An Epic Review

          

            This is a special treat because I rarely ever write reviews for a certain product so today you’ll get an un-cut and uncensored review of the Epic Sledgehammer from Stronger Grip. Granted in this review I will not hold back how I feel about this Hammer and why it is one of the most awesome tools in no nonsense grip strength and conditioning that it is not to be underestimated.

            When you have a Hammer of this size & power and you have it in your hands; it strikes into your very soul because its beauty is without equal and its strength is unmatched. There are many great tools in the world of strongman but like with Highlander, there can be only one that hits you with ferocity and the power to take you down if you don’t have the guts to withstand it.

            It is not to be underestimated. Sure it looks awesome and has a mystic to it that even the folk legend John Henry can smile about but at the same time, you will either be handle it or you won’t and if you can’t, you don’t have anyone to blame but yourself. People believe that to get strong you need weights or machines to do the work and slug off anything else that seems to extreme or not enough for them and I say bullshit. This one tool has the power to give you crushing grip that be used in many sports like Football, Baseball, Hockey, Golf, Wrestling, MMA you name it because when you strike it at a high volume or work it in different positions it tackles the mind more than anything else.

            I've held it in my hands and did quite a few exercises that don’t require a tire and I can tell you first hand it is brutal and your lower arm will get sore. It’s not a tool for just sports but to build that functional and enduring strength with a powerful grip, hand-eye coordination, lung capacity increase, shaping the body of a man with mighty tendons and super muscle. When you begin to train with this bad boy, your body will never be the same again. It takes effort to swing it, it takes to endure it and it strengthens your mind in ways most tools can’t. This Hammer is a tool of the gods that only one man has the guts to create and does it with style and class (and a bit of nerdyness) and that’s Ryan Pitts. He has built some of the most powerful tools in the world of grip strength and if Thor, Zeus and many of mythology’s famous gods were around today, they’d look to him to build the strength for the people and the strength that we all have within us.

            It is up to you if you have the guts to take on a challenge that could very well be the most fun and powerful challenge in your quest for physical strength.

Taking It To New Heights

           You my friend are far stronger than you believe. It’s within your DNA to have great strength whether it’s physical, mental, emotional or spiritual but yet you can have all of those if you apply to your goals and admiration. Strength is not always being tough and macho or one upping anyone, real strength comes from your attitude and your character as a human being. Being physically strong has its benefits but it’s the strength of your loving soul that endures more and grows.

            When you progress in your training whether for fitness, health, strongman, lecturer or whatever you choose to do, do it at your own pace. People assume when you start a fitness progress it’s push and push as hard as you can when in reality that can get them more set up for injury than to get fit. I understand the feeling of wanting to push someone to do their best but yet you need to let go of that ego trip and be giving and sharing info. Basics are key to training and they lay the foundation but if you’re going to push it, do it when you’re good and ready and at your own level. We all have different bodies, progression levels and strengths/weaknesses, if we were to create the strength we want, it takes time, patience and the will to build from the ground up.

            A key note to strength is the value of it. There are a lot of strong men and women in the world but very few know its value and shares compassion and wisdom to how to use that strength. There’s a scene in Captain America: The First Avenger where the doc is sitting with then a small, weak and skinny Steve Rogers and says “A strong man who has known power all his, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength and that’s compassion.” It’s a very powerful scene and it’s true, if you want to become strong, you must understand the value for which you have built on it.

            It’s a lot of fun being strong and fit but it’s more important to use it wisely. I do like to show off every now and then for fun not because of one-upping anybody or make them feel weak, I do it to show how far I've come in my life because in my early years, I was weak, I was feeling like I was unworthy and didn't understand how to do it. I didn't grow up in poverty or anything like that but I was skinny because of what I was taking as a child and once I went off it as a pre-teen I shot up like a cannon with a few years but I became fat and hardly any muscle to call worthy. Ever since I was 18 years old, I made it my mission to become strong with positive and natural intentions. Enough of my bullshit but you get the idea. Becoming strong is a test of your character, where do you go from a certain point? When you develop strength in ways some people either admire or envy, you still make it a habit to use it for something that is bigger than yourself. You become a greater human being with heart and compassion for others. That’s the real fun part.

