Sunday, February 13, 2011

Changing Gears To Supercharge Your Workouts

Every once in a while or for some of us on a consistant basis, its good to switch things up to not only add variety to our training but to keep our minds sharp and keep the body guessing for whats coming next. It takes just one exercise to change your entire routine and no you don't need to do reps or go for speed but you can just hold a certain position for a period of time.

I would bet you that if you added one isometric exercise to your regimen, it will give a whole new meaning to strength training. Lets say for example you do 100 Hindu Squats then the moment you're done hold a horsestance for exactly 1 min. Is it easy? Well it's hard to say. Test it out and see what happens. Thats one small challenge to conquer but its a change of pace isn't it? I've held positions as long as 10 min. and I can assure you its no picnic but why take the easy road when you can put your body and mind to the test.

It takes a lot more guts to hold an isometric then it is to do 100 reps of something unless its an exercise that couldn't possibly be done at 100 much less 25, 10 or 4. Heres a workout that just would kill the strongest of men and take a min/body connection that would make elite athletes quiver.....Supersets Of Hell

100 Hindu Squats

5 minute horsestance

50 Military Push-ups

3 minute Mid-Push-up Hold

10 Pull-ups

1 minute Handstand Push-up Hold

Now if i'm able to do this workout in under 20 minutes I'd be the new Jack Lalanne. This is not a beginner workout and I don't expect you to ever get to it within a week. What i'm trying to get at is that when you take charge of changing your routine, you're putting in the effort to take your training to levels unlike anyone can imagine. Not saying you need to go hardcore all the time it wouldn't be ethical but theres no harm but amping up your conditioning and create workouts that not only suit for you but nobody else should do but you. If you want to take your workouts to levels that makes the average person want to walk away in shame then check out the best equipment and bodyweight books/dvds that these superhuman athletes have to offer. Look to your right.

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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Old School Training With A New Twist

A lot of people think these days that training methods back in the day are outdated and have no place in the gyms and are not for strength and flexibility and if you're doing them they would laugh or be confused or better yet have that "what the hell are you doing these for. Those arn't traditional." Well in some ways they're right, they arn't traditional, they arn't your typical modern exercises and most of all they don't belong in the gym today because they're TOO GOOD FOR THAT CRAP!

I really hate to offend these people but you know what, pull your head out of your asses and look at the big picture here. The old school methods are not only better then today's training styles but they're more simplistic and are far more creative. When you trained back in the 20's, 30's, 40's, even the 50's you learned why basic exercises like olympic weightlifting and push-ups, squats, clubs, maces and simple dumbbell and barbell training can turn you into a superhuman. I would bet you if you took a bodybuilder today up against a bodybuilder of yesteryear you would not only see a massive difference in size (not bloated yesteryear's BB) but also in strength. Take John Grimek for example. He was without question the Ronnie Colman of his day, winning competition after competition and was the only man in history to win the Mr. America title 2 years in a row. His training was basic dumbbell and barbell training and every now and then would drop and do push-ups or pull-ups, free hand squats and muscle control. His muscle control at the time was unbelieveable and not many men his size (heavyweights back then were under 200 pounds for most of them, he was no more then 185 at 5'7) were that solid and powerful and can move his muscles in ways that were unmatched.

Its one thing to criticize the old school methods its another to not realize that these methods worked and I may be a bodyweight only trainee but if I was around in that era I wouldn't have minded training the way those guys did. What they did was unique and brought a hell of an outlook on how training should be done. Not just for size and strength but for health and longevity. Yes back then people died younger then they have today. If you were born in 1900, chances were slim if you lived to be 50 but yet if you look at the men and women who trained in that era beat the aging process by a huge percentage. Bernarr McFadden died at 88 in 1955, Farmer Burns died in mid-late 1930's at the "ancient" age of 86-88, Bob Hoffman 1898-1985. What was their secret? How could any of these men lived to be at an age in a era where you were considered to be an old man at 50 or 60. It was their ability to take that govenor in their brains and find a solution to live longer and not only found a way but beat the aging process by a mere 25-30 years longer the average age at the time.

Are you seeing what i'm getting at here? Old methods may be outdated but thats actually a good thing. They worked, they gave the pioneers of physical culture a reason to keep on living, keep being healthy and strong into their 80's, 90's, even 100's. Learn how to take old school methods and put a twist on them for today's methods. Under this article, you will find methods of training that not only are sinple to do but can probably save your life in more ways then what you read in the magazines today. Learn the secrets of the original bodybuilders and athletes of true era of physical culture.

