Bud Jeffries Unleashed Belief

Simple and Easy

2008-06-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Many if not most of the physical training/sales/success/money/spiritual gurus out there sell you their info on the promise that it will be "simple and easy," to get whatever brand of progress they are selling. It ain't.

Many things are simple, but not easy. Also very little of what's worth having or achieving is easy. As you can see from yesterday's message a goal, a real tough one will take many steps broken into small, simple ones to achieve. Most of which won't be easy. This is something I will never tell you. My job in producing training and informational materials is to make things as simple as possible and effective. However if you want to legitimately lift 1,000lbs or do 100 handstand push ups - it just can't be made easy. It isn't "easy" for even the most gifted athletes on the planet.

The same goes for everything else. No one, with rare exceptions, makes a million dollars, gets a PhD, or becomes great easily. "It's the hard that makes it great," says Tom Hanks character in "A League of Their Own." You may get the training or the knowledge to make it possible, but forget easy. Instead be intelligent about what real success takes and be challenged and motivated by the fact that when you get there you'll have really done something.

A Goal Met!

2008-05-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hey, if you're not regularly meeting goals in your training and life then something is wrong. Either you're training, or your goals, or motivational environment is set up wrong. Be thinking about that and about what you should be doing about it if it isn't working.

I hit a goal that many think would be impossible, especially for a 325lb man. I performed 100 handstand pushups in one workout. Actually this is the first part in several related goals, as all your goals should be - Small goals building on each other toward bigger ultimate goals. It is very easy to demonstrate in the physical world, but really this applies to life, money, intellect, education, you name it.

Start with the basics, build a bit at a time, keep your eye both on the short and long term. To see it physically, you start with pushups. Build up to some respectable reps. Add some decent barbell or dumbbell overhead training. Add more reps in advanced styles of push ups and dips. Make sure your abdominals are strong as well as your lats. You should also probably increase your overhead supporting strength through partials.

Begin walking into and hold the handstand position. Start some partial reps there. Build up your range of motion. Then build into a full regular handstand pushup. Then build to multiple reps and multiple sets. Then build up the reps per set. Make sure your total conditioning keeps up with the load. Here you can start adding range if you want to. Keep adding to your total sets and reps until you make the goal.

Voila! There you have it. An easy to see picture of the multiple steps and smaller goals along the way to a big goal.

Interested in adapting varying styles of push ups into your strongman, kettlebell or powerlifting routine? Check out our Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning series - "Training with Push Ups." Over 100 different styles of push up for new angles, and some cool things you may not have thought of… check em out - http://strongerman.com/ubc/push_ups.html

Epic Bravery

2008-05-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

I think all guys tend to like movies that show a character in an epic struggle and displaying radical courage. I think man is called to it. I think that's why movies like "Braveheart," and its like are so popular.

It strikes a deep chord in man, deeper than just entertainment. Real-life requires courage, although if you live in America it is rarely tested on that life-and-death dramatic scale. For those serving in our military and our brothers in some other countries they can and do find themselves in these situations - having to face real issues of war, mettle and courage.

I think that courage is one of the reasons men are drawn to hard strength training. The courage to push harder or heavier than before, to push through the pain and build yourself into something that has the physical ability to do something with that mental strength and courage. It's why Pavel talks about the old Red Army having kettlebell gyms on bases and calling them "Courage Corners."

Not every training session needs to be a lesson in bravado, but take advantage occasionally of the iron's ability to enliven your courage. Push the limits of your endurance, your totals, you goals. Understand that for the most part when we think we're at our breaking points - there's actually another level of tough just beyond that. We rarely push ourselves to it, but it's there and I encourage you to step up to it.

Doubling Up to Prep for something Bigger

2008-04-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I wrote about a 1,000 Rep bodyweight workout. A great workout, but that didn't finish the day.

Later in the day I came back and repeated the 12:12 Challenge workout. That is 20 swings with 140-150 pounds (done with 2 kettlebells, or a dumbbell or a large kettlebell or "T" handled "Hungarian Core Blaster), and 20 sprawls repeated for five rounds.

The first time it took me 12 minutes: 12 seconds. So I named it so. My best time is 9:40 and I was happy to tie that time on the second workout of the day. Then just for fun and to begin working to expand that goad I did three more rounds for a total of 17:45. The ultimate goal being to get 10 rounds in 20 minutes. Then if wishing to continue go to a heavier swing or a harder variation of the sprawl.

The point of this is always deeper conditioning and total preparedness for life, but also as a build up to another and eventually an ultimate "Outlaw Strength Fitness Challenge." To build the ability to do incredible things.

Don't overthink food

2008-04-26T14:34:00.001-07:00

Keys to Health, strength and vitality - Eat natural food. Real food. Not food-like substances. In my opinion "clean" food. Not bodybuilder idea of clean (no fat). For me personally that means I follow a "Levitical" type of diet. No pork or shellfish - in my opinion they weren't meant to be consumed, but a natural cleaning filter for the environment. Since that's just my personal choice that's all I'll say about it.

