Monday, August 22, 2011

Tribute To Slim The Hammerman

As a young boy in Pennsylvania, little Lawrence Farman sat down at Zern's Farmer's Market in Gilbertsville at 8 years old while his parents did their shopping. One particular table was part of a crowd of people looking on at very old and past his prime strongman by the name of Joeseph Greenstein a.k.a The Mighty Atom. Atom would lecture the benefits of eating healthy and what it can do to help you live your life with great enthusiasim and love. During these lectures he would bend spikes, drive nails through boards and break chains with great ease to name a few. He had been doing it about 25+ years. This boy however was just amazed at what this old as rock old-timer can do and kept going there for many years.

Slim would start to grow like a tree and as a late-teen began working at a Rock Quarry. For up to 14 hours a day 6-7 days a week he would be breaking rock and stone by the ton with his heavy sledgehammer. As time went on he was just so powerful and strong with that hammer that his mates would start to take notice and be in awe of his rugged and extreme strength.

When most strongmen back in the days f the follies and industrial revolution they usually were no more then 5'8 and weighed no more then 170 pounds at best. Very few men at that time were over 200 pounds and 6' tall. Slim however surpassed these numbers and got to be 6'6 and over 220 pounds of hard, rugged and steel corded muscle. During one lecture the Atom asked the audience "How is it I, an old man among you, Am the only person to bend this spike?" One man spoke out and this was the same kid who had watched Atom at 8 years old now in his late-teens early-twenties and made the statement that started a chain-reaction for what would be now legendary "You ain't talking to me old man."

Atom asks the rugged, sinewy young man to come on up and show him. Slim is twice the size of Atom who is 5'4 and 155 pounds soaking wet. He takes the spike and puts his hands on the top to get ready but Atom stops him and says "No...You can't bend it like that, its impossible." Slim decided to still do it because it felt comfortable to him. He bends the spike in full and for the first time in all of the years Atom has been performing had never seen a man do that. Atom asked Slim "Is there anything else you do?" Slim tells him he cuts stone with a sledge hammer and can raise it from horizontal to vertical from the ground using just the bottom of the handle. The Atom didn't think this was possible and asked Slim to show him. The following week, Slim brings his 16 pound hammer and shows the Atom what he can do. Each time this powerful man levered the hammer, Atom was flabbergasted and never has he seen anyone else do this.

From that day on Atom would have his chance to reveal his true secrets of the Old-Time Strongman and took Slim under his wing or because of the giant's height above his wing LOL. Over the years Slim and Atom performed together and Slim would start to build super muscle and extremely strong tendons with his Hammer Levering working up to almost 50 Pounds with 2 hammers. He just couldn't stop getting stronger. When the time came it came in 1975 in Madison Square Garden when Slim would rise to become the Legend that Atom always saw in him and came full circle when he lifted his world record 56 pound hammers. This night was the birth of one of the last remaining Old-Time Strongman.

Most men when they turn 40 begin to feel that they're over the hill and can't accomplish what they used to 15-20 years earlier. Slim would have none of it and threw away that mindset and guess what happened? At age 40 he didn't peak his strength. It kept getting stronger. He was bending steel, driving through boards and hammering his way past what most men think is impossible. between 40 and 50, Slim began feeling invicible and his strength just kept rising. When you are that dangerous at that age you don't want to be messing with that kind of power I don't care who you are.

As the years flew by and long after The Atom had passed on and the torch went to Slim, This once little kid who is now by all means The World's Strongest Man was breaking ground and every time he lifted a hammer, his legendary status was just as breathtaking as it was when he first levered that hammer infront one of the most famous Strongmen himself. His potential has reached far beyond what most people even himself can ever imagine.

An important aspect of the Old-Time Strongman is whether muscles or tendons are the most important to train. From the mouth himself, Slim firmly believes that its the tendons that are a key. You can build muscle any way you want but its the tendons that reveal a person's true power and strength. I believe this to be true.

