Thick Bar For Killer Upper Body

    When it comes to functional strength and super muscle, there are many ways to achieve it but one of the most effective is the use of a Thick Bar or better yet (for a cheaper price) use Fat Gripz and attach them to your favorite barbell and dumbbell for better muscle activation, hell if you want to attach them to a cable machine like Rows, Chest Squeezes, Tricep Pressdowns and Curls. In the early years of Bodybuilding and Strongman, an athlete had to have some serious power in his hands to lift crazy weight or perform specific feats of strength. They needed to increase the strength in their tendons and ligaments of the lower arm in order to lift some of the heaviest weight in the world. Arthur Saxon most likely lifted with Thick Bars in order to help him lift and hold the world record 350+ lbs Bent Press or lift the 448lbs Two Handed Anyhow. John Grimek one of the greatest natural bodybuilders of his time was freakishly strong as well doing the Olympic lifts, presses, deadlifts, pulls and even performed nail bending and card tearing. Fat Gripz save the cost of regular thick bars and can be used for practically any upper body exercise you can use in the gym or in your home gym.

 
    Want to build crazy thickness in the lower arms, get yourself some Fat Gripz. With the amount of effort and activation it creates in the upper body, it will jumpstart those tendons and have the muscle fibers needing to use more power for growth. You won't be able to do the same poundages you normally would do because in order to even get the bar or bell up takes far more effort than normal and it fries you real quick. Say you bench around 315 with a regular bar, no way in hell you'll be able to lift that with 2inch thick (or more) fat grip; you'll most likely hit the 250 lb range at best if you got a good solid grip. Imagine building your upper body strength using these bad boys in pull-ups, talk about build gorilla size forearms or mighty pythons like Popeye. If you're into Arm Wrestling or other sports, having a solid grip is essential to your success and brings a whole new element to your game. Have more pulling power for arm takedowns, more pushing strength for football, better grip for batting and knocking balls into the field or out of the park and why not for Combat Sports like MMA and wrestling; you'll be a beast on the mat.

 
    One of the most effective ways to build natural strength and muscle is to do basic exercises whether bodyweight or weight lifting; presses, pulls and curls are a key to successful muscle building and when you put on the Fat Gripz, you've just jumped into the next evolution of muscle building. When you can do basic exercises with a greater thickness you're activating far more muscle fibers and your body will need to repair itself much greater. Less than a few times a week is best if you're at a good solid level of lifting but if you're a beginner don't even think about doing them yet but it is worth the challenge and you'll gain strength with flying colors. Doing the Basic lifts with Fat Gripz will turn you into a beast, guaranteed.

 
    When you activate multiple muscles in one shot, you're also turning on the growth hormone in your body that allows you for greater muscle growth and natural shaping of the muscles. This also works your strength factor as growth hormone generates more power in the nervous system which switches the muscle fibers to amp up the effort in what you do. When you do long cardio, it's great for endurance but doesn't activate much muscle per say unless you're doing crazy heavy stuff for your cardio like carrying a heavy rock several feet at a time, doing circuits with heavy weight and bodyweight movements. The best person to look into on this is Bud Jeffries who has developed a way to utilize strength and cardio at the same exact time in precise style of training. Natural testosterone is essential for keeping fat low, gaining strength quickly and recovering faster. You do not need steroids and PEDs to get serious muscle. It takes effort and dedication but with the right tools and the right education and physical example you can get some muscle that the old-timers got like Grimek, Reg Park, Bob Peoples, Bruno Sammartino, Saxon and many more.

Movement For Adventure

    Spring is blossoming and new life is rising and it's time to head outside and get some of that crisp air and natural vitamin D. It's time to bring out your inner Tarzan; hang from the "Ape" bars, crawl, swim, swinging, rolling, squatting and of course a sprint or 2. If there ever was an athlete any man should strive for it's the Ape Man himself. He's not full of bloated and overly useless muscles and doesn't pretend to be somebody else or live by someone else's rules. He's a man's man and takes care of business in ways men today can't even fathom. He's the pinnacle of real man's fitness; he doesn't lift barbells are dumbbells even though he probably could do them if given the chance but he moves the way a man should. He's the embodiment of the ultimate athlete. A hero in many ways and man can he move.