People from all over the world achieve health and strength on all kinds of diets. Low (well sort of) fat, high fat, low cab, high carb. All wheat, high vegetables, etc. It all works. Keep it the most natural that you can. Fewest chemicals, least processing.

Get substantial protein and healthy fats if you want to be strong. Even if you're a vegetarian. Eat more if you want to gain weight and size, but don't go crazy. Eat less if you want to lose weight and fat. Eat what you like, but just remember that Twinkies and the like aren't food. We'll be discussing more of this in the near future. Till then train hard and eat smart!

Mike's Rowing Workout - Packing on muscle, function and endurance

2008-04-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Rows are the real deal for massive back power, muscle and functional ability. I talked to you recently about Mike Reeder and the massive gains in muscle and strength he's made recently. Here's one of the workouts that's producing that progress:

Barbell row 2 reps
Chin up 6-8 reps
One-arm dumbbell rows 10-15 reps

Repeat all without rest (well, no planned rest), for five founds, add weight to the barbell rows on every round. Adjust the one-arm rows accordingly.

Very fast, very intense, muscles and lungs burn like crazy and produce a massive hormonal release and hunger. Get used to it and you can get massive strength, function and endurance all at the same time.

Keeping things in stride

2008-04-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes there is a perception in the hardcore world that easy exercise is a waste of time. I think walking is great and great for you and productive.

Here's how:

No it's not going to make you super strong by itself. That's obvious. However it does aid in recovery, stimulate metabolism, loosens you up, gives you a chance to move and breathe and think without bleeding from the eyeballs. Not every day should make you sweat blood and walking can help you recharge for those days when you need to.

Combine it with prayer and you've got a great combo for adding to your physical and spiritual health at the same time.

So if you're thinking now that you're too tough, too conditioned or above the exercise of walking - try it. Like I said - it's not going to max out your deadlift, but in can clear your mind, pump the oxygen and condition your body to be able to focus on and achieve that next great total you're going for. Sadly I know too many powerlifters and strength athletes who can pull heavy deads that crack the foundation on the down, but can't walk from their car to the grocery store doors for their protein without getting out of breath.

Long strides, swing your arms and put yourself into it. The mental clarity alone will amaze you.

Took a Day off then 1000 Reps Bodyweight

2008-04-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Don’t' be afraid to train multiple days in a row, or multiple times a day or to take a day or even multiple days off. Be disciplined but be smart about rest. Here's the workout:

100 Reps:

Neck raise
Calf raise
Abdominal raise
Jumping jacks
Pushups
Mountain climbers
Walking squats
Flutter kicks
1/2 sit ups
Jumping Jacks

It's a killer workout for your endurance and even those who think they're too tough or trained to get anything from it always find themselves panting.

Some great training variations to bodyweight exercises and endurance work can be found in our Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning series. Thus far we have Training with Push Ups and Training with Squats. Both are packed full of interesting variations on these every day exercises so when you're on the go or don't have time to hit the gym - these will keep you in killer cardio shape!

Training Squats & Grip at the same time

2008-04-18T09:22:00.001-07:00

Continuing on with a variation theme, here's a fun workout that combines to unrelated exercises but alternates them to save time.

Half squats 300 x 50, 500 x 10, 700 x 1, 900 x 1, 1010 x 1, 500 x 50 x 2.

Mounted wrist roller: 1 x 25, 4 x 10, 2 x 50.

I do these wrist rollers in Dennis Rogers style. Roll the weight up a little and then do reps of wrist curls/extensions at that height instead of rolling all the way up and down. Powerful wrist, hand and forearm strengthener.

Add weight on the first five sets then rep out on the last two. Lots of strength with the heavy weight and then aerobic and muscular conditioning with the high reps. Simple and effective!

Training Should have Variation

2008-04-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

Ah Spring. The time when in Florida - garage gym workouts become… interesting.

Intelligent regularity and variation are the keys to tremendous long term progress, health and a wide range of ability along with the best chance for the least injury. Too much of one thing all the time and you get beat up and only good at that one thing. Not enough regularity in training and you don't really get good at anything. Balance is always the key.

Here is a quick, heavy upper-body workout I did recently:

4 x 2 one arm rows
4 x 1 table curls
10 x 1-5 chin ups
5 x 1 seated presses

Pour through it and you'll find you get a great workout in a short amount of time!

Separate if you want to but get over it!

2008-04-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

It's an age old debate: Whole body or split body, routines, how to best split the body up, work this with that, blah, blah, blah.

Here are some thoughts on this:

It all works if you can train hard enough with real exercises progressively. Do what allows you to put the most energy into the things you want to improve on the most and allows you to recover the best. All training is in some way systemic, so even if you split it up, if your training hard enough you're still training, "the body."

If you pull to your limit, even if the primary movers are the upper back and biceps, the shoulders and triceps will still get worked. Press hard enough and the bis and lats get it too. Squats and deadlifts hit it all anyway. Even light exercises like high-rep swings hit way more muscle than just the ones that imitate the movement. Stop worrying about and certainly believing that training even small stuff isn't training the whole body. In fact move the combinations around so that you're prepared for the realities of the world out side the gym. Concentrate on the heavy lifts you want to improve first and then mix it up. Life is unpredictable, throw just a little in to be prepared.

