A Hammer And A Kettlebell Walk Into A Bar

 Ok, that sounded like the beginning to a terrible joke but hey, I have that weird sense of humor. Yesterday was a fun outing at a park in town on the eastern side. My wife wanted to practice her photography, so we did some filming and photo shooting of me doing stuff with my 70 pound Darth Vader Kettlebell & my Giants Hammer which I emptied out to its original weight of 13 pounds cause I wanted to build some greater speed and explosive. 

We were out there for quite a while, a couple hours max and I couldn't tell how many reps I did moving those damn things. For the filming, we tested out some things with angles and where some good shots of me lifting the bell and slamming down the hammer. Yeah, I rested in between takes and all that but it was still pretty tough to do to maintain my strength with one implement and going in short bursts with another. Hell during one set of filming, I was being so fast with the hammer that it didn't catch one of the reps I wanted to do. Took several takes to get it right but we got it. 

I don't know what was worse LOL, the filming or the photo shooting. With the photo shooting which I will put up a few here and on SM soon, I had to hold the hammer at certain points and yeah that was easier to do cause it is much lighter, but the Kettlebell? Holy shit, There were a few shots where I had to hold it overhead in lockout for an extended period of time because she wanted to get some good shots both straight ahead and from the ground looking up a me. It's one thing to hold up a good 25-30 pounder for promo purposes but to hold up a 70 that is awkwardly shaped? That's a whole other ball game. This is where I'm glad I have strong tendons and ligaments along with functional muscle to do this. 

Some of the photo shooting was to get the idea of how I would slam the hammer down and the power of the thrusts nearly frame by frame. All she told me to do was to rep it out as much as I can which felt like a damn sprint and maintaining that explosiveness. The last of it was doing Kettlebell swings which I don't do very often and don't have the greatest technique but I can do them without killing myself (even with a KB that heavy). So for a 2-3 sets or so of that, I was told to swing for as many reps as I can muster until she told me to stop. It was under 10 reps at a time but you didn't know how many were needed done so you just kept swinging. 

To say that whole session was a workout would be an understatement. With also not even eating anything that day until we got home from the park, I built up a hell of an appetite. Still was a blast though and she just loved getting the practice in. 

Before the session, I got in a little workout of O2 Training for a few minutes and some DDP Yoga for mobility and flexibility. Did a few push-ups and self resistance exercises to get some blood pumping as well. After the session before bed, I did some more O2 Training for several minutes and a Core/Hip Exercise along with an Animal Combo. 

Like I said earlier in the post, I'll put up some of the shots she took and another video of doing Hammer Slams where the camera moves almost in a circular type fashion instead of stationary (maybe). For now, I edited some of the videos to what I wanted to do which you can view below....

Overall, as tough as some of this was, it was a lot of fun and would do it again. One of the videos that I'll eventually put up is hitting 25 reps in under 40 Seconds. That's just freaking nasty man and if you want to talk about a lung burner, it ranks right up there. 

Be amazingly awesome, kill it in your endeavors and train with an adventurous mind. 

 

Why Dopamineo Bands Are Great For Those Over 40

 Getting older can suck at times depending on how you live but it doesn't mean you can't build a better quality of life after a certain age. Some people believe they peaked in high school, others in their 20's and 30's but very few (more than past generations at least) believe you stop at 40 and just live it out the rest of your life. One of the greatest legends and one of the last of the oldtime strongmen Slim The Hammerman once said he didn't even peak at 40. He said between his years of 40-50, he felt like he was invincible and dangerous. That's a bold statement considering what he put himself through day after day working as a back breaking stone cutter with a 16 lb hammer and on top of performing the heaviest sledgehammers that to this day almost nobody can match.

Athletes as they age do tend to wind down after years of hard training in certain sports but it doesn't mean they should stop living. We keep driving to be better, make adjustments if we have to but train to keep our quality of life going. We won't always be able to do the same things when we were younger but we can create new possibilities and keeping our joints healthy is one of those steps to making that happen.

