Creating A Flow

    This isn't how to build flow using energetic training (Chi Kung) but it helps. What I do want to tell you is, you can create a flow of putting exercises together whatever they may be, could be DDP Yoga, Squat Training, Muscle Control, lifting heavy weight or Farmer's Walk; you can put some of the most intense and even the toughest exercises together and create your own energy by how you move, your breathing and how you bring them together in sequence like a circuit or just resting than moving to the next exercise. It's a practice that develops not only great physical strength but building internal power. Most people believe in order to channel your energy internally you have to do training of that sorts, not always true.

 
    Finding that rhythm for you may not be easy or maybe it will, it's up to you to figure that out. Following someone else's workout is great no question but the other side of that is it doesn't always flow with you because you didn't come up with it, you're just following someone else. Some people don't like me saying that but you know what, I've learned from experience when you build your own workout and it flows for you, it is so much more worthy than just trying to "Keep up" with the other person. I love DDP Yoga it is one of the best systems in conditioning today and combines many elements I'm interested in but as I've said with every other program I like, I learn and study the exercises but I don't feel good about trying to keep up with that person's program when I can just come up with a workout of my own that is just as intense or more and I'm getting greater benefit out of it. "Make it your own" as DDP would say and I have been following that motto for many years nearly a decade actually. Find a rhythm that works for you.

 
    One of the most important aspects of creating your own flowing sequence no matter how intense or the tempo might be is pacing yourself. Most who buy those infomercial crap just want to jump in and not consider the consequences. In reality you are not meant to try to keep up with the people on the DVD, you are meant to build yourself up and keep up with yourself. If you just try to go as fast as they do or anyone for that matter, you're missing out on building your own style and doing your best to flow for you not to see if you're just as good as they are. Nobody is better than the next guy, some have more experience and their bodies can handle greater stress but they're no better than you. You are one person and you need to give yourself a chance to make something out of yourself.

 
    This is my favorite part about the article where I get to tell you about being creative. You can follow along with someone else and just be a mindless sheep or you can break the rules and just make shit up. Let me put it this way; you understand the basics of your program whatever it might be so now, just make up the workout, learn how your body flows through each exercise and follow your intuition about what to do next, follow your instincts, listen to your body and feel in your mind what gives you the most benefit. I rarely ever do the same workout twice in the same week because after doing the same exercises in the same sequence over and over it becomes boring to me real quick. I don't want to feel I'm stuck in this routine, I want to be free to make my own choices and go with how I move and exercises that give the freedom to breathe, stretch and just let my imagination run its course. That's the beauty of just making up your own workout is the use of your imagination and tapping into that power that resides within you and you don't even realize it. Build a flow that creates your own bliss, your own intensity and the only person you should be keeping up with is yourself. No one else has your body and your strength and/or weaknesses so why should you try to keep up with everyone else? Think outside the box and do something out of the norm that only you decide how intense it will be, what the tempo is and making it work for you and nobody else.

 
Have a great weekend everyone. Be awesome and train hard. Next Friday will have me writing my last article for the next few weeks as I will be in California for my 30^th Birthday celebration. You are the most bad ass people I've ever had the pleasure writing for. You all inspire me to do what I love. Keep reading and find the best resources for you or your friends/family.

 
    

Taking Clubbing To The Next Level

    

     No I'm not talking about going out to a place of loud ass music or a high prestige gentlemen's club; I'm talking about real world-class strength and power. This type of clubbing comes from an Irish legend known as the Dagda (or Daghdha in Irish Folklore). Legend has it that a man of great warrior strength had two prized possessions; one was a cauldron that he used to cook meats and such to help feed the armies; the second was an extremely heavy club but this wasn't any ordinary club. This bad boy had two parts to and each side had a life and death entity. The top of the club was death because if it hit someone they instantly die but on the other end, below the handle it gave life. It's power within its handle gave strength and life like the legendary Thor's Hammer or Arthur's sword Excalibur.

 
    As the man conquered mighty tasks with the club it taught him valuable lessons in building strength not just in a physical macho type but within deep in his soul as he would need his wits (although he was a massive fellow) and he was a man of great heart and love but also a protector. Teaching is offspring the values of real strength, not by pure masculinity but by being a good nurtured soul and protecting the love ones you have and others. When you conquer a goal, you protect it and it has a special place in your heart, don't use it to boost ego or believe that because you made it happen you're better than the next guy, not true. When Dagda swung his club, he did with intensity and power that no man can match. In the story it took nine of the strongest men in Ireland to lift the man's club. Holding onto a club that heavy and powerful takes a special man (or woman) to harness that kind of strength.

