In the Golden Era of Physical Culture you had mail-order musclemen teach the best ways to train and become strong and vibrant. Even bodybuilders of that era of 1900-1960 ran, swam, lifted weights, wrestled, boxed and performed feats of strength that would blow any one's mind out of the water. They taught you the most simple exercises whether it was bodyweight or weight lifting and the more basic the better results you made. Presses, Pulls, Grip Work and Squats were the mainstay and used Barbells, Dumbbells, Odd Objects, Push-ups, Pull-ups, Free Squats, Hand Balancing and Gymnastics.
This was before Steroids became a hit and wasn't used as much as it is today. Back then they relied more on guts, good food, hard work and old fashioned muscle building. Machines weren't big at this time and even today they're as useless as a fart in church. Record lifts in this time period are still unmatched in today's modern era of weights and strength. They didn't take supplements to "help" them get stronger, they used Progressive Resistance Training and did the best they could of their natural abilities. Today, you can't break a record in sports without having suspicion of someone using something to give them that edge and it's a damn shame.
Modern trainers can learn a thing or two of the old-timers in their programs. Back then, you didn't have the Internet, you didn't have hip hop abs or the biggest loser, hell not even P90X and yet those guys were far stronger and more importantly far healthier then the overly cautious and paranoid fitness nuts of today. Back then the average age capacity was 45-60 and a lot of them surpassed that, some lived to be 90 and one old-timer lived to be 104 and didn't die of natural causes. This is where one needs to learn what the important key is. Be happy with what you do and develop challenges. Yes our age capacity has risen in the last 50 years but a lot of it has come with a price. On another note more athletes today are dying younger then the athletes of yesteryear and its mostly due to drugs, drinking, steroids, very low or very high food intake that isn't safe and even fame has gotten through to their heads to the point where they'll do anything to stay at the top.
Courses and Programs back then (the good ones from top notch strength advocates) were much simpler and easier to understand unlike today where you have programs that actually can injure you and put you in the hospital. Basic programs build superior results period. All of this specialization isolated crap today doesn't make you any stronger then a plastic door, you go through it and it rips apart just like that. A lot of programs today don't make much sense when if you move inch the wrong way, your exercise is shot to hell or you have to do this many reps or that many sets to determine if you're strong or weak. It's never common sense anymore and people end up quitting as fast as they started.
In my personal opinion using steroids for personal gain is just about the dumbest thing you can do to yourself. Steroids using injections and pills to gain an edge is just stupid. There's controversy as to how steroids are used either in sports or in medicine. In sports they're used to recover quicker, run faster, jump higher, gain enormous amount of strength, build more stamina and create over the top levels of testosterone . In medicine its to help patients with low levels of testosterone, help skin tone and help their immunity system. No matter how you slice it, there's side effects with artificial steroid use with the creams, pills and needles to which if not used wisely or correctly, it can cause almost the opposite effect of what its originally used for. It has to do with more pressure these days to be bigger, stronger and faster then your competition and plenty of men and women take it too far either as an addiction or for purely selfish reasons. Back in the day where steroids weren't in the public or even heard of there were athletes that looked far better and had longer careers then most athletes today and that was purely on how simple their training was and some of their records are still up today.
To become naturally strong and be a good athlete or strength fanatic yourself, look to the history of what those who trained in the past and how you can adapt their styles with yours. Don't do the same things they did, just learn the basic principles of what they taught and use them to build a style for yourself. In today's era we have very unhealthy people in and out of the fitness world and its time to get back to our roots of what hard work and busting your ass really meant.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Gorilla Power & Creating Animalistic Strength
Lions are known as the kings of the Jungle but I feel the incredible hulks of the Jungle are of the Gorilla. Gorillas have strength that surpasses more then 10x of the strongest men. Yes they're structure is different when it comes to walking but yet with chimps they're the closest to us humans, they have hands, they have feet and have torsos that resemble a human. They walk different because they're arms are longer then their legs and need to adapt to walking on their hands.
I personally feel that if we were to get strong then we need to reverse evolution from our modern methods of today. Today in most fitness circles we can't compare to the old school ways of training and that's most likely a good thing. Today we have people who are more overweight then any other time in world history, we have gyms that have just lost its roots to whats really important and looking good and being overly cautious has taken over. Very few of those that know the real secrets to strength & health look to what the animals and early men have done to become strong. Animals don't lift weights and try showing off their muscles, they use their strength to survive and early men strived to survive harsh weather conditions and move boulders to help shield themselves and swam to catch fish, run as hard as they can to get away from predators and used spears to kill their food of some of the wildest beasts of the time.
Getting strong using weights has its own benefits but modern trainers make it look like a joke and those old-timers from the golden ages of strength would be rolling in their graves. If you're going to use weights, do the simplest one's and stick with that, Presses, Pulls, Abs, Grip Work and basic leg training is all you'll ever need. Isolating muscles is only good for one thing and that's rehab other then that it's useless. When it comes to weights, the simpler, the better...Dumbbells, Barbells, Kettlebells and a few odd objects here and there is all you'll ever need.
When you learn to become strong, its best to look at not only the muscles of the strongest animals or the strongest of humans but take a good look of how strong the tendons are. I'd say the best animals with the strongest tendons are Gorillas and Wild Cats because they have to reach, climb, crush and pounce while defending against predators and/or fighting for food. It's better to pull a muscle than tear a tendon. Huge difference between the 2. Pulling a muscle recovers quicker, tearing a tendon however can put you out of commission a lot longer because the tendons are the things that help keep the skeletal structure together while the muscles are the tissues that cover the skeletal structure. Tendon strength creates a chain reaction of how strong you really are. Take a bodybuilder for example in this day and age. He's more into building muscle so he can look as big and powerful as possible but does little to no training in the tendons and chances are he's going to get injured quicker then any other athlete including fighters and major sporting athletes.
Developing Ape strength without weights is very simple an doesn't take that much time to learn or do. Look at the basic things they do, climb, walk, pull, push and move in awkward positions. Learning basic elements in their evolution can help you become 3x stronger then the average human. This of course means you won't build the strength that they do because its the way their structured and their nature is used but that doesn't mean we can't adapt. Some of things they do might seem silly but if you're open minded and look at another prespective you might realize that you can become stronger using those so called "silly" stuff.
The only time you'll ever see an Ape lifting weights is if researchers experiment to find out how strong they are in that area and if you see some knucklehead meatball of a bodybuilder trying to lift some weird looking weight. Apes carry strength that makes most weightlifters look like chumps and who's to say we can't try to imitate and build superior strength ourselves. We can really learn the true secrets of creating Animalistic Strength with the simple points of observation, experimenting and adapting. In the world of fitness it's not a bad thing to turn reverse evolution and become the strongest person we can be.
I personally feel that if we were to get strong then we need to reverse evolution from our modern methods of today. Today in most fitness circles we can't compare to the old school ways of training and that's most likely a good thing. Today we have people who are more overweight then any other time in world history, we have gyms that have just lost its roots to whats really important and looking good and being overly cautious has taken over. Very few of those that know the real secrets to strength & health look to what the animals and early men have done to become strong. Animals don't lift weights and try showing off their muscles, they use their strength to survive and early men strived to survive harsh weather conditions and move boulders to help shield themselves and swam to catch fish, run as hard as they can to get away from predators and used spears to kill their food of some of the wildest beasts of the time.
Getting strong using weights has its own benefits but modern trainers make it look like a joke and those old-timers from the golden ages of strength would be rolling in their graves. If you're going to use weights, do the simplest one's and stick with that, Presses, Pulls, Abs, Grip Work and basic leg training is all you'll ever need. Isolating muscles is only good for one thing and that's rehab other then that it's useless. When it comes to weights, the simpler, the better...Dumbbells, Barbells, Kettlebells and a few odd objects here and there is all you'll ever need.
