a step he swings up then leans back and throws it with every ounce of strength he has and yet never came out hurt or felt injured.
You see the difference in those senarios, they both trained very well in their field and can draw a crowd with ease but yet who do you think was stronger and less injury prone. The first muscle man was todays modern fitness magnet that although he looked big and strong he couldnt take a lick of a punch or the toss. Yet somehow the old time muscle man was stronger and can take monsterous shots and doesnt come out hurt in the toss. These are true stories and i'm sure you can find whom. When us society get sucked into the whacky world of bodybuilding and the so called "experts" show us the way to better to a healthy life and have us take their supplements and yet don't get anywhere as aposse to the old-timers that didnt have supplements and worked hard to get themselves really strong at very lean weights.
Whenever I get asked if I do weights cause i'm big and a bit muscular for my height and say no they don't believe it cause thats where they're brainwashed to thinking that to look good and be strong hit the iron when you can use basic commonsense. Never believe everything you read or heard cause of what they tell guarantrees, if we all had guarantees in life we'd all be a perfect world. Yeah Right! Check things out for yourself and if it works for you and you alone. Train the way you want its your decision not the advetisers who tell you too.
If you feel you want a change in your training and see whats best for you that you feel is right, go to John Peterson, Matt Furey, John Wood or Brooks Kubik and they'll show you the right path as they have for me.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
www.mattfurey.com
www.functionalhandstrength.com
www.brookskubik.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Back in the golden age of Physical Culture, Strongman, Wrestlers, Gymnasts ect. trained every part of the body including the inner portions to keep them strong (the organs of the body) and yet not a single I have read did crunches it wasn't even invented yet. Yet today we see these gadgets, gizmos and "Guarentees" going on that some expert can get you the abs of Zeus or whatever. Personally ripped abs arn't all that appealing and do most of them have any REAL strength. Lets look at a bodybuilder with the biggest looking set compared to yesteryear shall we?
Bodybuilder #1- In this day in age the average muscle man is 5'9 around 225-265 pounds who's ripped to shreds everywhere, strong as hell on the weights he grins and grunts on ab lounge and does several sets of sit-ups/crunches and possibly do a few sets on a stability (to them its too girly its only for chicks) and creates this magnificant 6-8 pack of muscle chromed abdomen. Eats like a horse on meat and protein supplements and eats about 6-9 times a day and then drain themselves to get ready for competition. Lets put him to the test, he gets into a fight or has to pull off a very difficult Keg Toss. The moment he gets punched as hard as the opponent can hit this ripped up looking god goes down in a heart beat screaming in agony. Now the Keg Toss (trust me there needs to be plenty of ab strength to pull this off) he grins and grunts and yet as he gets ready to toss he pulls a muscle in the oblique area at mid range of the toss.
Bodybuider #2- An old time physical Culturist, in the days where strongman and developed human speciamens trained the entire body (including the internal organs) and were very active, ate healthy foods even to gain or lose or to stay at a particular weight. They did ab training through deep breathing, basic exercises in weight lifting and bodyweight. He's very lean at 5'7 maybe 185 pounds of ripped solid muscle (this is in the early 20th century mind you) and just has a great way to devote himself to fitness while maintaining a healthy social lifestyle. Lets say he gets into a fight and wanted it to get over with and gets punched very hard in the abdomen but yet doesnt have very much affect on him, he still keeps going until the opponent can't take it anymore. Now the Keg Toss, even at 185 a keg can weigh around lets say 250, he grins and grunts and without missing a step he swings up then leans back and throws it with every ounce of strength he has and yet never came out hurt or felt injured.
You see the difference in those senarios, they both trained very well in their field and can draw a crowd with ease but yet who do you think was stronger and less injury prone. The first muscle man was todays modern fitness magnet that although he looked big and strong he couldnt take a lick of a punch or the toss. Yet somehow the old time muscle man was stronger and can take monsterous shots and doesnt come out hurt in the toss. These are true stories and i'm sure you can find whom. When us society get sucked into the whacky world of bodybuilding and the so called "experts" show us the way to better to a healthy life and have us take their supplements and yet don't get anywhere as aposse to the old-timers that didnt have supplements and worked hard to get themselves really strong at very lean weights.
Whenever I get asked if I do weights cause i'm big and a bit muscular for my height and say no they don't believe it cause thats where they're brainwashed to thinking that to look good and be strong hit the iron when you can use basic commonsense. Never believe everything you read or heard cause of what they tell guarantrees, if we all had guarantees in life we'd all be a perfect world. Yeah Right! Check things out for yourself and if it works for you and you alone. Train the way you want its your decision not the advetisers who tell you too.
If you feel you want a change in your training and see whats best for you that you feel is right, go to John Peterson, Matt Furey, John Wood or Brooks Kubik and they'll show you the right path as they have for me.
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
www.mattfurey.com
www.functionalhandstrength.com
www.brookskubik.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Pull-Ups/Handstand Push-ups Build Gorilla Strength
When it comes down to building upper body power and strength there are many ways to develop it since most bodybuilders and other fanatics are upper body crazy. There's the Bench Press, there's lat pull-downs, dead-lifts, push-ups, chest expander ect. But I feel the best and most healthy way to develop super strength is through 2 exercises that take you beyond the levels of strength and that's Pull-ups and Handstand Push-ups. Either one of these is not easy to do and to me that's a good thing.
Pull-ups build super strength in the back, grip, arms and shoulders. When you can do these at about 15 reps you got something going my friend. Why does this exercise seem like the strength builder? Look at the gorillas, they're strong, agile and massive, they have powerful looking back cause why, they climb and pull themselves up on a daily basis and they do this to survive and they start learning to hang as babies like a human baby learns to walk, apes do the opposite. I like to train in ways of the primates cause when you learn to swing around and grip and pull you're building strength in places you didn't know you had.
