L-sit to planche fun

Decided to throw this one back into the mix. Great for overall strength and control. Here's the final set.

Awesome to be back with the handsprings

Awesome to be outdoors with the tumbling and getting back into such fun stuff. Here's my final set of handsprings for the morning:

Getting back to Wushu Butterfly Kicks outside

Love butterfly kicks, and they're even better when they're outside. Here's the final set.

Aerial (No Handed) Cartwheels

My first set of these since last August. Not bad.  A little rusty and I could tell that my legs were still a little tired from last nights monster squat session. But, not bad at all, they'll improve quickly I believe.

Having fun with rolls

Finishing off Friday morning practice with some sets of back extensions and forward handstand rolls. Always fun stuff.

A different view of the l-sit to handstand to l-sit

Here's the final rep (rep 3) of the final se (set 5) of the l-sit to handstand to l-sit on the parallets. A little shaky, not as crisp, but not bad. Filmed it from a different angle today.

Amazing back movement

One of my favorite back movements. From Tuesday night's training. It's a combination front lever pull (straight arm lat pull) and pull up. Great for the entire back. Awesome to do after a hard rings practice and hitting 100 pull ups in the morning, then starting out the evening with these. Nailed 4 sets, this is the final one, then hit 4 sets of 1-arm rows, 3 sets of isometric shrugs, and some good midsection work. An awesome training day.

Racing to 100

Love this method of training. After hitting some awesome sets of deadlifts it was squat time. Loaded the bar to 365 pounds and the goal was to hit 100 reps in 10 sets of 10 or less. I managed to nail it in 6 sets of 15 and 1 set of 10. Felt hard but good. Finished off with 3 super sets of weighted lunges and 1-leg leg curls. Of course, my wonderful bride nailed her squats in 4 sets of 20, 1 set of 15 and 1 set of 5. Totally humbled. Here's the final set of squats.

Turning the German 50's into 75's

Hitting my 5 sets of German 50 push ups today and decided to turn them into the German 75 for each set. So, here is the 5th and final set of German 75 push ups.

Day 15 of the 30 day pull up challenge

I'm on day 15 of my 30 day challenge to perform at least 100 pull ups a day no matter what. Here'smy final set of v-sit pull ups on the rings to make my 100 for the day. Not the prettiest, but not bad for being at the end of the morning practice, lol.

Back of wrist push ups

A lot of people have asked me about these. I've mentioned it a lot of times in posts that I hit 5 sets of "back of wrist" push ups during my morning practice; and most people don't know what they are. They're a great way to strengthen the wrists and work a compensatory movement to all the normal push up and hand stand wrist positions. Here's a quick set of 10.

L-sit to handstand to l-sit

Haven't practiced these in a while. They felt pretty good though. Made it to my last rep (rep 3) of my last set (set 5) and realized I hadn't filmed yet, lol. So, here's the final rep of the final set of the L-sit to handstand to L-sit on the parallets. Felt good and strong. Did these in a super set with muscle ups on the rings.

Mass building went well

I think the mass building went very well. Now it's time to get as lean as possible without sacrificing any of the muscle, strength or power. And, of course, time to get a tan.

Enjoying the irony

 

The other day, after giving me a very wonderful compliment on my back development, someone asked me why I have so many pictures of my back. I have to say, it's for the simple enjoyment of the irony. After I broke my back and ripped apart the muscle tendons an ligaments in it the doctors all told me that I'd always have a bad back, a weak back, be in constant pain, never be able to move my neck or right arm, never be able to use my back much, never be able to train again, etc. Since then, my back has become one of my strongest, most supple, most fit, most powerful and most impressive areas.

True words to live by

A very wise person once stated, "I don't train hard and eat clean because I hate myself. I train hard and eat clean because I Love, Honor and Respect myself." Such true words.

To all those who.......

I remember when I was in my 20's, walking around at a lean and ripped 155-160 pounds, I had tons of people that warned me about my 30's. They all said, once I was in my 30's my metabolism would drop, my muscle mass and strength would go, training would be harder, etc, etc, etc. Now, as I'm turning 39 this summer, I walk around at a lean and chiseled 190-195 pounds and am stronger, more powerful, healthier, fitter, and more ripped than I've ever been before and I continue to improve. I'm thinking that all those naysayers were full of total Skata. Treat your body right and age truly is just a number.

Why you SHOULD NOT Work Out

The adult male pictured above is clearly taking the advice of this particular blog post. Here are some reasons why you SHOULD NOT work out!!

1.) The circle is the most perfect shape in the universe, you should try to attain it.
2.) Dying decades before you should is the new hip and happening thing.
3.) No, it's sexy and awesome to be winded and wheezing while you walk across a parking lot.
4.) Belly fat, who doesn't want it?!
5.) You really are trying to use your bat wings to fly.
6.) Love handles, saddle bags, back fat, guts, saggy thighs, big fat asses, these are what people really like.

7.) You just got your new health insurance and you want to make sure you use it.
8.) Who doesn't want diabetes, heart disease, auto immune disorders, strokes and the like?
9.) You have so much shit saved on your 4 DVRs, how are you supposed to catch up on it if you waste time working out.
10.) Having self-confidence is sooooo overrated!
11.) Who wants to have a body that they're proud of.
12.) Ain't nothing wrong with gluttony and sloth!
13.) How would you know that your alive if you didn't have your aching joints, bad back, bad knees, bad ankles and all the rest.
14.) You love to watch shit orbit around your belly.
15.) Being able to get up off the floor easily is sooooo yesterday. Struggling is much better.

