Snow Battles, Dopa Band Training & Isometrics

 Well, more or less just shoveling snow when it comes to the battles. It has started snowing here a little more consistently but it isn't too bad. Get up at 5 in the morning, put on the jacket, the beaning, snow boots, got sweats on, put the gloves on, grab my shovel and have at it. It's so peaceful out, just the sound of the light wind, seeing footprints of deer, still dark out and being in the moment. The perks of being out in the fucking cold LOL.

Staying consistent with the Dopa Band Deck Of Cards Workout doing a total of 500-1000 Reps at a time. It has become more of a breeze to get through and my breathing is steady throughout most sessions. It's fun, quick and practically meditative. My favorite deck to use is the Golden 100 Dollar Bill Cards, easy to shuffle and it's just cool to look at. So far my best time doing 1000 Total Reps is around 43 min and change, high as a kite afterwards and have such a huge grin on my face (mostly cause that fucker is finally done). 

At times if I need a break from the band, I'll do 500 Step Up Workouts and/or do Isometrics to keep the joints strong. With the Isos recently, I have mimicked picking up and moving a shovel to stay durable and strong. Shoveling snow isn't too difficult but it does have you use muscles that aren't used everyday unless that's your job or it snows 95% of the time where you're at like on the East Coast or something. It's important to keep the joints healthy as well and Isometrics can help make things like this more consistent without straining yourself. Never had issues with snow shoveling whether it's powdery or wet and heavy but some people have and it can make a person ache afterwards cause the movements can be hard on the body. 

More on Isometrics, it's just also another method to work with on days where it's better to do holds than do crazy calisthenic stuff or weights. Some holds I'll do for 7-12 seconds of high intensity, others I'll go for 30 seconds to a minute or longer depending on what I want to do. Have a variety and strengthen areas that will help you keep active without pain. It's another part of the journey and doing what works best for you. Stay in shape as best as you can at just about any point in time. You never know what you'll need to be in it for.

You can keep going with what gives you the best benefits. There's no one method that will give you every result you ever wanted, spice it up, learn things and see what makes it enjoyable, challenging and fun for you to do in order to live life like a badass. You got this and you have the power to make things happen. Get at it and keep being amazingly awesome. As always, if you're interested in the Dopamineo Bands, use my discount to get 10% OFF your order and have a blast with these bad boys. 

More On The Bigfoot Walk Exercise

 Walking in a half or even quarter squat for an extended period of time can really fire up your legs and give that little jolt of energy. I have written recently about what the Bigfoot exercise is and how it's done. The benefits of it alone are pretty cool: It's a bit challenging but also has strong benefits for building incredible strength endurance along with powering up the tendons and ligaments especially in the knees. If you've had previous injuries or have trouble doing a squat, make that a priority before doing this exercise.

In my last article about squatting, I mentioned that when it comes to certain variations, it's better to do what gives the individual benefit more than how superior squats may be. Once you hit a certain amount of reps, where do you even go after that? You're not trying to break numbers like Gama or the legendary Karl Gotch, you're sure as hell not trying to always man up somebody over an exercise. Hitting something like 500 or more is awesome but that's not the full extent of how interesting squats can be. 

In wrestling or boxing, hell in most combat sports, you're in a certain squatting position or stance that can be closed in or have a wider base but for all intents and purposes, you're not squatting ass to grass the entire time unless it's to make an explosive move like a slam takedown or a wrap around for a suplex or some kind of set-up for a submission move. Your stance is roughly in the quarter squat position and you're shifting in various stages. Take out fighting for a second and think about how you go through bushes in a forest, you tend to squat down a little in order to efficiently move through. When a S.W.A.T team moves in on a target or has to keep a steady hand as he moves throughout a mission, he's in a particular stance for balance and effective shifting of the legs. 

