Building A Grip Without Needing Weights

Weights in most aspects of Physical Culture is ideal to developing strength and unbelievable power and physique but it's not always the case. In other words, you don't weights for everything unless you're looking for a particular way to build strength. For grip work there's a lot of ways to develop mighty mitts but i'm here to tell you that weights aren't always needed in this manner. I have build a powerful grip without having to do barbell and dumbbell work, I mainly use only a couple maybe three implements that would be considered "weights" but in truth they're just a measuring stick compared to how I really found my grip power.

To truly understand Grip Strength we need to look back to what makes us very strong or very weak in our hands. It takes a tremendous amount of strength to bend steel, rip a phonebook and/or lever a heavy sledgehammer so to really make that strength possible is to not do something else but get down to the dirty soil and reach down and use those actual tools to build your grip strength. Another way of building great grip power without the iron is doing hangs from a bar or rings; these alone can build an insane grip because in order to even hang you need to have a bit of tightness to grip the handle and just stay there. Some can't hold for more than a couple seconds, some can hold far longer its a matter of practice and focus on the intention.

Finger Tip Push-ups is also a favorite since its very basic and simple exercise yet many can't do it due to issues in the wrists or fingers. The objectivity is to utilize what works best for your goals and achieving progress little by little. I love to move around like an Ape and since my mind is getting more geared towards that Tarzan like state and doing Ape style movements I'm doing exercises like Hanging from the pull-up bar in different grips to hit the tendons and muscles from other angles, walking or jumping like a gorilla by being on my knuckles and putting my weight onto them the majority of the movement and building that pull-up power by isometrically flexing in various stages of the actual pull-up. Training the fingers and hands is essential to building a complete body that is full of strength from a variety of angles.

Training to use as minimal equipment as possible without relying the barbell and dumbbells is very effective and its more natural. The Sandbell is one implement that is great for your grip and no I don't consider it weights, this is more functonal and can be used for practically any movement. I believe without question the best of the best when it comes to pure natural grip strength and powerful tendons are mountain climbers, these guys/girls have pound for pound some of the strongest hands on this planet period. They are the closest to our Ape ancestors by having fingers that could literally tear you apart if you fought them. You don't need to be a mountain climber to build this kind of strength but you will need to find a rock climbing wall or build one around your house or for the cheap route get eagle claw straps to wrap around your pull-up bar and go from there, I've tried these and they're tough as hell and I only managed maybe a couple reps the last time I tested them.

Don't believe for a second grip strength is purely getting from wrist curls and weird machines, if you truly want a mighty set of hands, you need to get dirty and do exercises that really target the hands and fingers while engaging the entire body, isolation isn't going to cut it. Its not a knock to anyone but from personal experience and seeing some of the strongest men on the planet within mere feet up close I know for a fact real grip work comes from those who target the hands in a specific manner that digs into the tendons and builds insane eagle like claws for fingers. Train your grip with a vengeance and you'll learn how tough you can really be with the power of a gorilla.

Coming Full Circle With The Sandbell

There are plenty of exercises that really hit the Core Muscles hard but one of the best ones can actually trim your waistline in a very short amount of time. Using the Sandbell, the 360 Exercise produces a heavy target not just on the abs but the entire upper body structure of the arms, shoulders, back and grip; this exercise takes control and focused tension on the muscles used. When practiced correctly, this one exercise can develop powerful and muscular abs.

The constant shifting of the weight makes it even more amazing as you have no choice but to keep control of the bell or else you might hear something crash unless you're outside and you hit a window or a fence. When it comes to weight; I believe to develop great mastery and full flexibility and strength in the exercise itself, be sure to take on no more than 20 pounds, that may not sound like a lot but because of the control and accurate amount of tension it's going to feel way different. I have heard of the 40 lb. 100 rep challenge and for the most part it's basically a marketing ploy. I'm going to give you a quote I made on a forum where it'll give you a complete outlook on why the weight doesn't make you the man, but the consistency:

"Its not the weight that makes you a man, its the consistency to train and learn the value of your body's capabilities according to your range of motion, awareness & the will to stay in peak condition without risking injury. More often than not, ego breaks more than the body does. The physical injuries are just icing on the cake because people buy into the fact that if they don't train beyond their natural abilities they're not worth a damn. I've pushed myself hard for more than a decade and only got one small minor injury during that entire period."

