RARE Bodyweight Exercises

Bodyweight training is all the rage these days.

Some people teaching it are great. Other not so much.

Logan Christopher fits into that first category. In this new video from him you’ll get to see him do advanced back lever exercises and more.

But more importantly he teaches you have to use different variations of the lever (including one dynamic movement that can be done by people of all levels).

Plus there’s a handstand pushup variation that I’ve never seen anyone do before!

Check out this new video here.

Ben Bergman

P.S. Seriously go watch this video and then try out the moves yourself. You may be surprised at what you feel...

Ridiculous Bodyweight Training

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. 

Hard Training= Harder Rest

Every workout should be a small challenge but I believe at least once work a week or a month should be one of the toughest you’ve ever put yourself through. Bust your ass for the exercises that give you the best results and hit them hard with a vengeance.

 Resting is a major factor in your training because rest means recovery and you learn to give your body its time to relax. When I mean rest I don’t always mean between sets, I mean by sleep and letting the body recover overnight. After a hard and brutal session, you’d want to get a good night’s rest which builds hormone levels and builds your metabolic state.

 If there was ever a day I needed to Rest more than anything else was one of the most brutal days of my life. I spent the morning and early afternoon training on hand balancing and even doing some Rock Climbing which I’ve never done in my life. After that tough part of the day, I went to the gym with my sister and her husband and did some brutal lifts with crazy heavy dumbbells, including low reps on the pulldowns up to 270 lbs. and went for reps at the pec deck which maxed at 240 lbs. Pull-ups were added in and plenty of stretching. After the gym, jumped in the pool and did some swimming to cool down my body after a brutal day of training. Can you say insane?

 At the Rock Climbing gym I got to train alongside The Duke and The Renaissance Man a.k.a Tyler Bramlett and Logan Christopher. These 2 were going at it with Handstands, Climbing and various holds that need to be seen to believe. I’ve had a few sessions with these bad asses before and every time I train with them there’s some thing magical in the air.

 When you train this hard or anything hardcore at all, it’s very important you let your body heal and I don’t mean sitting on the couch all day. Sleep and let the body heal itself, eat plenty of natural foods to give your body the nutrients for fast recovery and do little exercises here and there to keep your blood flowing and exercise the joints to keep from injury. Your body adapts to different progressions in whatever you’re doing and it’s not necessary to go hard every day, some of that can lead to injury. Resting your body should be equaled to the training itself as in terms of ratio and various workouts.

Animal Gymnastics

Without question the greatest athletes in the field of bodyweight training are the acrobats and gymnasts. Now why do I say that? Simple really, they use their bodyweight in ways most others can’t even compare to. They’re control, balance, awareness and conditioning is second to none. The closest to conditioning I would compare them to are wrestlers. The way they train almost seems animal-like, graceful, strong and powerful. 

 Do you need to be a gymnast or acrobat to be in good condition? Hell no. You can have a powerful and strong body just using simple and basic gymnastics training and if you want to be wild about it, you can even do Animal exercises which imitate the most graceful and strongest animals on the planet. The benefits of learning these types of methods is off the charts…Strength, flexibility, stamina, lean body and have great mental clarity. Animal Gymnastics is the combination of basic gymnastics along with the movement of wild animal. It’s not hard to say just doing basic movements is really the key foundation to a strong, healthy and illness resilient body.

 Have you heard of those lethal hormone injections that athletes and celebrities use on the competition to gain an advantage in their sport or movie role? Well, I’m going to lay it down for you, unless you’re sick and in a hospital you don’t need that shit whatsoever. What you need is good old-fashioned exercise where multiple muscle groups are used, you will be getting your hormones jumped through the roof and this can happen at any age. Younger people like me don’t worry so much about that because we’re not at that age yet where it has to be a factor, older folks however especially over 40 and beyond have a tougher time getting that lean body they want and the percentage you lose each year of hormone levels. Don’t ever let that happen to you. If you practice programs like these, your hormones will run through your veins as if you were young again.

 When you move like a wild animal, you’re moving your body in ways other methods can’t match. Do you see a Gorilla on a treadmill or a Bear on a weighted bench? No you don’t because they are strong and fast as they need to be. Going to a gym is fine if you want to do that but if you want real world strength that is functional and powerful then go to a park or your own backyard and roam free. One of the key secrets to this type of training is not going through the motions like some dull airhead, see yourself as that animal and picture yourself being strong and taking your conditioning to levels unheard of before.

