Why Do We Get Inspired By Something That Isn't Real?

Fiction gives off a sense of what can be imagined and utilizing different elements of characters, places, structures, story, genres and more. Although there are things much more stranger or more inspiring than fiction, we cling onto the creative imagination and perceive to take it as the real deal or what we can accomplish in our own lives.

When it comes to fitness, the classic physical culturists of the late 19th and early 20th, centuries were very much real but some of their exploits can be constructed as fiction or over exaggeration. We get inspired by magazines, books, dvds, seminars and seeing what is possible but we also know what we see in our minds sometimes is fiction until it becomes a reality. Many athletes are inspired by Fictional character Rocky Balboa; the training montages, the drama, the fights, just ooze inspiration. Hell there is an actual statue in tribute to a character. We as a people, made something that doesn't actually exist in the real world but we make it seem real because it is that inspiring.

Comic Book heroes inspire people from all walks of life; from writers, to athletes, artists, storytellers and more and many have been successful in their endeavors because of being inspired by comic books. Ronda Rousy is a UFC Hall Of Famer, Former UFC Champion, Undefeated until her last 2 fights, is in the WWE as the champion on Monday Night Raw; she is inspired by anime such as Dragon Ball Z with her favorite character as Vegetta. Companies are inspired by comic books such as Onnit with their rendition of Marvel Heroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man & Captain America onto their products.

Although fiction depicts what doesn't exist, we create reality in our minds and even into reality itself with inventions and constructing new buildings, statues, toys and others to give ourselves or others the ability to see what can be real in a form of context. There are statues of Greek, Irish, Scottish, Roman & Latin heroes that are of pure myth but yet we see them all around the world as an inspiration for what is possible and timeless.

Some people pick on others for using fiction to factor their inspiration into the real world. We use fiction as a creative mechanism and structure our imaginations to find something amazing to bring to life. Read a book, workout from a theme by a superhero, build amazing structures, bring fiction into the world through your imagination. Let's face facts, in reality, fiction at some point, becomes real.

Meditation Practice

I'm one of those people that forgets to remind himself at times to put in meditation practice. It's not about finding the time, it's really more about getting things to shut down so you can think straight. I'm not going to lie, it hasn't been an easy road to the wedding i'm helping plan and put money into. Although we have gotten a lot done, there's still some things to finish up and it's 3 months away.

I practice my Magical Imagineering Theater mediation quite a bit but not a meditation to just let everything sink in and go to a place where everything is off to the side and I can just chill out and be in an imaginary room or outdoor environment where I have complete freedom to create or go anywhere I want. We all live some hectic lives and we don't always give ourselves the time to just relax and let the world go by for a while, even for just a few minutes.

I had learned a technique from Psycho Cybernetics about being comfortable in a quiet setting and imagine myself being in a room or an outdoorsy place that I can create in my mind where everything is off to the side and just relax and calm down. I imagine myself walking down steps to a beach I'm familiar with back in California and sit on the sand. Nobody's around, nothing can harm me, it's warm, the water is calm and everything I picture is peaceful and magical. Now to many people that sounds like Mumbo Jumbo and why don't I just face the real world instead; sometimes we need to back away from reality to recharge our mental batteries. Our imaginations can create or be whatever we want it to be. It's about putting things in perspective and not being succumbed to negative bullshit and letting your mind at ease.

I'm not perfect at doing meditation often and I'm learning to be more in tuned with it because I do have issues of anger, frustration, impatience and anxiety and it's important for me to get a handle on them. They're never going to go away, but they can be toned down little by little and living a better life without extreme stress every second of the day. The mind is like a muscle and needs quality training. So for today, take 5 minutes and go to a place where you feel peaceful and creating that place any way you see fit; it can be tropical, it can be in a cabin in the winter, near a river, in the desert, in a holy place, make it whatever you wish and let it be your sanctuary. Your imagination is endless and your world is your oyster. I will learn to do the same with you because we're in this together and the world can use a little recharge (:

