Train To Be Effortless

           Too many people try so hard to make things easier in their lives. They work hard for their family, they push themselves to the brink of exhaustion in their exercises to build their body and they just shove so much stuff it becomes more of a chore and a punishment than an effortless series of tasks. It’s not a shame to work hard for what you want but there are ways to tweak things and use your mind to channel your attitude towards certain things.

            One of the greatest quotes in my opinion is from Yoda “Do or do not. There is no try.” You either do something or you don’t it’s that simple. However, you can focus your mind to make things seem effortless by relaxing a bit more and letting things flow and letting the universe take it’s course. This does not mean stop doing what you’re doing and letting things just happen for you, it takes effort but it doesn't have to be so dramatic and emotionally and physically exhausting. Let me give you an example…When Luke was using the force to pull the X-Wing out of the Swamp, in his mind the damn thing was heavy as hell and with all his might he couldn't even get it out of the water. Exhausted and breathing heavily, he sat down and Yoda looks at him with such disappointment. Luke gets frustrated and walks away thinking that even an old dwarf like Yoda couldn't pull that chunk of metal out of the water. Yoda makes it look effortless and not only gets it out of the water but even makes the damn thing fly back onto shore.

            We all have to pull our own X-Wing out of the water in our lives and sometimes it can be extremely difficult. When you learn to channel your mind and believe with action that everything will flow the way it should, things will become effortless for you and even our metaphorical X-Wing will fly out of the water and we’ll carry it in our mind towards shore without any effort at all. Like the late Bruce Lee once said “Be like water”, you’ll flow with power and effortless strength in any endeavor you do and it all starts in the mind and once you learn how to use it, everything will come together.

            A lot of things can be challenging and we sometimes can’t stand it because it can be so freaking hard your head might explode but what if we can shift things around. When an obstacle comes across us, how about we make the challenge a little interesting; have a little fun with it. You’d be surprised how things can seem less of a challenge if you don’t struggle with it so much. It could be just about anything and you can conquer your challenges with fierce vitality and strength that nothing can stand in your way, you’ll find a way to beat it and do it with a smile on your face. Love the challenge because if you don’t it’ll walk all over you, you don’t have to enjoy it or look forward to it but when it comes knocking you’ll love it but also beat it’s ass to a bloody pulp. Learn to shift your mind and see what happens, you never know until you do it, not try it but do it.

The Gateways To Herculean Strength & Blazing Speed

I'ma huge fan of Mythology and Superheroes and a personal favorite is a demi-god we all loved by his strength and courage but also hated for his vices and troublesome behavior depending on your version and that’s Hercules, the son of Zeus and a man that was born into chaos and a mystical time of mystery, magic, sorcery and dangerous creatures. The reason I got into him and why I believe he’s a great choice for this article is because really, he is the ultimate synonym for strength and the ability to overcome obstacles in the most daring and unimaginable fashion. Get ready to learn the very secrets of how to obtain some of the glorious and powerful strength.

There are always debates about how to get strong in the fitness world. Sometimes we rely on one exercise to determine a level of strength, at times we rely on a specific fear or skill and even in some cases; we determine who can be the strongest in 3 lifts or more. For me the best answer to determine strength is how you are efficient in various ways to exercise plus exerting an amount of force. You're strong in some areas, other areas you're weak in, it’s a simple fact. Others try to make one thing and blow off the other. Why not work different elements like Strength & Endurance in the same workout? How about the idea of hitting a heavy weight then moving onto an exercise for high reps? It breaks out of the norm and it gives you a sense on what you can measure for your own strengths.

 Most people believe that if you want to get stronger, move onto weights but it’s not always that simple or that quick to judge. BodyweightTraining when done right can be much tougher and more exhausting than hitting the weights. One of the most effective exercises to build strength from multiple angles is to move like a wild animal. Animals in the wild are far superior in strength than man is period, there’s no question how abundantly strong they are so why not mimic them the best way we can. Just to hold a certain position takes strength right, now let’s move in an awkward direction and see if we can keep tight in that position while in a moving process. Believe me if you can get strong in the most awkward positions you have strength in ways most can't match

 A key to learning effective strength and power is through sound. Sound, how the hell do you determine that? Think about, a punch for example…BAM, BAM, did it sound powerful and super strong? It sounded more straight edge and a little dull, it’s powerful but it doesn't have that spark of real strength. Here’s another one…WAA-KAHH..How did that sound? To me it sounded fast, powerful, directional with a specific point of torque. Want to know the best way to look for that sound? Ever heard of Bruce Lee? I rest my case.

