Playful Ginastica

When you get to play as you exercise it becomes a whole new experience. Trends in fitness today take things way too DAMN seriously and its sucking the fun out of training. Unless you're a professional athlete or having to go up against competition in a matter of weeks or months that's where real seriousness comes into play (how oxymoron of me to say) or you're in the military or law enforcement being serious about being in shape is where it's at right there. Many courses today try to plant into your brain that if you want real results you train similar to those who are Navy SEALs or Army Rangers, train like your favorite NFL Player or your favorite actor that's in a Superhero Role so in turn you buy the magazines, watch and participate from a DVD, you go to a "Boot Camp" or whatever the hell it is they want you to do. It's not realistic training people.

I get it, you want to be inspired, something to motivate you or have something mentally kick you in the ass that tells you to do this or that; in reality the best type of training you can do is the type that won't have you get seriously injured, teaches about building strength not just in the muscles but the tendons & joints as well, gives you the ability to gain flexibility that will last you beyond your years, challenges that are logical but outside the norm that's interesting and it puts you in a state where you can kick ass but feel great at the same time both physically and mentally as well as emotionally.

My training as of late is utilizing a combination of different systems little by little and molding them into my own creative "Workout" where I merely just play and use my body's capabilities to their best formations without going so hard I collapse or feel like I need to go to the ER. There's a lot of different names I use for this type of training like Playful Movement, Playful Stretching, Playful Primal and as the title says Playful Ginastica where its playing around with movements based on animals, yoga, chi kung, stretching techniques, Isometric holds, flows and many others. It doesn't last long once you get the hang of it but its super effective. Playful sounds cheery, fun, creative, positive and imaginative. That's the beauty of my style of training, you can create anything by using only your own body. Some other workouts like the Darebee Circuits are not as playful but they are great for coming up with a simple and fun theme using basic bodyweight exercise that most can do and it can be done anytime anywhere. I love the style I created and will be sharing more often with because it sucks the life out of "Working Out" and letting your imagination run wild and free, sure its important to know the mechanics, the form and knowledge of bodyweight exercises and its not easy by any stretch but it develops interesting concepts where you don't feel like you're working but playing and experimenting.

When you have the basics down and you have a keen sense of movement than you are free to create whatever you desire to do. Its great for losing weight, burning fat, building functional muscle, agility, flexibility, mobility and the only thing limited is your imagination. You can do it anywhere you wish, don't have enough space, you can do it in a small area too by using stationary exercises and combining them as you see fit. I personally use whatever space I can get my hands on and have done the training both indoors and outdoors. Is it hard, yes, its not something to be loose and slack off on it takes effort but when you let go of that negative notion of that it being so hardcore and its too fast or not enough and simply make it work for you regardless of your age or sex. Look at it this way, its like you're writing your own script in a movie and you pick out the various scenes, characters, dialogue and angles of your shots and yo get to direct it, star, produce and control your own Oscar Winning flick. You know the exercises and you know what they do so what's next but pitting them together and creating something unique and out there that is an adventure and full of wonders. 

"It never gets easier, just more interesting."

What Makes These Courses I Talk About SOOO Special?

When you hear someone talk about this course or that course and how it changed their life or made them a better athlete and all that sometimes can sound like a broken record. You heard me or in this case read so many times about my love for animal movements and conditioning and making progress its becoming sickening at times to some people. Truth is, I love to write what i'm passionate about, its not to annoy the crap out of anyone its more likely to give something a positive outlook and not look at the bull$hit that makes certain comments people make that is negative and full of bad reviews and why its total crap.

I don't just love any particular fitness course, I love the ones that make me feel awesome about myself, inspires me to train differently, not be like everyone else and break the rules. They make me feel special because at one point in time (actually more than a few) I didn't feel special towards other people, I wasn't living up to their standards or they're expectations and having to hear that its a hobby and not something to keep doing especially as you get older and things like that. Fitness at times for me is a sanctuary, a place where I can be my true self and do something that makes me happy and inlove with life. I have two loves in my life that matter more to me than anything and that's fitness and my girl. Talk about a double jackpot.

The courses I put up are special to me because they drive me and help me learn new things all the time and while growing up I had to learn in a very frustrating manner frequently learning how to be a social talker, say the right words, use my right hand more often, learn things similar to everyone else (although I was in the Special Ed System for the longest time) and act a certain way using body language and speech therapy. I had many teachers, my parents did the best they could or knew how and certain things clicked, some didn't and what didn't work usually works for the general population.

