A Whole Gym In The Palm Of Your Hands

How cool would it be to workout anywhere you wanted, at the beach, the park, your backyard, garage, house, even at the top of a mountain? Having a gym is way overrated. I’m not saying going to one is a bad thing but if you wanted to train anywhere you wanted, what can you do? One way to do it is getting a device that could have endless ways of strengthening everything from your neck to your toes and that’s my dear friend, the Chest Expander.

 This little bitty rubber cable apparatus can work your body from more angles than weights never could and you need to strengthen those areas for overall functional strength and fitness. There are many types of cables to progress with ranging from the easiest to nearly impossible to expand. Weights can hit many muscle groups but the cables hit muscles that aren’t reached by any other method except this. Unlike weights that use gravity, you are fighting the cables because they don’t want you to expand them and you need that kind of power as if you’re fighting a person.

 The cool thing about this bad boy is that you can go from one exercise to the next in a snap, go from a curl to a press or from a row to a lateral raise; this is great for circuit training to help bring that conditioning element. Dumbbells are fun to use if you’re into them but it takes you a little bit to put down the thing, grab another and go through the cycle again, with the cables you can put as many as three on there and if its too much for you than take one off to ease the resistance, I find that more fun than taking the time to switch plates or dumbbells. When you see that you’re working from odd angles, you’re building odd strength and flexibility which can aid you in almost anything from lifting to bodyweight exercise to cardio or even to help rebuild injuries and heal old wounds to get that functional strength back for the things you want to accomplish whether it be sports, your job or helping out your family.

 One of my favorite things to do is use this thing for Arm Wrestling. This sport is one of the toughest forms of strength there is, period and you need well developed grip, wrist arm overall body strength to take even the toughest of opponents. Read about my article about Arm Wrestling Training to learn more details to get an idea of how strong you can get just using cables and never needing a machine or weights to get the job done. This is where it gets even prettier by the second where you can go from using it as a rehab tool to taking it to a superhuman level that even the strongest forces in strength athletics can appreciate.

 If you want to take it even further my man Bud Jeffries has a DVD course that specifies in Alternate Conditioning Methods which one of them is based on Cable Training and the things he has in stored on there will blow you away and just when you thought you only had a few basic ideas, he takes beyond another level. An extreme few courses out there on this type of training so that should tell you that there are secrets out there that can take your fitness to levels never imagined before. Being fit is awesome, being strong is great but being functionally fit and strong is the most gratifying thing you can achieve and becoming superhuman is that much sweeter.

Arm Wrestling Training For A Super Grip

 Testing one’s strength has been a quest for as long as mankind has been around; fighting for survival or just sport, strength has been the test of wills through physical, spiritual, emotional and mental endeavors. One of the biggest tests for man’s ego or even to prove himself is through Arm Wrestling.

  Back in the day when internet didn’t exist and phone lines were the talk of the town plus the only entertainment you can really find was in a vaudeville theater or watching a silent movie on the big screen for a nickel a pop, people needed to do something to keep themselves interested. Men worked on the farms or in offices in the city or sometimes they became entertainers and put on acts to entertain the crowd. Kids played ball in the streets and some even took up what was called Wrist Wrestling where they gripped their hands as hard as they can and do their best to slam the other’s wrist to the table and jump for victory.

 Arm Wrestling isn’t just a full on test of grip and people will only say that if they haven’t actually done it. I’ve had my fair share of losses and very few wins to tell you it’s a hard and demanding sport where you have your whole body engaged in a tight spot and it takes just as much power to keep from getting slammed as the one doing the slamming. It makes up a powerful grip once you get the basics down and learn from a few masters here and there.

 There are many guys in the world of Physical Culture who have at one point done some Arm Wrestling and were fierce at it. One man whom I consider the Great Gama of Arm Wrestling is the heavyweight powerhouse Ian “Mac” Batchelor, no one can match the level of strength this man had in his time and his unorthodox style of training is just as hardcore as his unprecedented wins over countless opponents. Another legend in the sport is a man that just defies logic in the realm of strength and for a man his size it just seems so impossible until you actually learn what he does and that’s Dennis Rogers. He became a strongman first by becoming an Arm Wrestling champion and winning countless awards and recognition, because of that, he dove into finding things that he can destroy and tear up that no one in the world can do. The way he does things is just surreal and if you want to learn about his specialty feats check out Legendary Strength and find out his secrets to incredible grip strength.

 People have this distinct notion that if you want to be strong, you have to use a gym, hate to burst your bubble pal but most gyms can’t handle the levels of strength being presented. You can build grip without ever leaving your house or you can take it on the road with you. If there’s anyone out there today other myself, Dennis Rogers, Logan Christopher, Ryan Pitts or Bud Jeffries for that matter who can teach you the value of grip strength it’s up incoming strongman of unlimited potential is my boy Matti Marzel. He has the distinct power of having some of the toughest hands in the world, bending and snapping steel, tearing decks of cards from very odd angles and tearing up phonebooks in several pieces like tearing a piece of paper. His fingers are so strong he regularly holds himself up on his fingertips and is working on being an elite rock and rope climber and is ripped to shreds and is one of the closest to having that Bruce Lee type physique. You do not want him on his bad side and he’s no pushover in Arm Wrestling, he has on occasion taken down guys twice his size and puts them to shame with his iron cord like arms and wrists. 

