How Do I Keep My Lower Arms, Hands & Wrists Strong

 As a human being, we are responsible for what types of strength we develop whether it be physical, mental, emotional and/or spiritual. Some don't always get to even choose that responsibility because of either birth defects or other things but if you're compelled and learn to work with what's possible, there are many ways to strengthen yourself.

Strength is not always measured by a cannonball shaped bicep or having washboard abs that look good in a magazine, it really is measured what the body can handle and be able to do things that require sometimes a great deal of effort in order to provide the strength needed in life. The hands for one is probably, arguably one of the most prominent aspects of strength that we don't always understand the true meaning of it. We build things with our hands, we can clip hair like it's electric with such precision and speed, we destroy things, we test a man's grip with a simple shake, we lift and hold onto things as if our lives depended on it. Our hands are the ones that turn the knob to a world of possibilities.

When I was in my teens, I didn't have thick forearms or crazy strong hands and wrists even though I threw the shot put and the discus along with some mediocre weight training. I didn't understand the value of grip strength and hand health until I started learning feats of the old time strongmen. The first people to show me this were Logan Christopher & Tyler Bramlett. They showed me how these small guys like Dennis Rogers & Mighty Atom were able to bend, twist, break and shape steel with such power it looked effortless yet impossible to look at. They were the first men to teach me steel bending short and long along with leverage work and utilizing the flexion and extension of the hands. If these small dudes can teach me how to do things that men twice their size can barely even touch, that gave me the reason to be able to do it too.

For years, I've bent hundreds of spikes, tore through dozens upon dozens of phonebooks, levered sledgehammers and shaped flat bars and rebar till my hands bled (literally) and those were the foundation of making my hands crazy strong, durable and powerful. My fingers would feel like bone, my forearms were hard as stones and my wrists had strength yet were flexible and limber. As time went on in the midst of doing these crazy feats, I started studying more on how to keep the lower arms healthy and as pain-free as possible. When I was learning the unorthodox and strange ways to train using Garin Bader's CoreForce Energy, he also had a course specifically for the hands called Finger Gymnastics. You've all read about my dealings with the meningitis and how it shaped my nerves to the point where dexterity in my right hand is almost impossible with using individual fingers. With FG, it gave me tools that I never was able to learn before as a child and it showed how I can use my hands differently than what I was attempting during therapy sessions. It opened up a new world to me that was unbelievable.

As I got older and shifting away from the strength feats, (is a comeback in the works?) I had put my effort into a more movement based type training and for the last 10 years or so, working with sledgehammers has been my go to for hand strength and conditioning. I also found the Fat Gripz useful as I use them from time to time with my resistance cables to really dig into the muscles and build grip strength at the same time. I've used them also on machines, barbells and dumbbells. Slowly but surely overtime, my hands just kept getting stronger and rarely if ever got injured. 

Because of the sledgehammer work, it has even helped me in arm wrestling; faced all three generations of my wife's family (father, brother and grandfather) as they all challenged me and I won. This family also comes from several generations of loggers and heavy laborers so they have incredible strength in their blood. Neither of them were easy either especially her grandfather who tried to pull my arm off for a second or two but to didn't let up. That was a defining moment where they were like "ok this guy is good for the girl in our lives" in my opinion. Gramps still has that "old man strength."

In a nutshell these days, hammers, fat gripz, occassional fingertip pushups and walking like a gorilla has kept my hands pretty damn strong and healthy. Keeping the wrists limber as much as possible and fingers just keep getting stronger. I have also kept an eye doing joint loosening exercises especially in the hands and wrists for a while now because as we age, we won't always be able to do the crazy shit we did but if we kept our joints healthy, that's what makes living the more important. Be strong, build strong hands and be amazingly awesome. 

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The Power Of Your Fingers

             What you may not realize is that your fingers have more strength and power in them than you can imagine. What most people do in training is they grip weight in a tight fist or lay down on a bench and lift with the hand slightly opened or they do most bodyweight exercises with an open hand or tight hand squeeze such as push-ups and pull-ups. When you train the fingers however, you're not just building your body, you're hitting a specific place at the same time.

            Our fingers are mostly in tuned with nerves, tendons and bone and the muscle is within the lower arm and the hands. When our brains construct the nerves to move our hands, it sends signals to billions of areas so we can use the hands to build things, lift, carry, throw and many other things. The strongest finger as far as I know is the thumb because it carries more padding and strength in the hand than any of the other fingers.

            When we build strength in our fingers, it helps carry over to other things we didn't think of before. Some don’t know this but I had spinal meningitis as a baby and because of this, my brain went haywire and had some damage somewhere and now I have trouble in some of the nerves in my body especially in my hands. I’m mostly left handed and have great dexterity in that hand plus have more strength on my left side but on my right side, I have trouble moving my right fingers individually. When I was little I used practically nothing but the left side of my body and my brain damage has caused me to think in ways I can't explain but that’s another story.

            Training your fingers in a totally different format can put a whole new perspective in the way you train. The next time you lift a barbell or dumbbell, try lifting with your fingers, it’s very different and very awkward but there’s a point to it. Instead of doing regular push-ups using your palms, do them on your fingers, it’s harder and requires more stability, balance and strength. I like to do animal type movements on my fingertips such as bear crawls and gorilla walks/jumps. I want to work my tendons more and be creative with it so I can do some of the strength feats I do. When you move or train the fingers more in your lifts or exercise you're building powerful grip strength, finger power and turn your fingers into eagle’s claws.

            When you become crazy strong working the fingers in certain lifts, you can lift most likely more weight using your fingers than the rest who use two hands. One of the strongest men that ever lived was Hermann Gorner who not only did great feats but accomplished some using only his fingers including his still world record of a one-finger deadlift of 727 lbs. Most men can't lift that much with two hands so you see, the fingers have more power in them than we give credit for.