Recently the now 75 year old strongman was inducted into the York Barbell Hall Of Fame with his late mentor and one time best friend The Mighty Atom and for them its an honor that has been long overdue and took way too damn long to finally come up. These 2 men paved the way for many premiere strongmen today. It is fitting that Slim has hammered his way in the halls of some of the greatest men in the iron game in history. In my opinion he should've been in the hall of fame just when he began to peak. As a strongman myself I'm honored to have learned from his training DVD and has helped me become stronger for the feats I want to perform. He is now immortalized and Slim's records will never be matched and if one man can do I want to see it along with other greats of the iron game today. Like what Babe Ruth is to Baseball, Slim The Hammerman is to Old-Time Strongman.

Slim, this is for you old man and I pray I get to one day speak with you and learn from you. You are a man among men and you are without question a strongman's strongman. Thank you for all you have done and I believe from the bottom of my heart from what I read about The Atom, he couldn't have chosen a better suited man then you.

Friday, August 19, 2011

The Power Of A Primate

The thought of training like a Ape or Monkey might seem a bit silly and downright dumb but if you leave skepticism aside for a moment, you can actually develop superior grip and tendon strength. I believe it is important to train like a primate in the sense where they're closest to us in evolution and although structurally different we can still build great strength around what they do in their daily lives.

First thing to do when training like a Primate is to observe their movements and how they walk. An Ape walks on its knuckles and can climb trees with ease. Now instead of climbing trees just start with hanging and with practice slowly start doing pull-ups. Walking like a gorilla build strength and power in the upper and lower body and when you run like a gorilla you will be getting a strength & endurance workout second to none.

When you learn to hang like a primate you're not just stretching out the limbs and just dangling there, you're building a foundation for a powerful tight grip. You are building powerful tendons and ligiments that can be used for important things in your daily life.

Once you begin training like a Primate you're on your way to becoming stronger then the average human not just through a strength ratio but with the body you develop you will look strong as well as being strong.

Go check out my bud Ed Baran's Animal Kingdom Conditioning Programs One & Two. Each program has a great Ape & Monkey Program and much more animals to develop a strong and powerful physique.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Harnessing Your Chi Power

Chi meaning Life Force is a form of energy that surrounds us everywhere from a rock, a tree, the ground, even the air we breathe there is some form of great energy. In order to develop it with power it all starts with the breath. Our breath gives us life and can give us the ultimate power within our very being. Now not all types of breathing gives us a positive outlook. Shallow breathing has great negative effect on the body and is one that should not be dwelled on. Deep and natural breathing however can take away the awful stress and anxiety that happens upon us on a daily basis.

The breath is the first thing to learn to create powerful chi but afterwards comes the mind and intent. Being mindful of your breathing is a difficult task but with practice and the will to get better creating power will become a cinch. Thinking into your body can make or break the chi within you. Breathing in positive energy and breathing out negative energy is one of many basic exercises to understand the power of Chi.

Once you get the hang of breathing and being mindful of creating powerful Chi, holding certain postures can enhance your ability to not only develop powerful Chi but create a beautiful body inside and out. Yoga is a perfect example for this. Warrior One is a favorite of mine and do a variation called the Dragon Pose. When you hold this posture think into the body and channel electrical energy every single part of the body. After holding this pose for a period of time with mind and intent you should start to feel tingly in some areas most notably the hands and legs. Another great posture is holding a horse stance. This posture is where you have the legs a little wider then shoulder width apart, squat about a quarter to half way parallel to the floor, pelvis tucked and have the arms either out to the side or in front of you. Holding this posture isn't easy but with mindfulness can create powerful Chi in the body.

To enhance your strength and internal power, you will learn to think into your body and not always focus on the outside. Thinking internally is far different then thinking externally. Internal Power creates a whole new dimension of Chi and with practice and conviction you can hold certain postures for long periods of time and never even notice it. In one posture I use I use a breathing pattern that makes me countdown instead of counting up. Because of this practice recently I have held this posture for more then 3 minutes and it felt like 10 seconds. Learn to control your breath and think power and universal strength.

If you want to look at great ideals of Powerful Chi Strength my favorites to look upon is the Jedi & The Shaolin Monks. Although one is fictional both share the same goal and thats to harness the life force that makes them powerful and strong. Does that mean you'll move objects and use mind control over someone? Hell no but you can create superior strength that you can't teach with lifting weights or using a cardio machine. You can create heat in your body and yet you can also make it cool with the thought and intent while using your breathing.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Feats Of Strength DVDs

Hello,

There’s nothing quite like the ferocious power needed for feats of strength.

