Can Strength Be Built Using Isometric Exercise?

Many people around the world debate and think about what the best system is for building strength; from my point of view, a solid program should have you train your body from the inside out. In the terms of building real strength and not just looking strong, Isometric Exercise isn't as popular of a method like many of us physical culturists want it to be and our job is to help educate on the reasons why it can possibly build strength and its purpose in not just exercise but for overall health.

Isometrics in a nutshell, builds tremendous strength out of the tendons, ligaments and the nerves out to our muscles. I've done both styles of training that includes isolating the muscles and targeting the muscles in a compound setting of using multiple muscle groups in a given exercise. Don't neglect the internal principles that could actually bring greater stability to your body within and outwardly.

Frankly I have found that I've gotten stronger both within a short and long-term stand point than with just about an other method I've practiced. Performing styles of Isometrics doing short but crazy intense periods and long holds using less intensity to target the muscles and the surrounding areas for a different effect. Using a program like 7 Seconds To A Perfect Body utilizes the way you maximize the intensity of a contraction for 7-12 seconds. This will give your body a mighty chance of developing strength.

The tension and the intensity of a contraction are the deciding factors that produce muscle growth. Lifting a weight is the external stimulus that makes the muscles tense or contract because the body sees the weight as heavy and recruits many fibers of the muscle to move the weight. Now the more difficult of the weight lifted, the more the fatigue builds up. Isometrics forces you to maximize the level of contraction off the bat and making those muscle fibers fire and fatigue within seconds.

With the combination of Muscle Control and training the large muscle groups, Isometrics lets you get a powerful CNS response that goes into building great endurance along with muscular size. From performing feats of strength such as steel bending, phonebook tearing and rolling a frying pan to helping people move, shoveling snow and even going up flights of stairs, Isometrics have been a blessing and has kept me from being seriously injured in the long run. Make it a part of your regimen and find out the benefits in your health and well being.

If you travel a lot or aren't into doing bodyweight isometrics, check out the WorldFit Iso Trainer.

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The Squat Workout From Hell

I bet you thought this was about doing some crazy weights and doing 20 reps of squats with that weight huh? No no my dear reader; this is about squats you can do anywhere and anytime without any equipment whatsoever. This workout will make you sore yet won't get bored, it changes every time and you can vary the reps or do multiple variations. It'll never, EH EH EH..EVER, make you feel the same way AGAIN (if you're a fan of Chris Jericho, you'll catch that reference).

Squats are THE exercise to build enormous stamina, functional strength and insane conditioning in the legs. You can do them in a variety of ways and at various tempos, repetitions and sets with other exercises. However, when you start to them in high numbers, say over 100, you'll start to notice a few things; your lungs are a little stronger, a bit more pep in your step and even a little more led in your pencil. Leg Training has been a staple for many athletes in all types of sports but one of the very best variations is the Hindu Squat. A foundational exercise in ancient India to build powerful legs for wrestlers that practice the old art of Kushti.

The practice of this exercise comes in different forms but wrestlers of that region plus other middle eastern countries regard it as the ultimate leg exercise. Some wrestlers and other athletes today do it in the hundreds, sometimes 1000 or more. They normally do it at a fast clip and used for speed, conditioning and balance. This is where this workout from hell will come into play.

I've done 500 Squats on many occasions and a couple times 1000 or more. My goal at one time was to see how fast I can do 500 without compromising form and my fastest is under 12 minutes, that's cruising like a motherf*cker man. The first time I did 1000 was in 56 minutes, the next time was 33 minutes on my 33rd Birthday. Although this means with numbers like that you're in pretty good shape but some don't want to have that accolade of being fast and doing that many like an athlete. Some people just want to be in shape and like doing them in sets or like a pyramid set of reps where they can also take a breather every now and then, nothing wrong with that. For someone like me who has a stiff lower back, I don't do the speed demon style anymore, instead I use a workout to do high reps that let's me break away for a bit if I need to and not feel forced to just keep going for the sake of keeping going, I can injure myself that way.

The Squat Workout From Hell would be a good ole fashioned deck of cards where you shuffle, flip a card and have at it until you reached the end. At first, getting through a few cards can be a chore so do what's possible, add 1-3 cards each workout until you can get through a full deck. I do a deck that goes up to 500 altogether and focus solely on the Hindu Squat. I don't time myself but I move as best as I can and if I need a breather to let my back loosen up, I do so but always do my best to finish the deck each time. Here's how you do 500 Reps with a deck of cards.....