Massive Functional Muscle

Training with Partials

Odd Object Lifting Series

Advanced Bridging Course

Ultimate Guide to Handstand Pushups

Indian Clubs

Mace Training

The Russian Kettlebell Challenge
Xtreme Fitness for Hard Living Comrades


Beyond Bodybuilding
Muscle and Strength Training Secrets for The Renaissance Man

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Grip Strength Is A Must

Whether you're a weightlifter, strongman, wrestler, baseball player, MMA Athlete or just an average joe, it is apperent that you develop grip strength in order to enhance your performance. You can do all the exercises you want but if your grip is not up to par then you're not going to go that far. Grip training is one of the most neglected parts of strength and conditioning because a lot of people automatically think its easy to either lift a good amount of weight or do a few fingertip push-ups or grab a hold of GI in a jujitsu match. Actually the exact opposite is true. When you add a good grip workout whether in of itself or as part of your routine, you're building strength that will go a long way. One of the biggest secrets of the old-time wrestlers and strongmen was they're ability to have strong and powerful tendons in the lower arm, wrist and hands. This can be contributed through isometrics, bending steel, wrist curls, thick bar training, using sandbags, pinch gripping and so on.

One of the oldest peices of equipment is the Indian Clubs. They were used in India for many centuries to help wrestlers develop shoulder mobility, Wrist power and strengthening the arms through a series of movements that targeted the upper body that some methods can't reach. The Mace was another tool for Indian Wrestlers because unlike the Clubs, these bad boys taught the body how to coordinated going from from shoulder to shoulder through a single swing that helped strengthen the shoulders, elbows, arms, wrists and hands. With careful practice these things not only took grip strength to another level but it gave a certain advantage that wrestlers in the US didn't have. One of the greatest wrestlers of all-time the Great Gama trained in many forms and not just doing squats and push-ups in the hundreds but used the clubs and the mace. How great was his strength? Well, how about not losing a single match in his entire career, over 5000 victories. That should tell you something how powerful and useful these tools are. There arn't too many places on the internet to find clubs and maces. Yet if I had to pick a source that not only cells clubs and maces but you get to choose hammers, blobs, levers and Grip Dumbbells and thick bar handles.

Take your grip strength to levels unheard of and grab a hold of the power already in you and take charge of your new found strength and conditioning.

http://www.strongergripaffiliate.com/118.html

2" Leverage Block

Indian Clubs

Sledge Hammers

Mace Training

Monday, February 7, 2011

Putting The "Fun" In Functional Conditioning

Too many people these days don't have enough fun in their training.

"Man, I can't wait till this is over."

"Jesus Christ when does it end."

"I can't do this its too hard."

"Why in hell do I need to THIS!"

I bet you dollars to donuts you've heard some of these quotes more often then these.....

"Damn that was a great workout."

"I want to go again."

"That was it? Come on man, lets keep going."

"Dude, let me try that out."

Its all about attitude when you train. When you're down and don't feel like nothing is working, nothing will work. When you feel that its a great workout and need to back off a little thats a different story. That tells me you're enjoying yourself and you know your limits. Fun training is when you put fear and awkwardness aside and just go out there and be yourself. Its not easy but its simple enough to learn. Having fun is not goingf out there and making bad form or half-assing anything, its being proud of what your doing, you make an effort to work on your form and you smile while you doing it. Smiling goes a long way not just working out but morely outside of it as well. If you want a fun workout that not only gave you cardiovascular benefits but builds strength, speed and tougness Here is a brutal but great Tabata Workout....It involves Hindu Squats & Animal Exercise

Hindu Squats: 20 sec.

10 Sec. Rest

Hindu Jumpers: 20 Sec.

10 Sec. Rest

Frog Jumps: 20 Sec.

10 Sec. Rest

Hindu Squats: 20 Sec.

10 Sec. Rest

Hindu Jumpers: 20 Sec.

10 Sec. Rest

Crab Walks: 20 Sec.

10 Sec. Rest

Hindu Squats: 20 Sec.

10 Sec. Rest

Hindu Jumpers: 20 Sec.