Handstand Push-ups are the upside down version of pull-ups, now holding a handstand alone can be difficult so you're already building strength by holding one. Once you get to the point of going down and back up you're building more power. It takes a great deal to pull off 1 HSPU but if you keep working on them you'll eventually hit 10 or more, my best is 25 consecutively at a body-weight of 230 pounds so think about how much strength I'm building pressing my own weight. This exercise was used by some of strongest men in the world and are a common exercise for gymnasts and look how strong they are. HSPU build strength in the arms, chest, grip, back, shoulders and abs.
When it comes down to it I find no other exercises for building great power in the upper body, walking on your hands is also a great exercise to build that kind of strength but just these 2 where you go up and down. If you want pull-up and handstand strength then check out these guys below and they're courses will get you to where you want to go.
Ultimate Handstand Push-ups
Pull-up Strength Training Workout
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Pull-ups build super strength in the back, grip, arms and shoulders. When you can do these at about 15 reps you got something going my friend. Why does this exercise seem like the strength builder? Look at the gorillas, they're strong, agile and massive, they have powerful looking back cause why, they climb and pull themselves up on a daily basis and they do this to survive and they start learning to hang as babies like a human baby learns to walk, apes do the opposite. I like to train in ways of the primates cause when you learn to swing around and grip and pull you're building strength in places you didn't know you had.
Handstand Push-ups are the upside down version of pull-ups, now holding a handstand alone can be difficult so you're already building strength by holding one. Once you get to the point of going down and back up you're building more power. It takes a great deal to pull off 1 HSPU but if you keep working on them you'll eventually hit 10 or more, my best is 25 consecutively at a body-weight of 230 pounds so think about how much strength I'm building pressing my own weight. This exercise was used by some of strongest men in the world and are a common exercise for gymnasts and look how strong they are. HSPU build strength in the arms, chest, grip, back, shoulders and abs.
When it comes down to it I find no other exercises for building great power in the upper body, walking on your hands is also a great exercise to build that kind of strength but just these 2 where you go up and down. If you want pull-up and handstand strength then check out these guys below and they're courses will get you to where you want to go.
Ultimate Handstand Push-ups
Pull-up Strength Training Workout
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Monday, April 2, 2007
Brooks Kubik & Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
Brooks happens to be one of my top favorite fitness authors and is tough as hell when it comes to training. 5-time Bench champion and record holder in his age group when he was champion. A firm believer in hard work and the right ways to develop strength/power in every area of the body. All you gym rats and strongman know Brooks by his book of Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets Of Strength & Development. Fascinating book and well deserved in the fitness world. Great talk on thick bar training and teaching the trainee to built the power he/she so desires and built heculean-like strength without the use of drugs or steriods.
He was a writer for Milo Magazine one of the biggest strength magazines in the world and he wrote countless articles on strength training and the types to get super strong. After a few years his body started to tear from the weights and needed an althernative. All who read on him know he had to come up with something. So he wrote a course that was unheard of and had a row of exercises many never thought of putting in a book. This book was to be known as Dinosaur Bodyweight Training. What exactly is this course and why would it be a BW course knowing that this man who looked he was carved out of granite was a 5-time national champion in Drug Free Powerlifting?
He came up with the idea that with certain elements and change in exercise you can develop a physique thats the symbol of a Greek Statue. From reading this course and doing most of the exercises personally I believe it. I didnt become a Greek Statue but I did develop muscle mass I never put on before. People get the idea that BW training can't get you muscle mass and you have to lift weights to get stronger. Thats pure BS cause once you see a video or picture of brooks doing the exercises the man is massive and is strong as hell for his size so he proves it works.
There are 100's of exercises he put in that cover every part of the body even exercises that build muscle in places you didnt think were working. The course has a vareity of equipment that is used during some exercises and he clearly states you don't have to use them to get in a great workout. They're great to a degree where if you want to increase the difficulty its a good idea to use them. Theres rings, pull-up bars, push-up bars, ab wheel, stability balls ect. So you have a great deal of equipment to use for BW exercises.
Is it worth getting the course well you be your own judge, the course sells at $197 plus 15 for shipping. In my personal opinion its worth getting cause its different then anything you've seen or done before. If the price is not your cup of tea, then get it on ebay if you can find it or don't get it all you've got other things you can try but take my word for it. If I didnt have it and can afford i'm right there. Its an awesome course and the DVDs that follow from his site can give you a better prespective watching him then reading about it. He goes into greater detail on the DVDs so if you don't want the book then get those seperatly or all together.
www.brookskubik.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
He was a writer for Milo Magazine one of the biggest strength magazines in the world and he wrote countless articles on strength training and the types to get super strong. After a few years his body started to tear from the weights and needed an althernative. All who read on him know he had to come up with something. So he wrote a course that was unheard of and had a row of exercises many never thought of putting in a book. This book was to be known as Dinosaur Bodyweight Training. What exactly is this course and why would it be a BW course knowing that this man who looked he was carved out of granite was a 5-time national champion in Drug Free Powerlifting?
He came up with the idea that with certain elements and change in exercise you can develop a physique thats the symbol of a Greek Statue. From reading this course and doing most of the exercises personally I believe it. I didnt become a Greek Statue but I did develop muscle mass I never put on before. People get the idea that BW training can't get you muscle mass and you have to lift weights to get stronger. Thats pure BS cause once you see a video or picture of brooks doing the exercises the man is massive and is strong as hell for his size so he proves it works.
There are 100's of exercises he put in that cover every part of the body even exercises that build muscle in places you didnt think were working. The course has a vareity of equipment that is used during some exercises and he clearly states you don't have to use them to get in a great workout. They're great to a degree where if you want to increase the difficulty its a good idea to use them. Theres rings, pull-up bars, push-up bars, ab wheel, stability balls ect. So you have a great deal of equipment to use for BW exercises.