 One of the simplest ways to get better at Bodyweight Exercises is through Progression but what’s the best way to determine that? You've done 100 push-ups, great how do you make them harder? First off what type of push-up did you do to get those 100 reps? Did you do them military style or did you do in a handstand against the wall, how about your feet elevated on a stool or even your hands between two chairs? If you did them military style, how about trying the same amount of reps while doing 4 seconds going down and 4 seconds coming up, if you did them in a handstand I want to shake your hand because only less than a handful of people on the planet have done that, feet elevated do them going down fast and come back in 5 seconds. Tempo and position is a great way to determine progression in push-ups and many other exercises.

 What do Michael Johnson, Marcus Allen, Walter Payton and Kurt Angle all have in common? They all did Sprints to build that explosive speed and undeniable power in the entire body plus they all build high levels of Natural Growth Hormone, the thing that has the ability to burn fat like a furnace, build muscle like crazy and expand the lungs like there was no tomorrow for high levels of endurance. Sprints done 2-3 times a week is one of if not the fastest way to burn fat and builds natural muscle. It gives you that high kick of endorphins after a workout which can be no more a few minutes tops but isn't it ruled that you have to do 30 minutes of cardio and an hour of weights to burn fat and build muscle, dude get with the program. Really no more than 8 sets at about 15 seconds per burst is all you need and if you can't do that at first start with 4x8sec. And work from there.

 

The number one key to open the door to superhuman strength and speed is to have an open mind. Too many people are skeptical and afraid and avoid the very possibility that they will be able to achieve levels of muscularity, strength, health and stamina. Being open to ideas and find what works and what doesn't for you is a sure thing you’ll find what you're looking for. Too many follow this, avoid that and are sheep to those that think they know best, nobody knows your body better than you do. Find your own ways to get to where you want to be, I advise to avoid drugs and PEDs as much as possible if not at all, learn the natural ways to get strength, your body will be better for it.  

Love to Win, Hate to Lose

Here's another Guest Article from fellow Physical Culturist Matti Marzel giving you another dose of his Ferocious Intensity and powerful messages to the world of Fitness, Muscle Building and Health...Enjoy.

Yeah I know, this Headline sounds like some Spartan/Gladiator type Philosophy that is Hardcore to the Bone and not for most people, so why even bother talking about?! I’ll tell you exactly WHY I bother to talk about it in the first place, and it has EVERYTHING to do with the Major Succes that you’ll achieve in your Training in the shortrun, but MOST Importantly, In the longrun!

  So here’s what I’m getting at with the Title of this Article, You probably already understand that Most people don’t like to Lose at all-in whatever Sport or Training that they’re involved in, and the More Professional & Elite Level it is, the More this applies to it all! But lets take a Dude for example that Trains Hard as hell, Fanatically, Obsessively & with Severe Seriousness that you won’t find easily in this day & age! I’m talking of course about myself over here, as I know more about myself then anyone else in the Training & Physical Culture World out there, and thus I can speak from personal experience, and easily go very far with the examples that I’ll give about myself as well!

 And before you think that I’m here to bragg about myself and show you how cool I am and all of that, you’re completely wrong! It is true that I feel good about myself and see myself in my mind is a Ferocious Animalisticly Strong & Superior Radiant Healthy dude, that’s absolutely TRUE, and you won’t hear me saying or claiming anything else but that! But that’s not why I talk about “Loving to Win and Hating to Lose”. I’m mentioning that you GOT to LOVE winning so freaking much, that even the slightest or tiniest thought of Losing will make you go crazy, apesh*t and lose your mind! You truly gotta create, develop and manifest in the HATE feeling for Losing! If you’re still with me on all of this?! Cool, then you probably also know why I mentioned HOW I look and see myself in my own mind! Because that’s the Whole Idea of LOVING To win! You gotta create that Burning Desire and FIRE in your Heart that Makes Winning SO MUCH MORE then just winning! It needs to become such a Burning Desire, the Winning has to mean everything in the World - scratch that - in the whole UNIVERSE for you personally, as it IS for me, personally as well!

