Isometrics For Cardio Conditioning

Did you know that sometimes being still can burn calories like crazy? Now I didn't say relaxed because some people think being still and relaxed are the same thing, they're not. When I first learned the concept of Isometrics, I just figured it was more about strength because you're not moving or anything, just contracting and relaxing the muscles right? It turns out, the more you learn about Isometrics, the more things you discover that goes beyond just building strength. It' not just about building dense muscle and developing a physique (Just look at guys like Otto Arco and Bobby Pandour), it can give you quite a cardio workout if you do it right.

There are quite a few ways to get a great cardiovascular workout using Isometrics but the main two that really hit the spot are:

1. Circuit Isometrics

Like a circuit, you go from one exercise to the next practically without stopping. This normally would be for HIIT, Bodyweight, Weightlifting and other methods using movement but with Isometrics; you take one contraction, take a breath, do another and so on and so forth. Let's say you do three positions for the chest using various hand placements and just go flexing hard in one position like downward, take a breath, do the middle, take a breath and do the upper, switch hand positions and repeat.

This is more of an advanced type workout where you have understood the mechanics of contracting the muscles using a specific breathing pattern and can handle it. This isn't something for beginners, so once you get a feel for how to apply Isometrics, you can do this kind of workout. Hell of a fat burner and building up that heart rate that can get you sweating in less than a couple minutes.

2. Aerobic Isometrics

This type of training can be used for both beginners up to advanced trainees. It's very simple, you hold certain positions and stay there for as long as you can. The idea however is to not necessarily flex hard for a short period and relax, it is to keep the contraction to a lower percentage say less than half of a hard flex. An example of this would be to test yourself in a horse stance or even a half squat and hold that position for let's say 30 seconds to a minute. For the average person, a minute can feel like an eternity. How about just hanging on a pullup bar; simple enough, grab a hold and lift your feet off the ground. Not easy is it? This method of Isometrics teaches you how to control your body while breathing deeply and concentrating as you hold a position for an extended period of time. For some athletes, in order to be tortured after hard practices they would do a wall sit and really let those muscles burn to a great degree. If you hold long enough, you'll start to feel your whole body being worked, not just the muscles you're focusing on. Take the Plank as another example, this full body Isometric works your body from head, all the way down to your feet; for most can't handle more than 30 seconds. There are endless exercises you can choose to hold a position in.

Now what does this have to do with cardio? Well, when the muscles are firing after a period of time, your heart rate can jack up because the more muscles being used, the greater you're generating a strong heart rate. This doesn't mean you're going to have a heart attack or anything but once you have control over your breathing, it opens up new doors for your conditioning. Now this is going sound contradictory but with great breath control, you are conditioning the body in a different light, you can almost seemed relaxed in certain positions but internally your body is firing but in a good way.

Aerobic Isometrics can make you feel lighter but have a stronger ability to contract the muscles without compromising speed. This method has also been known to make someone go faster. Think of it this way....Think of a beaver dam, it holds large amounts of water and looks calm and soothing but when it is let go, it comes out creating a far larger impact and causes great chaos in its wake. If you hold a position like a runner for 2 minutes and then start to run, think how fast you can be. It could go up as much as 20-30% faster than you'll believe.

Isometrics can generate amazing cardio within a short period of time. The incredible endurance you can have is within your reach.

For more info on developing your body through Isometrics, check out 7 Seconds To A Perfect Body and learn the best exercises, the history, anatomy and breathing techniques in this one of a kind course that is one of the best in the modern age.

Your Path To Optimal Vitality

Let me tell you a fascinating story...

Mr. He (pronounced ‘Ho’) was a 58-year-old drunk, largely because he was depressed. And why was he depressed? Because of his lifelong lack of potency and a weak constitution.

So one day he passes out in a drunken stupor in the forest.

As he slept, he dreamed the roots of a plant were making love to each other. When he awoke he noticed that he was right next to that same plant so he dug up the roots and took them home.

He began to consume these roots daily.

Soon enough his depression lifted as his virility and libido came alive in full force.

Not only that, but as he continued to take it daily his white hair returned to black.

With his newfound health, he found a woman, got married, and the legend says he fathered 19 children while living to be 160 years old.

Now as a legend this story is undoubtedly exaggerated…

But it goes to show the power of this root, known as He Shou Wu.

Since it has become popular it is regarded by many as one of the very best herbal tonics in all of Chinese Medicine because of how it restores vitality and fights aging.

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Your UFC Fighter For Bad Bacteria

Today, I’m going to talk to you about something kinda gross. But it's something we all have.

