Strength and Fitness Blog
Dominate Martial Arts and De-flab your body
Here’s a letter from a father who tried everything to de-flab his body, but nothing worked:
Hey guys,
I’ve been doing Animal Kingdom Conditioning for 3 weeks now and have lost pnds already, even though and I take medication which causes obesity as a side effect.
I used to lift weights, run 10-12 miles a day and I still gained 30 pnds of fat due to medication. I thought there was no getting away from these fattening side effects. I felt as if there was no hope until I came across your ad in a magazine. Then I read your website over and over and wondered if this was the answer. So I saved for 3 months and bought your entire set.
My body’s muscles have started reconstructing themselves and taking the shape of a gorilla as opposed to a bodybuilder and I feel incredible just like an animal!. This would have never happened if it wasn’t for your program. It was truely inspired.
My daughter trains everyday with Animal Kingdom Conditioning and she is DOMINATING her martial arts class because of it.
- David
EB: David,
That’s awesome. Glad you were persistent and were open to a different way of training. Things do work out for the best when you follow the Way of the Animal. Keep in touch to tell us your progress.
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If you’ve been struggling like David was, or want to dominate your martial arts, then now is the time to go Animal.
All the best,
Eddie Baran
What is Pain’s Role in Exercise?
Back in the ’80′s there was the old bodybuilding mantra “No pain, no gain.” Of course what they meant by “pain” is the muscles working and fatiguing, not the pain of an injury occurring.
And they’re right. If you don’t work your muscles, you’re not going to gain a thing.
But since most people are so averse to moving their bodies – and consider even the slightest movement like walking up a flight of stairs to be torture – they associate exercise fatigue as pain.
And some don’t even know the difference between that and injury pain; they think it’s the same thing. But they’re not – though sometimes sloppy and haphazard exercising can lead to injury.
If you feel like something’s going to rip, tear, snap, pop, break or anything else that’s bad, then you’re not exercising correctly. Stop immediately. You’re doing your body more harm than good.
Slow it down, start from the beginning, and test the waters of your movement to see if things are okay. Slowly and gradually push the envelope.
Now, in regards to the good exercise fatigue (which is not pain), that needs to be approached slowly, too.
Each workout, regardless of level, is based on how your body is feeling at that precise moment, not on what you did in the past or think you should do, but what you can do right now.
If you’re a beginner, don’t kill yourself exercising. Don’t go brutal. Going through the motions at first is fine until you get used to training. Start slowly increasing the intensity so you’re always pushing a little more. That might mean one more pushup or going a little bit faster. Keep building on this each workout if you’re up to it.
Beginners might be physically ready to push very hard but mentally they’re not, at least not doing so consistently. A beginner’s role is to acclimate his body and mind to the long term habit of consistently exercising.
Hardcore training for the beginner, even if it doesn’t result in physical injury, will usually result in mental pain – mental fatigue, disdain for working out – which will ultimately lead to quitting. Very few beginners are able to push hard for a long time without quitting.
Yes, I fully understand the desire to get to the goal as fast as you can but if you don’t take a long term approach you’re never going to get there.
Fitness is a process. Start from the start and move. There are no skipping steps.
When you get to the advanced level, then you can start playing around with the hardcore brutality of pushing yourself to the extreme where you go animal or go home. You’ll intuitively understand what your body and your mind can handle, and you’ll understand what it needs each workout.
Building the proper mental and physical foundation is the most important thing for your fitness success.
Pain, whether it’s physical or mental, has no role in fitness.
All the best,
Eddie Baran
P.S. To understand how to progress through the process of physical supremacy, check out my courses here…
Lessons from Opposite George
A great Seinfeld episode is where George Constanza starts acting in ways that are completely opposite of what he’s used to doing.
Usually a neurotic, insecure and self-loathing mess with a life that reflects this, George decides he’s had enough and the only solution is to do everything counter to what he’s done in the past.
Thus Opposite George is born.
He starts by ordering the opposite type of lunch. This leads to him asking a beautiful woman – a complete stranger whom he considers out of his league – on a date using the greatest pickup line ever:
“My name is George. I’m unemployed and I live with my parents.”
