100 or more so years ago back in Europe they had a strength contest to see who can pull the strongest of cables in a variety of directions. These cables had springs that can be stretches as long as 18 inches (1ft 6inches) and whoever won the conest was considered the strongest puller in the world kind of like the World's Strongest Man contests today. This was called Strand Pulling.
In the early 20th century the old-time strongmen and bodybuilders of the time were using strand pulling to build strength and power in the shoulders, back, abs and arms. Men like Eugene Sandow, Thomas Inch, Joesph Greenstein AKA the Mighty Atom and even Former Mr. Universe Reg Park all used strand-pulling in their training and even Charles Atlas did it at one time before he made a killing in his course Dynamic Tension. What these men did was train the body from angles that weights and bodyweight exercises couldn't reach because the pulling from different angles built different strength in various muscles that can help other exercises be easier and more efficiant.
Now the springs back then had one flaw and thats they would either snap or they scratched the body and can really hurt you. Today the springs are gone and are replaced with Rubber Cables and with careful practice you won't get scratched if at all. Jon Hinds has created whats now called The Chest Expander. Its a modern day version of the stran pulling from years past.
If you want to gain an advantage in your training the chest expander will do just that, now like I said you will hit muscles from angles that weights and/or bodyweight exercises dont hit but you won't be isolating those muscles, you are still hitting major muscle groups and plus with cables unlike barbells and dumbbells you won't be using gravity to lift, the cable is going to try to bring you down while trying to pull the cable up so you're building much more strength and need more strength to bring the cable up.
Build your upper body with strength that is just animalistic and mighty powerful. With cables they are also very reliable on being able to travel with. You can literally have a gym in your very own bag. In a hotel instead of going to the gym or just wanting to do it outside the cables are very resourceful. I myself have a few cables and I practice them when I need those extra angles to work on. Remember use caution and work with a cable thats right for you and not use one where you'll hit yourself in the face trust me I've done it too many times to tell you its not fun. Bring out that power in you and give those shoulders and your upper body the strength it needs to get through everyday life. Also I forgot to mention they will help your flexibility for certain stretches or yoga type exercises that you may practice. For me I love bridging and the gymnastic bridge (Wheel Pose) is a great one for me and cables have helped the flexibility in my shoulders to be able to hold the pose for quite a period of time, my longest was around 5 min. at one time.
Get the Chest Expander today and build strength for powerful presses, curls, cleans and some major pulling for the latissimus dorsi (upper back).
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
Fight For What’s Important
If you’re truly committed to something, whether it be
training or whatever, fight for it with everything you have because it’s worth
making something happen. Some people half-ass it, some barely do anything an
others don’t do anything at all but the real one’s who make the commitment go
places. It takes practice to find something you want to achieve or have a
lifelong goal.
Taking a
stand in what you believe in takes guts. In the case of training whatever it
might be, if you believe in what you’re doing, no one can tell you right from
wrong. Gymnasts bust their ass day in and day out for years and for what, to
get a medal around their neck? Not all do this and more power to them if that’s
what they want to shoot for but for some it’s much more than that. Many
athletes have this same mentality but the difference is how they believe in
themselves and in their sport. Michael Jordan is another prime example of
believing and taking a stand on what he wanted to do to be better than anyone
else.
Your
instincts are what separate you from the rest of the pack. Sometimes it’s all
you can rely on but another thing to look at is listening to your heart. Your
instincts help you be aware but your heart is what you feel and that can mean a
lot of things but in the end you’re either going to go after what you want or
you won’t. Value what you have but keep challenging yourself. Fighting for a
goal makes you stronger and reliant on your instinct to make something happen
but also feel it at the same time.
If you
value what matters, you’ll fight for it while being smart about it. Fighting
for something can only take you so far and eventually you’ll have to rest and
rethink. Think about what you’re doing and ask yourself “is this truly what I want?”
I value what I have and have fought for what I believe in, not just myself but
what I want to do. After my accident, there were times where I thought I wouldn't be able to walk or do the same things again. It became true but I
fought back and believed that if I wanted to get stronger, I’d be damn sure
find a way to do it. Making things happen puts you in a class very few achieve
and the more committed you are mentally, the more you’ll want to shoot for.
