Thursday, January 20, 2011

How To Use A Deck Of Cards For Optimal Conditioning

There are a million waysd to get into shape....We can lift weights, get on a cardio machine, go through circuit training, do animal exercise but what if we took a workout to the next level by using a deck of cards and went through a 30 min. training session thats just off the chain. Pick 1-4 exercises and hammer them with a vengence and do them with the best form possible. Lets say for example you want to do push-ups. Pick 4 types of push-ups that go with a card thats either spades, diamonds, hearts and clubs. Go through the deck as much as you can and if you are willing to go for the gold, use the jokers as well. Thats one workout to do but then a real ass kicker of a workout would consist of Push-ups, Squats and Sit-ups....Pick 2 types of push-ups, one squat and one type of sit-up. Work with what you can do and take as little rest as possible. If you're new to it after each card take a couple breaths and move on. The reps for the cards are pretty simple.

Kings, Queens, Jacks: 10-15 Reps

Ace: 15-20 Reps

Numbered Cards: 2-10 Reps

Jokers: 25-50 Reps

At possible work up to finishing the deck in under 30 minutes. My best time doing 2 Exercises is just under 25 minutes. Now thats cruising but thats only 2 exercises.

Now I would say the most brutal form of deck training is not doing repititions but taking in breaths. Now picture for a moment you draw a card and if you pick a squat then you hold a position for that many breaths. It may not sound hard but once you get to about 10 cards you'll start seeing Jesus walk on water. To me this is the ultimate aerobic isometric workout. When it comes to a joker you can pick any exercise you want its up to you and trust me its better to do 50 reps then do 50 Breaths. If you can't do the breathing reps then hold a position for seconds. I've gone through a deck of cards just doing Breathing Repititions and by the time I was done I was Niagra Falls with a touch of rain drops. This takes conditioning to a whole new deminsion and this type of training in of itself can get you in the best shape possible. Try it out and get your workout going unlike anything else before.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Whats The Big Deal On Animal Exercises?

When people go to the gym, they do a half hour of cardio and an hour of weights. They do this off and on for months sometimes years and a good portion of them don't get the results they want or expect of themselves too much. Now for one before they even get to the gym they need to drive, change and hopefully theres a machine or station they can get to before the previous person. To me thats too much of a pain in the ass to do and I hate waiting to do something. If you want results you have to move your body in different directions that require more then 1 or 2 muscle groups its most or the whole body that needs to move. One of the greatest wrestlers whoever lived said it best "You will find that animals in the wild are in the greatest of shape by using their own body and stretching." That was said by the late Karl Gotch. He personified the meaning of conditioning. If you want the best results take a long look at the conditioning of the wild animal whether its a tiger, gorilla, cheetah, Bear or frog. They're powerful in every sense of the word. We may not develop like an animal but we can be pound for pound far stronger then the average person.

Someone may be able to bench press 500 pounds but I dare them to move like a bear for 5min. straight. I guarantee they won't last 40 sec. If you want to get results move like a wild animal, get outside and be your favortite animal whether its a primate or the largest land carnivore on the planet it doesn't matter. Even doing 5 min. of exercise to start can help your conditioning go a long way. The only time you shouldn't go outside to workout is if theres a hurricane, typhoon, monsoon, tornado or if its 10 below zero. You can even get your kids into it because their health is very important in this day in age. Your health is important too. The great benefits of Animal Exercise is that it creates more Human Growth Hormone in your body which helps make you stronger, healthier and can help you stay young.

When you train start with just a few min. and thats it. do an exercise for a minimum 30 seconds. Take a few breaths for rest then get down for another 30 seconds. Work up to 15 minutes of exercise. This is really all you need but its up to you for how long you want to train. You will get fitter, you will get leaner, you'll burn fat and build muscle in ways not many other methods can match. The guy who can help you get started in that area is my good friend Ed Baran. As an animal himself he practices what he preaches and is one of the fittest men I know. He's in his mid-late 40's and looks no older then 30. He will help you get you in the best shape of your life. If he can help me he'll help you as well. Check out his animal courses below, Animal Kingdom Conditioning & Wild Animal Fitness For Kids.