Of course she’s smitten, and it’s all gravy from there. Not only does he start dating this woman, the rest of his life completely changes for the better, such as he gets a killer job and stands up to two huge bullies.
As funny as this episode is, there are many lessons we all could learn from Opposite George and apply it to our fitness, though perhaps with much less wanton disregard for the consequences.
1. Change your thinking – Sometimes your thinking has to be reversed for things to work out.
Before, George was coming from his fearful mind, not his confident happy one. When he changed his thinking, everything fell into place.
2. Stop trying so hard – You don’t have to force anything. Usually when you force something it doesn’t happen or it goes bad. George put in the right amount of effort and just let things happen without expectation. He was in flow.
3. Don’t take yourself so seriously – What’s the worst that can happen, seriously? Is the world going to end if things don’t go your way? Does it mean you’re a big POS if someone doesn’t like you?
George stopped worrying about the outcome, how he looked and what others thought of him. He didn’t take things so personal. His neurosis was gone and he enjoyed life.
4. Trust – Trust that everything is going to work out just right in the big picture regardless of the immediate results. That’s real confidence.
If what you’ve been doing hasn’t been working, then follow the lessons of Opposite George and things will fall into place. Your fitness will make huge improvements.
If your typical thinking is that you’re a big, fat, weak, sloppy, unhealthy mess of a , then knock that off. Observe these thoughts and then start thinking the opposite, which is your truth: that you’re a strong, healthy, mean, lean animal machine.
Then you’ll start acting that way, and then your body will follow suit and match your thinking. And it’ll be true. Trust it.
All the best,
Eddie Baran
P.S. George’s new girlfriend, so impressed with him and puzzled by his uniqueness, asks “Who are you, George Costanza?”
“I’m the opposite of every guy you’ve ever met” was his reply.
Well put. Do the opposite of every exercise you’ve ever met.
Building a Brick House Body
We all know the story of the Three Little Pigs where the first pig is lazy and impatient and builds a house of straw. It goes up very fast but, of course, it lasts all of two seconds because the big bad wolf blows it down with ease.
His brother, pig number 2, does a little better with his house of sticks, but it doesn’t last much either.
Luckily for these two pigs their brother pig number 3 built a brick house. He took the time to lay the foundation, built it brick by brick, made it strong and functional. And it’s the best looking house of them all.
If it wasn’t for this third pig, the wolf would be feasting on bacon and ham.
Of course when you grow up you don’t apply the moral of this story to fitness. We want the fastest way to a flabless body, even if it means building a weak structure and doing ourselves harm. We don’t care. Just give us the magic pill now.
But the lesson of the The Three Little Pig especially applies to health and fitness.
Building supremely physical supremacy takes time. It’s not going to happen overnight. Yes, there are some people who are gifted physically coming out of the shoot and don’t have to try, but these are few and far between.
Most of us have to be committed to change and be patient about it. But we know it will pay off in the long run because then we will have our brick house. And what we gain on the way is even more valuable than the house we’ve created.
There are no shortcuts to building a brick house body. You’ve got to do it right, with one gain built on another, just like a brick. The payoff is a better looking house, a stronger house and a safer house than any straw can build. You’ve got to think long term and see the big picture. Because that’s what’s going to last forever.
All these people with their straw houses and their quick fixes, are merely putting a bandaid on the problem instead of changing things permanently.
Build a brick house – nay, a STEEL house – starting from the core, with Gymnastic Abs.
That way your body is strong, resilient, sturdy and can’t be touched by any wolf.
All the best,
Eddie Baran
P.S. When I was a goofy kid, the Commodores’ song popularized the term “Brick House” for a well-built woman. Now it means a real, strong, permanent and functional body for both men and women. Get your steel house here…
Can Yoga Destroy Your Body?
I read an interview of a yoga teacher who was discussing all the injuries caused by yoga. Apparently yoga is getting a bad rap for being dangerous.
Yoga? Dangerous? Well, anything can be dangerous. Heck, sitting on your butt all day is dangerous.