Combining The Hindu Pushup And Hindu Squat

Using simple exercises can make an impact on your training as you may have noticed; however, combining different exercises into one big movement can really take on a realm of fitness that would send your workout into the stratosphere. Such movements as the Hindu Squats & Hindu Push-ups have been a staple for fitness for centuries and in the last 20+ years, have been foundational for people all over the world and not just in athletics but from businessmen, stay at home moms/dads, travelers, corporate managers, high school students, college students, doctors, lawyers, therapists, coaches and others. These movements were originally intended for keeping wrestlers in peak physical condition and now have been for those who want to stay in shape or get in shape again after reaching 40.

The gold standard for these exercises was to do 250+ Hindu Push-ups in a row and 500 Hindu Squats in a row which was set by the late Karl Gotch. Now there is a move you may see Hindu Wrestlers do which looks like a combination of the two that really amps up their conditioning. It's similar to our modern day Burpee which is a conditioning movement for countless athletes in various fitness communities such as Crossfit. Some call it a Hindu Burpee, others the Hindu Squat/Push up Combo and whatever names they may call it but it's safe to say it's a hell of a movement and there are different ways to do it.

I've tried this out a couple times using push up handles for the Hindu Push-up point and it is a scorcher for the lungs and the longer you go, the crazier your cardio is. Now this doesn't mean you keep going until your form becomes sloppy, that's one way of injuring yourself and also it's done at a greater clip than usual but can be slowed down so you can focus on the technique. Shooting for 10 at first is a good start and build from there. When it comes to movements like this, I don't really like counting reps unless there's a specific goal involved like I do with animal movements, just go with it and move. I would keep going until I feel fatigued so when I recover, I can do better the next time around. The Hindu Wrestlers would do their variation and do them in the hundreds to even thousands of reps, that alone would make anyone have endurance for days and if you're a combat athlete or other sports athlete, imagine the level of conditioning that will have you lasting longer than many of your top competitors.

Karl Gotch once said "Conditioning is your greatest hold." Vince Lombardi said "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." And John Wooden has said "Conditioning is essential to success in basketball." Beyond just sports, regular conditioning training is a fundamental component for many areas of life such as being able to keep up with kids as a parent, the ability to save someone's life, a factor if you're ever in a fight and it lasts longer than it needs to be, manual labor and many other elements. Let's make one thing clear, I don't believe in the "No pain, no gain" bullshit so if you're in pain, stop and take care of yourself, do something that works for you and your goals. There is a difference between pain and discomfort, discomfort can be daunting but you can keep going, the thing is to be aware. Some people can withstand pain and some can't. If you're in a sport, injuries are common but they don't have to be common with you so be careful but don't ever not challenge yourself either.

Take a shot at this exercise and see how you do. How many can you do before form becomes scarce and how long can you go without fatiguing?   

A Full-Frontal Assault On Work Burnout

Put on your bronze helmet and grab your dory spear.

It’s time to embrace your inner Spartan.

This one is guaranteed to give you more energy and less stress, or your money back.

That’s correct.

We’ll send your money back if this formula doesn’t give you…

More gusto for workouts
Greater endurance levels to push through when your body’s screaming ‘Quit now’
More relaxation — even under pressure
Higher levels of focus
For the formula, it takes the best adaptogens and packs them into one, high-quality bag.

By taking this, you’ll flood your body with extra layers of energy.

You’ll also feel a waterfall of relaxation wash over you.

It is called ‘Spartan’ Formula.

It’s built so you can go balls to the wall as the ancient warriors did in every battle.

Let’s be honest.

A Spartan’s life wasn’t easy.

In fact, aspiring Spartans were often beaten during training to measure their toughness.

While you won’t be flogging yourself to test this one (we hope), we know you could still use a boost in other ways.

Maybe you’ve just taken on a big project and want to prevent your brain from skidding into a smoky cloud of burnout.