            A favorite exercise of mine is doing fingertip push-ups, if you get good at using 10 fingers, you'll want to reduce more of them to add resistance. My best is using 4 fingers (2 of each hand) doing a few reps. I felt compelled to take it to another level. I've tried doing explosive push-ups where you come down and jump with enough power to have the hands leave the floor. What if I tried doing the same thing but on my fingertips? I did it and it was awesome, hurt a little but I kept at it and here’s a video to prove it.

            One of the upcoming strongmen today has some of the strongest fingers I've ever witnessed on film. His name is Matti Marzel of Ferocious Strength who’s done many feats using the fingers such as handstands, push-ups, pull-ups, v-sits, gymnastic bridge and plenty of others. These things have helped him make certain strength feats like a cakewalk such as tearing decks of cards, bending steel, ripping phonebooks, levering hammers and juggling kettlebells. If there ever was a man in the 21^st century who can teach you about finger training it’s this dude here. Build your fingers to create strength that most men can’t imagine and see where it carries to other things in your life. Shatter your personal records and build super strength using the power of your fingers. 

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.

No One Can Stop You from Your Goals

Hey all you maniacs,

Anyone ever tell you  can't do something?  

That your goals are hopeless whims?  

That you're too small, too old, too weak, or too inexperienced to do something?

Isn't that kind of like the story I told you the other day about how lobsters trapped in a tank will pull each other back down into it every time one of them tries to climb out?

Sound familiar?

You're too small...You'll never do that...You might as well give up...Unfortunately, training partners, family members, and people we know on-line can be just as vicious, spiteful and detrimental to our training goals.

But only if we let them...

It was a long-time belief that people with small hands would never be able to Lift the Blob.

And because of this, a lot of people with hands on the small side never even bothered to try, because all that time there were so many lobsters in the tank telling them they would never do it.

But, you know from the story I told you the other day about Brad Martin (you can read about it here) that even with hands under 7.5 inches long, he was able to do it.

You know that even though he didn't have his own Blob to train on, he was able to do it.

You know that even though he was brand new to grip training and had almost no special grip building equipment, he was still able to defy all the odds and prove all the doubters dead wrong.

Brad did it using simple techniques, simple equipment, and common sense in his training.

When everyone else is pulling you down, saying you can't do it because of your hand size or lack of equipment, it is because they are trying to make you feel as bad as they do for never getting it done in the first place.

When you go to this page, you will find out exactly how you can lift the Blob, and along the way build the hand and grip strength that will become an asset to all the other training you do as well.

I can not emphasize enough you maniacs DO NOT DELAY. 

There is a special bonus offer on the table right now that you MUST act fast on.

If you wait too long, you will miss out completely.

Go Get It, today.

Yours In Strength,

Ben

P.S.  Guys, this is the time that you prove EVERYONE who told you couldn't Lift the Blob WRONG. 

This is the time that you prove anyone who's ever told you that you'd never amount to anything wrong.

Now is the time to stick it back in their face and show them that you are capable of greatness and can achieve amazing things, like joining the select group of individuals who have lifted the Blob.  Your journey starts here:  Lift the Blob <=Special Price This Week ONLY

P.P.S.  This is where you will stick the Special Bonus Offer.

Why Old School Is Superior

             Back in the old days of the early 20^th century, you had workers in mining towns, quarries and other places where things needed to be dug up, barreled out and transport heavy equipment or rock/stone that weighed more than you can imagine. These men were extremely strong from this back-breaking work and can topple just about any modern strength athlete today. You want to talk about hard times, try being underground for 10-12 hours a day, cutting, toppling and carrying out rock, stone and coal for a living. It’s a point to learn what real strength is like.

            In my opinion Blacksmiths are some of the most underrated artists in their profession. There are paintings in Paris that are as beautiful as a smoking hot woman but when you assemble a weapon or a crafting tool by your very own hands, the labor, the grip strength, the mind and precision is just off the charts. Blacksmiths are very rare today because you have machines that cut down the object making to a 1/3 of the time. These guys were very good at what they did and the strength of their hands was second to none. I wouldn't doubt some of those guys would be able to bend tough steel or crush your hand by shaking it or squeezing it. There’s a lot we can learn from them.

            If there was the type of athlete we should strive to learn from is that of the ancient athletes of the remote past especially the original Olympic athletes of Greece and Rome long before the modern games came into play. You had guys that can most likely destroy athletes of today. In India, wrestlers were the best soldiers the old empire had because of the discipline, the conditioning and the level of strength that came when they were called upon for war. Milo of Croton would lift and carry a calf everyday, as the calf got older and bigger, Milo would still pick it up and carry him on his shoulders, when the calf matured into a full-size bull, Milo was still at it carrying this massive animal. This was one of the first documented ways to progress to a heavier weight. In the middle ages, you had to be tough as a knight because of the armor you wore was pretty damn heavy and still had to have precise accuracy and strength to fight in battle.

            How can we learn and use to create certain methods for old school strength and fitness? For starters, want to get an idea of what it’s like to work in a rock Quarry, get a tire and a sledgehammer and hit that tire for as long as you can. To simulate moving and carry something heavy, lift odd objects and/or sandbags and carry them a certain distance. Learn the ancient traditions of Indian Wrestling by swinging the Clubs and the Mace, when you’re doing them right you’re carrying on a legacy that has lasted for centuries. Don’t have equipment, learn how to handle your body in awkward positions by moving like an animal in the wild, or learn how to use natural movements that the very first men had to learn; sprinting, jumping, crawling, lifting/carrying kind of like moving like Tarzan. Push-ups and Squats are great foundational movements if you’re in a closed-in space or learn how to handle your body similar to a gymnast or wrestler. These modern fads in fitness today really cannot compare to those who actually had to bust their ass back in the day, training can be fun as I've always emphasized but to really get to what you want, it’s training hard and smart that gets you the best results. 