Read that with complete mindfulness. Don't buy into the notion that bigger is always better, you don't need to go to extreme reps with a lot of weight to get amazing results. Pace yourself little by little down to the smallest fraction and you'll still get results. I'm a big dude and never needed to move a ton of weight to become strong, the things I have done were carried over because of my training. Trust me when I say this, no matter how big or small you are, you can get crazy strong with minimal equipment and no more than 20-25 lbs. worth of actual weight. 

Be in control of your exercise or it will hurt you more than just physically. When it comes down to it, if you want powerful Tarzan-like abs, this is a top exercise to make that a reality. Practice with focus, intention, muscular tension (Muscle Control) and awareness of how your body moves within the exercise. Make it work for you and if you want to increase weight, do it for progressive reasons, not to prove how strong you are. Train smart and train awesome.  

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Train For Yourself

I go over different workouts all the time for various reasons and at times it does become overwhelming from trying to do whatever just for the sake of doing it. I don't believe in trying to fit into someone else's ideals because they're stuff is so perfect. People forget that no matter what they make themselves out to be, nothing comes close to doing something for yourself because it leads a path to finding your true self. Practicing many systems and exercises over the years, I became very strong mentally and physically by doing things that suit who I'am.

Training to be like somebody else only makes you 2nd or 3rd rated in the sense where it makes you lose sense of what and who you are further and further away from what's truly there in the first place. Does that make sense maybe, maybe not but don't believe for one second you can't be the strongest version of yourself. It's not something you can just achieve overnight, it takes years of searching, learning different things and know your faults, weaknesses and how you pick yourself up.

I train for me because I know more than anyone what I've been through, good or bad and that fitness is not just a fad or even a lifestyle; its beyond those things. It's my universe, it's what brought me to do the things and choices I make everyday; its my blood, my skin, my soul, my breathing. People can call their way of life a style or something to temporarily do to pass time but they'll never understand what it's truly like to live your training no matter what you do or where you go or who you are with. I have had people tell me that because I do what I do everyday has become easy for me; truth is, it gets harder everyday because I constantly have to find something that's exciting, fun, quick, long, space or hardly any to do something. The only thing easy for me to train everyday without fail is the thought of if I don't do it at all, I lose a piece of my soul and that is something I can't live with. 

Train because you wanted to, not because you crave it or because you don't have a choice, do it because its a part of who you are. I can talk all I want about what works, what doesn't and how this should be and what that sucks and here's the blueprint & all that other crap, it all boils down to what you want to do and you go do something whether it's to experiment or do a routine or hell because you thought something was cool, you're going to do something anyway but do something because you knew in your heart, deep down in your guy that's what you wanted to do in that time. It's not easy being your true self in your training believe me I deal with it everyday yet it brings me to what I love and what it does for me and only me. Train for yourself, no matter what.

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Jungle Fever & Bodyweight Training

I'm hearing the call of the Jungle daily. The experience of moving like a wild animal puts you into a state of mind that not many other systems can touch. Your mentality becomes different and you're channeling that animal spirit within. Repetitions are great and everyone should strive to reach a goal of certain amount of reps in their regimen; however, I'm more for the quality within the quantity instead of just making useless reps at a pace where the form is sloppy and the potential for injury is greater. Nobody's perfect but always strive for quality in your practice.

That's the thing with animal moves and bodyweight training in general where the better quality of your movement the greater your strength, flexibility & endurance comes into play. Everything counts; train your body to become instinctive. How your body reacts to a situation in more extreme cases will either save your life or get you killed and the same goes for saving a life as well. Your movement development interacts with your instinctive nature. Train your body to instinctively act on the ability to crawl, jump, balance and be able to withstand unpredictable durations in situations that you never know how long can go whether in a split second or an hour or more.