 
    Swimming is one of the fascinating and most powerful methods in the world. You work every muscle in your body, you lubricate the tendons and joints plus it feels incredible after being in the water for a while. Swimming makes you mellower and releases stress in ways most methods can't. I always feel like a new man after a good swim in the lake. Think what it would be like to swim and live with vigor and vitality; bringing more life to your nerves and feeling relaxed and at peace. You don't need to swim for miles or tread water for an hour but a few good laps and just diving down in the water feeling like a strong and vibrant fish or shark on the prowl. Bring that sensational endorphin feel into your veins and you can't go wrong.

 
    What of the best ways to take your movement to another level once you've mastered them enough to create a few combos; build scenarios around you, duck under a table, put little platforms around for jumping and imagine them as safety nets as you jump over lava or crocs or whatever it is you want to imagine jumping over. Crawl as if you're under part of a cave and you have only a short amount of time, do a few sprints and imagine you're being chased by a wild tiger or pitting yourself against The Flash in a race. Use your imagination, be creative and utilize your skills in different ways that are interesting to you and brings out a side of you that nobody has seen before, go nuts (just not in crowded area or the street). It's about being free and living out your comfort zone. Take a chance.

 
    For us men, our manhood is at stake in these troubled times of obesity, heart disease and very bad Viagra. Movement sends the body into overdrive and marking your territory in how you move and how open up the body with good solid stretching and utilize multiple muscles per movement. We have the ability to create our own testosterone and whether we're 20 or 100 we can produce high levels of natural growth hormone although it gets harder and harder after a certain age and beyond but there are possibilities and it's time we claimed it. Testosterone gives us vital points in our immune system, helps us recover from strenuous exercise and the sex drive for you my friend can be off the chain, it's really how you apply yourself and taking care of yourself from within and understanding how your body processes through various movement. Never say it's too late to have great testosterone, it's yours but in order to keep it from going low, step it up and find natural ways to keep feeling like an overgrown teenager that is full of vigor and life. Be a man and give your body the fuel it needs. Live with power my friends.

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Never Hate Your Movements

    When you hate something, a piece of your soul becomes tar in the very deepest levels of your being. When it comes to movement and the process of getting better, you should never hate what you put yourself through to make things happen. It can be frustrating and there are people that tell you if you don't hate what you do you're not putting in enough work, Bullshit. Movement is about life living in motion and being creative in how you form patterns and combos to make some kick ass stuff happen. It sucks at times because you haven't progressed the way you wanted but there's a fine line between hate and frustration. When I was learning to walk again and doing squats, push-ups and the bridge; it sucked and I'd get mad a time or two at myself but I never once hated what I was doing because I was determined to bust my ass and I loved what it was doing for me. If you hate training, there's something wrong there and it has nothing to do with your weight, your flexibility, strength or how you look; hating it means you're either doing something that you're uncomfortable doing, pushing so hard by some shmuck who thinks he's a drill sergeant or you're doing things that you're not meant to do. We all have different shapes, strengths and weaknesses but that doesn't mean when something you hate isn't working, something is there and you just have to look for it.

 
    You know the old phrase "no pain, no gain" that every trainer with an IQ of 50 says? It's crap, there's a difference between pain and discomfort, and if you're in pain you need some serious help. Discomfort means it may not always feel like rainbows and the warmth of the sun but you're doing something that pushes you past a certain zone. Do movements that bring you joy and excitement; even if you can only do 5 push-ups or 1 pull-up. Feel that surge in your body that gives you that adventurous sensation and finding something glorious within yourself to get past your obstacles. Feeling the freedom to do what you love and getting better each day, month or even years. I can barely do 10 Hindu Push-ups when I started and I felt like I was just wasting away because I felt that was it but I then I began using my imagination and using little tweaks and magical things were happening. I used this on every exercise I wanted to learn and now my brain is on fire just coming with cool stuff to do. I never do what brings me pain and suffering I've already been through that with a busted head, two broken legs, near broken ribs and getting punched a time or 2, pain is not the answer. I do what gives me something to be happy about, living in my own world where anything is possible and making an adventure out of it. Live within your own limits and your own sense of what works for you.

