Happy Veterans Day!!!!

           Wanted to wish all those kick ass men and women that are/or have fought for our country. You guys carry the banner and fight the battles that we never could. We do fight in our line of the country but nothing compared to the people who take down some of the biggest baddest dudes on the planet. Keep up the awesome work and to you Veterans, I salute you.

            Some of the training the military boys and gals go through is practically superhuman. It doesn't matter if you’re a ranger, SEAL, Marine or a Pilot, it takes more than guts to even mince through obstacle courses, the 3-4am wake up drills, the push-ups and the combat techniques it still pretty damn spectacular what these people go through.

            Although he’s fictional I consider this particular hero a run for this article and that is Captain America. He’s a man of principle and fights for the other guy. He brings heart and soul to his cause and he’s uncanny ability to take down even the toughest of bad guys. He’s a symbol of hope and what you can do when you put your heart into what you want to do. I believe without question he’d salute to each and every one of you that gave their lives.

            Whether you’re a veteran or already in the Military, from the rookie Private to the legendary Admirals, it’s important to be in tip top shape no matter how old are you. You don’t always have to do boot camp like training but maintaining your health and fitness should be a priority to all those who serve or have served. Exercise can improve moods, natural growth hormone and keep you strong and vibrant for life if you do it right. One exercise that gives you that profound upper/lower body strength is the Tiger Crawl, you’re ready to pounce on the enemy and take down the vicious beast that’s trying to overthrow you. Animal Training is a lot of fun to do and can keep you young and super strong. If you’re a lifter, you’d want to keep be strong and build natural functional muscle and put an end to those that drag you down and don’t want to see you succeed.

            Train hard, be strong and keep being you because as they say, heroes can be remembered but legends never die. Training the right way can help destroy depression and live your life even after those grueling missions and those death-defying tours. Be healthy you guys and those who are shipped out, come home and stay strong no matter what. You may be a soldier but also an incredible human being, never let that go. I salute you all and kick ass wherever you are.

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. 

Breathe While You Train

             I've said it before and I’ll repeat till you get it through your thick skull, learn to breathe while you train. It is the single most important aspect of physical and mental conditioning. It is the one thing that keeps us alive more than anything else. You can go days without water, weeks without food but a few minutes without breathing is killing you. The power of the breath is essential as it can help you stay in the game far longer than if you just started hyperventilating in the first couple minutes.

            Breathing helps you conserve energy and the more you practice it, the more energy is reserved. Its power can be used any way you want if you know how to use it. It can be used to help you in a strength exercise or it can help your endurance over a period of time. Different athletes use different breathing patterns for how they stay in their sport but the principles stay the same, if you can’t conserve your energy, you won’t last very long. Learn to breathe and learn when to use it to your advantage.

            Deep breathing is an awesome way to keep your energy intact and granted sometimes if you’re in a fight or in a match against another opponent or team your breathing tends to be tested which is a good thing because you learn how to handle it when it’s time to make it count. Even in a training session in the gym or your home workouts, you want to learn how to breathe while you exercise and while you’re in between sets because after a while it takes a toll on you so you learn to keep your breathing as best as possible to keep going.  It’s the reason it keeps you focused no matter what you’re doing.

            There are tricks to help your breathing while you train. When I do my deck of cards training, sometimes once I get to a certain part of the deck I have to keep my breathing intact because it becomes so intense you have to take in as much air as you can. After you do a set of push-ups or squats for example, although you want to keep going without much rest as possible there’s that other part you can use where you take in as many breaths as the number of reps for the next set, that way you’re not taking up too much rest and you’re conserving your energy. You can use this method for different exercises and different areas of fitness. Another great trick I learned to keep your breathing at bay is what I learned called the Hoffman Walk which was termed in Brooks Kubik’s books on the adventures of the old-time strongmen Legacy Of Iron series, after you do a set of an exercise, you walk and breathe deeply till you’re ready to tackle the next set, you’re not sitting down and you keep moving without stopping so this helps with your endurance.

            Get the concept of breathing and how it can help you in any endeavor and it doesn't always have to be training, it can be how you prepare for meetings or conferences in business, or how you handle shopping without tiring out before you get to your car (this happens with a lot of people believe it or not) and it can help you stay in the game in your sport so you can keep up that reserved power to stay driven and help your team keep going. Breathing is life and life is breathing. 