You know like bending steel with your bare hands...

Like tearing a thick phonebook in half in a matter of seconds...

Making a chain explode...

Lifting a person overhead with a single finger...

Can you do these things? Do you want to?

Not only are they phenomenal methods of training to become ridiculously strong, but you can actually perform like an oldtime strongman.

There’s nothing quite like it to impress your family and friends.

Heck, you can even turn it into a career!

That’s just what Bud Jeffries has done. Along with his partner Logan Christopher they’re delivering some awesome information on everything about feats of strength.

Just click here to see this video showing many of them (some of which you’ve probably never seen nor heard of before).
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4424645

If you just want to watch the video that’s cool, but I highly suggest you sign up on that page as they’re going to share more videos with you that teach you the exact steps you need to get started.

Ben Bergman

P.S. Seriously go watch the video on this page now. If you’re not inspired to start destroying cards, nails and more then you can go back to lifting pink 3 lb. dumbbells in your workouts.
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4424645

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Packing Effortless Power

The true power of strength is not external but internal. The strength of the mind has limitless possibilites as the strength of your muscles can only go so far. One way to look at it as what the Mighty Atom called the Infinite Light. This also refers to the life force as said in china with Qi, Japan with Ki, India with Prana and the christian faith call the power of god. These all share the same goal and objection to create ultimate power from within.

Another way to look at it is called CoreForce Energy where you learn to channel your mind to create effortless power and speed. A great example of this is Bruce Lee's One-inch punch demonstration where between his fist and mans chest is just over a few centimenters. With effortless power Lee charges that punch and knocks the guy down with great force. How do you do that and where does it come from? The truth is we all have that power within us but to channel it is different for everyone and in order to bring out that power we must use our mind.

To do this is through focus, concentration and pure self-inflicted imagination. The power of imagination is much more powerful then you can imagine but there is a way to bring that out. Take in the power and think the speed of light going at 186,000 miles per second. This power can burst through planets, moons, suns and stars without struggle and without fear of stopping. To master this takes practice and an open mind.

Injecting power mentally is a practice like everything else but with time you can use this power for whatever is important to you whether its strength, sports, combat, business or daily things that happen in your life. The difference between turning it on or off is staggering and to turn it takes imagination and intent. With CoreForce Energy you learn to channel the power already within you and build up strength that seemed impossible before but now can be a reality without many hours of training.

Unleashing the fury inside you creates a powerful body internal and external and with practice you can be far stronger then you can ever imagine. Its the effortless power that creates the ultimate universal power that just consumes your entire being. Learn the power of CoreForce Energy and learn the true secrets of effortless strength.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Guiding Your Way To Handstand Push-ups

In any form of training we all have to start somewhere and that's at the basics. Building foundations are keys to successful training with learning the basics comes with intelligence. When you start out its new and sometimes difficult to understand but as time goes on you become smarter and smarter.

With the case of Handstand Push-ups, you are learning the basics of Hand Balancing in this manner with using the wall. Now contrary to popular belief this type of training does not mean its working just your arms but the entire body and with good reason. You are practicing your body as a unit and with the arms you have to use the stabilizing muscles such as your core, chest, shoulders, back and yes even your legs.

When doing push-ups in this manner yo have to use the body as one solid piece just like a steel rod. If you don't master this first, you won't have much to do and holding the position won't help either. Once you have mastered this there are many ways to do Handstand Push-ups.

Take for example your hand placements can determine whether the exercise will be easier or harder. Even shifting your head from looking at the floor to looking forward will make a huge difference to see how far down you can go. The ability to overcome these differences is up to you and see how far you're willing to go to create awesome push-ups.

If you're a weight lifter, Handstand Push-ups can help increase your pressing power because this type of training increases your awareness on how you apply the body and its also a full body press. Because of this type of training I'm able to press a 88lb. Kettlebell without that much effort and even did it the first time I picked one up. Will that hapn with you? Maybe, maybe not but when you practice this regularlly you can rest assured your pressing strength will go through the roof.