 
    There's a fine difference between hating your workouts and giving it your all for the love of it. We grunt, yell, curse and even make weird faces occasionally but if you love what you do, it makes everything else look obsolete. If you're miserable and you can't stand what you're doing, than you need to check your priorities and look within yourself to not feel that type of energy. Many people hate what they do and they go through life feeling like everything is not up to their standards, nothing ever works and they want to dump it on everyone. It's sad really and I sympathize with those people but in the end, it's not worth hating something that doesn't have a positive thing behind it. I love what I do and I never force myself to do something I don't feel that's right; I'm very intuitive and when the right hits, it's stuck with me. Sometimes though you may need to make room for hate so things can balance out because if you treat everything with optimism and think the world is full of pots of gold and love well stop daydreaming. I sometimes hate the fact that there's murder in the world or hating that Robin Williams died or why bad things happen to great people but at the same time I love what some people are trying to do to make the world a better place, people do things because there are no other options but I have to respect what needs to be done and when something awesome happens for a kick ass person it's really warming and beautiful. Find that balance and listen to your inner self.

 
    Think of the words from Stevie Ray Vaughn "She's my pride and joy, she's my sweet little baby, I'm her little lover boy." I love that song Pride & Joy, it's got a great riff, bad ass sound and a rhythm that is just incredible. We may not know what he was referring to by she, maybe it's his guitar, wife, dog, wine bottle who the hell really knows but its way cool how he puts it. When you love something, treat it as if it's a joy to you, something to be proud of and feel something worth your while because if you hate it why bother loving at all. I love exercise, I see it as my passion and love for what's behind it and it's been good to me. I treat it as a second language, a marriage and something I can always count on. If there's any hate in it I apparently don't see it because I don't feel the need to look for the negative crap behind it. Do you really want to take pride in what you hate? Is it really that horrible to you to enjoy something? I may not like certain things but I take pride in what I do and it makes my life interesting and insightful. What you do is none of my concern but I do want to show you that life has its perks and you can enjoy great things if you open up enough to let it in. When you enjoy what you do love it until the end of time and make it your sweet little thing.

Live In Your Imagination

The imagination truly is the greatest nation on earth when you apply yourself. Sometimes the real world can be scary and a tad boring depending on how you look at things. It can also be beautiful and wondrous. Living in the real world isn't always what it's cracked up to be; you have people murdering each other, living like slobs, taking others for granted and having a personal agenda. On the other hand there are those who you can trust, learn great things from, help you when you need, form a group of people of similar interests and share friendship in different ways. Living in your imagination doesn't mean daydreaming and losing sight of things but to create your own world from within and utilizing it in different facets of your life that brings attraction and fierce energy.

One method I love to do from time to time is what's called Theater Of The Mind, opening up your mind and watching yourself in your very own movie theater doing really amazing things and achieving incredible goals as if they were live and in living color. It's very powerful and lets you control what happens on screen and what you want to happen. Turn up the volume/sound system, zoom in, see yourself at your best whatever you want to make it. Picture yourself as if you lived in your own Disney movie full of animation, colors, sounds and characters of your own; hell throw in Mickey, Donald and other favorites if you want, it's your movie. Set a goal as if it already happened and you're replaying it on the big screen; taking notes and looking for ideas that can help you along your journey.

You can unlock aspects of your muscle fibers by using your mind and applying it into action. Some of the strongest men on the planet used mental techniques to help them do extraordinary feats of strength as if the vision was real and every muscle was firing in the snap of your fingers. Your power is in your breath and in your imagination, make certain sounds, move in certain positions and see as if you can move an imaginary ball using electrical currents, as you move the ball using your style of the Force, you can harness strength and speed in ways you couldn't do before. Only you control what is going on and you can open up doors to gaining crazy strength, endurance, flexibility and matrix-like power.

Living through movement and imagination can transfer into a greater reality than what it perceives to be. There's always room for practice and it's important to open up your mind as wide as you possibly can because the way you think and apply movement can have a profound effect on your brain capacity, your ability to coordinate and utilize your muscles you didn't know you had and with practice you can use it anytime you want. It's not just blasting through a workout or anything but whatever you choose to do in life, even write or pick up groceries, running to catch the bus, how you walk and talk and so much more. Reality may be what you see, but your imagination is what you feel and see from the inside.