The Deck Of Destiny

              One of my favorite workouts is simply using a deck of cards and going as far as I can go. He didn't create it but he certainly gave it greater purpose especially if you’re a combat athlete and that was Karl Gotch. If you were to get in superior condition it was important to stick with the fundamentals and that was squats, push-ups and bridging. With the deck, you just shuffle them however you want and when you flip one card you do that many push-ups or squats, face value is up to 15, Aces are 20 and Jokers are 25-50.

Numbered As Is

Aces- 20

Face Cards- 15

Jokers-25/50

            Once you have it down and you can finish the deck in a reasonable amount of time (keep it under 45 min.), you can switch things around, make certain parts of the cards different types of push-up and/or squats along with an abdominal exercise or maybe add in pull-ups that’ll be an ass kicker. It’s good to switch things up, keep the body working in different directions and ways that’ll keep your heart rate up and challenging your body to a different degree. My shortest time with the cards ever was just over 21 min. and that’s cruising, that’s just on various push-ups and squats, however with only 4 exercises it takes me just under 45 min. at a time.

            Gotch always found that conditioning was the base for every combat sport and in general all sports for that matter. You can do all the techniques in your sport all you want but if you can’t last very long on the mat or on the field even on the court you might as well walk out the door. Another legendary sports figure whose conditioning training helped bring a series of championships was the late John Wooden of NCAA Basketball lore at UCLA. If his guys weren't up to par to stay in the game efficiently, they didn't get to play much, it was this golden rule that put his teams in the best of the best during the 60’s and 70’s that had Hall Of Famers such as Kareem Abdul Jabarr and Bill Walton. This type of training gives your workouts a twist because it’s never the same every time so there’s no guess work it’s just there.

            When it comes to timing, you should attempt to finish the deck with as little rest as possible to the point where you’re just zooming like lightning. In the beginning, you might need to rest after a few cards to catch your breath and let the tension out because of the lactic acid build up. Each workout should have a little less rest than the last time so you can build that endurance and your mental strength. A key component to learn is that after a while, your form might be a little off, this happens often so do your best to keep your form as best as possible because if you start to get sloppy, it’s going to bite you in the ass.

            If you want to jump up to a level of conditioning that is different and a bit more hardcore than doing reps, do the deck in an Isometric format. You’re probably wondering “how the hell do you do that?” Instead of doing reps, you hold a certain position for time either for a few seconds or a few breaths for example, you got a 5 and it’s a squat, you can hold a horse stance or wall sit and hold for 5 seconds or take in 5 breaths. Jokers are a killer and you’d be in great shape if you can hold a position for up to 50 breaths but 50 seconds is still ok. This takes your body to a level most never dare go to. At best this kind of workout can take as long as an hour or more, that’s a lot of trying to hold still.

            The deck can work in many ways and no matter how you do it, if you can do the whole deck you’re in reasonably good shape. Gotch took to a level only a small group has ever achieved and that’s doubling the number of squats and kept the push-ups as is. I once read he did the deck twice in a row, no wonder he was a beast on the mat. It’s a lot of fun to work on and you can do it just about anywhere at anytime. See how you do it and how it can work for you. 

TV Will Never Be The Same To You Again

Television is a window to the world and it has its blessings and its bad habits. There are movies, shows, infomercials, sports, news ect. With all this information, why can’t people realize that watching TV can be one of the best reasons to get in awesome shape? Most never see it as an opportunity to develop strength and health, not saying you should spend all day at the TV, in reality you should avoid as much of it as possible. To be honest, I haven’t watched a single show that had commercials or changed the channel in over a month and a half, I watch Movies.

 If you’re a fan of TV and want to watch something either by yourself or with family & friends, you should make an effort to do some exercises. Most shows have commercials and we all know how annoying they can be with ads that don’t really have any real morals for other people, so why not put that into an exercise program. When your show has taken a break and gone to the commercials, use it as a reminder to exercise. Do Push-ups, Squats, Sit-ups and Isometrics whatever you can do until your show came back on.

