Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Isometrics & The Limitless Possibilities

Since ancient times, Isometrics has been used for many forms of strength, health, war and longevity. Think of the Archers of Greece and Mongolia, those guys went through a series of combat training techniques that in order to successfully shoot an arrow through the bow, they had to use muscles they normally wouldn’t use on the battlefield. The strength of those bows was so fierce that they practiced on bows that could not be pulled all the way back. When they finally had the bows in battle, the velocity of the arrows was amazingly fast. Speed is another cornerstone of Isometrics, not just strength.

 In the early 16th century an Indian Buddhist traveled to China and taught the monks how to get in shape because at that time, Shaolin practices was mostly meditation and building on enlightenment but not for also being in physical shape. This Buddhist sat in a cave for nine long and meditative years to find the inner strength to not only rebuild him but help rebuild others. After the near decade long hideout, he began training the monks in a way they have never practiced before and one of their requirements for reprogramming their philosophies was to practice Isometrics. After many practices and a few 500+ years later, these monks are now considered the real life Jedi and masterful athletes of many arts in Kung Fu, Win Chun and other forms of Martial Arts.

 Wrestling is man’s oldest sport, it’s a fact whether you like it or not and it’s by far one of if not the most disciplined sport in the world. The training is tougher than any other and with its many styles going as far back as ancient Egypt or earlier; it is one of the most rigorous forms of training by far. In the early 20th century and in the modern era, two wrestlers took isometrics to the extreme in their style of wrestling was Dan Gable and quite arguably the most feared wrestler of the modern age and that’s The Great Gama of India. In my opinion, no two wrestlers were better at using isometrics than the two I’ve just mentioned. When Gable was in school, he uses to grip class desks so hard that at one time, it ripped right off. His pinning style was so fierce that not even men twice his size could get out of it, that’s how powerful he was for a guy who was no more than 155 lbs. He went undefeated in the ’72 Olympics and didn’t surrender one point during his quest for the gold. Was Isometrics part of the reason, you tell me? Gama however was a massive man of power, strength and conditioning that no man before or since has topped. When he uses to rise in the early mornings before training, he would take a belt and wrapped it around a tree and do with all his might to rip the tree out of its roots. He never took the tree out but after many years of doing this, he threw guys around the pit as if they were rag dolls and they weren’t small guys either, he once threw a 290 lb. wrestler 13 times in 13 minutes. He was undefeated in a staggering 5000 matches and just about every known wrestler at that time never wanted to take him on, not even the two biggest names of the time Frank Gotch & George Hackenshmidt. Again, did Isometrics play a role? You be the judge.

 Isometrics is practically the very best system in the world that teaches you to break through your weak points in the range of motion category whether you’re a lifter, gymnast, fitness fanatic or an athlete, this type of training will skyrocket your strength and speed to levels you have never imagined before. When you hit a rough spot in your training it’s frustrating to push beyond it and Isometrics done with a proper structure can increase your range of motion beyond its own limits.

 One of the most awesome displays of Isometrics is through Muscle Control; you flex and relax the muscles. This is probably one of the very few times that isolation is a good thing. Mastering this teaches you to infuse your mind and body together as you learn to contract various muscles from a single point on the body that contracts and relaxes. One of the best known masters of this was Otto Arco, not only was he superhuman in this type of training but this helped him wrestling, hand balancing, Gymnastics and weightlifting. The way he could transfer from one muscle to the next was nothing like anyone had seen before or since.

 In my opinion from personal experience and learning from some of the best in the world, Isometrics is one of the golden keys to developing superhuman strength because it hits the body in ways weights and bodyweight exercise in their ranges of motion can’t touch. Just the feeling of flexing so hard for a period of time and then relaxing is one of the best highs you can have. There are a limitless amount of exercises to choose from to do Isometrics and can be done just about anywhere at anytime. It develops the mind/muscle connection in a way that can’t be duplicated and it’s one of the toughest forms of strength training there is but the rewards are endless. Take the time to practice Isometrics and you will see how it can be applied in ways you never thought of before. It’s well worth the practice.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

The Simpler The Better

Ever since cardio machines and big monster machines that work only 1 or 2 muscles, exercise has become a confused and out of whack form of strength training that just won’t cut it. Sure there’s Hip Hop Abs, 8 minute abs, Tae Bow, P90X and other infomercial products that are “designed” to give you the body of your dreams. Hate to break it to you but once it does happen or “if” it happens, your body will look great but your health will be in the slammer because they expect you to train hard all the time for the rest of your life and that’s just not ethical.

 The machines that are designed to work a certain muscle is not a realistic approach to functional training and should really only be used for rehab or if that. Isolating the muscles may make you stronger but you’re only stronger with that particular muscle. To build a functionally strong and healthy body, you only need a few exercises and the less you have the better.

 Back before cardio machines and cables, there were dumbbells,barbells, gymnastic rings and a few racks, which was all that was needed for the old-time lifters and strongmen of the day. They didn’t isolate the muscles and were far stronger and healthier pound for pound than most people today in our obesity, diabetic and cruel twisted world. Would you believe that a man back then only lived to be no more than 50 yet a number of physical culturists lived long lives and actually got better as they aged say for instance George Hackenshmidt lived to be 90, Jack Lalanne was 96, Bodybuilder John Grimek lived to be in his late 80’s and believe it not even a man as little as Joe Greenstein aka The Mighty Atom lived to be in his mid 80’s. Simple training with the right mindset and program that works can give you a long and healthy life.

 One of my all-time pet peeves from certain people in the fitness industry believe that they’re system only works and nothing else does so it’s their end all be all mentality and try to brainwash people into believing that. In reality there is no one way to any exercise system. I use to believe that too until I broke my legs and had to learn how to walk again. I learned to be open-minded and try certain things and if they work, great if not than I get rid of it. Having an open mind gives you limitless possibilities to find what works best for you but knowing and doing the basics lays the foundation to what you can really accomplish.