  If you can remember the Soundtrack song from the Rocky IV movie?! Exactly, I’m talking about the Soundtrack song: Hearts on Fire! If you listen to that song, feel the vibe and Emotional Content of that song, then you cannot help but feel emerged by it and Pumped up + Psyched the hell up to Train like a Fanatical Outta Control Maniac! Hell Yeah, this also happens to be one of my Ultimate Emotional Contents for my Own Training before I go Train!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oDTNEEu3Rw

I also Mix this together with Anchors obviously, but that’s beyond the scope of this Article! And If you truly want to learn more about Emotional Anchors, then I highely suggest and recommend you go to My Official Site at www.ferociousstrength.com, and sign up on the Right-Hand Side of my Site with your Name & E-mail adress, to Download my Free Bonus Report: Emotional Anchors for Absolutely FREE! And in that FREE Bonus Report I’ll go into a TON more details as to Why, How, Where and When you should be using Emotional Anchors in your Training!

  Having said that, lets focus back on the HATING to LOSE Part! Yes indeed Comrade, YOU got to HATE losing as Much as you LOVE to Win! You see, Love & Hate or both the Strongest Emotions there is when it comes to Emotional Contents, period! I know this from personal experience, so does Ben Bergman, whom I’ve written this Guest Article for, and a Lot more Physical Culturists and Strongmen out there as well! My BEST and MOST Valuable advice that I can give you about HATING to lose, is to first of all: Never be scared or frightened by your Own Hatefull Emotion, or any other Emotion for that matter! There’s truly not a single reason in the world to be afraid of your OWN Emotions… NONE, Never was and Never will!

  You gotta understand that we’re ALL Emotional beings, wether we admit it or not! Wether we like it or not, or wether we try to hide them or ignoring them! Emotions are around us (and around YOU, whoever is reading this right now!) at ALL times, Hell Yeah, read that again: At ALL times! Lets take a Very Strong & Powerfull Physical Culturist out there for example who talks about Emotions as well, and holds it in very HIGH regards as I do! I’m talking of course about Chuck Halbakken! Now if you’re NOT familiar with Chuck, then you definitely should! Now before I recommend you to go to His Site and to ALSO go to the Upcoming “Wizards of Strength” Workshop that is being Held by 2 of My Personal Coaches and Mentors + Legendary Strongmen as well: Bud Jeffries and Logan Christopher, I would like to take a moment to quote Chuck Halbakken over here WORD for WORD about what he had to say personally about “being Emotionally Involved into your Training”… Check it out!

“Lets get into the Emotional Aspects of Training! Ok, so lets just say: can we agree that Patience is a Trainable Skill?! So, you have Patience and Agression, now you can be Agressive and STILL patient.”

He then continues to say this:

“How do you work on Relaxation? That’s an Emotional Thing more then anything else! How do you Generate Tension? Can we say that that is Emotional? Certainly, In Z-Health you learn that EVERY Movement that your body makes (YOU make!) has an Emotion attached to it! Wether you understand it or not, or wether you recognize it or not. So if you attach an Emotion to a Movement, why aren’t you who decide the Emotion for yourself? Rather then let your Brain decide the particular Emotion for you…”

  Now that you’ve heard Chuck Himself mention the Importance of Emotional Content & being Emotionally Involved in your Training as well, I truly hope that by now I’ve convinced you of the Major Importance of using YOUR Emotions in Your Training for the Greater Good!