 Most commercials are pretty stupid and those god awful meds ads. I guess stupidity runs in advertisement, the only thing that commercials are good for are movies and those funny Super Bowl ads other than that you’re better off doing something to pass the time. One of the most famous athletes in the world Herschel Walker performed hundreds of push-ups and sit-ups while he watched TV and exercised during the commercials. There’s a lesson there that we all should learn.

 Would it be nice to enjoy your favorite show and get a workout in at the same time? I believe it be pretty freaking sweet if you ask me. Exercise done right gives you energy and that extra spring in your step. Sitting on your ass the entire time isn't always the wisest choice as you can burn calories faster and amp up your energy when you have time to do a few exercises for like what 30 seconds, that seems good don’t you think? Give yourself something to do while you watch TV instead of just sitting around looking like you just came back from a marathon. When a commercial comes on, do a few push-ups, the next do squats or hold a certain position. Make it work for you.

No Time To Train During A Snow Storm? Think Again

It can be difficult to travel or just stay home during a wicked snow storm. Shoveling snow so you can get your car out of the driveway is no easy task and requires some strength and a lot of physical labor. I live in a state where this happens a lot in the winter time. I still consider it exercise as you're using more then just your body to shovel snow. After doing this for period of time make sure to stretch your body as this type of work stresses a lot on the body.

One of my favorite workouts to do warm or cold is moving around like a wild animal. Training like this in warm weather gets rid of toxins in your body and forces you to drink more water then you normally would because of the fluids that run through you and plus you're building natural Human Growth Hormone which helps burn off fat, build muscle and makes you grow younger. In the winter however where in some places around the country its cold as hell and training in the snow in this manner forces you to be fast and explosive just to stay warm and eventually just trying to stay warm burns more calories and burn off fat even faster. The breathing is also different in various weather climates.

Another way to train during winter time is to do some form of Rocky training like in Rocky IV when he ran, pushed, pulled, twist in the snow and used what he had to bust his ass in every way he can. You can do the same thing with what you have and if you don't have anything then just use your own body.Yet if you want some kick ass tools then don't look any further then here.

Whether you like it not if you're a gym goer and can't get to the gym during some bad snow weather you're shit out of luck. At least you think you are. I have a solution for you that will save you from not only trying to drive to the gym or walk but to give you a small workout that lasts only 4 minutes and brings you down quicker then Andre The Giant getting knocked by Hulk Hogan. What you do is do an animal exercise for 20 seconds and rest for 10 sec. Continue doing this until your 4 minutes are up. You don't need to move around that much in your own living room, do frog jumps, hop like a rabbit, move around like a bear in a circle whatever you want to do. Another thing you can do is do Squats and Push-ups and get those endorphins in your system so you will be in a blissful state instead of feeling like crap and bored.

I will say thi for sure, if there's too much snow, its best to just stay in, stay warm and you really need only a few spaces to train on and you're set. After you train, take a nice warm/cool shower or bath and let your body go. Feel blissful, be thankful for your accomplishment and just breathe naturally. After some time feeling incredible and happy, get out, dry off, put on some warm clothes and settle near the fire watching your favorite movie or tv show eating some good healthy food. Embrace the snow and never take for granted your own winter wonderland.

Condititioning For Catch Wrestling

No matter what sport you're in, you can have the talent, the techniques and the know how all you want but if you arn't in condition then you're going to die out within a short period of time. Other sports can be rough and can tear you down but nothing takes the place of wrestling and not WWE style but shooting and submission or in other words Scientific Wrestling.

Conditioning for wrestling is a whole different breed of fitness. It takes heart, it takes inner power and to prove you're tough enough. Even for some WWE wrestlers when they first began training in certain cities around the country and the world never experienced anything this type of conditioning, some have been through boot camps in the NFL, in College even one in the Navy SEALs had never experienced a type of conditioning. Karl Gotch however took training and conditioning to a level that was unheard of at the time. He took basic principles of conditioning and molded them into a way where it was effective, it worked and it made you or broke you as an athlete.

One of the most important aspects of conditioning is Bridging. Working not just the neck but working the whole body as a unit and taking your level of strength and functional muscle building to a stratosphere that you cannot imagine unless you have experienced it. There are many ways to do the bridge so you have a variety of what you can do but you also need to learn to work your body at as many as you can.

