Farmer Burns & Deep Breathing

108 years ago, one of the greatest wrestlers of his time published a course based on Physical Culture Exercise and Catch Wrestling. His name was Martin "Farmer" Burns. By the time it was published, he had already been in his mid-50's and this was also 3 years after his student Frank Gotch beat the Russian Lion George Hackenshmidt for the second time at Comisky Park (Brand New Chicago White Sox's Baseball Park). The book itself had some interesting notions about wrestling that even in that time would've been considered legendary. It's called Lessons In Wrestling & Physical Culture.

These days, the book can be found in reprints and also on Matt Furey's website where there's a DVD version of the course. For the most part, it is a pretty damn good book, if you can get past the blurry pictures of the holds and takedowns. One of the interesting aspects of the book are from pages 7 & 20 where it shows various Deep Breathing Exercises and the Farmer's Isometric Ab Exercise. Now I'm sure in that time, the Abdominal Exercise he presents may have some outdated and possibly dangerous notes on the elements of breathing. The other exercises are great and have awesome benefits but the Ab exercise does have some problems. You also need to realize back then, life expectancy was low (dead by 45 or younger) and certain aspects of scientific studies weren't as rational and safe as many are today (although still questionable in some cases).

When I first learned the Ab exercise, the breathing pattern was completely different. I learned the breathing pattern from Furey's Combat Abs book. The original version in Burns' book was focused more on the inhale and holding while contracting as opposed to a greater focus on the exhale and the sound that was made as you contracted the abs. I've done both and found the latter to be much more suitable and safe. It's the same breathing pattern when I do the 7-12 second Isometric Contractions. I also would go as long as 5 minutes doing this exercise which for more experienced people who have practiced it can be good but just doing it for a minute was more beneficial in my opinion. It just worked that way.

The breathing exercises on Page 7 however; are extremely powerful yet simple to do. I would practice them from time to time but also found a "routine" I do where I take various breathing exercises including the Isometric Ab Exercise and blend them together for a greater sense of a workout that works for me. Some are from the book, others are from a course I learned based on Breathing Exercises from the Shaolin Monks. The exercises themselves from the book, have been called American Chi Kung by some people which sounds cool but the same was said about John Peterson's DVR Exercises which were loosely based and "refurbished" from John McSweeny's version of them, they were also referred to as American Yoga which just sounds weird. 

Was the Farmer onto something when that book came out? Who really knows, I want to believe he did and those same exercises are still being used today in some circles which should tell you something. Deep Breathing is probably the single greatest element we can learn to keep our body healthy because let's face it, if we don't breathe, we die in minutes. Shallow Breathing can be more fatal than we realize and yes many people have overcome asthma and other things that affect the lungs but that should also give us a sign that breathing is just as important as anything else. Just mere tweaks of our attention to breathing can be a huge wake up call and develop levels of strength, endurance and conditioning that are freaking astounding. 

Breathe deeply and see what happens with your body from the inside (or should I say feel) and what happens with the exterior as well. Grab the book for yourself because it's also a hell of a great thing to add to your Physical Culture library. 

"Deep Breathing exercises alone, when done RIGHT, has made many a weak man strong and many a sick man well."- Martin "Farmer" Burns 1861-1937

Conserving Your Breathing

            The breath is the most important factor in the human body. We can for days without water, weeks without food but yet we can only live a few minutes holding our breath. The way we breathe in the fitness world is a bit strange at times. You can breathe in and out your nose or mouth; breathe in through the nose, out the mouth or in the nose and out the nose. There are many ways to breathe but during exercise apparently we have to breathe in and out one time with one rep. That’s how we’re normally taught, even in bodyweight type exercises like the squat and push-up, inhale up, exhale down or vise versa.

            What if we switched gears a bit so you can get a few extra reps without breathing in and out every single time? Learn to breathe differently, conserve your energy and your breathing. If you’re breathing too much, too early, you may get wined. It’s like a wrestling match, you need to keep your body strong and supple and part of that is your breathing, if you get winded too quickly (or as they say in pro wrestling you Blow Up), you won’t be as efficient and you won’t be able to handle the stress and possibly end up losing. What does the breath feel like, sound like and where does the driving force of it come from. Do an exercise like push-ups, inhale for 2 reps and exhale for 2 reps, you just did 4 reps in one breath. Now do it a little consistently. It’s not easy and it takes getting use to but you can get more out of your reps with the control of your breathing power.

            Doing the same old thing can lead to boredom and as the definition of insanity is; doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Here at Power & Might, I look to help you find and give information that can help you from another perspective. Thinking differently, helping you get more out of what most people teach. Deep Breathing is one of the most powerful aspects of Physical Culture because it doesn’t just help you become physically strong but mentally strong as well.

            Fluidity is another important aspect of your training. Like Bruce Lee has stated being like water, it’s fluid, powerful and can give life as well as destroy it. Moving with grace and power is far more important than grunting, making little mad faces and being narrow dimensional. Expand your power; one course that is the center of this is CoreForce Energy, teaching how to expand your power, your breathing and your imagination to instantly get stronger and faster. Open up to building a stronger body from within and take your strength to levels that you thought were impossible.

Be awesome my friends.  

Breathe While You Train

             I've said it before and I’ll repeat till you get it through your thick skull, learn to breathe while you train. It is the single most important aspect of physical and mental conditioning. It is the one thing that keeps us alive more than anything else. You can go days without water, weeks without food but a few minutes without breathing is killing you. The power of the breath is essential as it can help you stay in the game far longer than if you just started hyperventilating in the first couple minutes.

            Breathing helps you conserve energy and the more you practice it, the more energy is reserved. Its power can be used any way you want if you know how to use it. It can be used to help you in a strength exercise or it can help your endurance over a period of time. Different athletes use different breathing patterns for how they stay in their sport but the principles stay the same, if you can’t conserve your energy, you won’t last very long. Learn to breathe and learn when to use it to your advantage.

            Deep breathing is an awesome way to keep your energy intact and granted sometimes if you’re in a fight or in a match against another opponent or team your breathing tends to be tested which is a good thing because you learn how to handle it when it’s time to make it count. Even in a training session in the gym or your home workouts, you want to learn how to breathe while you exercise and while you’re in between sets because after a while it takes a toll on you so you learn to keep your breathing as best as possible to keep going.  It’s the reason it keeps you focused no matter what you’re doing.

            There are tricks to help your breathing while you train. When I do my deck of cards training, sometimes once I get to a certain part of the deck I have to keep my breathing intact because it becomes so intense you have to take in as much air as you can. After you do a set of push-ups or squats for example, although you want to keep going without much rest as possible there’s that other part you can use where you take in as many breaths as the number of reps for the next set, that way you’re not taking up too much rest and you’re conserving your energy. You can use this method for different exercises and different areas of fitness. Another great trick I learned to keep your breathing at bay is what I learned called the Hoffman Walk which was termed in Brooks Kubik’s books on the adventures of the old-time strongmen Legacy Of Iron series, after you do a set of an exercise, you walk and breathe deeply till you’re ready to tackle the next set, you’re not sitting down and you keep moving without stopping so this helps with your endurance.

            Get the concept of breathing and how it can help you in any endeavor and it doesn't always have to be training, it can be how you prepare for meetings or conferences in business, or how you handle shopping without tiring out before you get to your car (this happens with a lot of people believe it or not) and it can help you stay in the game in your sport so you can keep up that reserved power to stay driven and help your team keep going. Breathing is life and life is breathing.