 Do you what a bear cub does after it’s born? It learns to walk, then run and wrestles his brothers to learn survival so when it becomes a full grown bear it will be fierce, feared by man and run down its prey faster then you can say Jack Rabbit. Now what’s that called again when you learn new things and want to get better at them? Oh yes that’s right, PROGRESSION!!!! A lot of people feel starting small isn’t enough for them, even some trainers have that “Go big or go home” attitude and that’s just crap. In order to get good at something no matter what it is, you have to learn how to earn it. If you’re new to exercise or a seasoned veteran, you must learn the value of progressing through the things you want to accomplish.

 Like adults, children too need that structure of becoming good athletes no matter what they want to do. Exercise for kids is very important especially in our society today where childhood obesity is more common then smoking a cigarette. Children need the feel of fun and learn the ins and outs of what’s right and wrong. Exercise has been shown to help children’s emotional state balanced and it helps them with structure and what can work for them. Some children are very active and sometimes are tough to put down for a nap because of all that energy, exercise helps that too. If a child has low self-esteem and has symptoms of depression, exercise has been shown to bring up their spirits and not even treat as a sign of working out but more like play. A program like this can give your kid a lifetime of fun and helping them along with other things in their lives.

 How do I know about self-esteem and exercise? Well when I was a teenager, I wished I had higher self-esteem and more exercise because I wasn’t the typical 97 pound weakling teen matter of fact weight wise I was the exact opposite. At 13 I was 5’4 and nearly 200 lbs of blubber and didn’t have much muscle to show for. I was also slow and very rebellious. I didn’t have strength to write home about and was ridiculed on not just my weight but my personality. As I got older and shifted more towards exercise and mental training I became the person I should’ve been all along. In a way I have evolved over the years and becoming strong and healthy was a major key and I never want kids at that age or younger to go through that so parents, train with your kids and help them achieve their goals, they’ll thank you in the long run.

 Have you seen the abs on those gymnasts? I mean holy shit, that doesn’t look human at times but seriously, gymnasts have the strongest abs on the planet bar none. They have to be strong and powerful otherwise the skills they perform won’t be that good looking.  Your core is one of the most important keys in either sports, fitness or for overall daily life like holding groceries, lifting a heavy box or carrying a couple kids. Crunches are not the best choice to do abdominal work unless you’re a beginner. If you want strong and powerful abs, then you need to work your whole body as one unit while focusing on keeping the core muscles tight and locked. Even doing Hand Balancing requires complete core strength and overall body strength. Doing basic gymnastics and animal training can get you there and trust me, having a strong, injury-free and healthy body goes a long way for things in your life.

We all have some form of Animality within us and we can unleash that thirst for strength by exercising like the animals that far out-beat us in every aspect of fitness. Screw aerobics and treadmills, go out and have fun and be a wild animal. Bring out that animal within.

Gymnastics For Super Bodyweight Power

There are athletes that are very strong at what they do. Wrestlers can take down the best of them, some basketball players are very strong down the line, football players are extremely strong when it comes to tackling and pushing past the defense in the running game, shot putters can throw with power but one breed of athlete stands out from the rest when it comes to Bodyweight. The Gymnasts. The way they move and the way they have to use their body is just incredible and its all in their own body.

Their abdominal strength is off the charts and that's because its a major factor and piece of the puzzle that not many people realize. When you have the abs of a gymnast, you are strong everywhere. Strength in the core requires focus, concentration and power.

Most acrobats are originally gymnasts and one of the requirements to be an acrobatic is to learn Hand Balancing. The reason why that is it's because Hand Balancing carries over to a lot of other gymnastic stunts. Being able to stand on your hands is quite an impressive feat because you're not just using your hands but you're whole body. You're in a different state of mind and your body needs laser-like focus to even hold a handstand let alone walking or doing stunts.

Now do you need to go to a gymnastic school to get the best for your buck? Not really because certain schools charge way too much money and if you're willing to pay for it you'd be lucky to even find a good coach and teach you the progressions you need. I went to gymnastics in college and I didn't progress that much especially in hand balancing because you had a coach that had to teach more then one person and it was hard to get real one-one training. You don't need to be a gymnast to get the great benefits of this kind of training. Using basic principles and learning the secrets of the handstand is really all you need to get in great shape for whatever you want to do.

This isn't just for men but women as well. Male gymnasts are strong as hell for what they do but ounce for ounce I feel women are the stronger and faster gymnasts. Yes their feats are different but I see it more impressive a woman holding a handstand then a guy. The cost for a couple courses in Gymnastic Conditioning is far lower then a school and you can have even better progress as they take you step-by-step and give you everything either as a beginner or advanced athlete. If you're a fan of gymnastics but are below the beginning phase and need something to work with don't look no further then here at Basic Bodyweight Building Blocks.

If you're a woman and want to get that beautiful toned figure and be stronger then most guys then get your hands on this Body Sculpting Bodyweight Exercise For Women as this takes the best of basic gymnastics and other methods and can mold you into the woman that's within you and take your fitness to levels that most women envy and without the fear of bulking up because it won't let that happen.  Never get bored with your workouts and learn fun, progressive and powerful ways to become strong, athletic, powerful and flexible. 

So it doesn't take a gymnast to become strong and flexible like one. No more spending thousands of dollars on gymnastic schools. Because of this type of training, you can take it anywhere you want. You can train in a hotel room, house, cabin, at the park, your backyard just about anywhere you want and can still have the workout of your life. Start off doing only 5 minutes a day of exercise. You can squeeze in 5 minutes of your day can you? When you get up in the morning or before bed. If you have kids that are taking a nap, use that time to train. There's no excuse so make an effort and not procrastinate. Training a few minutes a day saves you 2 hours of regular training getting to the gym, changing and trying to find an empty place to lift or use the treadmill. Plus it saves you time for the things you want to do during the day. At best if you have kids, get them to work out with you as this helps build bonds and to challenge each other.

Whats also great about this kind of training is that it doesn't take much time to do and it strengthens the joints and ligaments and doesn't compress the spine like heavy weight lifting does. Learn it and go through your own pace. Give yourself time to do them right and once it gets easy, move on. Progression is key and having fun is a must. If you're not having fun then you're not doing it right. You can do all the exercises you want but if you don't smile and just go through the motions you won't see the big picture. Keep track of what you do and find what works for you best.

Bodyweight Exercises: Putting The "Fun" In Functional Strength!!!

In many circles around the web you'll hear quite a few people giving Bodyweight Exercises a bad rap and thats just not right on so many levels. First off whoever thinks bodyweight sucks is their business and their opinion but lets get the facts straight here. This type of training has given many people the world over an awesome body, great strength, surreal flexibility and insane endurance. I say this as a point with the right amount of training. Am I saying weight lifting sucks? Hell no man I just prefer bodyweight because it saves me money, time and I can do it anywhere I want.

The real keys to having a solid program is using your imagination, being creative, find goals and mastering basic exercises. Just like weight lifting, work the basics and soon enough you'll find thats all you need to build a solid foundation for sheer strength, muscle-building and all the good stuff that comes with them. It does piss me off sometimes when these morons don't know the real side of a good solid training program. Example would be some people think that bodyweight training is only good for endurance and doesn't build muscle or strength but it can give you flexibility. Ok in some cases they're right it does build flexibility and can give you great stamina but heres a kicker here folks. For those that don't know i'm 5'10 and 242 lbs. My main training is pretty much all bodyweight and so I have built strength from this type of training um lets see....

I can hold a handstand on the wall for more then a minute

I have Deadlifted nearly 400 lbs. without almost any training on it in the last 5-6 years

Easily can press a 88lb. Kettlebell

Bend Steel short and long

Held a 125 lb. Dumbbell w/ a 2 inch thick handle for 10sec.

I think I've made my point here. Will this type of training do the same for everyone like it did for me? No theres no way not because i'm dissing your abilities its because I chose to try these things and my structure is different then others. That shouldn't mean you can't take a shot at them or whatever you want to do but with a good structure and leverage with your body-to-weight ratio you'd be surprised how strong you can get. So I really don't give a flying you know what about people who say you can't be strong on this type of training.

Man I sound like an a**hole right now don't you think? Sorry guys I tend to do that every now and then. Back to why it puts the "Fun" in Functional Strength. Its fun in my opinion cause you get to be free to do what you want for exercise. When they say the best things in life are free I'd put exercise right near the top of the list in my opinion. You get to be creative and try things at different angles and for the most part you're always isolating muscles.