 It’s never a good idea to torture yourself and be frustrated trying to achieve your fitness goals. I was frustrated for quite some time when I first started training and read about routine after routine after routine in the fitness magazines that no matter what I tried to accomplish something else was telling me that I sucked and needed to do something else. The moment I learned to stop that, everything became clear. You don’t need to go to a gym, you don’t always need thousands of pounds of equipment in your house that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Save your money and if you want to get something, make sure you really could use it otherwise you’re just throwing yourself in debt.

 Remember that military tag line “The Few, The Proud, The Marines.” Great line and remember how many words are there, I counted 6. Six words and it already have a powerful statement. So look at it this way, the fewer exercises you do and you master them, the more powerful and stronger you can be. Here is a new tag line for you in your fitness endeavor “The Few, The Proud, The Basics.” Simple, easy to remember and sends a power message that you don’t have to do everything under the sun, just a few simple things and you’re on your way to fitness glory.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Kids & Exercise

When you’re a baby, everything is new to you and you explore all sorts of things. Babies are the most observant at this stage of life. As things progress, you begin to crawl, stand, take a few steps than before you know it, you’re off and running. As we get older, we lose sight of being observant and wanting to explore and new things.

 “The world is a mighty big place” which was said by great author and Physical Culture specialist Brooks Kubik. As we get older, the ability to learn increases but the will to learn is very different. Exercise should be one of those frontiers that needs to be explored as much as possible to see what works for us and what doesn’t, gives us the best results, helps us recover after a hard workout and what to use to make our bodies stronger. Wild animals are no different except for the fact they don’t know or even realize that they’re training. A young cub or ape learns its environment through movement and observing the surroundings plays with its own kind to train them for survival.

 Getting older is something we can’t control but we can also grow younger by using the right mindset. Taking a lesson from Peter Pan who never grew up (Unless you saw the movie Hook), he gave us the chance to see what it’s like to have fun and smile with the best of intentions also fighting for what we believe in. My best friend’s dad is the ultimate grown up kid in my opinion and although he lives a responsible life helping his wife and having raised 4 kids, he still treats everyday as if it were a kick ass day (most of the time).

 Training like a wild animal teaches both kids and adults how to have fun and not worry of just exercising but making it worth while and get to explore new ideas of movement and wonder. Kids today need more of that structure than ever before because of the rise in obesity and children not getting enough exercise in both school and out of school. When I was a kid going to daycare, I ran around all the time and playing with the other kids and doing wild and crazy imaginative stuff, I still get to do that for myself now in my late 20’s and still wanting to explore and shoot for new ideas to play around with.

 Kids deserve to be healthy and strong and teaching them a structured form of exercise is not only to keep them from getting diseases like heart problems and diabetes but exercise has been shown to increase the strength of the brain which means they can grow smarter in certain cases so the blood flow is just right. You don’t even have to tell them its exercise it’s more like play and adults can learn this too. Play tag, race, and create an obstacle course or whatever you’d like to do but also do it with them. Family exercising is a great thing to do not just to help you get in shape but for your kids as well and only needing a few minutes before they play video games or watching TV. There are kids however that have certain issues like a disability or are hyper even at a low self-esteem and exercise can help balance those things out.

 Nap time is crucial for a child’s development when it comes to growth and giving the adult some time to relax, put the kid through a little animal exercise by helping him pick out his favorite animal, play with him and sooner or later he’s going to want to sleep whether he likes it or not.  Children need structures but it doesn’t need to have corporal punishment or as a way of torturing the kid but to help him enjoy his disciplines and giving him/her the chance to learn responsibility in a safe and fun manner. It’s all about giving them what they deserve without them ever knowing it.  

Monday, May 21, 2012

There’s No Suffering In Exercise

Back in the early 90’s there was a baseball movie called A League Of Their Own and one of the most famous lines of that film was “There’s No Crying In Baseball.” If you ever get a chance, check it out it’s a great movie and one of Tom Hank’s best performances after Big. Now what does that have to do with exercise? Well, some of us do cry while training, sometimes if we get hurt and others when we accomplish a goal. Many people in fitness feel like exercise is torture and think its just another day in the gym, in the end they end up suffering and that’s something that should never happen. “There’s no suffering in exercise.”

 Most trainees put so much stress on themselves that they drain their emotional strength and mental strength to keep up with them. That’s one of the ideal problems with the fitness magazines and routines they put in there. Forget for one moment trying to look like a Ronnie Coleman or a Jay Cutler and try to realize how ridiculous these routines actually are. Almost every routine you’ll find has no realistic approach to progression and people don’t realize how painful some of are as well. I had bought a Iron Man encyclopedia when I was weight lifting back in the early-mid 2000’s and tried every possible routine to see which one worked and at one point one did work but only for a short time. I was promised that I would build strength and muscle if I did this routine often but yet one came, the other didn’t and I’ll leave that a mystery to you readers.

 You suffer because someone told you to do this for strength, that for endurance, the other for flexibility and some go awful crap for building big chests and biceps I mean seriously, who the bloody hell can manage all that let alone doing 30 min. of cardio before doing your weights and god forbid that if you can’t handle it, they’ll tell you you’re weak and shouldn’t train at all. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that way. To get out of your suffering, research what you want to learn, test exercises you want to do, work on the technique that suitable to your body’s structure and build your own routine. Everyone can be good at something, just because some trainer tells them their lousy and have no real strength tells me that they’re nothing but low-life scumbags. The real way to get results is to make a goal, find what works, work on technique and make the damn thing fun.

 Flipping the coin of suffering and enjoying yourself doesn’t have to be one or the other, your goal is to enjoy yourself, challenge yourself and master what you want to learn. Trainers come and go but your health is a life-long quest and if you want to make the best of it, quit seeing it as suffering and set your mind to looking forward to it and have a smile at the end. I have suffered just like everyone else at the gym and I hated training at one time and if you hate doing something you love there’s a major problem there. Mentally program yourself and you will find that if you make one little change, it can have a big impact not just building your body but building your life all together. Don’t suffer, be happy and make things happen for you.   

