A Workout Blaster Of Pure Heavenly Brutality

 Quite the title don't you think? In reality, the workout I put myself through yesterday was hard as fuck but it didn't feel like a chore and I loved it. It's probably the hardest workout I came up with since getting over the sciatica injury. It was another test to see what I'm capable of and the work I've put in. 

For some, it is annoying that I've mentioned the injury several times now and quite frankly, it is especially if it's on your brain everyday like mine. The thing is, it really has opened up my eyes to look at training from another perspective and to see a workout beyond the movements and the mysticism of it. Although they're simple, they're not meant to be easy and when you go hard, you learn what you made of. I may not be the fastest, the strongest or the most coordinated, but I do make up for it by finding ways to push myself to a different level than I was before. It's really a testament to having invested in the Dopamineo Band. 

I never reach failure in any of my workouts and for good reason, there's really no need to because you can still go hard without feeling like you can't get up and walk with some gas left in the tank. I do however, learn what my body can do and make it stronger and a bit more resilient as I pay attention to how it operates during workouts. I've always believed training is about discovery and coming to grips with what it can do and what it helps reach as time goes on. This workout hit a little differently and it made me learn where my conditioning was and how I can move forward.

Here's the Workout......

I started a "warm up" of going through my Animal Deck Of Cards Workout in full to get things going and get my energy up because I knew I wanted to do something more. Usually it takes me 15-16 min to complete.

After a short break going through the deck, I had the Dopa Band prepped and ready for another exercise that lasted a total of 6 1/2 minutes which was 10 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 20 Rounds doing the Alternating Wave exercise. I'm still learning the kinks of keeping the wave smooth but all in all, it was awesome and got some killer lungs firing as well as keeping my core tight and working my arms and shoulders. 

Not done yet....

Next was another brutal exercise of doing 10 seconds on, 20 seconds for 10 Rounds of the Bear Crawl Sprints with the band on my waist. The energy was there and my conditioning was on it. I was breathing hard but I didn't feel tired. I went through it and it was amazeballs.

But wait there's more. The final stretch....

I finished off with two exercises with the Band for 100 Reps each (in sets of 50) doing Curls and Chest Presses. Two simple exercises to target specific muscles (Pulling & Pushing). After doing 50, would take a small break to write down the numbers and return for another set. 

So here's what the full workout was in full.....

Animal Deck Workout 

10/10 For 20 Rounds Alternating Waves

10/20 For 10 Rounds Bear Crawl Sprints

100 Curls (50, 50)

100 Chest Presses (50, 50)

This took all together including resting was about 30 minutes or so I'm guessing. It was like a light that came on and my level of energy was just crazy. I did all that yesterday and still had gas in the tank. It didn't make me want to take a nap but I was hungry as hell so after putting things away and taking a shower, I cooked myself 5 Fried Eggs, 5-6 pieces of bacon and four slices of buttered toast to make a couple sandwiches out of them. Washed it down with some great juice and just felt euphoric on top of  the high I was already feeling from the workout. 

I won't be doing that kind of workout all the time but it's one of those that just clicked and I felt at my very best at that moment. That was for the record, a full on conditioning workout and it was tough. Tougher than some of my other ones but I made it through and it was another day of feeling like myself again. Make it count, but always feel like you can walk out after with your head held high, gas left in the tank and feeling like a kid again. Some people never get that chance, some don't have the drive and others haven't discovered it yet but those that do, understand that it's important to have those entities and never take them for granted. Keep being amazingly awesome and get cracking.

Be sure to snatch up some bands and use the bad ass discount code I got for you. Take 10% OFF your order when you enter POWERANDMIGHT at checkout. Awesome deals going on right now especially if you grab a hold of a bundle you can use for athletes, the wife and kids or for building a team of great fighters/wrestlers. Even right now, you can get a 1 For 3 Deal where you can order a band and get 2 extra bands that can be used for stretching with a string bag so you can take them anywhere. 

Double Decker Of Insanity

 

Every now and then, there comes a time where you want to challenge yourself and see where you're at or how far you're willing to push. A few times recently, I have dug into a hole of doing leg workouts with the deck of cards of Step Ups & Hindu Squats. It started at finishing the deck of 450 and 225 respectively and then added 50 and 25 to make them an even 500 Step Ups & 250 Hindu Squats. I got pretty good at it and was able to complete this workout almost consistently. 

