Kettlebell Swinging & Pressing: It's Not Fancy But They Do Work For A Good Reason

 Many systems of exercise these days involve complicated moves and schemes that makes you wonder if some of these people should be in the nuthouse. There's always going to be a claim of some secret exercise or machine that does the job for you when in reality, it's bullshit.

Some equipment have their place, some are just out there and wonder how the hell do people work with them? One implement however stands out as a great tool that stands the test of time and has been used by the old timers, average joes and some of the best in athletes in the world including guys like Alexander Karelin and Sig Klein. That implement is the Kettlebell.

Two distinctive moves that stand out and can be done practically anywhere since it doesn't take up a ton of space is the Kettlebell Swing & The Overhead Press. Nothing overhyped and fun as hell to do out in the fresh air. 

-The Conditioning, Power & Muscle Building From The Swing

It isn't a squat move in particular even though some have utilized the squat in order to generate some leg strength. In it's true form, it's a hip hinge movement. Explosive and hits the glutes, core, low back and hamstrings. It develops the posterior chain, creating strength and power that matters. When you need to pick something up, sprint with a vengeance or even wrestle, this gives you the tools for those other methods. The conditioning in and of itself is insane. Bud Jeffries mastered this move to the point where he was doing 1000 reps or more in various workouts in under an hour which in turn helped him lose over 100 lbs. Read about that in his book I Will Be Iron. It builds anaerobic and aerobic endurance at the same time. Great for building grip strength as well because of being able to hold on as you swing.

Don't need to swing heavy to get the benefits. One of the best teachers today on Kettlebell Swinging is Dave Whitley and his knowledge is about as awesome as you can imagine. 

-The Overhead Press: Stimulus Through Control

Strength isn't always in how much you lift, it's the focus and control that really makes the difference. Some like to utilize a jerk to get as much leg drive as possible which isn't necessary a bad in certain cases but you do want to be able to press and work the muscles in a very specific fashion that showcases strength and power. It's not rushing or ego lifting. It's true connection to the muscles you're working. 

The upper body does the most work. Engage the core as you clean and ready to press, focus on the grip, triceps and shoulders. Do your best not to jerk. Building thick shoulders and dense triceps, strengthen the rotator cuff and building tension. Progressive Overload. When you learn to be in control, the strength will follow in time. Creating real functional muscle and not counterfeit muscle that will break you. 

Progress isn't always pretty and perfection is virtually non-existent. The key thing to remember is that we all learn things differently and our progress takes more or less time depending in the individual. Don't chase perfection, chase being functional with solid technique that works in your favor. Even the smallest fraction of progress still leads to the big picture. Control the weight, own your reps and the muscle/conditioning will come. Be amazingly awesome and have fun in your journey. 

Sledgehammer Training: The Kind Of Strength That Also Meets Controlled Violence

 You can train in many different ways and practice methods from several eras. You can be on a machine and get something going, count reps until the cows come home on the bench until someone takes it over once you're done. Then there's the sledgehammer. A tool that just (pun intended), strikes different.

In the video below, working with a hammer isn't about looking like a pretty boy or following someone in a spin class, it's about making a killer piece of steel a part of building a powerful and strong physique that has the go along with the show. Working in unison as if you and that hammer are one. Control, Rotate & Lift as you put explosiveness into it over and over again. It's one of the reasons why Sledgehammer Training is about as bad ass as you can get

Striking with a hammer isn't always in just how the arms move. When done properly, the true power comes from the ground. Your legs, trunk and hips generate that incredible force while the arms create the guide. Scientific studies such as from the American Council on Exercise suggests that training with hammers build solid yet challenging coordination, strength, power and rotation. Emphasizing that the lower body is the engine behind it all.

Most of modern training has become or can be linear as hell. Typical push/pull/squat and all that. In and of itself they're not bad things, they are essential with great importance but us humans don't always live life moving like robots. We're meant to turn, twist, brace and chop to generate force from many angles. That's the beauty of the sledgehammer, it brings that rotation and even anti-rotation into the mix, making our core transfer all that force but also in a controlled manner.

It goes beyond what we know about ab training and not just seeing mirror muscles. It teaches to stabilize as we unleash hell. 