When you combine the bridge with Squats & Push-ups you will become a lethal conditioning machine. When you use these for the Karl Gotch Bible by using a deck of cards your conditioning will soar beyond the skies and beyond the moon. Sticking to the fundementals will take you further in your fitness, your health and in your sport. For wrestling, real wrestling, conditioning is key and I hope I can use this right because i'm very passionate with conditioning, to quite Karl Gotch "Wrestling and Conditioning go together like a horse and carriage, one without the other is worthless. The most expensive car won't run without water, gas and oil." He was right and beyond. He got it right on the dot and I give the late Gotch all the respect he deserves and I wished I had met him before he died, it would've be a real honor.

Get into the heart of conditioning and learn the character of what real wrestling is and how all these wrestlers are just in fantastic condition.

How Can A Swamp Dweller Turn You Into A Conditioning Machine

Animals in the wild are without a doubt the greatest athletes in the world. They’re instincts are uncanny and their conditioning is second to none and blows us humans out of the water without blinking an eye. However there are certain animals in the wild that live in not so pretty areas and can jump at you at a moments notice.

In the swamps of Louisiana and Florida there is one animal that is not only ferocious and monstrous but has speed that shouldn’t this animal shouldn’t have and can reach up to 20 mph. I’m speaking of the Alligator/Crocodile. This dinosaur like creature is by far one of the strongest of swamp dwellers and in my opinion are the wrestlers of swamp animals. Its mouth and jaws are so strong they can swing the average human like child’s play.

When it comes to upper body strength and hip flexibility along with powerful speed with a hefty amount of weight the Gator stands alone. Now how do we duplicate this animal, well our bodies are going to have to resemble a walking push-up or hold a push-up position mid-way with our bellies nearly touching the ground and the legs are spread out and start walking. This animal alone can take upper body strength/conditioning and hip flexibility to a whole new level.

In my friend Ed Baran’s book Animal Kingdom Conditioning he will show you the progressions of not only becoming a strong Gator yourself but also a wild animal that has strength and power unlike anything else. He doesn’t teach just the Gator, he has a plethora of Animals waiting for you to unleash within you that can take your workouts to levels you never imagined possible. Take it from me as I have practiced this animal along with many others and have never felt so alive in my life. This program is for just about anyone who is willing to give themselves a chance to become stronger, leaner, powerful and flexible from a variety of angles.

600 Push-ups Before Noon

For some odd reason I decided to try out some push-ups after looking at the pyramid sets from Mark De Lisele's book The Navy Seal Workout and give it a go....I liked pyramid sets so I made a pyramid of my own doing 6 different push-ups....I really had no desire to persue push-ups because I do get bored after doing them for a period of time so I pretty much did these because I felt like it and what do you know lol...I have never done this many push-ups in my life in one workout and most likely never will again. Without further ado heres my push-up workout....Now for my rest periods I did deep breathing as a superset.


Standard: 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2=162

Elbows In: 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2=50

Elbows Wide: 2,4,6,8,10,12,10,8,6,4,2=72

(Using Push-up Bars) Vertical: 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,12,10,8,6,4,2=98

(Using Push-up Bars) Horizontal: 2,4,6,8,10,12,10,8,6,4,2=72

(Using Push-up Bars) Bars directed /\: 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2=128

Finished off with 18 Standard Push-ups Totalling 600.

For most people theres no need to do that many on a daily basis unless you're a fanatic about push-ups. It took me over an hour to do them but because of looking at the Navy SEALs I just felt that I needed to do them and see how far I can go and made it happen. Although it was just something I decided to do on a whim its what goes to show that if you learned the right tools of training you can do that and find out that you can do things you normally never could of done or tried before. After the workout I went for a swim and sat in the hot tub to recover. When you do training of that caliber recovery is just as important as the training itself.

Take Your Core Strength To The Next Level

One of the most difficult parts of the body is the one most people need work on next to the tendons and ligiments of the body and thats your Core which is your lower back, upper/middle/lower abdominals and the obliques. Strengthen these together and you got yourself a pretty strong body. A lot of people feel the need to isolate the core one muscle at a time by doing hundreds of crunches, hundreds of side bends and whatever else they need to do. Truth of the matter is if you only isolate a certain muscle, that muscle will get strong but not the rest of you.

