Aligning The Neck

   

      One of the most neglected muscles many people don't do is the neck. What most people are taught about the neck is just turning your head or going up and down or hell using a weight a strap to work the muscles. Now working the muscles is great but what about the things that hold the neck together like he joints, tendons and ligaments plus what about the spine; the bones that are the electric offshoot for the entire body and it starts around the neck line. People neglect this part of the body because it doesn't seem to be that important and the neck is just there to keep your head up. Yet people get locked traps, stiff necks, bad muscle tissue and if you sit at a computer all day, you get this hunch of a back.

 
    What is taught as stretching for the neck in mainstream fitness is nowhere near the level it should be in and what do I mean by that; I'm talking about stretching and strengthening the neck and spine in as many directions as possible without just isolating that part of the body. Say you push and pull and working beyond side to side or up and down. Your neck was meant to move in all sorts of directions. Isometric Exercises work great getting the kinks out and realigning the areas needed to loosen up the joints and releasing tension out of the muscles. There's even self-resistance exercises that move the neck dynamically in different directions as well. Go side to side, up and down, push the neck up, circles, figure 8's. It only takes a few minutes a day to do these.

 
    Nothing takes the place of Bridging for the neck and spine because it doesn't just work those areas, they hit the whole body as a unit. There are many types of bridging but the main 3 are the back bridge (or wrestler's bridge) where the objective to stretch until your nose touches the ground and hold, the front bridge where your chin is tucked and you're holding on the top of your head and the Gymnastics Bridge (or wheel pose on yoga) where it's similar to the back bridge but only your feet and hands are on the ground and the rest of the body is raised. Bridging unlocks the key areas for strengthening every muscle of the body and stretching at the same time. As you build up to holding the main 3 bridges, it's important to remember to do some exercises that "warm up" those areas and one of the best is by Wall Walking where your back is facing the wall and as you take a couple steps away from it, you bend back and walk down the wall till your head touches the floor and come back up. This exercise alone, stretches the legs, hips, abdominals, calves and if you can touch your chest to the wall in the bridge itself you're stretching every single body part. Want to jump start those hormones this is a great to do it and you can bridge just about anywhere and you only need a wall for the wall walking exercises.

 
    I've learned that an animal that has lived far longer than most other animals is the one that stretches it's neck the most and that's the Tortoise. Now you normally don't think of that animal as something to learn from but in Asian cultures especially in China, the tortoise is a symbol for longevity, health, stillness and super internal power because even though it's slow it can still give off great energy and hell it can live for more than 150 years. Talk about longevity. When you stretch move slowly and let the movement or hold take fold as you lengthen your muscles and relax the body. The tortoise as it stretches it's neck feeds off its own energy in an extremely powerful way. Did you ever see Kung Fu Panda and notice the Master Tortoise, he may be a little funny because he's old and can barely move but when he's got that switch turned on, he just moves with grace and strength. Cartoons are great to watch and who doesn't love a good laugh but there are things we can pay attention to that can feed us powerful energy and have that feel of internal strength and having our mind and body stretched with delight.

 
Stay strong my friends, it's only Tuesday but it can be an awesome day if you choose to make it so. Take care and be awesome. For more details on Neck Strengthening, Sign Up for the Furey Faithful and unlock many secrets of health, strength training, longevity, nutrition, conditioning and more. There's a Special Report called Sticking Your Neck Out; this teaches specifically how to strengthen your neck and spine in different directions you haven't seen before or have been taught. Very powerful stuff.

The Power Of Sprints

    It's not everyday you find exercise programs that are effective, quick and can turn you into a fat burning machine. The ability to generate great force in a short burst for up to no more than 30 seconds is something not many have been able to understand. Sprint Training can be not just using a hill or a track/field but can also be used in other areas and you'll still be able to burn fat. Think what it would be like to melt fat like a furnace and not only take away the sluggish form of your body but develop a more improved and healthier form. You can do this in the pool, jumping rope, squats, push-ups, running with weight, Power Walking or whatever is comfortable for you but also challenging. Hell you can do it on a treadmill if you chose to but nothing is more effective than hill sprints or sprinting on a track or field.