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

A Top Notch Method For HGH

Quick fixes are the biggest trend in fitness today. They want results fast, easy and with little effort as possible so for fitness trainees and celebrities alike for a movie they inject themselves with pills, steroids and needles to get that look that they always dreamed of. Not saying all do this but a good sum of them does and they’re more likely killing themselves than getting healthier.

 Artificial enhancements are quite dangerous and I’ve seen what it’s done to people and very few ever stay healthy with the right cycles but that’s another thing all together. Generating natural levels of Hormones is actually a lot simpler than you would think. Sure as we get older our hormone levels begin to drop as much as 5% by age 30 possibly younger and that shouldn’t be happening. To get the best out of saving money on supplements, pills, injections and those “creams” that some athletes use, work on specific type training. Moving at a clip where it takes a short amount of time to start breathing really hard is a sign that you’re building high levels of hormones which growth is a factor.

 Sprint Training done up to maximum 3x a week is a sure way to get your hormones firing like crazy. Hill Sprints are even better but if you don’t have a hill near by then find a long track or a big stretch of land. Now if you wish to not do sprints there is another option and that’s moving like a Wild Animal. Animal Training gets every muscle group in your body going right off the bat and the more muscles being used the more chances of fat being burnt, muscles are building and your growth hormone will skyrocket faster than a speeding jet. Think of it this way, imitating a wild animal isn’t just building great hormone levels but it also helps you stay young and fit plus its fun to do.

 The greatest athletes are of the Wild Animal Kingdom. They’re strength; power and agility are the most inspired forms of our world. Think of a silverback gorilla doing a one finger pull-up out of the crack of its enclosure or a lynx trending many miles with its incredible endurance and let’s not forget one of the largest cats in the jungle and that’s the Tiger, it’s tendons are insanely strong and can drag its prey weighing well over 500 lbs. Who wouldn’t want that kind of strength? Functional Movement is keen to our development and makes the body function far better than isolating the muscles which can cause injury and destroy joints. Moving like a Animal is the type of fitness that cannot be duplicated by any other method.

 The great benefit of doing this form of conditioning is that it’s more like playing than working out, you are free to move however you want and you get to build muscle without straining yourself so much. The key ingredient is not just physical but mental as well. When you stop using the word “workout” and use “play” your mindset changes completely and believe it or not when you play around with these movements, your results will come faster than expected and you’re having fun in the process. It’s never too late to feel young again and progress at your own pace and play your way up to a challenging animal. Have fun and make it a habit of playing instead of working when it comes to exercise, it’s a whole different feeling.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Gorillas & The Avengers

Never thought you’d read those two things in the same title huh? For the most part, the movie is F-ing awesome. It’s the top grossing film of the year by far and I’m glad to share in the fun. Seen it three times so far and it never gets old. Seeing four of the coolest superheroes is a joy to be hold.

 Ever since seeing it and writing my Can You Become Your Own Avenger series (which you can find on this very blog), I’ve gone Avenger crazy, buying shirts, video games and even the comic books which I’ve never really done in my entire life. If anything brought me into the world of comic books it was the Avengers. You might say I’m overly obsessed with the Marvel Comic but truth to tell, I’m not just a fan and reading & writing stories but I’m also looking for the next best thing in revolutionizing fitness with methods that can go hand and hand with superheroes like peanut butter and jelly.

 I was at a bookstore the other day and wanted to pick up a couple comic books of the Avengers and out of the plethora of graphic novels and short stories I picked up what looked like to me the most bad ass Avenger comic and that’s Marvel Apes. Now it’s not everyday that you find cool superheroes but they put a spin on them using your all-time favorite animal in the jungle as the Ape-vengers. I’d say that’s a double whammy in my book.

 Now I realize this comic is a bit of a spoof with a little gore and graphic violence but really it’s just another great concept that people can relate to. Apes are our original ancestors whether we realize it or not and to be awe of their strength and agility would be an understatement. Training like an Ape should be a natural thing to do but because of civilized laws and the way to be proper and better yet the way you exercise is very “controlled.” Developing Ape-like strength and fitness is essential to staying fit and young. Having fun at a playground or going to the park an moving like a wild animal is a kick ass way to keep yourself healthy both physically and mentally.

 Studying Apes and Monkeys is an ongoing research and sometimes they take that research a little too far and I won’t go into detail because you’ll just want to beat the hell of the people who do push the boundaries of right and wrong. In my opinion, these primates are extremely intelligent and in some cases they’re far smarter than we want to believe. When you see a silverback gorilla, some will think it’s violent and that’s just not true. It’s only violent if it’s provoked and to protect his family and followers. I would never want to mess with a primate, they’re strength and agility is just off the charts and freakishly powerful.

 Moving like an Ape teaches the body how to move in awkward positions and strengthen the tendons and ligaments in ways that can’t be duplicated. Whenever someone says “Get Gorilla Strong” most likely they’re referring to extreme heavy weight lifting which isn’t a bad thing if you’re into that but “True Gorilla Strong” means you move, walk, run, climb and swing like a gorilla or other primate.

 Back to the Ape-vengers, reading these stories is like reading about superheroes from the Planet Of The Apes, it’s the same characters but more well let’s face it, Ape-Like and in some ways I prefer that than the human Avengers. Imagine for a moment that if the Avengers were already tough and physically intimidating, than you add in having the strength of an Ape, whoever stands against them would be the dumbest villain ever.

