Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Building Your Way To Greatness

Whether you're new to exercise or want to get into or even get back into the shape you use to be a key rule is to build a foundation. Start with where you're at and build from there. Doing basic exercises doesn't sound pleasing as much as people think but when you begin a program the basics are always the best. The reason why that is its because no matter how far advanced you are in any program or whatever level you're at doing the basics takes you further beyond your will to develop strength, conditioning, stamina and flexibility.

One of the main things I really don't like about most trainers is that they tend to put people on programs that is so general its stupid. Lets see how this works, take an obese person and put them through the same program that a trainer has with a skinny person who never works out. Who do you think will be in better shape? Truth is its difficult to tell on many different things. The structures are different, the shape is different they're body chemistry's are different so why put them on a generic program that a trainer "thinks will work." Fact is whether you're big, small, weak, strong or whatever, you have to train at your own pace because no one should have the same exact program. Its more efficient and logical for a trainee to set their own pace so when they get stronger the better they'll be.

I've said once I'll say it again, do not fall for that 30 min. of cardio and the hour of weights crap. Again see the generic outlook? People train differently so they're bodies need to train differently. If you start with 5 min. of exercise a day you will have a better chance at progressing then doing the boring hour and a half bulls*it. I personally cannot do an hour and a half of training because for one, its boring, two I'm very ADD when it comes to stuff like that. Give me 20 min. and I'm set easy. That works for me so I train at my own pace. Others do shorter or longer sessions which is fine but for an individual it shouldn't be so long they lose interest. I have done the 2 hours 3x a week stuff and I lasted barely 3 weeks so safe to say it sucks big time. What works for one may not work for another so that's why one needs to find what works for them.

In my friend Ed and his twin brother Andy's Baran Brothers' Basic Bodyweight Building Blocks they take the new trainee and help them through a series of exercises with progressions. Progression is one of the keys to building muscle and burning fat. Progressions help you reach from a beginning phase to a very difficult exercise. Start at your own pace and work your way up. In any program you can't just jump into an advanced program, that can lead to injuries and you can get bored or burnt out. Progressing with a starting point will help you find what works, how your body works and how your mind progresses as well.

If you're new to training a good tip to use is to see yourself in your mind how fit you are and that you are happy with not only what you have but that you want to keep going and train well. Training safely and progressively can help you lead an active lifestyle and help you be healthy and vibrant. Happiness and having a positive mindset along with patience and goal-settings you can build a great foundation for life-long health and fitness.

Generating HGH Levels To New Heights

When we use compound movements in any exercise program, chances are you’ll be in better shape then when you isolate the muscles and tendons of the body. Compound movements are of using multiple muscle groups at one particular time like in weight lifting you have the clean and jerk for barbells and presses and pulls using dumbbells and of course the squat. In bodyweight exercise believe it or not there are many isolated movements but there are more compound movements such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats and sit-ups (not crunches).

Using multiple muscle groups creates a chain reaction of how the body generates natural growth hormone which helps you stay young, healthy and strong. Say you do a hill sprint for 10-15 seconds you are actually creating more growth hormone and when you walk back down that hill your body shifts into overdrive and as you recover you are gaining much more strength and lung power which begins to burn off fat and build muscle. Now I’m no scientist or physicist but I can certainly tell the difference on how my body feels after its been cooked within a short period of time.

Human Growth Hormone usually sounds like you’re taking steroids and you’re building muscle at a rapid pace. That’s the injections aspect of it which in my opinion is pretty lame unless you need it from being severely sick in the hospital but other then that its very dangerous and injections usually come with side effects that look far worse then what its originally said. Natural Growth Hormone however comes from doing a certain exercise or activity that gets you out of breath fast and you have to try to breathe much deeper. One of the best ways to do this is doing sprints no more then 3x a week. This actually burns off fat 10x more then the leading injections and its safer and more efficient.

I do like Sprints but since I’m not a big fan of running whether fast or slow I don’t do it very often. I do however like to train like a wild animal. I believe training like a wild animal is a lot more doable because you don’t need 100 meters or a 100 yard hill to do them. Yes you may need to do them outside but there are some animals you can imitate indoors. The bottom line is doing animal movements gives you the freedom to move around and be your favorite animal and it doesn’t feel like working out, more like playing and having fun. It’s a lot more fun to do these and if you need to catch your breath every now and then do it. If you practice them well enough you can get stronger, healthier and develop more brain power.