10 Sec. Rest

Bear Crawls: 20 Sec.

10 Sec. Rest

Hindu Squats: 20 Sec.

Thats a workout that is less then 5 min. but will jump up your heart rate faster then Speedy Gonzalas outrunning Sylvester and plus this type of workout gets your Hormones jump through the roof and can help you stay younger, have a better sex drive and can leave you in a very relaxed state after taking a nice hot shower. Don't you want to feel more alive, more happier then do this workout every once in a while or you can mix up your favorite exercises and you'll still get great benefits.

If you want to find Tabata workouts and add some fun into your conditioning heres a couple great sources...This is also for kids too. Kids should be healthy, strong and happy throughout their lives and one idea which i've given to my 8 year old neice who now everytime sees me wants her uncle to do this type of training with her.

http://images.ultracart.com/aff/88F46789C0276A012D59C78437051600/index.html



http://images.ultracart.com/aff/6D7CDB4942DB80012D59CA2507051600/index.html   

Friday, February 4, 2011

Take Boring Out & Go Nuts

What can you do to make your lifting more fun? You can speed up a press, try to whistle while you squat, how about even doing frog jumps with a Kettlebell. If you want my opinion if you're a kettlebell fan then why try to Juggle a kettlebell. Seriously if you want to take your KB Conditioning to a whole new level then switch hands every second and try to even walk. Think of juggling a pair of balls but add in an extra 10, 20 or 30 pounds. I tried this a few times and I'll tell ya it is difficult but it is fun as hell. When you learn to literally throw weight around in all sorts of places you're producing more Human Growth Hormone, gaining more power and building unreal grip strength. What if I told you that one guy doesn't just Juggle Kettlebells but he actually shows you tricks and stunts to create one of the best workouts of your life and only need a few minutes a day.

Logan Christopher does just that and then more. Swing around the back, under the legs, flip up in the air and even maybe catch behind the back. For the most part he's got the goods. At first he may not look like much but he is one of the strongest men on the planet and plenty of people can vouch for that. His DVD Kettlebell Juggling has great stuff for beginners, intermediate and advanced athletes. For those that don't know if you order his DVD he would put his Balls on the line to guarantee you results or get the refund back. Nothing he can say can compare to his abilities on handling weight men bigger then him can't even pick up at first. Take a look on the right hand side of the blog and check out Kettlebell Juggling. Your life with a Kettlebell will never be the same again and thats a fact. This will not only make your training fun but after practicing it for a while you can even put on a show and do some tricks that will amaze your friends. KB Juggling is one of the coolest forms of training and its insane the way you'll be handle weight that makes lifting look pointless.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

What Can A Former College Linebacker Teach You About Conditioning?

From High School to College to the European Football Circuit Vince Palko has been nothing but a great linebacker on the gridiron and is a hall of famer in his high school and at his alma marter at Bowling Green. He has not been on a losing team his entire career and has trained by some of the top coaches in the world and knows a thing or two about conditioning. Lets face it the most conditioned athletes on the football field are the linebackers. They are the meanest, toughest and most brutal animals on the field and for good reason. Take a look at guys like Lawrence Taylor, Dick Butkus, Ray Lewis and Jack Lambert. What do they all have in common? The Intensity that can make a Army Ranger blush (slight exaggeration). They have to be, they have to outrun the Running Back, tackle like a lineman and every now and then intercept like a cornerback. Add in the conditioning they need that would impress Olympic wrestlers and you got yourself a wildman of the gridiron.

After his football career was over he turned his sights on marketing and took a shot at fitness work and not the pink dumbbells and chrome and fern crap. No...He taught serious conditioning that took intensity and fat burning strength training. For all its worth he's got some of the best products on the planet that not only get you in shape for triathlons but also for football, wrestling and combat training. He gives you less time to train and thats the best type of training you can work with. Anerobic Conditioning is working with high intensity training and getting the heart rate up faster then rocket launch. Take into consideration that if you want to lose weight and burn fat the fastest way possible this is really one of the best guys to go to. Being trained by top coaches and researching on top methods that are less prone to injury and take your power to new heights in the best way possible. Doing some of this training a few min. a day can help you carry over to many other things in your life. This guy also doesn't just do Fitness but can help you take your website to the next level with Ad Toons and Animated Illustrations to draw your website to people that are in your interests.