Another is when it puts great emphasis on forearm & grip strength. Just holding the hammer isn't going to make you some wild and crazy strong dude, it's really about controlling that long lever with a heavy head pulling the hands in directions they may not want to go. Each swing demands strength in the lower arms. Ever shook the hands of a man that works with hammers? It's quite noticeable. 

Conditioning is where it really starts to get good. Giving this implement a good swing in a repeated fashion, isn't just some rinky dink stroll on a machine that doesn't go anywhere, it tackles the heart rate with vast vengeance and forces your lungs to work at levels they're not used to. From the shoulders down to the legs, you have to keep producing that force. Some of the best athletes in the world understood this especially boxers and wrestlers. 

The mental aspects are profound. It's practically primal in this regard. The tool, a target and the job at hand. It's not complicated, just pure unadulterated effort. It's one of the reasons why training in this capacity has great attitude. The combination of aggressiveness, conditioning, grip, strength and other things into one nasty entity of equipment. It's a bad ass without even trying to be. It doesn't automatically make you a tough son of a bitch, it just doesn't give a shit what you say online LOL. 

Control the weight, generate the power and keep on trucking, or don't. Simplicity in the implement, the work, not so much. Be amazingly awesome and work on building that kind of strength that challenges the norm and gives you the type of capacity that has insane effects.

A Hammer And A Kettlebell Walk Into A Bar

 Ok, that sounded like the beginning to a terrible joke but hey, I have that weird sense of humor. Yesterday was a fun outing at a park in town on the eastern side. My wife wanted to practice her photography, so we did some filming and photo shooting of me doing stuff with my 70 pound Darth Vader Kettlebell & my Giants Hammer which I emptied out to its original weight of 13 pounds cause I wanted to build some greater speed and explosive. 

We were out there for quite a while, a couple hours max and I couldn't tell how many reps I did moving those damn things. For the filming, we tested out some things with angles and where some good shots of me lifting the bell and slamming down the hammer. Yeah, I rested in between takes and all that but it was still pretty tough to do to maintain my strength with one implement and going in short bursts with another. Hell during one set of filming, I was being so fast with the hammer that it didn't catch one of the reps I wanted to do. Took several takes to get it right but we got it. 

I don't know what was worse LOL, the filming or the photo shooting. With the photo shooting which I will put up a few here and on SM soon, I had to hold the hammer at certain points and yeah that was easier to do cause it is much lighter, but the Kettlebell? Holy shit, There were a few shots where I had to hold it overhead in lockout for an extended period of time because she wanted to get some good shots both straight ahead and from the ground looking up a me. It's one thing to hold up a good 25-30 pounder for promo purposes but to hold up a 70 that is awkwardly shaped? That's a whole other ball game. This is where I'm glad I have strong tendons and ligaments along with functional muscle to do this. 

Some of the photo shooting was to get the idea of how I would slam the hammer down and the power of the thrusts nearly frame by frame. All she told me to do was to rep it out as much as I can which felt like a damn sprint and maintaining that explosiveness. The last of it was doing Kettlebell swings which I don't do very often and don't have the greatest technique but I can do them without killing myself (even with a KB that heavy). So for a 2-3 sets or so of that, I was told to swing for as many reps as I can muster until she told me to stop. It was under 10 reps at a time but you didn't know how many were needed done so you just kept swinging. 

To say that whole session was a workout would be an understatement. With also not even eating anything that day until we got home from the park, I built up a hell of an appetite. Still was a blast though and she just loved getting the practice in. 

Before the session, I got in a little workout of O2 Training for a few minutes and some DDP Yoga for mobility and flexibility. Did a few push-ups and self resistance exercises to get some blood pumping as well. After the session before bed, I did some more O2 Training for several minutes and a Core/Hip Exercise along with an Animal Combo. 

Like I said earlier in the post, I'll put up some of the shots she took and another video of doing Hammer Slams where the camera moves almost in a circular type fashion instead of stationary (maybe). For now, I edited some of the videos to what I wanted to do which you can view below....

Overall, as tough as some of this was, it was a lot of fun and would do it again. One of the videos that I'll eventually put up is hitting 25 reps in under 40 Seconds. That's just freaking nasty man and if you want to talk about a lung burner, it ranks right up there. 

Be amazingly awesome, kill it in your endeavors and train with an adventurous mind. 