 What would it feel like to see Captain America swing on the vines with ease, what would it look like to see a version of Spider-Man moving like a gibbon, how about Ironman looking like a Mandrill and not only having great brains but will beat your ass to a pulp in a fight and what if you had Ape-Like Wolverine or a Gorilla version of Thing from the Fantastic Four? I’m sorry but unless technology is used, the chances of any villain winning a fight are going from slim to none. Find your own inner Ape and take your strength to levels that will stand the test of time in your life.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Ultimate Warriors Of Strength & Health



Sounds like a kick ass title huh? Well hate to disappoint you but this isn’t such a positive one. This is mainly a comparison of an 80’s wrestler that took the world by storm but led a series of downfalls and how that’s like with a lot of guys in the fitness industry today. Back in the mid-late 80’s a mighty wrestler full of muscle, charisma and drawing ability captivated crowds and was even thought to be a successor of Hulk Hogan. The man’s name was Jim Helwig better known as The Ultimate Warrior.

 Like anything in business, sports, entertainment you want to make an impact, being different and having a unique look. Warrior certainly had that impact as his ability to draw a crowd was only matched closely to the likes of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and a few others of that era. The way he would run to the ring and shake the ropes, clothesline his opponents and press them up overhead and toss them like rag dolls. The last time I ever saw him wrestle was during his last run in the mid 90’s in the WWE. Warrior certainly was cool looking and was built like he was carved from granite.

 Charisma can be a powerful tool and it captivates someone’s attention and draws them in. That’s a lot like the fitness experts and bodybuilders of today, you’re drawn to their look and how they present a presence that you can’t help but notice. This is where looks can be deceiving and no matter how much you’re drawn to their presence, there’s a dark cloud hanging over them, not all but quite a few.

 One of the things you will learn about Warrior was that as much as he was a crowd favorite, the fact of the matter is he was a horrible wrestler, didn’t know any good holds, had the reputation for not making too many moves look good and didn’t really care at all for wrestling. Money and Fame was his primary goal and I would find it hard to believe he had any history of the business and just wanted to be a crowd pleaser, take his check and just go to the next town. A lot of trainers today are like that too, they’ll show you a few things then leave you in the dust just to get a large check. If you took on at minimum of 10 trainers in gold’s or spa fitness gym, how many actually know their history? Truth is less than one most likely and the only two people they would ever really know of are Jack Lalanne and Arnold Schwarzenegger, maybe Lou Ferrigno but that’s about it. It’s really sad to say the least.

 It pisses me off so much at times that you have an expert in the field of fitness and they hardly have any history background on the world of Physical Culture. Go to a modern gym just about anywhere today and mention names like Otto Arco, John Grimek, Maxick, Martin “Farmer” Burns, Bernarr MacFadden, Karl Gotch, Fred Grubmeyer, The French Apollon, Arthur Saxon and quite possibly the original Hulk George Hackenshmidt. You’d be lucky to find one trainer that knows two of those names, if any higher; he’s not your typical modern trainer.

 Another unique and quite frankly a bizarre trait of the Ultimate Warrior is the way he did promos and interviews. 80% of the time you wouldn’t know a damn thing of what he just said, it sounded cool but it was confusing the rest of the time. He almost like he spoke in tongues and was high as a kite for some of the things he talked about, like the planets or some evil warlock on a distant earthly place and the gods in the heavens it was just breathtakingly awful. Some guys today have that same concept, they try to tell you an exercise and some of the time you wouldn’t have a clue of they’re actually saying. The way they hype themselves up like on the cover of a magazine or bring out a fresh new product on the infomercials that looks great at some point but in the end when you get the product it looks like crap and you thought it would great to get because of what was advertised. It’s one thing to believe in what you’re doing is right, it’s another thing when you show no signs of any life when you keep going in different directions and people won’t know where you’re coming from.

 It’s really deceiving when someone believes in their own hype. Warrior is no exception when his ego reached a brink when he actually changed his name to Warrior and got rid of his original name Jim Helwig. Why he did it, no one knows but one thing is for sure, that spotlight will always have a glare in his eye and never wants to let go of it. Fitness gurus have some of those same problems and never realize it is a problem till it’s too late. One bodybuilder who I won’t mention was a semi big star in his time and had muscles everywhere and had 23 inch arms and can pull off the best poses of his competition, after doing so much steroids and drugs over the years the guy can’t even curl a 45 pound barbell anymore because of the overbearing muscle he has and his tendons are shot to hell.

 It’s never a good idea to let fame get to your head no matter how famous you are because it will take a toll on you physically, emotionally and psychologically. Once that light goes out, it’s very difficult to get that back. Money and Fame are just words but people take it beyond levels of bad nature and just lose sight of what’s really important. Never lose sight of who you truly are and although you can be quite a character, don’t ever turn into that character. Find who you are and stick with it, be your own person and not some outlandish figure with a thirst for power. Make use of who you are and don’t ever forget where you came from good or bad because in the end, somewhere in your heart there’s good in you and you have the power to make that happen.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Got Carpal Tunnel???

This has become a common ailment more then any other time in history. You’re at an office typing all day, playing an instrument till you can’t stand it, gripping too hard on something and yet you can be in a cast for long periods of time if you hurt the fingers. Should it be common to be in handed cast, unable to use your hands the way they’re meant to? I really don’t think so but society today gives people certain things that not only hurts their hands but destroys joints and tendons. If you want to prevent this from happening then you need to learn to keep your hands healthy and strong.

 Another common theme in carpal tunnel is surgery and does it really help? Are your hands any stronger or healthier from being repaired? Most of the time the answer is no because it’ll happen again and before you know it, your hands will be so messed up, you won’t be able to pick up even a toothbrush. Our hands were designed to repair things, fix things, write, pick up, twist and circulate many things that are needed. Now if your hands are so severe from broken bones and don’t have much of a chance than that’s an exception but the fact of the matter is, a broken hand will heal. I have hand problems all my life and don’t have much nerve control on my right hand yet I won’t let that stop me from doing the things I love to do and be able to help people when they need me.

