Indian Wrestling: Two Powerful Souls Consisting Of The Akhara Vs The Olympic Stage

 Good morning everyone. Hope you all had a kick ass weekend. I was thinking last night what I wanted to get into for an article so I did some research into Kushti Wrestling or Pehlwan in contrast to Olympic Freestyle competition and training methodologies (among other things) so this is what popped up and holy shit this is fascinating stuff. Let's see where it leads and diving into a world that encompasses two styles in a region of the world where the two collide yet show patterns of fierce competition.

Two distinctive beasts that share the same DNA for devouring opponents from different sides of the same coin. On one hand, you've got the ancient entity of the Akhara: Red Earth that seems to look like something out of Mars, oil lamps that light up the competition and the Monkey God Hanuman looking down at worshippers as they prepare for practice and developing skills. The other side of this crazy spectrum, the Olympic rooms of the best of the best in Freestyle/Greco-Roman Wrestling: The lighting changes, timed intervals, diets that involve protein scoops instead of Ghee (Clarified Butter) and a mat that squeaks when going in for a single or double leg takedown. Both create monsters of epic proportions yet the way they're built is where the real interesting things come into play.

The Representation That Showcases The Nature Of Either Athlete

Pehlwans: Temples That Share Sacred Ground

When it comes down to it, the Akhara isn't a typical ground of training or a facility. It is an ancient tradition rooted in the life and devotion to the art of Kushti that dates back to the Mahabharata (maybe even further). You're not "going to practice", it is a lifestyle that involves words like discipline, diet and dharma in the same breath or treated as one formality. The sacred ground is the mud pit. It's not about medals, fortune and glory or even aesthetics, it's about the development of functional strength & conditioning that lasts for decades of Grappling. It's about becoming unbreakable.

Olympic Powerhouses: Out Of The Temple And Inside The Scientific & Time Tested Methods That Builds Championship Caliber Squads

The Olympic Style in this case is the bridge that goes from the mud to international glory. The two arts of Freestyle & Greco-Roman on cleaner mats, 6 minutes of pure explosiveness & strategy, near daily weigh ins and the goal to reach the podium. This takes on more of the lines of specialization that brings in scientific entities and prioritizing the maximum points of developing an athlete. 

The Akhara builds lifelong warriors but the Olympic rooms builds dates for a specialist. 

The Diet: Ghee & Almond/Breads Vs. Specific Foods & Hydration

Food is strength in the world of Indian Wrestling. Many wrestlers devour around 5000-7000 calories a day (if not more for larger athletes). Lots of Almonds, Milk, Butter, Bananas and Curd. Meats do come around but some skip it. 

Pros: More natural and Nutrient Dense food with almost no supplementation risks. Food that is heavily used to aid in recovery, build strength for tendons and bone density along with being able to utilize real world power in the muscular system. 

Cons: Several athletes have a higher percentage of bodyfat and there's very little weight cutting. Because of the constant training through thousands of push-ups, squats, club swinging, rope climbing and wrestling, these heavy foods tend to stick around longer in the system and more induced to bulking in order to stay within the grind. Almost no hydration protocols in order to make weight cutting effective.

Olympic Dieting: Balanced & Specified

Micronutrients such as Complex Carbs for energy, lean protein (Fish, Chicken, Eggs) that repairs tissue, fats that balance out hormones and making hydration one of the top priorities. It's almost a religion to drink water before, during and after. Pre-Competition meal prepping are timed out around a couple hours or more beforehand that eases the digestive process. It builds the science behind weight cutting because making weight is a lot more crucial (unless you're a heavyweight or bigger). More supplementation  are key factors as well like Whey Protein, Creatine and Vitamin D. 

Pros: More Precision and Strategy to hit specific weight goals, recover well and be able to go on command. Also creates greater output due to the higher Muscle Glycogen. 

Cons: Weight Cutting can be brutal and even one pound more or less can shatter dreams of making it through competition. Supplements do have a risk of being contaminated if used on the cheap and food must be cooked to specific needs for the bodies of athletes cause not all of them are able to eat the same types of foods due to allergies and/or digestive issues. 

The Training & Crazy Conditioning: Variables Vs The Heavy Volume

For the wrestlers in the art of Kusht, they train very early in the morning and would go for many hours doing extremely high rep exercise. Gama was said to do thousands upon thousands of Squats & Push-ups per day. Heavy gada swinging, running, rope climbing, bridging and spending time in the uneven pits. Traditionally, there are no time limits so you either devour an opponent or you get gassed out. Metabolic Conditioning that makes athletes go for hours. 

Pros: Base is about as unmatched as you can get. High repetition that recruits the nervous system to wrestle for extended periods of time even in compeition.

Cons: Greater risk of overtraining, periodization is virtually non-existent and doesn't have an easy transfer from Mud to Mat (although some athletes even at a young age have trained on mats that some gurus or coaches used). Heavy joint damage from endless reps is at a high level as well. 