Yes, I’m talking about bacteria. The thing is, bacteria is all over us but it only harms us sometimes.

We actually have more bacterial cells than we do human cells, which makes me wonder...

Are we bacteria? Maybe I should call you ‘microbe’ instead of calling you by your name.

Just kidding. That would get confusing real fast since I, too, am a microbe. Let’s go back to the bacteria talk for a second.

One way these bacteria can harm us is through infections. Infections come in many forms, but one of the most common is Streptococcus Pneumonia.

This tiny bacteria works its way into your lungs and then multiples, which can cause the common disease known as pneumonia.

Pneumonia can be life-threatening depending on the person, and it costs thousands of people their lives each year.

Those who have weak immune systems are the most vulnerable to this bacteria. These include older men and women, anyone battling a disease or those who are malnourished, or young children.

Luckily, your body has many enlisted soldiers ready to fight bacteria off. One organ that plays a key role in this is your spleen.

The spleen is the largest organ in the lymphatic system, and its primary function is to keep your blood healthy.

When healthy blood enters your spleen, the organ gives it the go-ahead to circulate throughout your body.

If it notices blood cells that are suspect, whether they are damaged or unhealthy, it hires a slew of hitmen known as lymphocytes. These are your body's white blood cells and their job is to destroy any harmful blood.

Your spleen also serves as your primary blood store. It can actually hold up to a cup of blood in reserve if you’re ever in an accident (God forbid) and you lose a lot of blood.

Getting back to the topic of Pneumonia, your spleen also responds to bacteria and viruses in the same way it responds to unhealthy blood cells. Meaning it hires the white cells to whack them as well. This includes bacteria like Streptococcus Pneumonia.

If you want to avoid being sick, retain muscle and joint health as you age, you must take good care of your spleen.

How you can hurt your spleen?

Consume too much alcohol or drugs
Physical trauma to the spleen (such as a sports injury)
Eat a diet rich in gluten, soy, dairy, shellfish, and any chemically processed foods
Have blood disease caused by abnormal blood cells
Breathing air filled with pollutants
If you engage in these activities too much, your spleen can become enlarged from fighting off too many harmful substances.

Symptoms of an enlarged spleen include...

Feeling discomfort, pain on the upper left side of the abdomen, especially after eating a large meal

Easy bleeding
Weight loss
Changes in appetite
Frequent infections
Anemia
Yellowing of the skin
How to keep your spleen in fighting condition?

Eat clean meats like wild salmon that are filled with omega 3 fatty acids
Consume plenty of nuts and seeds including chia, flax, and pumpkin
Increase green leafy vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and kale in your diet
Exercise 3 times per week to keep the blood and fluids moving
Regular massages or sitting in a sauna can also help detoxify your body
And one our personal favorites...

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Hear The Fat Scream Like Wicked Witch Of The West

If you heard the screams and melting elements of your unwanted fat, what would it sound like? What type of bloody murder sound would you want to hear when that fat melts like butter and switches to dense and defined muscle? To me it sounds like Margaret Hamilton just sounding off or Judge Doom imitating Margaret Hamilton. For anyone else, maybe it sounds like some chick getting killed in a Horror movie or a character you hate in another type of film dying. I don't think anyone wants to hear Darth Vader screaming NNNNOOOOO in Episode 3, that just sounds too dreadful.

With all this talk about screaming bloody murder, let's get to the nitty gritty of why you want to hear that type of sound. When we train hard, that sound in our minds can be beneficial and maybe a little psychotic on your part because you just want that unwanted fat to just die and go to a place that even the Devil himself would hate to be in. There are many ways to do a fat loss program but it takes real strategy and specific type of training to burn fat like a furnace and make it your bitch to torch and watch it go up in flames. The cream of the crop in my opinion is through High Intensity Training 2-3x a week or (if you got them) Hill Sprinting up to 10 sprints each workout 3 times a week max. This will without question will torture fat so badly it has no choice but to die in painful agony. Another powerful method is through Isometrics.

Isometric Training is a safety net compared to sprinting where you don't have to move at all but be in a position where you contract (Flex) a muscle or series of muscles hard and than relax them. What this does is create immense blood flow and with great focus can build dense muscle and have fat melt out. You can do Isometrics virtually anywhere and anytime. There are limitless exercises you can come up with and various methods of Isometrics such as holding a calisthenic exercise, Muscle Control, pitting muscles against each other and tons of others. With Muscle Control, it teaches to isolate a particular muscle by contracting and relaxing at will; Muscle vs. Muscle is like doing a curl but only in one area to flex hard enough it looks like your hands are wrestling against each other and Calisthenic Isometrics is like holding a push-up in the top, middle and lower positions as long as possible or flexing hard up to 12 seconds.