When you learn to become strong, its best to look at not only the muscles of the strongest animals or the strongest of humans but take a good look of how strong the tendons are. I'd say the best animals with the strongest tendons are Gorillas and Wild Cats because they have to reach, climb, crush and pounce while defending against predators and/or fighting for food. It's better to pull a muscle than tear a tendon. Huge difference between the 2. Pulling a muscle recovers quicker, tearing a tendon however can put you out of commission a lot longer because the tendons are the things that help keep the skeletal structure together while the muscles are the tissues that cover the skeletal structure. Tendon strength creates a chain reaction of how strong you really are. Take a bodybuilder for example in this day and age. He's more into building muscle so he can look as big and powerful as possible but does little to no training in the tendons and chances are he's going to get injured quicker then any other athlete including fighters and major sporting athletes.
Developing Ape strength without weights is very simple an doesn't take that much time to learn or do. Look at the basic things they do, climb, walk, pull, push and move in awkward positions. Learning basic elements in their evolution can help you become 3x stronger then the average human. This of course means you won't build the strength that they do because its the way their structured and their nature is used but that doesn't mean we can't adapt. Some of things they do might seem silly but if you're open minded and look at another prespective you might realize that you can become stronger using those so called "silly" stuff.
The only time you'll ever see an Ape lifting weights is if researchers experiment to find out how strong they are in that area and if you see some knucklehead meatball of a bodybuilder trying to lift some weird looking weight. Apes carry strength that makes most weightlifters look like chumps and who's to say we can't try to imitate and build superior strength ourselves. We can really learn the true secrets of creating Animalistic Strength with the simple points of observation, experimenting and adapting. In the world of fitness it's not a bad thing to turn reverse evolution and become the strongest person we can be.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
My Secrets To Daily Training
If you want to build the greatest foundation for creating great programs for you and your goals you must absorb as much information as possible. They say knowledge is power, well the more you learn and the more you experiment, you will start becoming your own trainer.
When you train, get a feel of how the exercises are in the beginning and work your way up at a pace that's comfortable for you. Listen to how your body responds to soft training and tough & brutal type training. Work on things that give you a sense of power and a sense of well-being. Learn to use your instincts when your body gets tired and how your body responds to certain exercises. There are some exercises you shouldn't do which is fine but you need to find out which ones work and which don't.
There's a big difference between training for an hour at one time as if you trained a full hour throughout the day. Your concentration is different and your structure is different. Your speed and pace is different. This is where you need to learn on how to pace yourself in a workout. Spreading an hour throughout the day is a good ideal because you get to focus on the things you want to work on. For this benefit it helps you with your schedule as you may not have a lot of time to train but doing things here and there set the pace for how the rest your day goes.
Many people can't find that amount of time dedicated to a workout. Now working out for an hour straight or resting in between sets within the hour can be a good thing as well but your mind structure is different cause you are training for a long time and concentration is key in this case. Training at a good clip for an hour straight is also different especially on specific exercises that can be ballistic and tough plus in my experience doing tough workouts for an hour just makes you feel not that good and your body doesn't have the capacity to train hard for that long.
I feel the best benefit of training for an hour straight shouldn't be hard training at all. It should be soft, concentrated and meditative. Work your joints, tendons and ligaments while taking the time to do deep breathing because working on these elements can create huge jumps in your training later on as you can do more speed and concentration on shorter workouts and work your body the way you feel needs to.
Me personally I rarely ever train for a whole hour at one time or throughout the day as I get bored very easily. I have some ADD type moments in my workouts because ten minutes to me is too long and I need to regroup and think about what I want to do. This is where shorter workouts are more simpler then doing the same routine of 30 minutes of this and an hour of that. I have a bit more time to kill then most people ad even I can't do that much work, its boring, not fun and makes me want to punch someone in the face for whoever came up with that idea.
Pacing yourself in a training session is critical because you don't want to go so fast you lose your form and you don't want to go so slow that you get bored and just hate what you're doing. Work on finding your own pace and speed according to how your body responds an your mind is in the right place while maintaining the best form possible. Its not bad to go fast in a workout, hell that's a favorite for me because I want a great workout in the shortest amount of time as possible. Its not bad to go slow either so you can focus on certain exercises like holds and working your flexibility safely and productively.
One of the real keys to being your trainer is to change up your exercises and tempos on a frequent basis and make your body need to adapt. This is sometimes called muscle confusion but in my line of training its making progress on developing fresh and exciting workouts. I have to change up all the time but I'll use the same exercises while mixing them up and working at different paces. Some exercises I move fast on, with others its more focused and more on movement. I also hold certain positions for a certain amount of time. This works the muscles and tendons in a different setting and is sometimes more relaxing then just moving and moving.
There's no one way to train and everybody trains differently no matter how much you teach them. A lot of trainers make the mistake of trying to show a student an exercise exactly the way they think it should be taught and the student just doesn't always get it right and its not their fault. A person should work an exercise according to his/her body structure whether they're small, average, thin, muscular, overweight or tall & short. I learned this the hard way from a teacher I once had who taught us how to do side steps and plyometrics. I'm 5'10 and well over 240 lbs. and have some arthritis in my leg due to my accident years back and although its strong and flexibility in some areas, in others it isn't and she tried teaching it exactly the way it worked for her which cannot and logically cannot work the same for someone my size or smaller. I ended up hurting myself and eventually quit after nearly a month. So even with all my training experiences from doing hardcore training methods and doing stamina training that makes most people want to puke it be hard to believe that I needed to quit after going through that.
Learn the exercises you want to learn, master them and work with them as often as possible and supplement other exercises to work weak areas and to help you recover. Doing this type of progress and finding what works best for you puts you ahead of the pack and you learn the ultimate key of training of becoming your own trainer and that's Self-Reliance. Don't ever copy someone else's program but your own because you won't be achieving first rate training, you'll be a second rate wanna-be and this is something that should never happen to you. Don't go looking for a trainer and be second rate student, look to yourself and learn what you want to learn for yourself and become a first rate teacher of your own ideals and programs.
When you train, get a feel of how the exercises are in the beginning and work your way up at a pace that's comfortable for you. Listen to how your body responds to soft training and tough & brutal type training. Work on things that give you a sense of power and a sense of well-being. Learn to use your instincts when your body gets tired and how your body responds to certain exercises. There are some exercises you shouldn't do which is fine but you need to find out which ones work and which don't.
There's a big difference between training for an hour at one time as if you trained a full hour throughout the day. Your concentration is different and your structure is different. Your speed and pace is different. This is where you need to learn on how to pace yourself in a workout. Spreading an hour throughout the day is a good ideal because you get to focus on the things you want to work on. For this benefit it helps you with your schedule as you may not have a lot of time to train but doing things here and there set the pace for how the rest your day goes.
Many people can't find that amount of time dedicated to a workout. Now working out for an hour straight or resting in between sets within the hour can be a good thing as well but your mind structure is different cause you are training for a long time and concentration is key in this case. Training at a good clip for an hour straight is also different especially on specific exercises that can be ballistic and tough plus in my experience doing tough workouts for an hour just makes you feel not that good and your body doesn't have the capacity to train hard for that long.
I feel the best benefit of training for an hour straight shouldn't be hard training at all. It should be soft, concentrated and meditative. Work your joints, tendons and ligaments while taking the time to do deep breathing because working on these elements can create huge jumps in your training later on as you can do more speed and concentration on shorter workouts and work your body the way you feel needs to.
Me personally I rarely ever train for a whole hour at one time or throughout the day as I get bored very easily. I have some ADD type moments in my workouts because ten minutes to me is too long and I need to regroup and think about what I want to do. This is where shorter workouts are more simpler then doing the same routine of 30 minutes of this and an hour of that. I have a bit more time to kill then most people ad even I can't do that much work, its boring, not fun and makes me want to punch someone in the face for whoever came up with that idea.
Pacing yourself in a training session is critical because you don't want to go so fast you lose your form and you don't want to go so slow that you get bored and just hate what you're doing. Work on finding your own pace and speed according to how your body responds an your mind is in the right place while maintaining the best form possible. Its not bad to go fast in a workout, hell that's a favorite for me because I want a great workout in the shortest amount of time as possible. Its not bad to go slow either so you can focus on certain exercises like holds and working your flexibility safely and productively.