Yoga in itself isn’t dangerous. In fact, Yoga is great, a super way to build a structurally balanced body.
The problem is that yoga has become so popular that instruction has become watered-down. When this happens, schools become degraded with unqualified teachers who don’t understand the subject, the human body or the clientele.
Teachers forcing students to do things their bodies aren’t ready for, or just aren’t that good to do. No wonder there are so many injuries.
Whatever your activity, if it feels bad, don’t do it. Become aware and conscious of your body, and that you understand what your body is feeling and what it’s supposed to be doing at the moment. And make sure the instruction is top notch.
Regardless of your level, your foundation is key. Don’t push too hard, go easy and build up a strong foundation that’s bullet proof. That way injuries will be kept to a minimum, if at all, and your progress will be much faster. You’ll build a physically supreme body if you do it this way.
This is why all of my courses have beginning, intermediate and advanced progressions so you’re always building up instead of tearing down.
Remember, fitness and health is a process. You start from the beginning and progress up, building on each level to the next, like a brick house. Otherwise your straw house will crumble and be destroyed.
All the best,
Eddie Baran
The Adulterer’s Workout
The other day I was driving in my car listening to the radio. The deejays were talking about a study that warned if your spouse all of a sudden starts exercising and losing flab, they might be doing it because they’re cheating on you. In other words, having a new partner in their life is the only reason they’d get fit.
Whenever I hear someone say “study” it raises a few red flags. First off, we don’t know what kind of study this was, how accurate, how biased, the study design, number of people, etc.
Also, journalists always misinterpret research findings so by the time it gets watered down to the listener/reader, it might reveal totally different findings. So, I don’t know how accurate this information is to begin with.
But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that this study is accurate, that those who are married and begin exercising are only doing so because they’re cheating on their spouses.
So adultery is the only reason a married person would begin exercising?
That’d be pretty sad. It means that people won’t exercise for their own benefit, be it health, fitness or even vanity. And they definitely couldn’t care less about their spouses so they’d never once consider getting fit for them. I know there are people with so much disdain for their mates that they wouldn’t consider doing anything nice for them. If that’s the case, why stay married?
However, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and have a more positive outlook. While I’m sure there are some adulterers out there who are getting fit because they’re cheating on their spouses, I’m willing to bet there are people who are actually exercising for themselves and for their spouses.
Some people genuinely care about their bodies and it’s not about looking better for the “other” man or woman.
Thus, this summer give yourself (and your spouse) a surprise by getting lean and mean by going here.
All the best,
Eddie Baran
P.S. A decade ago I’d often watch the TV show “Cheaters” which followed suspected adulterers around and then confronted them. But like too much junk food, too much trash TV isn’t good for the brain and turns it to goo. A little crap is fine, but you need real substance for real health and happiness.
Feel Like a Teenager Again
Is it possible to feel like a teenager again? And by that I mean physically, not emotionally. After all, who’d want to be depressed, angry and hostile again? Nope, I’m talking about high energy and youth of adolescence.
Here’s a letter I got from a man in his 40′s who is discovering his youth again:
Dear Eddie,
My name is Luis and I got your program Gymnastic Abs and it is really very good. I tell you that as soon as I started your Gymnastic Abs course it gave me an extraordinary power.
Even though I’m 43, married with two kids, I feel like a teenager. I’ve been lifting weights for 10 years but feel that now I’m much more toned and have built my muscles much easier than before. I have muscular mass but never had abs, but in the four weeks that I started your course I can finally see my abs. I’m even competing with my son who’s 15.
Your method is exceptional and it really works!
Thank you,
Luis
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Hi Luis,
Awesome job. You’re the perfect age to do the program. I’m glad you didn’t see age as a reason not to train like a gymnast. Keep up the great work.
—–
So not only does Gymnastic Abs give you super body strength and powerful abs, it makes you feel younger – like a teenager. The program is for all ages and abilities. Go get your youth back again. You don’t have to be a gymnast to use it but it’ll give you the abs of one.