I ended up with a minor back injury where something went out of alignment about 10 days ago and I was having trouble doing what I normally do. During that time, I did lighter things like Isometrics, Joint Loosening, slow Bear Crawling and some light Flow work. Once I started to feel a bit better, I tested myself in doing just the Step Ups for 30 min doing 12-15 reps per leg straight through. Did this a couple times and just kept up with lighter stuff. I noticed some more improvement so I did some Hammer work and added weight to my Epic Sledgehammer and filmed doing 10 reps with 75 lbs. You can view it here. 

My improvement kept getting better so I did another Hammer workout with the 25 lber and managed a total of 300 reps. I filmed the first set which was 52 reps in 57 seconds, you can view that here. 

Today, I felt like I was at my best and wanted to really take it to another level. With the Step Ups & Hindu Squats, I did the same numbers on the cards as I normally would but I was determined to test my conditioning by doing not one but TWO DECKS IN A ROW!!! That's a total of 1000 Step Ups & 500 Hindu Squats. Some guys will do one or the other or do one exercise straight and another some time after that but I don't think (at least to my knowledge) someone has done both in the same workout using decks of cards where it was going back and forth between the two exercises. I knew that Karl Gotch was doing his "Bible" Workout with Hindu Push-Ups, Squats, Jump Squats & Half-Moon Push-ups with 2 decks in a row and although this is way harder, just doing legs is a completely different animal, not saying it's better it's just different. 

For most people, this looks insane and I got some kind of screw loose, this was one of my most insane workouts already so far this year and it's only February. This was a challenge for myself and to see how my back felt because if I sat too long, it did feel painful so I had to move around more which eased the pain and when I laid down, most of the pain went away temporarily. Didn't take one aspirin, muscle relaxer, Advil, Tylenol or anything like that. I hate meds or just over the counter meds with incredible prejudice, that's probably one of the very few things in my life I can say I truly hate. I wanted to rehab myself like I did with my leg injuries and be smart about it. Didn't push hard and listened to my body. Not many get that and go from one extreme to another without realizing the consequences.

Injuries happen, we can't 100% avoid them, but we can make adjustments and learn to be patient with ourselves to an extent. This did hurt like hell and a couple times felt debilitating but I couldn't give up on what I was doing completely, just needed to make small tweaks for the time being and now I feel like I can take on a fucking tank. The challenge really was to get strong again and this double decker workout was the finish line to that challenge. I'm proud to be able to do this and I might do it again you never know. 

If you want to go after this workout, I would suggest have some water on hand before you do it, like 20-30 minutes before you do it cause this workout will make you sweat like you just went through a damn tsunami and it will test your mental fortitude along with your cardio. Drink water after you shower and drink plenty slowly. The endorphin high is indescribable and that water will taste like the best water you've ever had. Challenge yourself, be smart about your training and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Lost Empire Herb Of The Day: Schisandra Berry

Don't forget to check out the cool stuff at Kensui Fitness where you can grab Rings, Weight Vests, Pull-Up Handles and Jump Ropes along with killer apparel. Use my Discount Code POWERANDMIGHT  at checkout to get 10% OFF these items or with bundle packs.

Step Ups & Hindu Squats: A Leg Workout From Hell

I've written about my latest Deck Of Cards workout consisting of Step-Ups & Hindu Squats. This time, I actually filmed it in its entirety from start to finish with barely any rest other than than flipping the cards. It is literally a workout from hell that will have you sweating and breathing like a maniac. Some think I lie about my workouts especially one lame ass dude who talks everyone's ear off on his own channel while also trying to call me out or bash me to his cult-like email list using unoriginal high school trash talking as he "demos" his version of bodyweight training. That's pretty sad, petty and to be blunt very pathetic for a grown man to resort to that. Someone like that needs to seek professional help. Anyhow, this was something I have wanted to show for a while but was reluctant cause I didn't know if my camera would be able top hold out for the length I needed to do. Luckily, it worked and you can see for yourself that I did what I said I would do. 

That's the thing I learned later on in my fitness journey is that some guys are great at talking and demonstrating their craft, guys like Bud Jeffries, Matt Schifferle, Logan Christopher, Tyler Bramlett and bad ass ladies like the Scottish Super Woman Kirsten Tulloch and Ant Strong Rocker Melody Schoenfeld. I'm not one of those people and I learned that the hard way in my early days of filming workouts, feats and exercise demos. In the last number of years, I basically stopped talking all together and just went out there and did it. I let my physicality do the talking and yeah sure, I'm not perfect or flashy, I just run with it and if it's beneficial than I put it up. 

