So Nice, Did It Twice

 Get your mind out of the gutter, what is wrong with you?.....

For real though, being in shape isn't just a necessity, it's part of maintaining a good quality of life that keeps you on your toes, keeps you young and brings you amazing benefits. With my recent stints with the Dopa Band, testing out exercises and doing my 500 Rep Deck Of Cards Training, thought I'd spice things up. Thought I'd take a page out of Karl Gotch.

His idea of decks of cards training to maintain extreme conditioning was to do a full deck twice in a row. Doing this consistently with Hindu Push-ups, Hindu Squats, Jumpers & Half Moon Push-ups, it was painfully obvious that this was one of the reasons why the man didn't know the word tired or fatigued on the mat. He was just a beast and can hold his own with practically anyone. Gave this idea a shot with the Band.

The other day, I tested myself with the following exercises for the workout...

Chest Flys

Wave Pulls

Uppercut To Squats

Ski Jumps

Propellers

I really wanted to test myself with this and see what I can do. Did the workout doing a full deck twice in a row in under 45 min. (43:55 to be exact). It wasn't so much the difficulty of the exercises, it was to keep going while maintaining good breath control and focus. This was a total of 1000 reps which isn't always easy to do. The idea wasn't to tire myself out, it was to keep a good level of cardio while keeping the joints safe and the muscles worked to be stable for muscular endurance, durability, flexibility and lasting strength. 

That's the great thing about these bands, they don't strain the joints and can increase or decrease the level of resistance just by positioning how the band is stretched, the longer you stretch it, the harder it is. It's important to be at comfortable levels of resistance to not only work the muscles but not have it be so loose either that it doesn't do anything. Which is why I enjoy it so much.

I love maintaining my conditioning that it keeps things intact and don't need to go as hardcore but have the ability to keep going. The 500 Rep workouts give a variety of exercises to do so there's always something to do. At times I'll do Chest & Back stuff for the upper body, other times do the arms, for the legs I like to do squats and jumps so those can vary with the uppercut to squat combo and ski jumps to Hindu Squats and Jumpers where unlike swinging the arms, you're pulling the band slightly to smooth out the swing which takes a bit of focus and balance to be in control of the speed and rhythm. 

Full body workouts in a short amount of time is key. I'm not trying to keep up with these wrestlers who use them, I can't and there's no way I can maintain that level of intensity at 40 and not be injured. Got to go at your own pace and focus on what benefits you. Conditioning may be your greatest asset whether you're an athlete or not but it's important to keep your joints healthy as well in order to keep things flowing with the body. So nice, it's fun to do it twice.

Be amazingly awesome and as always don't forget to use my discount code to get 10% OFF your order with the bands using POWERANDMIGHT at checkout.   

Maintaining Testosterone As We Age

As you know, testosterone is a steroid hormone that's necessary to maintain a healthy body in both men and women, far more so for us guys. It helps us keep our bones strong, our libido enhanced and strengthens our immune system. As we get older (35+), it starts to drift downward little by little each year, sometimes faster depending on our lifestyle choices or the body's inability to produce over time. Some people have a very healthy lifestyle and have solid levels of testosterone but also for others, even if they tried living with healthy choices like foods and exercise, it can still drift. It happens and the body can be unpredictable to how we react to certain things.

We mostly have this major increase in testosterone when we hit puberty. Remember those days, where even a kiss on the cheek from a pretty girl can make the soldier salute or if the wind blew a certain way? When it starts to go south, that's where a number of problems can occur like low sex drive, so tired consistently it's almost like you want to go into a deep sleep like Briar Rose from Sleeping Beauty and worst of all; losing our strength. Low testosterone can also increase chances of obesity.

We want to maintain it and keep it as high as we can regardless of how old we are. Now there's such a thing as having over-kill levels of testosterone which can make us either too aggressive to near violent and it can put us in dire strait on our body's system. It's about balance and hitting a solid high mark. Numbers can vary but we need to produce just enough to stay healthy. 

Certain factors beyond aging can develop low levels of testosterone such as negative stress, over-inducing alcohol, smoking (this includes Vaping), lack of training and use of steroids over an extended period of time. If changes need to made, do what's possible. Utilize High Intensity Interval Training 1-3x a week, be in fresh air more often, make dietary changes to where you're developing a greater form of eating protein in natural foods like meats, chicken (personally, T-Bone & Bison are awesome) and other foods. Training formats such as Sprint Training, Isometrics, Circuit Conditioning & Carrying Heavy Objects boost spikes of testosterone. 

Sometimes, guys need or could benefit from Supplements as long as they maintain healthy habits. It's that small extra push to drive into a touchdown of scoring levels of testosterone. Herbal Supplements such as Pine Pollen, Tongkat Ali & even something like Alpha MAX Test . With supplements utilizing as natural ingredients as possible, we can build on giving our body's it's natural release of testosterone without having to resort to steroids or Testosterone Replacement Therapy. Be mindful and keep an eye on your health especially in your sex organs. We want to keep that drive going and have powerful libidos, strength that lasts and energy that keeps us going for a long time. 

Be healthy guys and stay strong. Keep being amazingly awesome.