Dopamineo Deck Of Cards Training: Developing Conditioning And A Mind That Doesn't Break

Holy crap that's a mouthful isn't it? Well, regardless, if you want to become a machine (not the kind that looks bad ass but can't last more than a few minutes) then you got to make things happen so when shit gets ugly, you keep grinding. The type of training that gets hit with chaos but you never waiver. It's one of the reasons why I love the Deck Of Cards Workouts with the Dopamineo Bands. It isn't just about conditioning, that's just part of the package deal. It's a lesson in expecting the unexpected and executing with a vengeance.

The deck itself is simple enough yet brutally honest and effective. Here's a breakdown of the Protocol I use.....

Shuffle a full deck. Flip a card one at a time and have that card tell you what reps and exercises to do. Again, simple yet will have you kicking your ass.

Aces are 16 Reps: Your wake up call to show up and have these cards demand work and respect from you.

Face Cards are 10 Reps: Royalty that taxes your arms, legs and whatever it holds dear to you. Jack, Queen, King, they all will make you humble.

2-10 are as is: Nothing cute and just take what you can get.

Jokers are 50-100 Reps: The two wild cards of the deck that will hit you hard and doesn't care whether you're tired or not. Do 1-3 exercises that round it out and get the most out of you.

Black Cards will have you seeing double. Literally, because in this deck, you'll be doing twice as many reps to really showcase your mental and physical toughness. 

When it comes to the three exercises, I do 25 of the Chest Flys or Chest Presses, 25 Wave Pulls and 50 Propellers to round out to 100. If you got both jokers towards the beginning of the deck, they'll test you but you get the highest amount of reps out of the way. Towards the end or even around the middle? Be prepared to find out what it's like to be taken down but getting back up and keep battling. It's punishment with hardcore tendencies.

Conditioning That Doesn't Care About Your Fucking Plan

Many workouts can be predictable. The 5x5 system, 3 sets of 10, knowing the clock with EMOM. The body can adapt to the structure before it stresses it. The deck spits acid in the face of your structure. You might flip 2 Black aces in a row, that's 64 reps before you can attempt to catch your breath. You may even cruise through red 2's, 3's or even 4's and think you're safe but that Joker will pop out of nowhere and makes you bust your ass for 100 reps while your heart rate is already in your throat.

This is what's called Stochastic Conditioning. The load, the rest, the order, it's all random. Your energy systems never truly settle. Aerobic Base and Anaerobic Power, all working. Lactic Clearance? Your ass is learning whether you want to or not. The body stops pacing and gets to solving problems.

Expect The Unexpected

Things in life don't always come in sets and reps. They come in bursts. They will double up when you're tired. It can throw a Joker at you when you thought you were done. The Deck is a powerful teacher. Flip a black King of Spades when you're gassed and still need to breathe and move anyway. You can't negotiate with the card. You learn to shut things up and put in the work. 

That's the machine aspect of it. The cards don't care about your feelings and whatever you have left. It has you executing the next rep until the task is done. 

Get a good deck in 2-3x a week for a little bit and find out happens. That "quit" reflex becomes a blur, your recovery becomes faster between efforts and you stop fearing volume. In the beginning, do what you can to get through as many cards as you can. Add one or 2 more cards each session until you get through that deck. 

A deck of 54 cards is 54 opportunities to quit but it can also have 54 opportunities to prove you won't. Which one are you choosing? Shuffle up, flip that first card and you are on your way to becoming the machine you were meant to be. Be amazingly awesome and get cracking. I believe in you. Don't forget to use my code POWERANDMIGHT at checkout when you order from dopamineo.com. 

A Few Benefits Of Rucking

Us humans have been doing this particular activity since the dawn of man as hunter/gatherers. Military men and women have done Rucking in order to keep them in shape so they can be as tough as they need to be when all hell breaks loose. A few benefits that everyday people can have when they practice this bad ass type of training....

1. Unbelievable Endurance & Work Capacity

Not the same as weight training as it aids in building endurance while fatigue is at the bare minimum. The overload for Work Capacity helps build a foundation that gradually progresses as you get stronger just like in the gym. Even the late Louie Simmons was a huge advocate for Work Capacity which included multiple variations of loaded carries, sled pulls and other things.

2. Wicked Awesome For Posture

Believe it or not, adding weight can help aid in building a better posture when it's done properly. It strengthens our muscles that are responsible for keeping us upright. This allows the body to stay in that position much easier when removing weight.

3. Powerful Calorie Burn

With recent studies done by the Compendium of Physical Activities, by rucking its possible to burn up to 650 calories within an hour, a massive 300 more calories than just regular walking. If you were to do about 5 hours a week of rucking, that's 3250 calories burned (nearly the equivalent to losing a pound a week alone). 