 Now that we’ve got that settled and discussed, I want YOU, to make Losing in your Training (and in Everything in Life as well, period!) something that you absolutely and totally hate with ALL of your Might! This might sound very drastic, fanatically, insane, extreme and over the top, and maybe it is! But screw that, if you want to WIN ALL the time in Your Training (and who the hell doesn’t?), then you my friend, got to HATE Losing as Much as you LOVE Winning! It’s as simple and straight-to-the-point as that! Wether you agree with me or not, I’ve got the facts to back it up, and I can give you the BEST and most Profound example of a Ferociously Strong & Insanely Conditioned dude that has implied and used these in his own Training as well: MYSELF! Yeah, I know that some of you over here are going to mention the Ancient Chinese saying that goes like this: Aiming High and Losing is NOT a Crime, but Aiming Low and Winning is a Crime! And this same Ancient Chinese saying was ALSO repeated and stressed so much by the Legendary Bruce Lee himself to his students in the Martial Arts that he taught them! But bare with me for a second over here, now I do completely agree with this Ancient Chinese saying, I honestly do, for the full 100%! But that’s not what I meant with the Title of this Article, it may look like it, but it definitely ISN’T whatsoever!

  Yeah it is indeed an Incredible Crime to Aim very Low and to Win, rather then Aiming very High and to Lose! But here’s what I mean with Love to Win, Hate to Lose! I’m saying that you should always Aim super high, Aim so Damn High that it literally scares the living shit out of “normal” and “regular” people out there, and makes them look at you and accusing you of being a MUTANT/Alien with Super powers! Now THAT’s What I mean with Love to Win, Hate to Lose! You should NEVER EVER aim low in your Training at all, that’s just Disrespectfull as hell towards other Super Strong Physical Culturists out there + the Oldetime Strongmen of the past, but MOST Importantly, it’s very Disrespectful towards Yourself!

 So I said that Aiming Low should never even be an Option! And I truly believe in that and stand behind my Word and beliefs as well for the Full 100%! So now what we do? You’ve got to Aim High and WIN! Now obviously you won’t win everytime that you Aim for a Sky High Feat of Strength or Training Goal, there will be definitely more times that you will Lose and get your ass kicked from all directions, then there will be times that You completely own it, destroy it and finally achieve your Training Goals! And right here, Comrades, is where the Headline of this Article comes in the Best! You WILL Lose, and you will fall down and be humiliated by the Feat of Strength or Training Goal that you’ve set upon yourself! But there’s no reason to stay down once you’ve fallen down or to be defeated by the Stupid Hard and Incredibly tough Feat of Strength or Training Goal (for you that is!), Hell no, you should Stand Right Up, Grab that Feat of Strength or Training Goal by the Throat, shake it upside down, from left to right and promise to yourself that you will Beat this Feat of Strength or Training Goal in the end, and so you WILL, there’s NO Stopping you or holding you back whatsoever, unless you stop yourself! You’re a Ferociously Strong & Powerful Tiger on the Hunt, and you won’t  be satisfied untill you’ve Hunted down your Prey (Feat of Strength/Training Goal!), Killed it and then eated it (Destroying your Goal and acknowledging that you finally conquered it!). That’s How you should Look at your Training Goals from here on out, with this same kind of Intensity, Drive, Motivation, Dedication & Brutal FORCE as I personally do as well!

  There’s no two ways around it Comrades, when you do not follow my advice over here, your results will be mediocre or OK at best, yes you will achieve your Feats of Strength or Training Goals in the end, but it will definitely take a whole lot longer for you to achieve them, and with a lot more set-backs, plateaus and Negative feelings about yourself because of it! And who the hell wants to have set-backs, plateaus and Negative feelings about oneself?! I know I sure as hell DON’T, that’s for sure!

  So next time you’re stepping into your Training Area (can be a Garage, Backyard, Living Room, Gym and even an Army Base!), take a moment to Use the Emotional Content of what you LOVE to achieve and how much you absolutely & wholeheartedly HATE It to NOT achieve it! I guarentee you my friend, you WILL achieve your Goals way Faster and more Efficient that way! I can honestly and wholeheartedly say that this is Completely true out of my Own Training and Goal Setting Experience!

  Since I’ve been going deeper and deeper into this kind of Mentality & Emotional Involvements in my Own Training, I’ve seen my Feats of Strength & Training Goals go thru the roof and fly off the shelves, Literally! I’m hitting World Records, New Incredibly and Insane PR’s (Personal Records!) Left and Right these days! If you don’t believe me or think that I’m bragging and am full of shit, then I Highely suggest that you check out my Official Youtube Channel over here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/youmuthafuckayou187?feature=mhee

Now after you checked out ALL of my Feats of Strength video’s (or even some of them!), then holla back at me and tell me how I don’t know what I’m talking about, You’ll be a believer once you check out just a couple of my latest Ferocious & Legendary Feats of Strength! And those Feats of Ferocious and Legendary Strength are just the beginning of the beginning my friend! Better believe it, and to tell you the truth, I haven’t even mentioned or showed ALL of my Training Goals and achievements over there on my Youtube Channel! And safe to say that I’ve got a whole lot more Awesome and Legit Feats of Strenght to come in the near and far future! And that’s a 100% Guarentee!