Fitness Books, CD's, Equipment and being in a seminar believe it or not taught me more about myself than all the therapy and learning in school combined in the sense where it made me discover my true self and my true calling. It skyrocketed my imagination, gave me something to focus on and enhance my learning abilities. I'm not discrediting anyone who ever taught me but yet when I discovered things on my own and went at my own pace I became smarter, stronger, willing to absorb what gave me that feeling of interest and felt good about myself. Fitness taught me about what to look for, the type of goals I wanted to shoot for, helped me find a place using skills I always had trouble with.

People can talk about the physical transformations, the praises from friends and family, the outlook of their whole existence and making a habit to spread out whatever made them turn into another person but for me it wasn't transformations or praises or talking about the stuff I do to stay in shape, its the discovery of being human and knowing that no matter what life throws at me, I will always have something that helps me be the best version of myself. That's what makes them so special. It is the love I get out of it that carries over to other areas of my life that many don't realize about me. I do hold back at times turning down the volume of my true self but those that see me at my highest volume know who I truly am and I show it. Whatever makes you feel special about yourself you should hold onto it for dear life no matter what because if it makes you happy, people will see it and whether they like it or not you'll let them see the real you and share your passion of it.  

How Many Courses Can You Possibly Learn & Master?

Something is always trending in the fitness wyrld and when someone finds it catchy they jump on it like a trampoline. Its not a bad thing to do something buts another to do it when you're told to or because it "looks" awesome than you aught to be doing it. You can learn the very best and the very worst courses on the planet from DDP Yoga to Insanity W/ Special Guest Jane Fonda and it still won't be enough to truly understand the concept of Self Discovery.

I have many books on different subjects ranging Charles Atlas style exercises to Chi Kung, Mythology Themes, Bodybuilding, Weightlifting, Animal Exercise, Gymnastics, Cardio, DDP Yoga and much more yet when it comes down to it, I just come up with my own thing and I'll tell you weye....I look at it as someone who's a MMA Fighter (Bare with me on this), you can learn 10,000 techniques and know them like the back of your hand but in a fight or competition the amount of techniques you actually use is a fraction of that. Let's take someone like Ken Shamrock who knows wrestling like its a second language, has an arsenal of submissions he can use and knows where on the body to take down an opponent yet in a fight he only used maybe a few moves and that's it to get a win.

When you have studied something or practiced many things over an extended period of tyme, you will only use a small portion of what you have learned because you have a specific goal and these are the tools to help get you there. Many fitness courses are more useless than sitting by the fire out in a hailstorm, its just not going to turn out well. Learning long ago that in order to be the very best you have to find the things most suited to your goals and objectives. You can't possibly master everything you learned at 100%, not saying it isn't possible to attempt it but chances are when you master something its because there's going to be things that tie that goal together. I take bits and pieces of what I learned and mold them into my own puzzle shapes, use what I find useful for my goals and make it a habit to learn as much as possible and use the best of what's there in that particular time.

Discover for yourself what you want to learn, be intuitive and challenge yourself by studying and participating what would work best for you. There will be days you want to do something different, that's ok. Absorb what you're passionate about and take bits and peeces of what suits you.

"It doesn't get easier, just more interesting."

Maximizing Natural HGH With HIIT

With all the animal training and experimentation lately and getting a new toy; i'm thinking of heading back to doing really hard training 2-3x a week and the rest of the time just play around. Now what would I be doing? High Intensity Interval Training. For those playing the home game, HIIT is a form of conditioning that can be done by exercising really fast for a very short period of time. Its only done a maximum of 3 times a week and can be done by training to levels that get you winded fast and I mean fast, so fast it makes fast people look not fast (sorry had a The Longest Yard moment); this can be done by doing things like Hill Sprints, Burpees, Fast-Paced Push-ups, Run hard out on the field or track, anything that makes you huff and puff faster than the Wolf from the Three Little Pigs.

My favorite style of HIIT is doing Sprints, lately due to living in weather where the seasons change, I've done more of them indoors by running hard in place for 30 seconds. When its nice out and the grass isn't very wet I would do Animal moves like Bear Crawls, Kangaroo Jumps, Frog Hops and others that tire my ass out quicker than the Rock sweating in a Ballerina studio. Now what does this do exactly? I'm not going into scientific terms since I'm not into that stuff but in simplistic terms, this type of training done properly can skyrocket your hormones and burn off fat the fastest humanly possible. Our hormones are what keeps us young and our metabolism is what burns off the unwanted excess fat from our system and keeps us lean and mean. When we reach a certain age like beyond 30 or 40 those hormones begin to break down by a small percentage every year as we age.

For most folks its nearly impossible to have that surge of hormones and burn off food and not gain an ounce of fat like we did in our teens and our 20's. I'm here to tell you that it is possible to have raging hormones even beyond your formative years by using the right tools of training, eating & balancing stress levels it is amazing what you can accomplish. I'm in my early 30's so although i'm still younger than most I've been around my body is beginning that stage to where my hormones need to be in check and not be on high alert but need to beware cause let's say I stopped doing what I do right now at 32 and laid off for 10 years, I can lose up yo 15% or more of my natural growth hormone and testosterone and begin looking like an out of shape, lethargic & flat out ugly bastard that can't do shit for exercise let alone move. I may still be young and under 35 but I'm not going to let that happen not by a long shot. I do have good genes in small areas but for the most part, I have to bust my ass to balance out the levels I want to reach.

From my experiences when you move hard and fast say like how the cheetah chases down a gazelle, your body has to produce more hormone in order to rebuild and recover the muscles being used and everything gets on fire. That's what I love about Animal Moves & sprints, it doesn't take long to really feel it and your body feels like you're going to die. So if you moved very hard whether its power-walking, swimming, sprinting, jumping rope or doing basic bodyweight or weightlifting exercise it develops a greater surge of Growth Hormone and Testosterone to the point where even hours after a workout, you're still burning calories at an alarming rate and you produce greater natural muscle. So what would be a standard protocol of HIIT? You start out with 10 seconds of really hard exercise and do that 4 times, rest as long as needed between sets, after a while build it up to 15-20 and up to 30 seconds for 6-8 sets of work. You're resting the majority of the workout yet can have a greater calorie burn than in an hour of cardio. What's one of my favorite methods? I would do a hard sprint then rest for a minimum of 90 seconds up to maybe 3-5 minutes depending how hard I really went.

How is that possible to get those kind of results if you were told to do an hour of cardio a day and lift weights 2-3x a week? For the most part they tell you that so you can pay a ton of money to join a gym or buy cardio machines that barely fit in your living room and profit from your inability to think for yourself and tell you that there's a one-all be all way to get results when in fact that's simply not true. I've been around different types of trainers for years from cocky kiss-asses to hardcore no bullshit type of guys and out of all of them less than a few really know the true value of putting on real muscle that is functional and the ability to burn fat like a furnace regardless of your age and sex.

Product Of The Day: Superhero Sprints

One of my all-time favorite courses that is simple and inspiring plus it doesn't hurt that it's Superhero themed. This course teaches you how to Sprint anywhere and provides workouts that are challenging and fun whether you're a beginner or a World-Class Athlete. What would it be like for a guy to have the lean muscle of Wolverine? A powerful and conditioned woman to have the physique similar to heroes like Wonder Woman or The Black Cat? What's the full summary of this program, simply put its Sprint Training with an addition of Circuit Training (doing one exercise after another with no rest). So you would sprint hard either in place or outdoors whatever works for you than after catching your breath and ready you do a circuit for 3 minutes tabata style (20/10 protocol). Its a 6 week program that you do up to 3x a week and progress to doing longer sprints (either for time or distance) and do a circuit of exercises after resting, you repeat this process for a specific number of sets. The longest time it'll take to finish (depending on your rest) is roughly 20 minutes for the entire workout. So you're only looking at training very intensely around an hour a week. That's pretty insane if you can grasp that thought but it is possible. Now what's really insane is the price for this bad boy. I'm sure you're thinking somewhere around $40? Nope. $25? Not even close. How about $19? Still off the mark. When I got this course, it was and still is $9. Nine freaking bucks that is packed full of exercises, info and workouts that you can use for the rest of your life. That's literally a buck cheaper than the monthly cost of a Planet Fitness membership, so think for a second how much money you can save from getting this course alone. Crazy right? This can maximize your growth hormone to levels that made your teenage years look weak. I literally have greater energy and have levels of testosterone that are far higher than I ever was in my teens and I'm in better shape now than in my 20's. So if I can pull this off, I highly believe you can too.

The Flow Of The Animals

Happy Thorsday Guys,

Thought I'd attempt to have you break away from all the politics, tragedies and Superstar Athletes' stand by kneeling by giving you something that is positive, fun & downright awesome to do. You see, as you may have read lately about my experimental Animal Fitness regimen, another form is bringing me back to the exploration of primal movements & that's the Animal Flow 2.0 Program where you learn to hold, travel, combine & even stretch the specific moves of the All-Bodyweight course. You've heard it a thousand times on how beneficial and fun bodyweight training can be when you mix in the Animals; from my personal experiences with other systems there is no other adventurous style of fitness than the animals.

Mike Fitch is the Owner & Operator of the world-renowned Global Bodyweight Training Website has developed & mastered a beautifully crafted course that is chalk-full of different ways to use the 3 basic principles of Animal Flow which are the Ape, Beast & Crab. These are are the basic animals that can be transformed into a level of fitness that suits all levels from the humble beginner to the highest of World-Class athletes. It develops coordination & agility unlike any other Animal course out there today and can be done for a variety of goals whether its building strength, attaining agility, insane conditioning or flexibility.

With practice you can come up with a variety of moves that take up every muscle in your body and stretches and tones the toughest areas around the body such as the abs, chest, shoulders and hamstrings. Although it helps lose weight and burn off fat it brings out more of a natural muscular frame where you won't have much bulk but lean muscle that gives you that athletic look and believe me you won't just look awesome you'll have the goods to back it up such as more energy, loosened joints, bodyweight to strength ratio, flexible shoulders & hips, surge of growth hormone, strong but supple wrists and many other cool goods that will developed. It can be tricky to learn at first but don't get discouraged, I was once in that same boat but I kept at it and got more agile & mobile. I mainly do this program to get more flexibility and create better mobility in my tendons and joints. At 268 lbs. that isn't easy by any stretch (pun intended) but it becomes more interesting.

Flow within your animal spirit and look into getting fit and strong the fun way that not only challenges you in the process but brings out a child-like imagination that in the long-run creates a better attitude towards fitness and strength training. Most programs can be a real pain in the ass because its either too serious, doesn't have any excitement & feels like you're putting in too much work just to get something going; with this type of program, it won't take you long to get winded, workouts are short and utilizes multiple muscle groups, teaches a variety of combos and stretches that last from a few minutes to however long you want. Once you have the basics, you can do whatever you want from there and create your own flows, combos, stretches and holds that work for you and your goals. I got in a few flow workouts yesterday and although I may still feel them, I also have a great deal of energy and loosened muscles that just has me feeling like a million bucks man.

"It never gets easier, only more interesting."

Have a great day and be AWESOME!!!

Being More Primal Everyday

Taking in the mighty style of Animal Exercise I've also been doing Primal Movements (Similar to systems like Animal Flow & Gold Medal Bodies) with an addition of more naturalized human movement that takes on ideals like crawling, jumping, balancing, twisting & moving laterally, forward, backwards & using all 4 limbs down to one. I'm fascinated by how these moves can be incorporated to any fitness regimen and aid in sports to help heal possible injuries, make the body near injury-proof and develop control.

Its becoming more of an epidemic everyday that young men and women are now weaker than their parents and grand-parents. I find that a little hard to believe at times but I see many kids today over the age of 15 just don't have the energy or the strength to go about day to day whether its in school, out and about, at home or wherever else. Its a shame that these kids have to live with this and its not all their fault; its pressure from the media, social media, parents, teachers, even coaches at times where its become so bad that bullying has become an issue, disrespecting elders, not earning respect and learning that showing up is all you have to do and you get a trophy for doing so.

Everyone can benefit Primal Movements because it doesn't just enhance muscle building and brain activity, it can benefit helping others learn various skills, work together, share tips and common traits in order to develop the best possible version out of that individual. Kids need this kind of training to give them hope that they learn the value of others and how to treat them, being respectful, being positively competitive & doing things that can increase their learning abilities and rewiring how they function with a great attitude. I get it some kids can be a little on the edge and that's normal but when you throw that off balance say more negative than positive, that's going to bite you in the ass later on. Its important to model play, fun competition & teaching the ethics and active body of movement.

Being primal in fitness opens up doors for many people and makes exercise interesting & exciting. When you do something that's boring and uninteresting, your brain is going to shift into an area where when you aid that element its going to transition to other areas of life that can make a person be a little more introverted, less likely to be motivated & positive, learn that life isn't up to their standards and takes their anger out on someone. I can't prove this theory but when you go in a certain direction, a chain of events begin happening. When you lean more towards doing something that is exciting and gets someone motivated and positive, that part of the mind can crossover into helping someone live their life with fuller aspirations, being loveable and fun to be around, has a great attitude and helps others the best way they can.

Movement is much more than physically doing something; it can start a chain reaction to a path for someone that enjoys life, finds things to learn, be open to other possibilities and has a mindset that carries over to other areas in their life. Be more primal everyday. Train anywhere and be excited about it.

Be A Sponge

For over 10 years I've been learning and absorbing everything that peaks my interest in the fitness world. Although my main interest is Animal Exercise I love finding out cool stuff about training that is unique, off the wall and very off to the side non-mainstream styles of programs. Taken in so much yet use very little which is the best possible way to get what you want or the type of work you're willing to put in.

You can learn 10,000 things in your lifetime but most likely you'll end up using only a fraction of what you learned in order to get the best possible results. We can't use every single thing 24/7 otherwise we won't be able to sleep and take in what can be truly useful. When it comes to fitness I believe its important to utilize our senses the best way possible in order to get the best results when it comes to losing weight, building muscle, burning fat or whatever; hell we can do multiple things in order to get what we want out of our learning but like Bruce Lee once said "Use what works, throw away what doesn't." Everything you have learned may not always work in a particular situation so you pick little things here and there and take what you can get out of it.

Learn what you can and take it in like a sponge, its important to have as much knowledge as possible and using the very best to get what you want. Its like being in a fight, you can know 10,000 ways to take out a guy or cripple him but in the end you may only use no more than 5 moves at best. Absorbing what interests you keeps you motivated and finding out what brings you joy and taking in what YOU want to learn. I can be a stubborn SOB when I learn from people and if I don't have an interest in it, its not going to work out very well. When I really take in what interests me, my creativity comes out, I find fun ways to write and share things with people. When you learn as much as possible, it develops your individuality and finding things about yourself you didn't know before. I would have never thought back in 2005 that I'd become a writer that is being followed by people all over the world, make money from selling products, afford food or save up for trips, save up for a ring for my girl or buy cool toys, books & my favorite movies all because I promoted something I love and talked about it. That's the reward for learning and taking in what I can use. It can only get higher and you can do the same thing and do it even better than I can ever do.

Make the best of what you learned and put it to use that works best for you. Share with other people, help them learn and give them tips that help develop themselves. We all can learn from each other, the question is what is it you have learned that you have used to be successful? Even if you have failed there's always something to learn to pick yourself back up. I'm constantly learning this because yes I have failed in a lot of areas of my life but I've also been successful in many areas too so it is possible to make the best of things no matter how bad or good they are you always have a shot. We all fail and succeed at some point in our lives but no matter what, we can choose to do something from what we have learned and absorbed.

Product Of The Day: Advanced Bridging Course

Our spines are our most valuable part of the body that we mostly take for granted. If you sever your spine, you can be paralyzed for life and lose a piece of yourself you can never get back. When you lose those nerves from the brain to the spinal cord it can be very challenging to live life at its fullest. Its very important to strengthen our spines and keep them as injury-proof as possible. I've hurt my back a time or two and because of those times I almost felt paralyzed and can barely move and every muscle hurt just to get out of bed. When I learned Bridging Exercises, I began to feel things that I never experienced before, it helped me regain strength in my spine, legs & feet, my neck got stronger to the point where I was pain-free or close to it and opened up my posture. I got so good at it that I can fall back into a bridge without hands and (using my hands) kick over without hurting myself. At over 250 lbs. that's not an easy feat to do and feel amazing that I can do this at my size. This type of training can save your life in more ways than you'll believe. Become more flexible, agile and do amazing things all from learning the aspects of the Bridge.

Darebee Of The Day: The 100 Seconds Workout

It almost sounds too good to be true to get in amazing shape in 100 seconds. I mean come on, aren't you suppose to get the best results from 30 minutes of cardio and an hour of weights? 100 seconds is only a minute and 40 seconds so how the hell is it possible to get exceptional results? By putting in a great deal of High Intensity training that is anaerobic (Without Oxygen) and burns off fat the fastest way possible. When you do a Level 3 workout (all 7 sets) that's a total of 12 minutes worth of training. When you do this workout up to 3x a week maximum, you can burn fat like a furnace and build lean muscle mass that increases Growth Hormone up to 520% capacity, that's 10 times more than the leading injections that athletes and actors take to build muscle and look younger and its all done using your own body's capabilities no matter what your age or sex. Build up to this and this workout can literally be done anywhere and anytime.