Some Days Are Just Not As Easy As Others

Ever have one of those days where you just don't have it all there? It happens and sometimes your body just doesn't always cooperate with your mind and your energy isn't all there. I did the deck of cards today doing Hindu Push-Ups & Hindu Squats, managed only half the deck which makes me a little pissed since the last time I did it I went through the whole thing. At least it's better than nothing and still got a good workout out of it.

Over the years, I've managed to get a workout in everyday without fail, rain, snow, the flu, minor injuries and having low and high energy. It's just what I do but I know I'm not superhuman and can go at it 100% every time. The body needs recovery time and when that happens; take a walk/hike, do deep breathing exercises, practice CoreForce Energy, do Aerobic Isometrics, low intensity exercise but at least do something. Today was just a day where my body is thrown off and need to let my body recover a little more plus it's no fun having built up earwax in your ear and half hear out of it (glad I can help with the visual), I did use some removal to help rid of the wax and probably need to do a couple more times than i'll be ok.

Our energies can go way up or way down depending on the situation and it's not always the weather, your zodiac sign or the voice in your head telling you how to feel. Our bodies just have certain days where it's just not there and that's ok. Everybody is different and we all experience various levels of energy. This is more of a lesson of being intuitive and doing what you can do in the point in time. Be careful and listen to your body. Yes there's mind over matter but you can only go for so long before it could bite you in the ass and you can end up really hurt and not do things for a long time. Be smart in your training and trust your instincts.

Recover well my friends and get back to kicking ass when you can.

Hindu Push-Ups And Hindu Squats: A Card Workout For The Ages

Having a solid level of conditioning can be a lifesaver and not just physically. However, being in top shape doesn't come easy but there are smart ways to get in shape and one of the best is through a deck of cards. Having been successful with various decks with multiple variations of exercises, I can say that it does wonders more than what people give it credit for. Karl Gotch believed in it so much it was one of his foundations for developing into a Conditioning Machine. The guy just never seemed to tire.

Karl's style of the bible is through four exercises; The Hindu Push-up, The Hindu Squat, 1/2 Moon Push-ups & Hindu Jumping Squats. He got so good at them that when we wanted to test his limits, he'd triple the number of reps for the exercises or he'd go through the deck more than once, how the hell can you not have crazy stamina from that? I have tried out the 1/2 Moon Push-ups with Gotch's student Tom Puckett when I use to go to the gym with him and for some reason, that push-up never clicked with me, it felt very awkward and doing any proper reps never made it. It's a good variation but it's definitely not meant for everyone.

When I was doing the Matt Furey Exercise Bible (Hindu Push-ups, Hindu Squats, V-Ups & Tablemakers) on a consistent basis especially for the many days in a row I did with it this year so far, I got good at them to a degree, my form with tablemakers was never that great because of the way my hips are but doing that many reps with that exercise did help certain areas but I was never truly fond of it. The V-Ups were a little different, my core did get stronger and I like them better than the Tablemakers but when it comes to Core Building, I never truly liked sit-ups and all that, not that they're not good, just not meant for me. My form in Hindu Push-ups however has gotten better and I'm starting to like them more than I did in the past, same with Hindu Squats; I would do mainly up to 500 Squats at a time and with the cards, I don't need to do much of them unless it was a full deck of nothing but Squats.

When you just do the Hindu Push-ups & Hindu Squats, you don't need to do more than those 2. They are the foundation and the multiple variations of them is just icing on the cake. When I do the cards, for face cards for the Hindu Push-up, I use my Push-up Handles and do them with two variations; the hands places horizontally and placed Vertically, this way I'm not working the same set of muscles every time and just do regular Hindu Push-ups for lower numbered cards (so really three variations). Gotch once said "Always work your muscles from every possible angle." 

I've thought about going back to just the Push-ups & Squats and use that for a conditioning program or a foundation for exercises done later in the day so I'm working my body from many directions. My Core Conditioning mainly consists of HIIT, Animal Movements and the Wheel. For a period doing just the Push-ups & Squats gave me energy to do everything else because I got the hardest workout already done and was smooth sailing from there, maybe I can do that again and start fresh. 