Take into consideration of the cavemen, neandrathals and other anchient men of early civiliation. They had to bust their ass trying to survive by pushing, pulling, swimming, fighting, running and yet they were the fittest men of their time and never once did they do crunches or side bends because thats not what they needed to function in the world. Their Core became powerful by what they had to do to survive. Now they may not have had six-pac abs (or did they?) but they were very strong and very intelligent in that particular time period and they had to be otherwise they'd be eaten or crushed by wild animals.

Now we know that man invented the wheel and it was one of the biggest things to change the course of civilization and the world for that matter and now theres a great way to use this marvalous invention and it comes from one of my main guys Jon Hinds.

This one peice of equipment can turn your core into one strong powerful peice and you only need a few minutes a day with it and unlike other ab wheels, you can use either your hands or you can strap in your feet. Jon has invented one of the best fitness equipments in the world and its been proven how much strength it can build a person and the types of exercises you can use. You will not be isolating the muscles but like a real athlete you work the whole body as a unit and build real world-class functional strength.

This bad boy is called the Lifeline Power Wheel and it will make your abs work unlike any other and when you strengthen your center (torso) your whole body will come into affect the way it suppose to. Go check it out and let Jon hook you up and build the strongest core you can possibly have. I have used it myself and after only a few minutes my body is just done and thats what I want, get in get out with the best possible results. Here are some of the exercises you will find to build a powerful Core..........

Rollouts

Pull-ins

Walking On Hands

Push-ups

And Many More......

Go ahead, take your first step to building a powerful body and a strong as steel core.

http://dev.lifelineusa.com/affiliate/redir.php?oid=1039_26

Keeping It Simple Works Period.....

In the modern gyms today you have to do this for triceps, biceps, quads, hams, calves, chest ect. ect. Unless you're in rehab why the fuck waste your time with individual muscle groups. Excuse the language but sometimes some trainers just piss me off because not only are they teaching a client the wrong thing but at certain can even get them injured and even some trainers tell you to do as many as 20 or more exercises for 10 different muscle groups to get a full benefit in exercise.....Bullshit. Whether you're a weight lifter, bodyweight enthusiast or a strongman the very best program you can do is a simple one. Now that doesn't mean easy, simple and easy are two different things.

Yes in some cases you can do 20 or more exercises in a workout but each one hits the whole body in a different fasion and my favorite form of training is doing energy drills. Work the joints in various places from your neck to your toes and with the right amount of time and being smart you can do all the exercises in either 5 min. or an hour. Now a real simple program for a weight lifter really is only no more then 5 exercises total doing presses, pulls, squats and rows. This works the whole body and you can do it in less then 20 min. max. Now people buy into that bullshit senerio that they need this for that muscle and that for that muscle and its just plain stupid. Back in the golden age of physical culture before steriods was huge and supplements were "the way" of the future you had men and women busting their asses working on basic lifts and full body calisthenic work. Some of them did a combination of both like George Hackenshmidt and Otto Arco. Both men were strongmen in their own way but both used bodyweight and weightlifting and they were so basic its stupid.

For a simple Bodyweight Program its usually around push-ups, squats, sit-ups and pull-ups. You really don't need much more then that but supplement exercises like muscle control and self resistance can help build certain muscles bodyweight exercises cant touch. It doesn't matter what people say in my opinion basic exercise is the best way to go. Here are a few places to pick a plethora of exercises and only need to master a few of them. Personally you can do exercise throughout the day or in one big workout choose only 5-7 exercises and go for no more then 20 minutes. It saves you time, gym fees and gives you complete freedom.










 
Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning - Squats
 
Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning - Push Ups
 
Advanced Bridging Course
 

Old School Training With A New Twist

A lot of people think these days that training methods back in the day are outdated and have no place in the gyms and are not for strength and flexibility and if you're doing them they would laugh or be confused or better yet have that "what the hell are you doing these for. Those arn't traditional." Well in some ways they're right, they arn't traditional, they arn't your typical modern exercises and most of all they don't belong in the gym today because they're TOO GOOD FOR THAT CRAP!