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Saturday, January 15, 2011

My 10 Favorite Bodyweight Exercises

When I train, I want to get the best out of it whether it be for 5 min. or a whole hour because not only do I want to get a great workout I want to feel good and energetic at the end of it no matter what. We all have our favorite Exercises that we like to do and we sometimes forget how good they can really be. We even change them up sometimes or make a variation of them to create a challenge. I for one have many exercises that I mastered and can do at just about anytime I wanted but theres always certain favorites I like to do every once in a while and I have picked and neither of these are any better then the next but they are very important and some are pretty difficult and some are pretty simple to learn. Without further ado here are my favorite Exercises.....

Sumo Squats

Hill Sprints

Bridging

Bear Crawls

Pull-ups

Gorilla Walks

Crab Walks

Hindu Squats

Tablemakers

Sumo Side Splits

Now why would I pick these specific exercises? Because for obvious reasons they're fun to do. Some you may notice are squat variations and I picked them because however you look at it, squats are the foundational exercises for burning off fat and building overall muscle. The legs are the largest parts of the body and we must strive to not only keep them strong but flexible because as we age one of the things we start to lose is the flexiblity in our legs.

They are a major key to how we get around places and how strong our development is. Some of the other exercises I have chosen like bear crawls and Crab Walks are because they use all four limbs in the body and can get you out of breath much faster then most exercises, do one of them and time yourself 2 minutes and see how long you last. Tablemakers are really the only push-up variation I do these days because I just have very little interest in push-ups because I get bored after doing high volume reps and with the animal exercises I can move around on both arms and legs and I get more out of it.

Not saying Push-ups are not good, they are, if one is getting into bodyweight exercises the first exercise they should learn is the push-up. Hill Sprints on the other hand are one if not the best exercise for burning off fat faster then anything else. Because of the huffing and puffing you get very quick it generates more Human Growth Hormone and the heat it builds up in your body.

Why did I choose Sumo Squats as a favorite exercise? For one its different unlike other variations. Two because of the other parts of the legs that work not only the thighs but the inner and outer portions of the thighs. Look at sumo wrestlers. They may not be the most durable athletes but they are strong, fast, agile and flexible. So why not take a picture out of their training and if you're an athlete in any sport this exercise can go a long way beyond just getting out of breath and building flexibility, it teaches you where to position the legs and the balance it requires you to take on. For wrestling these can help you very much because in wrestling you need to work the body in various angles for control and power and when you do sumo squats it shows you how to pivot the feet so when you're ready to make a move either defensive or offensive you'll know when to pivot to make your move much more explosive and powerful.

Again we all have our favorite exercises but the key is to not just do them in moderation, do them with feeling, power and will so when you train them you make them the way they ought to be. This is a major factor to learning self reliance and creating your own program for your needs of strength & conditioning.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Burning Fat & Building Muscle With Animal Exercise......

There are many ways tro burn fat and build muscle. We lift weights, use cardio machines, we run, do push-ups, squats, sit-ups or pull-ups and these are all good in some way shape or form. However you slice it the more muscles you use in an exercise the more work you're putting in and burning calories and fat much faster then working individual muscles. Many people believe you need more then an hour and a half three times a week to get great results and getting a steady heart rate to burn fat. Not true at all. One of the fastest and most simple ways to train, burn fat and build muscle quick is to get outside and move on all fours for a few min. and before you know it you're breathing hard. When this happens great things in your body begin to form as your HGH levels spring up, testosterone comes into play and muscle is being built quicker then ever. Plus with the jumps in HGH levels this will help you stay younger and stay healthy. Animal-like Exercise can carry over to many other things in your life and can even help spring up your brain activity. Eddie Baran has a course exactly for all these things called Animal Kingdom Conditioning.