Take a look at what he does, read his story and his will to make comebacks and the testamonials that prove his systems are not only works but its almost miracle work.

http://www.marketerschoice.com/app/?af=1301775

How Can Training Be So Twisted

Whether you like it or not certain training methods are just crap. You do 30 minutes on the treadmill and an hour of whatever weights you lift and that's your workout. Seriously, how generic do you have to be and dull I might add. Training is suppose to be interesting, fun and mysterious. You should be getting cardio and strength training at the same time and using different implements. If I wanted serious conditioning and I was into lifting weights I'd want to be hitting stones, swinging heavy clubs and pressing logs. The way I look at is if you're serious about training, you have to be creative and adapt to heavy training. Most of all you have to be really "twisted" in order to get the results you want. Functional training requires being able to use different angles and move in awkward positions. What you can look at is Bud Jeffries' Twisted Conditioning Series. Work into equipment that can not only build strength but surreal stamina and scary conditioning. The man is one sick bastard to come up with a gameplan like this, but that makes him that much more of a genius at what he does. Check out below and see for yourself.


Twisted Conditioning

Twisted Conditioning 2

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Secrets Of The Old-Time Strongmen

Some of the biggest names in weightlifting shared certain secrets on how to not only increase their strength but how to build tendon and ligement strength as well. Back in the early days of Physical Culture there were strongmen that didn't just lift weights and do bodyweight exercise....They added an arsenal of training methods to not only experiment with but it helped their advantage that much more. Back when gyms were just on the uprise there men across the country who couldn't get to a gym either because it was too far away or because they didn't have the money to pay for the equipment themselves to use at home so they improvised a lot and tested different methods and found exercises that not only made them very strong but it helped carry over to when they could use weights. There were exercises that tackled very differently then weights and challenged the body from different angles and were in different shapes and sizes hence the name Odd Object Lifting. Say you had a barrel laying around or a sandbag....You can do a good amount of training using these objects and can turn your body into a conditioning machine.

Odd Objects are not barbells and dumbbells they are peices of equipment that can come from whatever you have. Here are a few Examples....

Barrels

Kegs

Logs

Sandbags

Hammers

Rocks

Concrete Blocks

All these would be considered odd objects to train with. A man who has mastered these time and time again is strongman Steve Justa. If you never heard of him he is considered one of the strongest men in the world and has written a book called Rock, Iron, Steel. You can find that on the Ironmind Website or at Functional Strength owned by John Wood. Justa is best known for training in his backyard and lifting very heavy weight ranging from 500 pounds to 2000 pounds. He carries scrap iron, lifts heavy barrels and carries a yoke that weighs as much as a beetle car. I have very high respect for what he does and is a genius in the realm of strength training. Another man whom I have high respects is Strongman Bud Jeffries. He has a DVD series covering many exercises on odd object lifting and the way he teaches you how to handle them are just incredible. I've played around with Barrels, Rocks and Sandbags myself and I will tell you without blinking twice they are ass-kickers and once you learn to adapt them into your training you will get stronger.

Think of it this way, with barbells and dumbbells you can only move them in limited directions. Now what if you can move a weight in more directions and still gain strength? That be a better way to look at it in my book. George Hackenschmidt once said that to be strong overall you have to adapt to more then just limited movement. If you want to get strong you have to work different angles while working major muscle groups. If you think lifting a 135 pound barbell is the same as lifting a 135 pound barrel it isnt. It takes far more strength and stability to lift a barrel because you can't tell which way it'll go so you have to shift your weight and grip it much differently and not in the same places as a barbell. Odd Objects teaches the muscles how to stabilize differently and how it makes adapt over and over. Go check out Bud's DVD Series and then find out for yourself how awkward it really feels. Train smart and train effectively according to your training needs.

Odd Object Lifting Series

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

What Women Want?

In the fitness world many women have trouble creating the body they want to achieve...Toned Muscles, Firm Thighs, Slim Abs and last but not least a sexy butt. Its harder for a woman to build the body she wants because the less terstosterone they have as oppose to us guys. Whenever they do think about exercise many feel "It'll make me bulky and I don't want to look too muscular." How many times have we heard them say thaty? If someone had a nickle every time they heard it he'd be a millionare.