I rarely ever put up a full workout these days because for one, not everyone has the attention span to see workouts that last more than 5 minutes and two, I prefer to put up demos of various exercises so people can learn them and create workouts for themselves while I promote some of the best stuff out there. It's a better choice for me and it's gotten a lot of positive feedback. This workout however was special to me because I was already sore from the day before doing over 320 Hindu Squats. I haven't done that many in a while and just wanted to see what I could do, I felt it that's for fucking sure and also because it isn't some flashy and sparkly spectacle of cool moves and CrossFit style horror but simple and basic old school exercises that with enough length of time can be brutalized into some demonic, tough and physically demanding workout. 

The thing you'll notice about the video is that I don't really take a break other than to flip a card and do my best to keep my form as good as can be so I'm not bending over dying and ready to collapse. I keep going until that fucking deck is finished. By the end, I'm drenched in sweat, breathing like I just ran a marathon and raise my fists in victory. That's one of the things I learned from Matt Furey was after doing a workout with a deck, you celebrate and give thanks for a great workout and you accomplished something for yourself. It's hard and it's tough as hell but I'm grateful that I can do it and I'm happy that I can show you guys what I'm able to do cause the last thing I ever want to be called is a bullshitter and a liar, that makes it personal for me because anybody who truly knows me knows that not only am I the worst liar on the planet, I have no poker face and if I did lie, I would tell on myself faster than Clark Kent in a phone booth changing into Superman. Not only did I finish this workout, I did it in less than 30 minutes and never once felt like quitting. 

It's one of the toughest workouts I've ever put myself through and had no one to blame but myself if I failed. I love what this workout gives and the combination of unilateral movement with Squats is sure fire to kick your ass. Altogether I did 675 Total Reps (450 Step Ups & 225 Hindu Squats). It builds incredible muscular endurance, conditioning, long term strength and is a complete calorie burner. Want to know what it's like to have your lungs feel like they're on fire, see and hear for yourself. This can be done just about anywhere and the only equipment is a step stool and a deck of cards as your coach. If you can't do it at first, that's ok, do what's possible and build up from there. Once you get the hang of it, go as fast as you can without compromising your form or hurting yourself. I'm not even going complete Speedy Gonzales on this thing, I let the speed come naturally and be as smooth as possible. 

This will have you breathing heavy like crazy and there's no real way around that. You do the best you can to control your breathing but as you go along, keep as natural as possible. It's hard and it will test you especially the faster you go. It's intense and it'll feel like you're going to die but do what you can to get through it. Be mindful and progress to where yeah you're breathing like a maniac but your mind is strong and taking it one card at a time and not forcing yourself against the clock. Focus on the task on hand, not the clock or the random thoughts in your head, focus and utilize that 1000 mile stare. 

Take a shot at it if you're ambitious and see what's possible. Be strong, get some leg work in and keep being amazingly awesome. Here it is you guys, the full workout that delivers like an awesome pizza in 30 minutes or less. 

Lost Empire Herb Of The Day: Spartan Formula

BTW, here's a couple shots of my calf development that I took yesterday. Think they're coming in pretty good since I don't specialize in them.

Did You Hear The One About The Bear, The Crab, The Monkey & The Duck?

All jokes aside (maybe?) when it comes to exercise, you want to make things interesting. Being bored just sucks the fun out of doing something that's meant to get you in shape or keep you in shape. Although it is important to take training seriously because for one you want to maintain good health for as long as you can right? The other side of the coin is to make a workout work so well, you'll want to come back to it more and more or do it more often because you not only enjoy but it gives you a hell of a thrill.

That's one of the reasons why I love Animal Exercises so much, they allow you to freely move and harness your imagination to not only get great results but feel like it's not work but playing hard. From the dice games to flow routines and combos, there are so many ways to get in a great workout using the wild animals as your inspiration. One of my personal favorites for a while has been using a deck of cards which can be called the Animal Exercise Bible or the Animal Deck Of Madness (either way it's just a name). It consists of four Animals: Bear, Crab, Primate & Duck. It's 2 upper body animals and two lower body animals which target multiple muscle groups at the same time and works your conditioning, strength endurance, agility and your mobility. 