 
    Milestones come and go in every person's life, sometimes we don't always realize what we achieve that changes the very course of your history and being. My two biggest milestones that hold a special place deep within me is surviving Meningitis and finding the strength to not only walk again but become far stronger than before. When you conquer something it doesn't matter if it's a PR in exercise or getting through a tough workout or even not in fitness, you made new headway in a sport, you got a major promotion in a company you love to work in; it applies to making yourself a better individual when you have the power to tower over what is blocking you. Hold onto those moments when something incredible happens because we don't get those moments everyday, they happen in certain points in your life that have a significance and everything happens for a reason.

 
    Get yourself a Club and swing yourself to power in the Dagda Program, learn to conquer not just lifting a heavy object but to learn to challenge your mind, create a strategy that will have you blasting sets/reps or whatever. Power and strength is within your grasp and don't ever let go of that power because not only is it yours but it is your duty to help others learn of its power so they can conquer their own goals and also you must protect it because only you have the power to conquer goals that are suited to you. Be a mighty warrior from within and bask in the glory of your own strength.

 
Be awesome everyone and keep kicking ass.

A Push-up Workout For The Ages

    

      Most people know what a push-up is, it's one of the most basic forms of conditioning and can get you into supreme shape. There are literally hundreds of variations of the push-ups and each advanced style is just as beautiful as the next when mastered. I have seen and done many types of push-ups, my biggest workout using different variations came to a total of 600 reps. You are about to learn a really cool style of push-ups which I will show in a video soon so don't miss out.

 
    One of the ideal aspects of physical strength and conditioning is to create a style that is suitable to an individual. No workout is the same for everyone so we must learn what we can do to better ourselves. You can learn the most basic principles but the mind must also be in play in order to get the workout you're striving for and practice. Simple training doesn't mean easy, it's just taking basic points of exercise and not making it complicated. I'm about to give you an idea that will change the way you think about push-ups.

 
    I saw Bud Jeffries do a video on his Push-up Matrix series and it showed how to move your body in the push-up and finding certain movements that give it another perspective of building strength and agility. He did a couple letters and I thought to myself that'd be interesting so I took that idea and it became this. Write in Push-ups. Think about it, how cool would it be to do letters while in the push-up like for starters writing your own name. Here's how you do it, get into a push-up position and move your body as if you're writing a letter in the alphabet. Sounds weird huh? But that's the idea, training in a very unique way and making it challenging. I've tested this and wrote the first three letters of my name in the push-up and was breathing heavily after that. Most trainers would say that push-ups are only good for endurance, well try it Sherlock and see how you do. My full name is Benjamin Justin Bergman; that be a hell of a workout alone.

 
    Use your imagination, do something out of the norm and screw the rules (in a positive way of course). This type of training has a new meaning to the term Mind/Muscle Connection because you need to think as you are moving and this can build brain power and it charges up the neurons in the brain. It's a crazy idea but all great ideas started out skeptical. Give it a whirl and see how you do. Start with your name in capital letters whether short or long it's up to you. Make your push-ups interesting, if you can do letters, try numbers and if you're a stud (or bad ass woman) do push-ups in cursive, talk about strength and brain building.

 
Have fun guys be awesome and use your imagination, it's the greatest nation ever.
     

Training Under Stressful Times

    At this moment in my life something unexpected has come up. I have the "pleasure" of moving. Notice came around the day before Independence Day and it was just one of those "what the f*ck" moments and I'm leaving for California sooner. For those that know, moving can be extremely stressful, it was for me back in '11 when I moved up to Idaho and had to adjust quickly to the seasons and surroundings of a new state and town. However as stressful it can be now, I believe something awesome will come out of it, a better place, better surroundings and fun will be much greater.

 
    Despite helping move very heavy boxes (and one day doing 5 hours of moving those boxes into storage) I still train everyday even for a few minutes. Why do I do it; it makes me happy and distresses me. Although I'm having slight shoulder issues on my right side in the front deltoid, I still manage to have great workouts and recently it's because of DDP Yoga. I've been raving about this crazy Yoga thing for a while and I will get more on it in a later article but I will say this, it is challenging as hell but it's also fun and interesting. I'm not fond of doing someone else's workouts although I will from time to time to ease up creating a workout from the exercises but still I'm happy and I don't like being frustrated otherwise I can't get stuff done.