When it comes down to training like a wild animal you are building a foundation of turning back the clock, gaining confidence and among other things your sex drive will go through the roof. Learn to get a great cardio workout in less then 2 min. Make your upper body stronger then the average human and create explosive power unlike anything else. Click/Type the link below and

Animal Kingdom Conditioning

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Tumbling To The Top

One of the basic moves in Gymnastics is to learn how to tumble forward, backward, side to side, dives ect. It takes a good amount of balance and strength to do a backhand spring and its harder to do flips. Some of the moves I can do are pretty simple as far as basics go but I can't do a backhand spring, I'm too big of a tree to do that, plus I like falling into a bridge on my head and kicking over and back better. But if you're looking to get better at Tumbling or just starting out theres only one guy I know who can help take you to the top as far as I know and thats Logan Christopher. He's a good friend of mine and as far as I know he's one of the best trainers in the world and this is one of his specialties. Taking you from a basic forward roll to backhand springs he'll help you along the way for you to becoming a master tumbler. He's given me some awesome tips and its helped my bridging and its helped me carry over to things I want to do its that powerful. Learning from some of the biggest names in Physical Culture, he's put ingrediants together to bring the best in putting not only your Tumbling skills to the test but if you make an effort he'll even throw in a few secrets to get your training going a bit quicker. You will learn safety, what to do, not to do and where to have the best alignment to get great results for your tumbling skills. Get into and learn some of the best gymnastics without needing to be a gymnast.











Tuesday, January 11, 2011

How We Can Learn From Rocky Balboa

For most us we've seen the Rocky movies and how motivational they are when it comes to adversity, the never say die attitude and the way he does his conditioning. One of my all-time favorite training scenes was in Rocky IV where in Russia he moved through the snow, chopping down trees, lifting a cart of people in the press, pull-ups, jump rope and bear crawling a sled. That's the type of conditioning a true man learns to posses. As oppose to Drago who used machines, took steroids, used technology and look what happens, he got taken out by the underdog. Whether or not you feel weights make a great athlete yet in some cases they do.


In the days of the Cavemen, they needed, to adapt in order to survive, they swam, ran, threw, pushed heavy boulders, wrestled and take down some of the roughest things put in front of him. To me that's a great definition of Rocky, he adapts, he puts himself in awkward situations and makes an effort to get strong from all angles. To weightlifting is a great way to get in shape but it only goes so far as that and conditioning using different angles and training in awkward ways. Get out and train like a caveman or better yet train in a way like Rocky, something we all can learn from.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Handstand Video

Hello,




Have you ever thought about learning how to do a handstand?



Well my friend, Logan Christopher, is doing something radical. You see, he runs a site called Lost Art of Hand Balancing where he teaches people how to do just that.



He has taken one of his best-selling DVD's, something that has sold hundreds of copies at $29.95, and he is now literally giving it away online, no strings attached.



I think he’s crazy for doing this, but he is doing it!



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What's so great about this video? In this close to half hour video Logan takes a systematic approach to the handstand. The problem with trying to do a handstand is it's way beyond the ability of someone starting out.



You can try to do it but you'll end up frustrated. That's the long slow path. In fact, many give up.



Instead, you should break it down into component parts, working on lead-up stunts, which teach you the necessary skills, but in an easy manageable way. This cuts your learning curve by over half.



Logan has laid this all out in his handstand system, including a sample nine week plan that can take you from zero to holding a freestanding handstand for 30 seconds.



Be warned. This may not be around forever so jump on this chance while you have it. Check it out.



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Ben Bergman
Would you like to learn from 10 top strength training and endurance building experts out there?




What if it was all for FREE?



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Bud Jeffries and Logan Christopher are putting together the Super Human Training Teleseminar Series. This is a series of interviews with people like Mike Mahler, Adam Glass, Roger Lapointe, Andrew Durniat and many more.



All you have to do is signup on this page and you’ll be able to listen in live on these calls where the experts spill their training secrets. What works for them. What works with the people they teach and train. The mistakes they’ve made and how you can avoid them.



Plus you get the chance to ask your own questions. This is top training information, from guys in the trenches on what really WORKS!



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If you get one thing that can impact your training for the better it would be worth it. And with this lineup you’re sure to learn more than one thing.



Go to this page for more details and to signup today.



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Ben Bergman



P.S. While the calls are free, there will be some offers made and if you take them up on what they have, which is great stuff, I may make a commission off it. That being said this comes with my highest recommendation and, after all, it costs you nothing to sign up.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Wrestling As A Science?