For a period with one of the lower body movements, I was doing an exercise called the chimp walk which I still do from time to time but have recently switched to an exercise that is based on wrestlers' type movements where it's somewhat like a lunge but you also reach out and pull as if to lunge and grab a hold of an opponent. I learned it from Eero Westerberg from Vahva Fitness and even though he isn't a wrestler, he was inspired by them and have seen a similar move people use in MMA and Amateur Wrestling. You can view it here....

The numbers on the cards can vary from workout to workout but today, the numbers on the cards were as follows.

Face Cards: 15 Steps/Reps

Aces: 20 Reps/Steps

Jokers: 50 Steps/Reps Of The Bear Crawl

2-10: Done As Shown. 

The objective is to get finish the deck as fast as possible. Now this doesn't mean you get sloppy and get lazy by not paying attention to form but to work the exercise as it intended to be with control and coordination. The speed will vary and it's not important to break world records by finishing in something like 10 minutes or whatever. These exercises are not just your typical type movements, there's a reasons wrestlers and grapplers have been using these exercises for a very long time and have stood the test of time. This can be used as a warm up to your MMA Workout or for conditioning in Football or Wrestling or as a stand-alone. It's not that difficult but it's not easy either so never underestimate it.

I've been doing deck of cards workouts off and on for years starting in my Post Rehab days of doing Combat Conditioning and evolving from there. I've written a few times on why I just don't like certain aspects of stationary exercises and feel like certain rules don't apply to me so I come up with my own workouts to suit my needs and Animals are the peak of conditioning exercises. Bodyweight Exercises have their place and if you're in close quarters like a hotel room, workouts like these are perfect for that but I love having that extra space to move around and I can go hard with Animal Exercises without getting sore. 

Be wild in your workouts and unleash the beast within. Grab a good deck, shuffle well and have at it and see how you do. Can't do a full deck yet? That's fine, do what you can and once you do, try to beat the deck every workout. Have fun and if you want to make some animal noises in the process, that's optional (recommend you do that alone). 

The Animal Deck Of Madness

A great workout is when you can play with certain exercises and make a little game out of them and making training more enjoyable while also getting the most out of your conditioning in a short period of time. Animal Exercises is one of those methods that really throws boredom out the window and into a world of imagination, playful movement and being free. 

When it comes to Deck Of Cards workouts; over the years I've done various types from doing Combat Conditioning Exercises, totaling 500 Hindu Squats, 1000 Step Ups, Ab Wheel/Step Ups duets and doing hundreds to a thousand reps or more with sledgehammer training. Some of these workouts go from 20 minutes to over an hour depending on what I'm doing. The 1000 Step Up Card workout lasted 50 minutes at my fastest. Some workouts are about speed but others were more precise and keeping form as best as possible and letting the speed come naturally. Some workouts required rest periods and others were straight through the deck where flipping the card was your only rest. You do what you like and make progress little by little.

When I came up with the animal movements for the cards, it naturally became a favorite. It was fast, quick and didn't require almost any rest and just go straight through. It consisted of 4 Animals: The Bear, The Crab, The Duck & The Chimp. At a good clip, it should take about 15 minutes or less to complete but don't forget, the faster you go, the more you need to be aware of your balance because if you move too quickly and the body doesn't line up, you can trip and fall on your face or ass. So although this workout requires speed and agility, it also requires a solid amount of balance and awareness. This was my morning workout today and finished the deck in 13:28. Got a great sweat going and feeling energetic plus the endorphin high just fucking rocks man. 

Here's how you number out the reps/steps to reach 500 (in this case for the animals)....

Hearts: Bear Crawls

Diamonds: Crab Walks

Spades: Duck Waddle

Clubs: Chimp Walk

2-10 Cards are as is.

Kings/Queens/Jacks Are 10

Aces Are 16

Jokers Are 50 Steps Of The Bear Crawl

All cards should lead up to 500 Reps/Steps. I learned this specific numbers game from an article that legendary catch wrestler Billy Robinson had said that he would do this with wrestlers from time to time on Hindu Squats because you can do 500 in various ways but with the cards, it's never the same order twice. 