Stop worrying, make progress, have fun, train and live with fullness.

New PRs and FINALLY under 10 minutes!

2008-03-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

Well many of you who read this may be seeing that our new DVDs are coming out. Second edition of "Secrets of Massive, Functional Drug-Free Muscle." Along with the filming and training for these DVDs has come a couple of PRs. When you get to my stage of the game you really do have to work for them or you really have to find the inner-secrets of training to get them.

I hit a new high with bent over rows with a barbell. A long time goal of 600lbs. We'll have video of that in the near future. Also experimented with a new variation of deadlifts to help you hit new gains and we'll be telling you about that soon. AND I hit a big conditioning goal that we've talked about in recent blogs and other boards. I did the original 12/12 workout in under 10 minutes - actually 9 minutes: 45 seconds to be exact.

That's 100 sprawls and 100 swings with a 150lb kettlebell in less than 10 minutes. That my friends is powerfully functional endurance and nearly made me explode a lung. Don't ever think that at any stage in the game you can't get better, stronger, or in better shape. That attitude of improvement should extend to and include every other area of your life. Your business, your family, spirituality, health, mental power, etc.

Even when life is tough you can still win.

By the way if you're ready for bigger, stronger, more functional muscle you can find the brand new DVDs here: Secrets of Massive, Functional, Drug Free Muscle - Volume 1
Secrets of Massive, Functional, Drug-Free Muscle - Volume 2

God bless!

More on "Are you still strong"

2008-02-19T15:40:00.000-08:00

In the last post I talked about testing your strength at the end of endurance training as a gage of your fitness, but there's another way to do it that kicks just as much butt. Actually there are several ways but there are several others to throw in a test that gives you the opportunity to grow and tells you where you are in real fitness. (As much as you can know considering you can't prepare for every situation).

I mentioned the 12/12 workout challenge - 20 swings with 140-150lbs and 20 squat thrusts repeated for five rounds. It's a tremendous both strength and conditioning challenge, because of the heavy swings and intense pace. I performed this workout again the other night and think I actually got a significant time PR however I lost track of time so I'm not going to count it until I re-time the workout. Hey - sometimes you get in the middle of intense effort and the clock becomes the last thing on your mind.

To further push this I followed it with another short but intense strength/endurance test. This one is actually not very heavy but was very tough after the first workout. I picked this workout up from Crossfit and what really inspired me to do it is that Steve Kotter had the lead time for this workout. Now Steve is an ultra-world-class athlete. It gives me a great time to shoot for and someone extremely tough to compete against.

The workout is 10 power cleans with 135 (have to touch the ground on every rep), and 15 push ups for five rounds as fast as possible. If I remember correctly Steve did it in 4:15 - I did it in 4:43. It was definitely tougher than it should have been because of the previous workout. That's the point. Testing if you can keep going mentally and physically after you've smoked yourself.

Whether it's strength or endurance if you want to develop that never quit quality this is the kind of stuff you've got to do. If you want more on this kind of training see these three DVDs:

Super Human Training Monthly
Secrets of Massive Functional Drug-Free Muscle
The Outlaw Strength-Fitness Training Challenge

God bless!

Are you still strong?

2008-02-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

This statement/question or thought has made a big impact on much of my training recently. Many of you have probably experienced training hard or getting in a big game or something to that effect and feeling absolutely drained at the end. Maybe you could lift 500lbs at the beginning of the game or workout, but by the end you were lucky to lift 300. Muscular, energetic or aerobic fatigue had set in and temporarily disabled your strength.

This thought has brought me to a place where in training I'm often pushing to find how strong I am in fatigue or after a highly fatiguing workout. Because this might be the ultimate representation of both strength and endurance or fitness. Think about it.

Certainly there are absolute levels of both strength and endurance for instance: there is a weight you can lift in whatever your particular max exercise might be that you'll be able to lift one time and that's it. It's your true maximum lift. The same with endurance. Both done in under reasonably optimal conditions. You set your fastest time for say a 5K run or row and that's your absolute max on that particular movement.

But the real world isn't done under optimal conditions. True fitness, strength and endurance is what you can do under adverse conditions. How much can you lift when your heart's pounding and you've already stressed your aerobic system? How far or fast can you go after you've endured high strength strain? What if you repeat both? How do they affect each other?

The closer you get to your max in either strength or endurance while having pre-fatigued with the opposite spectrum - the more fit you are. If you can squat 900lbs as a max, but only 500 after you're heavily winded then you can see the exact toll that the fatigue has taken on your strength. But if you can move up to move that weight that up you know you're getting stronger and more fit.

I posted a challenge on some boards recently - something I rarely do, but it's relevant here. The challenge was to take two kettlebells or a dumbbell or a t-handle kettelbell substitute with the weight of 140-150lbs and perform five sets of 20 swings alternated with five sets of 20 sprawls or burpees for the fastest total time. It's an extremely tough workout. Every time I've done that workout I've also added heavy lifting after the heavy conditioning.