Even though a deck is just a deck, it can also take down even the most conditioned men around and still have them begging for more. Wrestlers have used it, Football Players, MMA Fighters, Bodyweight Enthusiasts, Barstarzz Guys and it's also a time saver if you want to push yourself but not go for hours on end. It is brutal and it's never the same twice. It won't turn you into the world's strongest man but it can aid in how your level of stamina goes and you will last longer in other endeavors. Break out a deck and see how you do, I look forward to hearing about it. 

The Last Stand: Breaking Free Of The Wretched Slime

I guess I'm now one of those guys who has a literal following of Anti-Fans or HATERS that can't seem to shut up about how awful and "retarded" I' am. I have written about them before and I won't mention their site by name. It has been going on for years and up until about a year ago, I started actually paying attention to it. Why I did that, still beats the hell out of me.

I've had people tell me to stay away from them and I didn't listen. I let my own ego get the best of me and I'm not ashamed to admit this, but they came within inches of completely breaking me. I let their warped minds get in my head and for a period, let them live not only rent free but I practically handed over the fucking keys and say "here you go assholes, trash the place and I'll clean it up." I couldn't write, I can barely get a workout in (even 5 minutes felt like a chore) and I was at my weakest mentally and it is my own damn fault.

A friend I made from Matt Furey's Facebook Group said something to me that made a light bulb go off in my head so bright, it could blind Superman. His name is Gideon and he and the others that I FINALLY really listened to and hit me like a freaking freight train (I know, took my ass long enough) inspired me to stand up for myself and live what I love to do and that's train to the best of my abilities and understand that although the haters exist, I don't need to know what they say or do because all they have as a life preserver is negative bullshit that just won't DIE.

The only person in control of their destiny and the way they handle things is ME. Not only do they no longer have the keys, their bones are broken and they're crippled from me taking them. Haters do exist and us writers, bloggers, online entrepreneurs deal with them in our own way. This is mine so to cap this off, here's a little SONG from one of my favorite bands Alestorm that sums up what I really want to say and do to my haters and all the negative people that continue to trash me, my friends, my fellow bloggers and writers.

*WARNING* This song is NSFW.

Be Safe, Stay Strong & Stay Healthy.

Crawling On The Wild Side

For being stuck at home, you can only do so much until that feeling of being closed in kicks in and cabin fever is hitting you like a Mike Tyson punch. Let's take a trip to the wild, maybe not the chaos or going out to a masked filled crowd kind of wild but in our imaginations. A few of my recent workouts have been 10 minutes of my Animal Dice Game with some deep breathing at the end to recover and it has had me feel like a million bucks and letting everything just bask in the glory of blissfulness.

Working out at home can get boring at times and often it's because people end up doing boring, traditional exercises. Animal Movements not only save you a ton of time but you don't have to a ton of exercise either to get the job done. I don't know if you want to turn yourself into a wild animal and terrorize the house like a beast locked in a cage, that might be too easy to do since being on lockdown feels exactly that but moving outside or using a little space to move back and forth can really put you into a state of mental clarity and just having fun. After all, isn't that what we need at the moment, to have a little joy in these dark times?

One of the best exercises you can do is the Bear Crawl. It's very simple, get on all fours and start moving. You won't last very long but it does give you the ability to develop strength, conditioning and other attributes that can actually be lifesaving. You've done a bear crawl at least once in your lifetime; races, football practice, warm up drills in wrestling, testing how long you can go until your arms fall off or playing a game. It has become more of a recreational exercise than for long-term health training. There are different variations you can do but my personal favorite is the way wrestlers, football players, Navy SEALS do them and if it works for them, well.....You don't have to do them fast either, walk slower and still get great benefits.