To me the exercises in Animal Kingdom Conditioning and Animal Kingdom Conditioning2 create way better HGH Levels and take up less time to train on and it’s really all you need. Start off doing only 5 min. a day with these animals and get good at the exercises you want to master. You can do all sorts of workouts with them and do them as long as you want once you have mastered them. I do them very often and I never feel better. I love them and one day hope you will too and make them work for you as they have done for me.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Ultimate Resistance For Health & Strength

Water is one of the ultimate sources of superior health and strength and that’s a fact no matter how you slice it. You can drink it, it can fit into any container and it can take your fitness to a whole other level. Now I realize some of you either can’t swim or just choose not to go in the ocean/pool/lake for other reasons, that doesn’t mean you can’t imitate it though. For those who do swim know what its like to feel different, being in a different state of mind and clarity.



Many athletes use swimming as a conditioning tool, hell it’s an Olympic sport and for good reasons. I believe out of all the Olympic & Pro swimmers there is one swimmer who isn’t an Olympian at all but should’ve been took swimming to a level that will never be matched and that’s the late Jack Lalanne. He not only made swimming an art form but he took it to extremes an extreme few will ever attempt and most likely can never surpass good old Jack. More then half of his recorded feats had something to do with swimming. Whether being shackled and had to pull boats from Fisherman’s Wharf or just doing a few laps from his pool outside his house, Jack made swimming look awesome period.



Another great swimmer who took it to another level was fitness and nutrition pioneer Paul Bragg. Although a controversial figure in the fitness industry he got people into eating healthy, training and gave great prominence to swimming. He was one of the first known polar bears in the early 20th century with another fitness pioneer Bernarr MacFadden. Bragg, Macfadden and others would swim the icy cold east coast oceans in New York during the winter because it gave them a new meaning to the term Nerve Force or Chi Strength. It made them tough mentally as it takes a lot of grapefruits to do that.



These 2 men are just bits and pieces of what swimming can do for you and how it can increase your strength, health and fitness. Now for practical use you don’t need to be shackled or swim in icy oceans but you can however swim laps, try to sprint, increase your lung power and move your joints the way they were made for. Swimming gives you all the resistance you need for an awesome and invigorating workout. When it comes to health, swimming can increase your mental clarity, make you breathe harder then just about anything else and it puts you in a state of mind that just makes everything seem unbelievable and beautiful.



If you have access to a pool or can go to the lake or ocean do it as often as possible. For me lately I love jumping into the pool after a hard workout and do a few laps, run around and have fun then soak in the hot tub to relax and recover. It is the perfect ending to a workout. Have fun and make swimming apart of your program whether a few times a week or everyday do it for fun not a necessity.

Monday, October 17, 2011

How Can A Swamp Dweller Turn You Into A Conditioning Machine

Animals in the wild are without a doubt the greatest athletes in the world. They’re instincts are uncanny and their conditioning is second to none and blows us humans out of the water without blinking an eye. However there are certain animals in the wild that live in not so pretty areas and can jump at you at a moments notice.



In the swamps of Louisiana and Florida there is one animal that is not only ferocious and monstrous but has speed that shouldn’t this animal shouldn’t have and can reach up to 20 mph. I’m speaking of the Alligator/Crocodile. This dinosaur like creature is by far one of the strongest of swamp dwellers and in my opinion are the wrestlers of swamp animals. Its mouth and jaws are so strong they can swing the average human like child’s play.



When it comes to upper body strength and hip flexibility along with powerful speed with a hefty amount of weight the Gator stands alone. Now how do we duplicate this animal, well our bodies are going to have to resemble a walking push-up or hold a push-up position mid-way with our bellies nearly touching the ground and the legs are spread out and start walking. This animal alone can take upper body strength/conditioning and hip flexibility to a whole new level.



In my friend Ed Baran’s book Animal Kingdom Conditioning he will show you the progressions of not only becoming a strong Gator yourself but also a wild animal that has strength and power unlike anything else. He doesn’t teach just the Gator, he has a plethora of Animals waiting for you to unleash within you that can take your workouts to levels you never imagined possible. Take it from me as I have practiced this animal along with many others and have never felt so alive in my life. This program is for just about anyone who is willing to give themselves a chance to become stronger, leaner, powerful and flexible from a variety of angles.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The PowR Walk Pro From Lifeline USA

Walking is one of the best exercises you can do, it helps you think, you can do it anywhere and its one of if not the best exercise for your overall health. I love to walk around places whether at a park, the mall or hell around the harbor from where I use to live. You build a sense of awareness and you find things about yourself from walking that you normally don't find from other exercises. Now what if we took walking to a whole new level and it not only would it help you get in shape but to give you the workout of a lifetime.