The first time I did it I did barbell clean and presses, barbell curls and one arm rows. The second time I did squats and one-arm presses. Heavy singles on all the movements. You want to find out how in-shape you are? Try it!

You want to find out more about getting in ultimate shape and getting massive at the same time then check out our new DVDs here: Secrets of Massive Functional Drug-Free Muscle!

A machine can't do it but you can

2006-09-21T19:25:00.000-07:00

I hope you’re all fully realizing the deep blessings you have and expecting new ones to come.

You know we’ve come a long way with the technology and industry of the world. But in all that we still can’t equal the incredibleness of the human body. We can build cars that drive long distances, or cars that haul heavy things or cars that go ridiculously fast, but we haven’t been able to put it all in one vehicle. Why? Because the machine is the invention of man, an inanimate object limited to the mechanical power it can display. However YOU are something different.

First you are designed by an omnipotent God and so incredible and complex is the design that we’re still scratching the surface at figuring it out. Second you can build your body into being a “machine,” that can cover long distances, haul heavy things and go extremely fast. Your body has the ability to adapt to all of those things at the same time. Problem is, very few people have ever unlocked all the secrets of getting all that response out of your machine.

Third, your mind has infinite power over your body. A man-made machine can only respond to the programmed controls that it has. Even our computers are really just playing pre-programmed responses. However a machine cannot decide to change itself and then exert the power of that decision to actually effect those changes. If you put the right mental energy into making yourself any or all of those physical things, your body will become it. Both by the work you put in, they physical adaptability of your body and the power that your mind and spirit have over actually effecting changes in your body.

A Volkswagen can’t just decide to be a drag racer or a 4x4. Someone else has to make it that. You however, can decide through will and training to make yourself into an efficient, strong, and powerful machines, all physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally. What’s topping you from taking advantage of the incredible built in ability that you already have? You have to do the work to unleash it. Decide what you want and start working. Because the raw material for any goal that you want to accomplish is already there within you.

More on cranking up your endurance

2006-09-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

We talked last week about one of the secrets on building up your endurance to make it sky rocket and apply to the real world. Today let’s talk about another simple, simple thing to do that really makes a difference in the cardio output of an endurance routine.

Which is harder to do? 100 straight squats and 100 straight push ups, or 10 sets of 10 of each alternated with each other? The answer depends on how you look at the question. For pure muscular strength endurance it’s harder to do the reps straight. However for cardiovascular and general endurance (inclusive of some muscular strength endurance with higher heart and lung function). It’s harder to do the 10 sets of 10 alternated. Why?

Because the act of changing from one exercise to the other, changing direction and momentum requires more cardiovascular endurance. Also you force the heart and lungs to work harder by forcing them to pump blood and oxygen to different parts of the body alternately creating greater over all circulation. You also take advantage of the fact that from set to set, while your muscles are being worked they are still fresher and can move at a faster pace with cleaner reps and more speed. This is why conditioning routines like pyramids, circuits, intervals and things like the deck of cards routine are so effective in building endurance.

Your breathing and cardio goes through the roof and over the course of the entire workout, you’ve done enough volume to stimulate muscular endurance and hormonal and chemical change in the body. As a wonderful side benefit, you don’t effect your max strength as much as straight rep or long slow style conditioning workouts do. Because you can use faster pacing and in effect bursts of muscular effort, you’re still teaching the body to operate at a high level of strength, but now blended with endurance together.

Take this into account in your workouts. By all means, when you’re building a base of muscular and cardio endurance it’s okay and appropriate to do straight rep sets. Everybody should go though them at some point in their training career to build their benefits and build that muscular memory into your strength and endurance, but most of the time your endurance training should be on some type of an interval. The most bang for your buck, and the most change in your life.

Relaxation and Tension Endurance – Key to Big Dog Endurance for the Average Guy

2006-09-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

The question of athletic fitness and the way to really train it always draws more attention than your average jihad. You want to start a fitness holy war? Then question someone’s particular favorite style for strength endurance. You’ll end up being called out for pistols at dawn.

I want to talk to you about why the average training system for endurance doesn’t get the job done for most people and how you can use this tip like mainlining Viagra for your endurance training. When you train any new system for physical gains there is a learning curve. The learning curve is always more stressful than what an experienced trainer goes through because the body is not used to that particular style of stress.

For instance if you do bodyweight exercises for the first time for ultra high reps, it seems like some kind of fitness epiphany. You can’t believe the burning sensations from the high reps or the soreness or the fact that even though you can squat 500 pounds, you can’t do 100 unbroken reps of bodyweight squats. However after a while you learn that the key to high reps with any lightweight implement is alternating relaxation and tension.

This is a skill that lends itself to any type of endurance activity. If you bike or run for long periods of time you develop the most efficient form that allows you to relax the most while putting out the right level of tension to maintain your pace and stretch out the endurance. The same applies to grappling or boxing. That’s the reason cyclists and runners often die on hills, because a hill requires a radical increase in the amount of muscular output or tension.

It’s one thing to maintain a paced level of any training exercise, but it’s another thing to have to go from moderate to all out pace and back and forth during an endurance session. Eventually all light training especially if attempting to do high straight reps succumbs to greater efficiency. You learn how to relax the most and apply the least tension to still get the job done. It’s necessary, but it diminishes the returns especially as it applies to sport.