Is it worth getting the course well you be your own judge, the course sells at $197 plus 15 for shipping. In my personal opinion its worth getting cause its different then anything you've seen or done before. If the price is not your cup of tea, then get it on ebay if you can find it or don't get it all you've got other things you can try but take my word for it. If I didnt have it and can afford i'm right there. Its an awesome course and the DVDs that follow from his site can give you a better prespective watching him then reading about it. He goes into greater detail on the DVDs so if you don't want the book then get those seperatly or all together.
www.brookskubik.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Life Without The People In Your life!!!!
When I was growing up I didnt have the luxery of having tons of friends and have a great group of family to back me up in my goals and being the best I can be. Most of them wanted me to be what they thought I should be and so I rebeled against them. In my teens I didnt have the best of athletic ability or have a killer physique. I dont have much of the latter even now but thats ok its who iam even though I wanna drop a few just to experience it. Anyway, Over the years i've dealt with deaths, depression, crying a lot, getting beat up both ways and being put down by some of the very people i love and care for but yet its hard to imagine me going through that cause most people see me as a nice guy who doesnt bullshit anybody. I used to keep many things to myself and its pissed quite a few people off but you know what I dont care anymore lol.
I'am who i'am and I can never change it. The thing to remember is that with everything going on you can't not think about the people who got you here even the ones I rebeled against got me to where I'am but the people who encouraged me to do what I love to do best. There are many people I can name off who inspired me and admired so i'll just name a few:
John Peterson- The man that has put me through torture and brutal workings through his books and dvd. This is the guy that can never put you down for what you believe in and if you have something to ask hes got the answer. The few times i've talked to him I get nervous but excited cause i'm just not talking to any old physical culturist but I a wonderful human being. Thank you my friend.
Josh- One of my new friends that has helped me push even further into my writings and training. A kick ass guy that doesnt stand down for what he believes in and does his best. I'm honored to call this soilder and fellow physical culturist my friend and i'll always have his back as well as he'll have mine. Keep it up bro and I know someday we'll put each other through torturous workouts.
Matt Furey- For introducing me to bodyweight exercises and teaching me how to strengthen my legs again through Combat Conditioning and Gama Fitness.
Never fall short on who is pushing you or inspires you or motivates you cause those are the true people to have in your life and the ones you dont want to let go. Thanks guys and you know its gonna get better from here.
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
I'am who i'am and I can never change it. The thing to remember is that with everything going on you can't not think about the people who got you here even the ones I rebeled against got me to where I'am but the people who encouraged me to do what I love to do best. There are many people I can name off who inspired me and admired so i'll just name a few:
John Peterson- The man that has put me through torture and brutal workings through his books and dvd. This is the guy that can never put you down for what you believe in and if you have something to ask hes got the answer. The few times i've talked to him I get nervous but excited cause i'm just not talking to any old physical culturist but I a wonderful human being. Thank you my friend.
Josh- One of my new friends that has helped me push even further into my writings and training. A kick ass guy that doesnt stand down for what he believes in and does his best. I'm honored to call this soilder and fellow physical culturist my friend and i'll always have his back as well as he'll have mine. Keep it up bro and I know someday we'll put each other through torturous workouts.
Matt Furey- For introducing me to bodyweight exercises and teaching me how to strengthen my legs again through Combat Conditioning and Gama Fitness.
Never fall short on who is pushing you or inspires you or motivates you cause those are the true people to have in your life and the ones you dont want to let go. Thanks guys and you know its gonna get better from here.
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Bridging- Pros & Cons
When it comes to fitness there is one subject that very few talk about (mostly in martial arts) and thats bridging: Hands alone, head alone and hands/head. There are many people who believe bridging isnt good for you and you're going to snap your neck and ect. These are the people that never bridged in their life and want to give other a bad rap about it cause they feel if they can't do neither can anybody else. Now lets take a look at the pros and cons of bridging and see what we can come up with.
Pro- When done properly it energizes the body by releaving nerve force which causes new life in the bloodstream and to the organs of the body.
Con- First who start out will be fearful of being upside down and are not used to being bent backwards.
Pro- Builds strength/flexibilty/endurance throughout the whole body and with the proper breathing it can a calm and relaxing exercise
Con- Causes of bit of pressure to the head even in the proper position and the trainee must caution himself to not over do it.
Pro- After a period of training and mastering certain elements of the bridge the trainee can use to develop the body and the thickness of his/her neck .
Con- Most people don't see how it builds neck strength and do it improperly.
Pro- Once going through the process of bridging gymnasics (kick over and falling back) the trainee has a key sense of kenistetic awarness of his/her surroundings.
Con- People get scared of not knowing how aware and strong they can be and want to avoid the bridge.
There are many more but i'm sure you can come up with a few more. No matter how you put bridging works like a charm but it isnt for everybody and thats ok we need different structures and people feel limited to what they can really accomplish if they look hard enough. For me I love it and wouldn't be anywhere without it and all its elements and still got a bit more to learn but hey we all have to learn something. Bridging to me makes me feel like a million bucks, if I can pull off a 3 min. back bridge or hold a good gymnast bridge everything else seems easy cause not only is it challenging it builds character.
Once you get over the fear then you know you've come a long way. Keep learning and keep challenging yourself cause thats the only way to grow.
If you want to learn more about the bridge look up these sites that I feel are best to look. For Matt Furey's site go to his daily archives at the bottom of the site and you'll see some bridging articles, great reads. For the other site look for posts in the forum and there should be some there.
www.mattfurey.com
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Advanced Bridging Course
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Pro- When done properly it energizes the body by releaving nerve force which causes new life in the bloodstream and to the organs of the body.