2-10 is Face Value

King, Jack, Queen are 10

Aces are 16

Jokers are 50


This workout can be done anywhere and shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to complete. If you were to do them straight through, the idea is 15 minutes or less. I used this workout before going on a hike with my dad last week and it paid off big time. I don't hike all that much so this kept me in great shape for it. You can do it in your hotel room, at a park, on the beach, in the parking lot before going into a restaurant or a grocery store (just be sure to have a towel on hand, might look weird if you're sweating in the middle of an aisle or eating a meal) or you can do it before a sporting event. This is the effectiveness of this workout and it always changes, you can do high reps multiple ways.

Be sure to do loosen up the joints and gradually build up the numbers, you don't want to do 500 off the bat and cold cause it can have some effects that may not feel good. You will be sore the first time around so be sure to recover well and be consistent, in time it'll feel like a cake walk. This is a great way to get in awesome shape and build incredible lung power.

A Fun Trip For A Fun Birthday To My Dad

I don't get to spend much time with my dad these days and for obvious reasons. For a few days last week, I got to celebrate his 70th Birthday and have a wonderful time with my family in Santa Cruz, California. Got some great one on one time with him and having fun conversations about life, sports, what I've been up to and going on a beautiful hike with him on the trails in this mountain area called Medicine Buddha.

Thursday was mainly just getting over the flight down to San Francisco and head back home in Capitola. Nice dinner, catching up and having a few laughs. Friday had a few activities going on including the Hike, even though earlier that morning was doing 500 Hindu Squats to keep my knees in shape for the Hike itself lol. Spent some time with my 98 year old Grandmother and visited/spent the night at my best friend's house with his girl and son. Lots of laughs, a couple movies, dinner and making his girl regret having 2 35+ year olds acting like teenagers in the house.

Saturday was the big day, gathered up most of the family for a photoshoot out in the beautiful california sun along the beach. Headed back to the house for a ton of food and cramming 20+ people in his condo. Caught up with as many people as I can and making rounds, talking to a few of the kids and playing with them a bit. No cake this year but their friend Lisa made this awesome Cobbler that was pretty damn good. Gave my dad a really awesome birthday present of a baseball jersey of his childhood hero Willie Mays (#24) with my dad's last name on it. The moment he saw it, he got a little emotional and went off to change into it, it was a proud moment as a son to do that for him.

Sunday morning I had to leave and head back home. Missing my wife like crazy and was ready to be back home and resume the life man. Next time we see them will highly likely be on our annual family trip to (South) Lake Tahoe and soak up some sun, swim in the lake, do a little gambling and have a good ole fashion family adventure.

Spend some time with the people you love and soak every moment you can, you never know when you'll have those moments again. Cannot wait for what's in stored for the next episode of the family that puts the FUN in DysFUNctional.

The Things That Make You Laugh And Yet Pity Someone At The Same Time

It's come to my understanding that no matter how hard you try at times, you just can't please everyone and what's really the point of doing so? If they're important to you, it may be worth it but in the end, if they're just a bunch of dumbasses talking high school bullshit, they're going to give you shit no matter what you do. You know those mean tweets celebs read on those late night talk shows? I get that type of feeling from certain people that have literally gone out of their way to not only try to discourage me and burn the hell out of what I do and what gives me purpose but also say things that just makes you either want to punch them in the face or cripple them.


"Boybenny is the lowest two faced worm going......he is a true c*nt"

"Benny is a pitiful weak piece of shit. Never trust a guy who pities himself publicly."

"Benny on the other hand, comes in clumsily with all the finesse of the hammers he uses on those tires."

These were said recently on a forum literally dedicated to bashing anyone associated with John Peterson and his Charles Atlas-esqe Training style. I have written about these guys before but these recent comments directed at me are just toppings on a shit cake that they decided to put their energy and life into. First, it did bug me because, quite frankly, no matter how much you put yourself out there, nobody still won't understand the real you until you've been around them. Now, it's just so damn laughable and cowardice that it just makes me feel sorry or them.

It really is fascinating to me that I have that kind of power to make people really irritated and actually form words that would make a highly patient therapist to tell them to shut the hell up. Such a train wreck for those poor unfortunate souls (you heard that in your head listening to Ursula's voice from the Little Mermaid didn't you?) to live a life where you feel the need to belittle and trash someone other than your own group of circle jerks to not only feel good about your miserable lives but actually get off on being a negative prick. I'll admit, I'm not perfect and like a human being things do get sensitive but you move on and live with things that also make you happy and feel worthy in this world.