The thing with bodyweight exercise overall is not just the luxury of training anywhere, anytime we have all heard it but it's also an opportunity to learn the true secrets and capabilities of our physiology & anatomy. Animal moves whether its from Global Bodyweight Training or from somewhere else, teach us how to control our bodies to become instinctive and be able to react to things you wouldn't expect. It's one of the reasons I have mixed feelings on systems like Crossfit; although it has amazing benefits in certain areas for some people and I like the randomness with the circuits and style of lifting and using your bodyweight it becomes a problem when quality deteriorates and only quantity matters. I believe if you're going to do something random or looking to shape up in a circuit style of training, make quality just as equal or more so than the quantity of the workout.

Practice mastering your bodyweight and find that animal spirit in your training on animal movements. Don't just learn how many push-ups or pull-ups you do in a set or see how fast you can do 100 Squats; learn the value of the quality in the movements more than the quantity because whether sooner or later in your workout if you become sloppy and keep pushing through, you will get injured and its going to be a bitch paying for medical bills because you decided to be a smart ass. Take it from me, I have performed some crazy stuff over the last 10 years and rarely ever got injured.

Be Awesome Everyone,

Ben


Animal Flow Workout: http://tinyurl.com/powerandmight-AnimalFlow

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Flowing In The Animal World & Exploring

Animal movement is so joyous and fun to do, period. I love the crawling, the jumping, balancing and just living it up. Yesterday I went into my Animal Flow workout and just felt amazeballs without needing to move all that hard for 10-15 min. like I usually do. Just flowing around and being creative integrating transitions, travels & switches that was more slow paced but still challenging.

The ability to explore your body as it moves in different patterns isn't easy by any stretch (pun intended) and it gives you feedback on what to work on and help yourself find your weak spots to generate into strength. My animal spirit is the Ape, I'm not questioning that and I feel whole heartedly that to be true. However you move will develop what you lean towards that spirit within you. We all have one and that's the beauty of exploration, its both a physically and mindful practice that everyone should do. It doesn't matter how old you are or where you come from; unleash your instincts little by little and see what brings out the best in you. 

The urban jungle can be scary and its up to you to find out what truly makes you animalistic. I know that sounds a little philosophical but so what? Animal Movement is not just moving in various motions; it's about channeling your inner self and bringing out what makes us who we can truly be. People are being held back because of various reasons; it isn't proper, it makes us look savage, it's uncivilized whatever the case may be. I'm still learning how to be more open with who I'am because growing up, it was very difficult to show my true self to practically anyone because let's face it, I grew up around a lot of guilt and ridicule and no matter how hard I tried; something always made someone defensive, poke fun at what I was trying to do and tell me it's impolite to be open about things or in other words "hold it in or suffer the consequences" that's how I felt. 

Over the years as I step by step was coming more out of my shell things started happening for me; showed people what I can do, be upfront about things and be accepted. My training has opened up a whole other universe for me where I can be myself, have fun, live without regret. Because I grew up around a lot of guilt not because of things I've done but the people who walk on it and hearing the soles squeak, it's instinctive for me to feel that way so around certain people I shut down and parts of me become emotionally painful. That's one of the reasons why I train, it helps me be open and be happy with who I'am and little by little i'm transitioning that mindset without needing to train but always keep my focus on the very thing that has helped me survive many hardships and helps me be a better man to the woman I love in all of this world.

Whatever you're going through, find something that helps you be a better version of who you want to become, channel your pain into something glorious and creative that gives you purpose and happiness. It's not materials that help you flow through life, its what keeps you flowing within yourself and making bad ass things happen. For me it's exercise and exploring, for others it may be something else but I'm telling you, nothing gives you more of a soul search than learning about your animal spirit and unleashing it without being fearful of it. Explore your true nature and make it awesome for you.