Con- First who start out will be fearful of being upside down and are not used to being bent backwards.
Pro- Builds strength/flexibilty/endurance throughout the whole body and with the proper breathing it can a calm and relaxing exercise
Con- Causes of bit of pressure to the head even in the proper position and the trainee must caution himself to not over do it.
Pro- After a period of training and mastering certain elements of the bridge the trainee can use to develop the body and the thickness of his/her neck .
Con- Most people don't see how it builds neck strength and do it improperly.
Pro- Once going through the process of bridging gymnasics (kick over and falling back) the trainee has a key sense of kenistetic awarness of his/her surroundings.
Con- People get scared of not knowing how aware and strong they can be and want to avoid the bridge.
There are many more but i'm sure you can come up with a few more. No matter how you put bridging works like a charm but it isnt for everybody and thats ok we need different structures and people feel limited to what they can really accomplish if they look hard enough. For me I love it and wouldn't be anywhere without it and all its elements and still got a bit more to learn but hey we all have to learn something. Bridging to me makes me feel like a million bucks, if I can pull off a 3 min. back bridge or hold a good gymnast bridge everything else seems easy cause not only is it challenging it builds character.
Once you get over the fear then you know you've come a long way. Keep learning and keep challenging yourself cause thats the only way to grow.
If you want to learn more about the bridge look up these sites that I feel are best to look. For Matt Furey's site go to his daily archives at the bottom of the site and you'll see some bridging articles, great reads. For the other site look for posts in the forum and there should be some there.
www.mattfurey.com
www.bronzebowpublishing.com
Advanced Bridging Course
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Push-Ups: Better then the Bench Press?
Thats been one of the world's top questions in fitness and there have been many answers, some good, some bad and some just plain stupid. Heres how I would pan it out by experiencing both. The bench press is the leading exercise in weightlifting and the most famous question "What can you bench" has been going on for decades since the 60's maybe longer. Benching can make you stronger but you will suffer many consequences as you progress to higher weight. Shoulder problems, tendonitis in the elbow, blown out triceps, chest pain, neck problems and torn trapizius joints. There are men and women that are some of the strongest people on the planet yet an extreme few can do push-ups. Whats wrong with this picture? People hitting a hardcore upper body developer and cant do some simple push-ups with their own bodyweight.
What people don't realize (and if they're smart to notice) is that push-ups build the entire body from head to toe from 100's apon 100's of angles. I can name quite a few but hey i'm sure you enthusiasts can come up with them on your own. Push-ups build a different kind of strength then from benching and yet there are very few injuries from push-ups then benching has. Push-ups create the body you want and deserve whether you want to lean and cut or big and burly. After experiencing both i've come to the conclusion that push-ups are far healthier and better yet have far more veriaties then benching.
If you want to build upper body power and become a true fitness machine here are the go to guys.
Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning- Push-ups
www.transformetrics.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
What people don't realize (and if they're smart to notice) is that push-ups build the entire body from head to toe from 100's apon 100's of angles. I can name quite a few but hey i'm sure you enthusiasts can come up with them on your own. Push-ups build a different kind of strength then from benching and yet there are very few injuries from push-ups then benching has. Push-ups create the body you want and deserve whether you want to lean and cut or big and burly. After experiencing both i've come to the conclusion that push-ups are far healthier and better yet have far more veriaties then benching.
If you want to build upper body power and become a true fitness machine here are the go to guys.
Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning- Push-ups
www.transformetrics.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Gama Fitness
Probably my top 5 program out of tons of books I have on strength/conditioning. A program by the controversal Matt Furey that was formulated after the greatest wrestler of all-time The Great Gama of India who was undefeted in 5000 matches and trained like an animal day in and day out. It was said by many articles of the great champion that he trained in thousands of calisthenics plus hours of swimming, running and wrestling and with these sayings its very exaggerated but at the same time you knew this man of a beast trained hard.
In this course you are taught how to develop strength in many areas including the mind. In each lesson out of 12 you will exercises that focus on ways to get your mind and muscles work in ways that are rarely taught today. If you learn what to do in this course alone you can do anything you wanted to do. It even teaches you how to gain/lose weight through the power of the mind and exercise and the obvious by eating.
Get into it, focus on what you want and just go with maximum force and make goals that will make you happy, feel energized, feel like a strong bear or gorilla and never put a bad thing into it and you will go far. Heres the lessons in this course:
Lesson One- Making goals and what to do to achieve then. this is probably the most important lessons in the course.
Lesson Two- Variations of Hindu Push-ups/Squats that increase muscular strength/endurance and flexibility.
Lesson Three- How to increase speed and explosiveness through hill sprints and various equipment.
Lesson Four- Going beyond the bridge and get into whats called Bridging Gymnastics.
Lesson Five- Keys to building incredible Pull-up strength and overall upper body development in that area.
Lesson Six- Isometrics used by Gama and some of the greatest athletes in the world in a series of non moving flexing and squeezing muscle groups.
Lesson Seven- Building strength and power using the Chest Expander. If you're a combat athlete or strongman you'll love this.
Lesson Eight- Exercises (other then Hindu PU's and Squats) that build great cardiovascular conditioning through the Power Wheel and Jump rope.
Lesson Nine- Stretches that simutaneously build Strength/Flexibility at the same time. Dont always believe in the fact if you want strength lift and stretch for flexibility.
Lesson Ten- Ways of rejuvinating the body after vigerous training.
Lesson Eleven- The keys to gaining/losing weight while training and how it can affect the body.
Lesson Twelve- The Muscle/Mind Connection and how it pans out for daily life and how you can use it effectively to achive anything you want.