This is an awesome workout that hits practically every muscle in the body and has awesome benefits for conditioning, continuous strength, balance, agility and cardio. Requires no equipment and if you're short on space, just move back and forth with the space you do have (for this particular workout, it's a lot more fun to do it out at a park or on a grassy area. Be wild, free and amazingly awesome.  

A Playout That Turns Boys Into Men & Little Girls Into Strong Women

Many playouts can be challenging and having variety brings a great element of using your brain and your nerves to take in strength & endurance you didn't realize you had. To me such a playout is using a simple deck of cards that can be done in a variety of ways; you can go fast, go slow, do holds, modify and utilize different variations to your advantage and fitness levels.

A awesome playout with the deck of cards is just doing Hindu Squats & Hindu Push-ups. Just these two alone can get you in awesome shape and give you a level of conditioning second to none. The idea of this one is to beat the deck and go a little faster beating it each time but unless you're a pro athlete (Pro Wrestler or someone in Combat Sports specifically) you can only go so fast until you start to lose form and stop focusing on the breathing, the technique and paying attention to the body inside and out. At one point in time for a while I was doing 400 Hindu Squats & 250 Hindu Push-ups at a time with the deck and that wasn't always the best thing for me and ended up hurting myself due to over excitement and adrenaline not paying attention to my body. It's a learning experience and doing that high of reps is a great accomplishment but there's more to it than just hitting those numbers.

You can put any exercise you want with your own deck but don't just do repetitions and thinking that's the best way to get stronger; there is a line you don't want to cross and it'll either make you or break you if you don't pay attention. The deck I like best is the one made for students of Matt Furey and the exercises are Hindu Squats, Hindu Push-ups, V-Ups & Tablemakers. These 4 are the foundation for Combat Conditioning and can be done in great ways that don't always require speed. There have been playouts with this deck where I didn't go for reps but counted breaths or seconds with each card and that becomes a whole other ball game. Doing them in Isometric Fashion develops strength from another universal element and creating power you didn't think existed. It gives that extra spring in your step and puts you in a state of mind that is blissful, peaceful yet excitingly challenging.

You don't need the Matt Furey Exercise Bible to do these 4 exercises, you can put them on any deck you choose but how you apply them for the best intentions is up to you. I mean just the other day I did a total of 300 Hindu Squats  and 100 Hindu Push-ups, V-Ups & Tablemakers each and felt like a million bucks. It never gets easier but it does get more interesting once you're consistent with it. You can make it the most challenging Playout of your life or make it to where its not that difficult but yet still feel great. Make it play for YOU!!!

If you can't get your hands on that specific deck, here is a place where you can pick your own deck and have at it.....My personal favorite deck is here.

More On The Hands

              

             Having powerful hands can be life saving. The grip power and strength you build from different methods gives you that raw and ferocious power of being able to lock anything within your grasp. When you bend steel, you wrap up the nail, wrench, screwdriver or whatever; you squeeze with everything you have and you work the wrist along with the whole body and you give that object no mercy. Ripping a deck of cards gives you that mighty twisting strength in your hands and your wrists while taking your body to a whole new level. Gripping a odd object and doing whatever you want with it, even though it’s awkward, it gives you the strength that forces you to stabilize the muscles and tendons.

            Not all grip work should have a focus on strength because if all you do is strengthen the hands and lower arm, you’re missing out on creating graceful and supple hands that can create magic within the flick of a wrist or using your fingers in the way a ballet dancer gracefully uses the legs. Move your hands with power but not like a tense beast, but a mobile and majestic form of flexibility and suppleness. If you’re a fighter who needs to slip out of holds, your supple hands can come in handy. A magician has very supple hands and you’ll know why, the beauty and the majesty of moving their hands with key target points and precise accuracy that can only be measured by how they present themselves.

            The hands can be your greatest ally or with the right leverage and training, they can cripple you within a heartbeat. Back when Catch Wrestling was at its prominence; there were wrestlers called Hookers who can hook you into a hold that would most likely break a bone if they had anything to say about it. Just putting the bone of your wrist on guy’s arm, leg and/or neck in a locked hold can hurt like a bitch; I've felt it first hand so never underestimate it. The Hookers were feared by those who challenged them and if they got a hold on you, you better pray they’re in a good mood and just make you tap otherwise you’re going to be in a brace pal. If you’re looking to build “soft” hands meaning strong but gentle, they can be useful if you’re into massage, pleasing your spouse and they can be useful when you have that touch that just makes everything feel incredible. The hands can do many wonders.