One of the real keys to being your trainer is to change up your exercises and tempos on a frequent basis and make your body need to adapt. This is sometimes called muscle confusion but in my line of training its making progress on developing fresh and exciting workouts. I have to change up all the time but I'll use the same exercises while mixing them up and working at different paces. Some exercises I move fast on, with others its more focused and more on movement. I also hold certain positions for a certain amount of time. This works the muscles and tendons in a different setting and is sometimes more relaxing then just moving and moving.
There's no one way to train and everybody trains differently no matter how much you teach them. A lot of trainers make the mistake of trying to show a student an exercise exactly the way they think it should be taught and the student just doesn't always get it right and its not their fault. A person should work an exercise according to his/her body structure whether they're small, average, thin, muscular, overweight or tall & short. I learned this the hard way from a teacher I once had who taught us how to do side steps and plyometrics. I'm 5'10 and well over 240 lbs. and have some arthritis in my leg due to my accident years back and although its strong and flexibility in some areas, in others it isn't and she tried teaching it exactly the way it worked for her which cannot and logically cannot work the same for someone my size or smaller. I ended up hurting myself and eventually quit after nearly a month. So even with all my training experiences from doing hardcore training methods and doing stamina training that makes most people want to puke it be hard to believe that I needed to quit after going through that.
Learn the exercises you want to learn, master them and work with them as often as possible and supplement other exercises to work weak areas and to help you recover. Doing this type of progress and finding what works best for you puts you ahead of the pack and you learn the ultimate key of training of becoming your own trainer and that's Self-Reliance. Don't ever copy someone else's program but your own because you won't be achieving first rate training, you'll be a second rate wanna-be and this is something that should never happen to you. Don't go looking for a trainer and be second rate student, look to yourself and learn what you want to learn for yourself and become a first rate teacher of your own ideals and programs.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
What Torture?!!!!
People have this belief in the fitness world that they need to torture themselves in their workouts in order to get into shape. They do the 30 minutes of Cardio and the hour of weights and some don't last that long at all. There's a fine line between good torture and bad torture n your training.
Good Torture means in your mind you're training to the best of your abilities and you love what you do and you also find it fun and creative. Its never a bad thing to love your workouts the rule of thumb however is to not love it so much that you forget what you're trying to accomplish. A lot of people fall into this trap at times because they push so hard and just don't want to stop that at some point injuries will occur and they might never realize it till its too late. Taking the time to put your heart and soul into what you do and feel like a million bucks afterwards puts you on good terms of how torture means to you.
A perfect example of Good Torture is my friend Bud Jeffries, he is one of the strongest men on the planet but also one of the fittest men as a super-heavyweight at 270 lbs. He often does High Rep workouts while combining strength training at the same time lifting weights that range from 53-1500+ lbs. and has been known to do reps as high as the 3000 range. For most people that's just ridiculous and is doing far too much work but infact that type of training has not only made him lose well over 100 lb. but has given him vitality and endurance that can be used for long-term effects for other things in life. Is this the type of training for you, most likely not as you don't need to be this extreme but you can put yourself through workouts that your body will thank you for and can take them to extremes on a safe and productive basis.
Bad Torture means you're training hard just for the sake of training or it could mean you don't know how to use certain form and just go through the motions when really that can lead to injuries and you torture yourself far too often and your mind isn't in the right place. Even more people fall for this trap because this type of torture is disguised as some programs in the fitness magazines and this more frequently has more people quitting the gym and training all together. This has more short-term effects and not in a positive manner as you find certain workouts you want to try but your body can't handle the stress therefor if you keep it up you will get hurt and hurt bad physically, mentally and emotionally. Trying a program that you're not ready for and pushing through it anyway is never a good idea.
An example of this is the modern bodybuilding and some strength workouts from the muscle magazines where steroids and supplements run rampant. This is not productive and long-term training and 99.9% of the time it isn't safe as well. Torture workouts like these are for those who have been training for years and never is this at a beginning level as the Cowardly Lion would say "Not no way, not no how." It is this type of torture that brings long-term problems to bad backs, hernias, joint pain, neck spurs and who knows what else. It isn't just the magazines but also those infomercials as well as they have you do hard training you're in no shape to perform and some of the exercises are just ridiculous and can do more harm to the joints then anything else. They don't give you well rounded structures so you're physically and mentally ready for the challenge. Torture like this won't get you anywhere and won't let you live a productive and healthy life.
I have been through torture myself good, bad and just downright ugly and have had a plethora of problems when I went through my weight lifting days to the point where when I woke up in the morning every inch of my body felt like bone rubbing on bone and it hurt like a motherf*cker and that's something nobody should experience ever. When I became smart and used torture from a different angle I went through workouts that would've kept me out of training for days on end but instead only went to extremes on a few occasions during weekly training. Never under any circumstances torture yourself daily no matter how tough you are. Putting together programs that help recovery is just as important as your extreme workouts.
Some hate going through tough hard workouts and feel if they don't do it they're not going to reach a goal. This should never be a type of mindset. What you should be doing instead is on your extreme days, set your mind to loving the workout and make it fun to the point where yes its hard work but your mind is saying "This is fun I'm loving this." Using that type of mental training can you surpass goals and achieve results more then you bargained for on a positive basis. If you're training at a park and having a tough workout, most would call it torture and run away but to you its just another training session. This is where mental training is critical and should be as important if not more then physical training.
Taking control of a torturous workout is very difficult to do. Your mind needs to be focused, your body needs to handle the stress and you must know what you're getting yourself into. Its not easy to jump into hard and tough work when you don't have the right preperation. Taking the easy road by just going for it and not giving your body a chance to learn to handle certain things can get you in trouble big time. Controlling Torture takes practice and a lot of mental strength so learn what you can and work your way up going through progressive phases at your own pace. Study your workouts from how your mind and body work together and trust your progressions. Learn how torture can turn into a powerful experience with the right mind set and the right & safe progressions.
Good Torture means in your mind you're training to the best of your abilities and you love what you do and you also find it fun and creative. Its never a bad thing to love your workouts the rule of thumb however is to not love it so much that you forget what you're trying to accomplish. A lot of people fall into this trap at times because they push so hard and just don't want to stop that at some point injuries will occur and they might never realize it till its too late. Taking the time to put your heart and soul into what you do and feel like a million bucks afterwards puts you on good terms of how torture means to you.
A perfect example of Good Torture is my friend Bud Jeffries, he is one of the strongest men on the planet but also one of the fittest men as a super-heavyweight at 270 lbs. He often does High Rep workouts while combining strength training at the same time lifting weights that range from 53-1500+ lbs. and has been known to do reps as high as the 3000 range. For most people that's just ridiculous and is doing far too much work but infact that type of training has not only made him lose well over 100 lb. but has given him vitality and endurance that can be used for long-term effects for other things in life. Is this the type of training for you, most likely not as you don't need to be this extreme but you can put yourself through workouts that your body will thank you for and can take them to extremes on a safe and productive basis.
Bad Torture means you're training hard just for the sake of training or it could mean you don't know how to use certain form and just go through the motions when really that can lead to injuries and you torture yourself far too often and your mind isn't in the right place. Even more people fall for this trap because this type of torture is disguised as some programs in the fitness magazines and this more frequently has more people quitting the gym and training all together. This has more short-term effects and not in a positive manner as you find certain workouts you want to try but your body can't handle the stress therefor if you keep it up you will get hurt and hurt bad physically, mentally and emotionally. Trying a program that you're not ready for and pushing through it anyway is never a good idea.
An example of this is the modern bodybuilding and some strength workouts from the muscle magazines where steroids and supplements run rampant. This is not productive and long-term training and 99.9% of the time it isn't safe as well. Torture workouts like these are for those who have been training for years and never is this at a beginning level as the Cowardly Lion would say "Not no way, not no how." It is this type of torture that brings long-term problems to bad backs, hernias, joint pain, neck spurs and who knows what else. It isn't just the magazines but also those infomercials as well as they have you do hard training you're in no shape to perform and some of the exercises are just ridiculous and can do more harm to the joints then anything else. They don't give you well rounded structures so you're physically and mentally ready for the challenge. Torture like this won't get you anywhere and won't let you live a productive and healthy life.