 

    There are a great number of athletes who can attest to the fact that sprints create a super charged nervous system that burns off fat, builds muscle and increases your natural hormones at an alarming rate. No athlete however can make claim to how powerful this training is than the elite sprinters (as Unger in The Longest Yard would say) because they are so fast they make fast people look not fast. The very best sprinters in the world (especially Usain Bolt at the moment) are great to learn from how to increase your speed just by learning some simple and effective techniques that can crush your own original speed. I have recently watched a documentary on Usain Bolt on how he trained for the various Olympics he was in and watched his technique with a close and he may not be the best at the start of a sprint but once he begins cranking up at about 20-30 meters of a 100/200 meter sprint no one comes close to keeping up with him it's insane. You can burn fat at a great rate but yet you can improve by just learning a couple techniques instead of hearing that "oh it's just hard work" bullshit.

 

    It's not always the hard work that gets it done, hell your workout isn't even that long; you're resting the majority of the time and your sprints last mere seconds. So even with a few techniques and a little effort on your part, get ready to jumpstart some insane hormones. As teenagers we go through puberty and for the most part our hormones are firing and it's crazy but as we get older especially by 35-40 things begin to shift by 1-3% per year as you age and it's not higher it's getting lower. It's not easy to start with sprints but like anything else if you're new to it you can't jump in and expect to be a fat burning machine on the first day and it's definitely not something to be done everyday. No more than 3 times a week and more than 8-10 sprints a workout. When you become accustomed to training like this and going hard as best as possible each workout that also keeps your body healthy and intact, you will burning fat and generating Human Growth Hormone at a rate of 525%, that's more than 10x than the amount you would receive if you got an injection or from pills. For men this is essential to keeping a youthful body and having great energy as you age; for women testosterone isn't as high as us but you do have it and can be balanced if you train right. This isn't to help you build a staggering amount of muscle and looking like Arnold or for you women looking like Chyna but it will help you lower your bodyfat, put on lean healthy muscle mass that is not bulky and looking grotesque and you will be generating more natural hormone levels that will increase your metabolism, making your skin more radiant, power up your endurance and it won't put on a strain on your joints like jogging does.

 

    Power it up by testing this out and see what it can do for you. I'm in my 3^rd week of doing regular sprints and not only have I kept my weight down but I'm noticing the fat melting away rather quickly, sure I still have a way to go but it won't be long and as I lower my bodyfat, my eating will change to a more healthier style to get even greater results. I really don't diet and only eat when I'm really hungry and will have a healthy shake at least once a day using my Nurtibullet. Even with that kind of eating lifestyle I've still managed to stay under the weight I had a few months ago. Back in June I was nearly 262 pounds, the heaviest I've ever been in my life and now as of today I'm within the 250-255 range so I've lost over 7 pounds and put on a couple pounds of muscle just from adding sprints into my daily workouts. If I can do it so can you and I believe in you that you can make it happen, start with a brisk walk and powerwalk for 30 seconds and repeat starting 4x and build up to 8-10. Once you're able to sprint find a good field or better yet a hill that you relatively run up for 8-10 seconds and build up to 30. Twice a week might only be your best way for you for others three times a week works best but do what you can and just feel the sizzle of that fat melting off of you and underneath is a powerful body that can take down mountains and run through boulders.

 

    Hope you all had an awesome weekend and having a great Monday. Be awesome and if you want to still get coaching from me you can do so by getting $50 or more of your favorite products on this site and we can arrange to help you get started on your journey. Be safe and have a wonderful day.

Knowledge Is Power But Doing Makes You Stand Out

    If we want to learn something, we read about it, talk about it, doing something we're interested in and we research it. As this process unfolds we are gaining knowledge by understanding and knowing what that thing supposedly is. We gain knowledge in school, sometimes people get it at church or when we travel to different places around the world and get access to information. Now as important knowledge is and we may know a lot of things but how do you apply doing them? We experience certain things that you can't really explain and some people don't know what it's like to experience something. What makes you stand out is not always what you know but what you do.