Fight for what’s important and do it in a way only you can do it.
Just a reminder, there's less than 3 days left of the House Sale Logan Christopher is putting up at Legendary Strength, get on the bandwagon and you'll even find a course that's only $7. Everything is ranging from 20-80% off. Hell of a deal.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Getting Back To Nature
The most beautiful things in life happen in Nature. We get
so caught up with our lives that we forget that nature brings a real
connection, wild, crazy and simplicity to what we need to have in our life.
It’s the roots of the earth that give its biggest love. Now I know I sound like
a Hippie but far from it, I like connecting myself to nature (mostly in
training) and it feels awesome.
Just
imagine being free and open, moving however you want wherever you want. If you
can find a way, you can climb, run, chase, crawl, push, pull, lift, carry
things and just have a blast. Nature can be very beneficial to your health and
well being but at the same time, you have to be careful with nature, it can
bite you in the ass if you don’t keep yourself at bay in certain times.
At times,
Nature will prevent you from being outside so do what you can to make it count.
When the time is right, get your ass out there and make the best of it because
we never know how long we’ll be alive so at best, get yourself healthy and
strong as best as you can with plenty of awesome food, sleep and good old
fashion fun (training). Being indoors isn't all bad but its not always good
either. Keep in touch with nature when you can, its all worth it once you learn
find it.
Life can
get complicated sometimes but the more complicated you make it; the more it’s
going to haunt you. Live, Love and Laugh. It’s that simple, live with a
purpose, love those around you and the things you love doing and laugh your ass
off as much as you can because life is too damn short to feel sad the majority
of the time. Nature can make you feel good, be alive and more accelerating than
you can ever imagine, listen to the sounds of nature, even if its on a CD and
you live in a metropolis like New York, LA or Detroit for examples it still
gives you that mindset of where you want to be, the real thing is the best but
if you can find a way to make due, go for it.
Being
consistent is tough but it has its rewards. Keep yourself happy as you train,
even in nature, you want to be happy and pushing forward with what you want to
achieve. In nature, move like a wild animal, run with the wind, breathe into
the wilderness and breathe deeply. Stay consistent and good things will happen,
progress and bring in life to what you do. It’s all about what comes natural to
you.
Be sure to check out my friend Logan's House Sale he's holding. Still have 4 days to get the best deals.
Be sure to check out my friend Logan's House Sale he's holding. Still have 4 days to get the best deals.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Legendary Strength Is Holding A House Sale
Hello,
My buddy Logan Christopher is holding a sale in order to generate enough money to put a down payment on a house. That’s an admirable goal in my view.
So for the next few days you can save 20-80% off of everything he has available.
Get Them Now
In addition he’s even pulled a few courses from his vault that aren’t normally available that you can get in on right now.
Plus he’s got some pretty insane package deals for those of you who want it all.
Logan’s quite a diverse creator as you’ll see on that page.
If I may make a few recommendations myself I really like...
1) Acrobatic Flexibility
2) 10 Simple Steps To Radiant Health
3) Advanced Bridging Course
Remember that this is only available for a short time so go check it out.
House Sale
Ben Bergman
Friday, March 22, 2013
The Living Legend Returns
Who do you think I’m referring to? It could be anybody, there are a lot of powerful guys who had their best days and now are returning to the place that gave them that glory but I’m referring to quite possibly the most popular Professional Wrestler of the 60’s and early 70’s and that’s Bruno Sammartino. He defied an era when pro wrestling still had colorful characters but also had a more mat based style to some of the guys who fought in the ring.
His style
of wrestling was some mat-based with a plenty of power moves and a brawler type
style as well. Even though his wrestling isn’t as popular as his strength, he
still can go the distance with some of the biggest names in the business at the
time. His strength was the stuff of legends. One of his first tastes of glory
was picking up 640 lb. Haystacks Calhoun in 1961 if I recall and it was a big
deal at the time and still is a feat that no one did to him after. Bruno’s
lifting power was just incredible, he was one of the first men to Bench Press
over 560 lbs. At 5’10 and over 260 lb. he was a force not to be messed with.