Combinations Are Endless

    To get the very best out of you training, you need to brush out of the norm and dial up the inner power to go beyond most people's capabilities. In order to do this, you practice with as much accuracy and precision within your area of strength, flexibility, endurance and agility. You practice movement that creates a standstill of most who dare to reach. Even the most basic movements can become some of the toughest forms for the average person. I remember not being able to do 25 push-ups or 50 squats when I was learning to walk again; I needed to learn the basic principles first until they became natural to me in order to progress to the next stages; now I can do clapping push-ups, one-arm hindu push-ups and even do jumps like a grasshopper or cricket (I choose not to do a bunch of these), for squats I can do half one-legged, able to do lunges starting from the floor, jumping squats and other. I learned to develop my own way of training after learning the basic progressions. I wanted to do things most couldn't do even at a much heavier weight (I'm 260+ pounds). It's all about practice and what you're willing to get good at; if you practice terrible, you're going to end up doing something terrible so find what you can become good at.

 
    Everyone trains differently and we have certain body types that aren't always equal but if you can find a way to beat the odds, it makes everything that much more bad ass. One of my friends Bud Jeffries is one of the strongest people on the planet drug free yet at his size (close to 300 pounds) he is also one of the most agile men I've ever seen; doing handstands, rolling, cartwheels, the splits and more so how is that possible? He did what most don't think to do, he made it a habit to not let anything stand in his way of being the very best he can be. Another example of defining what people see as is Dennis Rogers; a complete opposite in size compared to Bud yet at 5'8 and 170 lbs. soak and wet he is pound for pound the world's strongest man for the feats he performs like wrench bending, holding back Harleys, break out of handcuffs, rip the thickest phonebooks and tear decks of cards like they were a piece of paper. It's amazing what some of these men can. You need to find your own style of how you do things and combine the very best that you have learned and take it to a level only you can reach. Whether it's strongman, various movements, athletics or whatever, learn to create your own style that is unique to anyone else.

 
    Given the fact that movement in itself is incredible and powerful, to truly test your abilities is how you live in the moment of your movement. What I mean by this is that no matter what you do, if you're good at it and are confident in it, live within what you do as if it was an adventure. Think differently and see yourself in a different light as if you're the only one who truly live it. Your imagination is the key and when you apply it into action, it becomes this glorious reality that inspires people to take a chance on. When I train, I live in those moments as if I was in another universe and basking in the strength and power of my very being into what I do. Right now I'm focused on Animal Movements and transforming myself in my mind as if I was a wild animal in the jungle like a bear, gorilla, alligator, a majestic bird soaring through the air, an underwater creature just watching to take on the danger that is coming or a mighty ape establishing his dominance; it's those moments that makes what I do interesting and exciting. Make your own moments and live them with passion and fierceness.

 
    At a young age, we don't know what the hell we're really doing but yet we become very expressive and very imaginative, making up games, playing pretend and living in our own world. We can't do that as we get older because we have to be serious, analytical, uptight and boring as hell because apparently being expressive and imaginative is for children not grown adults. Sure we need to be aware of things as we get older and it's important to know how the world works but that shouldn't stop you from having a high spirit and living with expression and imagination. When I write, I'm very much into what I type down and I love to express myself in what I'm comfortable doing and don't care what other people think of me. When I train, I'm very imaginative and live in moments where it becomes more like play and adventure. I do get looks from time to time from others and have had kids mimic what I was doing because they thought it was cool or funny to do. Being expressive opens up your personality, takes you to another level in your soul where freedom is your best friend and how you portray yourself towards others; some won't like it at all, some will love you for it and others will just find it plain weird because they don't understand your way of doing things. In these past few years, I've grown to love what I do, I'm confident in what I do and I express it very openly because I have learned that in life, you can't please everyone and not everyone is going to agree with what you do and it's their loss for not learning to open themselves up and live with passion. Be open to your true self and live in the moment because you never know how long it's going to last and nothing lasts forever. Be bold and move with power both internally and externally.