Working the whole body as a unit is far better then doing a ton of other exercises for specific muscles. When you work the body as One, you're putting on more muscle, burning more fat and your muscular strength & endurance go through the roof. It also saves you time from going to the gym and training in your own home, how many people at the gym can say they trained while they played video games or trained while commercials are going instead of their favorite tv show or better yet train with the music they want to listen to with no one around. That's one reason why I find Bodyweight Exercises fun.

I feel that when Jack Lalanne pioneered his fitness tv show way back in the 50's and 60's he wanted you to get up and start your day with a smile, laughing and feeling good like you were a little kid. He was the guy in my opinion that made exercise fun and enjoyable instead of being hardcore and rough and making you feel that exercise is just horrible. He wasn't just a pioneer in the fitness industry, he was also one of the most intelligent men of his generation because he not only made you bust your ass but you enjoyed it and kept coming back for more with a smile and a thirst for life. That was his true genius and no one should ever forget that.

One of my favorite forms of bodyweight training is being out in the wild and being an animal that is strong, powerful and graceful. This is where another form of freedom comes into play. You don't feel like working out but playing and having fun moving around. Theres something for everyone that can do bodyweight exercises, you can be 10 or 100 and still find a way to do great exercise to keep you young, vibrant and healthy.

Back in the early eras of Physical Culture of the 20th Century, many strongmen on the vaudville circuit, circuses and competitions actually did Bodyweight Training to help gain an advantage for what they did as performers. Many of them were wrestlers, boxers, gymnasts, acrobats and just flat out very powerful men. Otto Arco for example was a superior acrobat who can not only do great hand balancing feats but was one of the first of three men to lift double-bodyweight overhead in the clean and press or jerk if I said that right. John Grimek who has been known as the greatest bodybuilder in the non-steroid era of the sport who can vouch for bodyweight exercises as part of a token of his successful career as a bodybuilder and Olympic Weightlifter. Those 2 were examples of among many others that have used bodyweight with sucessful results.

Heres one final thing about why bodyweight exercises are fun to do for functional strength and that's being able to play with your kids. Children start the first few years of their lives doing bodyweight exercises, whether they're running, jumping, playing on the monkey bars or climbing up to go down the slides they're using nothing but they're own Bodyweight and some of them are very strong for how small they are. Makes you think doesn't it? When you learn to train like a child it can give you a whole different prespective about training. As adults we may not have the same energy as a young child but we can adapt and learn to enjoy being there and playing with them. When you train as a family, you create a certain bond and learning from each other. I want to be able to do that with my own kids one day and be able to have fun with them.

If you're looking for some awesome courses on Bodyweight Exercises then look no further then below.........

Gymnastic Abs

Animal Kingdom Conditioning

Advanced Bridging

Body Sculpting Bodyweight Exercises For Women

Pain Killers

Gymnastic Handstands

Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups

Hand Balancing Mastery Course

Animal Kingdom Conditioning 2: Call Of The Wild

Wild Animal Fitness For Kids

Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning-Squats

Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning-Push-ups

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).

Tumbling Your Way To Greatness

Becoming a gymnast takes years of practice and conditioning is at its best for bodyweight exercises. Now what if you didn't need all those years and learn some gymnastics faster and get in condition quicker and get healther all at the same time. My man Logan has a course called Tumbling Illustrated. You will find that tumbling can be a fun and interesting fitness program. Remember as a kid you used to do rolls while playing and it was just fun to do? It be fun to do that again huh?

Learn how to take control of your body and live your childhood dream. Theres no need to spend a ton of money on gymnastic classes. Not to knock gymnastics, I practiced a bit myself and I loved doing tumbling training and handbalancing. The training was incredible but it does get expensive so why not find a better way to train without going through so many fees. Some people believe you can't get started without being a gymnast. Hate to burst your bubble its a myth and you can even start at this very moment.

Some tumbling exercises can even help people with back issues and can work the spine to keep you healthy and strong. With a great variety of moves you will never find a boring workout in this manner. Like with every program start with the basics and work into them to build up to the difficult ones. If you work them too fast that can lead to injury so learn the right speed and form to get the most benefit.

Here will be what you'll find in the course.........

5 Roundoffs

24 Handbalancing moves

8 Combination Rolls

12 Hand Springs

55 Novelty Stunts

8 Dives

6 Cartwheels

& Many More..........

Learn to train like a gymnast without needing to be one.

Tumbling Illustrated