 
    This is where you have a choice. Even under great stress you still have a choice to find something that makes you happy (not easy but it's possible) or you can choose to mope and just be miserable. Being miserable is easy and many people rather just rather let go of everything and end up feeling like shit. You have a choice. I choose to hold my head up high because I've been in far worse situations. When I couldn't walk at the age of 20/21 years old there were times where I felt I could never walk or run the same way again but I chose to do something about it and ended up rehabbing myself with no doctors or physical therapists because I wanted to fight for my body and make it stronger on my own terms and in doing so, I learned many things about training especially on an emotional level. I chose to be happy and yes I do have my moments of frustration and anxiety but I'm human it happens but to balance it out I do things that keep me smiling and loving what I do. It's a choice.

 
    Although moving is a real pain in the ass and there is someone who you live with is looking for places to live and it's stressing them out it can divert back at you, you can make the best of things and make moving an interesting adventure even if you have to down the road. Do things that give you hope and something that brings joy to your life; for me its training, writing and reading a few books. It may not be the same for everyone but you get my point. Use that part of you that gives off radiant energy and love so when things later on occur it was meant to be, everything happens for a reason. Be awesome and do the best you can to be happy even in tough situations because being miserable is a disease and it causes too much crap in your life like depression, sadness, grief, not letting anyone you love help you; it's a bitch I've been there believe me. Take it up a notch and use what you love to help you bring joy into a stressful situation. It's a hell of an experience.

 
Be awesome everyone and do what you love.

Orion’s Arrow

    

       Not expecting a title like that huh? When most think of Orion it's usually about a mythical god known for a series of stars (Orion's Belt) but today it's about the strength of his Bow & Arrow. Back in ancient times, one of the most premier weapons of the age that was efficient to either the soldier or the hunter was the Bow & Arrow. Pulling a mighty bow in battle or to hunt food for your family was a key to man's survival of the time. Two great legends of myth that took the arrow into the very hearts of the people were the stories of Robin Hood and Odysseus. Each men had unique skill but had very similar outcomes to their stories. They both won the heart of a woman, they saved a kingdom from tyranny and they were both sharp men as much as their arrows. The Bow & Arrow was and still is to this day in some circles a test of man's skill, strength, accuracy and eye coordination.

 
    If you wanted to pull the strongest of bows, it didn't come overnight. It took most strongmen decades to pull some of the strongest bows the world had ever known. The Bow of Hercules is legendary for its near superhuman level in order to pull it back let alone shoot an arrow. Remember the story of Odysseus, in order to even win the heart of his wife and kingdom he had to strung the toughest bow in the kingdom itself and according to legend no man but him could not only string it but pull with every ounce of power to drive the arrow through the series of axes that were so narrow the arrow had to dead on accurate. The key type of training you learned to pull super strong bows was Isometrics. Think about it, at first you can barely pull the bow so in order to get to its maximum pull, you had to pull inch by inch isometrically. Because of this it took a warrior many years to pull back the strongest bow.

 
    In modern day, we don't always use Bow & Arrows unless it was for recreation or sport and although we still use it to hunt, it doesn't have the same affect that it had before in the ancient world. So one of the things we use to simulate the pulling of a bow is using Lifeline USA's Chest Expander. With this tool of rubber cables attaching to handles, we can hit our shoulders and upper back from angles that neither bodyweight or weightlifting exercise can touch. This can be used to an athlete's advantage because when you hit certain angles, you're creating strength and muscle you normally wouldn't use and I needed. It helps create flexibility and power that just has that raw strength very few methods can match.

 
    Now think what it would be like to test your strength and will against the toughest pulling cables and not only learn it from a specific program dedicated to it, but also use your imagination and picture being the very legends who handled the Bow with ease. A few minutes a day pulling from as many directions you can come up with and a program that can guide you to develop superhuman muscle in those particular areas of the upper body. With having that much flexibility and strength, think what an advantage you can have when you do other exercises like push-ups and other movements that you couldn't hit before and could do with ease. The Orion Program will test you in ways you haven't been tested before. Developing strength not just physically but mentally, spiritually and emotionally as well. It's not about just pulling a bow anymore, it's a test of your imagination and harnessing your body's brain power to create strength from your mind to the muscles and more.

 
Happy Monday my friends, be awesome and have a great start to a new week.