I have been through torture myself good, bad and just downright ugly and have had a plethora of problems when I went through my weight lifting days to the point where when I woke up in the morning every inch of my body felt like bone rubbing on bone and it hurt like a motherf*cker and that's something nobody should experience ever. When I became smart and used torture from a different angle I went through workouts that would've kept me out of training for days on end but instead only went to extremes on a few occasions during weekly training. Never under any circumstances torture yourself daily no matter how tough you are. Putting together programs that help recovery is just as important as your extreme workouts.
Some hate going through tough hard workouts and feel if they don't do it they're not going to reach a goal. This should never be a type of mindset. What you should be doing instead is on your extreme days, set your mind to loving the workout and make it fun to the point where yes its hard work but your mind is saying "This is fun I'm loving this." Using that type of mental training can you surpass goals and achieve results more then you bargained for on a positive basis. If you're training at a park and having a tough workout, most would call it torture and run away but to you its just another training session. This is where mental training is critical and should be as important if not more then physical training.
Taking control of a torturous workout is very difficult to do. Your mind needs to be focused, your body needs to handle the stress and you must know what you're getting yourself into. Its not easy to jump into hard and tough work when you don't have the right preperation. Taking the easy road by just going for it and not giving your body a chance to learn to handle certain things can get you in trouble big time. Controlling Torture takes practice and a lot of mental strength so learn what you can and work your way up going through progressive phases at your own pace. Study your workouts from how your mind and body work together and trust your progressions. Learn how torture can turn into a powerful experience with the right mind set and the right & safe progressions.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Black Widow: Rising Superhero For Women
I don't know the orgins of the Black Widow from the movies and comics or how she came to be an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D but I can tell you she is one of the toughest looking chicks on the plent. Her martial arts skills are second to none and has leverage of strength that many men cannot fathom plus she is smoking hot all at the same time. For real I wouldn't want to mess with a chick like that. She's good looking but there's the old expression "looks can be deceiving." In this case a beauty that can beat the living s*it out of you is a kick ass woman in my book.
There are more famous female superheroes then she is but I feel that the success of The Avengers and the already Box Office hit of Iron Man 2, this character will be apart of the new breed of influential superheroes. Probably the most famous female superhero is Wonder Woman. Whether you're a nerd or a fan I don't care it is what it is and there's no debate. However, Wonder Woman is a powerful woman, but at the same time she just can't live up to the "boots to asses" mentality of Black Widow. That may be the nerd in me talking but I know the difference between beauty and ass kicking and BW has it over WW any day of the week. Anyway...Widow has a unique personality as she uses her beauty to get where she wants to go in life but if you mess with her a broken arm would be more of a compliment then a total destruction of getting your ass kicked to the point when you have children they'll be born with a black eye.
I firmly believe if they market the character right, Black Widow will be a Major influence on younger women on how they can be beautiful but still have the ability to defend themselves if need be. Beauty however in this country is way overrated and our generation of beauty is a far cry then what beauty was back in the 50's and 60's. Back then women were more curvy and had a certain "pop" when they moved and people took notice, in my generation and for the last 20-25 years or so that curvy ideal became outdated and became the skinny, twiggy, drink diet coke and be bulimic/anorexic type body and its become a damn shame. For the me an influential woman of modeling and media should be strong, has some natural muscle and have awesome hips and upper body that is more natural and good looking. Women were meant to be strong both in and out and be the focal point of what a powerful woman should be and not have this dumb f*cking idea that the skinnier you are the more attractive you'll be in a magazine or on camera or better yet real life. Trust me who would you rather be with, a bag of bones or a nice and well made steak with some flavor?
Don't get me wrong I love women and know a few who know the term "ass kicking" with a capital A. I just feel bad for women in the media who are suckered into this notion that if they slim down to outlandish proportions and have this much makeup on and have to eat that much less then the average woman they will get somewhere in life. They do for a while but it will be biting them in the ass down the road. Now Scarlett Johannson (Black Widow) busted her ass to become that character and do a hell of a job creating that body that is suited for some of her stunts and the martial arts she learned for the fight scenes. Is that how she is in real life, hell no but again I wouldn't know im being observant here.
Women are the mot precious beings on earth next to children but can improve their bodies in a natural nature (Redundant I know shut it) and make use of what they can do to make themselves stronger, healthier and more vibrant. I've said it before I believe women are pound for pound stronger then most men. Yes men are stronger because we have more testosterone and can build more muscle and lift heavier objects more then our own bodyweight but women however can do things none of us can do. For one carrying a kid for 9 months, hold groceries for long periods of time, shift things around and believe it or not with proper training can lift more weight ounce for ounce. I've seen a woman swing a kettlebell that weighed 106 lbs. Shes no more then 102. Thats pretty damn impressive. Now you may ask "106 isn't that heavy if you think about it." Ok smart ass you try swinging a weight that just a few pounds more then you are, say you're 200 pounds, I highly doubt you'll last a while swinging a 206lb KB. So I think its safe to say a small woman can be very strong when it comes to certain things.
Having the body of your dreams doesn't happen overnight, it takes time, patience and practice. Keep in MIND what you want. Here is a good place to start and believe in yourself tha you can get strong without weights, steroids or the feeling of getting too buff for your weight or size. You do the best you can to improve yourself and make it a habit to keep improving with a poitive attitude and the will succeed. You don't need to be a crimefighter to be the best damn woman you can be. A real woman is strong, vibrant, powerful in and out and makes the best of things no matter what life throws at them. Most of the women you see on TV these days aren't that healthy and most likely arent practicing what they preach on those infomercials and don't give a damn about other women. So if you some skinny little twat that thinks she so surperior ten anyone else be sure to be the exact opposite and become strong, healthy and happy the right way and help other women do the same thing.
There are more famous female superheroes then she is but I feel that the success of The Avengers and the already Box Office hit of Iron Man 2, this character will be apart of the new breed of influential superheroes. Probably the most famous female superhero is Wonder Woman. Whether you're a nerd or a fan I don't care it is what it is and there's no debate. However, Wonder Woman is a powerful woman, but at the same time she just can't live up to the "boots to asses" mentality of Black Widow. That may be the nerd in me talking but I know the difference between beauty and ass kicking and BW has it over WW any day of the week. Anyway...Widow has a unique personality as she uses her beauty to get where she wants to go in life but if you mess with her a broken arm would be more of a compliment then a total destruction of getting your ass kicked to the point when you have children they'll be born with a black eye.
I firmly believe if they market the character right, Black Widow will be a Major influence on younger women on how they can be beautiful but still have the ability to defend themselves if need be. Beauty however in this country is way overrated and our generation of beauty is a far cry then what beauty was back in the 50's and 60's. Back then women were more curvy and had a certain "pop" when they moved and people took notice, in my generation and for the last 20-25 years or so that curvy ideal became outdated and became the skinny, twiggy, drink diet coke and be bulimic/anorexic type body and its become a damn shame. For the me an influential woman of modeling and media should be strong, has some natural muscle and have awesome hips and upper body that is more natural and good looking. Women were meant to be strong both in and out and be the focal point of what a powerful woman should be and not have this dumb f*cking idea that the skinnier you are the more attractive you'll be in a magazine or on camera or better yet real life. Trust me who would you rather be with, a bag of bones or a nice and well made steak with some flavor?
Don't get me wrong I love women and know a few who know the term "ass kicking" with a capital A. I just feel bad for women in the media who are suckered into this notion that if they slim down to outlandish proportions and have this much makeup on and have to eat that much less then the average woman they will get somewhere in life. They do for a while but it will be biting them in the ass down the road. Now Scarlett Johannson (Black Widow) busted her ass to become that character and do a hell of a job creating that body that is suited for some of her stunts and the martial arts she learned for the fight scenes. Is that how she is in real life, hell no but again I wouldn't know im being observant here.