I really hate to offend these people but you know what, pull your head out of your asses and look at the big picture here. The old school methods are not only better then today's training styles but they're more simplistic and are far more creative. When you trained back in the 20's, 30's, 40's, even the 50's you learned why basic exercises like olympic weightlifting and push-ups, squats, clubs, maces and simple dumbbell and barbell training can turn you into a superhuman. I would bet you if you took a bodybuilder today up against a bodybuilder of yesteryear you would not only see a massive difference in size (not bloated yesteryear's BB) but also in strength. Take John Grimek for example. He was without question the Ronnie Colman of his day, winning competition after competition and was the only man in history to win the Mr. America title 2 years in a row. His training was basic dumbbell and barbell training and every now and then would drop and do push-ups or pull-ups, free hand squats and muscle control. His muscle control at the time was unbelieveable and not many men his size (heavyweights back then were under 200 pounds for most of them, he was no more then 185 at 5'7) were that solid and powerful and can move his muscles in ways that were unmatched.

Its one thing to criticize the old school methods its another to not realize that these methods worked and I may be a bodyweight only trainee but if I was around in that era I wouldn't have minded training the way those guys did. What they did was unique and brought a hell of an outlook on how training should be done. Not just for size and strength but for health and longevity. Yes back then people died younger then they have today. If you were born in 1900, chances were slim if you lived to be 50 but yet if you look at the men and women who trained in that era beat the aging process by a huge percentage. Bernarr McFadden died at 88 in 1955, Farmer Burns died in mid-late 1930's at the "ancient" age of 86-88, Bob Hoffman 1898-1985. What was their secret? How could any of these men lived to be at an age in a era where you were considered to be an old man at 50 or 60. It was their ability to take that govenor in their brains and find a solution to live longer and not only found a way but beat the aging process by a mere 25-30 years longer the average age at the time.

Are you seeing what i'm getting at here? Old methods may be outdated but thats actually a good thing. They worked, they gave the pioneers of physical culture a reason to keep on living, keep being healthy and strong into their 80's, 90's, even 100's. Learn how to take old school methods and put a twist on them for today's methods. Under this article, you will find methods of training that not only are sinple to do but can probably save your life in more ways then what you read in the magazines today. Learn the secrets of the original bodybuilders and athletes of true era of physical culture.

Massive Functional Muscle

Training with Partials

Odd Object Lifting Series

Advanced Bridging Course

Ultimate Guide to Handstand Pushups

Indian Clubs

Mace Training

The Russian Kettlebell Challenge
Xtreme Fitness for Hard Living Comrades

Beyond Bodybuilding
Muscle and Strength Training Secrets for The Renaissance Man

Squats & Push-ups....The Foundations For Superior Bodyweight Conditioning

When you learn bodyweight exercises the first 2 types anyone should learn and master are the Push-up & The Squat. The reason why for these is because they lay the foundation for total body conditioning. There are many variations of them but only a few surpass the true monument for superior exercise. In the early days of Physical Culture, men and women of either bodybuilding, weightlifting or gymnastics trained in Squats and Push-ups because they knew how much power they can build to help assist their training. Some of the biggest names did these exercises such as:

Charles Atlas

John Grimek

Otto Arco

Maxick

Alois P. Swoboda

Steve Stanko

Earl Liederman

Great Gama

Ect......

At one time or another all these men performed push-ups and squats. At high reps they combine a great deal of strength, endurance, flexibility and balance. High Rep Squats performed correctly build ammense lung power and superior conditioning and they know it gets them in high regard when it comes to competition. It takes a great deal of mental awareness and strength to do great reps. Whether its 100 or 1000 you will take your physical and mental game to the next level. I for one have done over 300 reps a day for a while and I once went over 1000. Regardless of your fitness level, if you learn to work and adapt you can become strong and vital. Once you reach a certain level you can increase your HGH Levels which helps boost testosterone and helps you stay younger.

One guy that can help get you there is considered the world's strongest man drug-free and thats the big 'ol southern man Bud Jeffries. In his time of training he has recorded the following.....