Back in the
60’s where the most popular stars had an ethnic background Bruno was at the top
of the ladder because of his Italian background and his love with the fans
especially at what might be called the house that Bruno
Built Madison
Square Garden
in New York .
No one guy before or since has headlined the World’s Most Famous Arena more
times than anyone 211 headlines with 187 sell-outs. Color TV was very low and
only less than a handful of shows had color the most popular being Batman so
whenever you saw Pro Wrestling it was 99% in Black & White. You had guys
like Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, Fritz Von Erich, Pat O’Connor, Lou Thesz, Walter
‘Killer” Kowalski, a young Harley Race and even Karl Gotch but nobody made the
money like Bruno did.
His
training was legendary, picking up heavy weights, hundreds of squats and
push-ups and had endurance like some of the other greats who can go do hour
long marathons in the ring. Many guys couldn't keep up with him and he even
wrote a short book on how to build the body from basic strength training and
muscle building and he did this (hopefully I’m right) all without drugs,
steroids or PEDs when it was the boom of its time. He was a man of hard work
and will to become the very best and wrestled the very best.
He had the
longest reign of any champion in history going on nearly 8 years as the champ
when he beat Buddy Rogers in 1963 till he lost to Ivan Koloff in 1971. He won
it back in 1972 I think and lost again to Superstar Billy Graham in 1977.
Nobody ever since held the world title for that long and that tells yeah how
important the man was to the business at that time. He fiddled around a while
longer before retiring and became a commentator for WWE.
He ended up
leaving the business for good because of what Vince McMahon was bringing to the
business and Bruno would have none of it. He was bitter about the business for
the longest time about its direction and what was changing with the business
until recently a man who has a hold on the company in certain areas especially
in Talent Development is Paul Levesque aka Triple H got to talking with Bruno
and told him what was going on really. Because of this encounter, Bruno started
learning to love some of the business again and finally broke down after
turning down so many offers to be in their Hall Of Fame has finally come to an
end. The Living Legend will be at Madison
Square Garden
one more time being the headline but not in the ring, not in an interview but
on stage as a WWE Hall Of Famer.
I've been
watching wrestling ever since I was 11 years old and learned so much about the
wrestlers that I wanted to learn more about the history and how it came to be
and how we as fans can improve it. I like more of the mat style wrestling than
the colorful antics of the wrestlers. My first glimpse of Bruno was in a Video
Game, Legends Of Wrestling 2 where they did interviews with big names like Hulk
Hogan, Jerry Lawler, Jimmy Hart, Jimmy Snuka, The Road Warriors, Eddie Guerrero
and Paul Orndorff to name a few and I was fascinated with how they portrayed
Bruno. The powerful man that he was and how he talked about his matches with
Killer Kowalski was just great. It made me love the old-timers ever since then
and I kept learning more about real style wrestling and pro wrestling.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
5 Tips To Help You Gain Muscle
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. Drew Stegman. I looked over his site and I find him very interesting in his approach to weightlifting, bodybuilding and Nutrition. Its basic, simple and no B.S when it comes to building the muscle you want. Without further ado here is the 5 steps to help those who want to gain muscle fast.....
With everybody these days trying to lose fat, it’s fairly easy to
forget about the importance of muscle on your body. Whether you simply want to increase your metabolism or look at yourself in
the mirror and know that you’re totally hot and ripped, muscle mass is
necessary to do so.
Here are five simple ways to build muscle, rather you’re trying to pack on a few pounds or you want to look
like a professional bodybuilder:
1. Cut Back on the
Cardio: Doing cardiovascular exercise is fantastic if
your goal is weight loss, since it allows you to burn additional calories and
gets your heart rate up into its target zone. But if your goal is to gain
muscle, I’d recommend cutting back on the cardio a bit. Too much cardio can
actually burn muscle, which is the case with the long-distance marathon runner;
sure they might be lean and have no fat on their body, but they’re lacking in
the muscle department. This doesn't mean that you should ignore cardio
completely, but definitely cut back on the long distance stuff. I would limit
your cardio to no more than three 30-minute sessions each week and spend the
rest of your time and effort focusing on lifting weights.