Forearm Development

          

             One of the most neglected part of the body is the lower arm. If you trained it well you have developed a powerful grip, strong tendons and your lifts can become much easier to handle. Developing the forearm can be done in many ways but not always what you think. In the magazines you see the wrist curls and reverse wrist curls and that’s just about it. Bodybuilders pump up the muscle to make it look bigger but in the end that’s all it is a pump. In the world of old school physical culture however you can develop the lower arm in ways that make bodybuilders look like little chumps.

            There are a lot of ways to get a strong and developed forearm and some of them have nothing to with isolating the muscle. Want to develop a powerful grip, work your hands in different ways like Fingertip Push-ups, Bending Steel, picking up Odd Objects and moving Partial Lifting. For Bodyweight type training, work your fingers in different exercises like pull-ups, chin-ups, Isometrics pulls and pressing into walls all of these work the lower arm like crazy. Some people like using grippers (and I’m not talking about those dumb little colored ones that has 5 pounds of pressure) which you can close for a number of reps but one of the things I've experimented with is just closing and holding it locked. If you can close the trainer/#1/#2 relatively easily it can get boring just repping it out all the time, instead, close it and see how long you can last, developing that crushing strength in a different way.

            An important look at how the forearm is developed is not always through Muscle Building. Just doing that alone is just a closed minded way to build your body and you can only build so much muscle till you get injured. However, if you work the tendons and ligaments of the hands, wrists and elbows, you’re building strength in a way that makes you more powerful and far stronger in the long run. Arm Wrestling Training really works well for forearm development because you’re building on tendon power as well as muscle. When you train in this manner, work on high repetitions somewhere up to 50 reps per arm per set. The stronger your tendons are, the stronger you will be.

            One last thing to look at for building a super strong lower arm is to use a thick bar, this puts more stress on the lower arm because you have to grip hard enough to hold on to it. Thick bars make you work far harder than a regular bar. Say you’re doing a bench press with a weight that you can do 10 good reps with a regular bar, put in a thick bar with the same weight; your reps will be cut down to about half the amount. Since thick bars are very expensive, there’s another way to make a bar thicker, grab yourself some Fat Gripz. These babies you can take to any gym and put on any normal bar or dumbbell, you can even put them on your in-home pull-up bar whatever you’d like to do to make it a little more challenging.

            With Fat Gripz and the way you train hard, you can build up more natural growth hormone and develop muscle and strength at a more rapid rate because the more of the muscle fibers break down, the more muscle gets developed and because you’re working the body at a different pace and difficulty, your strength grows later on as well. I love building strength in my grip and its fun doing something that’s out of the norm and you develop muscle an strength in a way most will never get. Take your time and remember, even Popeye wasn't born with those big forearms; he had to develop them someway. These are just ideas to give you a sense of how to create your own style of forearm development and help you achieve a level of strength that’s just insane.

Summer Is Around The Corner

           

           It’s almost beach season, school’s almost out, weather is getting warmer and people are flocking to beach sites. Some of you want that beach body that gives you a reason to take your shirt off, go jump in the water and make certain people make their heads turn. It’s a great goal to build a cool looking body. For women they want that toned abs, sexy, legs, one hell of an ass and a chest that makes guys say “daamn.” For guys it’s the powerful arms, washboard abs, legs that can go on forever, broad shoulders, maybe some mighty mitts and a chest that makes you stand out. It’s human nature to have attraction and magnetism so we focus mostly on the physical part. Not a bad thing but there’s still something missing.

            Physical appearance has had its share of good and bad sides to it and some people will do whatever it takes to look incredible but yet it costs them their health. Some people get Botox injections, take steroids to build extra muscle and some even get plastic surgery just to get a certain look but come on. We were made for a reason and we have the choice to do what we want with it but in my opinion if you truly want the confidence with your appearance, make the time and effort to do it, gain strength both internally and externally along with being as healthy as possible both inside and out, physically, emotionally and spiritually. If you’re going to look like a cover model, might as well be strong to go with it.

            When it’s hot out, your body needs more water to hydrate because when you sweat, although toxins are fuming out of the body, you still need to keep your body running. Drink as much water as you can. Vitamin D is essential to your body’s nutrients and the sun is perfect for that. You remember if you use too much of anything it’s not good for you? Well the sun is no different. Keep your time out in the sun as best as possible because if you’re out too much, it’ll get you burned and you’ll be peeling skin for days.

            Sun screen is debatable when it comes down to it; there have been studies that it has a chance to cause cancer so if you plan on using it, don’t use a ton. I rarely ever wear it in the summer and I've done just fine, keep yourself in the water, when you need to dry off, go for it but throw a shirt on to keep your torso cool (don’t ever wear black, I've learned the hard way), put the towel around your legs and just kick back in a chair or on the sand or whatever. A good hour in the sun is pretty good as far as I know. If you’re  planning on spending an entire day at the beach, do intervals of being in water, drying off and keeping cool till the next time around. Getting a natural tan is good so I’d stay away from those shitty tanning beds, it’s not good for you so be safe.

            For the most part, have fun. Summer is about having a great time. Out with friends, family, kick ass BBQ’s, going to the beach, playing ball, run on the sand, jump off docks and best of all, kicking back in the sun and feeling like a billion bucks. If you want to build a body that you can be proud of, make the effort and do it within reason, train hard, eat as clean as possible, rest up and be yourself. Swimming is a great exercise and works the whole body from head to toe, not big on swimming, lift weights, do some hand balancing, be a wild animal do whatever you want, it’s summer damn it get your ass out there and make things happen for you.

Building Eagle Claws

Building strength in the fingers, hands, wrists and the entire lower arm can make you or break you in a workout or anything you need your hands for. We need our hands to build things and create things so is it essential to build a level of strength, flexibility and dexterity that helps us in our everyday lives? I believe so. There are many ways to build a solid steel grip but there are other ways to keep the tendons strong and durable no matter what you do.