Olympic Methodology:

Freestyle & Greco Roman Mat Based Wrestling requires greater demand on higher efforts of intensity. Strategically broken into energy systems such as: Simulated 6 Minute Matches, Explosive Shooting/Takedowns, Pummeling and Scrambling. The Strength Work is heavily more in tuned to Conventional Weight Training, Bodyweight Training in specific formats and Plyometrics to create explosive power. Conditioning is utilized in drills and technique building that's pretty fucking fast. Not to mention more sports specific and tactical. 

Pros: Greater Specificity. Training so you can go within the rule sets competed under. Manageable recovery and planned out peaks of gas tanks.  

Cons: Although Bridging is essential, it may not be as devoted and along with Olympic Athletes showing greater Aesthetically pleasing physiques that are strong and conditioned but function is a bit less on that end of the spectrum. 

So who's really better here? The real truth.....The best wrestlers in this part of the world have done both and utilized what they learned in the mud pits to transitioning into a world of specific methods that have brought them to places beyond their wildest dreams. Some made it to be the very best in the world, others hit their stopping points where medals were just in their grasp but couldn't reach the mark. They're still devoted warriors to the sport and should be respected either way. At the end of the day whether in the mud or on the mat, a wrestler makes the ground sacred and gives hope to those who have aspirations to become their country's best. There's history in those pits but there are also memories of blood, sweat and tears on the international stage that resides in the spirit of a wrestler. 

I hope you enjoyed and learned a thing or two. I sure as hell did and wrestling in that part of the world is an incredible subject. Be amazingly awesome, get your training in and kick ass today to kick off the week. Shoot me a comment or use the Linktree to send me an email. Looking forward to hearing from you.

What Is Wrong With The Dopamineo Bands??? This Is Very Important

People will say what is great about certain gadgets and products and write about them as if they're some kind of superior thing. Now, this will be treated almost like a negative review on Amazon but bare with me guys because this isn't easy for me to write. I'm ashamed to admit, there are things wrong with the Dopa Bands that I never wanted to talk about, I mean it is one of my favorite tools in this whole wide world, which is why this is so damn hard. I can name many things wrong with them but I'll share a few with you here.....

1. It has way too many colors. Black, orange, red, green, teal and others. It's like fucking skittles without enjoying the taste of them. What a letdown man.

2. They're just not going to make you look like a Super Saiyan God no matter how much you may want it to be or in the real world, make you look like Jack Lalanne in his prime. It's not a bodybuilding type of apparatus that will have you moving boulders and doing handstands. The workouts can only do so much for someone looking to get fit.

3. They don't automatically give you the opportunity to win gold medals or win world championships. I know that's hard to read but it's true. Even some whack jobs that copy and paste other people's stuff and call it their own knows that. It only builds enough to make it through a tough session.

4. The world isn't always going to agree with what bands do or don't do, they don't give a shit. It's not like many really understand what they do anyway so why fight it? They're not meant for certain people that consider themselves "Experts". Those people are far too advanced for silly looking tubes right?

5. Why would this company market to mainly fighters and wrestlers, is nobody else worth the effort? What about those who just want to live their lives healthy? Why don't they cater to those who have never been on the mat in their lives? Talk about a wasted opportunity.

6. These bands just can't cut it when it comes to building real muscle. Weights & Bodyweight are a true warrior's form of fitness like many claim. Even ones who think they're the GOAT of one exercise out of countless, guys like that know what is up. Can't deny it, they'll tell you what really works and will die on that hill defending it and you know what? Maybe the bands don't do enough, it's beneath them after all and think they're easy as hell. They are in some aspects.

7. What really grinds my gears about these things? Yeah, they got spunk and have that rebellious outlook of "beating the man with the Iron Pills", but they can't match up with the real world lifts like a Bench Press, Deadlift, Sandbag & Squat. Those are the true measures of strength. 

I can go on and on about what's wrong with them and why I should just cut them loose and throw them in the trash since I wasted money on them. The truth is.....

 All of these things that are wrong are the very reasons why it is ridiculous to even think such things. The only real wrong thing about them is that they're not promoted enough regardless of how much publicity they've had for years from some of the greatest athletes on the planet.

They provide real world function and can help you build lean muscle that is useful. They're the perfect tool for warming up, working on technique and be able to mimic just about any gym movement. They give you that extra juice to show your efforts in a post workout session that potentially gives you a high edge over your competition or enhance your own goals and aspirations. 

Those who have never laid a hand on them and tell you how awful they are wouldn't know his ass from his elbow how incredible these bad asses can be. So what if some shmuck with an ego the size of Texas thinks of them, he couldn't handle them on his best day. It's true, they wouldn't last 5 minutes with these things, then again, probably couldn't keep up with me in a workout with the bands but hey, they're more than welcome to find out if they're willing to give it a go. Besides, most who talk a good game would get their asses handed to them faster than the length of Vegeta's Galick Gun Technique. Hot air is all they really are and live jealous, pitiful lives. Damn shame. 