Now that the physical part is out of the way you still have to learn how to use your mind. At first it can be scary being upside down and not know what the hell to do. This is one of the true tests of mind over matter.

The ability to overcome fear to increase your strength. Take into consideration the olympic gymnasts and acrobats on how they do their hand balancing stunts. They make them look easy as if they're a cake walk but deep down they are just like you and me. They started out fearful and learned to practice over and over again to overcome that fear and become strong and powerful. Now does this mean you have to be a gymnast or acrobat to understand this? No. You just need to learn to infuse your mind with your body and develop the way its meant for you.

Learn to become im"press"ive with Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups and learn the basics that has taught some of the strongest men on the planet on how to become strong and powerful.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Strongmen: From Vaudville Onto The Big Screen

In the Golden Era of Physical Culture you had some of the strongest men on the planet doing what they did best on the stage in Vaudeville houses in America, Germany, France, India, Canada and many other countries across the globe. In that time strongmen weren't just a piece of the show, often times they were the rock stars of their era and were the headliners over many top acts. You had great men like Sandow, Saxon, Arco, The Mighty Atom, Warren Lincoln Travis, Apollon and Hackenshmidt. There were many others and the reason why is because people want to believe in the power of being strong, to be able to do anything that gets in your grasp and gets destroyed or lifted with your bare hands.

As time went on like so many things in the world, the strongmen shows started to die out and become a spot as a piece of what once was good and meaningful to the people who came to see these mighty giants give them something to believe in. Now very few people in the world know who even some of these men of strength were and the respect and love they have for them and help spread the word of what can possibly be a comeback starting with its roots all over again. With the growing of a new film just might bring that old school quality of what was is now slowly coming back to reality instead of a memory. The film is called Bending Steel: A Documentary.

The film takes place where a small strongman named Chris Shoeck has big ambitions to perform at one of the most famous strongman sites in the world, Coney Island, NY where men like The Mighty Atom, Warren Lincoln Travis and many others flourished in the realm of strength. To help get him there he is guided by another strongman who's becoming quite famous himself in recent years and that's The Viking Chris Rider. Theres a clip in the film where Rider is telling the little strongman about the crowd and how to channel his fear and overcome it with using his feats. Trust me guys, Shoeck may be short and skinny at stature but he is one strong dude and bad to the bone at what he does. Rider is no slouch either but is a towering giant with some of the powerful hands that's anyones ever seen.

When you watch the trailer of the film don't be fluttered with how great or not great it looks but picture in your mind the love and majesty of who the old-timers were about and what they represent. Its very difficult to perform certain feats of strength but in the mind its a limitless possibility of what you can achieve. That's where the real story comes to life is how far are you willing to go to push yourself with great power and great focus. You will find in this film how far one man will go to perform the biggest show of his life to solidify himself in the annals of strongman history. In one scene where Shoeck is at Coney Island you can almost hear the ghosts of past strongmen and giving him the call of a lifetime (not literally).

This film is set to release in the Summer/Fall of 2012 and I for one and hopefully many of you reading this will be seeing it with love, respect and the true honor of knowing that the strongman are coming back and Rider, Shoeck and others are the driving force of bringing back what truely belongs in this world. The world wants to believe again and now its here.

For more info go on Facebook and "Like" Bending Steel: A Documentary Film at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Bending-Steel-A-Documentary-Film/192032960849713

There you will find a few extras of the film as shooting and editing progresses and friend Rider & Shoeck. Also you will find info on how to get tix to see The Strongmen At Coney Island themselves and see Shoeck in his first performence ever.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Two Week Trip....Finding New Things To Write

Starting tomorrow I will be going on a two week trip up north with my family. My main goals for this trip is to meditate and find new ways to bring info to you in the best way I know how. I will not be writing on this blog for that amount of time because I want to build up new ideas to write and put in more effort to create the best possible writings for you to inspire, laugh at and get intouch with what I will be writing for you the fans, visitors, subscribers and my friends.