As far as i'm concerned regardless of how much estrogen or testerone a woman has they are pound for pound ounce for ounce stronger then most men. I once heard of a woman who was 106 pounds swing a 106 pound Kettlebell, now I dont know about you but that is pretty damn strong and from what I heard she wasn't a bulky girl either. Now try picturing a man at 200 pounds trying to swing a KB his own weight, do you think he could pull it off, highly unlikely so that should tell you how strong a woman can be.

I have trained around plenty of women in gymnastics, Core-Performance and Weight Management Training and they have smoked me in areas I can't do and i'm pretty flexible for a 245+ pound guy. Its never easy for a woman to train the same way as a man and why should they? They're build different and need different types of training to enhance their abilities but yet they can become stronger. It takes practice and patience and the belief in yourself to bring out a strong and powerful woman. Women are precious in more ways then one and some are vulnerable to many areas but that doesn't mean they can't get strong and still look super sexy.

There are 2 people I know of who can train not just men but perferably more for women how to become strong and powerful not just on the outside but the inside as well. They're names are Vanessa Bader & Ed Baran. Vanessa to me is one of the best dancers in the world and believe it or not she is one of the strongest women on the planet and yet she has one of the most beautiful bodies you would ever seen. She is a kettlebell, pilates and dance instructor and has performed in shows that would blow you out of the water. She performes with her husband Garin Bader who's a Concert Virtuoso and Magician. If anyone knows how to get women in shape the right way its her. Ed Baran is a former Charles Atlas student and has dabbed in bodybuilding, cycling and olympic weightlifting. At age 35 he studied gymnastics and has never looked back. He is an instructor and author of a plethora of fitness books and dvds. I would consider him one of the best conditioned men in the world and his physique is one of the best i've ever seen. He's in his mid 40's but makes men 20 years younger look like chumps. He's also an instructor on women's fitness and has had testamonials from women all over the world proving without a shout of a doubt he is the real deal and help women reach their goals.

Check out the links below and see for yourself what these 2 wonderful people can do to help you bring new life and create the body you always wanted. Gain strength, flexibility, stamina and power and unleash that confidence that you always wanted to bring out but never knew how. Take charge and prove to yourself that not only can you be beautiful and sexy but have the additude that makes you feel like a badass that can rule over anything that walks in your path. I never judge a book by its cover. I've seen quite a bit of hot women but the real women are not only sexy but could possibly kick your ass at the same time.

http://images.ultracart.com/aff/7231FABB02AAD4012D59C873E2051600/index.html

http://hotburningbody.com/hotburningbody-bodyweight-workout/

http://hotburningbody.com/hbb-kettlebell-workshop-for-beginners/

http://hotburningbody.com/kettlebell-extreme/

What Alternatives Do You Want To Spice Up Your Workouts?

Whether you lift weights, do bodyweight or both they are incredible in various areas to make your training not only efficiant but can turn you into a strength machine. We all have ways to train and we can find many exercises to either build mucle, lose weight, tone up or just become flat out strong. Weights have great value for building muscle and has been proven for decades (even before steroids). Bodyweight exercise have exercises that not only build phenomenal power and explosiveness but are superior to weights in the amount of Range Of Motion used for unlimited amount of exercises.

With all that well and good its apperant to realize there are methods out there that neither weights nor bodyweight exercises can touch. How would you feel to do various training methods that can build power from various angles and take control of greater strength and better stabilization. Here are a few ideas to get you going.....

Cables

Hammers

Maces

Rocks

All of these can turn your body into a machine in ways that nothing else can touch. Building strength in many angles can help you in many areas whether you're in a sport or training for competition or just want to shapen your muscles that put you ahead of the competition. Bud Jeffries on the other hand can help bring all of these things to you if you make the effort. I have worked with cables and hammers and believe me these will take your strength to levels you never knew you had. Even the simplest exercise from a rubber cable can improve your joints and build muscle in ways that not many other methods can touch. Bud may seem like a super-heavyweight that doesn't have a chance of being flexible and he's just all strength but I can assure you he's beyond strong and has strength that most men would kill for. He has a series of DVDs called Alternative Conditioning which features methods of training that people can work on if they can't get to a gym or want to try something if bodyweight exercise don't have the answer.

Take a look at what they can do and get on the bandwagon. Its never too late to learn and build up ferocious strength and power.  Click below and read what this Strongman has to say on the subject.

Alternative Conditioning Series

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