 

If You Want More Strength, Don't Ignore The Power Of Tension

 "Tension is the stimulus and Isometrics generate a lot of it."- Paul O'Brien

Simple statement that hits the bullseye. Our muscles don't give a damn whether resistance comes from a machine, our own bodyweight, a barbell or even a band for that matter. The response comes from the work being put in. It responds to the tension.

When it comes to Isometrics, it hits hard in this case. Within Isometric Exercises, it stops being about moving mindless weight from one direction to another. You are the one that is deliberately building and ultimately maintaining the tension. Pushing/Pulling/Squatting by bracing and resisting at a stopping point or in other words generating force by going against something Immovable. Overcoming Isometrics if you will. 

That's the beauty of Isometrics I love the most. Being able to create my own muscular force without relying on a bunch of equipment. Straps, Walls, Rails, Trees and my own bodyweight can be more than enough. Create the tension and make the muscles work with a vengeance.

There are way too many people who are conditioned to believe that when it comes to training, it only counts when things are moving or having some crazy weight on a bar. That's complete bullshit. Movement in and of itself is a tool, just like Isometrics is a tool and when done with proper application, can build powerful amounts of effort.

The big key word here is EFFORT!!! If you're just simply standing there like and acting like you're pretending to push or whatever, it isn't going to matter much. True value comes from the intent you put into a hold. When you perform an Isometric Contraction, you put real power and tension into it, almost as if your life depended on it. Put your mind into the muscles you're working and apply that power and force with pure control. Once those few seconds are up, let yourself relax and recover. 

Isometric Training fits into practically any regimen or goal you want to achieve whether it's getting stronger, more conditioned, rehab/prehab, being more capable as you get older and even being more mobile. It's not a replacement of anything, but ignoring them because you were taught they don't hold any merit from some arm chair twig, makes you miss the bigger picture. 

What it all boils down to at the end of the day, the muscles don't care about a gym membership or whatever equipment you use, the tension is what will get it done and Isometrics provides that in more ways than you may believe. Be amazingly awesome and get your ass going with some Isometrics today.   

Is There The Best Harness For Your Neck? Let's Learn By Comparing

 In recent times, I've been gathering info and experience through more neck training these days and I got an opportunity to test out various models of Neck Harnesses to see and feel how they would be applied for others or at least learn their own value and comparisons. 

What I came up with is based on my own experience, knowledge and what I potentially see through these apparatuses....

I'm going to start with what I believe is the least likely Harness that didn't pan out.

It's called the DMoose Harness ....

This particular product does have its potential but from the time I put it on, I noticed many low grade entities. 

1st off: Just by putting it on, it felt too light and even tightening it, it felt too big to wear. 

2nd: The Rings that you can attach the chain or cables to, are merely plastic and not metal. If you attach the chain and put weight on it, it's not going to sustain it for very long. I don't believe it can hold weight more than a 25 lb plate for consistent work. 

3rd: The lack of life expectancy of this harness. In my personal opinion, this is merely a beginner Harness and with consistent training, it won't last more than a year max, 4-6 months if you really dig into the training aspects. This potentially can be dangerous if it snaps and give you a bit of whiplash. 

So what are the positive notions for this Harness? Well, if you're on a budget and are a beginner to working with equipment like this, this may be for you. What I was given may be different from the site but the price for this is $35 which isn't bad but after a short time, you're going to want to upgrade which can damper your wallet. 

The next apparatus is the Iron Neck Alpha Harness....

 Now this is a far better product and has some cool things to it. The D Rings are metalized and can hold up some serious weight. Mike Tyson has used this to challenge his neck work even at his current age which you can find at https://www.iron-neck.com/blogs/articles/mike-tyson-neck-workout. 

It can be a little tricky to put on at first but it's more doable and has adjustments to fit your head. Work with a chain or a strap you can attach to an anchor point and have at it. Isometrics are perfect for this thing. With weight, it can hold its own and you can get in some serious training with this crazy bastard. It's lifespan is much longer and works well for athletes and trainees who train in the gym. In my experience, it has its perks and does its job.

Now this is the part where it can get controversial: This apparatus has been known and publicly documented as the carbon copy of the Neck Flex. They made it virtually identical and passes off as an original product when in reality it's a knock-off. I personally believe that it gives off bad vibes to take on something that was sued and not only lost once but twice in court. 