            When it comes down to tools, there are many things you can use to build mighty mitts but none are equal to each other because one can build your hands a certain way or another but never in the same way in terms of building the tendons and muscles of the lower arm. Sledgehammers build strong hands period. They make you work otherwise you won’t have a chance with them. Grippers build that crushing strength but also if you do isometric holds, this alone can be beneficial if you want to save someone’s life one day. Various Feats Of Strength build your hands in ways that are virtually impossible for dumbbells and barbells can withstand. The simplest tool for your twisting strength can be the use of a towel, by this I mean you get a bucket, put the towel in and soak it up as best as possible and then from one end to the other you twist and squeeze the water out back into the bucket; this exercise alone can turn your hands in steel rods and turn your tendons into granite.

            Use your tools wisely because you never know when you’ll need your powerful hands for a certain occasion. Your hands are the works of what was meant for you. The stronger and supple you make them, the stronger your body can be. Do it and you will go far.

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. 

Technology Has It’s Purpose To A Degree

            In the world of modern technology, it’s everywhere from computers to cell phones, satellites all over the globe, little robots that can do certain things, apps that have just about every single piece of information you can find and it’s all mostly unnecessary in the fitness world. There are ways to work around that however. There was a time when there was no internet, no cell phones, no computers to give us the slightest bit of info and the closest to entertainment you found was in a movie theater, the radio, Burlesque shows, Vaudeville and the Circus. You actually had to find a way to make life interesting whether it was working on a farm, wrestling with many sparring partners at a YMCA and sometimes the nearest town was miles away and had to ride a horse or in a carriage.

            Machines today have their reason and some of them are good to use but when it comes to exercise, most machines don’t really do anything for you because of how fixated they are. Some people can use technology to their advantage in their training; I was never fond of the treadmill but somehow certain people like them and use them in the gym or their home. To take advantage of this while being productive there has been ways of people getting fit from a treadmill while working at the same time. A great friend of mine Tyler from Garage Warrior has his laptop attached to his treadmill so while he’s doing emails and writing up articles, he can get in a brisk walk at the same time so he’s making something useful.

            To be fit in my opinion is to be as old school about it as possible with as limited machining and technology as possible. Learn to be more wild-like and open to getting strong, certain people like lat pulldowns for the back muscles but in the end if you want a great powerful back stick to basic exercises like Pull-ups, Chin-ups, Deadlifts and DB/BB Rows. When you move a barbell/dumbbell or even your own bodyweight, it’s a different feel; you’re part of a tradition in a modern era that is overrun by microwaves and technological distractions. Learn how the old-timers trained, you don’t have to be exactly like them but learn to use their example of how being fit and strong really is. Lift odd objects to find out how your muscles work in an awkward and unstable position, learn to use your body like an animal seeing how you move with constant change and direction.

            Since there are so many freaking apps for fitness there are only two or three I've ever found that is truly useful, the Tabata apps and the Deck Of Cards. Tabata training is basically an interval training system where you do 4 minutes of intense exercise with 20 sec. on and 10 sec. off ratio, this app can be great for short and timed training. I use it for animal type training. The deck of cards app is by far the very best one I have found that gives you a workout that is never the same and it’s an unlimited deck where you can do an infinite number of cards. You can pick up to 4 exercises that you can type in and you’re off and running, after you do a certain exercise on the card, press a button to go to the next one and it’ll tell you how many reps to do for that particular card, sucks it doesn't have jokers though.

            We can use technology to our advantage in the way we train but you have to be smart about it, let it work for you. Stick to the basics as best as you can and have a kick ass time with them but don’t let technology run your whole way of training, overall its best to turn off your computer, cell phone, radio and just be free to do whatever you want. It’s all about how you find things that work best for you.

The Deck Of Destiny

              One of my favorite workouts is simply using a deck of cards and going as far as I can go. He didn't create it but he certainly gave it greater purpose especially if you’re a combat athlete and that was Karl Gotch. If you were to get in superior condition it was important to stick with the fundamentals and that was squats, push-ups and bridging. With the deck, you just shuffle them however you want and when you flip one card you do that many push-ups or squats, face value is up to 15, Aces are 20 and Jokers are 25-50.