 
    

Animalistic Philosophy

    I once read somewhere that training (or moving) like a wild animal doesn't constitute as training like a man, if you're a man you exercise like a man. I started thinking what he meant by that, it wasn't exactly those words but the clear statement he wrote implied it. He was right, moving like a wild animal doesn't as training like a man, it goes beyond that; it takes the average person and making them stronger by challenging his body to new levels of fitness. It really pisses me off when people try to force others out of what could work for them just so they can fill their ego with a sales pitch. Now any one of you can correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the word itself ANIMAL have the letters M-A-N somewhere in there? No please I'll wait…..So in other words moving like a wild animal does in a way make a point of being a man and training like one. Being a man is more about character and personality than the way of our obvious physical attributes and not always how you do an exercise system.

 
    The real power behind animal exercise & fitness is not just how you move and mimic the animals themselves, it's the imagination within you to live out your wild side and utilize it to help build muscle, burn off fat, gain flexibility, being mobile and just have stamina like the energizer bunny you just keep going and going and….you get the picture. Our thoughts are followed with action and when something begins to show light we have an idea of what to do about it (depending on what you're thinking). In our minds there's a whole vast universe that is a living fantasy; some of it is amazing, others can be nasty and some even are pretty damn ugly but still we can create anything within our minds. Some of the craziest ideas from top people in science, fitness, art and more became our most treasured liveliness and wonderful outlook on what has expanded over decades, centuries even millennia and the first thing people said about those ideas at first were that you were nuts and there wasn't a chance in hell they will ever come true and look what happened. Fitness today as compared to 100 years ago is astounding yet when it comes down to it, people end up going for the more simple things even though there are gadgets and equipment in millions of gyms across the world. Animal Exercise is no different because it's simple, doesn't require a shred of equipment (except maybe a pull-up bar or a resemblance to something to pull with) and it's simple enough for practically anyone to figure out plus once you get the hang of it you can make it as long/short you want and you can also do things with it that works for you. Live out your fantasy as you move like a wild animal (within reason).

 
    Most fitness programs don't last very long because there will come a time when people will get tired of it and it won't work for them because they're burnt out, got injured or because some dumbass told them it's the only workout and if you don't do it then you're a loser doing anything else. Fitness is more than just the physical side of getting in shape, it's also putting your mind into perspective and finding what's fit about your character, your individuality and your personality towards what you do. I love being fit and doing cool stuff physically but because I've learned so much, it's carried over through my mental concepts and helped me make the person I 'am today as a writer, building my brain to make ideas that will benefit other people and help others find their own path. It's really the journey that counts, not where you'll end up. It's what you go through in order to get where you want to be and you can't always control the outcome, you can't force your body to do something that it doesn't want to do and you never know what the real outcome is. Everything happens for a reason and things will turn out the way they're meant to. For me, training like an animal is adventurous to me and brings out a side of me I like and feel good about because at times in my life, it's not always pleasant or fun and games so Animal Fitness is like a sanctuary in my mind and body to help some of those rough patches even though those rough patches aren't very common like they use to be. Listen and learn what goes on in your journey, it's like a really good book; you don't skip to the ending, you read along and the best parts are always in the middle and the ending is just icing on the cake.

 
    Going wild in a fun and unique way builds up your spirit and you have a blast doing it. It's the true beauty behind the exercise and movement; you're honing your skills and building something very few people achieve and because it's different it makes it even more interesting because you're going outside the norm, rebelling against the mainstream crap and you're doing what works best for you. Nothing can truly stand in your way when you do something you love and cherish. So instead of training like a "man", be a Wildman/woman and just have fun with it, do it because you're passionate about it and who cares about certain people not liking it, they can think for themselves and put up their opinions but in the end, you're the happy one and you're doing what comes natural to you. That's my philosophy from an animalistic point of view. Take it as you will.