The program is for all ages and abilities. Go get your youth back again. You don’t have to be a gymnast to use it but it’ll give you the abs of one.
All the best,
Eddie Baran
How to Reduce Diabetes
Is it possible to reduce diabetes risk with exercise alone?
One study has shown that exercise alone will reduce the risk of diabetes in obese boys without a change in eating. That means even if your food intake didn’t change you’d still reduce the risk of diabetes.
This is incredible. Changing eating habits is the most difficult, especially for children. So all you’d have to really do is add a little bit of exercise to your day to get the benefits – even if you’re obese.
But will any exercise do?
The researchers found that it has to be resistance exercise. Weights might do the trick but nothing will build lean muscle and burn flabby flab like bodyweight exercises, especially those of the animal ilk (for kids and for adults).
Using all of your body in interesting and challenging ways is the ultimate resistance exercise – and best for decreasing diabetes risk.
Now, I’m not advocating eating like a pig. It’s best to adopt healthy eating habits no matter how effective an exercise program is.
But the point is this: just by doing the right exercise you’ll be able to significantly burn the flab, build your muscles, build your brain and reduce risk of diabetes.
And remember, there’s no better flab burning, illness killing exercise than my animal exercises. Build muscle, build brains, reduce diabetes risk with:
Wild Animal Fitness for Kids and Animal Kindgom Conditioning
All the best,
Eddie Baran
He Can Still Fit Into Car From High School
There’s a funny article on the satirical Onion News Network about a guy who can still fit into the car he had in high school 20 years ago. He was proud he was able to squeeze into his ’92 Ford Festiva. Barely.
Back in the day, most people were happy if they could fit into their old clothes from school. But nowadays we’ve become so huge that even fitting into our old cars is a huge accomplishment.
This is funny on a number of levels, but mostly about what we’re willing to tolerate. And getting massive is something we’re more than happy to put up with. Our ever-lowering standards for what we’ll tolerate with our bodies is now becoming a joke.
If you have low standards for yourself then you’ve got to be prepared with the consequences. If that makes you happy, then it’s your choice.
Or, you can have high standards and not put up with misery. Only option is to exercise, get lean muscle and lose flab. Then you can fit into any clothing (and car) you want.
All the best,
Eddie Baran
P.S. Fitting into your old high school clothes might not be always good. Perhaps you weighed 500 pnds then. Or perhaps you’re now skinny-fat now. At one time you were lean and weighed a certain amount. But now you’ve lost the muscle and replaced it with goo. Just because you’re the same size doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. Make your body the perfect size with lean muscle here.
How Often Should You Work Out?
The other day someone asked me how often I worked out.
I actually couldn’t answer the question for a while and had to think about it.
“I don’t work out,” I blurted. “I just play. I go out there and have fun.” I explained that although what I do is the best exercise possible to build strength and a lean body, I don’t think of it as working out.
To me, working out is drudgery, like when I used to go to the gym to torture myself doing bench or curls. Yuck.
Plus, “working out” has the word “work” in it. That to me isn’t desirable. Exercise as work isn’t in my mindset anymore because what I do isn’t work. It’s not suffering or pain, or a drag or boring, or something I feel I’m obligated to do.
If it feels like sacrifice or you don’t want to do it, or feel you should do it, then it’s going to be hard to be consistent and easier to quit.
The more your exercise seems like play, the more enjoyment you get out of your “work outs,” then the more you’ll do it, the better your attitude, the faster your results. Then you just exercise simple because it’s fun.
Results come super fast this way.
OK, so how often should you play (i.e. exercise)?
The answer is, ideally, as often as your body, mind and schedule can handle it.
If you’re a beginner, try one day a week for 5-15 minutes at first until your mind and body acclimate to the new activity. Don’t push it otherwise you’ll burn out.
As soon as you’re ready for more, add another day for 5-15 minutes. Then keep adding time and days. When you ease into it and have an attitude of fun you’ll want to do my exercises as much as possible.
Now you know how often, the next thing you need to know is how.
Go here for all of your play toys…
Stop working and start playing.
All the best,
Eddie Baran