4. Let The Sun Shine Bright

Being out in the fresh air is always a huge benefit. It lowers stress, weighs down the cortisol levels and heightens Vitamin D and Testosterone Levels. As us guys age, maintaining and balancing our testosterone becomes more crucial. 

5. It's Safe & Pretty Easy To Do

Screw jogging since it's more exhausting than Rucking is. In fact, it may be even more enjoyable and can be done with better consistency. We all know regardless of your goals, consistency is the key along with eating right (I didn't say diet, just eating right meaning better but not completely depriving yourself). Another added benefit is that rucking is actually safer on the joints than regular jogging. 

Where do you start? Well, a good foundation would be to start with wearing about 10% of your bodyweight (say for a 200 lb man, it be a 20 lb Vest or Backpack). Work your way up little by little. Hell, I'm only using a 40 lb vest when I go out on my rucks. You don't need to go around looking like you're carrying a piano on your back, gradually build up until it feels more than enough to walk with. Very few people will ever use more than 100 lbs to ruck with. The only two people I know of who walked with 300 lbs was Bud Jeffries & Steve Justa. You don't need to push it that far, even on a hike, 50 lbs would be more than enough for most people. It's tough as it is and it can give you the workout of your life. If you could go a good distance with 100% or more of your bodyweight, that's pretty damn impressive and shows some serious strength and conditioning. 

Grab the Kensui Weight Vest to progressively load up using weighted plates. The smallest loadable is up to 80 lbs. The heaviest is loadable to 300 lbs. Save yourself a few bucks by using my Discount Code POWERANDMIGHT at checkout to get 10% OFF your order. If you order the 300 lb loadable, this saves you close to a whopping 25 bucks. Have a wonderful day and keep being amazingly awesome. 

SBD (Simple But Deadly) Workout That Will Have You Shaking Like Crazy

 One of my favorite workouts as of late has been the Tabata Formatted Isometric Workout where I do the Horse Stance & the Fist Plank for 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off each for a total of 10 minutes. Just a few minutes of this alone would kick most people's ass. When it comes to the rest period, all you're really doing is preparing yourself to get into position. It's one of those tests of your strength and conditioning using Isometrics as a form of training.

Every few times I do this workout, I switch it up and instead of the Fist Plank, I would hold the push-up position mid way during the 20 seconds of work. It gets harder to hold as time goes but it's an awesome way to test your mental toughness. Two exercises that hit the whole body and can be done anywhere, anytime. Builds incredible tendon strength, power in the legs and works the core like a charm. Start with the 4 minute format if you can and build up by adding rounds. The longer you do it, the tougher it gets.

Yesterday, I wanted to amp up the ante by wearing my 40 lb Weight Vest the entire duration of the workout. I was shaking like crazy every single round but I made it through and it felt so damn good once it was over and I took that fucking vest off. I had no idea what was the tougher, the leg work or the Fist Plank because both were killing me and with the vest on, staying straight and sturdy in either one was a hell of a challenge. 

20 seconds in either position doesn't sound all that hard but until you've done it, you have no clue how tough it really is. When you go a full 10 minutes, it's going to take you to another level of strength you didn't realized you tapped into. It's very hard but sometimes you have to do hard stuff to find out what you're capable of. It's a test of will and no one is there to help you and in a sense, it's sink or swim, you either work your way through to keep yourself up and sturdy or you'll drop on your face your ass from exhaustion. 

The Horse Stance is one of those Isometric exercises that's been around since the dawn of exercise especially in ancient qi gong circles where thousands of years of practice has been laid out by generation after generation of masters and students. It's been used by martial artists, wrestlers, fighters, shaolin monks and it has been used to help rehab and heal injuries. To hold even the most basic form takes a certain level of strength and control. The Fist Plank is basically a plank on steroids where instead of being on your forearms or palms, you're on your knuckles forming a fist holding in a neutral position. This really tackles the core, grip, tendons in the forearms, stresses the arms and shoulders and hits the chest differently. Holding up for a minute straight is a great start, some come go as long as 5 minutes or longer, that's high level control and strength. Put them together, they make a lethal training combo.

You can do this workout not only Tabata style but a variety of ways, you can hold each one for a minute, rest and and do another round or go without resting as long as you can. These really dig into the little muscles and work the joints without impacting them like jumping or high reps does. It's a different way to train your body. It puts a spring in your step and makes you durable so you have less chances of getting injured. Isometrics are not to be messed with and they don't discriminate, if you're weak in either position, you'll find out soon enough. Try it out (just bodyweight first) and see how you do. 

Be strong, get durable and keep killing it. Be amazingly awesome in your endeavors. 

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