So what’s the solution? Mix in a heavier or faster pace implement or interval into you endurance training. If you’ve been training kettlebells or dumbbells or what ever the case may be and you’re cranking up to 100 rep sets one way or the other you’re learning to relax during those sets. So if you want to truly train your system to be able to go harder and longer, amp up the workout by throwing in something truly difficult in the middle of those reps. Could be heavy barbell work, strongman or simply heavier, faster work or a light implement, or a sprint style pace or heavier, more difficult bodyweight exercise that allows you to really lay it on the line in the midst of a conditioning session.

This way you can still keep your conditioning session short, but push the intensity up and get massive gains. You can actually be prepared to take those gains from the gym to the real world.

Remember just because a guy may be a world champion at a particular endurance feat or sport doesn’t mean you should train like him. Many of the champion level professional athletes are simply so gifted that they can play the sport with moderate to low intensity work outs and still be unbelievable. However, for everyone else, if you really want to make amazing progress either in your sport or in taking your training to the real world, you have got to over prepare. You have to make it harder than the game or whatever real world challenge you might be looking to conquer when you train in the gym.

That’s the key to mind blowing endurance.

A Fast Workout

2006-09-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

Many of you may know that we spent a week in Houston with Dennis Rogers working on some upcoming projects. One of the things we did was to work on an exercise program for a friend of his. The average guy working out at the average gym is laboring under the assumption that he has to do three hours and hundreds of sets of everything available to get real results. He’s been sold that by the average training magazine available in the US right now. The programs of the bodybuilding stars. Built to look great on paper with absolutely no value in the real world.

The fact is those things just aren’t true. It’s the effort that you put into the training that you do. Much more so than the amount of training. So we gave him a quick program. Three 15 minute workouts per week. This combined with proper effort, proper form on the exercises, proper food, and progression will get you tons of results. Here’s a variation of that routine.

Workout 1

Warm up
Then barbell squat 1 set of 20.
Followed by 1 x 20 breathing pullovers.
Followed quickly by stiff leg deadlifts of 1 x 15
Then 1 x 20 breathing pullovers.

Workout 2

Warm up
Then dumbbell row, dumbbell press and barbell curl 3 to 4 x 1, 1 x 10, 1 x 20 plus your choice of what type of dumbbell press or row.
Start with one set of 10 very light on each of the exercises to warm up, then jump immediately to progressively heavier sets of 1 up to a max for the day then back off, do another set of 10, and then a set of really high reps.

Workout 3

Warm up
Hindu squat x 10
Push up x 10
Dumbbell or Kettlebell swing x 10
Repeat each of those non-stop dropping one rep per round (10 for all three exercises, 9 on the second, 8 on the third, on down to one round).

Move as fast as you can, taking as little rest as possible and repeating as many times as possible in 15 minutes.

There you have it. A quick routine that gives you a great template to work off of. Three 15 minute workouts that’ll make you pour sweat and build massive conditioned muscles all at the same time.

A Workout to frighten beach goers

2006-09-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

One of the things often lamented about the hard core lifting community is that it is “frightening” to the average fitness person or lay person. Lots of talk about how to make sports like Strongman and Powerlifting more acceptable to the general public by making them less intimidating. Or make the participants more mainstream looking. Yet also within this exists an odd dichotomy. To get more publicity the events need to be as freakishly heavy and bizarre as possible, but to get more “acceptance,” the athletes need to look less large and intimidating.

All hogwash!

I believe that we as strength athletes need to make a move for our own independence. To do what we want to do and be how we want to be regardless of sport or the mainstream. I never want to intentionally intimidate anyone who is in a gym environment or seeking fitness for strength or whatever, however I refuse to water-down the manliness of the challenges I put before myself to make it more acceptable to anyone’s idea of what is mainstream. The mainstream should be looking to man-up and get strong and in shape and not be so easily intimidated by any minor expression of physical intensity or passion.

You don’t get to be exceptional by caving to mass opinion. If you’re not finding your own expression of strength, health and fitness regardless of what anyone else thinks you ought to look or act like then you’re not being true to yourself. In fact I’m a little glad that the average fitness person is intimidated by a hard workout. Not the idiocy that steroids has brought or lame histrionics or people who are intentionally, personally intimidating to other people in a gym setting. I’m talking about effort that bleeds though your skin. Weights that bend bars, objects that people don’t think can be lifted and feats that people don’t think are possible.

I want to do the thing that requires the effort that separates me from the mass of the fitness world. If you refuse to be separated then you choose to have their results, which is mostly pathetic and for show. Higher results require higher effort and that is what separates us from them. Not some imaginary disquieting presence that they choose to assume.

Intimidation for intimidation’s sake is idiocy. Just like being intimidated by someone’s effort in the gym is idiocy. Most people don’t ever see themselves as having the ability to produce that kind of strength and they realize what a person who can produce that kind of effort is capable of. That’s why they’re intimidated. However most of the truly tough people I’ve ever met are also quite nice and are generally the exact opposite of the assumption of the mainstream. In fact they are an asset to the world because of their strength instead of a detraction. They help to preserve the abilities of strength, effort and heroism in a world that tries to water everything down and looks down on them for it. Be one of these people and be your own man.