 For many thousands of years, the sport of wrestling has evolved from resulting conflicts to a wide spectacle of entertainment. When we hear the term Wrestling we often come up with WWE, TNA, College Wrestling, USA Wrestling. Those are the main things we refer as wrestling today but long before those terms were even thought of, wrestling was a pure sport where you had men and women fought until someone gave up or was pinned. In India and Iran wrestling was considered the national sport (might still be depending who you talk to) and had champions that were some of the most fearsome athletes in the world. One of them was/still is considered the greatest wrestler of all-time and that was Ghulam Muhammad a.k.a The Great Gama who was undefeated in over 5000 matches. Same can be said here in the U.S where you had great wrestlers such as Frank Gotch, Martin "Farmer" Burns, Ed Caddock and Ed "Strangler" Lewis. There was one wrestler that went to the Olympics and never once surrendered a point in the entire tournamant. That was a feat that hasn't done before or since and his name is the legendary Dan Gable.

 Wrestling really is by far the hardest form of physical and mental conditioning. There are awesome gymnasts, unreal baseball players and unbelieveable football players but wrestlers are of a different breed. They have to train harder then anybody else in my opinion. I'm not talking just college wrestling but wrestling ingeneral. The conditioning needed would make a highly conditioned football player cry. I once tried out for wrestling in high school and it was the roughest thing I ever went through i'm talking just about non-stop training w. running, push-ups, wrestling, bridging, bear crawls ect. At the time I hated it even though I wanted to try competitive wrestling and ended up hurting my knee and quit the team after barely a week. From every angle you need to master defensive and offensive moves otherwise you are dead and if your conditioning is not up to par, you won't last very long.

 Nowadays other then Pro Wrestling in WWE & TNA, wrestling has become very popular in MMA Competitions such as the UFC & DREAM (formely Pride Fighting) with such big names as Randy Couture, Ken Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes & Kazushi Sakuraba. These guys are some of the toughest athletes in the last 2 decades and its not hard to find that not only are they good at what they do but they can just about take down anyone. Yet one form of wrestling is making a comeback and can be seen by such names as Brock Lesnar & Josh Barnett and thats Catch-As Catch-Can Wrestling.

 CACC has been around for hundreds of years and one of the most famous schools on this type of submission fighting is refered to as the Snake Pit in Wigan, England where big wrestling stars such as Karl Gotch & Billy Robinson trained. To me these 2 guys from what i've read are by far the most brutal wrestlers of their era. Even though they were pro wrestlers they could literally take out anyone they wanted and they knew how to break a bone or two. Billy Robinson however is one of the last remaining Wigan Wrestlers alive to be teaching and coaching other wrestlers. I have some Wrestling Training DVDs by him that are a very rare treasure to have because its like watching History unfold infront of your eyes. He may not look like the man he once was but his knowledge for wrestling is Surreal and whoever wants to learn should have these DVDs in their Collection.


 Because of the growing rate of CACC Wrestling its become moreof a science just as it was back in the old days and how you can learn to be a great wrestler not just for compeition but for self defense and taking advantage over your opponent. The man who has produced this Science Of Wrestling is Jake Shannon and he's spreading the word on Scientific Wrestling the way it should be looked and trained like. If you want to learn the best of the best in Wrestling go Scientific Wrestling Online....There are banners in the right hand corner down the page and check them out. You might find techniques that can help your training by 10 Fold and has some of the best coaches in the world on the science of Wrestling such as Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Dan "The Beast" Severn and the greatest pinner of all-time Wade Schalles. To take your wrestling to the next level get your hands on these DVDs & Books I highly recommend them and you'll find gems you can't find anywhere else.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Building Self Mastery

In fitness terms if we want to have the best program we need to find exercises to suit our body's structure and our weight to body ratios. In other words there is no way possible to train the same way if someone at 240 pounds tried the same program with someone at 150 pounds. In the magazines they slide in standard programs and ideas that would fit the average person to become super strong. For the most part the average person can't even touch an ounce of the program they Mags provide.