Women are the mot precious beings on earth next to children but can improve their bodies in a natural nature (Redundant I know shut it) and make use of what they can do to make themselves stronger, healthier and more vibrant. I've said it before I believe women are pound for pound stronger then most men. Yes men are stronger because we have more testosterone and can build more muscle and lift heavier objects more then our own bodyweight but women however can do things none of us can do. For one carrying a kid for 9 months, hold groceries for long periods of time, shift things around and believe it or not with proper training can lift more weight ounce for ounce. I've seen a woman swing a kettlebell that weighed 106 lbs. Shes no more then 102. Thats pretty damn impressive. Now you may ask "106 isn't that heavy if you think about it." Ok smart ass you try swinging a weight that just a few pounds more then you are, say you're 200 pounds, I highly doubt you'll last a while swinging a 206lb KB. So I think its safe to say a small woman can be very strong when it comes to certain things.
Having the body of your dreams doesn't happen overnight, it takes time, patience and practice. Keep in MIND what you want. Here is a good place to start and believe in yourself tha you can get strong without weights, steroids or the feeling of getting too buff for your weight or size. You do the best you can to improve yourself and make it a habit to keep improving with a poitive attitude and the will succeed. You don't need to be a crimefighter to be the best damn woman you can be. A real woman is strong, vibrant, powerful in and out and makes the best of things no matter what life throws at them. Most of the women you see on TV these days aren't that healthy and most likely arent practicing what they preach on those infomercials and don't give a damn about other women. So if you some skinny little twat that thinks she so surperior ten anyone else be sure to be the exact opposite and become strong, healthy and happy the right way and help other women do the same thing.
Can You Become Your Own Avenger? Pt. 3!!!!
As children we fantasize about being something more then we already are. Something bigger, something stronger and something more meaningful. We use our imaginations to get through the day and play at the playground or in the front/back of the house. We want to see ourselves bigger then our regular size, we dream of having superpowers to conquer our enemies and save a damsel in distress. As a young boy from the 30's up until now, comic books were our savior of what was happening in our regular lives and wanted to get away from painful stresses at times as well. You read about your favorite superheroes like Superman, Batman, X-Men, Doc Savage and others, dreaming of being them and having great powers to brush through your enemies to save the day. Well look no further cause one comic book team is coming to the big screen big time in The Avengers. Its been a build up for a few years now and the timing couldn't be any better to bring four some of the best superheroes ever together and create a colossal adventure with action, drama, humor and the will to avenge those in need.
"With great power comes great responsibility." A famous superhero tag line for generation after generation and it doesn't make any exception if you develop strength and power in real life. Strength comes from driving over adversity and creating something more then yourself. Power is building a foundation for how you can be creating strength and speed over your obstacles. True Strength & Power together form the ultimate alliance for what goes with the rest of your life. In strength training this is no exception. You wish to become strong the best way possible or you rather do other things like stay in shape, lose weight, build muscle and get rid of unwanted fat. Either way when you learn to understand the true concept of real world-class strength and power, you will learn that the simplest things can make your training that much more complex and formal then using bits and pieces of smaller things that don't really matter.
Becoming an Avenger yourself can be a rewarding experience, whether its for daily life or the pursuit to show others what can be done to help themselves when their time comes. Whether you train to be a superhero or not there's no excuse as to how you can develop your body and mind beyond your own assumptions and limitations. The first rule to being strong is having the will to believe. Believing you can get strong is far more important then just thinking you can lift this or that and do great things and you'll just be strong, no. Belief is the key to all things that you want to achieve, without belief your mind wonders, your body won't do the things you ask it to do and you won't find something to look forward to when you put up a goal you want to reach.
Whether its weights, bodyweight exercise, Chi Training or training with different types of tools, you must believe in yourself that you can get strong at mastering them. Most people look to others to try to believe in them for what they want to do instead of learning to believe in themselves. I've fallen into that trap many times in my life and so have other people I know but once I learned to stop trying to prove to them and believe in myself and believing that I will accomplish something, I became stronger, more powerful, flexible, agile and all with the right tools to get me there but I first needed to believe in myself.
Now there are people out there that are very strong but take it for granted and feel they're more superior then anyone else. They put themselves first before others which in this case makes them look very foolish, stupid and down right ignorant. Now there are weaker people out there who use others that are strong to do what they can't do themselves and put them in the crossfires then themselves (Hence Hitler and look what happened to him). Ignorance is bliss but that shouldn't be an excuse to be something more then yourself. Being strong in reality has real values that almost anyone with a brain can learn from. Real World-Class Strength & Power doesn't always mean you lifted this or do that many reps in a handstand or performed great muscle control, it means that you are a unique individual that can use his strength to help others that are weak and help be better for themselves.
I believe the real superheroes in the world are the ones that help those in need and put themselves on the line then anything else (Firemen, real Uncorrupted cops and pure athletes). I mentioned athletes because there are some out there in pro sports that give back and help the young kids get better then the other pro athletes who like the spotlight and see that they're paid to do charity work. As a master of strength you have a responsibility whether you like it or not. You can help those that have potential to be strong and teach them to be stronger then you.
Now with everything that's meaningful it comes with a price (not always money you greedy bastards lol). Becoming strong in anything requires to go through things that are not in your comfort zone and need to build your strength from your weaknesses. Everybody is different so we all need to find our own to create a goal that we want to achieve. However the benefits of being strong outweigh the things that we're not always comfortable going through. I've been bruised, broken, twisted even was near death as a baby all to come to this moment where I'm still breathing, kicking and pushing through my own demons. We all have demons inside of us, some more powerful then others and there are some of us who control them and not let them affect our lives, others however have let their demons get the best of them and have either died or haven't made a brush with reality.
Being able to tap into your mind and create powerful strength takes effort, practice and the will to want it. Certain types of Chi Training can be less difficult then others but when you learn the best ways to achieve it, you will find yourself having more power surging through your veins all with the power of your mind. Chi Gong is the chinese version of whats called Life Force. Its the power inside you that gives the ability to generate great strength and create ultimate internal power. Some say that's adrenelin but that can only go so far as Chi is the energy that creates power all around you and once you learn to harness it, you are your own weapon of strength, power and might.
Having great tools to build strength does not always mean equipment or machines but tools to help you build your mind and be creative like books and exercises. Some equipment however is not a bad thing if you know how to use for functional strength training. For example, Thor's Hammer is a great tool to have to be creative and to learn to focus your mind on being something more then yourself. Yes it is possible to have this thing in your hands and make you feel like the God himself and believing you can get strong and you can tackle things that run your life. Not to say using it to strike people, no I don't want you doing that, its for tackling and finding that powerful being within you and training to be the strongest person you can be. Since I've had these hammers myself, I feel stronger and more powerful. I'm seeing muscles in a short period of time, my cardio goes up a litte each time and I feel more like Thor and having superhuman powers (grip strength, keen awareness, flexibility and endurance). You can be the same in your own way if you get your hands on them with practice. Use what you can and learn nothing more then the very best so in the words of Bernarr McFadden "Weakeness is a crime, don't be a criminal."
"With great power comes great responsibility." A famous superhero tag line for generation after generation and it doesn't make any exception if you develop strength and power in real life. Strength comes from driving over adversity and creating something more then yourself. Power is building a foundation for how you can be creating strength and speed over your obstacles. True Strength & Power together form the ultimate alliance for what goes with the rest of your life. In strength training this is no exception. You wish to become strong the best way possible or you rather do other things like stay in shape, lose weight, build muscle and get rid of unwanted fat. Either way when you learn to understand the true concept of real world-class strength and power, you will learn that the simplest things can make your training that much more complex and formal then using bits and pieces of smaller things that don't really matter.
Becoming an Avenger yourself can be a rewarding experience, whether its for daily life or the pursuit to show others what can be done to help themselves when their time comes. Whether you train to be a superhero or not there's no excuse as to how you can develop your body and mind beyond your own assumptions and limitations. The first rule to being strong is having the will to believe. Believing you can get strong is far more important then just thinking you can lift this or that and do great things and you'll just be strong, no. Belief is the key to all things that you want to achieve, without belief your mind wonders, your body won't do the things you ask it to do and you won't find something to look forward to when you put up a goal you want to reach.