 One of my secret weapons for building strength in Arm Wrestling is using my Chest Expander which you can get at LifelineUSA.com. I take this apparatus and I use fairly medium to heavy cables and use one of the handles on my door and start simulating an arm wrestling technique or match and work up to 50 repetitions as best as possible. I also work on the wrist and do curls and rows to get that edge for that specific grip and work in high repetitions so I can focus on tendon strength. This is a great device because unlike weights that uses gravity, the rubber cables is fighting back from having you extend the cables out almost similar as if you’re in a match and your opponent is keeping you from moving him.

 Another great an inspiring thing about sports or just wrestling in general is that many little guys (under 200 lbs) are extremely strong when they have the right tools to just make your jaw drop. You wouldn’t expect a small guy tearing up guys twice their size and making it look easy as pie. Never underestimate the little guy because he can hurt you and have a big smile on his face doing. Dennis Rogers has made that believable and so has guys like Maxick, Farmer Burns, Matti Marzel, Bruce Lee and others that can just give you hell.

 Working the tendons is one of the most crucial keys to your success in developing your grip and one of the best methods is doing Isometrics. Being able to hold a certain position and make it as hard as possible without ever moving teaches you how to build strength from many angles. Arm Wrestling Isometrics is one of the most fun ways to build that level of strength that just raw and powerful. Get strong and find cool ways to develop your grip to a superhuman level.

Training Ideas For A Sunburn

Recently I went to a lake here in hot Coeur D’Alene via Hayden, ID and had a blast, went swimming, bent some nails, chilled out on the dock and hung out with a friend but that very night I had a sunburn that looked so f’cking red, it looked like I was spray painted. It was pretty bad and whenever I get sunburned, I feel stiff and my muscles ache like crazy. The next morning, my body ached like crazy and couldn’t sleep most of the night anyway.

 Although I looked like I was torched, I didn’t give up on exercising. Yes the burn felt like crap but that wasn’t going to stop me from doing the things I love. Now it’s not always easy to train on a sunburn and you tend to dry up faster than usual, this is where water becomes your most dearest friend. Although I didn’t train with the same level of intensity, I decided to change things around and this is where your mental training is taken to the test. I have found that because my aching joints and muscles, I have to be extra consistent in training those areas especially being burnt on the whole back, shoulders and arms; you want to keep them from getting stiff even though it does hurt a little.

 Loosening up your joints is essential and you want to stretch the muscles as best as possible without overdoing it and water is a key because you have to keep yourself cool, poor it over your body and also drink it to keep hydrated. Sweating is also a good idea as well. Sometimes you might need to keep yourself indoors because a sunburn can be bad enough to where if you go outside without proper lotion or sunblock you’re going to feel worse. I realize you might have jobs working outside so the best advice I can give is drink plenty of water, keep your joints and muscles mobile and where clothing that helps keep you cool.

 You want to keep tabs on the areas of the sunburn because if you don’t you’re going to regret it later, trust me I’ve done enough times to understand it’s better being safe than being stupid. Your body heat can also be a cooling system and one of my favorite forms of dealing with a sunburn is to take cold showers, use very little hot water to clean yourself off with soap and shampoo but after that, start turning the water down to almost as cold as possible. You can stay in cold water longer in a sense because the heat of that sunburn is already overwhelming. Turn the cold down every few seconds to a minute so your body can get use to it being cold and do plenty of deep breathing, this can be a very relaxing meditative method. I love cold showers and I do them often because of its health benefits.

 Training indoors while you’re home can help aid in your sunburn as you can use a few fans to keep yourself cool and train so you can sweat to help clear out your pours. My type of training for a certain time being until the burn becomes a little less painful is to  do plenty of flexibility work and believe it or not Muscle Control. I have found Muscle Control to be a very good form of training for this type of thing because when you flex and relax the muscles, blood flows throughout the body and helps the skin radiate that glow and eventually, helps your system repair itself thus possibly healing the sunburn quicker and generate stronger cells to keep the skin healthy. Peeling is just apart of the process kind of like a phoenix rising from the ashes, your skin dies and new skin is ready to come out of the woodworks.

 Keep your body and skin healthy plus keep your muscles and joints mobile so if this should ever happen to you, you will have a few tools at your disposal and also do some research on natural lotions and sunblock to find what can work to help heal faster and more efficient, most sunblock and lotions these days don’t do much. Keep having a kick ass summer and stay strong and healthy.

Spiderman & Bodyweight Exercise

I recently saw the reboot of Spiderman and I got to say I was quite impressed with the cast and the unknown Andrew Garfield taking on the role of the Web-Slinging hero. Each character played their roles with gusto and there were unexpected actors in the film I did not really think would be in this type of movie.