I'm talking about the PowR Walk Pro from Lifeline USA. Its a cable attachment that comes with a handle and a foot strap that will get you off and running or should I say off and walking LOL. This device may look easy and you may think its no big deal, well my friend that's where you need to rethink what you're doing here. Its far beyond what you think it is. This thing alone can cut your walking in half like a knife to butter. There are 2 levels of resistance and when you get it you will start at level 1 which is the Gray cables. They may not seem much but once you start walking with these puppies you will feel it immediately. The second Level of resistance is the Gold cables. This ups the ante and works your tendons and ligaments like you wouldn't believe.

This can help you burn off calories and get fit like never before. Now with regular walking you're mostly just working the legs but with the PowR Walk Pro, you will be working your entire body from your neck to your toes. Some people who walk take up to 10 pound dumbbells with them to get some resistance going but this thing is far better and more convenient as you can put them into a little bag when you order the product. To me its one of the best things I've ever used and I've been doing exercise for over 14 years. This will work the upper body like crazy and at a good clip you can burn up to 3X the amount the calories as oppose to regular walking. You don't need to more then a couple miles maximum but how far you can go is up to you.

I normally do 20-30 min. of walking with this thing and after that I'm spent. The first few minutes I'll just walk and do the standard cross-country skiing walk and after a few of those I would do a set of curls or lateral raises and at certain points during the walk I would hold the cables at chest level and see how long I last carrying them in an isometric fashion. There are many ways to use this thing and when you see Bobby Hinds or the other members of Lifeline USA on the DVD that comes with it, you will see first hand that you don't need long term cardio and you can either use it on a walk or use it at home anyway you choose its going to suit you the way you want. Its fun, its portable and its one of the best products to help you get a fitter you and a stronger individual.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

600 Push-ups Before Noon

For some odd reason I decided to try out some push-ups after looking at the pyramid sets from Mark De Lisele's book The Navy Seal Workout and give it a go....I liked pyramid sets so I made a pyramid of my own doing 6 different push-ups....I really had no desire to persue push-ups because I do get bored after doing them for a period of time so I pretty much did these because I felt like it and what do you know lol...I have never done this many push-ups in my life in one workout and most likely never will again. Without further ado heres my push-up workout....Now for my rest periods I did deep breathing as a superset.


Standard: 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2=162

Elbows In: 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2=50

Elbows Wide: 2,4,6,8,10,12,10,8,6,4,2=72

(Using Push-up Bars) Vertical: 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,12,10,8,6,4,2=98

(Using Push-up Bars) Horizontal: 2,4,6,8,10,12,10,8,6,4,2=72

(Using Push-up Bars) Bars directed /\: 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2=128

Finished off with 18 Standard Push-ups Totalling 600.
For most people theres no need to do that many on a daily basis unless you're a fanatic about push-ups. It took me over an hour to do them but because of looking at the Navy SEALs I just felt that I needed to do them and see how far I can go and made it happen. Although it was just something I decided to do on a whim its what goes to show that if you learned the right tools of training you can do that and find out that you can do things you normally never could of done or tried before. After the workout I went for a swim and sat in the hot tub to recover. When you do training of that caliber recovery is just as important as the training itself.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Finding Your Perfect Routine

We all look for finding the perfect routine. We want to perform a good number of reps and sets for certain exercises and want to try out routines from books, courses, videos and the muscle magazines. Some routines work and some don't. Some can hurt you, some are too easy and some are just too difficult. What if we strive for creating our own perfect routine?

In order to create a routine first you need to work on basic exercises and work them until they become a second language to you. Learn what you can and put in the work. It takes time and patience and you got to put a bit of effort into it. Once you have taken the basics to another level, this is where you must learn mastery. Take certain exercises that are at a minimum for pushing, pulling, core, legs and grip. Take at least 1-2 exercises from each category and build a mastery around them.

The perfect routine doesn't come from a book, a video, a course or a magazine. They come from within and teach you how to rely on yourself and not from anything else. Yeah you can learn exercises but you must create a routine that suits your needs and goals for your body structure and body-to-weight ratio. Being able to have your routine builds self-reliance, creativity, mental strength and the ability to adapt.