 I firmly believe without a doubt you can heal your hands without surgery and you can make them stronger and healthier then at any other time in your life. When you find the right exercises, you will find out what it’s like to have pain-free hands that flow like water with rich oxygenated blood flowing with strong tendons and ligaments that can tear off a person shirt or even in my physical culture brethrens' cases bend steel and be able to handle use the hands that will have you gasping. It is not too late to have powerful but graceful hands and fingers.

One of the greatest athletes with lightning fast hands was Bruce Lee. The way he handled other martial artists was second to none and his punching and kicking wasn’t just strong, he can also do push-ups with ease on his FINGERTIPS!!!! His fingers and hands were so strong that he can knock a heavy weight man back 5-10 ft from an inch away. Imagine having that kind of power.

 I have known athletes, musicians, entertainers, postal workers, strongmen and carpenters and each one of them must have an immense amount of hand strength to work specific things at a high level. Three musicians I know, a Pianist, cellist and a guitarist all have a gift to play their instruments at a level where everything is precise and graceful with raw emotion and power in their hands that where if none of these attributes were in play, they wouldn’t be able to do their specific instrument.

 Strongmen need strong hands to be able to lift heavyweights, bend steel, rip phonebooks, Juggling kettlebells ect. If they’re hands weren’t strong or fluid, it would be impossible to demonstrate mind-blowing feats of strength. Postal workers are very fluent in how they sort mail and carry loads of it to the trucks, this requires some strength in the hands and fingers otherwise the mail won’t be going anywhere.

 Carpenters have some of the toughest hands around because of the stress that’s put on their hands with tools ranging from hammering, nailing, twisting and holding down certain objects in order to be cut or sawed. The strongest fingers and hands definitely go to climbers whether rock, mountain or even climb and move around certain obstacles on Ninja Warrior.  Rock climbers are the closest to the primates (Apes and monkeys) that have that raw, animalist strength and tendon power that you can’t help but be in awe of. Without those strong hands, don’t look up if you see a guy fall.

 Grip strength and Grip agility is essential not just in certain professions but for daily life. How often do you have trouble opening a jar pickles, most likely often. If you’re hurt and you can’t use your hands than you’re screwed and what can you really do? If you want to be pain-free and have hands that are steel cords but flow like a river than you must learn to use certain exercises that will make that happen.

 A good friend of mine named Garin Bader who is the creator of Core Force Energy, has been a pianist and athlete all his life and very rarely if ever had problems with his hands and this is after learning martial arts to practicing 8-13 hours a day playing the piano to even gliding across the stage on a silk swing during his Musical Magic performances. If you were ever to learn about having powerful and fluid hands, this is the man to learn from.

 Training this way can help heal and revitalize the hands’ circulation and give them the ability to breathe with strength and power in ways you never have imagined before. Don’t ever worry about Carpal Tunnel again and give your hands the food they need in order to help your life in the ways you want to make happen. Never worry about surgery, don’t get hurt opening a door and really don’t trash your hands to the point where they’re use is slim to none. Make those hands strong and your whole body will be strong.  

Friday, May 4, 2012

Are You Not Entertained????

This is the very first guest article in the near 5 years of Power & Might....Please show some love for my man and fellow Physical Culturist, Matti Marzel.....



Is this not why you are here?

Yeah I know, a very weird way to open up an article. But I have very good reasons to start an article this way with these exact questions! Let me explain further…
These 2 questions and the movie scene they come from, have a lot to do with Training and with getting MAJOR RESULTS from your Training in the long run! You see, ALL the very STRONG dudes in the world see their Training as a Fun Journey, an Interesting Quest, or Wild Adventure! Think I’m making this up? Go head and think whatever the hell you like. But instead of being close-minded (like most of the population is nowadays), put all your disbeliefs & pre-programmed thoughts aside and be open-minded for a second and bear with me!

Let’s take an PRIME example of a person that looks at his Training as an Crazy, Wild & Fun Adventure! Yours truly, that’s right! Me, Myself & I! I take myself as an example, because I know more about myself then anyone else in the world, and especially the Physcial Culture World!

The way I look at my own Training, wether it’s in the shortrun or the longrun, is this: Before I train, I take a deep breath, go visualize while I’m under Hypnosis, use Affirmations to install more and greater beliefs in myself, and then I also trigger & fire Anchors in my mind and connect that to my body! After I’v done that and I’m already in a very calm, deep, relaxed & energized state, then I watch a movie scene, listen to music or think about a specific thought in my head!

In this case, we’ll take the movie scene from the CLASSIC movie “Gladiator”! Once I went through all the Visualization, Hypnosis, Affirmations & Anchors. I take (in this case) the “Are you not entertained” movie scene and summon up & call upon specific emotion(s) when I see it, thus using emotional content and channeling those emotional contents in my body and connecting them with the Anchors that I triggered & Fired in my head previously! Put those 2 together, the Emotional Content & the Anchors, and you’ll get Emotional Anchors! You also want to look deeper into Goosebumps and the huge benefits they providde! Wich I go into way more and in deeper details in my FREE Bonus Opt-in report! Wich you can claim on the right hand side of my site once you’ve signed up/subscribed with your name and e-mail adress! Once you’ve read the WHOLE report, you’ll have a way deeper & better understanding of what I’m talking about!

So that’s the FIRST example as to why these questions have to do with Training! Now that we’ve covered the first and MOST important part, let’s move on to the second part, wich is the Training itself! I’m telling you right here and right now! If YOU don’t see and look at your Training as an Fun Journey, an Interesting Quest, or Wild Adventure (or ALL of them together!). Then you’re basically wasting your precious time! Why? Because having these Emotional Content mixed together and intergrated into your Training and every being of your body makes the Training a LOT better, more time efficient & effective in the longrun! And that’s exactly where I’m aiming at in this article: the Longrun!