  Ok, enough of the Bravado stuff! What I’m saying however is that it’s time for YOU, to start implementing and using these strategies and way of thinking into your OWN Training to the Fullest! and thus I promise you that you will reap the best benefits and get the best results that you’ve ever had in your Training thus far! And guess what? It’s only getting better and better from here on out the more you Practice it! I hope that this Article  got you to think more about Emotional Contents and about the whole idea and philosophy of Loving to Win and Hating to Lose! But you gotta do the work for yourself over here, I showed you the Path, NOW it’s time for you to put these ideas and philosophy into Action! And as we all know: Action speaks Louder then Words ever will!

 

 

Untill the next time Comrades!

In Strength & Health!

Matti Marzel!

********

You can find Matti Marzel on www.ferociousstrength.com! On his Site he talks about how to Develop Ferocious Animalistic Strength & Superior Radiant Health… among other things! He’s a Physical Culturist and Strongmen in the TRUE sense of the word, and has developed an level of BOTH Strength & Conditioning that is already considered Legendary and Insane! His goal is to reach and teach the people worldwide how to develop Both Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, Spiritually and Energetically Strength, as well as how to make this Whole Training & Physical Culture a Lifestyle, and not just a Hobby!

One thing’s for sure: Matti would have made the Legendary Oldetime Strongmen of the Past very proud, We both would have BTW!

Be sure to sign-up on the right-hand side of his Site, Ferocious Stength, to Download the FREE Bonus Report: Emotional Anchors! And after you’ve downloaded it, make sure you NOT only read it, but also USE it to the Fullest! ‘Nuff Said, I rest my case!

Steel Cords From Isometrics

Picture for a moment and see your tendons and ligaments as if they were cords of steel and it would take a ton of pressure to break if they can break. Those cords are not only stupid strong but just as supple with a dose of great flexibility and power at the same time. Would you want that kind of strength? I bet you do.

 A great notion about isometrics is the way it burns off fat in ways you duplicate with regular cardio exercise and/or weights. The amount of exertion to not move a single muscle but to contract so hard, fat is literally running out of your body is a miracle in itself. Imagine your entire body as if it’s one big steel rod that’s so powerful its scary. Think of having those Popeye forearms having held an isometric whether for 10 seconds or 1 minute, what would it feel like? One of the greatest strongmen of all-time Slim The Hammerman pointed out that just building muscles may not be quite enough to develop the strength you need but to develop your tendons, that’s real power. Arthur Saxon knew this, Bruce Lee knew this, Alexander Zass knew it too and many other physical culturists knew the secret to super strength was tendon strength.

 Isometrics can be done anywhere at anytime. Making them a habit is a key to your vital success in strength, health, mind power, even cardio and flexibility. If you learned Isometrics the way Bud Jeffries and the other old-time strongmen did them, you can create so many attributes into one session and it won’t take you that long either. You want cardio training from isometrics, hold certain positions for about 3 minutes, that’s nothing or is it? Want muscle building; try doing Muscle Control for 10 minutes and find out if you hadn’t gotten a pump yet. This type of training can break through your weak points in every exercise you do, again hold certain points and keep going until you have hit your range of motion. This is one of the best for rehab, pressing a weight, doing pull-ups, going a little further in a stretch; it’s all there for you to take.

 Arguably the greatest wrestler of all-time Gama took isometrics to a level no one before or since has mastered. As a little boy until his competition years, he would get up every morning and tie a belt around a tree and with all his might; he never took down the tree but yet when he wrestled, he threw his opponents like they toys and most of the men he wrestled were monsters not little guys. He once threw a champion wrestler 13 times in 13 minutes, you how much the man weighed, almost 300 lbs. of pure muscle. That is power and strength. When you practice Isometrics, you can learn to exert so much force that it can be the equivalent to doing an insane amount of reps. Want to know another story, how about letting Bud Jeffries tell it and believe me, knowing this story is one of the biggest inspirations to learning this type of training.