16.) You haven't had the ability to see your genitalia in decades, why would you want to now?
17.) It's awesome now. Just a few decades ago people had to pay money at a carnival to see someone your size, now they can just walk down the street.
18.) You know you love not being able to get out of the chair because it's too much struggle.
19.) No really, blowing out your back while tying up the garbage bag is normal.
20.) Artery blockage, I don't need no stinking blood getting through.
21.) No really, who doesn't like the sight of man boobs.
22.) You're back has to give out somehow.

23.) It's always amazing to lift up a roll of fat and find the remote that you lost 6 months ago.
24.) So, you can't get up the stairs anymore, that's why God made ramblers anyway.
25.) Be able to run, tumble, climb and play with your kids, who wants that.
26.) Catching every bug and sickness that goes around shows that you're well loved.
27.) It would suck to have a tight tummy or ripped abs.
28.) What, being muscular, fit and healthy is so 1980's.
29.) Touch my toes, hell I can't even see them.
30.) It's awesome to wake up every morning tired.
31.) You get so much more attention when you hurt your back picking up a bag of groceries.

32.) Because, who doesn't love my rolls
33.) Hip replacement technology has improved so much more over the last few years.
34.) Who want to be a good role model for their kids and grand kids anyway?
35.) Cotton candy weighs way less than an apple, so it won't put much weight on me.
36.) Because, of wait, I'm tooo tired to finish this sentence.
37.) Because truly loving and respecting yourself is best shown by eating shit and wasting away into a tub of lard.
38.) Because training is toooo hard
39.) Training takes toooo much time
40.) I don't have money for a good gym.

41.) We're all going to die someday, I'd rather get it over with sooner than later.
42.) A life of pain, sickness, no energy, lower productivity, lower vibrance, is the only one worth living.
43.) Because being energized throughout the day would be horrible.
44.) Feel like a million dollars, I'd rather feel like a wooden passo.
45.) Chicks dig beer bellies.
46.) Men love it when they can't wrap their arms around you
47.) My man boobs are finally up to a dd cup
48.) It's awesome to break into a sweat pulling my pants up.
49.) Having to waddle instead of walk, that's the sheeeeitttt people.
50.) How  are you supposed to get on "My 600 Pound Life" if you were healthy and fit.
51.) Being able to move with ease and without pain, so overrated.
52.) You know you like taking up multiple seats at the theater, on the plane, in the car.


Alright, now that we've said that, go train your ass off both literally and figuratively. Being healthy, fit, strong, conditioned and full of energy (not to mention looking awesome and moving awesome with no aches and pains while staying young) are the shit. Get after it.

Now, go create your greatness and train hard and heavy.

Brett

P.S.  Had to cleanse myself after this one:

Rings training fun

Having tons of fun practicing on the rings this morning. One of the all time great training tools. I love 'em!!

Y-scale fun

Having some fun with some y-scale practice at the end of this morning's training. Love working them all, the y-scale, front scale and back scale. Great stuff!!

German 50 push up blitz

Finished up a nice rings, parallets and floor practice this morning with 300 push ups (German 50's) and 100 pull ups. Felt good. Here's the final set of German 50 push ups

Rings combo is really getting fun

This combo is feeling really strong and tight. I'm loving every practice of it. Awesome!!

Don "Ripper" Ross style leg killer

After nailing the 6 sets of bottom position front squats I felt like I needed a little more to finish off the lower body so I grabbed an old trick from the great Don "The Ripper" Ross. Here' it is.

Bottom position front squatting

I figured that bottom position back squatting with 355 pounds for singles helped me a ton in being able to back squat 500 pounds for sets of 5-6 reps, so it was time to add in bottom position front squats simply to see if it has a similar effect. Here's the 6th and final set hitting 315.

1-arm rows with 201 pounds

Also from Monday night: After the flies, it was 1-arm row time. Nailed 6 sets of 5 on each arm with 201pounds. Felt strong and awesome. Here's the final set

One of my favorites for the chest

From Monday night's training, a fantastic one for the chest. Cranked out 6 strong sets of body flies on the Jungle Gym. Making sure to hole both the stretch position and the contraction position for a 10-count. Awesome stuff. Here's the final set.

100 pull ups a day challenge, day 1

Decided to challenge myself. So, for the next 30 days I'm looking at hitting at least 100 pull ups a day, regardless of what my practice and training has in store for me. Here's the final set to get me to 100 from this morning. Not the prettiest, but I was little tired by this time. Lol!

Deadlift death set

From Thursday: I hadn't hit deadlifts in a while. So, After nailing 6 sets of singles with 455 pounds, I felt I still needed a little more. It was death set time. So I dropped the weight to 355 pounds and just repped out with it. Felt awesome.

One million excuses, but.........

Let's see:
1.) Born with a degenerative bone disease in the hips: Yes
2.) Broke my back in my early 20's: Yes
3.) Ripped apart all the muscles, tendons and ligaments in my back: Yes
4.) Let those things be an excuse or a limitation in reaching my dreams: HELL NO and NEVER. There will always be a million excuses, but there will never be a good reason to limit yourself or keep yourself from your goals. Create your greatness!

There's just something........

After training hard every morning, 6 days a week, and training hard every evening, 6 days a week; there's just something wonderful about finishing up a really nice morning practice with some Y-scales.