Whether its weights, bodyweight exercise, Chi Training or training with different types of tools, you must believe in yourself that you can get strong at mastering them. Most people look to others to try to believe in them for what they want to do instead of learning to believe in themselves. I've fallen into that trap many times in my life and so have other people I know but once I learned to stop trying to prove to them and believe in myself and believing that I will accomplish something, I became stronger, more powerful, flexible, agile and all with the right tools to get me there but I first needed to believe in myself.
Now there are people out there that are very strong but take it for granted and feel they're more superior then anyone else. They put themselves first before others which in this case makes them look very foolish, stupid and down right ignorant. Now there are weaker people out there who use others that are strong to do what they can't do themselves and put them in the crossfires then themselves (Hence Hitler and look what happened to him). Ignorance is bliss but that shouldn't be an excuse to be something more then yourself. Being strong in reality has real values that almost anyone with a brain can learn from. Real World-Class Strength & Power doesn't always mean you lifted this or do that many reps in a handstand or performed great muscle control, it means that you are a unique individual that can use his strength to help others that are weak and help be better for themselves.
I believe the real superheroes in the world are the ones that help those in need and put themselves on the line then anything else (Firemen, real Uncorrupted cops and pure athletes). I mentioned athletes because there are some out there in pro sports that give back and help the young kids get better then the other pro athletes who like the spotlight and see that they're paid to do charity work. As a master of strength you have a responsibility whether you like it or not. You can help those that have potential to be strong and teach them to be stronger then you.
Now with everything that's meaningful it comes with a price (not always money you greedy bastards lol). Becoming strong in anything requires to go through things that are not in your comfort zone and need to build your strength from your weaknesses. Everybody is different so we all need to find our own to create a goal that we want to achieve. However the benefits of being strong outweigh the things that we're not always comfortable going through. I've been bruised, broken, twisted even was near death as a baby all to come to this moment where I'm still breathing, kicking and pushing through my own demons. We all have demons inside of us, some more powerful then others and there are some of us who control them and not let them affect our lives, others however have let their demons get the best of them and have either died or haven't made a brush with reality.
Being able to tap into your mind and create powerful strength takes effort, practice and the will to want it. Certain types of Chi Training can be less difficult then others but when you learn the best ways to achieve it, you will find yourself having more power surging through your veins all with the power of your mind. Chi Gong is the chinese version of whats called Life Force. Its the power inside you that gives the ability to generate great strength and create ultimate internal power. Some say that's adrenelin but that can only go so far as Chi is the energy that creates power all around you and once you learn to harness it, you are your own weapon of strength, power and might.
Having great tools to build strength does not always mean equipment or machines but tools to help you build your mind and be creative like books and exercises. Some equipment however is not a bad thing if you know how to use for functional strength training. For example, Thor's Hammer is a great tool to have to be creative and to learn to focus your mind on being something more then yourself. Yes it is possible to have this thing in your hands and make you feel like the God himself and believing you can get strong and you can tackle things that run your life. Not to say using it to strike people, no I don't want you doing that, its for tackling and finding that powerful being within you and training to be the strongest person you can be. Since I've had these hammers myself, I feel stronger and more powerful. I'm seeing muscles in a short period of time, my cardio goes up a litte each time and I feel more like Thor and having superhuman powers (grip strength, keen awareness, flexibility and endurance). You can be the same in your own way if you get your hands on them with practice. Use what you can and learn nothing more then the very best so in the words of Bernarr McFadden "Weakeness is a crime, don't be a criminal."
Friday, January 27, 2012
Captain America & The Ability To Overcome
I would think most of you would remember at a time in your life where you were weak, frail or overweight and could barely lift a bar or do a push-up. I've been there too and like many of you, hated the way I was. When you realized you had enough of being picked on, laughed at and wanted to stop others from calling you names you made a choice to get better, get stronger, grow muscles and be a powerful beast.
If you saw the movie, you noticed that Steve Rogers had a series of serum shots to help shoot up his muscles and make him stronger and taller. This really is a romantic version of what steroids can be and for all intents and purposes its a myth. In reality steroids can make you stronger and bigger but there's a price to pay and have to keep a surveillance on what you do otherwise if you cycle wrong well to be blunt you're s*it out of luck. Rogers' only side effects really of his powers is that he has 4x the capacity of the average man's metabolism and can't get drunk. Side effects of using real steroids can result in increased estrogen, acne, enlargement of chest that can look like a woman's breast and low testosterone if not used properly. That's just the basic things that can go wrong.
The real ways to increase strength and metabolism is to work multiple muscle groups from as many angles as possible whether its working out like a wild animal, lifting odd objects, basic weight lifting, using clubs, maces and hammers its apparent to train the muscles the best way possible without ever needing the use of steroids or P.E.Ds (Those playing the home game that stands for performance enhancing drugs). Real strength however is from using your mind and developing the mind/muscle connection. Practicing this is tougher then just doing exercise but its well worth the training because you can go even further in your training.
If you want fast results that are quicker then a hiccup then take the shortcuts but if you want real results in a fast amount of time then you have to think like a wo/man of strength and power. Example if you practice a Animal Exercise, you have to think like that animal, move the way it does, picture yourself in their environment, when you can do that the better you can make that exercise. In this factor of Captain America, picture as if you were him or picture him being there next to you and helping keep going. Having this type of mindset goes a long way then just going through the motions. You develop will power, perseverance and the thought of not being just an ordinary person, you are strong, powerful and mighty and you will do the best you can.
Like the Captain himself, he puts through others before he puts through himself and is a compassionate hero and makes himself a man amongst men. A bully however takes what strength he has for granted to tortures the weaker person for personal gain and doesn't know the concept of the consequences. A lot of trainees are like that, not all but quite a few and tell people that they should just give up and not go beyond what they're capable of and never encourage them to get better. Don't ever be one of those people cause you at one point were weak and helpless so instead of being an ass, show them a few things as encouragement not for correcting them and giving them crap about it.
Never underestimate the true powers that are inside you. You have the ability to create powerful and ferocious strength and speed and all it takes is a little imagination and a few simple techniques that can help the rest of your life and not just fitness. The Captain uses what he has to defend himself and others and thats one of your important keys to remember, the real thing is train for knowledge and defense, never for attacking or using for personal gain.
If you saw the movie, you noticed that Steve Rogers had a series of serum shots to help shoot up his muscles and make him stronger and taller. This really is a romantic version of what steroids can be and for all intents and purposes its a myth. In reality steroids can make you stronger and bigger but there's a price to pay and have to keep a surveillance on what you do otherwise if you cycle wrong well to be blunt you're s*it out of luck. Rogers' only side effects really of his powers is that he has 4x the capacity of the average man's metabolism and can't get drunk. Side effects of using real steroids can result in increased estrogen, acne, enlargement of chest that can look like a woman's breast and low testosterone if not used properly. That's just the basic things that can go wrong.
The real ways to increase strength and metabolism is to work multiple muscle groups from as many angles as possible whether its working out like a wild animal, lifting odd objects, basic weight lifting, using clubs, maces and hammers its apparent to train the muscles the best way possible without ever needing the use of steroids or P.E.Ds (Those playing the home game that stands for performance enhancing drugs). Real strength however is from using your mind and developing the mind/muscle connection. Practicing this is tougher then just doing exercise but its well worth the training because you can go even further in your training.
If you want fast results that are quicker then a hiccup then take the shortcuts but if you want real results in a fast amount of time then you have to think like a wo/man of strength and power. Example if you practice a Animal Exercise, you have to think like that animal, move the way it does, picture yourself in their environment, when you can do that the better you can make that exercise. In this factor of Captain America, picture as if you were him or picture him being there next to you and helping keep going. Having this type of mindset goes a long way then just going through the motions. You develop will power, perseverance and the thought of not being just an ordinary person, you are strong, powerful and mighty and you will do the best you can.