Spring Into Action With Animal Exercises

   The air is beginning to get warmer, the flowers are blooming and life is being reborn after the cold winter. You have been inside too long, not knowing if you should exercise or not and whether you're prepared to do awesome outdoor training. It can be cool, you may even join a gym which is cool if you want a place to go to but yet why choose the gym when you can be free to roam at your favorite park, the backyard, a nice little area near your house or the beach. You can always do both but it's very important to get that vitamin D and open up your lungs to fresh air and the feeling of a nice breeze coming down on you. Like a bear coming out of hibernation, it's time to get your spring legs going.

 
    Most people hate the words "workout", "intense training" and "hardcore" because they sound harsh, single minded and only have one goal in my mind and that's to take you down as hard as possible. Replace them with words like "fun", "play", "worldly", "happy" and "awesome". Get out and move, don't worry so much about your set and rep schemes; make up games, race, go swimming and be adventurous. That's the beauty of training the animal way, you get to have fun and train your body in a very unique way. Kids in particular love to use their imagination and make up cool stuff and make weird noises as they play their games, its fantasy used in motion. Imagine yourself being an animal, transform yourself in your imagination into a powerful wild beast like the Tiger, the Gorilla, The Bear, the Alligator, a fast moving Greyhound and many more to feel out and get fit by. Work in workout is no longer a part of your vocabulary, it's replaced with fun and awesome by doing what makes you happy, being silly and living your life with joy.

 
    Here is some playful training that both kids and adults can do and it only takes 5 minutes to start or do. It's based on your favorite characters from cartoons and movies you grew up watching. You can even do some of the funny gestures and singing from these cool dudes from your past and for the new generation…..

 
Baloo The Bear: 1 minute
King Kong: 1 minute
Tigger: 1 minute
Krusty Krab: 1 minute
Marlon The Gator: 1 minute
    Just these 5 animals alone will get you going on the path to great health and fitness. Kids love mimicking animals especially if they see them in their favorite tv shows and Disney movies. I loved watching Baloo as a kid doing the Bear Necessities or being in a dance craze like in Disney's Robin Hood. Too many people get all uptight and analytical about things; it's important to learn the movements but once you amp up that other in your head and living it out in your exercise your results will have a greater affect. Kids these days need to be helped on getting fit but not making them do push-ups as a punishment or making them feel worse about themselves because they didn't get what you want them to do. Kids do need to be disciplined in some form I agree but rather make some of it a disguise as play to help them learn lessons, value teamwork, being mindful and even chilling them out because as you know they can be very energetic and its hard keeping up with them. Be bold but also let them figure out who they are and keep them happy in ways they'll never know. Animal training for kids helps out many types like the underweight needing to build muscle, the overweight needing to lean out, hyper energetics needing to cool down and relax, those with low self-esteem to pick their spirits up and release those endorphins, even the lethargic turning them into robust energetic individuals. Do it with them and play together, get a family game going, have them exercise so they'll be hungry for dinner later, instead of making them sit for an hour on timeout; supervise them by having them move around like they're favorite animal until they give in. It's about compromise and doing something that isn't verbally/emotionally/physically abusive.

 
    It isn't fun when you hate what you're doing, training is supposed to be adventurous, specific, useful and understanding of what you want out of it. Forget the reps and sets schemes, go out for distance, see how many jumps it takes to get 100 feet or more, how fast can you go without losing your form, going backwards, picking certain species that are meant for either land or water whatever you choose to do go for it and make it as long as you need to and rest when you need to. Most work outs last less than 30 minutes because they are intense and full bodied but if you wish to go longer because you're up to it who's stopping you. Do it throughout the day, while your kid is sleeping, in the morning before work, at night before going to bed make it work for you and if you only have a small window of time use it. It is far better to do something you love then dread something you hate because if you hate what you do your energy will spread around and it wouldn't be pleasant to make others feel miserable just because you are; use it to make yourself happy, release those stress hormones and crack open a genuine smile because when you are glowing with happiness it will spread to others around you. For us men, Animal movements are essential to our manhood not just as we get older but also because in order for us to stay looking young & vibrant we need to keep our testosterone at optimum levels so we don't get our bodies to have that flabby gut or getting moobs on our chests. For women it's just as important because women have greater trouble putting on muscle and losing weight than men do so they need to train just as efficiently so they can keep an awesome figure. So get those bodies cruising on the grass or any natural place to move around and open up your mind to becoming animalized.