Sunday, September 14, 2008

How To Use "The Force"

Is the force real or is it science fiction like in Star Wars. Well it is and it isn't and heres why it is......Within all of us there is a energy that can be used to relieve stress or create it in a heartbeat. In that energy holds the key to health and strength in any endeavor. The force as we know it in real life means Deep Breathing. Our breath is the elixir of life according to Fitness legend Jack Lalanne and so true it is. If a 94 year old man can tell you that and prove it then how can it not. Deep breathing reduces stress, trains the body from the inside and creates strength that you just can't get anywhere else. We can live without water or food for as long as 2 weeks I believe before we start to die but we can't live without breathing. The breath is the life force that lives in all of us and all who have learned it and mastered it can use it in any way they choose. Learn to Breath deeply and you can create whatever you want in life. Now can we move objects or take over someone's minds for a period, no so don't even try it but we can create energy to take hold of super human strength or built up speed and endurance thats just off the charts powerful but more importantly we can create energy that builds mind power and create imiginations that we thought were impossible.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Are Tendons More Important Than Muscles When It Comes To Strength?

When I watched the Slim The Hammer Man DVD about Slim Farman who's considered to be the remaining of the old-time strongman who has the superhuman ability to lift big poundages in sledgehammers. In the video he says that Tendons are very important in your quest for strength. Why is this and I started gaining my own observation.

 Tendons are part of the attatchments to certain parts of the human body like the the joints and such. When we talk about feats of strength there are 2 ways to figure out how strong a person's body is, when lifting heavy weight you would think he'd have strong and powerful muscles but in terms of bending, tearing and breaking, were looking at how tough a strongman's tendons are in his wrists, fingers and forearms.

 These are 2 totally different concepts so heres how I feel can be put into place. We build muscles all the time, we can't make more muscle tissue but they can grow, even with women they can grow to a certain degree as oppose to men who grow them to gargantuan proportions as you see in bodybuilding but what about the tendons. These are the things that help in everyday life and more and more people don't seem to want to take care them and they develop arthritis and joint pain and all sorts of ailments.

 There are many types of strength and we all can develop certain qualities to them and without question I feel Slim was right when tendons are important when you want to develop superhuman strength. I work my tendons almost all the time through bending, tearing, joint loosening, finger work, massage ect. My tendons over the last few have become so strong that when I massage somebody (I'am Certified by the way) that I can dig into the tissue hard and quick and have the ability to give people a massage just using my pinkies and their jaws drop when I show them which finger I was using when I push into the tissue and massage the joints.

 It is apparent that if you want to have strong tendons the key is to keep them healthy at all times just like the rest of the body. So to answer the Title question, it depends on how you look at it from a certain point of view and I do believe that if you want true world class strength, the tendons should be worked more and the muscles will follow.

P.S if you want to get The DVD on the Hammer Man I highly recommend it if you want to learn what it takes to be a real strongman and how to develop strength thats just unbelieveable.

www.dennisrogers.net

Be back soon for another Strength Post,

Maximus Bendius

Monday, July 7, 2008

Power Of The Animals...... 2nd Addition

I have studied physical culture for well over 10 years now and I've seen plenty of awesome things and plenty of dumb things. I have read, put effort into exercise and even listened to some great individuals. Through all of this I don't believe without question physical culture wouldn't be possible if our older species the animals hadn't been around. They are the true originators of exercise and survival. Not the exercise where they get up in the morning and do this or that no what I'm saying is survival practice. There's nothing more graceful nor beautiful not even stronger then an animal in the wild. Since the dawn of man we have feared and loved the raw power and strength of such a creature. In martial arts a wild animal is sacred and cherished through one's particular art. In China they mimicked many animals to train in their art of combat and look how powerful they were not by just the looks but the inner spirit and strength they have shown from generation to generation. In India (Some call the birthplace of Physical Culture) they tackled animal movements to take them to great heights in their art of wrestling and from time they became some call the greatest wrestlers of our time and if you don't believe me look up the Great Gama India's athlete to our Dan Gable. When you look at someone moving like a wild animal it looks a little silly and down right funny but at the other end of the spectrum I wouldn't dare mess with him/her cause it may look funny but its deadly within the experience and hard earned effort he/she has developed. Moving like an animal gives you a new way of individuality and claiming our birthright to be strong, in great health and limber. When I train in the way of a wild animal I wanna feel I can transform into one as I move freely and powerfully with that way I know I'm not only getting strong in and out but have fun while doing it. I have learned many ways to move like one but once you gained the knowledge you have the power to create your own way of moving like one. We will never be as powerful as a wild animal but we can damn sure become stronger then the average human and it takes less time to get to a gym and get dressed then train. It could be done anywhere anytime so never underestimate the power of the animal.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Focus & Concentration Are Keys To Your Training Success!!!!!!