More On The Hands

              

             Having powerful hands can be life saving. The grip power and strength you build from different methods gives you that raw and ferocious power of being able to lock anything within your grasp. When you bend steel, you wrap up the nail, wrench, screwdriver or whatever; you squeeze with everything you have and you work the wrist along with the whole body and you give that object no mercy. Ripping a deck of cards gives you that mighty twisting strength in your hands and your wrists while taking your body to a whole new level. Gripping a odd object and doing whatever you want with it, even though it’s awkward, it gives you the strength that forces you to stabilize the muscles and tendons.

            Not all grip work should have a focus on strength because if all you do is strengthen the hands and lower arm, you’re missing out on creating graceful and supple hands that can create magic within the flick of a wrist or using your fingers in the way a ballet dancer gracefully uses the legs. Move your hands with power but not like a tense beast, but a mobile and majestic form of flexibility and suppleness. If you’re a fighter who needs to slip out of holds, your supple hands can come in handy. A magician has very supple hands and you’ll know why, the beauty and the majesty of moving their hands with key target points and precise accuracy that can only be measured by how they present themselves.

            The hands can be your greatest ally or with the right leverage and training, they can cripple you within a heartbeat. Back when Catch Wrestling was at its prominence; there were wrestlers called Hookers who can hook you into a hold that would most likely break a bone if they had anything to say about it. Just putting the bone of your wrist on guy’s arm, leg and/or neck in a locked hold can hurt like a bitch; I've felt it first hand so never underestimate it. The Hookers were feared by those who challenged them and if they got a hold on you, you better pray they’re in a good mood and just make you tap otherwise you’re going to be in a brace pal. If you’re looking to build “soft” hands meaning strong but gentle, they can be useful if you’re into massage, pleasing your spouse and they can be useful when you have that touch that just makes everything feel incredible. The hands can do many wonders.

            When it comes down to tools, there are many things you can use to build mighty mitts but none are equal to each other because one can build your hands a certain way or another but never in the same way in terms of building the tendons and muscles of the lower arm. Sledgehammers build strong hands period. They make you work otherwise you won’t have a chance with them. Grippers build that crushing strength but also if you do isometric holds, this alone can be beneficial if you want to save someone’s life one day. Various Feats Of Strength build your hands in ways that are virtually impossible for dumbbells and barbells can withstand. The simplest tool for your twisting strength can be the use of a towel, by this I mean you get a bucket, put the towel in and soak it up as best as possible and then from one end to the other you twist and squeeze the water out back into the bucket; this exercise alone can turn your hands in steel rods and turn your tendons into granite.

            Use your tools wisely because you never know when you’ll need your powerful hands for a certain occasion. Your hands are the works of what was meant for you. The stronger and supple you make them, the stronger your body can be. Do it and you will go far.

Ideas From A Traveling Strongman

            There are strongmen around the country who travel to schools, churches, prisons and occasional corporate offices upwards to 300 days a year. Some travel all over the world, some just in the U.S like my friend Bud Jeffries does. Now what they do is not always the same, I've witnessed first hand two very distinctive differences in their performances. Some do what’s called Junk Feats where they’re feats that seem legit but really are as fake as you can get, an extreme few are legit. The other is called the Real Deal where they take certain objects and although the feat may seem like a fake it’s really a legit one like bending steel, tearing a deck of cards right out of the package, hammer levering and so forth. A traveling strongman has to be creative and learn their distinct patterns for a performance. This can be ideal for your training.