In other words: Training HARD, Intensively & Productively into very old age! Wich is something a lot of people want, wether they admit it or not! Even when they don’t really know it, it’s somewhere deep inside of them and once they realize it and are smart enough to take actions, then they would enjoy their Training Adventure/Quest/Journey a lot more! Guarenteed!

I’d say the #1 Reason why most of the worlds population don’t want to live into very old age (80+ and above), is because they think & have been brainwashed by the stupid dumbing down society, that when you reach the age of 70, that it’s ALL downhill from that point on. In other words, you can’t possibly become STRONGER, Healthier, More Resillient & Powerful at that age, no way man. But, is that the truth? I’m pretty sure that even the most sickest and weakest people in their old age know and realize somewhere in the back of their minds, that they could STILL be very STRONG, Powerfull, Healthy & Robust! Even when they have reached the age of 70 and beyond.

Being sick and weak at that age, wich is basically just a LACK of excersise & movement (Plus living a sedentary lifestyle, sitting too much, eating junk & crap, not sleeping enough etc. etc.). And that goes for the Body as well as the MIND! And in my humble opinion, the mind even more so then the body. The mind has got to be trained as intensively, hard and dilligently as the body! That way you’ll age Gracefully, Healthy and Strongly, with a lot of life & enthousiasm left in you!

And that brings me to another point of this whole discussion. The reason why almost EVERYBODY in the world loves movies, series & games so much, is because, to be quite honestly, they’re live is just BORING as hell without them. Just think about this for a second, the average Joe goes about his life living like half a robot. He wakes up to an alarm clock (BARF!), hates his own guts because he got woken mercilessly out of his deep sleep (wich is VERY Important btw! And I will deliberate on that in future articles) by that annoying f-cking sound. Then he goes to work, he’s working and socializing with people that he could give a f-ck less about. Acts (as in acting) and puts on a fake smile & persona when he’s at work (most of the time, not always, again this is an example!). Feels even shittier about himself, because he can’t do the things in life he truly enjoyes from deep inside his heart and soul!

Then when the time for work is over, he gets back home. Then he has to do as much FUN stuff as he can, wich is inevitably a lot of sitting and watching the Idiot Box a.k.a TV (wich I said before, but I will say it again, because it’s worth repeating: it’s very bad for you!), but he doesn’t have the time to do ALL of the things he wants to do. And he knows that he has to Train, everbody needs to train, for the reasons discussed earlier and to keep it that way into very old age, and then some! So then he comes up with EXCUSES, wich are actually LIES in Disguise and worth NOTHING! So he makes up these lies and keeps on telling it to himself day in and day out! Untill he reaches an age where his metabolism (wich is very CRUCIAL for anti-aging properties and a whole lot more!) starts to slow down to almost an halt! Wich leaves him feeling older, weaker, more tired, crappier, sicker & basically ready for the SCRAP YARD, so to speak.

But NOOOO, not excersising, god forbid he trains hard, sweats, breathe heavy and actually becomes a lean, mean fighting machine. Because that’s not important at all right? No, it’s better to live an UNFULLFILLING piece of shit life, where you feel like CRAP 90% of the time, if not more. Getting the frustrations out on your loved ones, and basically at the end of the day disrespecting & dishonouring YOURSELF! Wich in my opinion, is so stupid and retarted to do, but hence, MOST people nowadays do that to themselves, men and women alike. Yeah, go figure. In this day and age? What the hell is this world coming to? Right?

Obviously when I said that Excersising & Training is not important, I was being VERY Sarcastic. For the strong dudes, women, family, friends & people that know me, they knew that already. But for the people that are reading this for the first time and only just signed up or started to read articles on my site not so long ago. I’m telling them (YOU!) that I’m being sarcastic over here! Actually being so damn sarcastic makes me feel like CRAP, but I do it for a very good and legit reason, and that is to teach YOU, whoever you are that is reading this, that it doesn’t have to be that way and that you can definitely take charge of your life. Grab it by the throat, shake it upside down and take control of it however you want!

And there’s where Training and living this kind of lifestyle comes in very handy and feels like an Awesome Movie-like Adventure! I literally wake up everyday and say to myself: HELL YEAH, today I’m going on another Adventure, Quest or Journey! Just like Indiana Jones does in his movies (for example, and what a GREAT example that is!). I’m the hero of this Adventure and the good part is, I ALWAYS win in the end! Just like in the movies. First the Hero embarks (either by his own doing or not!) on the Journey, then he stumbles upon his enemy or enemies (wich are Plateaus, TOUGH Mental Excersises, Inner Fears & injuries etc.). He goes against them ALL by himself, fighting against any and all of them 1-by-1 or all together, and defeats them in the end!

In real life however, this translates into the fact that you can and WILL conquer your inner fears, blast through Plateaus, DESTORY & DEMOLISH the TOUGH Mental Excersises & Exterminate Injuries by outsmarting them!

If this doesn’t sound like a Phenomenal and Fun way to look at Training, Physical Culture and the whole lifestyle that goes along with it, then I don’t know what does. Looking at it, living and experiencing it in this way, and from this point of view, is EXACTLY like a movie! A wild thriller-horror-action movie that is! And guess what? YOU’re the Hero and Main Character of the whole damn thing!

So, my 2 Final questions for you, my friend are:

Are You Not Entertained? Is this not why you are here?

Go out there and Kill it like Aurelius Maximus in Gladiator, and give them a show they won’t forget in a lifetime! Go own your Training & most importantly: Your OWN Life!


Have at it and Good luck in your Training!

In Strength & Health!

Matti Marzel!!!!!

