3 In 1 Exercise Tool For Everyone

There are three very awesome tools in the world of fitness that an be used for any sports training, conditioning, strength, endurance and many more. These three tools can take you to another level and bring you a world of power while burning fat, gaining muscle and jump up your growth hormone levels for a faster metabolism, recovery and cardio. The three tools are the kettlebell, the dumbbell & the medicine ball. However there are limitations to how you use the grip for these implements which I will get to in a second.

The grip is one of the most important aspects in the strength training world. If you can't grip your implement or a pull-up bar, it's going to be more dificult for you than it needs to be. With the three implements I just mentioned, the limitations are basically in the grip, it's the same grip every time even with the medicine ball; it's a great tool but it only had one standard grip so you can't really do what you would like to do. What if there was a way to do this and not spill out a bunch of money off your card and cash. Get something that gets you doing all the kinds of exercises you like to do and it implies all three implements in one tool that also makes you change your grip every time. I'm talking about the Sandbell; be able to snatch it like a kettlebell, row like a dumbbell, slam like a medicine ball and more with this bad boy.

When it comes down to it, there's got to be some things that are suitable to everyone, what I mean by that is not everything won't be equal because there are some things that are just too dangerous for some people and not everyone from a child's age should use a dumbbell or a kettlebell because they can hurt themselves from all the metal that can land on them, with the sandbell, its more padded and full of sand. It is a fun and effective way to exercise every muscle in the body and adults can get the heavier weights and the kids can have the much lighter weights. Toss it, flip it, play catch, slam it on your floor or on a mat, work your pinch grip by switching hands in the air, use it like a hammerthrow, kids can play catch the carrier; there are so many cool ways to use this. If you're an MMA fighter, you can use it for grip work, takedowns, suplexes for wrestling drills, squats for leg training, Core Work and other cool things. Whatever you feel you want to work on, a Sandbell can help you get there.

From the 8 year old hyper kid to the 65 year old prospect who wants to get in great shape and jump start their hormones for a longer life, strength building and cardio machine. These sandbells can be used by anyone and can be used in dozens upon dozens of ways. Make a game out of it, work on your conditioning for your specific sport, do one-legged movements, work on your snatch test (a 30lb. sandbell is tougher to snatch than a 53 lb. kettlebell), get a super powered grip for arm wrestling, a pinch grip people would fear and get a cardio workout in under 5 minutes. It is so useful and durable that you may even forget about metaled implements all together. Expand your horizons and grab the kind of weight you would like yo use, get one for your young one to play with; it has a strong leather that is very difficult to break so it won't snap on you so even if you slam it with tremendous force the odds of it tearing are in your favor. It is safe, protected padding and it doesn't make a mess or have the sound of metal echoing throughout your place. Take advantage of your fitness and own one or more of these bad boys. you won't regret it.

Your Legs Are Your Wheels

    Ever since my accident and learning to walk and train again, I have made a vow to go into deep research on training the legs and making them stronger not just in the muscles but more importantly the tendons and ligaments. As we age, one of the first things that starts to go physically is our legs, the bones become a little more brittle and the joints get a little weaker and muscles begin to go south. It becomes more and more difficult to even get a good move going and your body just aches like a bitch. It doesn't have to be that way though; you can make a choice to keep your body in incredible shape when you get older like into your 50's and beyond. It's a matter of modifying and building a foundation. Flexibility is your first priority, then you work on strength so you can value the useful of what is working in your body.

 
    Most people think as you age, muscles need to keep strengthened more than anything else; not necessarily true, strength is a factor and should be in on your to do list but for the most part muscles are secondary compared to the joints and ligaments in the body especially in your hips, ankles and feet. How can you really move at all when your joints are all screwed up? Why do you think so many older folks have bad hips and weak ankles? It's not always about aging, its about how you take care of yourself. Sure you're not going to be lifting extremely heavy poundages (but then again what's really stopping you if you wanted to do that) but make it your main focus is strengthen the tendons as much as possible, the muscles will follow when you do the right amount of training. Isometrics are extremely power tendon builders and utilizing Chi Kung methods help you internalize your energy and build strength from the inside. Flexibility is not always about stretching and toe touching, it's about finding that youthful vitality in your bones that is full of vigor and life. Do some joint loosening, stretch your hamstrings efficiently and power up on the hips because they give the lower body some of its greatest power in many areas. I train my legs consistently with plenty of dynamic stretching, joint loosening, isometric stretching, mobility drills and others and I'm in my 30's, I want to be nearly as mobile 50 years from now because of it.

 
    Sprints build powerful legs, period; some people don't always have the luxury of sprinting somewhere or they don't have the strength to move as such but there are always alternatives, sprinting doesn't always mean running, you can do exercises at a much faster pace to get that effect whether it's push-ups, squats, running in place anything that gets their heart rate up quick and with intensity. Circuit Training can be useful mixing exercises together and moving in a fast pace and go round to round with no rest, that alone burns up a lot of fat and puts on muscle. It's all about what works for you and making the best of what you have. I love sprints, however I don't always feel like running so hard I feel like my legs are going to pop off, I can sprint in place and still get the same benefits. Make it work for you and experiment the very best you want to learn and master.