Now that we’ve fired our volley in defense of strength, personal choice and standing up for yourself I’ll tell you a story about the title of today’s newsletter.

We spent the last couple of days at the beach taking a little family time. Had a wonderful time at a very nice little, secluded beach. I always enjoy the water and the time with my family away from other distractions.

Caught a little workout while we were there. Nothing fancy, brought a kettlebell with me. It’s just inspirational to have that type of setting. On the sand and surf, it’s one of those places that drives you to enjoyable effort. So I did a couple of hundred swings, finished the workout by doing sprints from the water up onto the beach, back to the kettlebell for another set of swings. I did five sets. It’s a workout you should definitely try because the water really adds to the effort. Believe me you’ll huff and puff like a steam engine.

Now I tend to be oblivious to other people when I’m doing something like that. I’m wrapped up in my own little world of the workout and nobody else is really effecting it. My wife was telling me later about watching people’s reactions when I came sprinting out of the water. Everybody on the beach, particularly those in the water would suddenly jump and start searching the water as if there were a shark. The really funny thing is they did it every time I ran a sprint out of the water, not just the first time. As if there were a new shark every time I ventured back into the water. My wife and son were there swimming along with me. She said they kept looking back at her like, “Why is the big guy running and the woman and the boy are staying in the water?!”

All in all except for the slight moments of shark-induced fear, I think everyone had a good time watching the 350lb guy run out of the water and swing the cannonball with the handle around. No one was intentionally intimidated, but I had a great time and improved my fitness along the way. You should try this workout. Do things to make your workout tougher to separate you from the weak and frightened masses.

Am I a genetic freak?

2006-09-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is, “How did you get strong?”

“Were you born that way?”
“Did you take something?”
“Do you know some secret?”

Well, yes, I do know a secret. But it isn’t some secret training routine. Or some secret food to eat or supplement to take, or drugs or anything like that. One of the other criticisms that everybody who is strong and puts out information about how to train gets is this: “Well anything would work for you. Your genetics are so good you couldn’t help but get strong.”

Is that the truth? Could I have haphazardly done any ol’ program and gotten strong? No, it’s not true and that question explains itself. You can’t haphazardly, randomly pick exercises and suddenly find yourself with the key to strength or magically strong. No matter where you start or how good of genetics you come from, it’s what you do after that which counts. No one is born suddenly possessing the ability to lift 1,000 pounds or do 1,000 pushups. Those things my friends take use of the secret.

So what is the secret?

Focused, progressive hard work on real result producing exercises. Effort. Effort means more than genetics. All the potential in the world is nothing without applied effort. Effort means more than drugs. It means more than supplements, more than the perfect training routine or some “secret” exercise. Effort IS the secret.

Where ever you are, if you’re not getting bigger, stronger, faster or more enduring then complaining about it or blaming it on your genetics won’t get the job done. Comparing yourself to others won’t help to get the job done. Genetics is something you cannot control therefore it is a non-factor. You work with what you have, which is always more than you give yourself credit for and become the best you can be.

Intelligent training applied with effort always beats genetics. There are tons of people out there with starting blocks to build with genetically, but they’re too lazy or unfocused, or unmotivated to do anything about it. Results beats potential. Second-guessing that is a pure waste of time. “Oh if he only worked as hard as so-and-so… he has so much potential.” So what!? Potential without the work is an un-measurable and unrealistic concept. You can do what you’re mind believes you can do and what you actually put forth the effort to accomplish. Everything else is hot air. No excuses, no worrying about whether somebody else has great potential or whether you do or don’t. Put in the work and you’ll get the results.

I already told you the secret, now you step up and apply it.

1,000 Reps up your first mountain

2006-09-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

I hope today finds you all deeply pursuing the blessings available to you from God, our Father.

Most of the conditioning that I and many of the hardcore athletes now do has a very quantitative nature. In fact I think that’s what attracted me to that type of conditioning originally. There’s just something more substantial about saying, “I’m going to do “x” number of reps in “y” amount of time.” Than saying, “I’m going for a run, or I’m going to ride the bike.”

Nothing wrong with running or biking except for the fact that I believe that all hard conditioning should have some type of interval built in. It’s the natural state of the body. The deeper I got into the alternative conditioning methods that I now pursue the more perspective I gained about them. Here are some of the things I found out.

Using muscular and aerobic conditioning together is the way to add endurance to your strength without taking away from your top end. Fast pacing and moderate rep sets alternating exercises is superior to one long super high rep movement. Single movement super high rep workouts are fine, they’re great base builders, but shouldn’t be the absolute cornerstone of your conditioning. All the alternative implements give similar results as long as you give the right effort. Alternating implements is a great way to add variety to your training, up your conditioning and stop over use injuries.