P.S. If that scene didn’t get you Fired up, Psyched and Hyped as hell to Train Hard & Rip Sh*t up, then my friend, you got a BIG problem and you should check your Estrogen Levels, and Get them the hell out of your body and replace that with big dosesses of High Octane Testosterone! I know Mike Mahler would agree with me for a FULL 100% on this matter!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Can You Become Your Own Avenger? Pt. 5 The Final Chapter

It has come down to this, some of us have waited four years to see this movie come out, some have waited ever since they were a child reading the comic books.  Will it be a great movie? Who knows, it will however impact someone one way or another, I guarantee it. There are even some people who had dreams of becoming an Avenger and have a plethora of powers that will make them stronger, agile, burst with speed and even be more creative in their own endeavors. I’m here to tell you that if you want to become your own Avenger, you got to feel it and find the best resources to find your true powers and grasp them with might, vigor and vitality.

 For most in the Avengers world, we’ve all heard the stories of Thor and his mighty Hammer but what if we really wanted to know the secrets of Thor’s gift of strength and power? We all know Thor is a god among the four heroes yet how does a god get to that level? It really all starts from within. Becoming a god is no easy task and in reality there is nothing more powerful then god himself but yet we can become more powerful then ourselves. You have more power physically and spiritually than you can ever imagine. Just think for a second of having that power, how would you use it? Building yourself from the inside takes practice but at the same time with that practice a rewarding experience that will change the very essence of whom you are and where you want to go.

 The secret to creativity starts with a thought in mind. Being creative shows the uniqueness of who we are as a society not just as individuals. Look at the creativity Tony Stark aka Iron Man shows when he first made that Iron suit in a deep and dark fortress in the middle-eastern desert, as accomplished as he was for rebuilding an empire you can’t substitute success when your life is at stake and this is where he becomes dangerous when he sets his mind to create something that will reward his efforts in the end. In some cases we can relate to that, not building a suit but building our own lives for when we need to be creative the most. If you want to be at your best in any situation, you must have an open mind to find the best resources to create solutions or at least attempt to. It’s being creative that can become your very secret weapon of not only success but to endure the very worst and most of all, the very best of what you can accomplish that will put you ahead of the pack without ever knowing it.

 Captain America without question is the leader of the Avengers and although individually each hero has his/her own agenda, in the end it’s the leader that gets the big reward and the big letdown if he fails. That’s a huge responsibility and that goes for all leaders not just in war but in our society. When you decide to change the very brink of your own individuality whether its becoming fitter, stronger or creating a life that you want, it’s your responsibility to make those things happen and when you take a hold of it, that shows the mark of a true leader because when you lead yourself, you are ready for that next challenge and that’s leading others. Make it your mission to learn to be your own leader.

 I firmly believe that if you practice laser-like focus on anything you wish to accomplish, you want to find that precise accuracy that defines the realm between successes and failure. Look at agent Hawkeye, the most accurate shot of the Avengers. His ability to focus is staggering to say the least. The way he pin points his targets can easily be used in how someone in real life can go after a goal that will hit the nail right on the head. Reaching a goal is not easy and like Archery, you need to practice with the intent of hitting that center, goals are pretty much the same thing, will you accomplish every single goal you attempt? Not always but with practice and the right intent, you will find the right goals to shoot for and one way or another it’s going to hit the center like a bolt of lighting.

 Let’s face it, the Avengers kick major ass and however you slice it, no Avenger is greater than the other, each one has their own great qualities that can be served just as an individual as well as a team. Kicking ass has been a moniker of American culture since the Revolutionary War, wanting to tear down enemies with a vengeance is not only inspirational but at times it can be over the top annoying and out of context. When you really want to be an ass kicker you want a strategy in order to accomplish it but kicking ass doesn’t mean beating someone up or always becoming a solider and go off to war, being a real bad ass is taking charge of who you are and what you represent yourself with vigor, power and might. The real people who are the bad asses take charge of what makes them great and what they’re all about and that can make them dangerous. If you want to be an ass kicker, then learn from some of the best who are bad to the bone powerful and strong not just physically but mentally as well.

 Building your own team of Avengers is not easy but simple nonetheless. You want to build a team of people that have a keen sense of your interests and how each person can be just as important as the other. Each Avenger has his own strength to what he is and what he’s capable of but at the same time each one is very different but each share a common goal and that’s to bring peace to those who want to destroy it. Creating your team is like building a family that will stick with you through thick, thin and thinner and if you truly want to find a role in that team of individuals nothing can stop you. When it comes to a team in my field there are many and I hope I have a role within that team. That team represents the very best in strength and health and when you have a band of brothers and sisters all searching for the same thing, you have a force that will be the focal point of who we are not just as a team but as individuals who help each other.

 To be the very best at something, you got to want it more than anything in your whole life. The desire and drive to reach what you want to be is fierce and has no signs of slowing down and with time, you get better and better and you want to wake up each day feeling strong, confident and have a sense of vitality. One man’s desire to be the very best was none other than Slim The Hammerman. By day he was a rock cutter who destroyed tons and tons of rock, by night he turned into a powerful being of immense proportion as he attempted and later on accomplished being the strongest man at specific feats of strength with his trademark specialty being Hammer Levering. He not only made this happen but it came with a price but yet at the same time, it didn’t stop him from being the very best at what he wanted to do. I’ve known many guys over the years and only a handful ever had that dedication as Big Slim did. If you want to be the strongest person, you go and grab it and never let up on it, that doesn’t mean drop everything in your life but to be the very best you will make the time to do it and be serious about your goal but also build some fun around it because when you love something so much it doesn’t become a goal, it becomes an adventure.

 There are a lot of polls around the internet to see which Avenger you are. If you truly do those polls than you’re really second guessing yourself because there’s a big difference between general testing and observing yourself. If you want to find the true Avenger within you than you must find the qualities that resemble that particular Avenger but seriously though, don’t ever compare yourself to another person or fictional character because there’s more to life than comparing yourself to others. Want to know why I know this? Take one of those dumb ass polls and answer all the questions and I would bet you it won’t come out the way you want it, you’ll be disappointed and you’ll want to redo it over. If you want to become your own Avenger don’t look at something else, look at yourself and see what you can do to become more powerful and more resilient to things that can harm you. Learn to develop your powers from the qualities that you have and find a real positive way to amplify them to make them your own personal quest. That’s one of the true marks of becoming your own Avenger.