The most important element of having your own perfect routine is to have fun and be able to make changes if need be. Having fun helps relieve the stress of getting confused how hard you should work and what position to keep at all times. Fun helps build joy into your workouts and makes you feel you're not working out but almost feel like you're just just playing a game. Building this mindset can get you results faster and build better foundations for your goals. One thing is for sure you should be able to train to the point where sweat is looking like a waterfall. For this reason be able to drink plenty of water in your training.

I can't give you any specific routines to look at but I can however give you courses to look at and get in order for you to build your own routines and create yourself the ultimate body and having the time of your life. On the right hand side of the blog I highly recommend you check out Lifeline USA, Scientific Wrestling, Stronger Grip, Animal Kingdom Conditioning, Strongman Websites and CoreForce Energy.

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Meaning Of Hard Work In Physical Training

Brooks Kubik...Author of Dinosaur Training is one of the guys I admire that values the meaning of hard work in Physical Training. Why do you need to work hard to get the results? Because it takes more then just flowing through the exercises. Working an exercise into the ground can either make you or break you as a trainee. Training safely with hard training is a common sense purpose and not working so hard into the ground that you get injured.

Commitment is one of the keys to training hard. You have to be committed to the training you're doing that day and making yourself beat the exercise. Exercises can beat you at times but your commitment to at least inch your way past them is a secret of hard training. I've been doing routines for a while now on a divided schedule where I work specific muscle groups on a given day and I drive those exercises into the ground to the point where its tough to breathe and sweating like Niagara Falls. I want to make my exercises hard and keep it at a minimum time and at a max level.

Hard work in your training means you push yourself to levels at times that almost seems nonhuman to the untrained eye. Others will tell you to drive yourself into the ground until you can't get up and that's really unethical but others will also tell you that hard work is hard work and nothing else will do. Here's a real secret that those dumbasses will never tell you.....Hard Work takes mental strength, takes guts to go through a tough exercise or routine, hard work is a game against yourself and only you can win or lose. No one can really tell you how tough you are or how committed you are, the only thing that matters is you putting in the work.

Creating the machine in you doesn't happen overnight or a week after training, it has to come from within. That ultimate power within you to take your training to unspeakable levels and one of my favorite examples is from a strongman I've gotten to learn from recently and hopefully have the pleasure to shake his hand up close one day is Mike Bruce. A former Marine who had a rough childhood grew up and became a soldier, a fighter, a strongman and now a husband. He truly is what his nickname personifies and that's being the machine. Hard Work comes in all shapes and sizes but one thing that any country has the same language, hard work makes you tough as an individual.

If you are new or just a fan of physical culture I encourage you to learn about the Old-Time strongmen, wrestlers, weightlifters and bodybuilders of the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. Study how they used hard work to create superhuman results and how much it makes you a person of character when you train hard no matter what the type of training it is. Learn from them and learn for yourself. Train hard, be tough and get the job done.

Monday, September 12, 2011

You Are Never Alone In Your Training

Back in the 30's and 40's, there was a man that trained hard in the basement of a church in Brooklyn, NY and had no workout partner nor did he have a lot of people to talk to unless they visited him. The only thing he had was a barbell, a bench and a maybe a few dumbbells here and there. He went to become one of the strongest men in the world at Olympic Weightlifting. He was a World Champion, Olympian and an Senior Nationals Champion and went undefeated for over 15 years till 1953. His name was John Davis.

Why did I put a significance of this powerful man on here? Good question. You see most of his career was being Champion at so many levels and yet throughout most of his training days he didn't have a workout partner. Motivation must have been very difficult for him cause in that basement the only friends he had in his training quarters was a barbell and a freaking bench. Yet without being discouraged he pushed hard and trained like a mad man.

He is one of the perfect examples of someone who doesn't always need to have a training partner. A lot of people go to a gym because theres people there and they can either encourage you or shut you down or help keep you motivated there are many reasons for that. The truth of the matter is that you can have a workout partner or train by yourself. Never be discouraged because someone isn't there pushing you.

For me as an example most of my training is by myself. I rarely have a workout partner and for obvious reasons I really like training alone and have made it a habit. The reason why training by yourself is a wonderful thing is because you don't need to hear the negativity coming from others who don't believe in what you do and making your goals feel impossible to you. The beauty of it is its that you learn how to discover yourself and motivate the only person in the room and that's you. The difference between training with people vs. training by yourself is that there can be distractions with training with others but in some cases training with others can create bonds and friendships with one another and push each other but in other cases training with others can throw you off and they tell you to do this or that cause its either the right or wrong way to train. Training by yourself on the other can either make you or break you as a trainee. Its never easy training alone because the only thing that can keep you motivated is yourself. This is where learning who you are and giving yourself the opportunity to build the ultimate motivation.