I knew going into being 40 that there are things that won't value my style of training but I can create new possibilities and keep testing things out and as it turns out, I'm doing things I wasn't doing in my 30's. Never imagined training hard with a heavy 100+ lb sandbag at 40 or carrying a kettlebell for hundreds or even 1000 yards or more without putting it down. One of the best pieces of equipment I love using and have been using it off and on for a year now is the Dopamineo Band. At first it was to help heal a sciatica injury, than it became something to do for conditioning and now it's basically to not only condition my body but to help keep my joints and muscles healthy. You've seen some of the workouts I do with that thing and it hasn't slowed me down. 

The band is more than just a tool, it's a saver for those who are working around injuries, do drills in some format to keep up with what they did for wrestling or fighting back in the day or to maintain health and stamina after years on the field, the mat or whatever. It gives off that youthful feeling of having great energy, natural dopamine levels, better breathing and being more mobile. You can take it anywhere with you and use it as warm up, a finisher or as a stand alone in addition to your regular routine. It doesn't take long to do, you can get a killer workout in within 15-30 minutes and be spanked but in a good way. The cardio you get alone is often times better than just running on a treadmill, you can switch up exercises on a dime and never be bored. You can make it as tough or as easy as you want it and build a foundation for a better healthy body.

One of my favorite exercises is what's called the Chest Pull Wave or Creating Waves With A Pull In that works the arms, shoulders and back along with working the stability muscles in your core. It's a hell of an arm conditioner and with the intensity and pace to create waves consistently, it builds incredible stamina and lung power. Wrestlers do this as a finisher to keep up their conditioning or use as part of a post practice workout to make sure they have that extra boost for matches later on. From a fitness standpoint, it's a great way to build long term strength in the arms and build muscle in the core and back. 

Being active in your later years is essential to maintain healthy levels of hormones, heart & lungs, serotonin and brain function. Intense exercise adds a great element to being in that active state but it doesn't mean you go so hard that you're dying at the end. Always have gas in the tank and progress little by little. I love Circuit Training and working with 5 exercises or so for 10 rounds with little to no rest so I don't waste time. I want to be done with a workout as soon as possible and on some days I'll do DDP Yoga for longer periods of time so I can maintain flexibility but with Circuits, it is intense, hard and there's no safety zone or net to save you. 

One workout I did with the Dopa Band just a couple days ago or so, I did a HIIT type workout where I took 5 exercises for 1 minute on, 15 seconds off each and did that 4 times for a total of approx 25 min for the whole workout. It was brutal, sweating like crazy and felt a high that was amazing. Never did that level of intense training before and there were times where I wanted to quit but kept going. It's not an everyday thing but going that hard and still having some energy left is just beautiful man. That's one of the very best things about this style of Band Training, you can mimic just about any machine in the gym or work on drills for sparring to keep your stamina up or even use it in addition to your current routine and use it for rest periods between sets for your gym exercises. 

The sky is the limit, be creative and utilize simple techniques so you can get the most out of a workout. When you get a band, you can gain access to a variety of videos and tutorials to give you insights on how you can use the band to your advantage. The band is made for those in certain weight classes like in MMA so you can get the benefit of training with something meant just for you and your goals. Become more mobile, build strength that lasts and have the stamina of someone in their 20's. Workout at home, the park, in a hotel room, at the beach, on break at work, on vacation or wherever. Make it work for you.

As a token of my gratitude as you took the time to read this, if you're interested in purchasing a band or a bundle, I have a discount code you can use that saves you a few bucks or more off the regular price for them. At the checkout punch in the code POWERANDMIGHT to get 10% OFF. There's bands made for kids, there's bundles you can find for Group Classes, MMA Programs, High School/Youth/College Wrestling Programs, A Family Bundle for you, the wife and kids so you can all get fit together and more. Keep the quality of life alive and get the most out of your training so you can still do amazing things for many years to come. 

Have an amazingly awesome day and keep killing it.