My Secret Weapon!!

We all strive to become strong and want to be a powerful human being. What if we turned the volume up a bit and search for a higher purpose and become superhuman. Isometrics for the most part when done correctly is one of the most difficult forms of strength training. The reason why that is its because Isometrics require a laser-like focus of mind over matter and shoot for the last rep first. One of the keys to developing superhuman strength is indeed through isometric exercise.

One of my good friends John Peterson of Bronze Bow Publishing and www.transformetrics.com is one of the best at knowing how to develop strength and conditioning through basic and simple bodyweight exercises. I've had many conversations with him over the last half decade and one that comes to mind is often discussions on Isometric Training. Me and him agree that in order to develop superhuman strength, Isometrics are one of the true keys and as a strongman myself this is true to the bone and i'll tell you why. In order to pull off certain feats as bending, tearing phonebooks, levering sledgehammers or ripping decks of cards you will notice how that to start an isometric contraction takes places and the amount of pressure needed to pull these feats off is not as easy as some people may believe. One of John's products is called the Isometric Power Belt. Its an 18ft long Leather strap belt that withstand as much as 7000 lbs. of force and can be used for many many exercises and not just isometrics but also DSR type movements or Dynamic Self Resistance.

It is without question my secret weapon for feats of strength and because of that unlike what John has advertised for what exercises you can use I have taken it to another level and imitated various feats of strength in order to build super strength in my tendons and ligiments for the feats I want to perform. My secret weapon costs less then a 3 month membership to a gym, less then a set of dumbbells and barbells and just to name another, it costs less then a power rack to hold weights. Am I saying those things are bad, no but i'm not a weightlifter and I don't have a lot of money so this belt is a life-saver for me and it can do more then I expected it to do.

The true secret to Isometrics is not how physically powerful it can make you but how powerful it can make you mentally. You develop Mind Power with Isometrics and you learn how to channel your focus into one given moment of programming your body to get that last rep first. You don't just flex a couple muscles and be done with it, no your whole being is driven to the core. If you want to squeeze out an exercise for 6-10 seconds at 70-90% of your power you can do that but you can also channel it to another dimension and hold it for 1 minute or longer at 30-50% of your power. Thats the beauty of Isometrics. Unlike other exercises where you do different speeds, tempos and how fast or slow Isometrics makes you work your own strength and power which too many people forget to do because they don't care how strong they get and thats a shame. Isometrics helps you build a mind/muscle connection unlike anything else and in my personal opinion and experience, you can build strength and endurance at the same time using Isometric Exercise.

One of the greatest Strongmen in history was former P.O.W of the first World War Alexander Zass. He was known throughout the world for his strength to bend steel bars and being able to take some serious blows to the stomach by boxers and being hit with sledgehammers. Without question he was the world's strongest man for the things he did. When he became really famous he wrote a course detailing how Isometric Exercise was the key to his reknowned power and superhuman strength. He used chains to do certain Isometric Exercises and because of that eventually he eventually was breaking those chains with ease. The chains are now synonum in Strongmanism throughout the last 100 years and used by men like Zass, The Mighty Atom, Slim The Hammerman, Dennis Rogers and many others.

Now a couple questions that come up every now and then were "Can you train on Isometrics Alone?" & "Is it true that Charles Atlas had isometrics in his Dynamic Tension Course?" Now contrary to popular belief, no Charles Atlas did not have isometrics in his course and most people don't know the difference between isometrics and dynamic tension. Iso-Metric in greek terms means Same-Length which in turn means you're holding a certain contraction without moving in any direction. Dynamic Tension means you're moving through a range of motion depending how hard or easy the movement is. Can you train on Isometrics Alone? In my opinion that depends on the individual because Isometrics can be used in many ways, rehab, strongman, athletics, time-saving training just to name a few but in technical terms no and I'll tell you why. Isometrics is a very powerful form of strength and conditioning but to get a complete program you must do various moving exercises whether it be push-ups, squats, pull-ups, muscle control, sit-ups or whatever. Its balancing out the weak points in your training.

I love Isometrics because i'm a strongman and need that form of training to accomplish the feats I want to do. I  also like moving through certain ranges of motion because I want to balance out the weak spots and get that strength and flexibility that I need to stay in top shape. Find your own secret weapon and conquer your own training program. The true keys to complete strength development is learning the basics and creating your own style of training. Like me I have developed my own style of training and it won't always work for everyone either because they're not strong enough or don't have the right structure. Develop your way and build a body thats around your structure and body-to-weight ratio.