Why do this? Well for one if you want superior results you got to concentrate on what you want and focus on the task at hand. Its not everyday in this age where you see a whole lot of people staying focused on their training......I see this a lot and I fell into this a few times and I regret it and that's when you go to he gym, you will find that almost 95% of the people there don't even put effort and focus on their training and that's just plain sad.....I've seen guys talk to people and they say they want to get in shape and do this and do that and I'm thinking "How about shut the hell up and do what you keep saying you're going top do." When I went all I wanted to do was get strong and lift hard. I worked with a few guys and they helped my focus a lot but at the other end of the spectrum I see others on treadmills watching TV and having a fan blow in their face as if they're afraid to sweat. Get over it the sweat helps burn off the calories and drain fat out of your system. Its a healthy practice and forgive me but if you don't want to sweat while training don't bother showing up or working. Like I said before if you truly want great results then you got to focus on it don't talk to someone you can chit chat any other time but now is the time for you and what you want to accomplish. When I train at a park or something and I'm really into my workout I block everything out including people wanting to ask what the hell I'm doing or if they tell me how stupid or freaky it looks. I want results I want control over my own training. I'm not here to chat or give you tips if you want to ask me what I'm doing or feel you have to say something either come and train and listen with your eyes or shut up and leave me alone cause I rather have fun and train the way I want then to listen or pay attention to you. Sorry if I'm being brash but its the truth and I love what I do. Some people just don't get it and that's OK that's them but if you wanna talk while someone else is training do it at home or take it someplace else. Focus & Concentration is power to getting not only faster results but create mind power over yourself and your darkest place in your mind. If you can channel your mind to block out anything except your current workout then you got some serious Focus & Concentration Strength.

Yours In Strength & Health

Ben

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Is there The Best Course Of All-time??????

People ask this question quite often and before I reveal the answer lets take a little insight to whats good and what isn't:

There are courses out there on everything fitness from Bodybuilding, Feats Of Strength, Body-weight Exercise, Yoga, Tai Chi, QiGong, Power-lifting and many more. We all have certain interests and ideas of what makes us fit and where could we get the best information. Almost everything has been done so there isn't anything new under the sun. We also have different body structures so certain things work for us and some don't. We can't all have the same body so why should we do certain things many others do. Some of us are genetically gifted others are not so since they can't do one thing there's always another. There's an old saying "One door closes, another opens" so if we don't have the ability to train a certain way another door could be opened for new and surprising opportunities. There are also things that just flat out not good for any of us and for the fact that is if we do too much we could hurt ourselves, I've done that plenty of times and I know somebody has been through hell worse then I have. Its not easy choosing what works what doesn't. Someone says something another disagrees and puts pressure on you to do what they know or better yet get you to turn your back on the thing you love and you find out it worked for you.

So to answer the burning question...............No. There is not a course out there is considered number 1 in the world and for good reason. You have to figure out what that reason is. Do what works for you and start at a level you are comfortable with and push yourself at your own pace. There are a great deal of courses out there that you can take up but only a few will work to your strengths and weaknesses. For me I like to combine certain things and that creates my own course of health and fitness which happens to work. You have a brain find what works, experiment, research and look inside yourself and you will find something that suits your needs. Don't listen to what others say find it for you and you will be your own master and developer of your own body.