Reps of one type of exercise do not have a straight equal in another type of exercise. (100 bodyweight squats may equal 50 kettlebell snatches in the amount of power output and conditioning they may require). Different people will have different exercises that they are particularly suited for. Generally speaking however the mark of solid started conditioning is a 500 rep workout. The next gateway and the beginning of super endurance is 1,000 reps.

Here’s a sample 1,000-rep workout that I did the other day, which you can have a little twisted fun with:

20 reps band twists
20 push ups
20 bent over rows
20 bodyweight squats

Done with no rest between sets, repeating five times.

20 step ups
20 half sit ups
20 kettlebell swings
20 dumbbell arm movements

Done with no rest between sets, repeating five times.

50 band pull aways
50 leg lifts
50 kettlebell high pulls
50 double dumbbell presses

There you have it. 1,000 reps. Working every part of the body at a fast pace building both cardiovascular and muscular endurance. If you really want to spice it up, throw in a strength exercise at the beginning, middle or end. I bent some nails at the end of this workout even though it would have normally been quite easy, they were significantly more challenging because of the total level of fatigue.

If you want to step up to a level of endurance that carries over to everything that you do that really has a long term effect on your health and energy and makes your strength work easier, at some point you have got to explore the upper echelon of what’s possible with your endurance. You’ve got to build up to it and then go to places you didn’t think were possible. Just add a few reps at a time. Keep going, getting one more rep, one more set of 10, whatever you have to get to get there.

Then you can sit on top of the mountain and know you’ve been somewhere and you can see even higher peaks to climb.

If it aint you it aint gonna work

2006-09-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

The internet is a wonderful thing. It allows massive communication all over the world about millions of topics. It also unfortunately because of how human beings act and react, is one of the biggest time-wasters ever invented. Am I cutting it down? Absolutely not I make my living off of it. But if you’re not searching for knowledge on a particular thing, you’re just surfing and you’re spending more time on that than training, then you’re wasting your time.

Ninety percent of the discussion on training on the internet is a waste of time. Why? Because much of it is nitpicking over things that people have no real idea about what they’re talking about. All theory, no personal knowledge. Generally attempting to be governed by whatever they think is the “rules” for their particular sect of training. If you put out a low volume program and ask for discussion about it, some follower of the High Temple of High Volume will immediately jump on it with both feet. The opposite is the same for an initiate of the Low-Volume Order of Holiness. Then a general religious war will ensue extolling why I’m right and you’re wrong.

Let me put it to you straight. There are success and failure stories from every denomination, order, rite, temple, church, group, gang, and commune of training known. The missing ingredient to what makes success or failure from any one of these disciplines is you. What do you like, what do you want, what style suits you both mentally and physically, what works for you and achieves your goals?

People almost always want specific prescriptions for what will work for them. And I and many other knowledgeable trainers can give them to you. However if you’re not making your own choice helping to figure out what works for you and putting yourself both physically, mentally, emotionally into the training you won’t get the greatest results. It’ll work for a while and then what you really want to do will emerge strongly enough to push you in another direction or kill your progress. You have to step up, put some skin in the game and be responsible for your own progress and knowledge of your own body. You also have to spend more time training than you do discussing it.

Get off your butt and put YOU in the game.

Swings and Super Conditioning

2006-09-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

The kettlebell or dumbbell swing is one of the most incredibly powerful exercises in modern hardcore conditioning. It works the posterior chain like almost nothing else and you can get a tremendous amount of strength and endurance with little or no damage from heavy loading. You all know I believe in heavy loads, but I also believe in mixing light and heavy work to get the most well-rounded effect and the greatest strength with the least possibility of overwork. I’ll give you a couple of examples.

At the present time I do quite a bit of heavy squats, but not that many heavy deadlifts or goodmornings. I find that the overload of muscles and structure is very close from all three of those exercises and you have to be careful not to overload the low back and hip structures from too much heavy work. I’ve also done a large number of swings lately and even though I haven’t regularly practiced stiff leg deadlifts or goodmornings when I have done them lately I have been very close to my top level. That means I’m maintaining that strength with no training and have the ability to practice those exercises with no pain from over work. Plus I get the benefits of extreme endurance and body conditioning from the swings.

Here’s a quick conditioning routine that I did the other night:

Start off with 100 swings with a moderately heavy kettlebell. Then sets of 20, 15, 10 and 5 of bodyweight squats, jumping jacks, sit ups, and push ups. Between every set jog in place for 50 steps. Try not to stop moving. As soon as you finish your set start jogging in place, and as soon you finish jogging hit your next set. Finish with another 50 kettlebell swings. Try to beat 15 minutes for the whole workout. You should be breathing very hard and you will have worked every muscle in your body along the way.

We’re going to bring you the most effective and most hardcore training out there and the kettlebell is no joke along with all of the other implements we train with. This is a sample of some of the butt kicking workouts that come from our training. If you’re interested in more kettlebell training and combination training with the kettlebell, (one of the most effective hardcore conditioning tools in use today), then check out Twisted Conditioning II, which has multiple kettlebell training exercises and routines.