This course sells at 215 bucks on Matt's site and well worth the dough but if you feel you dont want to pay that much then go to ebay, you'll see it somewhere. This is by far the course when it comes doing high levels of conditioning even for the elite. Have fun and hope you get a kick out of it.
www.mattfurey.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
In this course you are taught how to develop strength in many areas including the mind. In each lesson out of 12 you will exercises that focus on ways to get your mind and muscles work in ways that are rarely taught today. If you learn what to do in this course alone you can do anything you wanted to do. It even teaches you how to gain/lose weight through the power of the mind and exercise and the obvious by eating.
Get into it, focus on what you want and just go with maximum force and make goals that will make you happy, feel energized, feel like a strong bear or gorilla and never put a bad thing into it and you will go far. Heres the lessons in this course:
Lesson One- Making goals and what to do to achieve then. this is probably the most important lessons in the course.
Lesson Two- Variations of Hindu Push-ups/Squats that increase muscular strength/endurance and flexibility.
Lesson Three- How to increase speed and explosiveness through hill sprints and various equipment.
Lesson Four- Going beyond the bridge and get into whats called Bridging Gymnastics.
Lesson Five- Keys to building incredible Pull-up strength and overall upper body development in that area.
Lesson Six- Isometrics used by Gama and some of the greatest athletes in the world in a series of non moving flexing and squeezing muscle groups.
Lesson Seven- Building strength and power using the Chest Expander. If you're a combat athlete or strongman you'll love this.
Lesson Eight- Exercises (other then Hindu PU's and Squats) that build great cardiovascular conditioning through the Power Wheel and Jump rope.
Lesson Nine- Stretches that simutaneously build Strength/Flexibility at the same time. Dont always believe in the fact if you want strength lift and stretch for flexibility.
Lesson Ten- Ways of rejuvinating the body after vigerous training.
Lesson Eleven- The keys to gaining/losing weight while training and how it can affect the body.
Lesson Twelve- The Muscle/Mind Connection and how it pans out for daily life and how you can use it effectively to achive anything you want.
This course sells at 215 bucks on Matt's site and well worth the dough but if you feel you dont want to pay that much then go to ebay, you'll see it somewhere. This is by far the course when it comes doing high levels of conditioning even for the elite. Have fun and hope you get a kick out of it.
www.mattfurey.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Monday, March 26, 2007
Strongman And Feats They Attempt
What makes a person strong and powerful that no matter what they do its going to be a jaw dropper? Is it proper training? Is it genetics? Or is it pure fire and determination to pull off such a risky attempt at something dangerous?
Well any one of those things can be a factor but the fact of the matter is there are human beings in this world are just flat out strong as hell small or big they're tough. What are some of the feats these people pull off?
Pulling Boats
Tearing Phonebooks
Deadlifting 800 lbs.
Bending very tough nails
Benching 1000 pounds
Human Turkish Get-Up
Closing The Number 4 COC Handgripper (365 lbs. of pressure)
These are all the things strongman around the world have attempted and some even went beyond what the feat even required. I feel if you want to get strong you have to put in hard work and go through intense mental conditioning to train for your feat(s). I love watching strongman competitions and it never ceases to amaze what these men and women pull off. Theres an old saying "Everyone loves a strongman" and its very true to its highest extent. No matter what you do around the world you will see someone do extraordinary things with extreme objects (weights, nails, books, hammers ect.) and one way or another your jaw will drop and your eyes will pop out.
There are 6 billion people on the planet but just under 1 million are strongman. These are the men with high level talents and pure raw power. You wont find a strongman in a gym lifting pink dumbbells and doing pussy weights on the machines. Those are the big men of the iron game. There are other strongman out there that look like the average joe or jan but have extraordinary gifts. Can you imagine 165 pound man tearing a phone book thats about 1000 pages but tears it with his thumb and forfingers, not likely but there is one out there and he's considered pound for pound the strongest man on the planet for the feats he performs. Can you see a 230 pound man holding a one-arm handstand against the wall on his weak arm. Not likely but there is a guy out there who can do it.
Never asume a person can't be strong cause of his size and age, thats what most people look at and yet feel like an idiot when they see that person do something that they couldnt imagine them doing. Theres a strongman inside of all of us, the question is can you bring it out and will you use it? Never sell short you can't be strong.
If you want to have the strongest hands on the planet these guys will help get you there whether you're a beginning strongman or an world-class powerhouse.
www.dennisrogers.net
www.functionalhandstrength.com
www.oldtimestrongman.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Well any one of those things can be a factor but the fact of the matter is there are human beings in this world are just flat out strong as hell small or big they're tough. What are some of the feats these people pull off?
Pulling Boats
Tearing Phonebooks
Deadlifting 800 lbs.
Bending very tough nails
Benching 1000 pounds
Human Turkish Get-Up
Closing The Number 4 COC Handgripper (365 lbs. of pressure)
These are all the things strongman around the world have attempted and some even went beyond what the feat even required. I feel if you want to get strong you have to put in hard work and go through intense mental conditioning to train for your feat(s). I love watching strongman competitions and it never ceases to amaze what these men and women pull off. Theres an old saying "Everyone loves a strongman" and its very true to its highest extent. No matter what you do around the world you will see someone do extraordinary things with extreme objects (weights, nails, books, hammers ect.) and one way or another your jaw will drop and your eyes will pop out.
There are 6 billion people on the planet but just under 1 million are strongman. These are the men with high level talents and pure raw power. You wont find a strongman in a gym lifting pink dumbbells and doing pussy weights on the machines. Those are the big men of the iron game. There are other strongman out there that look like the average joe or jan but have extraordinary gifts. Can you imagine 165 pound man tearing a phone book thats about 1000 pages but tears it with his thumb and forfingers, not likely but there is one out there and he's considered pound for pound the strongest man on the planet for the feats he performs. Can you see a 230 pound man holding a one-arm handstand against the wall on his weak arm. Not likely but there is a guy out there who can do it.