Yours in Strength & Health,

Ben

Monday, June 16, 2008

Jack Lalanne....Fitness Pioneer & Living Legend

They call him the "Godfather" of Fitness and they call him a legend. I believe that not only the 2 are true but they even go beyond the great wisdom of the man. He is one of my greatest influences and inspirations to be fit and be happy with myself. The story of this great man has more words then I could ever write. I'll do my best to put it in my view of this powerful infuence to millions of his students:

At a young age little Jackie was like a lot of the young boys of the early 20th century, sickly, ate a lot of junk food and had short fuses. He was hooked on ice cream and the such and didn't exercise and just didn't put in the effort to give himself the change. At age 15 his mother took him to see one of the biggest names of the fitness industry and that was the late legendary Paul Bragg and he talked about nutrition, daily exercise and a clean living and that changed Jack Lalanne forever. At the height of the great depression that destroyed people's financial and emotional well being, Jack learned the power of exercise and nurtition and opened the first Health Spa in the U.S that gave people the oppertunity to change their lives and physical as well as emotional success. He created machines that would revolutionize the fitness industry and encouraged people from all walks of life to get fit and become a new and a new well put human being. All this around the ages of 22 and up. He made a solom vow to get people fit the best way he knew how. He studied many things from under the sun from chriopractic to nutrition to anatomy and physiology. Within 20 years after his successful practice as a physical culturist and lecturer he decided a very rare thing that only the physical culturists of the past did and thats to stay fit and strong after the age 40 when at that time most people barely lived to be 50. This was such a shocking hobby at the time for just about every american in the U.S and he proved that by doing 1000+ push-ups and 1000 pull-ups in over an hour on a tv show in 1954. Doing this feat and things before this feat gave him the oppertunity to do something never seen before in the history of television and thats teach his methods of exercise on a weekly exercise show. This became the longest running fitness show in TV history. At each birthday every few years or so he would put himself in a situation where he would do a feat of strength/endurance that he felt fit his fancy and every feat he did never was broken again. Throughout the years Jack continued to practiced what he preaches and still does it to this day at the age of 94.....Thats not a typo, 94 years young and still has the strength of men nearly 3 times his age. Who else can say that about someone let alone men his age who can't walk nor move without assistance. To quote him about his practice "I can't die, it'll ruin my image" that is by far one of the best quotes ive ever read and all I can say is Jack is an immortal human being and very rarely you see men of his stature in this day in age.


It is an honor to have this man as one of many influences of physical culture and continue to read and listen to his powerful wisdom and humor cause in todays society looking good is the way to go to get ahead in life but he never believed that to be true and nor do I. He sais it best "Exercise is King, Nutrition is Queen put them together and you got a kindom."

To find out more of this Living Legend go to:

www.jacklalanne.com

Yours in Health & Strength,

Ben Bergman

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Handbalancing & Could You Use It For Training????

In the Golden Age of Physical Culture where exercise and nutrition were at its dominance and Strongmen ruled the world all over there were a great deal of those men and women who were exceptional hand balancers ranging from Sandow to weightlifting legend Doug Hepburn. This was another source of training for them as it gave them not only upper body strength but a powerful kinesthetic awareness.

 They had learned from acrobats in the circus and wanted to imitate them, some did and others wanted another form of strength. Today rarely do you ever see strongmen and other experts in fitness doing this form of training. These days the only way to see true hand balancing and awe dropping feats is from its show-business orgins now known as Cirque Du Soleil where the world best acrobats/gymnasts perform. Its just awesome seeing someone hold themselves up o they're hands and on objects, but imagine doing something not as far fetched as this but can do it yourself. Wouldn't that be awesome?????

  I certainly have done some HB and have been able to hold up on my hands for a few seconds but even then it feels incredible. So to answer your question from the main title, YES!!!! You could use it in your training cause been able to hold handstand without a wall takes balance, skill, coordination, strength and well rounded flexibility. All those into one single thing that could turn into a powerful show of moves and then some. Now is it for everyone???? No but most could depending on your weight-to-body ratio and structure. Where could you learn it, its 100's of dollars to see Cirque De Soleil, most hand balancing books are worn out and out of print these days but there is one place that gives you the secrets and teaches the true art form of it. Look below to go to it.

Hand Balancing Mastery Course

Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups

Hand Balancing Stands

Free Handstand Video

Lost Art Of Hand Balancing


Yours in Strength & Health

Ben

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