 When you exert so much force and with the proper breathing, your muscles will begin to take on a form of great vascularity and muscle pump that you can’t possibly achieve with anything else. One guy who takes vascularity to the max at a level that only a handful have achieved including the greats Bruce Lee and Alexander Zass is my boy Matti Marzel at www.ferociousstrength.com. If you watch some of his videos bending steel, you will notice that during the bends his muscularity changes and for brief moments shows the shrededness of his physique that is just in awe and needs to be seen to believe. The closest I’ve ever seen a man his size have that much muscularity is Bruce Lee and I stand by that statement.

 A key secret in superhuman strength through isometrics is not how much exertion you put into it but how your mind brings to the exertion whether it’s 40% of your power or 100%, the mind makes the body strong so when applying isometrics, dive into the mental side as well and the physical will come right after. This type of training can take you to levels of strength that can only be explained by experience and by those who are best to teach it.

Jackie Chan: Hardcore Athlete

Bruce Lee changed the way Martial Arts films were made and was a pioneer in the quest for what being an action star and dramatic actor was in films throughout Asia and the U.S. If there was one man who would be a successor to Bruce Lee and take action/comedy to a whole new level would be Jackie Chan. Chan personifies the qualities of a martial artist, action star and comedic actor all in one body.

 Martial Arts films are a genre that is unique and different among other genres. When you add comedy in the picture with awesome chorography, you have a blend that is a style all on its own. Chan’s skills are second to none as he doesn’t just know how to kick, punch and maneuver from many angles but the plethora of strength, agility and flexibility is one of the most surreal aspects that not many people realize. Growing up and training in a school for academics, athletics and theater, he took on a life most kids at that time was the norm unlike a child growing up in the U.S where you have school, do some form of extra-curricular activity and do homework, there was a guy who went to a school of hard-knocks as some of the training he was into was grueling and insane to western society.

 At a young age, Chan would go to the Theater and watch on the big screen, the legendary physical comedian Buster Keaton of the Silent Film era. Watching the actor became a passion and made the young prodigy love the world of acting and physical comedy. Although loving acting, Chan’s regimen in conditioning was legendary even at a young age doing hand balancing, various horse stances, high kicks, variations of extreme push-ups and sit-ups, fast pace punches that only a few including Bruce Lee ever achieved I mean it goes on and on. When it came to Abdominal Conditioning, Chan is far above than the majority of people in most cases. When you look at some of his films, the muscles on his abs are not just cool looking but they’re extremely powerful and can withstand quite a blow. When you have powerful abs like that, your whole body is powerful because training the Core is training the center of your strength and conditioning.

 Speed is another one of his phenomenal traits and I can think of only two other guys that have speed faster then the average person, those are of Bruce Lee and Jet Li, maybe Donnie Yen. You know you have phenomenal speed in a movie when the crew tells you to slow down by a huge margin; Bruce Lee was a perfect example of that when he was doing the short lived Green Hornet TV show. When you get good at going at a fast clip and with good form, your body’s nervous system will shift into overdrive and your growth hormone will ring up faster then any other attribute which means you can look young,burn fat, gain muscle and have energy unlike anything else.

 Jackie Chan has done countless movies throughout his career from Supercop to the Rush Hour trilogy but if there was one movie that is a must see that’s not only funny as hell but awe-dropping training methods at the same time with awesome Kung Fu to boot is one of his early films from the late 70’s called Drunken Master. I won’t give away too much of the film but there are certain scenes where his chorography is just incredible from a scene in his father’s Dojo to the grueling exercise regimen with his uncle doing horse stances, push-ups, sit-ups, crushing walnuts ect. It’s one of those films that have lots of comedy, awesome fight scenes and awesome messages about training.

 Chan is now in his late-50’s and shows no signs of slowing down and still has the grapes to do most of his own stunts which only an extreme few actors at that age can muster. He truly is the Bruce Lee of our generation and only a few after him can remotely have that type of status but there can be only one Jackie Chan.