A good workout would be to do Bear Crawls in your driveway and just go until you have nothing left. I do a demonstration of just putting on some Gardener's Gloves, getting into position and just crawl until I come back around. Takes just under a minute but in that time, i'm hitting every muscle in my body, my arms are like a second pair of legs and focusing on my breathing. There's more to it going on but you get my point, it's a natural form of movement, it takes out the guessing game and makes it painfully obvious if your coordination isn't right, you're going to fall on your face or tip over. There's nothing complicated about doing Bear Crawls, you'll learn first hand if you're doing it right or not.

Have fun, be safe, get strong and be healthy everyone. If you have something to share, feel free to send me a shout.

Care For A Stroll?

Even in the darkest of days, it's good to take a little walk and give your body some fresh air and the blood pumping. Walking is not only a healthy form of exercise but it gives your brain a little boost as well. Every now and then, I'd take a good stroll around the neighborhood for about a half hour to an hour or more and check out the cool houses, the beautiful trees surrounding the areas and getting a beautiful clear view of the Lake. It just puts me at ease and a way to just let everything go for a moment.

Yesterday however, I thought I'd take a different stroll but not around the neighborhood but in my driveway. I took out my Power Wheel, put on some Gardener's Gloves, strap myself in and started walking on my HANDS. This is a hell of an upper body conditioning workout in and of itself. Working everything from head to toe to try to keep balance and not fall off. I haven't done this in a while but it felt good just to test myself out a bit. Needed to take a break a time or two but that's what happens when you try to work your arms as if they were legs.

This really stresses the entire body, mainly the shoulders, arms and wrists. The strength and power you can possess if you did this often is incredible and the condition your core will be in is Epically beneficial as well. Walking in this manner takes incredible concentration and it will bite you in the ass if you don't have the right balance. The idea here is to develop incredible conditioning that lasts and gives you real world functional strength in the long-run. Take your time and as a beginner, just hold yourself up and learn how to balance yourself, take small steps and work your way up.

Be Safe, Stay Strong & Be Healthy.

Thor Catches Loki

The love/hate relationship between the God of Thunder and the God of Mischief is nothing new and brings a lot of metaphors to how we see our relationships in our lives with people. This however, is a lot more Epic even though there's still mystery behind the world of the Vikings and their Legendary Myths and Gods. We also are legendary for having a love/hate relationships with ourselves.

If you have seen any of the Marvel films involving Thor & Loki, it shows that even though there's bitterness, there's still light within the brothers of Asgard (even though Loki is adopted and was born to the Frost Giants). They are polar opposites in just about every way but their opposition is what is the yin and yang of the world, a balance between good and evil and even though we hate to admit it, without Loki or the likes of him, the world would be out of whack. You can't be victorious or a failure without an obstacle, you can't strategize in war without conflict and you certainly can't have god without the devil (the demons within that we face everyday and battle).

In fitness, it's the battle of getting fit or strong or flexible and battling the constant changes our world raves on us but we conquer or set goals to keep ourselves from ever going back to where we were before. It's Muscle vs. Fat and much like Thor & Loki, we need both to survive, one cannot exist without the other yet we keep pushing or inevertantly putting on more of one or the other.

One exercise that depicts the battle of Thor and Loki is an exercise that needs one implement heavy enough that when you work it, you're finding out you're working more than just what it's said to do. In this case, we will use a sledgehammer, another tool anyone can add to their arsenal of becoming incredibly powerful. The best sledgehammers you can find are at strongergrip.com. This exercise I learned from Strongman and Myth enthusiast Kevin Wikse called Thor Catches Loki where you take a heavy object (Mace or Sledgehammer would be do) and start working your hands up and down for a minute or more and you're gripping and catching the implement as fast as you can without putting it down. Think of this exercise as a similar thing to when you were a kid and played baseball with your buddies and one captain tried to grip upward until it reached the top to see who got to bat first.