If you want to check out these poor bastards, by all means lurk around; calling themselves "Aging Macho Men", what you'll find is nothing more than a bunch of "Grown" Men posting about a group of people who are into fitness and trying to find their place in it, even if it's odd and and creepy at times. I take a look every now and then mainly for the entertainment and for someone like me, it's like looking at a car wreck, you don't want to look but it feels like a tractor beam lures you in and you look anyway.

In part, I have really nothing against these "Men" cause for one, they have a right to voice their opinions and make their own conclusions and two, no matter what I do or say, they'll come up with their own version of what they think I' am and stick with it. Anybody who truly knows me knows what kind of person I really am and show it with complete transparency. They don't have even 5% of a clue of who I really am. That one comment about my hammer and the tires, I would love to see a video of them handling a hammer that weighs nearly 60 lbs. I welcome it, i'll give them a positive review about it. And as far as trusting me, there are plenty of people around me that trust me without question so whatever these Gargoyles believe, they hate themselves more because if they want to bash and put a dark cloud over someone else, that's more to say about them than the person their trashing.

The internet is chalk full of those who would rather be miserable and make others feel miserable. Live the best life you can and create positive attitudes, I struggle to do this everyday so you're not alone and I really hope these guys find peace otherwise they're never going to change and they'll keep being miserable people with no chance of developing any real love. One day, I will wake up and not have a thought about them but until then, I really hope they find a different path and do things they're truly capable of doing.

The Game That Makes You Work And Play At The Same Time

Having a fun and exciting workout gives off great energy whether you're a kid or an adult. Working towards certain aspects of training is what keeps you disciplined and full of wonders of what you can accomplish. With all the various exercises and doing hundreds to thousands of repetitions in many workouts, taking on the form of an animal is at the top of my list of having an exciting workout.

I've come to accept that I most likely have ADD and with the way I observe things like thinking back to certain workouts and picturing what I was feeling and how I started really taking a look at my attention span during a workout, it's becoming more and more clear that doing certain workouts will only carry so much attention and I naturally move on to something else. It's not the exercises don't work, I just have a lot of trouble staying consistent with certain things. Hence where moving like an animal gives me what I need to get done in a workout.

The animal dice game that I've raved about a number of times, targets the reality of paying attention to detail both physically and mentally compared to other forms of exercise I've done. With regular calisthenics and doing weighted exercises, the biggest details is technique and repetition and once you get the reps going, there's not a whole lot of thinking to do at least imo; when you do animal movements, it goes beyond repetitions and forming technique, it's paying attention to every movement you do and forcing your whole body to work in unison through crawling, jumping, balancing and more throughout awkward directions.

The order in the ADG is never the same twice and forces you to continually adapt where with other exercises, you create an order and stick to that order throughout the workout and you know what's coming. When I know what's coming, I tend to lose attention more often and yes I have done circuits and things of that nature where you repeat the exercises over and over but after a while, it becomes tedious and you know what is coming. You can never know what's coming and that's what makes the ADG so successful for me because I have to keep working my brain and be prepared no matter what comes up.

Although it's a game, it makes you work hard without feeling like you're working hard. I've gone nearly an hour and a half  doing this workout and I still didn't feel bored or even that fatigued, it's a continuation of sustaining energy and keeping a solid level of conditioned strength. It can be worked in different ways; as a warm-up, as a workout in and of itself, it can be done with a partner for racing or tagging, it can done whether you're a beginner or advanced and you can vary the numbers of repetitions/steps you can do by doing the numbers by themselves or doubled or higher and you can have either small space or a big one. You can do it indoors or outdoors and with some exercises, you can be stationary.

How long does a workout have to be to get results? A good start would be 5 minutes but once you get the hang of it, the sky's the limit; like I said, I once did nearly 90 minutes of this game and I rarely ever go that long in any workout and depending on my mood and where my mind is at, I'll go sometimes for no more than a half hour or 10 minutes. Master the movements and keep improving. I've done this workout to get me to calm down from being so hyper, done to help raise my endorphins from having a rough day and even did it just to wear down me and my wife's niece so she can get some energy out.

The only item you need for this workout really is a dice piece and it can have any number on it and you can pick the exercises you want. You can make a list of animals for each number and if you remember those animals after doing it so many times, the list isn't needed and you can go all over the place. You can do them backwards, forwards, sideways, one legged, fast or slow, used as isometrics or whatever you want to do. There is no limit to what you can come up with for this game.

Have fun and get in kick ass animal shape.