I will be training daily as usual and be swimming, relaxing and have a kick ass time. When I get back you will see a few new changes and some new fond of writing for affiliates and some of my own work without it. You may even find me on Tough Guy News. A lot of new things are coming my friends and stay tuned with a new plethora of products being promoted by me and some of the websites I will be representing. Thank you for your support and I wish you all the best and be sure to check up the blog here and take a look some of the recent, late and past posts and shoot some comments, tell me what you would like to see in the coming fall and I will take some into consideration. Big things are coming. Stay tuned and keep a look out for new links.

So for now, take a look at the links on the blog and spread the word around about the blog. Share with your friends on facebook & twitter, subscribe and visit often. I look forward to be hearing from you guys.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Superhuman Strength & Endurance Within Its Reach

To know Physical Culture is to know its history and majesty of pure and natural strength & conditioning with the fullest intent to create the ultimate athlete. Many of the men and women have come and gone. One however out of very few that has taken a grasp on the real important aspects of Physical Culture and mold the old-time methods and scrambled together the very best of what makes the ultimate athlete and that's strongman Big Bud Jeffries.

He has taken some of the biggest courses around and molded them to help you become the fittest person you can become. To develop such strength and endurance takes observation, will, believing you will get strong and work together the best to create strength & stamina at the same time. Not many people believe this is possible and if it is how is it done? Is it amount of weight? Is it amount of sets and reps? Is it conditioning along with Strength? Well its all these things and then some.

At Strongerman.com you will find the best of the best when it comes to developing Superhuman efforts of Power, Strength, Stamina, Flexibility and Muscle/Tendon building all at the same time. These methods have been passed down over the last century by men like Bob Hoffman, Eugene Sandow, Aurthur Saxon, Maxick, Otto Arco, George Hackenshmidt, John Grimek, Reg Park, Brooks Kubik, Bradley J. Steiner, Thomas Inch & many, many more.

Take a look at what you will find at this Monstrosity of a strength website.....

Twisted Conditioning 1

&

Twisted Conditioning 2

Strength & Endurance For Martial Artists

How To Squat 900 lbs.

Secrets Of Massive Functional Muscle

& More....

Bud in my opinion and quite a few others...He's a modern day Paul Anderson and has become one of if not the strongest of super-heavyweights drug-free and has overcome obsticals that would make your mother cry and he's still living large and incharge and keep a level of strength and stamina that is somewhat not human. So stop on by at Strongerman.com and find out the true and time-tested methods of our forefathers of physical culture.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Strong Or Weak.....He's Got You Covered & Then Some

Every living person strives to be strong at something whether its business, strength, health, fitness, sports, carpenting or what it is they want to do it is important to maintain your health and keep up your strength no matter how old you are whether you're 10 or 100. Being the strongest as best as you can be is not only a lifelong journey but more of a quest.

My friend Logan Christopher has been on that jorney ever since he was a young skinny high school kid starting with bodybuilding and supplementation. Once he felt that didn't work he began studying bodyweight exercises from a few courses and that started his quest to find the best ways to get super strong, healthy and functionally athletic and he has done so many times over and still has much to learn just like the rest of us who are looking for the holy grail of superhuman fitness. Most of what you'll see at Legendary Strength is what kept the old time tested methods that the old timers came up with going back 100 years or more.

Within the site you will find a variety of topics that may seem unorthodox or may be even controversial but thats the beauty of what he represents. He doesn't always use lay back topics or skip over a thing or 2 no he gets straight to the point and some of it is pretty funny but also its as educational as you can get. He doesn't leave any stone unturned and puts himself right in the brink of his writing and products. Some products are bodyweight but a good portion of them also include barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells.

You will find at Legendary Strength a real test of what can work for you or what can't work for you but either way he wants YOU to be the strongest you can possibly be and not just for looks but for daily life. A good portion of the products you will see will take you to another level and some of us even have surpassed that level and he helped bring in more. I mean take a look at what he has to offer....

Advanced Bridging Course

Kettlebell Snatch Domination

Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups

&

The Superhuman Training Membership

There are many more but these are a top pick for me because I have experienced first hand how to do all of those things and more. Snatched a 53lb. KB 83 times in 5 min, fell back into a bridge & kicked over and back, got as high as 20 handstand push-ups and am a proud member of the superhuman training programs. You may not want to do all that stuff but you can become strong and healthy. Be apart of Legendary Strength and help us bring back the time honored methods of the old-time strongmen.

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