Isometrics are a classic form of exercise that has been around for eons and has been used by the greatest and toughest athletes in the world. Methods of Yoga require you to hold certain positions for a length of time more than just flexing really hard. Wrestlers use Isometrics to strengthen their grip and joints to take down or mahandle tough opponents. If a grappler has a solid hold of you and you can't escape you're screwed. Boxers use Isometrics for punching power and speed strength for various punches in certain positions. Isometrics can even make you move faster because when you hold a certain position for a period of time like a minute with 40% of your strength into it, it can make you feel light on your feet.

The greatest bodybuilders such as John Grimek, Otto Arco, Eugene Sandow and Bill Pearl used Muscle Control to build dense muscle before competitions using unique posing routines to get that extra out of the muscle and research yourself on their accomplishments using this method.

You can do Isometrics in a lot of different ways for different reasons but the main things they can do is help you lose weight, burn fat like crazy, build real muscle, make you feel lighter than air times and have you feeling incredible. I use them often and even done holding positions from Animal Movements to strengthen myself from different positions. They have aided in my weight loss from being 275 lbs. down to as low as my current weight of 246-248. They are miracle workers for sure when you really focus on them and even adding them to your routine.

When Repetitions Become Boring

I tackle certain exercises such as Squats, Pull-Up, Push-ups and V-Ups and do my best to do as many repetitions as I can whether in a row or in total.....I have done 500-1000 Squats in a row on a few occasions, 600 total push-ups in a single workout, nearly 50 pull-ups in a workout and over 200 V-ups using a deck of cards. There comes a time where doing a lot of reps in a workout just becomes let's say so tedious & boring (more boring than anything) and you have had enough. It isn't because they're not good or that they don't produce results but are you really getting the most out of them mentally and emotionally invested; in other words, are you even having fun doing them?

Don't get me wrong, calisthenics are phenomenal and do a lot of good for the body but where are you truly? If you're having fun with them than that's amazing and it makes me happy you enjoy them but after doing something of 100 or more reps, it's time to find something new. This is where Animal Movements come into play and why I'm so passionate about them. They have opened my eyes to other possibilities than doing endless reps of calisthenics. I love to have the ability to move my body in awkward positions, stabilize my core different and walk or jump in ways that calisthenics can't even touch. Let's say you can do 500 Squats consistently, why not amp it up and do 500 Frog Jumps or take 500 Steps of a Bear Crawl or Crab Walk? Even the greatest athletes might need an oxygen mask after doing 500 steps or jumps of an animal exercise.

Instead of rep after rep, how about taking steps in different directions and see how long you can go. It's all about perspective and what you really get out of it. I get far more enjoyment and a challenge when I do animal movements than when I do high amounts of reps of a regular exercise. 500 Squats is awesome to do, but once you get the hang of it, it's not impressive anymore and it becomes a cycle of doing it day after day. I want to be invested in something that gives me that thrill of a challenge and keep coming back for more, I wasn't thrilled about doing 500 Hindu Squats anymore and knowing I can do them, loses my interest; not knowing how i'm going to do the animal moves or what the dice game comes up with that day makes me anxious but in a good and I look forward to either a day of playing or a day of ass kicking (it's 50/50 everyday for me).

The "Human" aspect of fitness when it comes to calisthenics is finding out how many reps in solid form can be done (except for crossfit, most of them wouldn't know form if it was written on their foreheads) and how often to keep doing them. For guys like Karl Gotch taught the idea of 500 Squats, 250 Hindu Push-ups and Bridging as the fundamentals for wrestling/MMA, Alvaro Romano taught Ginastica Natural which took aspects of Yoga, Flow Movement and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to combine elements that condition the body for fighting and health plus others and their ideas are awesome and have worked for many people but I tend to go my own route, learn what I can use and mold it as my own. Now the Animal aspect of fitness is where you learn to coordinate your body from awkward angles, crawl, jump and utilizing the fundamental elements of nature which is the original form of calisthenics.

I love being an animal and I'm far from boredom when I get in that zone. It's playing a game and learning how to use your brain and put in a different kind of effort to live healthy, strong and vibrant. You can never get bored with Animals, they don't take up much time to even start to feel bored cause you'll want to catch your breath. Go wild my friends.