 

    As kids we have a vast imagination, creating something out of our minds that isn't even there and play with it and run and jump and using body language. As adults we analyze everything by finding out how to do this or that, what's wrong with this way or how can I do better from this angle and all other things. Sure it's good to figure out what you can do and what you can learn but being analytical most of the time takes the fun out of what you want to do. This is pretty interesting in the fitness field; people look at a weight or the machine and try to learn what goes up and how to come down, how to breathe, what exercise to move onto and eat this but don't eat that they're being analytical. Pick up a weight and either squat, press or pull that simple. On the cardio machine, pick your speed and run or walk and tone it down when you need to. Doing it creates the experience and do it with pleasure and fun. Lift, carry, crawl, hold a handstand and learn with as simple terms as possible not a million ways to do it wrong or right.

 

    Yoda has said "you must unlearn what you have learned" so you gained all this knowledge now what are you going to do with it? The experience is far great than just knowing something, it's how you apply to what you may or may not know. This is where the real fun begins when you get to apply your knowledge to the things that make it worth learning. Say someone has become an online certified trainer yet never lifted a weight or done any real exercise in his life how would he experience teaching someone yet has all this knowledge and not a damn experience in actual training? That guy would be gone in less than a few months. Learn what you want to know and go out and experience it. Learning is only the beginning but the experience lasts a lifetime and doing something that gives you a reason why you learned something in the first place takes it to a whole other level. Here is a great example of knowing something as oppose to experiencing it; you read up on how to do an overhead press, you see the charts, the outlook and the technique on how to do it yet you don't want to experience actually lifting a weight overhead is just moronic. You have the knowledge but never actually done it so you're taking out the missing piece of the puzzle. That's what most trainers today are like, they have all this knowledge but never knew how to actually do them. The best way to learn something is by doing it and it'll make you stand out more.

 

    Take a chance on finding what you're interested in and not just learn it but do it. Say you're a great debater on paper but never got up and actually debated you're taking what you know and not applying to the real experience. Take a chance and debate with fire burning inside you because you want to say something but it's hard to get it out I understand that but sometimes just going with it makes all the difference in the world. One of the most knowledgeable guys I know Jarell Lindsay has gained knowledge in physical culture quicker than most people and not only has learned how things go, he applies them in ways almost nobody today can comprehend, he is pound for pound one of the strongest young guys around and is not only strong but incredibly smart as well. Take a chance and not just learn something but put both our body and mind into it and you are not only challenging both sides of the coin but you get to experience and do something that most people only do one or the other.

 

Have a great weekend everyone and keep in touch and let me know what I can do to help you. Don't forget about getting a coaching session with me, I'll be open this weekend so check the site for details. Be awesome.

Train During Minor Setbacks

    A lot of people take time off from training due to certain setbacks like a small injury, out of the blue car trip for whatever reason, kids get sick, cooking for a party and/or doing projects you need to get done. It's not easy getting the time in especially if you're a parent or someone who's on call for a job like a doctor or some who's time is spent a lot at work but if you want to get something done in your training you don't make excuses, you make compromises. You modify what you want to get done whether you have a few minutes or an hour to kill use it wisely. I recently came back from visiting friends and family in California and was running around being with my buds (mostly my best friend) and relaxing during certain times but always made time to train even if it was a few minutes. In Tahoe it was fun being able to train outdoors going swimming, climbing/jumping/crawling on the rocks and doing a little DDP Yoga while I had time to myself. For you it might be different but there's always a way to get something done even if it's just getting a few push-ups here and there or doing isometrics throughout the day. Make it work for you.

 
    Make a habit of training no matter what. Most look for an excuse and some may be understandable but for the most part you have 24hrs in a day, you can't spare 5 min. worth of exercise? Hell what can you do in that amount of time; 1 min. of Jump Rope, 1 min. of squats, 6 different Isometrics for 10 seconds each that's 3 min. so far, bear crawl for 30 seconds than do jumping jacks for 30 seconds and finish off with a 1 min. plank (with palms touching not forearms) and there you have 5 min. Adjust to what you want to do. Exercise can relieve stress and help you think clearer plus you're jump starting your heart rate which can burn fat, help build muscle and gain stamina. You do not need to do an hour of cardio and weights to get in shape who the hell has time for that? Unless you're a pro athlete, weightlifter, bodybuilder or fitness model your time is precious so make the best of it.

 
    Sometimes training in crunch time can be tough and you may have some doubts and you feel like you're not doing enough. I know a few people who bust their ass for what they do and the time they have to exercise is a very small window of opportunity but they make the time even if it means spreading out the exercises throughout the day. Don't bring yourself down when there's a simple solution. Do what you can and go on with your life. You have a choice to make the time or not to put in the effort and yes it's a small sacrifice but you have the power to do it.