            Some strongmen perform the same feats in a show where there’s a pattern or routine for them that sets their mind to think automatically to do the next feat. Some others perform certain feats on a certain day either to change it up a little bit or because they got hurt doing a certain feat that it’s tough for them to perform at their best. It’s like a fitness program, you set your mind to specific exercises and you follow a routine that is suitable to what you want to accomplish. I have literally seen some off the wall feats but also I look for a specific type of routine that has meaning and can be used in a creative and fun way. Although I change my workouts frequently, I still find certain exercises that go hand and hand with my mind and my body that works for me.

            One thing many people ask about strongmen who are on tour is how they get themselves motivated? How do they go day after day finding that inner strength to show their positive side and their will to teach and show these incredible feats to other people? Well, in my opinion, they learn to pick up things from a certain place, program their minds to set a certain tone that gives them that “Winning Feeling” of putting themselves out there to the crowd and learn to use their own story and share it with the people their performing for. Quite frankly I don’t know how the hell they do it but that’s my take on it.

            Last thing I want to point out is that there are certain strongmen who perform just for the sake of performing and don’t have anything else to give back to the people other than some arrogant prick who can bend a silly bar just to make certain people inadequate; however there are some guys and gals out there that give back to the people they’re performing for, sharing their story of how tough it was for them and how they’re just like the rest of us only in a different format. My friend Bud happens to be the latter because underneath all that muscle and smiling persona, he’s really an awesome and sweet guy who wants to make a living helping out the other guy. Show that you are a special person and that you have a brighter future where you don’t need to be macho to get what you want. It takes a man of character and a man of great heart to tell you that there’s no need to bully anyone, no need to be afraid of whom you are. You are an awesome person and you can go places if you apply yourself with the right mindset and the right tools to get you there. He is truly a one of a kind strongman and an incredible human being. 

       If you want some good ideas on how to be creative and how to apply your training in a certain way, talk to a strongman, they're very creative in what they do (at least some I've heard of) and have some wonderful motivational tips that can jump start your training and how it applies to you like how certain feats are to a strongman performing, they're there for a specific reason. 

Everyone Started Somewhere

             When you see a great looking athlete or a powerful lifter, most automatically assume he’s been that way all his life when in reality he looked completely different and didn't always seem to have the strength or genetics to be that great looking. We all started at someplace in our lives when we began training. Some started at a young age; others began when they’re much older. I for one was never the muscle guy or someone that believed one day could rip phonebooks and bend tough steel, I was once very skinny as a preteen and also the fat kid when I was a teenager and didn't have much muscle to show for.

            To most who have rarely if ever trained, it feels discouraging sometimes seeing people who can do things rather easily and yet you can’t even fathom being able to do them. The thing to do is to create building blocks. Learn to find an exercise or fitness program that you can do that gets you on the path to becoming fit and healthy/strong. It doesn't take a genius to realize that if you’re at the starting gate, you need to build yourself up and keep it consistent, challenge yourself every so often to keep things interesting and fresh. Starting out isn't always fun but that shouldn't stop you from becoming one mighty human being.

            One of the first things I learned after I learned how to walk again when I began my own rehab was start little. There was no way in hell I could do 100 Push-ups or 100 Squats and hold a bridge to save my life at first. I had to build up and work brick by brick. It’s like building a house, you start with little things that lay the foundation and you progress to heavier things and put them in certain places that keep the house up an held; same thing with exercise, you do little things that turn into big gains later on.

            People in the fitness world tell you, you should be able to do this or that exercise by this time and if you haven’t then you’re not doing it right. Go at your own pace, your body isn't meant for someone else’s pace and the timing you do is what incorporates your body and mind to do. Progression is another look at starting with the little things and work up to the bigger ones later. I would've never thought I’d be able to do Handstand Push-ups at my size (I was 230 lbs. when I started) so to build up I had to learn how to hold a Handstand, then dip down a bit for an isometric hold, then do quarter reps, then half reps, be fore I knew it I was doing more 20 reps touching my head to the floor and back up with locked arms. It took me nearly 5 weeks to do that, but I went at my own pace. This is just an example of what you can do in other exercises and/or programs. Build up and have fun with it, we all started somewhere but it’s up to us how far we want to go.