2. Don't Overdo It: Many bodybuilders, weightlifters, fitness enthusiasts and even
average gym goers all make the same mistake – they overtrain. When it comes to
most things in life, more is better, but when it comes to building muscle,
doing more will simply end in failure. If you overtrain, you’re either going to
get injured or simply get burnt out. Whatever the case, you won’t be able to
build any muscle and if you get injured, obviously you’ll be out of the gym for
weeks or months at a time. So keep your weightlifting sessions under an hour
and don’t workout more than 5 days per week. Even with five days per week,
you’re still pushing it – I’d even recommend scaling that back to 3-4 days per
week.
3. Mix Things Up: Why would you want to
do the same thing over and over again anyway? Variety is what keeps people from
getting bored in life and when it comes to packing on muscle, things are no
different. Your muscles (and body for that matter) all operate under one simple
principle. Once they get comfortable with what they’re doing, they stop
adapting. And when they stop adapting, they stop growing. Always make sure
you’re switching up your workouts every 4-6 weeks, so you can keep your muscles
constantly confused and in the state of muscle growth. Trust me, you won’t
regret this decision once you finally decide to give it a full-blown shot.
4. Keep Eating: Many people focus on calorie restriction when trying to lose
weight, which is completely understandable. But when you’re trying to gain
muscle, you need to play by a different set of rules. Quite simply, you have to
eat big to get big. If you’re not supplying your body constantly with the
nutrients and calories it needs to grow, then don’t expect to get very big. But
you can’t eat anything – you need to consume a constant balance of protein,
healthy fats, complex carbs and fruits and vegetables as well. If you starve
your muscles, they’ll wither away, so don’t let that happen to you.
5. Take a Break: Remember point two. Even if you’re mixing up your workouts and
continually confusing your body, you won’t gain much muscle if you workout too
much. In fact, you’ll probably find that you gain the most amount of muscle
when you’re resting. Many people don’t realize that muscle growth does not
occur in the gym; it occurs outside of the gym when you are resting and eating.
When you hit the gym, you’re breaking down your muscles and then your body has
to go back and rebuild those muscles once you've broken them down. But if
you’re always working out, you’re body won’t have enough of an opportunity to
rebuild these broken down muscles, so they won’t grow. Every six months or so,
take a rest week and you’ll be amazed at the effect it has on your body; not to
mention your state of mind. Your mind and body will make a full recovery and
you’ll be more than ready to hit the gym once this rest week has ended.
This was an article written by Drew Stegman.
For more muscle building tips check out his website: http://how2gainmusclefast.com/
Monday, March 18, 2013
My Take On Isometrics
While I was
recovering from my accident and learning about Bodyweight exercises, I first
learned about Isometrics in a specific manner from Matt Furey’s course Gama Fitness. Not understanding very well, I just went through the “non” motions and
just tried them out. They were good and I learned how to hold certain positions
especially for my legs because I was still in that stage of just getting in
shape.
While using
those Isometrics and others from another book, I started noticing my strength
in certain areas. My ankles were getting stronger, I was healing from arthritis
from my lifting days and my days in Shot Put/Discus and my body began to repair
itself to the point where there was very little pain and I was moving in ways I couldn't do as a teenager. Because of that, I strengthened certain weak points
not just in my legs but my shoulders, my neck, my back and even my torso. Now
granted I don’t have a 6 pack of washboard abs but because of my training, my
core became pretty damn strong and when I did lift weights again every now and
then, some of them got better than I ever did when I lifted full time.
First
learning Strength Feats from my boys Logan Christopher & Tyler Bramlett,
they showed me about short bending and how to bend certain types of Steel. I
ordered Ironmind nails to get me started and the best I got up to was the Green
nail which to me was just incredible, I hadn't got to the spikes yet and was
learning about phonebook tearing around that time. They gave me little hints
and learning from my books on Isometrics I began incorporating that into my
feats. How did it affect my strength? Let me sum that up by saying I was able
to easily rip a brand new 1700 page phonebook the moment my sister gave it to
me and my first 60D penny spike was at my friend Logan’s former gym. So safe to
say it affected me in an awesome way.