 
    If you want to learn on how to build powerful, agile and enduring legs, talk to an old-time pro wrestler like from the 70's and before. It's not always about entertaining a crowd with theatrical exploits, you also need to keep up with your opponent and work a match to the very end whether it's 10 minutes or 60 minutes. These guys are the very embodiment of superior conditioning. If your legs aren't up to the task neither will the rest of your body. Guys like Ed Strangler Lewis, Lou Thesz, Verne Gagne, Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, Frank Gotch, Karl Gotch and even guys like Ben Sharman and Killer Kowalski were exceptional in the conditioning department and hardly broke a sweat within the first 10 minutes of a match (slight exaggeration). Being able to endure a lot and still have some fire burning in the tank is an awesome thing to have. Research on how wrestlers trained their legs, there is some cool stuff you can do and you don't need to do extremely high reps to reap the benefits, just enough to where it works for you and keeps you firing. Having enduring legs is also great for your testosterone and having a high sex drive. Strong legs can carry you in ways that can be useful when you need them too. These guys can teach you things about the legs most sports can't even fathom, why do you think wrestling is the most important sport? Keep your legs strong and agile no matter what your age and prove to yourself that age is just a number and not an ideal outlook of what you were and what you have been led to believe. Your legs are the wheels and your will is the engine and the rest are the various parts needed to keep going. Be awesome my friends.

The Circuits That Keep On Giving

   There are mixed reviews with circuit training as it is with of other methods. These days when you think of Circuits, you think of Crossfit and getting in as many rounds as possible in a certain amount of time. Although that's great for an advanced person but for someone starting out, it can put them in the hospital or in an unwanted grave. Circuits are done where you mesh a certain amount of exercises and do them without rest until you have completed 1 round. Most people can't handle that fast pace and high form of intensity because it takes far more than just strength & endurance, it becomes a mental game of chess and some are great for beginners but others are mostly for those in decent shape. Those long cardio sessions on the treadmill are practically useless unless you plan on training for a competition of some sorts. You'll gain endurance for sure but you'll also lose muscle mass and the ability to burn fat efficiently. If you want a quicker workout that has the same benefits circuits would be the way to go. You can get in a great workout in under 30 minutes with proper rest periods between sets.

 
    Although circuits are good in some order, some of the exercises they put people through most of the time are either boring/generic or far too much for someone to handle when they're not prepared for it. You can however mix your favorite exercises you do know and can use your imagination with to get awesome benefit out of. The key secret to circuit training is not always about speed and short rest periods (although they can be a great factor as you progress) but more on a steady pace with as good of form as possible. You want to have nearly as good form at the end just as much as crisp in the beginning. Once you start slouching and you're in need of an iron lung than you need to stop. If your form or pace is deteriorating as you go along, you can have some severe problems in your joints, muscles and tissue in the ligaments. I'm not a huge fan of plyometrics and I don't think you need to jump as high as possible 10-20 times per circuit so I personally believe especially for those who have had injuries and such ought to keep circuit training as low impact as possible and use very little to no equipment. Unless you're in a specific sport or in need to get in serious shape fast, some equipment would be good to use but really Bodyweight is best.

 
    One site I highly recommend that has circuit workouts for every level of fitness is Darebee where you can choose from well over 100 workouts and programs for your specific goals and needs. This is the next evolution from Neila Rey. These workouts even have themes that anyone can relate to; superheroes, movie characters, books, anime, military, Primal, Circuits For Swimming & Sports and way more than I can mention. These give you an idea on how to take a cool pop culture idea and turn it into a kick ass workout that will have you begging for mercy while having fun as well. Nobody really likes those boring and generic exercise systems that really have no value to the individual who's looking for something interesting to do. I'm all for using the imagination and utilizing basic and advanced exercises to build skills for your everyday life. I didn't like circuits very much until I came to Darebee and found a new realm of ideas to use. Plus it's all free and you can download and print out the workouts into little cards for you to travel with so you don't always have to get on the internet. These are truly some of the very best exercise programs around today and take less time to do than it is to get the gym, dress and getting on a machine (which you may need to wait for). They have programs for strength, weight loss, High Intensity, realistic cardio, fat burning, stamina, flexibility and speed. There are no excuses and you can switch exercises around to suit your needs and goals, modify them if you have to you have that option. They have levels of progression that are simple and straight forward; you can work out up to 3 levels of sets (or 10 sets total in some workouts) and learn how you can make your own progressions.

 
    I'm a hard working guy when it comes to training and have put myself through some of the most intense workouts imaginable so I can safely say if you want to be in great shape, you need to know what your fitness level is otherwise you can get injured or burned out; I was doing Level 3 type workouts for about a week or so and just didn't have it in me afterwards and ended up quitting for a while because I pushed it way too much and I was already in good shape. Build up and remember you don't need to go to the highest level every single workout and because of the limitless amount of circuits at Darebee not every workout is the same, so learn how to adapt and modify a bit so you can get to that high level on a consistent basis but not a frequent basis. If you only have enough in you for 2-3 rounds that day do so but don't push so hard you'll pass out or end up having some kind of lung problem from lack of pure deep breathing oxygen. Keep a close eye on what you do so you can make the very best of it. Circuits are great but if you're not careful, it can bite you in the ass and chew it with a vengeance. There are even custom type workouts in the forum section of the site where you'll find circuits not found in the cards such as the Tarzan Workout, Godzilla, Indiana Jones and others; I even came up with a circuit that professional wrestlers used when they trained and it takes even the most advanced people down for the count. Research on circuits and find what can be suitable for you and make it work for your needs, not for the sake of being able to do them. Have fun and keep going my friend.

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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