Back in the early 20th century where Physical Culture boomed and courses were in hundreds of thousands of young wo/men's hands and the programs were obsolete compared to the muscle mags today. A good portion of the courses gave basics to the trainee and taught intermediate and advanced programs to help the progress but unlike the mags today these courses taught how to master your own training. The intuitive part of our brains conjure up where we learn certain things and how things work or not.

When we learn the basics of exercise we should remember that the best program is when which exercises works best for us. The one person who was best at this in his time was Alois P. Swoboda with his course Concious Evolution. In his course for physical training he made custom programs to help his students achieve superior results for their body structure. This taught others how to intuitively create the exercise for themselves to control the muscles.

In lamens terms the only thing that we need to do is learn the basics then intuitively learn the program that best suits us. Work with whats best for you and you alone. Don't really need to do other people's programs.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Animal Fitness For Kids

In this day and age obesity is at a high rate and most of it is blamed on food habits, not enough exercise and pressures to be fit. Its no surprise that kids don't have the will to want to get fit. No matter how you look at it, certain fitness methods not only turn kids away but it just flat out looks dumb to them. For the most part Fitness should be fun and not have pressure to do the sets/reps scheme just go out and do it. Thats what I love about animal exercises. You just move around like a wild animal that you have a favorite of and just doing it for a couple minutes is all thats needed to start. I've worked on Animal movements and I get out of breath quick and I love that, the challenge and the motive to do better. For kids it needs to fun and wonderful experience because it can help them not get better physically but mentally and emotionally as well. When they learned how to structure a way to make it fun it can carry over to their studies and homework. Parents should be involved with them and help them. Working out as a family can create a strong bond and teach the kids how they can be happy and sociable. Check out Wild Animal Fitness For Kids and help them get on the path to being strong, healthy and very importantly happy.


Wild Animal Fitness For Kids

How to spread out your training

For those of you who have trouble working out during the day and feel that a big workout might wear you out, theres a way to keep your training going to keep your energy up and thats to spread it out during the day. I train everyday 7 days a week and there are times where I can't get in the amount of time of training I want to do so I spread out the workout during the day, doing a few stretches here and there and do some isometrics. You see you don't need to do one large workout everyday or even a few times a week. This is good for traveling as well because you can't always get to a gym and theres the trouble with jet lag when you get off a plane and try to get to a motel. Its a pain in the ass at times. So if you travel do some isometrics while waiting for your plane or even on the plane itself.

You can even workout without anyone knowing about it. Heres an example, every couple years or so I go to disneyland for either my b-day or for a few days in the summer and as I stand in line for the rides I do isometrics by pressing or pulling from different angles on the rails or ropes or even on the wall (try it sometime trust me its fun) and sometimes I would do self resistance exercises. You can workout in the oddest of places even at the happiest place on earth.

Its all about being able to adapt and improvise while on the road or even at home. Take my advise whatever you do don't press down on the fireplace in Mickey's House it would suck to have to pay for it. Thought i'd throw in a little joke, couldn't resist but the important thing is no matter where you are, you can be your own gym.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

How To Get Out Of Breathe Fast & How That Can Help Your Fitness

When we workout we feel that we need an hour and a half in the gym in order to get our blood pumping and our muscles jacked up. What if we can reduced that by not just a great percentage but even drop the timing to less then 10 min. Not only can your workout be incredible and challenging but you will be building muscle and creating natural human growth hormone at the same time. My 2 Favorite ways of doing this is to pick 4-5 different animal exercises and hammer them each for 30 seconds then repeat the sequance about 2-3 times. Another favorite is running hill sprints. Doing these can amp up your conditioning to levels unimaginable. You only need a hill thats about 50-70 yards long and need to do only 4-8 sets. Now for each sprint do you need to go at 100%? No just a good percentage say 25-35%. Each time you sprint try to go a little further each set. For rest just walk back down to the bottom of the hill slowly. For the Animal Circuits take a small break to catch your breath then get back to it. Hill Sprints are needed only 2-3 times a week because of the recovery periods needed in order to let your body build back up from really hard training. If you don't have hills then run sprints on a field. Adapt to what you can do and take your conditioning to the top.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Hand Balancing & The Power Of Inverted Training

However you look at it Handbalancing is by far one of the most difficult methods of self mastery over the human body. When you're upside down it seems like a whole different world and its mysterious and very unusual feeling of not always knowing whats going to happen or how you are suppose to stay up. For the most part it takes awareness and strength to a whole new level and with enough practice you can do things that not only will it amaze people but you will have control over your body not many people in the world can do.