I have
mentioned certain secret weapons I have that give me that edge in the Isometric
realm but my biggest weapon has always been my will power to run through what I
wanted to accomplish. I wanted to desperately bend a wrench even it was a
little toughie and I did it, it doesn't look much like a wrench but damn son
that S.O.B took me out after putting it out of its misery. You can have all the
equipment and all the tools you want but your real weapon is what’s inside you
that defies logic, reasoning and in the case of Dennis Rogers or Bud Jeffries,
the laws of physics.
Is
Isometrics the end-all-be-all type training? For some that’s all they can do
but to the majority, no it shouldn't because you want to be able to move and
work your body from as many angles as you can both static and dynamic. There
are guys out there that give this type of training a hard time and others look
at it as if it was the highest honor and then there are guys that are so damn
stubborn that only one type of training is all they will ever use and say it’s
either that or nothing. For me, I love variety. Using different elements and
styles gets my mind going and there are times where I can’t choose just one in
particular so I just make it up.
My take on
Isometrics is everyone should use them to a certain degree especially if you’re
in a sport or rehab. It strengthens the tendons in ways you can’t get with
anything else and wouldn't it be awesome to not get injured as often? Even just
for that purpose it could make a hell of a positive impact on your life. Learn
them as much as you can or use them as a backup it’s up to you but the main
point is, they teach you how to use your body internally more than any other
method. There are thousands of different Isometrics just ask Steve Justa.
Expand your knowledge and apply them to whatever you want to do, it’s shocking
sometimes what you’ll find using them.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Practice Develops Knowledge & Wisdom
We develop certain things that make us unique. Sometimes it
comes naturally for us but the rest of us have to practice these things in
order to be really good at them. What do you desire to do? Do you want to be a
great athlete, a business man, a writer or better yet a better coach, well in
order to make that desire is to practice and believe you’re practicing more
than anyone else. My desire was to be strong, and a hell of a good writer. I
practiced by applying the things that helped me reach my goals and not only did
I get strong but I kept it consistent in various areas of my life but writing
has been my love for a long time next to fitness. I was telling stories and
writing about people long before I became an athlete. I learned my writing from
my mom and I expanded what I learned to create my own style, I was determined
to be great at it in my own right.
To learn is
to practice. It’s like if you never touched a kettlebell but wanted to be great
at snatches, juggling and presses and so on but in order to do them you have to
actually do them. Now there are those that say “Practice makes perfect” but
what does that really imply? If you practice and its consistently terrible,
does that mean you didn't practice enough, no it means you just have a
consistent application at being perfectly terrible so it’s time to switch
things up. There are certain things that we’re not good at and no matter how
hard we try to perfect them it’s not always going to come in our favor. If we
find something we love then the practice of that might be better and you’re
going to get better because you’re mind is in the right place and it’s going to
happen.
Should you
practice what you want to do more or less? That’s actually a tricky answer but
I believe I might have an insight to how both work but one will do more than
the other. Personally if you want to be the best at something you should do
more of it because if you practice more and learn how it can make you better
greater things will come and you developed that knowledge by understanding how
it’s applied yet you also did it and have that experience. For less practice,
there are those that have certain gifts and even though they practice a little,
it still has that mindset that just translates to how their bodies move, the
way they think and how aware they are with that natural instinct. Both have
good qualities but the more you apply the more you develop and it becomes a
second language to you.
To be
strong, is to simply practice. It’s not how strong you are physically or
mentally, it’s the strength to apply the things you want to be really good at.
Some of us can’t be huge and have a 700 lb bench press or be able to do certain
feats of strength like tearing a deck of cards or bend wrenches and rip
phonebooks in half, but we can get strong in areas for those who can’t because
we end up practicing differently and that’s the beauty of it. Practice what you
love no matter what it is and never stop learning it. Be strong at what you do
and apply it the best to your abilities no one else’s. Knowledge knows and
understanding, wisdom is how you apply it into action and doing it, mastery
takes a lifetime but day by day practice makes it all that much sweeter.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Making The World Your Little Playground
It doesn't matter if you’re locked in a cell or have the freedom to run around outside,
you can find a way to adapt to training any way you want. A lot of people look
at exercise as a closed minded ordeal that you have to be in a gym in order to
get results. There are guys in prisons that have very limited space and yet
some of them do some basic training methods like push-ups, squats and
Isometrics yet are pretty damn fit. What about those who have an outdoor lifestyle,
they don’t use smith machines or leg extensions, they use trees, the water, the
playgrounds and benches. Imagination is a key to developing the type of fitness
you want.