Never asume a person can't be strong cause of his size and age, thats what most people look at and yet feel like an idiot when they see that person do something that they couldnt imagine them doing. Theres a strongman inside of all of us, the question is can you bring it out and will you use it? Never sell short you can't be strong.
If you want to have the strongest hands on the planet these guys will help get you there whether you're a beginning strongman or an world-class powerhouse.
www.dennisrogers.net
www.functionalhandstrength.com
www.oldtimestrongman.com
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Saturday, March 24, 2007
The Great Gama Of India
Ghulum Mohammed aka. The Great Gama was born into a wrestling family that had a legendary legacy and He was soon to follow. Started training at the age of 8 in the sand pits. He gradually built up tremendous strength and endurance that by age 11 he was to enter in a contest of 100's of young wrestlers. It wasnt a wrestling competition it was to determine what exercises these young boys finished that would sure them as either winners or losers. They exercised with indian clubs, maces, hindu push-ups, squats, bridging ect. Gama was declared the winner by a great margin.
As for his training, legend has it he trained everyday by doing thousands of calisthenics and swam and wrestled for hours. Although the numbers seem aggerative it was clear that this young man had the will and mental attitude to withstand such physical training that within the peak of his career he was 5'7 at nearly 260 pounds of solid muscle and might. He wrestled with the best of them wrestling men that came from europe, asia and the americas and none of them seemed to match the strength and will power of Gama. It was estimated that in 5000 matches he was never defeted and hardly ever taken down.
Many men feared him even the great american champions Frank Gotch, George Hackenshmidt ect. Whoever stepped in the pits or the ring knew that they were in for a rough night and yet never seemed to beat him. I admire this man as a world-class athlete and being strong as a bull and even more with an iron mentality. Nobody can match his strength and athleticism not even today when you have rough and tough wrestlers (real wrestlers not in the WWE). His philosophy and program became legendary and were attempted by many but few can follow up just barely a quarter of his power.
If we had more wrestlers like him today, we'd be the number 1 sport in america and the world but not many people want to see things like this. They rather be entertained then be in awe of what power they really possess. Anywho, over the years Gama won championships, took on all comers and after retirement trained his nephews and they became legendary athletes. Gama will and always be the worlds greatest wrestler. If anyone can match half of what he did i'd love to meet him but sadly I feel it will never happen.
If you want to look at the full story of Gama here it is.
http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/bios/gama2.html
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
As for his training, legend has it he trained everyday by doing thousands of calisthenics and swam and wrestled for hours. Although the numbers seem aggerative it was clear that this young man had the will and mental attitude to withstand such physical training that within the peak of his career he was 5'7 at nearly 260 pounds of solid muscle and might. He wrestled with the best of them wrestling men that came from europe, asia and the americas and none of them seemed to match the strength and will power of Gama. It was estimated that in 5000 matches he was never defeted and hardly ever taken down.
Many men feared him even the great american champions Frank Gotch, George Hackenshmidt ect. Whoever stepped in the pits or the ring knew that they were in for a rough night and yet never seemed to beat him. I admire this man as a world-class athlete and being strong as a bull and even more with an iron mentality. Nobody can match his strength and athleticism not even today when you have rough and tough wrestlers (real wrestlers not in the WWE). His philosophy and program became legendary and were attempted by many but few can follow up just barely a quarter of his power.
If we had more wrestlers like him today, we'd be the number 1 sport in america and the world but not many people want to see things like this. They rather be entertained then be in awe of what power they really possess. Anywho, over the years Gama won championships, took on all comers and after retirement trained his nephews and they became legendary athletes. Gama will and always be the worlds greatest wrestler. If anyone can match half of what he did i'd love to meet him but sadly I feel it will never happen.
If you want to look at the full story of Gama here it is.
http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/bios/gama2.html
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
Friday, March 23, 2007
My Story pt.2
After high school, I took time off and just did nothing, cried and just got very depressed and being at home with my dad wasnt making life any easier. He kept pushing me to get a job when I knew i wasnt up for it and not because I didnt want one, I wanted to just be myself and break myself from this depression and anxiety so I left my dads and moved a few miles to live with my mom. I needed the change and this was the only place where I felt safe and get my anger out and create new things for myself.
In september of '03 I went to a small community college in Aptos, CA about 10 miles from where I lived and went to classes for a week and told myself "this isnt you and things wont get easier later on" so I left college to do weightlifting full-time. I signed up for a 2 year application and went to the gym. I lifted around 3 times a week sometimes 6 and had my ups and downs. Tried every routine in the book and all I wanted to do was lift heavy weights and just wanted to powerful as hell, I let out my inner hulk and just blasted everything that was near me. I went as far as to passing out from doing a circuit and just didnt realize where I was and just fainted.
I lost weight, gained weight, lost and gained again and this went on for two years and at a certain point I was around 260 pounds and it wasnt all that much muscle either. I did protein shakes, ate the bars, lift whatever the advanced bodybuilder was doing and just didnt get anywhere yet kept going. I ended up hurting my right knee more and pulled hams, bum elbow, bad wrists and I was in no way of getting "hardcore" looking abs. I just didnt have the mentality but the fire to keep going.
I lost the weight and wanted to try out powerlifting cause I thought I was pretty good at nearly 1500 total pounds in the three lifts plus i can go all day doing 600 pound leg presses so I thought i'd try. 2 days after my last run at the gym I went to the beach with some girls and had a little picnic with them and wanted to jump off this 25ft cliff that was directly above us. Me and a girl went up (i've jumped off this several times prior to this day) and she jumped of the right side and i jumped on the left (very stupid) and something terribly went wrong with the landing.
