Gods And Deities That Teach Us About Fitness

           For countless centuries, we have worshiped many gods and supernatural figures that give us power and love over our lives. Not all have used them that way and have pushed the boundaries what is good and what’s evil about worshiping a god, king or supernatural force but when it comes down to it, it’s important to know that we hold some of these forces and beings in our hearts and can learn from them. In this case in the world of fitness, they’re just as important to learn from in that caliber if not more as we see them as a driving force to believe in.

            Building fitness using the very figures that have conquered World Literature and Mythology is a great way to look at how we can create the human body to a degree of strength and health that we all strive to find. For all intents and purposes, there’s no need to do drugs, steroids or any of that crap to build solid, functional strength that can carry over to everyday life. Here are a few figures in Mythology that can grasp a hold on our fitness training and how we can use them to find what works best for us.

Zeus: The All-Mighty Greek God (or Roman’s Jupiter) is a great way to look at fitness because he is that powerful, nerve forcing god that gives us the strength that we can grab a hold of and harness that force inside us to create that superhuman strength and speed that scientists say we only use 5% of at best. Think of having the hands of Zeus, grabbing something or taking in energy that surges throughout your whole body and puts you in a state where it feels like you can take on any obstacle and laugh at your challenges.

Pan: The Satyr half-man half goat that is the spirit of sexual energy and the way we harness our power and strength from our legs. When you build powerful and strong functional legs, you create that balance of testosterone which in turn gives you great health, burns off fat, powerful muscle all over and it aids in making you feel younger, stronger and more in tuned with your inner child of play and man/woman of loving energy.

Hercules: The man of Superhuman Strength. This is more in tuned with bodybuilding but more importantly, to truly understand the fitness side of Hercules is to learn to build your body that is not only powerful and solid but having nearly equal strength to go with it. The old-time strongmen had built solid and mighty physiques but at the same time, their strength was even more impressive. Men like Reg Park, John Grimek, Eugene Sandow and others that had incredible bodies but even greater strength that was just unbelievable. Don’t be a Tarzan and fight like Jane kind of Bodybuilder, harness your strength and power naturally as you build your physique. Basic lifts and basic programs are key.

            To go beyond what you’re taught, you have to think outside the box. We are taught certain things from different people but in order to be truly successful you have to look within yourself to find the best possible way to be fit, healthy and crazy strong. This goes as much for women as does men. Women do train differently because their bodies don’t have as much testosterone as men however, it’s important to know that you can build a beautiful body that WON’T GET BULKY because unless a woman is using testosterone pills or steroids that’s really the only way that’ll happen. Work with what you learned but also find what works best to your abilities. Just following someone isn't quite enough and the way you follow them isn't always in your best interest. Think for yourself at times and remember to be yourself.

            Putting your body and mind to the test has been the standard for all things for as long as mankind has been around. The Gods and their stories gave us a reason to use our bodies and our brains to think and look for what works and how we create certain things that gives us hope, strength and endurance to move forward. Some of us just think there’s an end-all be all of following and not having a right to think for ourselves. I take bits and pieces of people’s advice and methods and mold them into my own, it’s called becoming creative. Some people don’t know how and it’s sad because they have so much potential but only work with what they’re told to do. Quite frankly I hate being told what to do but I’m not opposing to listening and modifying what works for me. Become more of you and challenge the way things go.

            We may have been created by the Gods or whatever you choose to believe but the reality is that once you are born, you grow up and you learn. No one has your body and mind so what makes you think you aught to be somebody else. Find what guides you and learn to harness the power within you, not someone else and become a more powerful being. 

The Mighty Strength Of Hercules

           A god caught between two worlds; Mount Olympus & Earth. Mythology’s strongest hero is one of the greatest stories ever told. In the training world, it’s the pinnacle for us guys to try to emulate (At least the strength). We are so amped when we develop our strength in many areas but building physical strength comes with a price. Like the 12 labors of Hercules, we too must conquer our challenges even as they get tougher. Unlike the Labors, it’s never ending and sometimes we suffer to get what we want but we should never give up on what can be ours.