Cables For Building Strength For Strongman

In the last century throughout Physical Culture we've seen many strongmen perform great feats of strength such as bending nails, driving nails through boards, rip phonebooks in half, lever sledgehammers, bend and break odd objects, lift ridiculious amount of weight and in some cases do some crazy hand balancing. Yet with all of these things what did some of theses men used to build those levels of strength that would seem impossible to the average person? Well for starters most of them just practiced the feats just themselves and doing tons of isometrics for those feats but believe it or not some of the most famous names used Cable Training to enhance their strength.

The type of Cable Training I'm speaking of is not the pully machines that were in gymnasiums at the time but something more closer to home and thats what we call today the Chest Expander. Back then it had metal springs and would stretch as far as 12-16 inches compared to the rubber cables that can reach up to 18 inches or more. Men like Charles Atlas, The Mighty Atom, Thomas Inch, Eugene Sandow, John Grimek and Earl Liederman all at one point used cables to strengthen their bodies from various angles that weights and bodyweight exercises didn't hit and what happened when they used this device? Well saying they were damn strong would be an understatement.

The beauty with Cable Training is that you can hit angles in the shoulders, arms, chest, abs, back and the legs that many other systems can't and at times you need that type of strength and flexibility in order to keep yourself healthy and strong. Today Cable Training is more popular then ever with Lifeline USA and other companies using cables for just about every gym in the country. You can use them for just about anything, strength training, sports training, rehab injuries and even for endurance training.

Now there is some controversy in the fitness world and saying you can can't build strength and endurance in the same workout. Well I have friends that defied those odds and have done it myself and yes it is true that you can do this but with the right type of training. One way in this case is to do presses with a light cable and once you hit a high number you switch to a heavier cable and do low reps and you can do all sorts of exercises with this but with proper training you can create Strength & Endurance in the same workout.

One of my personal favorites of this type of training is mimicking certain feats of strength such as ripping a phonebook or bending nails or if you're a weightlifter mimick the one-arm clean & jerk/press. As a strongman I have to be in top condition for consistant strength in my feats so I use cables to help strengthen the muscles and tendons I need for the feats I want to perform.

Whether you're a Strongman, Athlete, Housewife, Hard Laborer, Businessman or just the average joe, cables can give you a really great workout in a much shorter time it takes getting the gym. You can have your gym right in your own bag. All you need to do is make a little effort and make a small commitment to becoming stronger, healthier and more durable with vitality and a powerful body.

Being A Strongman & Pushing Past Limits

As human beings we have the ability to learn what we can or can't do. Most often people find out what they can't do in certain ways because that part of our brains tell us how far we go and whether or not to to get past certain points of pain and discomfort. The Govenor that resides within everyone has been our Jimmeny Cricket to whether we push past certain limits of whats right or wrong of us to do. In terms of strength and Strongmanism, there are literally thousands of strongmen around the world that do some crazy things but yet thats less then 1% out of billions of people that don't know how to get past their limits because that Govenor is telling them they can end up getting hurt.

Now i'm not saying you should be like superman and defy the odds of gravity or go lift up a car or anything that would jeapordize your life but if you want to do something bad enough there are certain things you need to get through in order to make that thing come to life. For the fewer strongmen that are out there they have broken barriers as to how far they're willing to go in order to achieve what they believe is possible. Some of have broken their wrists, some have shed blood and even some that have passed out doing certain feats of strength.

For some readers that do know I have literally pushed my body to links of pain from doing certain feats. I'm serious as I tell you this now I have had black and blue arms and legs from bending long and very tough pieces of steel that most people would've thrown in the towel after 30 seconds. I even had a bloody nose while bending a very tough spike at one time. These are a couple of the things we strongmen endure in order to create some of the most insane strength possible. It takes much more then physical strength to endure certain pain and discomfort. You are really playing mind games with yourself.

There are feats I would never attempt to do from other strongmen not because of getting hurt but because I just don't persue them as much as they do. Take for instance Slim The Hammerman. He's the proud owner of holding the title of World's Strongest Man at Levering sledgehammers. He became so obsessed of lifting the heaviest hammers that he had broken his wrists many times achieving a level of status thats above almost everyone else. I've already broken bones in my lifetime and I really don't want that to happen again. I'm not as crazy as these other guys but I have the highest respect for them and the way they push themselves is just surreal.

A true strongman doesn't show off for his own personal gain or torments anyone cause they're not as strong as they are but a real strongman believes in himself and wants to help others achieve their levels of strength beyond their own assumptions and imagination. A true strongman pushes past the barriers to become extraordinary not to please others but to prove to himself that he can and will be the strongest he can be. Can you believe in yourself? Do you have it in you? The real question is, can you bring it out and devour your own expectations? Think about that for a bit.