If you hadn't known about the lawsuit, design and the knock-off aspects, I would say this is a cool product and has great potential to be a top notch piece of equipment but due its black mark on the fitness industry, I wouldn't recommend it but it is up to you. It's currently priced at $59 which is still relatively affordable and there may be some additional things you can grab so again, your choice with what you want to do with this but you read it here and can look into the lawsuit yourself here>>> https://www.theneckflex.com/blogs/resources/neck-flex-vs-iron-neck.

Here are the Neck Flex Comparison Products:

-Let's start with The Halo Kit 

This is the basic and virtually the first level of working with the Neck Flex. You get the Harness, a door anchor and a resistance band that has a level of 19 lbs at full stretch. It's an introduction if you will. With the band, you can attach it with the carabineer to the D Rings which has 4 all together. You can work the neck in the front, back and side to sides in several capacities. If you didn't want to use weights whatsoever, this is perfect for just about anybody whether you a pro athlete or just a regular guy wanting to get in shape. Hell, this is the type of apparatus that bodybuilders have used including female bikini competitors. The door attachment works very well and can use the band for additional exercises.

-Next up is the The Neck Flex Ballistic Kevlar Series Kit

This is the next level of Neck Training. You get the Harness, band, door anchor and in addition of the chain. The chain is for adding plates or kettlebell. The Velcro straps have a bit of adjusting to and there's several within the rings that may need to understand but it's not impossible or anything. I've personally done a workout or two with the chain to do Isometrics with and it shifts really well between exercises and is a very powerful chain as I've pulled and held with incredible strength. It would take a lot to break that thing. 

The band is a little longer since it can also be used to do exercises with the door anchor and work the neck with greater distance compared to the Halo Kit Band. Overall, solid product and gives you more options to train than just a band or chain separately.   

-The last kit is the MMB Pro Series Kit

MMB stands for its inventor Mike The Machine Bruce whom I've written about before. 

This kit is similar to the Kevlar version but it's considered the cream of the crop of all the kits (my personal opinion as well). The additional two D Rings you will find aids into the safety of building a strong and powerful neck as they can be used with the band and utilize turning of the head and creating circles as opposed to just going up and down, ear to ear and small turns like a halo. Mike does what he calls the wet behind the ears as he speeds up and shakes his head to hit the neck in ways that are pretty bad ass. I've worked the two additional rings in an exercise I call "Joker's Smile" where you tuck the chin slightly and turn the neck to create a half circle making it an exaggerated entity of the Joker's laugh. However you want to call it, its what I see it as.

You get the chain as well and is just as strong or not even stronger than the previous kit. Do I know for sure, no but I do believe it can hold its own. 

So what's the verdict when it comes to a full comparison analysis:

Each have their own uses and have similar features yet work the neck in many ways. You can expect more out of the Neck Flex because the core of these pieces of equipment is how Mike Bruce wanted to train his neck for wrestling/shoot fighting along with developing injury prevention and Concussion Prevention. Not to mention utilizing pre/rehab therapy. In the other products such as the Iron Neck, you're looking at something that is mainly used to build the neck for sports like Football, Boxing, Wrestling and other contact sports and maybe some aspects to injury prevention but very little for what it is marketed as. 

The DMoose is literally the beginner's beginner of all Neck Apparatuses in my opinion and it's an encouraging start but it doesn't have the long term effect of being able to stick if you're looking for a good stretch of consistent training. It's not necessarily a bad thing but you will eventually hit a wall and would need to keep buying a new apparatus every few months to a year max. That can add up if you keep needing to upgrade.

The Neck Flex kits are most likely the safest pieces of equipment you can get because it gives you insights beyond just typical training. There are several Iron Neck equipment you can buy but several run up to nearly a grand and unless you own a gym or saved up for several months to a couple years, I don't see many people spending that kind of money just to see what they can do for their neck. 

If you choose to go with the Neck Flex at https://www.theneckflex.com/, find what can be suited for you and use my coupon code POWERANDMIGHT to get some dough off your order. 

Hope you enjoyed learning about these and their comparisons along with finding a harness suitable for your training. Be amazingly awesome and don't neglect your neck.