            Although we can never have the strength Hercules possesses, we can however channel our energy to create super strength and power by how we use our imagination. Our strengths are different but we have similar goals and although we think differently generally a certain outcome will remain the same. How we breathe can generate or destroy our strength, how we move and think can lead a path of strength or have it be given away. Building strength just by lifting or doing certain exercises may be good but it’s not quite enough. Think big, dream hard and make the impossible possible. Hercules also used his intelligence to help his strength; we too must learn this concept for it is the very key to creating results fast and powerful.

            What do you want; do you want to lift heavy weights, build more muscle or do you want to become super conditioned? Why not all three and more? You don’t have to settle for just one thing, that’s like saying if all you had for dinner the rest of your life was steak, you’d lose your damn mind and just get tired of it. You can develop great functional super muscle by applying the thinking of Hercules along with what you want to achieve. We won’t always look like a Mr. Olympia but we can create strength and muscle using techniques that can help our breathing, our movement, the way we think and going beyond the very essence of our strength and add even 1% of what scientists say about the amount of strength we use.

            To produce results fast, we have to think differently and we also need to use things differently. Grip strength is one of the most important keys in strength development and there are many ways to do it, one of my favorites is using sledgehammers particularly Thor’s Hammer to enhance my grip strength and overall body conditioning. Another is thick bar training if you want to lift great weights; this cuts your workouts in half maybe even a 1/3^rd because it takes a lot of strength to move a weight when it’s more than 2 inches in diameter like a barbell or a dumbbell. Some people can’t afford the thick bars so what can you do, use Fat Gripz or Fat Gripz Extreme, these alone can enhance your strength in ways that you never imagined possible.

            Think about getting strong in pull-ups, add thickness to those crazy machines and turn them into strength enhancers. Slap a Fat Grip onto your barbells and dumbbells and instantly turn them into one of the most difficult lifts around. Hercules was a man of superhuman strength and was built like a house but he does teach us the value of our strength and how we can apply it to create strength that all of us want to achieve in some form or another. When you think differently, your body reacts differently. The next time you lift or do a certain exercise, don’t look at it as just an exercise, think as if you’re the mighty Hercules and you have a powerful body, mighty hands and you have the strength and power to make the impossible happen. See how you react and the way your body moves with your thought. 

Mythology & Superhuman Strength

            No matter how you slice it, we've been fans of Mythology for as long as we can remember. We've read the comic books, we've watched the movies, we've practiced certain elements that are based on the gods and we've even trained to be like them but can we really? There are different heroes and villains in the world of Mythology basing on how much we've learned about them. It’s important to have these stories but one must be cautious because we never know what we might find.

            Gods, monsters, heroes, villains, superhuman powers; these things have stretched our imaginations for eons and we still are finding more things about them than we thought to believe. The god Zeus is one of the most prolific figures in Mythology because of not just his power of the thunder bolt but some look at him as a man of great stature and superhuman entities to do good on this world, others see him as a complete asshole for wanting to overthrow his brothers Poseidon & the dark lord of the underworld Hades and control mankind to do his bidding. It is important however to know that a god like that is very powerful and can learn to use his great strength for our own way of training.

            Another great Hero or mythical figure; Thor, he’s one of the strongest gods there is and he’s famous because of that great Hammer of his. When he strikes down the Frost Giants or marches into battle, his hammer is the equivalent to a samurai’s mighty sword. The weapon is apart of who he is, it symbolizes his power unlike anything else and with that power can either be great for saving the world or destroy it b the choices we make.