 Every Avenger has their a secret power or skill that makes them a valuable asset so why not learn your own secret to what can bring out the power that you truly possess. Learning to harness a powerful force inside you takes practice and there are no shortcuts to what you really want to learn but it can easily be a piece of what you really have and how you develop it. We all have a form of power within us one way or another and it’s different in each of us. The way to explain it is by experiencing it for you. There is an old saying “For those who believe, you don’t need to explain, for those that don’t believe no explanation will do.” If you truly want to harness the power that resides within you, then you got to believe in it, trust it and let it guide in anything that happens in your life.

 In every system of strength training there are tools that will help you achieve what you want but it’s not the tools that get you there, it’s how you use them to get you there. Take for instance, Thor’s Hammer, if you held that hammer in your hands what would it feel like? If you are an open-minded person, you would know that hammer is not just an object or an exercise token of strength, it’s the very presence that will captivate your attention and you will want to wield that hammer with fire, passion and strength and that’s why for most people, its cool looking but also intimidating. A true man or woman of character will take hold of that hammer and find a way to make it his/her strength and bring it to the forefront of making them the strongest they can be. Take a chance and you will see how you can go from being intimidated to the one who’s become intimidating.

 If you ever watched the movie or read the Comics then you know the Shield of Captain America. To me that’s the coolest looking shield ever in my opinion; it’s light, resilient to bullets, protects you and can be used as a weapon all in one form. Having a shield can help you on the road to success. In fitness becoming healthy and strong is a sure fire to shield you from disease and other things but most people either do one or the other and if that’s their choice good for them but I would like it to be more than that. To be both healthy and strong takes different forms and molding them together to create a powerful, creative piece. To really develop a shield physically would be one to train your tendons and ligaments through loosening the joints to doing isometrics. Building this kind of shield helps the body be less prone to injury and helps in recovery of the body’s stress through physical action. Another form of shielding is through strengthening the internal organs from training the body from the inside out. This could done through Muscle Control, a form of Qi Gong, again training the joints in various places and it could done through training the body to where you’re training really intensely for a few seconds and begin to breathe really hard. There are many ways to help shield the body so learn what you can.

 After Captain America realizes what this serum can do for him, he learns that his metabolism runs 4x faster than the average person and that helps him regenerate faster. What if you can have that power to regenerate and have a high metabolism? I would like to think you’ll have greater ability to recover, heal, get stronger, leaner and be able build great natural muscle. When you train hard, I mean really hard, your body’s nervous system kicks into overdrive and your hormones shoot through the roof. You have the ability to stimulate natural Growth Hormone at any age and it all can be done without lethal injections of steroids or taking pills and creams that can probably kill you. Your body is the fiercest machine of anything else on the planet. One way to build a high level of natural HGH is to do Hill Sprints or wind sprints at a track or long stretch of land. Look at how powerful looking sprinters and NFL running backs, they’re some of the most built athletes on the planet and not one was ever more of an exception then Herschel Walker. Doing this for a few seconds and resting for several minutes for very little sets can get your natural growth hormone kick it in gear faster than anything else. When you have a high metabolism and can generate natural muscle growth, you can have a lean body, eat what you want and have better recovery.

 Remember when I talked about Hawkeye? Learning about his Archery skills can actually help you in whatever it is you want in life. Pin point the target you wish to hit and aim for it with the best accuracy you can do, that’s the same as going after a goal and heading straight towards succeeding in it. Learn where to aim and let the universe take its course and put some action into it. Like in Archery, don’t aim too high or too low otherwise you won’t know where that arrow is going to go, aim straight forward and pierce through that point of space.

 Iron Man’s suits are a protective armor with a few weapons at his disposal. How about building your own armor mentally and building a defense strategy to help you get rid of those negative people who don’t want you to succeed or want to dump all their crap on you and making you feel worse. Most people teach in the ways of offensive strategies where you shoot for the goal in mind and run with it, that’s all well in good but what about protection? You need a strategy where you have a defensive line where you can prevent things from happening. One way to look at it is, picture in your mind having a source of great energy that no one you want to get through, it can be a brick wall or a circular form of electricity, either way you want something that works and helps you move forward and get those energy dwellers out of your hair so you can move down the road to success. Think of it as building imaginary armor and like Iron Man, have a few of your best weapons at your disposal. Building on this metaphor can increase your chances of succeeding at what you want if you really learn to harness it.

 Having great power, you have a responsibility to hold onto that power and use for a purpose and not for real personal gain to manipulate others. Each Avenger has their own power they're responsible for, one however is unable to control that power once it’s harnessed but with great concentration and using his intelligence with the best of his abilities, that power can be a great asset to his own curse. You make the choice to do what’s right for you and if you want to learn how you can use that true power within you, you must be responsible for how you use it.

 In my field the real guys don’t teach you how to fly or beat people up or even make you better then the next guy, we want to help you harness the power that can be used to help not only your life but for others. One example would be that I helped a friend move stuff into his Uhaul so he can get to his new place, he told me that’s one of the reasons I trained is to help others when they need it and get heavy things out of the way. There are many other examples but the fact of the matter is, when you train the way we teach you, you will get a better understanding of how fun and responsible it is to have strength and power not just for personal use but use it when it’s needed outside of the workouts, the exercises and the places we train in.

 So for this final chapter, learn the very best of what it takes to become your own Avenger and be there for those that need you in time of need. Harness the power from within and give yourself a chance to shine with the great strength you have developed. Nothing can stop you from achieving your dreams and if no one else believes you, there are those out there who do and I’m one of them. I believe in YOU and I believe in what you can accomplish.


Sign Up

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *