Be In The Best Condition YOU Can Be In

It's never easy to get in shape or be healthy physically, mentally & emotionally and when we do, a lot of times is because we want to be like people we admire or want to have their figure/physique, have washboard abs and have bulging muscles. There's nothing wrong with admiring others but we can never truly be exactly like them and i'll tell you why; It's physically impossible to look and feel exactly like another human being. You can get plastic surgery, train hard, eat the same exact foods, impersonate them and do whatever it takes but in the end, you will always be you.

I wanted to train to be like Arnold when I was lifting, that didn't pan out because I got too exhausted trying his routines. I wanted to play like Michael Jordan when I was in my teens but that definitely pan out because I couldn't grow like him and had no where near 1/10th of his abilities. I wanted to be like my favorite wrestlers but I never could wrestle or be in the shape they were in because I just didn't have that kind of passion. I did however get in better shape at the age of 30 than I ever did in my 20's and it was because I made it my mission to not be like anyone else and focus being in the best shape for me.

You see, we focus so much on impressing others and wanting to look like others because for most they have very low self-esteem and have very little respect and admiration for themselves. I'm not saying you have to be a narcissistic prick to make that happen but when you learn to see you're worth something regardless of what anyone says and you have the power to make things happen for you and you alone, things become a reality. I'm no millionaire and believe in working for myself plus as much as I love getting paid for what I do I don't have thoughts on getting so much money I wouldn't know what to do with it. When I was growing up, money always made me feel weird inside because people I know and cared about used money to buy someone's love and used it against their very own blood. I'm not saying it happened all the time but money to me is nothing more than to be used to pay bills when needed, have a little spree here and there and get food. Do I think its evil, absolutely not, I think it has a lot of worth to a person's life but it should never be used against someone or make someone believe because they have money they're more important and controlling everything. Condition yourself to trust money that works for you. Unlike other people I know, when I spend money on someone else whether its for my girl, my family, friends or a complete stranger I don't ask for anything in return unless its for a purpose other than that it makes me happy to help someone or just do something nice, there's no agenda, no back stabbing and no secrets of what I want out of it.

Being in condition whether physically, financially or whatever is more on the journey than the destination. We don't realize that being in shape really has no deadline and if you push too hard it'll bite you in the ass. I exercise everyday not for the sake of being better than somebody but because its fun and I do it with my heart and soul only for me. Don't waste your time becoming someone else, that's what second rated people do, first rate people get in shape because they have something within themselves and go through the struggles to better themselves. There are things I can do a lot can't but the opposite is also true, there are things I couldn't dream of doing that others can do and you know what, that's cool with me. There's always room for improvement and its important to be around those that believe in you and when people are jealous of your accomplishments, they will do whatever or say whatever to bring you down or in so much fear of what you can do, they'll try to suck the life out of your goal setting and point out negative bullshit. I say bring it on. I firmly and passionately believe in what I do and have been told a number of times that I what I do won't get me anywhere or that people won't care about what I have to say yet I'm still going through walls like the Juggernaut bitch.

Be the best possible YOU!!!  

How Do You Spell D-E-C-K (Never Look At A Deck Of Cards The Same Way Again)

Today is my HIIT Day and I'm going to dominate it with a vengeance doing 4 different Burpees for 8 Intervals for 30 Sec. On & 90 Sec. Off; that works best for me and seeing results with this method. Yesterday however was just a brutal and a bit of a longer workout where I took out my deck of The Matt Furey Exercise Bible and hammered out Hindu Squats, Hindu Push-ups, V-Ups & Tablemakers. Normally it takes me a good 45 minutes or so to finish the deck but since its been a while it took much longer to finish but I finished it nonetheless.

When it comes down to it, using basic exercises and molding them into a conditioning workout with a deck of cards is one of the best ways to get in awesome shape period. I have done the deck in a variety of ways; from animal exercise to Squats & Push-ups and the Matt's Exercise Bible and it never gets easier every time. I train to be in the best shape possible for my size and changing things up works my brain better because if I repeat too many of the same workout I get bored and become grumpy. That's the beauty of a good deck, it's never the same and the reps change with every workout. This is the same format that Karl Gotch used on his wrestling students and beat the holy hell out of them. Although it took me a while, in between cards I didn't just lay down and die, I stretched and did plenty of deep breathing and drinking water, I was determined to beat that sumbitch come hell or high water and if it meant taking a breather every now and then I did so but when I was ready I hammered them out.

At first, you're going to need to take breaks because your body is not use to that kind of stress and if you go too fast too early you can hurt yourself and you're going to need an iron lung. Build yourself up, takes less breaks each workout, let your conditioning come naturally and never give up and break away from the cards. Remember, they're just a plastic-coated pieces of paper yet the longer you go, the more you may hear them screaming at you to quit. The more conditioned you are, the less breaks you'll take and eventually you'll be bursting through them like a cake walk and when that happens, you'll be extremely fit and you'll be looking more like an athlete with the stamina to back it up.

 This type of workout has been used by athletes from all kinds of sports like Pro Wrestling, MMA, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey and many others. Some of the most famous stars have done this workout to maintain insane shape from guys like Ric Flair, Ray Lewis, Ken Shamrock and others. It doesn't have to be the same exercises you can change them up to say Burpees, Sit-ups, Pull-ups, Kettlebell Swings, Sandbell Slamming, Battling Ropes, Hitting a tire with a sledgehammer (A personal favorite of mine) or whatever you decide. It gives you variety and an ever changing landscape of building great conditioning and being in shape fast. Here are some cards to look into that are pretty awesome and can be a motivator instead of those boring generic cards....

Indiana Jones

Animals

Superheroes

Football (Oakland Raiders)

Get in shape and make it interesting. Remember my motto "It doesn't get easier, just more interesting." In the words of The Nature Boy "Learn to live with it and learn to love it."

Making A Mean Program Using Burpees

There aren't many courses dedicated to the Burpee but one I found truly does that and then some. It's written and published by MMA Conditioning Specialist Funk Roberts called 50 Shades Of Burpees. Here's the scoop on it...

Just when you think there were only a few variations of the Burpee, good ole Funk puts the cherry on top of a giant cake with 200 Variations and over 50 workouts ranging from Sports to MMA, Conditioning, Beginner & Advanced. The names alone are pretty awesome but once you see what the workouts consists of it makes it even more bad ass. Although its geared towards Finisher Circuits and Tabata Style Circuits, it can still inspire other ways of High Intensity Interval Training.

Learn the history of the Burpee and why its practically pound for pound one of the best if not the best in getting a heavy workout anywhere anytime using little to no equipment that burns fat, builds muscle and adds on HGH like there's no tomorrow. To me the price was well worth it and i'm just touching the surface of the amount of variations I've tested myself on. Understand why its a staple for conditioning for world-class athletes, military and law enforcement recruits to test the wills of individuals who seek and are demanded high quality endurance and toughness. For examples of the variations check out the Video below.

44 Of The Greatest Burpees Ever

Getting Back To The Bridge

Hey Bad Asses,

I've been getting back into Bridging lately mainly to stay in good shape but more importantly keeping my spine and abs strong especially when it comes to recovery from my Burpee HIIT Workouts. It's important to keep your neck and spine healthy even in various sports like Football, Wrestling, MMA and others. I have been off and on doing Bridging Exercises for over a decade now and even at 32 Its important to maintain that healthy spinal cord and keeping the core strong well into my 40's in the next decade and beyond. Sure I'm young and still vibrant compared to those in those in their 50's and 60's but at the same time I feel bad for those poor souls in their 20's and in my age range already having issues with their joints, aching backs and thinking they're "invincible" and testing their limits in just everything. I'm all for having a great time and testing what you're capable of but at some point, certain things will come back and bite you in the ass if you don't take care of yourself.

I've read reports on crossfitters as young as 17 already having back surgeries and tearing their joints to death before they're even fully developed. Young girls in their 20's putting on way too much muscle for their structure to handle and training hard as much as 6 days a week and busting up their bodies like its a prestigious thing to do. I get it; the excitement, temptation and the belief that if you push yourself to the max you'll go far. Actually the opposite is true; when you don't give yourself the time to recover, being aware of your body's ability to regenerate and not progressing according to your body's needs you will get hurt and have injuries you can never come back from.

Back to me talking to you about my latest bridging endeavors; whether on my days off or some time before my big HIIT Workouts I've been working towards slowly building back the type of flexibility I had back in my 20's where going into bridge wasn't all that difficult with or without a wall, hold a gymnastic bridge well and bridging for health reasons not for the glory of being crazy flexible and strong in the exercises themselves. Last night I did 3 types of bridges just before I started writing this. It helped clear my brain, felt more relaxed and getting that endorphin high that only bridging can give me. This is the type of training that opens up the body in a very meditative manner, its intense but not hardcore. Its not only a way to build strength but also put muscle on the legs, back, abs & yes the neck. Most people cringe seeing someone holding a position where their head and feet are the only body parts touching the floor and of course its not for everyone yet the percentage of that is extremely low. Its understandable but when you don't give into fear and look at what its really capable of in terms of your overall health, the way it could protect from very harmful injuries and be the very reason your spine is as strong as it can be. I could easily hold a 3 min. back bridge cold if I wanted to but doing only one type of bridge will have me neglecting the other muscles in the neck and work my abdominals from another position. The Back Bridge or wrestler's bridge extends the abdominal wall while the front bridge is the flexion of that position. You want to have your muscles working in the best positions possible working opposite areas of the body not from an isolation standpoint but utilizing the body as a whole.

Bridging is one of the areas of exercise that has helped stayed injured-free for years; I've never had a spinal injury, never bruised my neck, never had a concussion and have kept my back so strong I've never really had to take as much as an asprin or muscle relaxer when it had a spasm or two. I feel healthier and stronger when I bridge & I get into a greater state of meditation than through any other method. It puts me into a state of mind that is calming and soothing even though it is an intense contraction or isometric hold throughout the exercise. You can learn more about by checking out my friend Logan Christopher's course called Advanced Bridging. Its got info on everything he knows about the Bridge from the simple holds to doing insane athletic moves, some of which I learned personally from him. He is the main reason why I love Bridging so much, he doesn't just teach the exercises, he goes into the very depths of the underworld on Bridging and what it can accomplish with the right strategies for flexibility, conditioning and unbelievable level of strength & agility that you won't get from anything else.

Learn about it and let me know what it has done for you. Always love finding out from others what they think of courses like this.

Have a great day and keep in touch. You all are awesome.

Big Ben

4 Minute Abs

Anyone who's been around infomercials knows about the Super Core Workout: 8 Minute Abs. The type of workout that is quick and get you building muscle in less than 10 minutes a day. Let me point out that most infomercials are full of bullshite and are really just entertaining globs of crap that 95% of the time or higher have no real usage in the real world or in real based fitness elements. Those little videos of "fit" people trying to sell a product to the average person where they suck you in and make you put down money that you earned through hard work (or stole out of your nana's purse) so you can "build" the body of a greek god or goddess. Talk about marketing BS.

What if there was a way to not only cut that time in half but get greater results without the need to really hype anything and go with old-fasioned, balls to the wall conditioning that works for all fitness levels with progressions and variations that can take the weak and make them possibly nearly superhuman in the most humanly possible? Its the one exercise that can be done anywhere, anytime and will jack up your heart rate nearly or close to in the one of sprints. What if this one exercise got you winded so fast you need longer time to recover and not only that but jack up your hormones regardless of your age or your sex. Its the Burpee my fellow fitness crazies; a classic movement that has stood the test of time since it was a mainstay for World War II trainees to prepare for the fight of their lives. The Burpee puts on muscle, helps you lose weight, burn off fat and aids in your endurance all at the same time.

The Burpee not only hits the legs and muscles of the upper body but strikes into the very Core (pun intended) of your abs where stability and contraction are needed to doing a solid Burpee movement. So you're getting the best out of one exercise. When you add in the push-up it becomes an almost mystical form of conditioning where fat screams bloody murder, muscles pop up and your cardio becomes your greatest ally. How can you do this in 4 minutes? You can do 8 Intervals where you bust out a set for 30 seconds and then rest for 90; you're only working a total of 4 minutes and then dogging it the rest of the time. You can also use it as a finisher where you do 8 rounds of 20 seconds on and 10 seconds rest. Think about it, being able to train a total of 12 minutes a week and be able to burn calories like crazy even hours after a workout. No more long and boring runs on a treadmill, no more forcing yourself to go outside in bad weather (seriously, you'd have to be into S&M if you think you can workout efficiently outside during a hurricane or in a place like Antarctica where the warmest weather is -18 and your balls are sucked back into ribcage) and no more excuses that you can't do them anywhere; you can do them in a hotel room, at the park, around the corner of your building, at home or anywhere else.

This is one of the fastest ways to put on lean muscle and burn fat like butter on a hot pan and have it melt like the Nazi in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Get your lungs firing and soon enough, you'll be seeing and feeling the body in a whole new light. Go ahead, give it a shot. You might like it.

Sadistic Conditioning

Whether in sports, getting in shape or proving to your buddies, you want to be in the best shape possible for whatever an occasion calls for (mostly) not only at the beginning at something but just as much left in the tank for reserves at the end. Its important to challenge yourself and do better at your next workout but it doesn't have to be ruled like a crossfitter or a pro athlete. The average person for the most part won't last a conditioning workout like a MMA Fighter or Pro Football Player hell even a Pro Wrestler, its not meant to be like that yet you have all these magazines and "gurus" telling you that if you work out like a world-class individual you'll be just like them. Sure its great to have a fit body and have the stamina of a wrestler or the strength and speed of a linebacker but there's also hospital bills you could end up paying because you ended up injured or were sadistic enough to think you can handle it.

If i'm telling you this, why bother having a title this article says and be contradictory about it? Well, there's more than one way to skin a cat and that's developing your own style so you can be in the best shape you can be and be world-class all on your own. I have had people tell me how crazy i'am and how my strength and endurance is off the charts and all that but as fun as it is to hear that, I know there are people out there far better than I could ever be and i'm ok with that. I didn't start out being very strong and full of energy in the tank, I had to build up to it and it wasn't overnight, it took me a lot of years of experimenting, challenging myself and learning many aspects of full on conditioning. I'm no where near the level of World-Class Athletes but I can knock out 400 Squats & 250 Push-ups using a deck of cards, I can move a 30 lb. Thor Hammer and hit a tire over 1000 times, I can go a good 20 minutes doing Animal Exercise and Sprint up a hill well. I'm not saying these numbers to brag, its to tell you if you want to be sadistic and be World-Class on your own, it takes time and its never easy, hell if it was I'd have Hulk Strength & the speed of Quicksilver by now but it doesn't happen that way. Everyone is different.

The word Sadistic to many says i'm off my rocker, someone who has no regard for morals or throwing the rule book out the window yet if you were around me, I look nothing or act anything like that. To me Sadistic Conditioning is not how far you're willing to push yourself, its taking the rule book and making it my own, its willing to do something most wouldn't dare to go to, building my body through interested forms of exercise that I want to be the best at for myself and not be compared to anyone else. I see it as a way to make yourself different and not care what people say about you. I have my own levels of sensitivity and I take it day by day but in the end, I'm going to do what I love and be very good at it. Take risks man, test out things, if they don't work for you that's great, something will come along and regardless of the difficulty, if it keeps you interested you can do cool things with it. I train for myself and if anyone wants to learn, all you got to do is ask. Be sadistic in your own way but be positive about it and learn to use your mind and body to do things that are interesting to you and make you happy. People may give you weird looks but others might even join you, you never know.

"It never gets easier. Just more interesting."

Why Burpees Are The Best For Those Short On Time

Not everyone will have an hour to be at the gym or be able get in the time they feel like they need in order to get the right training going. I have had times where it was almost impossible to do the type of training I wanted to do because of either traveling, can't get away from a party, shopping or whatever else but regardless I always did something even if it was for 5 minutes.

You need to get through your narrow brain that no matter what time you have there's always something to do. That's what I love about Burpees; they are great for time crunching training either as a finisher or a HIIT Workout that requires less than 6 minutes of work. When you have a 5 minute window and you need something to do, do a set of Burpees or variations you may find online and do a couple sets of 5-12 if you can. If you're really ambitious and are in good shape, go for how many you can do in that amount of time. When you do that you're getting just as much conditioning as if you were doing a 30 min. run on the treadmill. Its a hell of a calorie burner and increases HGH like crazy.

When I'm not writing or doing anything i may get distracted by, I knock out a few burpees just to get my heart rate going and move a little. All I need to do is get off the chair here and get into a good small space and BAM i'm in. If you happen to be traveling and need a good stretch, next time you pull over at a gas station, stretch out a bit and knock out 10 Burpees and feel that sensation of energy. Waiting at the airport? Knock out a few before lining up for the plane (have a towel on hand if you get a little sweaty and maybe some Deoderant LOL). You can do them in your hotel room before you head out for a meeting somewhere or a conference, there's no reason why you can't do something. Don't overthink it and question anything, if you want to get a little something in you find a way to do so or you'll come up with an excuse. The only thing stopping you is you.

No bodyweight exercise except maybe animal movements jacks up your lungs quicker in a small amount of space than burpees. Everywhere you go, you can do them, anytime you feel ready or crunching for time, you can do them then too. Make the time count and be bold.