            How can we tie in these mythological figures into building a foundation for fitness today? Well let’s look back to how real warriors of ancient times trained; they didn't have machines like pulldowns or cardio machines to keep them fit or have barbells and dumbbells to strengthen their muscles so what the hell did they do? Depends on the type of warrior you’re looking at, some were swordsmen, some were archers, others were snipers when they shot arrowheads and even some had special weapons made for specific occasions or battles so they’re training consisted on the type of role they played in. When you look at archers, they have strong shoulders, a keen eye and a great sense of control of on pulling isometrics. That makes me think of Strand Pulling or today’s Lifeline Chest Expander, working the same muscles as an archer did just in a different format.

            If we truly want to put in training like god or a warrior of ancient times, we can’t just march into the gym or get a certain tool of weight or cable and expect to be super strong. Like anything else we progress to become better and stronger and fitter. Think of Hercules, the strongest god of all or should we say demi-god. He was already super strong and had superhuman qualities but at first he didn't understand how to use that strength, it made him awkward and his control was horrible. After learning to use his mind and putting in the effort to control what he was doing, over a period of time his strength helped him in the 12 labors he was assigned by the Greek goddess Hera if you read the stories and the tragic entities that go with this.

            We are inspired by powerful beings, whether they’re gods, extraordinary men and women or even a certain person of status whether an athlete or strong being; it gives us hope that we can be those things to and possibly more if you put your mind to it. The power of our imagination is endless if you really understand it and continue to learn it. We all have great gifts within us and most of us don’t even know it and never learn to unlock them. Learn what you’re good at, progress and turn it into something you can proud of and you can be super strong and powerful. Use your imagination and doors will open to you that you never seen before.   

Choosing Your Own Path

            On our path to our very own individuality we are influenced by different people like family members, best friends, athletes, confidante, maybe your boss in a good or bad way either way somehow we are influenced by what is around us and what we watch, listen or that energy that just feels right. We learn from our influences who we become and what will be our destiny. Don’t try to be like your idol or anybody because they’re already taken, make a habit to learn from them to develop your own way to be who you truly want to be.

            The one thing nobody can ever teach is discovering things for yourself. In the Disney 90’s classic Hercules; Herc is becoming a rising star in the town of Thebes because of his heroic efforts to slay everything that crosses him, he’s got merchandise named after him but Zeus his father tells him that’s not the path or the secret to becoming a true hero. Herc must discover something within himself in order to a true individual and heroic figure. In the Fitness world, the general population looks to the biggest trend of weight loss, faster strength gains, quicker results and doing it with less effort when in fact it’s not real. To make things happen to build your body, it takes effort but not always physical strength but by the strength of your will and discovering what works best for you.

            Heading more towards building your body, people believe that in order to achieve that they need to be in a specific place  (Gym for example) where there are specific instructions to do this weight or this cardio machine or lifting up this heavy or light barbell or dumbbell. In reality that’s just one place where you have really more than enough places to go to make gains. Make your surroundings your strengths. When I was in Lake Tahoe earlier this month, the nearest gym was miles away and we pretty much stayed near the lake and the cabins so what could I do, I improvised by going swimming and swim hard, climb on the rocks using MovNat type training to shift, push, pull, grip and squat in many directions, lift heavy rocks by pressing, deadlifting, carrying and tossing them. That’s a hell of a workout and you never know what’s going to happen. Make the effort to be creative and use what you have around you to make the greatest benefit. The art of discovery is only something you can do, nobody else can do it for you.

            One of the greatest discoveries you develop when broadening your horizons and going on a path that is of your own choosing, learn the art of being flawless in everything you do. It’s very difficult to do and it takes time and patience but when it starts to happen, everything changes for the better and you’ll have that magnetic attraction towards people and you will find within the strength of your heart that no matter what happens, you will seem to feel alert and being at ease even in the toughest of times. You can have your own path and do anything you want in your own life. People will make you choose and steer towards something that’s more for them than it ever will be for you. Don’t let them because if you do, you’ll lose sight of who you really are and what will become of you. Walk on it, run it, play hackysack  on it whatever but find your own path and let no one stop you.