Perhaps you keep giving up too early in workouts.

This will help you plow through those important moments where your body tells you ‘Ok, we’re done here.’

Maybe kids or relationships are wearing you out. And you don’t want to snap and say something you later regret.

This formula keeps you cool when you know getting hot isn’t the best option.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what's put into it.

Eleuthero

This herb was a favorite of Russian soldiers during the Cold War. They used it to test soldiers ability to withstand grueling cold conditions. It was also used by Russian athletes during the Olympics, which allowed them to become a dominating force. To date, they’ve accrued over 1,800 medals, second only to the United States.

A study on mice showed the compounds in Eleuthero prevented lactic acid buildup. Lactic acid is that soreness feeling you get after pumping iron or doing cardio. This burning can slow down or even halt your athletic activity.

Imagine how far you could push yourself if you didn’t hit a wall of white-hot pain 10 minutes into an intense workout.

Schisandra Berry

Is the gold standard of tonic herbs. It’s the only adaptogen in all of Chinese Medicine that enters all 12 meridians.

These include the…

Kidney
Pericardium
Triple Warmer
Lung
Large intestine
Small intestine
Liver
Bladder Spleen
Heart
Stomach
Gallbladder

In short, it’s got a lot of power. It combines the five tastes, salty, sour, bitter, pungent and sweet into one. As an adaptogen, Schisandra’s primary powers come in the form of fighting stress.

This herb has been shown to…

Reduce cortisol levels (the stress hormone) in the body
Control changes in serotonin and adrenaline caused by stress
Fight adrenal fatigue caused by stress
Help with night vision

Rhodiola

This adaptogen is great for stress. It does this by decreasing or preventing hormonal changes tied to prolonged stress. It’s known as ‘The Golden Root’ or ‘Arctic Root’ and survives in the harsh mountains of Europe and Asia.

Rhodiola also…

Increases your red blood cell count so you can fight fatigue
Reduces effects of depression through its high concentration of Rosavin
Aids in weight loss as a fat burner
Cordyceps

Rounding out our Spartan is one of the most potent medicinal mushrooms for energy. One of the biggest indicators of energy during exercise is our ATP levels. Nerd alert. ATP, also known as Adenosine Triphosphate, is a complex organic chemical that provides energy to drive many processes in living cells. These processes include muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, and chemical synthesis.

This makes ATP the most direct and rapid energy source to exercise.In a recent study, female mice given Cordyceps and forced to swim saw a 151.2% increase in ATP. (Note: we do not condone animal testing. This information in this message is for educational purposes only).

This herb was definitely one that had to be included in an endurance formula. Does this sound like enough natural power for stress?

Click here to pick up a bag of Spartan today.

Indian Clubs For Baseball Training

In the old days of the National Pastime, there weren't too many gyms around that helped ball players get stronger, faster and in those days the biggest guy wasn't more than 210 lbs. They built their reputation by mainly just being ball players and the strategies were different, the hardest hitting teams didn't total any more than 20 Home Runs a season. There was one tool ball players did use but it isn't known which teams really used it however; one team that featured it was written in a newspaper/magazine way back in 1934, the middle of the Depression. The tool they used were the Indian Clubs.

During Pre-Season/Spring Training, coach Judson Hyames put his players through a regimen of Indian Club Training to develop suppleness and mobility in their wrists before they did their throwing and hitting. Apparently this coach knew his stuff because this kind of training and other areas of developing skills made this Ball Club a wrecking crew on the diamond as they were undefeated for a 2 year period and in 1934, went 14-1. They were the Western State Teachers College Baseball team and under Hyames, they had a 166-62-2 record.

The clubs are a smart way of training the body for your sport whether it be baseball, tennis, MMA, wrestling, basketball or others. They work the small muscles and increase strength and flexibility in the joints along the shoulders, forearms and elbows. They open up the chest and develop great Range Of Motion. Grab a pair and have at it, learn the movements and see what you can develop.