 The lower arm area all the way down to the fingertips is the most neglected parts of the human body in exercise. You won’t get by much with just wrist curls and a few isolated circular movements; you are learning to build that area by squeezing, flexing, extending, push, pull and working the individual fingers. It is important to master all these factors because if you don’t have strong hands, you won’t be able to pick up a weight no matter how big your arms it’s not going to happen. What if you need to fix something with a wrench or screwdriver and don’t have the hand strength to twist and turn, that would suck and if you work using those types of tools you won’t be at your job for long.

 When I talk about building eagle claws, I’m not just referring to training the entire lower arm to claw somebody in a fight or having great strength to do amazing things, I’m referring to creating great strength, flexibility and dexterity no matter what you want to do with your life. It doesn't matter if you’re a musician, athlete, entertainer, carpenter, construction worker or landscape artist, you will have great attributes if you gave yourself the chance to learn. How about curing Carpal Tunnel and never needing to wear a brace ever again, be less prone to injury and be able to heal quicker with exercises that work the entire region and not just that area but the shoulders, the arms and the trapezoids.

 One of the best conditioning programs ever assembled is the use of Animal Exercises. You can learn how to move like an animal in the wild and teach your body to burn fat, build muscle, increase the strength in your organs, tendons, muscles and so much more for only a few minutes a day. Now how about amplifying those exercises once you have mastered them, begin to do some on your fingertips, this type of training alone can build crazy strength in your lower arm in ways you can never get from machines. Having a solid steel grip and power in your lower arm can help increase your strength in other areas, it’ll help you pick up weights better, and it’ll help your grappling game much more efficient and if you’re into Arm Wrestling, look out because you’ll be ripping those guys up in no time.

 Getting started is like everything else, begin where you’re at and progress from there, work certain exercises that keep the blood flowing and ready to go. Spread exercises throughout the day so you can keep that energy flowing and use certain tools to help the grip. One of the coolest tools I like for building grip strength is called Fat Gripz, these babies will take thick bar training to a whole new level and you can attach them to just about any dumbbell or barbell but if you’re a bodyweight guy, you can attach them to your pull-up bar to increase the difficulty. I use these for building strength and endurance in Arm Wrestling using my lifeline Chest Expander. Progress is a very important factor because once something becomes easy; you want to continue to challenge yourself so you increase the difficulty by a small percentage. Even Rock Climbers have to progress otherwise if they jump in too soon, they’ll fall off much quicker and that can mean certain death so it’s important to build progression.

 No matter how you slice, strong hands equals a strong body because when you have the strength to pick up really heavy weight or be able to twist off certain objects with a wrench or even pick up groceries for that matter, your hands are the tools that open doors to everything you pretty much do. Even doing certain Feats Of Strength requires strong hands, you can build as much strength as you want in every other area in your body but if you’re hands aren't up to par, you’re pretty much done. Complete the whole package by training as many areas as possible including your lower arm, you’ll be amazed how weak or strong your hands are certain situations so my suggestion is make those hands work for you and build a foundation to have the strongest and most functional hands as possible.     

The Difference Between Believing & Not Believing

 There are a lot of skeptics out there who don’t believe in certain ideals or they do believe in certain things but it’s by tradition and rules when in reality they don’t have the slightest notion of how to be open minded. For those wondering, when I speak of this article, I’m talking about fitness and health not religion or politics, that’s way out of my league and have my own views of what they are. Back to the task at hand, many skeptics are the ones with their guard up and never want to take it down and that’s not a good thing because they miss out on many things that they can work on.

 One of the best quotes I've learned since I was 13 was “For those who do believe you don’t need an explanation, for those who don’t believe no explanation will do.” Want to know where I learned that from? Believe it or not a pro wrestler named Jeff Jarret on the Unreal Story Of Professional Wrestling, talk about weird. A lot of people sometimes including myself feel like we need to explain our beliefs and what they’re all about but in the end, people need to figure it out for themselves. Its one thing to throw something at a skeptic but it’s a different ball game on how they figure it out themselves.

 One of my biggest peeves is people who do believe in something but only because they listened to someone’s word and not use common sense or research. The traditional belief in fitness is do a half hour of cardio and an hour of weights to get strong, eat less to lose weight, do push-ups for warm up and do bench presses to get a big chest and my all-time favorite, bodyweight exercises are only good for endurance once you reach a certain number of reps and than you don’t build strength. I’m sorry but tradition has never really been my style and going on someone’s word is just (excuse my language) bullshit. If I want to believe in something I’m going to try certain things out, do a little research and experiment a little to see what works and what doesn't.

 For you skeptics out there, drop your guard a little, not all the way but a little and try certain things, you never what you’ll get out of it. I know what it’s like to be a skeptic, I've been there many times before and still a skeptic to certain things but with a purpose and not just because someone says something and that’s it. Opening your mind is like opening a new door to a world you never seen before. To give you an example, I was skeptical about being athletic and agile as a big man, these guys told me try gymnastics and try hand balancing and all these different things but I was just so guarded about who I was that I can’t do all this stuff but the moment I dropped my guard just a little, I opened up a whole new door and kept an open mind and gave a shot at few things I felt I could do but get better at and low and behold, I got stronger, more flexible, more agile and more durable than ever before and never looked back since. Dropping your guard a little can be a big impact on how you do things. It’s up to you to do it, no one can really do it for you.

 To me the true meaning of believing is not by someone’s word and just believe because they said so but believe in your heart that it works for you and you've done some things to find that belief. A true believer is someone who wants to find what he’s looking for and believes in oneself and not from this or that, he/she believes this does work and it does give me something to do. Fitness wise, you can be a sheep and follow everyone’s word or you actually do something about it and find your own belief and create something out of the norm and make it your own tradition. Like before you don’t need an explanation as a believer, it’s there it works, you understand it from all angles and you learned how it works for you. Believe in yourself and trust it. It took me many years to figure that out but and I’m still learning a thing or two but it’s a journey and that I believe will go a long way to make me better at what I do and so can you. 

Got Carpal Tunnel???

This has become a common ailment more then any other time in history. You’re at an office typing all day, playing an instrument till you can’t stand it, gripping too hard on something and yet you can be in a cast for long periods of time if you hurt the fingers. Should it be common to be in handed cast, unable to use your hands the way they’re meant to? I really don’t think so but society today gives people certain things that not only hurts their hands but destroys joints and tendons. If you want to prevent this from happening then you need to learn to keep your hands healthy and strong.

 Another common theme in carpal tunnel is surgery and does it really help? Are your hands any stronger or healthier from being repaired? Most of the time the answer is no because it’ll happen again and before you know it, your hands will be so messed up, you won’t be able to pick up even a toothbrush. Our hands were designed to repair things, fix things, write, pick up, twist and circulate many things that are needed. Now if your hands are so severe from broken bones and don’t have much of a chance than that’s an exception but the fact of the matter is, a broken hand will heal. I have hand problems all my life and don’t have much nerve control on my right hand yet I won’t let that stop me from doing the things I love to do and be able to help people when they need me.

 I firmly believe without a doubt you can heal your hands without surgery and you can make them stronger and healthier then at any other time in your life. When you find the right exercises, you will find out what it’s like to have pain-free hands that flow like water with rich oxygenated blood flowing with strong tendons and ligaments that can tear off a person shirt or even in my physical culture brethrens' cases bend steel and be able to handle use the hands that will have you gasping. It is not too late to have powerful but graceful hands and fingers.

One of the greatest athletes with lightning fast hands was Bruce Lee. The way he handled other martial artists was second to none and his punching and kicking wasn’t just strong, he can also do push-ups with ease on his FINGERTIPS!!!! His fingers and hands were so strong that he can knock a heavy weight man back 5-10 ft from an inch away. Imagine having that kind of power.

 I have known athletes, musicians, entertainers, postal workers, strongmen and carpenters and each one of them must have an immense amount of hand strength to work specific things at a high level. Three musicians I know, a Pianist, cellist and a guitarist all have a gift to play their instruments at a level where everything is precise and graceful with raw emotion and power in their hands that where if none of these attributes were in play, they wouldn’t be able to do their specific instrument.

 Strongmen need strong hands to be able to lift heavyweights, bend steel, rip phonebooks, Juggling kettlebells ect. If they’re hands weren’t strong or fluid, it would be impossible to demonstrate mind-blowing feats of strength. Postal workers are very fluent in how they sort mail and carry loads of it to the trucks, this requires some strength in the hands and fingers otherwise the mail won’t be going anywhere.

 Carpenters have some of the toughest hands around because of the stress that’s put on their hands with tools ranging from hammering, nailing, twisting and holding down certain objects in order to be cut or sawed. The strongest fingers and hands definitely go to climbers whether rock, mountain or even climb and move around certain obstacles on Ninja Warrior.  Rock climbers are the closest to the primates (Apes and monkeys) that have that raw, animalist strength and tendon power that you can’t help but be in awe of. Without those strong hands, don’t look up if you see a guy fall.

 Grip strength and Grip agility is essential not just in certain professions but for daily life. How often do you have trouble opening a jar pickles, most likely often. If you’re hurt and you can’t use your hands than you’re screwed and what can you really do? If you want to be pain-free and have hands that are steel cords but flow like a river than you must learn to use certain exercises that will make that happen.

 A good friend of mine named Garin Bader who is the creator of Core Force Energy, has been a pianist and athlete all his life and very rarely if ever had problems with his hands and this is after learning martial arts to practicing 8-13 hours a day playing the piano to even gliding across the stage on a silk swing during his Musical Magic performances. If you were ever to learn about having powerful and fluid hands, this is the man to learn from.

 Training this way can help heal and revitalize the hands’ circulation and give them the ability to breathe with strength and power in ways you never have imagined before. Don’t ever worry about Carpal Tunnel again and give your hands the food they need in order to help your life in the ways you want to make happen. Never worry about surgery, don’t get hurt opening a door and really don’t trash your hands to the point where they’re use is slim to none. Make those hands strong and your whole body will be strong.  

Tribute To Slim The Hammerman

As a young boy in Pennsylvania, little Lawrence Farman sat down at Zern's Farmer's Market in Gilbertsville at 8 years old while his parents did their shopping. One particular table was part of a crowd of people looking on at very old and past his prime strongman by the name of Joeseph Greenstein a.k.a The Mighty Atom. Atom would lecture the benefits of eating healthy and what it can do to help you live your life with great enthusiasim and love. During these lectures he would bend spikes, drive nails through boards and break chains with great ease to name a few. He had been doing it about 25+ years. This boy however was just amazed at what this old as rock old-timer can do and kept going there for many years.

Slim would start to grow like a tree and as a late-teen began working at a Rock Quarry. For up to 14 hours a day 6-7 days a week he would be breaking rock and stone by the ton with his heavy sledgehammer. As time went on he was just so powerful and strong with that hammer that his mates would start to take notice and be in awe of his rugged and extreme strength.

When most strongmen back in the days f the follies and industrial revolution they usually were no more then 5'8 and weighed no more then 170 pounds at best. Very few men at that time were over 200 pounds and 6' tall. Slim however surpassed these numbers and got to be 6'6 and over 220 pounds of hard, rugged and steel corded muscle. During one lecture the Atom asked the audience "How is it I, an old man among you, Am the only person to bend this spike?" One man spoke out and this was the same kid who had watched Atom at 8 years old now in his late-teens early-twenties and made the statement that started a chain-reaction for what would be now legendary "You ain't talking to me old man."

Atom asks the rugged, sinewy young man to come on up and show him. Slim is twice the size of Atom who is 5'4 and 155 pounds soaking wet. He takes the spike and puts his hands on the top to get ready but Atom stops him and says "No...You can't bend it like that, its impossible." Slim decided to still do it because it felt comfortable to him. He bends the spike in full and for the first time in all of the years Atom has been performing had never seen a man do that. Atom asked Slim "Is there anything else you do?" Slim tells him he cuts stone with a sledge hammer and can raise it from horizontal to vertical from the ground using just the bottom of the handle. The Atom didn't think this was possible and asked Slim to show him. The following week, Slim brings his 16 pound hammer and shows the Atom what he can do. Each time this powerful man levered the hammer, Atom was flabbergasted and never has he seen anyone else do this.

From that day on Atom would have his chance to reveal his true secrets of the Old-Time Strongman and took Slim under his wing or because of the giant's height above his wing LOL. Over the years Slim and Atom performed together and Slim would start to build super muscle and extremely strong tendons with his Hammer Levering working up to almost 50 Pounds with 2 hammers. He just couldn't stop getting stronger. When the time came it came in 1975 in Madison Square Garden when Slim would rise to become the Legend that Atom always saw in him and came full circle when he lifted his world record 56 pound hammers. This night was the birth of one of the last remaining Old-Time Strongman.

Most men when they turn 40 begin to feel that they're over the hill and can't accomplish what they used to 15-20 years earlier. Slim would have none of it and threw away that mindset and guess what happened? At age 40 he didn't peak his strength. It kept getting stronger. He was bending steel, driving through boards and hammering his way past what most men think is impossible. between 40 and 50, Slim began feeling invicible and his strength just kept rising. When you are that dangerous at that age you don't want to be messing with that kind of power I don't care who you are.

As the years flew by and long after The Atom had passed on and the torch went to Slim, This once little kid who is now by all means The World's Strongest Man was breaking ground and every time he lifted a hammer, his legendary status was just as breathtaking as it was when he first levered that hammer infront one of the most famous Strongmen himself. His potential has reached far beyond what most people even himself can ever imagine.

An important aspect of the Old-Time Strongman is whether muscles or tendons are the most important to train. From the mouth himself, Slim firmly believes that its the tendons that are a key. You can build muscle any way you want but its the tendons that reveal a person's true power and strength. I believe this to be true.

Recently the now 75 year old strongman was inducted into the York Barbell Hall Of Fame with his late mentor and one time best friend The Mighty Atom and for them its an honor that has been long overdue and took way too damn long to finally come up. These 2 men paved the way for many premiere strongmen today. It is fitting that Slim has hammered his way in the halls of some of the greatest men in the iron game in history. In my opinion he should've been in the hall of fame just when he began to peak. As a strongman myself I'm honored to have learned from his training DVD and has helped me become stronger for the feats I want to perform. He is now immortalized and Slim's records will never be matched and if one man can do I want to see it along with other greats of the iron game today. Like what Babe Ruth is to Baseball, Slim The Hammerman is to Old-Time Strongman.

Slim, this is for you old man and I pray I get to one day speak with you and learn from you. You are a man among men and you are without question a strongman's strongman. Thank you for all you have done and I believe from the bottom of my heart from what I read about The Atom, he couldn't have chosen a better suited man then you.

Guiding Your Way To Handstand Push-ups

In any form of training we all have to start somewhere and that's at the basics. Building foundations are keys to successful training with learning the basics comes with intelligence. When you start out its new and sometimes difficult to understand but as time goes on you become smarter and smarter.

With the case of Handstand Push-ups, you are learning the basics of Hand Balancing in this manner with using the wall. Now contrary to popular belief this type of training does not mean its working just your arms but the entire body and with good reason. You are practicing your body as a unit and with the arms you have to use the stabilizing muscles such as your core, chest, shoulders, back and yes even your legs.

When doing push-ups in this manner yo have to use the body as one solid piece just like a steel rod. If you don't master this first, you won't have much to do and holding the position won't help either. Once you have mastered this there are many ways to do Handstand Push-ups.

Take for example your hand placements can determine whether the exercise will be easier or harder. Even shifting your head from looking at the floor to looking forward will make a huge difference to see how far down you can go. The ability to overcome these differences is up to you and see how far you're willing to go to create awesome push-ups.

If you're a weight lifter, Handstand Push-ups can help increase your pressing power because this type of training increases your awareness on how you apply the body and its also a full body press. Because of this type of training I'm able to press a 88lb. Kettlebell without that much effort and even did it the first time I picked one up. Will that hapn with you? Maybe, maybe not but when you practice this regularlly you can rest assured your pressing strength will go through the roof.

Now that the physical part is out of the way you still have to learn how to use your mind. At first it can be scary being upside down and not know what the hell to do. This is one of the true tests of mind over matter.

The ability to overcome fear to increase your strength. Take into consideration the olympic gymnasts and acrobats on how they do their hand balancing stunts. They make them look easy as if they're a cake walk but deep down they are just like you and me. They started out fearful and learned to practice over and over again to overcome that fear and become strong and powerful. Now does this mean you have to be a gymnast or acrobat to understand this? No. You just need to learn to infuse your mind with your body and develop the way its meant for you.

Learn to become im"press"ive with Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups and learn the basics that has taught some of the strongest men on the planet on how to become strong and powerful.

Powerful & Graceful....The Handstand Is

Over the last 100 years, hand balancing has been one of the most impressive sights to see when it comes to bodyweight training. Some of the strongest men in the world have had experiences in hand balancing such as Bob Jones, Otto Arco, Charles Atlas, Sig Klien, Bert Asserati, Maxick, Earl Liederman, Doug Hepburn and Jack Lalanne to name a few. Talk about big names but the list goes on and on but the point I want to make here is being able to stand on your hands is one of the most powerful things you can do with your body.

Building a foundation takes tons of practice and the right kind of practice. Where your hands should, arching the back or not and keeping a solid base of where you want to be. Awareness is one of the major keys to doing hand balancing. Doing a handstand against the wall is a great way to start. Begin to feel aware of your surroundings and tap into that mental block that has kept you from getting strong in that position. It is scary at first no question but you learn to practice it over and over with the right steps.

Is hand balancing the greatest bodyweight feat of all-time? Well thats hard to say but it is one of the most coolest feats there is and whoever says handstands are for gymnasts and acrobats only is full of it. The men I have mentioned above, some of them are big dudes and one weighed over 250 pounds. Can you guess which one though?

If you check out Lost Art Of Hand Balancing.com you will find the best info on how to become a master hand balancer and you will find the true secrets to this great art that has amazed people from all walks of life fot 100+ years in the circus, backyards, parks, vaudville, film and pictures. Help carry on a tradition that has been passed on from one generation to the next. Become a master on your own two hands. I highly recommend these courses especially these two....

Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups

&

The True Art & Science Of Hand Balancing

Why Hand Strength & Health Are Keys To Super Strength

There are many ways to build Super Human Strength. You can lift weights, Lift Heavy Objects or better yet work on building Massive Functional Muscle. I mean theres variety in everything you can accomplish but if your hands arn't up to the challenge, all that goal setting won't be worth a lick. Hand Health and Strength are one of the missing links in many people's training arsenal. Lets face it without strong powerful hands you can't be a great muscian, steel bender, phonebook tearer, heavy deadlifter and most of all without strong, functional grip strength you won't be able to do the things that go on in daily life.

Years ago around the time of my recovery of my legs, while I was getting my leg strength up to great levels I realized that if I want to get stronger in the things I wanted to do like bend steel, tear up phonebooks and whatever else I needed to work my grip because lets face it grip strength is neglected a lot in commercial gyms. Its just sad you know. What if you need to save someones life and your grip isnt up to the challenge. Let me tell you a little story.....

Back in the 30's an old-time strongman named Sid Klein was training up in his gym in New York when he heard a man yelled out "FIRE...FIRE....HELP" and the strongman jumped to the rescue to find that the old man's wife needed more help then he did so Sid climbed down to grab the wife and climb back up to save her. Now I don't know how accurate I made that story but the ending is Sid's grip was so strong it helped him save another human being from harm and possibly death. Now hopefully none of us would have to do certain things like that in our lifetime but we should be prepared for it.

Now you do all the heavy weights, you can even try doing Hand Balancing or Kettlebell Juggling but if you don't have the hands for them it just won't come to you. To be the strongest person you can be taking the time to work your hands, wrist and lower arms will take you a long way more then you ever though possible. Take it from me, in my experience grip strength for certain things is almost mandatory. Not may people at 240+ lbs. are doing sets of 10 chin-ups or pull-ups but with my training in the grip i've been able to do that. One of the key things to grip training is just like anything else and thats progression and theres also consistancy and practice.

Now one guy in my opinion who has taken Grip Strength to another level is my man Garin Bader. A concert Pianist with 13 Gold Medals in International Competition is by far one of the best athletes in the world when it comes to Dexterity, Agility and just flat out Strong. In his shows he also does Hand Balancing, plays the Sax, Magic Tricks and he even swings across the stage on a silk curtain just using a pinch grip. Believe it or not he's never had a major injury in his career and thats pretty damn good consiering the types of things he does. He's also a business man and wants to help others get in awesome shape and like him take their hand strength to levels they couldn't imagine.

I have personally seen how powerful Garin is and for a guy his size he's one of the most agile and flexible guys I know. I trained with him one day and not after maybe an hour or so he was showing me a thing or two and he was tossing me around like a rag doll and i'm 40 pounds bigger then him. His grip is off the hook (no pun intended) and he is def. an example of what you can do to get from place to place with a mighty grip. Take a look at his 2 Biggest Courses..........CoreForce Energy and Finger Gymnastics. Read his story and he'll show you first hand what you can do to create the most powerful hands you can take hold of (pun intended).

Handstand Video

Hello,




Have you ever thought about learning how to do a handstand?



Well my friend, Logan Christopher, is doing something radical. You see, he runs a site called Lost Art of Hand Balancing where he teaches people how to do just that.



He has taken one of his best-selling DVD's, something that has sold hundreds of copies at $29.95, and he is now literally giving it away online, no strings attached.



I think he’s crazy for doing this, but he is doing it!



http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4037383



What's so great about this video? In this close to half hour video Logan takes a systematic approach to the handstand. The problem with trying to do a handstand is it's way beyond the ability of someone starting out.



You can try to do it but you'll end up frustrated. That's the long slow path. In fact, many give up.



Instead, you should break it down into component parts, working on lead-up stunts, which teach you the necessary skills, but in an easy manageable way. This cuts your learning curve by over half.



Logan has laid this all out in his handstand system, including a sample nine week plan that can take you from zero to holding a freestanding handstand for 30 seconds.



Be warned. This may not be around forever so jump on this chance while you have it. Check it out.



http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4037383



Ben Bergman

Hand Balancing & The Power Of Inverted Training

However you look at it Handbalancing is by far one of the most difficult methods of self mastery over the human body. When you're upside down it seems like a whole different world and its mysterious and very unusual feeling of not always knowing whats going to happen or how you are suppose to stay up. For the most part it takes awareness and strength to a whole new level and with enough practice you can do things that not only will it amaze people but you will have control over your body not many people in the world can do.