I landed so hard on the sand that my ankles just broke and I was in excrusiating pain, I lifted up my left leg as much i can muster and it looked pale and like a little broken slinky it rocked side to side. As much as I was in pain I wanted to get out of the water and so with everything I had I used my upper body to crawl to shore and it was only 15ft but felt like a mile. One woman told me to get up and I thought I was gonna whack her cause everyone there knew i couldnt just get up. A couple guys pulled me in and the girl I went with called the ambulence while I was laying in the sun trying not to be in pain and think positively when no one in their right mind would at a time like this. The paramedics came and asked me all the dumb questions you get asked and answered everyone of them without even blinking. Got rolled up on the girney and was strapped in and carried me up the cliff on the other side.
At the hospital this where I just lost it and thought I would never walk again. I wanted to see everyone I knew and just be with them. I was covered in sand from head to toe and was freezing my ass off. After they ran some tests on me I found out the bad news. I shattered my left tibia-fibula in half as well broke almost all the bones in both my ankles and there was no chance in hell i'd walk within the next year. I had surgery that night and ended staying in the hospital for 5 days and hatting every minute of it.
I was told right from there I needed a 6-8 month recovery if I didnt want to put a rod in there and if I did it be a little quicker but a much better chance of getting it infected. As a stubborn ass I chose the rod cause I told everyone I was gonna beat this and get stronger without too much help. I was so fired up that one day when I first learned to get into a wheel chair, they asked me to use the pull-up handle at the top of the bed and use 2 hands plus 2 other people to help me. I ended up doing a one-arm pull-up and jumped into the chair lol. I thought those guys were gonna die from shock. I never did a pull-up in my life until then. That was my first sign of bodyweight training. Anyway I learned how to use the wheel chair and went home a couple days later getting a hospital bed for the living room.
It was aggrevating cause I had a cast on that covered my entire left and couldnt move very well. I started making up lifting routines for my recovery and for some odd reason I kept throwing them away cause I knew there was something missing in that picture. So for weeks and weeks having a second surgery and in and out of hospitals I started researching for rehabing leg injuries and I came across this site that only focused on Bodyweight Training and was just fasinated by it. 2 weeks before my last surgery I ordered this guys book and was just in awe of what it had in it. I told myself this is the program for my rehab, no physical therapy just plain old school bodyweight training. I got so fasinated by it I started checking out other sites on the subject and I came across this site called Bronze Bow.
My last surgery was July 29th, exactly 2 and a half months after my accident I had the oppertunity to start walking again. I didnt hesitate that 2 days after my surgery my first job was to start training and strengthen those suckers. Since I got other books off this guys site I got another book that had the title Pushing Yourself To Power. Got it at a local borders in my hometown and started reading it. Loved the exercises and got hooked.
5 months after learning how to walk again and training to strengthen them, I was put to another gruelling test. I went to Lake Tahoe in January of last year with the family and just wanted to have some fun, went through a rough time about a girl and nobody was liking what I did for training and watching and studying conditioning dvds, I challenged myself to one of the most brutal workouts at one of the highest altitudes in the world. It was called the Karl Gotch Bible where you take a deck of cards and whatever number comes up you do that many push-ups or squats. Being crazy and stubborn I wanted to beat the deck and just have some fun with it. I had my dad flip the cards and tell me what number it was and what type of push-ups i would do, I kept the squats naturally. After about 25 min. I looked at my dad and he said "Ben, you just did an entire deck of cards, you are one crazy bastard" and my stepmom told me how high up we were in the mountains and I think she said around 15,000ft and told me a small few of world class athletes can pull off something to what I just did and they're jaws stayed dropped for god knows how long.
Over the next year I just started amping up by adding a few feats of strength to my regimen and train whatver I can and push myself when I need to and its kept me happy. I'm apart of one of the best forums on the planet and its founder has helped me reach goals I never thought possible and his encouragement and wisdom has inspired me and I feel like I have a new family to look up to. There are a few people I want to thank for pushing me and encouraging me to be my best and shoot whatever i want to achieve new goals and new feats:
Tyler Bramlett
Logan Christopher
Matt Furey
Brooks Kubik
John Wood
And last but not least: John Peterson. I wanted to save the best for last and although we've only talked and chatted a few times I still feel my guardian angel wanted me to contact you and be apart of your forum. You have giving me a new hope for building super strength and conventional wisdom and knowledge and I believe you and I were meant to speak to each other and meet one another and its giving me a whole new blessing. Thank you my friend and I hope in the near future i'll join the Bronze Bow Team as an author and teacher to all. Best wishes and hope to talk to you soon my brother.
If any of you guys need a place to go to to get great info on fitness and look for people that you want advise from Bronze Bow is the place to go. You won't regret it. Hope all who reads this understand that what you want in life it wont come to you on a silver platter, take it and never let it go. Never feel you're too old to do anything you want. Believe in yourself and you will go far.
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
email me at bronzebowpublishing.com or at Wrestlenerd84@yahoo.com and tell me what you thought of this story.
In september of '03 I went to a small community college in Aptos, CA about 10 miles from where I lived and went to classes for a week and told myself "this isnt you and things wont get easier later on" so I left college to do weightlifting full-time. I signed up for a 2 year application and went to the gym. I lifted around 3 times a week sometimes 6 and had my ups and downs. Tried every routine in the book and all I wanted to do was lift heavy weights and just wanted to powerful as hell, I let out my inner hulk and just blasted everything that was near me. I went as far as to passing out from doing a circuit and just didnt realize where I was and just fainted.