This exercise will test your Grip Strength, Agility, Coordination, Reflexes in the Hands and Core Strength. The longer you go, the more brutal it gets and if you have a heavy one (25 or more lbs), you won't be having soft hands for long. 5 Minutes of working up and down will feel like forever but that's the gold standard of working this exercise. I made a video where I use Big Bertha (My 59 lb Epic Sledgehammer) where I do this exercise in a Horse Stance (talk about building crazy leg strength) and go for about a minute or so before putting it down. Although a demo, I felt so many muscles in that moment that everything was just on fire. It is no joke.

It can actually be a fun exercise if you use your imagination and pretend your hands are Thor & Loki (or other Rivals that resemble the Gods like Zeus vs. Cronos, Jesus vs. Satan, Shiva Vs. Kali) whatever works for you use that to make the exercise more interesting. It's a constant battle until the fall of the world (putting the heavy object down) comes to an end. It puts things in perspective and you learn not just testing your grip skills and speed but you're learning what it takes to keep the world going until the battle is won or lost and it revitalizes itself again to bring balance.

What Is Your Workout Playlist?

When I use to go to the gym, there was some good music playing over the speakers around the place but sometimes, some songs don't always cut it and I love music that fires me up and gets the adrenaline pumping. You can always wear headphones and play some tunes on your phone which was what I did when I would warm up in the MMA room before grappling or just to get away from the rest of the gym pack but nothing at least to me is more meaningful than listening to your own list working out by yourself at home or wherever except the gym.

I'm pretty big on metal and hard rock which a lot of gym owners play but when you can make up your own list at home or play music suited to you in your home gym, it just fuels you up more. I'm big on playing bands many have heard of but plenty of those that big fans of the genre listen to and the rest of the world doesn't know who the hell they are. Those heavy riffs, the epic poetry of the lyrics and the fire that burns within when a certain chorus just hits you in the gut and makes you push harder.

I've broken many PR's listening to good tunes and anything I find that is new to me, I add it to the list. The power, the rush, the hard focus and the fuel to just make you bust your ass and have a blast doing it. It almost becomes meditative and you're in this trance of epic proportions, nothing scares you, everything else in life becomes a blur and the drive that pushes you to the very limit, that's how music should be played when you train.

My list is pretty long but here are a few songs that put me into a state where once I get going, very few people will last with me......

Rebellion by Van Canto

Break Me Down by Our Waking Hour

Torn By Disturbed

Seven Windows Weep by Sirenia

Master Of Puppets by Metallica

Stillborn by Black Label Society

Bloodbound by Hammerfall

Declaration Day by Iced Earth

Hail To The King by Avenged Sevenfold

Resist And Bite by Sabaton

Breakdown by Beasto Blanco

That's basically a full album alone to listen to. Some of these bands you'll never hear in a gym, the majority yes but at least 4 I have never heard in a gym. There's a reason music can be incredibly powerful to have and be in a hypnotic state of seeing epic imagery and hearing sounds that make you feel strong as hell or have stupid endurance. If you don't have a training partner, this list alone will pump you up and just hammer shit out.

Do you have a specific playlist? Some people aren't into metal or hard rock which I can understand and other forms of music are more their style, Brooks Kubik for example is a big fan of Epic Orchestras that play songs like the Flight Of The Valkyries. Some classic music is very workable for certain people, however, I just don't understand how people can work out to bands like ABBA or Michael Jackson LOL; I want to train hard, not dance the night away. Subtract that with Judas Priest or even Jimi Hendrix and you're golden bro.

Playful Stretching For Those Dark Times

Let's face it, although it's safe to be home during this period of time, it also can suck if you're having trouble figuring out what the hell to do. One of the best things you can do is train and not just for trying to not be bored or going through the motions but to also keep healthy, strengthen your mind and body and to keep having a positive attitude.

Stretching can be kinda boring which is why I don't do a ton of it but when you can be creative in how you stretch, it becomes something entirely different. It can be meditative, it can be something that will have you sweating but feeling like a million bucks but it also can channel your brain and develop new skills that will keep your body strong in the long run.