1000 Pound Squat (Starting From The Bottom Position)

2000 Push-ups

3000 Squats

2000+ Kettlebell Swings

Pulled A School Bus

Bends & Scrolls Long Steel Bars

Those are just a few to mention but no matter how you slice it the man knows conditioning and has done it as a super-heavyweight at a BW of 380 Pounds. He now is at just under 275. He still performs as a strongman all over the country. Yet inspite of all this he still uses BW Squats and Push-ups. He's put together a series of the two exercises in DVD sets and both Videos have multiple variations that can be suited for any need and adaption. Bring you level of conditioning to new heights and be on the look out for more muscle, more stamina, more mental power and great physical strength waiting within you. Are you up for the Challenge.

Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning - Squats

Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning - Push Ups

Push-ups & Working Other Muscles!!!!

Doing high rep push-ups is considered to be very beneficial but it isn't for everyone. Now there are people that believe that high rep push-ups is doing mindless reps and are not beneficial. Obviously they don't do that and feel they are experts. Now doing high rep push-ups throughout the day is more beneficial I believe then doing them all at once. Throughout the day your body is at recovery and when you get to a new set your body is refresehed and ready. I have done this plenty of times and got up to about 250-300 push-ups a day for a while. Do you need to do high reps....No but you can use push-ups to work into other muscles. Example on incline push-ups focus on your legs and squeeze them while your doing push-ups. For grip and finger power do fingertip push-ups. There are many ways to work into what you want and any way you choose push-ups can make you far stronger health and strength wise to your body to weight ratio.

Update On Warrior Power T's

I have started getting back into doing this strength tool. From what I have experienced using them and learning about them I have come to the conclusion that they are the closest to feel like bending a bar or a tough nail/bolt. The reason why I say this is because it takes a full body effort plus an amount of isometric contraction where you are moving at a place thats far lower then regular push-ups. These are infact push-up handles that are designed to not make you strong as hell but also to make your push-ups as difficult as you can get. Whoever says they are easy is lying because if they were easy everybody would be a strength athlete. These have helped a great deal in my bending feats cause of the tension needed to put into the bend for that isometric movement or in other terms Dynamic Tension. When I mean it takes a full body effort I mean what I say, everything from your neck to your toes is contracted and needs to be to pull this off. I'd be stoked the day I crank out 50+ in a row. I would believe the gold standard for these babies should between 25-35 in a row. Another reason why I love these cause they prove that when you need tendon strength they will get you the strength to develop them. I've done 40 or more in a row so far and i'm still shocked at that. I'm a little rusty at the moment with them but after careful and concentrated training i'll be back at my 20's, 30's and 40 reps in no time. Heres the site to look for them:

http://www.transformetrics.com/products/warrior-power-ts

Push-ups!!!!!!!!

It doesn't cease to amaze how many people are missing out on the wonderful benefits of push-ups.........If there was one type of calisthenics that could give you strength, flexibility and endurance plus not to mention an awesome physique it would be the push-up and its variations. Many physical culturists around the globe for the last thousand years made the push-up they're ideal training exercise.

 Now a lot of people plus the "experts" say the push-up only works the triceps, shoulders, upper back and chest and if they want to be stronger they should do the bench press. Now if you really looked beyond then just running your mouth you would know that the push-up actually works more muscle groups then the bench press.

 It takes good strength/endurance to work all those muscle groups at once. There are hundreds and hundreds of variations of push-ups and even the most basic ones can turn you into a beast of a man, for women your working the muscles you wanted toned. When you hear someone say "when you do 50 or more push-ups you're only building endurance not strength" well how many people can actually do 50 push-ups even better how many can do 50 push-ups using a different variation, like:

Handstand Push-ups

Planche Push-ups

One-Arm Push-ups

Fingertip Push-ups

Superman Push-ups (Arms Extended)

Now point someone to me who can do any one of these 50 times in one set full range......

Never fall for the "push-ups are ok but Bench will make you stronger." You can get strong on the bench no question but with a heavy price, the heavier you lift the more prone to injury then doing push-ups.......When you master the push-up and the way you are comfortable positioned you can have not only an awesome physique but the strength, flexibility and endurance to show it.