Numbered As Is

Aces- 20

Face Cards- 15

Jokers-25/50

            Once you have it down and you can finish the deck in a reasonable amount of time (keep it under 45 min.), you can switch things around, make certain parts of the cards different types of push-up and/or squats along with an abdominal exercise or maybe add in pull-ups that’ll be an ass kicker. It’s good to switch things up, keep the body working in different directions and ways that’ll keep your heart rate up and challenging your body to a different degree. My shortest time with the cards ever was just over 21 min. and that’s cruising, that’s just on various push-ups and squats, however with only 4 exercises it takes me just under 45 min. at a time.

            Gotch always found that conditioning was the base for every combat sport and in general all sports for that matter. You can do all the techniques in your sport all you want but if you can’t last very long on the mat or on the field even on the court you might as well walk out the door. Another legendary sports figure whose conditioning training helped bring a series of championships was the late John Wooden of NCAA Basketball lore at UCLA. If his guys weren't up to par to stay in the game efficiently, they didn't get to play much, it was this golden rule that put his teams in the best of the best during the 60’s and 70’s that had Hall Of Famers such as Kareem Abdul Jabarr and Bill Walton. This type of training gives your workouts a twist because it’s never the same every time so there’s no guess work it’s just there.

            When it comes to timing, you should attempt to finish the deck with as little rest as possible to the point where you’re just zooming like lightning. In the beginning, you might need to rest after a few cards to catch your breath and let the tension out because of the lactic acid build up. Each workout should have a little less rest than the last time so you can build that endurance and your mental strength. A key component to learn is that after a while, your form might be a little off, this happens often so do your best to keep your form as best as possible because if you start to get sloppy, it’s going to bite you in the ass.

            If you want to jump up to a level of conditioning that is different and a bit more hardcore than doing reps, do the deck in an Isometric format. You’re probably wondering “how the hell do you do that?” Instead of doing reps, you hold a certain position for time either for a few seconds or a few breaths for example, you got a 5 and it’s a squat, you can hold a horse stance or wall sit and hold for 5 seconds or take in 5 breaths. Jokers are a killer and you’d be in great shape if you can hold a position for up to 50 breaths but 50 seconds is still ok. This takes your body to a level most never dare go to. At best this kind of workout can take as long as an hour or more, that’s a lot of trying to hold still.

            The deck can work in many ways and no matter how you do it, if you can do the whole deck you’re in reasonably good shape. Gotch took to a level only a small group has ever achieved and that’s doubling the number of squats and kept the push-ups as is. I once read he did the deck twice in a row, no wonder he was a beast on the mat. It’s a lot of fun to work on and you can do it just about anywhere at anytime. See how you do it and how it can work for you. 

Karl Gotch & Conditioning

             

             It’s important to understand that if you want to the very best in your sport or in your training, you want to be in the best condition as possible. Karl Gotch put this rule to a level not many want to achieve. It doesn't matter if you’re in Wrestling, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey or Soccer for that matter, you can have all the gnarly skills you want but if you can’t last the way you need to, you’re done. A lot of people seem to have this notion that if you just train a little and work on the skills you’ll be fine. Wrong. Conditioning and technique go together like a Horse & Carriage, one without the other is worthless.

            When it comes down to conditioning, there are many ways to do it and like everything else, it takes time and patience and building your mental strength as well. One of the things I admired about Gotch was how he can make cardio look like a firestorm with just a good old deck of cards. I’m sure he might not be the first to come up with this concept but he did make it worth it in gold. Take a deck of cards, shuffle them and get to work. This makes training a little different because it’s never the same workout twice. If you can get through the deck, you’re in pretty decent shape and if you do it twice in the same workout you’re a terror practically on the mat, floor or on the field.

            The cards have a way to test your mind power and see how far you’re willing to push yourself. Yes it takes progression to work up to a full deck but after that it’s more of a mental game than a physical. The more you generate power in your mind; the body will give in and do more. It’s the mind/muscle connection that brings together the most powerful type of training of all.

            Remember about basic exercises? This is no different and your best shot is to stick with the fundamentals as best as possible when it comes to bodyweight…Push-ups, Squats and Bridging. These three alone can be beneficial to your health and strength training because there are many variations of them, some are easy, some are harder than others but once you have them down and you can train hard on them, you have the idea of mastering your own body in a way most will never understand. Like the old man once said “Conditioning is your best hold.”