My Review Of The Legacy Of Iron Series

Iron Game Author Brooks Kubik has been writing great stuff over the last 15+ years about how to build and develop natural muscle, strength and power. He has written countless articles about the greats of the past and how their methods excel over many of the top training ideas of today. For the most part since Bob Hoffman in my opinion he is the leading authority on muscle building books and teaching others how to use the basics for weight lifting, odd object lifting and fool-proof training programs that have made weak boys into bonified muscle men with no steroids or useless supplements.

Over the last few years he has written a series of novels that has never been done before. Publishing the stories of the old-time bodybuilders and strongmen of the 30's and 40's and creating certain characters that follow the programs and shenanigans of the weightlifters themselves as if it was happening in real life. This series is called The Legacy Of Iron which is now in its fifth volume and who knows what Brooks has been coming with on his new ones. To me everytime I read these books I feel like i'm right in the middle of the men and women of strength that i've read about ever since I began doing Physical Culture.

The books start right in the thick of one subject right after the other and just when you think one guy is about to get outlifted or is apart of the second world war something else just jumps right at you when you turn the page. These books have great rivalries, fighting, courage, conflicts, determination and plenty of beautiful girls to make Harry Paschall go nuts. Never has a series been this taught to the public and have 2 fictional characters learn from the same men and women who have helped millions of strength-infected young men and women to become strong, vibrant and powerful just like their heroes in the real fitness magazines of the time.

I don't want to give away any of the stories in the books but they do make you think of who these guys were whether their stories are fictional or not they will captivate your attention and have you believe as if you were sitting right next to them as if they became your best friends. Learn what true brotherhood means to the people in these books. Yes they did push each other and had a few rivalries but it was all for the same cause and thats to help the other get stronger and give him a chance to prove his metel.

I'm very honored to apart of the Physical Culture movement and I get to sit with the old-timers whenever I pick up one of these books and listen in my mind what they're gonna do next and teach me the true ways of being strong and not always whether its weight lifting or not, its the motivation that gets me everytime. Brooks has made it possible for me and many others to love Physical Culture the way it was meant to be and thats a source of being with your brothers and learning the true value of strength and pure feirce determination to prove to yourself and not others of what you can truely become if you just start putting in a little effort and progress.

Tendon Strength In Steel Bending

Building the tendons with steel bending takes focus, hard work and knowing which ones to start and where to advance. When I first started bending I tried out 40D Penny Nails and some of the Iron Mind white and green nails. Those started becoming too easy so what did I do to get better? I bought steel bars, flat, rounded and re bar. I began bending them like crazy into all sorts of shapes and made some art out of them. Now why am I telling you all this? Its because like me and a lot of up-coming strongmen you want to progress through different levels of difficulty and experiment with what you can and can't do.

As you progress through your training and building solid steel tendons you want to find certain pieces of steel whether short or long and its strong enough to where you can't even budge it. This type of training is a key ingredient to successful training in Bending Steel and that's Isometrics. With Isometrics you learn to hit various points of a bend kind of like a partial lift in weights. Learn to focus your power on a certain point so when you get to bends that you had trouble with before now can be very easy.

Now contrary to popular belief in some circles certain people believe that strongmen use the same style of bending whether braced or un braced (using the legs and not using the legs) which the opposite is actually true. The Mighty Atom for short bending used whats called an Under Hand grip style which during that time was the only thing people knew until his Protege' Slim The Hammer man said once he tried it and didn't feel comfortable to him so he puts his hands on top of the spike and then bent the spike with full force.

Another key about bending is to find your style of bending that works for you. My style is the reverse hand grip which is where one hand is in front of the other. Having your own style will make you unique in how you present yourself in that form of Strength Feats. In Logan Christopher & Bud Jeffries' new DVD set on Feats Of Strength, you will find and learn what bending can do for you as far as strength and endurance is concerned. They will teach you the right and wrong ways of bending because if you're not careful you will get hurt.

These 2 men along with a few others they have learned from are the real experts on Strongmanism. When you learn from a real strongman and learn the correct way to bend, tear and just manhandle anything you can get your hands on you will build a level of strength and fitness that makes commercial gym goers look like wimps. I have learned from both men and without question I immediately got better at what I thought what I was already doing right. This is where you need to have an open mind to learn from rugged and powerful trainers.

Now that you've made it this far LOL....I will tell you first hand that if you apply the techniques and principles of whats on this DVD set you will be one powerful strong wo/man and this course will help you find your nich whether you're an athlete, trainer or just the average person who wants to become strong, this will help you with the best of intents.