I lost weight, gained weight, lost and gained again and this went on for two years and at a certain point I was around 260 pounds and it wasnt all that much muscle either. I did protein shakes, ate the bars, lift whatever the advanced bodybuilder was doing and just didnt get anywhere yet kept going. I ended up hurting my right knee more and pulled hams, bum elbow, bad wrists and I was in no way of getting "hardcore" looking abs. I just didnt have the mentality but the fire to keep going.
I lost the weight and wanted to try out powerlifting cause I thought I was pretty good at nearly 1500 total pounds in the three lifts plus i can go all day doing 600 pound leg presses so I thought i'd try. 2 days after my last run at the gym I went to the beach with some girls and had a little picnic with them and wanted to jump off this 25ft cliff that was directly above us. Me and a girl went up (i've jumped off this several times prior to this day) and she jumped of the right side and i jumped on the left (very stupid) and something terribly went wrong with the landing.
I landed so hard on the sand that my ankles just broke and I was in excrusiating pain, I lifted up my left leg as much i can muster and it looked pale and like a little broken slinky it rocked side to side. As much as I was in pain I wanted to get out of the water and so with everything I had I used my upper body to crawl to shore and it was only 15ft but felt like a mile. One woman told me to get up and I thought I was gonna whack her cause everyone there knew i couldnt just get up. A couple guys pulled me in and the girl I went with called the ambulence while I was laying in the sun trying not to be in pain and think positively when no one in their right mind would at a time like this. The paramedics came and asked me all the dumb questions you get asked and answered everyone of them without even blinking. Got rolled up on the girney and was strapped in and carried me up the cliff on the other side.
At the hospital this where I just lost it and thought I would never walk again. I wanted to see everyone I knew and just be with them. I was covered in sand from head to toe and was freezing my ass off. After they ran some tests on me I found out the bad news. I shattered my left tibia-fibula in half as well broke almost all the bones in both my ankles and there was no chance in hell i'd walk within the next year. I had surgery that night and ended staying in the hospital for 5 days and hatting every minute of it.
I was told right from there I needed a 6-8 month recovery if I didnt want to put a rod in there and if I did it be a little quicker but a much better chance of getting it infected. As a stubborn ass I chose the rod cause I told everyone I was gonna beat this and get stronger without too much help. I was so fired up that one day when I first learned to get into a wheel chair, they asked me to use the pull-up handle at the top of the bed and use 2 hands plus 2 other people to help me. I ended up doing a one-arm pull-up and jumped into the chair lol. I thought those guys were gonna die from shock. I never did a pull-up in my life until then. That was my first sign of bodyweight training. Anyway I learned how to use the wheel chair and went home a couple days later getting a hospital bed for the living room.
It was aggrevating cause I had a cast on that covered my entire left and couldnt move very well. I started making up lifting routines for my recovery and for some odd reason I kept throwing them away cause I knew there was something missing in that picture. So for weeks and weeks having a second surgery and in and out of hospitals I started researching for rehabing leg injuries and I came across this site that only focused on Bodyweight Training and was just fasinated by it. 2 weeks before my last surgery I ordered this guys book and was just in awe of what it had in it. I told myself this is the program for my rehab, no physical therapy just plain old school bodyweight training. I got so fasinated by it I started checking out other sites on the subject and I came across this site called Bronze Bow.
My last surgery was July 29th, exactly 2 and a half months after my accident I had the oppertunity to start walking again. I didnt hesitate that 2 days after my surgery my first job was to start training and strengthen those suckers. Since I got other books off this guys site I got another book that had the title Pushing Yourself To Power. Got it at a local borders in my hometown and started reading it. Loved the exercises and got hooked.
5 months after learning how to walk again and training to strengthen them, I was put to another gruelling test. I went to Lake Tahoe in January of last year with the family and just wanted to have some fun, went through a rough time about a girl and nobody was liking what I did for training and watching and studying conditioning dvds, I challenged myself to one of the most brutal workouts at one of the highest altitudes in the world. It was called the Karl Gotch Bible where you take a deck of cards and whatever number comes up you do that many push-ups or squats. Being crazy and stubborn I wanted to beat the deck and just have some fun with it. I had my dad flip the cards and tell me what number it was and what type of push-ups i would do, I kept the squats naturally. After about 25 min. I looked at my dad and he said "Ben, you just did an entire deck of cards, you are one crazy bastard" and my stepmom told me how high up we were in the mountains and I think she said around 15,000ft and told me a small few of world class athletes can pull off something to what I just did and they're jaws stayed dropped for god knows how long.
Over the next year I just started amping up by adding a few feats of strength to my regimen and train whatver I can and push myself when I need to and its kept me happy. I'm apart of one of the best forums on the planet and its founder has helped me reach goals I never thought possible and his encouragement and wisdom has inspired me and I feel like I have a new family to look up to. There are a few people I want to thank for pushing me and encouraging me to be my best and shoot whatever i want to achieve new goals and new feats:
Tyler Bramlett
Logan Christopher
Matt Furey
Brooks Kubik
John Wood
And last but not least: John Peterson. I wanted to save the best for last and although we've only talked and chatted a few times I still feel my guardian angel wanted me to contact you and be apart of your forum. You have giving me a new hope for building super strength and conventional wisdom and knowledge and I believe you and I were meant to speak to each other and meet one another and its giving me a whole new blessing. Thank you my friend and I hope in the near future i'll join the Bronze Bow Team as an author and teacher to all. Best wishes and hope to talk to you soon my brother.
If any of you guys need a place to go to to get great info on fitness and look for people that you want advise from Bronze Bow is the place to go. You won't regret it. Hope all who reads this understand that what you want in life it wont come to you on a silver platter, take it and never let it go. Never feel you're too old to do anything you want. Believe in yourself and you will go far.
Yours in Power & Might
Ben
email me at bronzebowpublishing.com or at Wrestlenerd84@yahoo.com and tell me what you thought of this story.
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