It's true they won't turn you into a Mr. Olympia, but that's not the goal. The goal is to make you one hell of a machine little by little or for most, make you fitter and longer lasting than the average person. It's ability to upgrade your conditioning is one of the reasons why it's successful and it's not just elite athletes, people in their 60's and older use them to help maintain youthful bodies with great mobility, agility and durability. It's not meant to be stupid heavy you can't move them, they're meant to move with you using a level of resistance that hits the muscles from many angles. 

The colors of the bands, it's freaking awesome, like a rainbow of badassery. Each level goes with a person's weight class/fitness level and able to work them to their advantage. It's a coach and will tell you what you need to work on and what to look for in building a mastery over them. Being able to work with them for even as long as 30 minutes with very little rest puts you in a level that is high above what most gym goers are willing to do. Sure it's a different level of training but the mere fact that they can give you that lasting strength when it matters is all the reason to get your hands on them.

The bands are a tool like anything else. They work with what you're willing to put into them. They give you many health benefits and challenge even the toughest men and women in the world. They don't snap easily, quite frankly, even the Great Gama doesn't stand a chance snapping these fuckers and he was arguably the greatest wrestler of all time that had strength that is unmatched today. The type of agility you can acquire and mobility you will gain, lessens the chances of injuries and has far less impact on the joints than weights or even bodyweight for that matter but both can co-exist with the bands in great synergy. You can do all sorts of workouts with them like Supersetting with Push-ups or Squats, attach them to a barbell and not need to add weight, Crawl or sprint with it around your waist and go after a slam ball and so much more. The only limit to these is your imagination. 

You can do great things and become a stronger and fitter person than you have ever been. Add these to your regimen or on their own and you will find a pathway to many abilities some will consider to be unnatural. Take a chance and grab a band or two right now and unlock new ways to train than ever before. Be sure to use the code POWERANDMIGHT. I thank you for reading the article and hope you all have an amazingly awesome day. 

The Pull-Up Paradox

Pull-ups are one of the essential elements that tests strength which also requires power and technique. As a staple exercise in many fitness routines, it's important to weigh the pros and cons of pull-up training.

The Pros....

- Upper Body Dominance: Pull-ups build incredible strength in the back, shoulders, and arms, making them a compound exercise that drives results.

- Functional Strength: Pull-ups translate to real-life movements, such as climbing, lifting, and carrying, making them a valuable exercise for functional fitness.

- Mental Toughness: Mastering pull-ups requires perseverance, discipline, and mental fortitude, building confidence and self-esteem.

Caution: The Cons

(Those who are fanatics might get offended or find it off putting but these are the facts)

- Injury Risk: Poor form, overuse, or inadequate loosening up of the muscles can lead to injuries in the shoulders, elbows, or wrists, taking you out of commission.

- Accessibility Limitations: Pull-up bars might not be readily available, limiting access to this exercise for some individuals. Trees, Rings & Suspension Trainers may give you some leeway but some believe Rings & Suspensions don't always count as pull-ups which is bullshit LOL.

- Plateau Potential: Without progressive overload or variation, pull-up training can stagnate, leading to frustration and boredom.

Progressing....

To unlock the full potential of pull-up training, focus on progressive overload, consistency, and patience. With dedication and persistence, you'll unleash some serious strength, reaping the rewards of this challenging yet rewarding exercise and its variations. Try doing them with Fat Gripz, they'll really test you. 

Some will go overboard even working around certain injuries like elbow pain which can affect your real potential. The type of guys I highly recommend you give a look through is Matt Schifferle & Al Kavadlo. If anything, they're some of the top guys on the subject of Pull-Up Training, digging into the very core of what effective methods are used to keep you strong but also pain free. However, guys like the overzealous and injury prone David Goggins are not the type of role models that really tackle the issues. He's more of a glory hound that at a glance is inspiring because of his background in the Navy Seals and his crazy running workouts/marathoning but if you look at it on another level, that dude has more injuries than anyone would want to count and his pull-ups are decent but not worth the amount done. 

There are other guys out there that are over the top about pull-up training and act like it's the only thing that matters when it comes to Bodyweight Training (spoiler alert, it isn't). For them and this is a general outlook for some of the influencers out there, that if you don't practice pull-ups and/or do them the way they teach, you're a loser. It's not true and doing 100 pull-ups or more in a workout too frequently or even GTG style can have dire consequences later on in life. Doing a few here and there either in sets or throughout the day isn't the worst thing but it's important to pay attention to how you feel and if there's pain, STOP!!! For me, I don't go any further than 20-30 total reps in my training, right now I'm at 20 doing them in sets of 3-4 and that's more than enough for me. 

It's not about the quantity, it's about technique, quality movement and feeling strong; not painful or trying to be better than anybody else, there's always going to be somebody better so why really fight it? Do what works best for you and stay on level during and after training. If you're going nuts day and day out, it's going to bite you in the ass one way or another. Being in pain and not even being to lift lift your arms or hold a cup of orange juice in your hand is NOT something people with a conscience would strive for. 

Get strong in pull-ups and make it worthy for joint health and long term strength. Be amazingly awesome.