Super Strength and Endurance for Martial Arts which has kettlebell routines and complexes –

And How to Hit Like A Freight Train, which has live demonstration of how to do multiple kettlebell exercises as well as kettlebell complex for strikers, and a live workout mixing the kettlebell with heavy partials. You can’t beat this info. Get it here:

God bless,

Bud Jeffries

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The 120lbs and Pregnant McDonald's French Fries Diet

2006-08-24T05:33:00.000-07:00

Appeared August 22, 2006

May you truly realize God’s blessings and the wonderful positive things in your life.

You know when you live the lifestyle that I do, which is very wrapped up in work and not particularly interested in going to that many public places, especially things like shopping, it’s easy to forget how far out of whack the average person is.

My wife picked up a pair of sneakers for me today and relayed a story to me about the cashiers at the shoe store. It seems that the first cashier was chiding the other one for talking so much about McDonald’s French Fries that she had given up all hope and gone out to get some to eat for her lunch. Now neither of these women were over 120lbs. Yet both of them were talking about being on a diet. The one eating the fries was also evidently pregnant and blaming her co-worker for not sharing the burden of eating the fries.

When you start getting deep into information on health, strength, etc., you tend to think that everybody else is playing along. It’s very easy to lose touch with the fact that the average person doesn’t know squat about health, exercise, food, etc. They might think they know a little, but they don’t understand enough of it to apply and generally what they do know is junk science. It still amazes me that at 120lbs your self image can be so completely out of whack that you need to be constantly on a diet. It amazes me that anyone would still eat McDonald’s French fries. I’m not against the french fry itself, but that’s not even an edible food substance and if you’re paying even a little bit of attention to health information you should know that. The reason my wife told me the story in the first place was because of the absolute idiocy of someone being on a diet and eating McDonald’s french fries while pregnant. It would be healthier for the baby to take a spoonful of toxic waste.

People labor under the same false assumptions about exercise all of the time and to see proof of that all you have to do is visit a local gym. You only need about 60 seconds to be overwhelmed by the lack of intelligent work going on. That’s why all of our products contain both basic and advanced level information. Many of the goals and concepts are very advanced. However the style of information delivery, the basic exercises and the beginner details are all there as well. This way everybody… rank beginner or advanced hard core man both benefit.

What’s even more amazing is how simple and achievable basic exercise and reasonable nutrition are. Lift heavy covering the basic structures of the body. Use reasonable volume. Lift some odd stuff so you can learn to actually apply the strength from those barbells. Find some type of conditioning that you like, that you can go very hard at for 10 to 20 minutes, occasionally longer. Go for a walk, maintain the ability to move and be mobile. If you can’t pronounce it (manmade products), don’t eat it. If it didn’t grow out of the ground or come from an animal, don’t eat it. If it comes in plastic and has a shelf life, long enough that you have to actually look up how long it is, don’t eat it. Get adequate fluids and sleep.

The above paragraph summarizes the entirety of health and strength. Is there more detail? Absolutely, but that’s the basics. It’s the basics for those just interested in health as well. For those interested in more than simply being able to get off the couch. You should all remember that most of those you know don’t have any understanding of these simple concepts. They think they can have a little gastric by-pass surgery, pop some Hoodia or Zantrex…. Or whatever this weeks popular diet pill is named… and voila! They are thin and healthy.

Thin isn’t healthy. Healthy is healthy. Good strength, good mobility, good endurance, pain-free, sound nutrition. It doesn’t come out of pills, be that the diet or steroid kind. It comes when you actually do the work. Keep it simple and don’t get side tracked by all the snake oil out there.

The Benefits of the Guts to Step Out

2006-08-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

Appeared August 21, 2006

God bless you all.

Last night my family and I did something that might seem kind of insane to our neighbors or family. We had some business plans to take care of, which fell through at the last minute so we decided to spontaneously drive to Tarpon Springs to eat dinner at a little sea-side restaurant. The thing that makes it odd is that it wasn’t four-star dining and it’s about 75 miles one way to get there, but it’s a fun little place with great food.

Could we have gotten the same food in town? Basically, but we wouldn’t have had the experience, or the time together. We wouldn’t have exercised the freedom to have fun that we’ve tried to build into our life. That freedom is there because we had the guts to step out and live a different kind of life. The guts to try a business that most people are afraid to do. The guts to chase a dream that we actually wanted to have, not settle for what other people told us we could have.

It wasn’t anything insanely special to do, but it’s a payoff for the courage to actually take steps to live the life you want to live. What’s holding you back from doing the same?

A business acquaintance of mine once told me this and I have since found exactly the same. He said that he had explained how to start a very productive business in a personal way to many people, but that I was the only one who actually ever did anything about it. I’ve done the same thing and rarely had anyone actually taken the steps, even though the plan for a better life was laid out for them. It happens all the time in both the training world as well as the spiritual and business world. There are lots of reasons people don’t act on things that they know would benefit their life. Some are legitimate, sometimes the time just isn’t right. However in most people it’s the lack of ability to actually take active steps to better their life. It takes courage to do that. Don’t let that be the reason you walked away from being a better man, building a better business or more powerful and incredible body, better relationships, better mind, or a more complete spiritual life.

Have the courage to step out, it brings you freedom and it will payoff!