Yes it is easier to just be on the couch especially since many people can't go to work but it's very important to have your body be supple and flexible in order to do certain things, plus it can be very fun. One of my favorite things to do for stretching is combining different methods and combining them together to create a fun routine where all bets are off and you can change exercises on a dime while thinking quickly and testing your skills of mind and body as a single unit. I have practiced quite a few methods including Animal Flow, Ginastica Natural, DDP Yoga, Gymnastics and regular calisthenics but what if we put all those methods together to create a super routine that brings the creative side of exercise and get fit at the same time.

Although we have a lot of time on our hands these days, there are still families out there that have a few kids at home and that alone can be a workout that seems to go on forever and you're about to keel over just after playing in the fort for hours on end. A good routine that lasts no more than a few minutes can really save your sanity and it can be used throughout the day when you need a break or don't want to workout too long.

I made a youtube video of doing a routine that lasts just over 5 minutes that will have you moving and holding all sorts of exercises, can be used as a warm-up or as a standalone workout if you're short on time and need to get something in while the kids nap or something. It can be done anywhere, can be modified to your level and it makes your body work as a single unit. It stretches everything and opens up the hips, stretches every area of the back, works your core, teaches you to control your breathing and if you move fast (safely of course) it can be a good cardio workout too.

Create your own flows and holds and stay blissful during these dark days. Be safe, stay strong and make things work for you.

 

Swing Away My Friends

"Now that's what I call a Swinging Party."- Baloo The Bear


Getting fresh air can be a good thing since we've been told to stay home. In your backyard or out on the front lawn, getting in a good workout can really get you into the "swing" of things. Recently, on a nice sunny day, I went out and swung my Monster Mace that weighs about 25 lbs. Doing various exercises to really target my grip strength, coordination and a little cardio. The Mace is a great tool that has been used for centuries by Indian Wrestlers training in the ancient art of Kushti.

In modern day fitness, it is used to help those get fit with minimal equipment and work exercises that hit muscles that most weight training exercises don't. People like Mr. Maceman Rik Brown, Jake Shannon of Scientific Wrestling, Zenkahuna, Ryan Pitts and others have made Mace Swinging an art form and bringing back an ancient art of building warriors and conditioned people.

If you do some research on the Mace, you'll find that it's not always how heavy the mace is, it's the performance of the movements with the Mace that take on a entity of itself. Unlike a barbell where you do limited planes of movement, the Mace forces you to stay coordinated and balanced in a very unique way. There are all sorts of exercises you can do that will strengthen your core like crazy, build a powerful grip and challenges the way you move your elbows, shoulders, hands and wrists.

This implement is a lot of fun to use and you can play around with a lot of exercises that gets you fit and develops functional strength and power.

Are You A Bold One?

"General Kenobi...You are a bold one."- General Grievous


Being geeky just adds the fun to things. It's no fun being on lockdown but that doesn't mean you can't make the best of it right? This is a time of self-reflection, channeling your imagination and enhancing your creativity. Since many gyms are closed, what the hell do you do now? There's still a way to get fit while in quarantine and you don't need any special equipment to do it. All you need is your own bodyweight and the will to push through your mental strength. A workout that doesn't take up a ton of tie but gets the job done.

We can go out for a run or a walk but for the most part, being told to stay home is the primary objective and if you want to get your cardio in, you'll have to find a way to do it. I have a solution that can really amp up your lungs and help build strength, conditioning and speed. It's three exercises done in a circuit for a few rounds and that's all you'll have to do.

It may look easy but it's not something you want to mess with. You'll be doing Push-ups, Squats & Punches, sounds pretty simple but even simple can kick your ass. It's called Bold Choice, a circuit workout from the world of Neila Rey and her website Darebee.com. You can do this anywhere and barely a few square feet of floor space. Do you think you can handle it?

I also have filmed doing this workout so you can see how it's done. It is important to note that if you're a beginner, rest when needed between rounds and go at your own level. I don't rest at all and go straight through it to really fire up my conditioning. Have fun and be sure to check out other workouts on the website where you can download programs, nutrition info and much more. Help support this site by donating or ordering their workout programs in book form on Amazon.