Anybody can
move some kind of weight but if they can’t move their bodies well and handle
awkward positions it’s going to bite them in the ass one day. To move with
power and grace is essential, you don’t have to move like your instructor
exactly to the T but you want to be able to move your body naturally according
to the realms of your structure, moving like a wild animal is a great example
of this . Move the way you can handle and if you need to progress in certain
stages than do so but the more your body moves in a natural state, the stronger
and healthier you get.
A key component
in developing your fitness is to find ways to gain that positional strength to
help with your Range
Of Motion and nothing
does that better than Isometrics. When you’re in a locked position, your muscle
fibers fire off harder than anything else and because you’re pushing/pulling
against an immovable object, your body’s nervous system shifts into overdrive
and it causes the fibers to shoot at a higher rate, thus building strength in
various positions and building muscle from odd angles that you can’t get
anywhere else.
No matter
where you are, you have the world as your playground, in your imagination, you
can create anything you want. Believing what you can do can accelerate your
progress by 10 fold. If you live on a beach, your imagination can run wild,
if you happen to be in prison, it’s a bit tougher but you can still be fit and
strong so use what you have but make it count no excuses. Your imagination can
work wonders and help you unlock the powers of your potential. There’s no
excuse for finding some form of training but the more natural the exercise, the
better off you’ll be.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
One Of The Fastest Fat Burning Methods
To burn or not to burn? That is the question. The way
certain people train, they try different things like weight lifting, bodyweight exercise, aerobics, sports specific strength training and/or Yoga. We don’t always
look to finding ways to not only build muscle but burn the fat off as well like
a furnace. If I had to pick one of the fastest methods to burn fat faster than
just about anything else is the use of Isometrics.
When it
comes to Isometrics, when done properly they torch the fat as if it was being
cooked on a grill. There are many ways to use Isometrics and you can do them
just about at any given time. Some look at them as just positions or holding a
plank. Isometrics incorporates the 2 structured links that bring harmony to the
Mind/Muscle Connection because if you try to do one or the other it’s not going
to fit right so using the two is like bringing PB & J together or Fruits
& Veggies, The bat and the Baseball or a football to a quarterback that
kind of connection. Anybody can hold some kind of position but when you hit the
muscles in a specific position whether you do it all out for a few seconds or
easing the tension and hold for more than a minute the way your mind fights,
the body will follow.
I've experimented with many types of isometrics including various postures, holding
in an arm Wrestling position, parts of a body weight exercise like the Hindu
Push-up and tried unusual types of Isometrics from the Nebraskan Wild-man Steve Justa. When you a hold a position, your nervous system shifts into overdrive
and your working more than a specific muscle, your whole body comes into play. I've held positions ranging from 5 seconds to 10 straight minutes and the same
principle applies no matter what you do.
I've been
experimenting holding and pulling in various positions for Arm Wrestling and
what I've noticed is how the muscles begin to tire after a bit but the power is
still there. No matter what you want to work on, I would bet Isometrics will
help you get that little edge you need. Fat Burning using isometrics will strip
fat off your body because when you hold a position, the body builds internal
heat and because of the strength to hold the position all the fibers start
firing and that causes the body to burn fat.
Isometrics
when you apply them with intensity and using specific breathing patterns, they
can make you feel lighter and move better with speed. Ease up on the tension of
a specific hold and hold for 1 min. You will that after that one minute you
work that position with a dynamic movement and your body moves with a bit more
speed and power but you feel lighter at the same time. Steve Justa uses one
particular method doing Jerk Reps which means you’re still contracting but
using very little movements to the point where an inch or so is all you need.
This still gives you that lighter feeling and your body feels good and relaxed
afterwards. Keep your mind open and remember that when you practice Isometrics,
your body will begin to change, kind of like natural reconstruction, your
muscles will be more defined, your tendons will feel like steel rods and your
strength will increase and fat will pour out of your body like crazy.
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