 
    Enjoy what you can do, don't dread on about that you can only do this but you want to do something else but it takes longer make the time for what you need to do. Like I said you have choices no matter how big or small they are, if an opportunity arises than get your ass going. Give yourself a chance to train during certain setbacks because you put in what you get out of it. It's tough for a lot of people like on-call doctors, college students, factory workers, laborers, business men and women, contractors, architects and others so use the time that is open to get a little something done that will help your body and mind get stronger, fitter and less stressed.

 
Happy Thor's Day everyone and remember to take up my Coaching Offer up to 5 sessions. Check out the top of the site for more details. This will only last until Oct. 1^st so act now and find out how I can help you achieve your goals and aspirations in Physical Culture, Strongman, Steel Bending, Fitness, Strength Training & more.

A Workout Is Just A Workout

    The way most people look at exercise is that they just want it over with. Driving to the gym, slap on some clothes and do their little cardio sessions and baby weights plus a little Zumba or Jazzercise to "spice" it up. Sometimes people exercise just to get away from home and do their thing, nothing wrong with that but then there are those that take it so seriously they'll die before they don't have a great training session. For me in 9+ years of doing at least 1 workout every single day, I look at it as an opportunity to challenge my body, my mind and the way certain exercises feel with a sense of purpose and imagination. For the most part I'm a complete nerd when it comes to exercise and I've accepted that. People in the most sense don't really use their minds from an opened stand point, they're very analytical and don't realize that the right amount of things to use for your goals is not that much yet isolate the shit of out their bodies.

 
    Like a few people in fitness, I put passion into my exercise, I may not always show it but in my mind I'm firing up and I'll keep going until I feel I'm done. Those who train with fire and passion go beyond just a workout, it's a battle to who can keep up and the biggest competition is not that twerp bodybuilder with bunny weights, it's you against yourself. I've seen a lot of people in the gym and even a few train outside that train with a little finesse and have good technique but their energy just isn't there. It's like they do something just for the sake of doing it. It doesn't matter what you train as or what goals you're trying to achieve whether it's losing weight, building muscle, hold a handstand, pull the strongest cables or lift a weight you want to surpass; if you're passionate about it than use it to get the results you want.

 
    One secret I don't share with many people and now I'm giving it to you is that a real workout and I'm not talking about pushing your limits or getting psyched and all that stuff; what I'am talking about is that a great workout that is real and demanding for you is like telling a story. How do you introduce the story in your workouts, where's the conflict, do you have certain characters (exercises) that have something to say and how would you end it? Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end but it can't be just some mediocre story, it's how you play it out in your mind and putting it into action (training). You're creating a place in time where the way you feel and the way the story moves you. It's like a beautiful dance, you need rhythm, poise, and balance and most importantly you need to breathe life into it. How's that for a workout? It's not even a workout anymore, it's like a play and each chapter is one step closer to being stronger, more powerful and like an awesome ending it's going to change your mental state in a very cunning way.

 
    A great workout is flooded with intensity, not that getting mad and screaming crap but the focus and the drive to move faster, more efficient and strength that you didn't think you had in you. Many people can't understand this because there's no energy and no drive to do better. Sometimes the pace is slower or faster for some people but those that want to test themselves and see how far they're willing to go to get that intense focus to achieve the goals they strive for. One man I can name at the top of my head that is intense as you can get is Matti Marzel of Ferocious Strength; he's so adamant to be the very best at what he does that his intensity is felt throughout his writing and his videos as he breaks wrenches, does extremely advanced exercises on his fingertips and even holds himself up in ways some elite gymnasts can't fathom. He is that focused and he's just as intense from talking as he is training but the main point here is that he's one of extreme few individuals in this world that throws himself into this powerful state of mind and pushes himself to the point most are too damn afraid to go. A workout is never just a workout.

 
Happy Wednesday everyone. Keep it up and train hard during this mid week and be awesome. Looking for advice and coaching to help achieve your goals than grab $50 worth of products and as a bonus, I'll throw in a one-one free coaching session on skype. Check out the bottom of the site logo for more details.