To get a glimpse of modern hand balancing take a look at the men and women of gymnastics or Circ De Solei, the requirement for their sport/profession is to be master hand balancers because of a lot of the stunts require to be on the hands. It is amazing and breathtaking to see some of the best athletes at what they do. I've seen a gymnastic event and seen A Mid-Summer Nightmare which had acts of Hand balancing and tumbling and martial arts and just about every time I saw a scene I was taken back by it by how it it just engulfs your mind on how these people are so strong and coordinated they are. Now not too many of us in our adult years have the luxery of joinging a gymnastics class and becoming a good hand balancer/gymnast so is there a betterr way to learn?

As a matter of fact there is and one guy that I know of has some of the best knowledge on Hand Balancing there is. He is a good friend of mine named Logan Christopher. His background is on Gymnastics, Old-time Strongman, Kettle Bell Instructor, Personal Trainer and is on his way to being one of the strongest men in the world for the thing he performs. I've trained with him and this is no joke he's one of the strongest guys I've ever met and seen him hold some pretty awesome handstands. So its safe to say this guy knows his stuff and anything he just about puts out is a gold star in my book.

Not only is Logan promoting the Art Of Hand Balancing he's helping spread the word about it as some of the best Physical Culturists in the world did many moons ago back in the days of Vaudville and Circus Acts of the early 20th Century. Some of the biggest names did Hand Balancing in their training. Men like Otto Arco, Maxick, Sig Klein, Bob Jones, John Davis, John Grimek, Bert Azzerati, George Hackenschmidt and believe it or not the living legend Jack Lalanne. All these men have done some form of hand balancing and were some of the strongest men in the world before the use of steroids and performance enhancing drugs. That should give you a clear idea of what you can accomplish with pure will, practice, patience and amazing power.

I'm not a Hand Balancing expert but I can tell you from my own experiences its hard and not easy at all (redundent I know) but I have held a handstand for a period of time thats pretty good for a guy my size at well over 235 pounds. So whether you're big, small or inbetween, this form of training can teach you what it truely means to have control over your own body. Even holding a position is pretty darn impressive but when you get to walking on your hands or doing push-ups thats in the realm of dreams and it can be yours if you practice it. Check out Legendary Strength or Lost Art Of Hand baancing websites on the right side of the screen and learn the Lost Art Of Hand Balancing and believe me they are worth every penny many times over.

Legendary Strength

Lost Art Of Hand Balancing

Legendary Strength On The Rise

I had an opportunity today to train with one of the strongest men pound for pound at his new gym. His name is Logan Christopher. I was checking out the space he had for his gym and its pretty well done considering the finishing touches it needs but it has a serious amount of potential and if anybody can make it work its Logan. I put it in a little work with cables, push-ups, stretching, joint loosening, hammers and a some exercises on the pull-up bar while Logan did some Kettle bell work, weighted pull-ups, Kettle bell Swings, Isometric L-Sits using Chinese Block Weights and other things that came into his head.

We trained for nearly an hour and it was fun and very rewarding. I've been friends with him since 2005 and seen him do some of the most unreal forms of conditioning around, for a guy his size he's extremely strong and he's just going to keep going up. He's seen me in doing some of my first as a strongman myself, my first phonebook ripped, first 60d Penny Nail bend, first fall back into a bridge then kicking over and back ect. He is a really cool guy and he doesn't bring any bull into his training and just hammers the basics while also having.

I first met him while he was a roadie for an upcoming band named Archer which the drummer was a mutual friend of ours. He's really come into his own in becoming a strongman, entrepreneur and a well rounded athlete. If you guys ever read this blog check out my bud's stuff on the banners on the right side of the blog writings. He has vast knowledge in bending, lifting, body weight, gymnastics, strongman, Hand Balancing, tearing, kettle bells and many other forms of strength and conditioning. Taking from some of the best trainers in the world he is one lucky guy and he is one of my inspirations.

Tools For Gripping Power

There are many ways to train your hands to get full on grip strength and power. If you don't have much money and yet you still think you can't get anything to build a great grip, think again my man because a lot of what you can use in your house can build a much stronger grip then most guys can get in the gym.

Example would involve a towel and a bucket of water. Fill the water to about half full to three quarters full, now take the towel and put it in the bucket to get it wet as possible now pick it up and start whatever end you want and begin to squeeze the water back into the bucket until it gets as dry as it can. This alone can take your grip to a new level of power and might unlike those puny wrist curls the so called "bodybuilders" use.

Bending steel fries the entire body when you put your all into it and it turns hands and forearms into cords of steel especially if you bend rebar. Another hosehold tool to use is believe it or not your towel rack in your bathroom, what you do do is if you have one of those long racks is to grip the rack, now lean back as much as you can until you get to your fingertips then shoot forward and roll the wrist, do this about ten times, now just reverse the movement by under gripping the rack and lean back until it reaches the fingertips, now shoot back and roll the wrist, do this ten times. After doing this exercises my wrists and lower arms were pretty pumped. Work into this carefully and do not overdo it, ten reps is only needed.

When it comes to equipment for the hardcore grip fanatics, thick handled bars are great especially hammers, maces, clubs because when you have to grip something just to be able to move it is functional strength in itself. Now I must caution you, I may not be an equipment fanatic but if you were to use them do them for a short period of time but do what works for you and train smart.

Power & Might

No matter how you put them, these 2 words always catch some one's attention one way or another. They can be used in any type of definition but I love referring to them in the Fitness World. To me these words means strength, means iron will, means over the top endurance and also the feeling of hitting your personal record with hardcore determination. This will start being a blog that I'd like everyone to check up on, you can read if you wish and if you don't like what I have to say then I'm not worried theres plenty of other people who like to read. I will feed you guys info at the end of every blog that can give you an idea of what I love to use, read or recommend for either the elite athlete or the average Joe.

When it comes to hand crushing strength, there are many ways to built it and make grip strength the key to gaining great strength and power in everything you do. Here's a site that will help your grip get to levels neither you or anybody can imagine, I'd recommend these guys 150%.


www.functionalhandstrength.com