 What really impresses me about this particular superhero is that he’s one of an extreme few comic book heroes that has a more natural and sleek physique unlike the very muscular heroes like Hulk, Superman, Wolverine and guys like Captain America. Spiderman’s built like a functional athlete like a classic running back or a Charles Atlas type athlete. He doesn’t look like he’s on roids or a overbearing weightlifter, just a natural looking athlete who uses his bodyweight throughout most of his fights.

 He reminds of one animal in the jungle that just seems to fly through the air and just swings through the trees like Tarzan and I’m talking about the jungle gymnast the Gibbon. As a matter of fact, I have a comic book I bought a while back that features Spiderman and other Marvel superheroes as if they were on the Planet Of The Apes and Spiderman’s Ape-body is the Gibbon. The gibbon is the gymnast of the Animal Kingdom bar none, other apes and monkeys are good but the way the Gibbon brachiates just can’t be matched by grip agility, strength, flexibility and coordination. If you want to learn to develop this ape-like power check out what one of my buds has to show you.

 In one scene in the film, Peter (Spiderman) is learning to use his jumping and web-slinging abilities. While on top of building in New York, he holds an awesome free-handed Handstand while using only 2 fingers. I know it wasn’t real but it was beautiful nonetheless and that particular handstand reminds me of the Shaolin Monks and the kick ass performers of Circe De Soilie. Handstands are one of the most kick ass forms of not only upper body strength but just to hold one free-handed is a beauty in itself. Back in the early 20^th century, athletes from all walks of life have at one time attempted Hand Balancing, gymnasts, wrestlers, strongmen, weight lifters, bodybuilders, boxers and even Trapeze artists; all had a hand in doing some form of Handstand Training.

 Spiderman’s Grace and Fluidity is just mind-blowing and the closest to Spiderman I can think in terms of athletic strength and power is either the athletes of Ninja Warrior or Bodyweight Extraordinaire Brad Johnson, these guys just tear it up in workouts that are only seen to believe, the finger strength is just phenomenal and only can be explained by experience. Experience real bodyweight training and you’ll get a sense of what it’s like to have superhuman abilities and reaching beyond the norm. If you’re a fan of superheroes, check out The Amazing Spiderman.

Train With Love, Not A Necessity

Feeling forced to workout is a sure sign you aren’t getting your mindset in the right place. Training by making it an adventure is a whole different experience and it’s never the same after every workout. Loving what you do instead of making it a necessity is a better understanding of what makes you get the results you truly desire.

 A lot of people who exercise feel obligated to train because they feel they have to instead of want to. They feel if they don’t something bad will happen and they’ll never get the results they want. In a way that’s true but the real truth is that, if you make it an experience that makes you happy and you bust your ass the way you want to do it than there should be no problem for you then.

 There is a difference between training for no apparent reason vs. just going through the motions, the difference between the two is that training without reason can be a good or bad thing by that I mean, training because you just feel like doing it is a better idea than training just for the hell of it and not really give a damn yet just going through the motions just makes you weak minded and not have all the right tools in place. Exercise is not about doing stuff and working different muscles it’s much more than that. It’s about freedom and learning to go beyond just the exercises, it’s learning to use all your potential attributes in your exercise physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

 Any one of us with half a brain can use a machine at the gym and although there are some pros to those things it doesn’t seem like the same as to actually go out and run your ass off or sprint like a cheetah catching its prey. Back when machines didn’t exist, you had to really work to get the results you wanted, if you wanted to run, you sprint, if you wanted to lift heavier, you lifted barbells and dumbbells, you wanted cardio, you either boxed or wrestled or played a specific sport and if you wanted beautiful looking muscles, you didn’t take pills or protein shakes you did Muscle Control and ate with a purpose. If you want the body you always dreamed of, don’t always look to modern high tech crap that can only do a fraction of real functional training can do. Look to basic exercises that are rich in history and that’s presses, pulls, squats and grip work which consist of barbells, dumbbells, medicine balls, muscle control, push-ups, pull-ups and the squat either with or without weight.

 Some of us want to forget the past and move on towards the future but what if we took that from a different perspective? In exercise, the past was proven time and time again that basic elements gave you the most result producing methods that still stand to this day but lost in time. Some of the things today are good but if you added just a bit of old fashioned with its own modern day twist, you can make your workouts a very entertaining experience with real results and real functional muscle.

 Equipment has become a billion dollar industry and it’s usually the wrong equipment that is sold, not the ones that give you superior results. In reality, you don’t have to pay for a damn thing; training using just your body is really all you’ll ever need. If you truly want to get something that’s your choice but don’t buy a certain gadget that’ll cost you thousands of dollars and have it be in your closet the rest of your life. Certain equipment is good because there are methods that bodyweight, barbells and dumbbells can’t touch like the Indian clubs, the mace, Rocks, logs and sledgehammers all have qualities that will get you in shape much faster than a treadmill or a machine that only hits isolated muscles.

 Love what you do and make it fun, it takes one change in your mindset and your whole thinking will go into the stratosphere. Make it an adventure, never an obligation because if it’s not adventurous, it’s not worth doing.