With training with just yourself like our friend John Davis did you become friends or bitter enemies with what you have to train with. You may not have this mindset but if you have trained just by yourself long enough you can almost listen to the equipment you have or a bodyweight exercise that in your mind is either impossible or reachable and you either believe in your mind you can do it or not. Sometimes I can almost hear some of my equipment speak to me and there have been days where they are bitter and believe I can't do it but there have been other days where they encourage me and tell me I'm getting stronger and getting better. That does sound a little eerie and creepy though don't you think? You'd be surprised what you can discover when training by yourself.

Never for one moment think you're alone in your training. Training alone has its benefits. No distractions, no one to give you a hard time and no talking or shouting, no one to stand around to tell you what you're doing is wrong, none of that. Its just you and whatever you have in front of you. Listen to the things in front of you, what are they saying? Do they believe you can or can't do something? Or do they encourage you to get better and coach you. Believe it or not some of my greatest coaches are the actual little amount of equipment I have. John Davis had his Barbell as his best friend and look what it made him? A Champion. Become your own champion and let the things you have do that for you.

You Are The Experiment

One of the things about being new or getting back to or just doing fitness in general is that you can always learn new types of training that you've never done before. Experimenting in physical training is like any other kind of experiment, finding what works, what doesn't and how its suited to an individual. Most people however don't seem to understand this concept and that's sad because of all the fitness magazines and modern day technology trainers are telling you to do this for your body or a routine that's predetermined for your body which is flat out ridiculous.

One of the keys to Self-Mastery is to become your own trainer. Now why be your own trainer when someone can just have something set up for you? Well you could do that but that would just make you a second-rate person. Yes someone can show you the basics of exercises but how you do them is up to you. When I was doing weight lifting and seeing how all these "bodybuilders" were like and what they did, I tried the programs and I ended up either getting hurt or burnt out after only a week and I didn't do them everyday. After my accident, I started learning a different form of training and learned the exercises and did a few routines here and there but the routines didn't seem to help me because I felt something wasn't right. I changed gears and began experimenting my own routines that I came up with and whether a routine lasted an hour or 5 min. it felt good to realize that I'm my own trainer.

A major component to being your own trainer is to not only work the muscles, tendons, ligaments or organs for that matter but work on your mental strength creating and infusing the mind/muscle connection. Bruce Lee believe it or not was one of the most famous men for not only his muscles and strength for his size but was also one of the most intelligent men of his time. He became not just a great martial artist but also a powerful philosopher and keen sense of mind power. Another example would be the Samurai Warriors of ancient Japan. Not only did they need to be strong and powerful to just carry armor, swing a sword or fight but had to learn how to paint, write, meditate and have awareness that was second to none which is still legendary to this day.

There are many examples of learning to experiment but one thing is for sure and that's teaching yourself how to use your own physiology and how to use your body-to-weight ratio for the type of training you want to do. Face facts there is no way in hell a person of totally different sizes can do the same exact program and for good reason. Whoever is bigger or smaller cannot always do what another can. The structures are different and the way they move their body is different.

I'm a big dude at 240+ lbs. and can do some pretty cool stuff but there are just some things I can never do that a guy smaller then me can do its just not logical. Now on the other hand I carry more weight so whoever smaller then me by quite a bit tries to use something that gets him up to my size it'll be much harder for him to train because he is putting too much stress on his body then he should have and therefor can get injured, pull something or possibly cripple himself. Again not logical now is it?

Building a foundation is another key to becoming your trainer. Where do you start and what do you plan to do to achieve a goal? Find what works for you. Learning the basics in training is like learning math or English, hell even history you have to start somewhere and progress through various levels. Once you have experimented enough to know what works and what doesn't you have all the tools you need to become a great trainer within yourself. You don't need others to tell you what to do or what you should do for this or that.

Becoming a master takes practice, time, patience and a will to succeed. The Old-Timers knew this long before there were machines, gadgets and whatnot. Becoming your own trainer teaches you how to be an individual and self-reliant on the things that you want to do for yourself. It took me years to be my own trainer and now I get to teach you how you can do the same and can probably do it in less time then I did. Be the person you want to be and look into yourself and find the true power within you.

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