The Gateways To Herculean Strength & Blazing Speed

I'ma huge fan of Mythology and Superheroes and a personal favorite is a demi-god we all loved by his strength and courage but also hated for his vices and troublesome behavior depending on your version and that’s Hercules, the son of Zeus and a man that was born into chaos and a mystical time of mystery, magic, sorcery and dangerous creatures. The reason I got into him and why I believe he’s a great choice for this article is because really, he is the ultimate synonym for strength and the ability to overcome obstacles in the most daring and unimaginable fashion. Get ready to learn the very secrets of how to obtain some of the glorious and powerful strength.

There are always debates about how to get strong in the fitness world. Sometimes we rely on one exercise to determine a level of strength, at times we rely on a specific fear or skill and even in some cases; we determine who can be the strongest in 3 lifts or more. For me the best answer to determine strength is how you are efficient in various ways to exercise plus exerting an amount of force. You're strong in some areas, other areas you're weak in, it’s a simple fact. Others try to make one thing and blow off the other. Why not work different elements like Strength & Endurance in the same workout? How about the idea of hitting a heavy weight then moving onto an exercise for high reps? It breaks out of the norm and it gives you a sense on what you can measure for your own strengths.

 Most people believe that if you want to get stronger, move onto weights but it’s not always that simple or that quick to judge. BodyweightTraining when done right can be much tougher and more exhausting than hitting the weights. One of the most effective exercises to build strength from multiple angles is to move like a wild animal. Animals in the wild are far superior in strength than man is period, there’s no question how abundantly strong they are so why not mimic them the best way we can. Just to hold a certain position takes strength right, now let’s move in an awkward direction and see if we can keep tight in that position while in a moving process. Believe me if you can get strong in the most awkward positions you have strength in ways most can't match

 A key to learning effective strength and power is through sound. Sound, how the hell do you determine that? Think about, a punch for example…BAM, BAM, did it sound powerful and super strong? It sounded more straight edge and a little dull, it’s powerful but it doesn't have that spark of real strength. Here’s another one…WAA-KAHH..How did that sound? To me it sounded fast, powerful, directional with a specific point of torque. Want to know the best way to look for that sound? Ever heard of Bruce Lee? I rest my case.

 One of the simplest ways to get better at Bodyweight Exercises is through Progression but what’s the best way to determine that? You've done 100 push-ups, great how do you make them harder? First off what type of push-up did you do to get those 100 reps? Did you do them military style or did you do in a handstand against the wall, how about your feet elevated on a stool or even your hands between two chairs? If you did them military style, how about trying the same amount of reps while doing 4 seconds going down and 4 seconds coming up, if you did them in a handstand I want to shake your hand because only less than a handful of people on the planet have done that, feet elevated do them going down fast and come back in 5 seconds. Tempo and position is a great way to determine progression in push-ups and many other exercises.

 What do Michael Johnson, Marcus Allen, Walter Payton and Kurt Angle all have in common? They all did Sprints to build that explosive speed and undeniable power in the entire body plus they all build high levels of Natural Growth Hormone, the thing that has the ability to burn fat like a furnace, build muscle like crazy and expand the lungs like there was no tomorrow for high levels of endurance. Sprints done 2-3 times a week is one of if not the fastest way to burn fat and builds natural muscle. It gives you that high kick of endorphins after a workout which can be no more a few minutes tops but isn't it ruled that you have to do 30 minutes of cardio and an hour of weights to burn fat and build muscle, dude get with the program. Really no more than 8 sets at about 15 seconds per burst is all you need and if you can't do that at first start with 4x8sec. And work from there.

 

The number one key to open the door to superhuman strength and speed is to have an open mind. Too many people are skeptical and afraid and avoid the very possibility that they will be able to achieve levels of muscularity, strength, health and stamina. Being open to ideas and find what works and what doesn't for you is a sure thing you’ll find what you're looking for. Too many follow this, avoid that and are sheep to those that think they know best, nobody knows your body better than you do. Find your own ways to get to where you want to be, I advise to avoid drugs and PEDs as much as possible if not at all, learn the natural ways to get strength, your body will be better for it.