Animal Workouts Book (Kindle Version)

Animal Workouts DVD (Streaming Video)

There's an option you can buy both the Book & DVD together. (:

Slowly Getting Back To Being An Animal Mover

For some time, I was throwing myself into a series of workouts that had me doing circuits, step ups, ab wheel rollouts, card workouts, 500 Hindu Squats and other things. The step ups are great to do from time to time and although I've done them literally in the thousands now, it's time to step back and go back to my roots of animal movement.

In the animal workouts I've done recently which were of the Animal Dice Game, going for 20-30 minutes at a time, it just felt right and feels so awesome to be back in that element. It's a change of pace of not needing to be stationary and have the freedom to move about which is what I missed. Don't get me wrong, the workouts with the cards and the circuits are incredible and it gives you an interesting concept to train hard while learning to make it exciting, but I was getting burned out and at times my mind would just not be there when I did my deck of cards workouts and have to stop smack in the middle even though I've done full decks several times.

Moving like a wild animal is my favorite form of expression and physicality when it comes to exercise. Moving in awkward positions, jumping, crawling and setting a pace where I'm working hard but can still go for an extended period of time. Done thousands of squats and thousands of step ups, I feel my legs could use a little break from them and just have fun moving around. I love doing duck walks again and getting that stretch for my knees. As you may have read in the past, my knees need maintenance every now and then since I had issues with them since I was 10 years old, my right knee in particular.

This won't be an everyday thing or it will I haven't decided yet. I'm going to go by what is right with me and what my mind and body want to do. I'm not a routine guy and i'm not going to force myself into a workout that doesn't feel right at the time but I will do a workout that gives me a reason to be excited to do. It's not easy by any stretch to exercise every single day but if you can find a little something to do even for 5 minutes, it'll be worth it. For me, no exercise for a day is a death sentence and unless i'm in a coma or I can't move my body other than my eyes, I'm doing something.

Slowly getting back into my element of animal movements is my thing at the moment and I can't wait for what's in stored.


Animal Workouts Book

Animal Workouts DVD

(Buy Them Together For Under $50)

The Other Side Of Goal Setting That Nobody Wants To Talk About

Everybody has goals whether we admit them or not. It's good to have goals whether it's losing weight, building muscle, getting on a sports team, making a starting roster, lifting certain weight, developing a business and so on. We read these self-help books and learning how to set goals and what we should strive to do or try to be in a particular point in time.

I have made many goals in my life, I've failed at many of them too and for some of us, we see more of the losses than the wins. If we focused on the wins, we want to keep that streak while some remain the same or use the same strategy or do something different to remain fresh but with something to look forward to. We are taught that if you set a goal, you're going to achieve something beyond yourself or learned that if we set goals but don't achieve them, we are failures and weaklings because we couldn't make something happen.

We are a country that strives to be the very best at just about everything but the truth is, we have failed more times than we care to admit and we never speak of it cause we don't want to lose face in front of people. There are certain goals in life we will never achieve, not because its within reach, but because it is unrealistic and not meant for everyone. Not every tall person will become an NBA Player, not every MMA Fighter will win a world title and not every businessman will be CEO.

I'm not saying every person who plays basketball shouldn't strive to be an NBA Player, not saying an MMA Fighter shouldn't have a goal to be World Champion and I never said a businessman shouldn't have the opportunity to climb the ladder in his company. It's the little goals that tend to make more of an impact than the little ones. Think about it this way, in math, you just don't start out in Calculus; you start with baby steps and take little leaps to rise up in that particular subject. Some people are slower getting there, some will be faster and some will stop at a certain level that their brain capacity can take them. They still achieved a level in math and use it in their daily lives or in some capacity.

When you set a goal, learn the baby steps to get there. Some goals take years to achieve, some even in days or weeks, all in all, get the most out of it and obtain the knowledge from it. Some have failed to the point that they don't see a reason to set a goal anymore and that's not right. We all should strive to reach certain goals that make us proud and bask in the gratitude of doing something others thought couldn't happen. The irony is, many people struggle just stay alive. Their goal is to just get through the day and more often than not can be debilitating and rough.

I struggle creating a routine for myself in working out, I barely last 2 weeks at times and I feel like a failure when I lose that drive to make it work. I would force myself sometimes to push on and although I feel good physically, mentally, I feel like crap and often wonder what the hell i'm doing. I've worked out every single day since the beginning of August, 2005 and there were many days where I didn't want to jack shit but I always seem to tell myself "Do something small like for a minute and that's it." Some of my goals were to see if I can be like fellow athletes I admire and learn their training styles. Bob Backlund is one of them and after going through certain workouts, it's important that I tell you that, the man even today is a damn machine and many world class athletes won't be able to keep up with him; he's on a very unique level of conditioning.