To get a glimpse of modern hand balancing take a look at the men and women of gymnastics or Circ De Solei, the requirement for their sport/profession is to be master hand balancers because of a lot of the stunts require to be on the hands. It is amazing and breathtaking to see some of the best athletes at what they do. I've seen a gymnastic event and seen A Mid-Summer Nightmare which had acts of Hand balancing and tumbling and martial arts and just about every time I saw a scene I was taken back by it by how it it just engulfs your mind on how these people are so strong and coordinated they are. Now not too many of us in our adult years have the luxery of joinging a gymnastics class and becoming a good hand balancer/gymnast so is there a betterr way to learn?

As a matter of fact there is and one guy that I know of has some of the best knowledge on Hand Balancing there is. He is a good friend of mine named Logan Christopher. His background is on Gymnastics, Old-time Strongman, Kettle Bell Instructor, Personal Trainer and is on his way to being one of the strongest men in the world for the thing he performs. I've trained with him and this is no joke he's one of the strongest guys I've ever met and seen him hold some pretty awesome handstands. So its safe to say this guy knows his stuff and anything he just about puts out is a gold star in my book.

Not only is Logan promoting the Art Of Hand Balancing he's helping spread the word about it as some of the best Physical Culturists in the world did many moons ago back in the days of Vaudville and Circus Acts of the early 20th Century. Some of the biggest names did Hand Balancing in their training. Men like Otto Arco, Maxick, Sig Klein, Bob Jones, John Davis, John Grimek, Bert Azzerati, George Hackenschmidt and believe it or not the living legend Jack Lalanne. All these men have done some form of hand balancing and were some of the strongest men in the world before the use of steroids and performance enhancing drugs. That should give you a clear idea of what you can accomplish with pure will, practice, patience and amazing power.

I'm not a Hand Balancing expert but I can tell you from my own experiences its hard and not easy at all (redundent I know) but I have held a handstand for a period of time thats pretty good for a guy my size at well over 235 pounds. So whether you're big, small or inbetween, this form of training can teach you what it truely means to have control over your own body. Even holding a position is pretty darn impressive but when you get to walking on your hands or doing push-ups thats in the realm of dreams and it can be yours if you practice it. Check out Legendary Strength or Lost Art Of Hand baancing websites on the right side of the screen and learn the Lost Art Of Hand Balancing and believe me they are worth every penny many times over.

Legendary Strength

Lost Art Of Hand Balancing

Fitness Tools To Spice Up Your Conditioning

If you're a lifter, strongman, body weight enthusiast or starting training you want to have top quality tools to make your conditioning that much better then the next guy. For me every now and then I would throw my sledgehammer around, do some swings, levers or holding at a certain angle to not only strengthen my grip but to get me breathing hard and when you are training hard and breathing hard, growth hormone comes into play and that helps build muscle, jack up your heart rate, building tendon strength from angles certain methods can't touch. If I were to recommend top quality tools for conditioning it be from Ryan Pitts' Stronger Grip.

From maces to clubs to hammers he's got it. I have had the pleasure of using a couple of the clubs and his hammer and I will tell you off hand they are tough as hell. If you're new to them start with a weight that you're comfortable with and can do a significant number of reps and sets. I'm a body weight guy at heart so I don't do very heavy weight when it comes to equipment but when I need that extra edge and hit muscles from angles body weight exercises can't touch then I would hit the clubs or hammer. It doesn't take much to get you breathing fast and when that happens you're burning off fat like a furnace. Check out Ryan's stuff tell him I sent you and get the quality you deserve for the best conditioning you can create for you and get stronger then the average human. Take a look on the right side of the screen and get your butt in gear. In the words of Benarr McFadden "Weakness is a crime, don't be a criminal."

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