Like the Captain himself, he puts through others before he puts through himself and is a compassionate hero and makes himself a man amongst men. A bully however takes what strength he has for granted to tortures the weaker person for personal gain and doesn't know the concept of the consequences. A lot of trainees are like that, not all but quite a few and tell people that they should just give up and not go beyond what they're capable of and never encourage them to get better. Don't ever be one of those people cause you at one point were weak and helpless so instead of being an ass, show them a few things as encouragement not for correcting them and giving them crap about it.
Never underestimate the true powers that are inside you. You have the ability to create powerful and ferocious strength and speed and all it takes is a little imagination and a few simple techniques that can help the rest of your life and not just fitness. The Captain uses what he has to defend himself and others and thats one of your important keys to remember, the real thing is train for knowledge and defense, never for attacking or using for personal gain.
Turning Into The Incredible Hulk!!!!
Back in the late 70's, early 80's, a TV show opened up and took the world by storm and has become one of the most beloved TV series of its generation new and old and that was The Incredible Hulk. Starred Bill Bixby as the scientist David (Bruce) Banner. When he got angry he turned into a monstrous near 6'6 280 lb beast that had muscles every single inch of his body and green as you can get and the man of transformation was 2x Mr. Universe and the dark prince of Pumping Iron Lou Ferrigno. No one had ever seen that kind of towering presence and this was before Arnold Schwarzenegger was known as the Terminator. I still believe to this day if you mention the TV series, Ferrigno tops Bixby any day of the week.
Although Big Lou was a big hit as the muscle bound Hulk, you don't need to be a bodybuilder to become a powerful hulk yourself. Some of the old-time strongmen who weren't 6'5 and weighed 270-300 lbs were still some of the strongest men on the planet and I feel the original Hulk of the early 20th century was George Hackenshmidt. This guy was as pure of an athlete as you can get and was one of the toughest guys in Europe and the U.S. I don't think he was more then 220 and he was no more then 6' tall possibly shorter. He believed that if you were to become strong, you must value what you put into it and work with as many basic things as possible. The simpler the better.
If you want to be super strong, machines and basic weight equipment is not always going to be enough. They're good and basic implements should be used if you're into that but also you should learn to move certain objects that makes you use your stabilizing muscles which is centered around your core (abs, obliques and lower back) and have to position yourself differently in order to lift them. Things like Barrels, Logs, Stones and Rocks are great and even things like Sledgehammers, Maces, Clubs and others that make you work harder then usual. Whether you're big or you're small, becoming powerful takes time, patience and the will to push through when it starts to get tough.
To become even stronger outside the physical realm it is important to implement the mind/muscle connection because when you focus on a certain thing with your mind, you can be even stronger physically. Visualization helps, meditation does as well, even looking at a particular lift or a hard bodyweight exercise and seeing yourself performing it with ease and power can be a big factor on how much strength you can build. The possibilities are limitless and don't let anyone tell you different.
On a particular note, there are people who don't want to accept your way of training and about 90-95% of those people will push you down mentally and break your spirit because you're different then they are. Its like Kermit the Frog says "It ain't easy being green" and that can apply to you as a person on a quest for strength. Its never easy but if you learn to love what you do and find people who will give you all the encouragement in the world and block out those who smear you and want to shatter your goals and believe in who you are and believe you can be strong then you know what in a way it can be easy being green. Its all how you set your mind.
Real strength doesn't come from outside muscles, it comes from your mind and how you see yourself. Learn to find within what's really important to you and over time you will succeed. I believe in you and quite a few others do too, the more you believe in yourself, the stronger and powerful you will become. Unleash your inner Hulk and put aside those who stand in your way of achieving what you want.
Although Big Lou was a big hit as the muscle bound Hulk, you don't need to be a bodybuilder to become a powerful hulk yourself. Some of the old-time strongmen who weren't 6'5 and weighed 270-300 lbs were still some of the strongest men on the planet and I feel the original Hulk of the early 20th century was George Hackenshmidt. This guy was as pure of an athlete as you can get and was one of the toughest guys in Europe and the U.S. I don't think he was more then 220 and he was no more then 6' tall possibly shorter. He believed that if you were to become strong, you must value what you put into it and work with as many basic things as possible. The simpler the better.
If you want to be super strong, machines and basic weight equipment is not always going to be enough. They're good and basic implements should be used if you're into that but also you should learn to move certain objects that makes you use your stabilizing muscles which is centered around your core (abs, obliques and lower back) and have to position yourself differently in order to lift them. Things like Barrels, Logs, Stones and Rocks are great and even things like Sledgehammers, Maces, Clubs and others that make you work harder then usual. Whether you're big or you're small, becoming powerful takes time, patience and the will to push through when it starts to get tough.
To become even stronger outside the physical realm it is important to implement the mind/muscle connection because when you focus on a certain thing with your mind, you can be even stronger physically. Visualization helps, meditation does as well, even looking at a particular lift or a hard bodyweight exercise and seeing yourself performing it with ease and power can be a big factor on how much strength you can build. The possibilities are limitless and don't let anyone tell you different.
On a particular note, there are people who don't want to accept your way of training and about 90-95% of those people will push you down mentally and break your spirit because you're different then they are. Its like Kermit the Frog says "It ain't easy being green" and that can apply to you as a person on a quest for strength. Its never easy but if you learn to love what you do and find people who will give you all the encouragement in the world and block out those who smear you and want to shatter your goals and believe in who you are and believe you can be strong then you know what in a way it can be easy being green. Its all how you set your mind.
Real strength doesn't come from outside muscles, it comes from your mind and how you see yourself. Learn to find within what's really important to you and over time you will succeed. I believe in you and quite a few others do too, the more you believe in yourself, the stronger and powerful you will become. Unleash your inner Hulk and put aside those who stand in your way of achieving what you want.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Inspired Physique Of Indiana Jones
Whether you like it or not, The Indiana Jones movies are without question some of the best films in cinema period and no other actor could do it better then Harrison Ford did. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did a hell of a job making the movies huge draws over many other great films but Ford brought a style of acting that was unique and different then from guys like Eastwood, Gable, Douglas (Kirk), Grant and arguably the manliest of them all John Wayne. Ford is one of the very few of his time that had "It all", charm, charisma, a powerful presence and a physique not too similar to those of the 50's and 60's like Kirk Douglas & Johnny Walker.
In the 80's, a big boom of actors that brought a bodybuilding physique to the big screen that took notice the moment they stepped infront of the camera. Guys like Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Van Damme took over action films like a dictator takes over a country, these guys were the top of the food chain when it came to box office films but there were still guys that didn't have the bodybuilder type body that could bring action and fire to a movie like Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford. You don't always have to have big muscles and a bulky body to have presence on the big screen.
Ford is one of my favorite actors for a lot of reasons but even as a celebrity he is different then many actors young or old. In my opinion and never meeting the guy, I feel he doesn't sell out and finds himelf in a scandal and show off his lavish luxuries. Yes he's a high priced celeb and is one of the most famous men of our generation but he seems like the kind of guy that you would hang around with whether he's famous or not and he's in awesome shape for a man reaching 70 and looking like a man in his late 50's.
When he made the Temple Of Doom in the early-mid 80's, he was already over 40 and had one of the best physiques for a guy at any age. Most men at this age feels that they had their run in their younger years and feel they need to just let age take its toll. Not Ford man, he busted his ass building that body for those movies and did he get hurt doing a few scenes, believe it or not yes he did but unlike other actors who rather use a stuntman for 80-90% of their action scenes I feel that Ford went that extra mile and once he was recovered he took it even further. The best part is he didn't have 19-20 inch arms or have bloated looking muscles everywhere, he was lithe, strong and had a body that was similar to some of the actors who played tarzan in the 30's and 40's. Its that type of body I admire and would rather have because you look more functional and able to move in awkward ways.
Whether he lifted weights or not, you can build a lithe, strong and healthy body that doesn't take up a lot of time and can be done everyday for as long as 15-20 min. You do not need to have 30 min. cardio sessions or 3 hour workouts to get in shape when getting out of breath would take no more then a few minutes. You can either train like Wild Animal or do basic gymnastic exercises or better yet use a few tools here and there but you can train and have a body that you always dreamed of. All it takes is a little effort and work your way up an be patient, your strength and muscle will come and you will never have a boring workout ever again.