When you move in this squat position that is called the Bigfoot Walk, you're training your legs to be strong and explosive when needed, it's part of a series you can find on youtube that coincides with other Animal Exercises. Walking like the Wonkavator going in various directions, you're maintaining a level of tension in the legs that can be just as effective as doing hundreds of full squats. Try it for yourself. Walk in a half squat or even a quarter squat for let's say 5 minutes and if your legs don't burn at all, than you've got some pretty strong and durable legs. Move like a wrestler or boxer and feel those legs tensing up. I started out moving in this exercise for 3 minutes a day, bumped it up to 5 for a bit and started today at 6 minutes. It gets you breathing a bit and has that TUT feel (Time Under Tension) while moving.

Yeah it looks goofy at first and seems like a silly move but when you put it into perspective on how guys like Gotch, Marciano, Ali, Mark Shultz, Dan Gable and others move in this position over an extended period of time in bouts, it gives you an idea of how powerful those legs are and make explosive movements at a moments notice and rarely get tired. Can you imagine the strength and durability your legs would be if you moved this way for even 10 minutes a day? Your legs would be hard as stones but explosive and full of stamina. For exercise purposes, only a few minutes is really needed and you don't have to be as explosive as a wrestler or boxer but it does bare some awesomeness when you can do this exercise in various ways and keep yourself strong in the process. 

This is an exercise you can do just about anywhere and if you don't have a ton of space, you can move in micro steps or hold as an isometric in various postures keeping the knees bent. Start with one minute and work your way up. Once you can go 5 minutes without standing up straight, it's a good chance you got some serious power going. 

Be strong, have fun and keep being amazingly awesome.

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Holy Shit It's Bigfoot

 If you get the reference, kudos to you. Can you last 3 minutes in the Bigfoot Exercise Challenge? 

It may not look like much but it is for sure a great exercise for the legs. It is a little out there especially with the name but the effects of it are more than what people think. When you first see it, where the hell is the resistance, what does the range of motion initially? Give it a go and see what happens.

Pretty quickly you'll feel it in your thighs and your ass. If you can do it for a good length of time, you'll feel quite the sensation (even within 30 seconds). It is no joke especially if you want to condition the legs along with strength & durability. Here's the reality, many people even at a higher level of training don't always know what works and what should be thrown in the trash (CrossFit anyone?). A lot live in this dogmatic world that consistently believes that more weight comes to more results, the greater range of motion means more results and that compound movements such as the Squat & Deadlift are the kings of developing the lower body. Don't get me wrong, those lifts are essential to many things such as powerlifting, strongman training and certain aspects of sports specific training but they're not Mount Olympus caliber either. 

Here's a shocker for you: Many movements end up being in a partial range of motion. Not only that, but also because of the dynamics and mechanics of a lot of movements, there are a ton of Semi-Unilateral & Semi-Bilateral moves that are similar to the Bigfoot Walk. Think about it for a second like a martial artist or a wrestler, if their stance is too wide, his power and speed won't be as effective plus they can be caught easier in specific positions. With a firm and balanced stance (watch a wrestler like Dan Gable or Jordan Burroughs), it's a little more closed in, it's not spread out and out of unison. Similar to a Hockey Player, he needs that balance on those skates, if his range of motion is out of sync with controlling the puck, he's going to tear a groin, skates will go berserk and he can't be at his best or even at the most basic level of play. 

This particular movement is a lot more useful to do for real life and sports. It's weird to look at but it's not any weirder than crouching and walking through bushes or practicing various stances in wrestling or other combat sports. You're only squatting down a bit but instead of coming back up, you stay in that position and move around or hold for a period of time, simple but not as easy as it looks. People with knee issues (small levels) could benefit from this exercise. It creates constant tension and you're shifting from one leg to another. 

This is just another look at the wide range of exercises you can learn from such as the ones from Movement 20XX that incorporate full body application and progressions that hit many muscle groups and can get you in killer condition and long-term strength whether you're an athlete, a complete beginner, older trainee or just those who want to be in shape for the long haul. Some of these may be too advanced for some but overall, these exercise will take you to places in your fitness journey you may haven't experienced before. 

Be adventurous, take up the challenge if you can. If you can't last the full 3 minutes that's ok, build up to it little by little. Keep striving to be better and keep being amazingly awesome.