I will tell you right now that if you're striving to be exactly like certain people you admire, as noble as it is, you're in for a rude awakening. They got to where they're at because that's what was meant for them to do. Walt Disney was a great man in his own right and made things happen that nobody can come close to achieving and there will never be an equal to him. There will never be another Michael Jordan, there will never be another Dan Severn and certainly there will never be an Abraham Lincoln. Don't go for being the 2nd version of someone, be the 1st version of you and turn that volume up.

Set goals that make you unique to everyone else. We can't duplicate someone else and what's really the point of that anyway? They're great to learn from and it's not a bad thing to be like them but in the end, we are only one person. There's always going to be someone stronger, faster and more driven but you have an opportunity to make things happen nobody else can fathom. You have something inside many don't have and taking that first step to figuring that out is 100000 times more than many won't even attempt.

Create goals that separates you from the rest of the population. You will achieve them in time, won't always get great feedback from it and not everyone will root for you but if you want it bad enough, you'll find a way and remember to take those baby steps, as the old saying goes, a 1000 mile journey starts with a single step.

The Real Purpose Of Fitness

All over the world, you'll find info about what fitness method works in this capacity or that capacity and the truth of the matter is, it goes beyond a method. It has more to do with what is the true purpose and the realist goals in the long run. Most fitness methods out there are pure garbage or just a rehash of what came before. We are led to believe that in order to get results, we have to be somewhere and use this machine, this set of weights, this type of workouts and work our asses off till we throw up.

Some of us treat fitness as a way to prepare for war or at least the apocalypse which in some sense can be good in the way of challenging yourself and developing levels of strength and conditioning at a higher entity beyond the average person but in the end, where is it truly going? There are some strong ass people out there with real world strength, not just lifting a weight. They carry with them a sense of knowledge, wisdom and understanding the true nature of how to apply exercise for the real world.

We do tend to forget that many of the fitness magazines mainly promote conventional methods and push on the fact that certain actors and athletes train specifically for a role or their sport. The average person cannot train like an elite NFL player or MMA Fighter and certainly does not have the capacity to challenge themselves the same way an actor trains for a role. I have fallen into that category a time or 2 so i'm not immune to not see what the fuss is about and take a leap. The facts are, when an actor trains for a role say like in a Superhero film or an action movie, they have to go through specific workouts and meal plans to suit what the film calls for whether it's bulking up or developing muscle tone, they have trainers supervising them and pushing them for that very purpose. If a regular person tried to do that on their own without any prior knowledge or experience, they can very much get hurt and thrown onto a stretcher and have to pay hospital bills.

Personally, I like being my own guinea pig and experimenting with certain methods and mold different ones together and see where they lead. I have had little minor injuries I'll admit but I've never pushed myself to the brink of blacking out or puking up a storm. I don't even see myself training as hard as many pro athletes cause why would I need to? I'm not getting paid millions of dollars to bust my ass for a sport. The closest training I would ever put myself through would be wrestling or MMA and that barely even goes through lol. I have pushed myself hard and some people call me crazy for what I do but I always look at the bigger picture, to be better tomorrow and not focus on comparing myself to others because it doesn't matter if some train harder or less than me, I make it work and learn from experience the best that I can do.

For my purpose in the long run is to stay fit as possible and adjust to what my body CAN handle and what it CANNOT. I still have no idea what my real capabilities are and although I know certain aspects of me has limitations, I keep finding strong points that I use whether its a workout or not. I had no idea at 35 I can do 500 Step Ups & 200 Ab Wheel Rollouts using a deck of cards, I couldn't imagine doing that in my early 20's; I didn't know that I could do 500 Squats and immediately do a circuit for several rounds. I don't do this all the time but I'm not afraid to find out what I'm capable of doing. A lot of people fear what their purpose is because as the cliche goes, Fear Of The Unknown is the main thing and it's the fear of not knowing or understanding.

Everyone has a real purpose in life, some know it, some don't and others just haven't figured it out YET. We all have a path in this world and it doesn't matter how small or big it is, make the most of it and never forget how you got there and where you started. Every pro was once an amateur, every strongman was once weak and many self-made millionaires/billionaires once knew what it was like to be hungry and have ripped clothing. Be fit both in mind and body and continue to improve even down to the smallest fraction because even something that small can lead you forward.

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