Like Indy whos only possessions other then clothes on his back is his hat, whip, pistol, canteen and a satchel, you only need basic things to train with and nothing more. Basically the more simple you make it, the easier your goals will be successful and you'll be happier then trying to do so many things at one time and working isolated muscles when you should be doing a few things that work the entire body.
In the 80's, a big boom of actors that brought a bodybuilding physique to the big screen that took notice the moment they stepped infront of the camera. Guys like Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Van Damme took over action films like a dictator takes over a country, these guys were the top of the food chain when it came to box office films but there were still guys that didn't have the bodybuilder type body that could bring action and fire to a movie like Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford. You don't always have to have big muscles and a bulky body to have presence on the big screen.
Ford is one of my favorite actors for a lot of reasons but even as a celebrity he is different then many actors young or old. In my opinion and never meeting the guy, I feel he doesn't sell out and finds himelf in a scandal and show off his lavish luxuries. Yes he's a high priced celeb and is one of the most famous men of our generation but he seems like the kind of guy that you would hang around with whether he's famous or not and he's in awesome shape for a man reaching 70 and looking like a man in his late 50's.
When he made the Temple Of Doom in the early-mid 80's, he was already over 40 and had one of the best physiques for a guy at any age. Most men at this age feels that they had their run in their younger years and feel they need to just let age take its toll. Not Ford man, he busted his ass building that body for those movies and did he get hurt doing a few scenes, believe it or not yes he did but unlike other actors who rather use a stuntman for 80-90% of their action scenes I feel that Ford went that extra mile and once he was recovered he took it even further. The best part is he didn't have 19-20 inch arms or have bloated looking muscles everywhere, he was lithe, strong and had a body that was similar to some of the actors who played tarzan in the 30's and 40's. Its that type of body I admire and would rather have because you look more functional and able to move in awkward ways.
Whether he lifted weights or not, you can build a lithe, strong and healthy body that doesn't take up a lot of time and can be done everyday for as long as 15-20 min. You do not need to have 30 min. cardio sessions or 3 hour workouts to get in shape when getting out of breath would take no more then a few minutes. You can either train like Wild Animal or do basic gymnastic exercises or better yet use a few tools here and there but you can train and have a body that you always dreamed of. All it takes is a little effort and work your way up an be patient, your strength and muscle will come and you will never have a boring workout ever again.
Like Indy whos only possessions other then clothes on his back is his hat, whip, pistol, canteen and a satchel, you only need basic things to train with and nothing more. Basically the more simple you make it, the easier your goals will be successful and you'll be happier then trying to do so many things at one time and working isolated muscles when you should be doing a few things that work the entire body.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Hammer Your Grip With Avengence
In strength training one of the most important fundamentals is building a solid base on the Grip. It is critical that your grip be strong because if it isn't you won't be able to pick up heavy objects let alone weights. Think about it, having strength in your hands and having powerful tendons can give you the ability to do things you never imagined before. If you're a football player, you need strong hands to throw, catch and knock the ball out. If you're a basketball player your hands need to be strong enough to hold a strong defense in the pocket. In baseball you need strong hands to hold the bat and make good throws with the ball. In wrestling, your hands need to be strong enough to take down the toughest of opponents and need a good grip to apply submissions. Now that you're paying attention lets see what else we can find.
One of the best methods for building a powerful grip is using thick bars or thick handle that taxes the grip more then a standard bar or handle. Say you do curls with a 1/4 inch thick bar and you do relatively well, now use that same weight but have the bar be at max 1-2 inches thick. I guarantee you that your reps will be cut in half possibly thirds. The reason why that is its because you're not working a particular muscle group, your tendons, your core and even at times your legs come into play so you're working multiple muscle groups all in one exercise. Just holding onto a bar alone at 2 inches thick is very tough to do. Now what about pull-ups? Those alone are tough for most and only an elite few know how to do them with a very thick bar. Again it all comes back to training the hands, tendons, wrists and fingers of the lower arm.
A lot of training is more of a mind game then physical. At times you're practically playing chess with yourself. Whats your next move (exercise) and how do you plan on beating your opponent (Bar, object, body weight exercise)? You can go through all the exercises you want but if your mind isn't in the right place you won't find the results you're looking for and you'll end up frustrated and hating exercise like the majority of people who join a gym or exercise program. You have to learn to unleash your inner power otherwise your workouts will be dull or boring as hell. You have to think differently in order to get what you want out of your training. In this case I'm writing its about using Thor's Hammer as a way of building your grip beyond what you have previously done.
In order to achieve great results using this type of hammer you can't just swing it around and do certain exercises, you almost need to think like the god himself and how he would use it or how a trainee would train with clubs and other types of hammers. Get into the mindset of a warrior in training and feel the need to create great strength. Get into the mind/muscle connectivity and you can achieve something far greater then just doing an exercise. It takes practice to train your mind/body as if they were one and the same.
This Hammer is one of the coolest things I've seen period and when you have something that is that cool and that tough to use it was well worth getting it. I tried it out and even for a guy who's done some crazy workouts with some kick ass looking tools I still need to learn how they work. That's the beauty of training something different, it makes you think and give you a different feel and use muscles you haven't used for that particular object. I will guarantee you this, once you get your hands on this hammer, your old ways of grip training will never be the same again. I learned that the moment I exercised that hammer and if you train your mind hard enough, you will have strength that the Marvel God would be impressed by.
Also, be on the lookout for more Avenger articles. Like the build up to the movie I'll be doing the same with writing. You have seen Part 1 & Part 2 but you haven't seen nothing yet. Keep your eye out for some killer articles that will keep you wanting to become your own Avenger.
One of the best methods for building a powerful grip is using thick bars or thick handle that taxes the grip more then a standard bar or handle. Say you do curls with a 1/4 inch thick bar and you do relatively well, now use that same weight but have the bar be at max 1-2 inches thick. I guarantee you that your reps will be cut in half possibly thirds. The reason why that is its because you're not working a particular muscle group, your tendons, your core and even at times your legs come into play so you're working multiple muscle groups all in one exercise. Just holding onto a bar alone at 2 inches thick is very tough to do. Now what about pull-ups? Those alone are tough for most and only an elite few know how to do them with a very thick bar. Again it all comes back to training the hands, tendons, wrists and fingers of the lower arm.
A lot of training is more of a mind game then physical. At times you're practically playing chess with yourself. Whats your next move (exercise) and how do you plan on beating your opponent (Bar, object, body weight exercise)? You can go through all the exercises you want but if your mind isn't in the right place you won't find the results you're looking for and you'll end up frustrated and hating exercise like the majority of people who join a gym or exercise program. You have to learn to unleash your inner power otherwise your workouts will be dull or boring as hell. You have to think differently in order to get what you want out of your training. In this case I'm writing its about using Thor's Hammer as a way of building your grip beyond what you have previously done.
In order to achieve great results using this type of hammer you can't just swing it around and do certain exercises, you almost need to think like the god himself and how he would use it or how a trainee would train with clubs and other types of hammers. Get into the mindset of a warrior in training and feel the need to create great strength. Get into the mind/muscle connectivity and you can achieve something far greater then just doing an exercise. It takes practice to train your mind/body as if they were one and the same.
This Hammer is one of the coolest things I've seen period and when you have something that is that cool and that tough to use it was well worth getting it. I tried it out and even for a guy who's done some crazy workouts with some kick ass looking tools I still need to learn how they work. That's the beauty of training something different, it makes you think and give you a different feel and use muscles you haven't used for that particular object. I will guarantee you this, once you get your hands on this hammer, your old ways of grip training will never be the same again. I learned that the moment I exercised that hammer and if you train your mind hard enough, you will have strength that the Marvel God would be impressed by.
Also, be on the lookout for more Avenger articles. Like the build up to the movie I'll be doing the same with writing. You have seen Part 1 & Part 2 but you haven't seen nothing yet. Keep your eye out for some killer articles that will keep you wanting to become your own Avenger.
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