My father was laid to rest yesterday afternoon in Florida National Cemetery. ’twas a grand moment to observe the military salute, the playing of Taps and the meticulous, respectful folding of the flag.

Since the passing of my father, who was 97, and a veteran of WW II, I am eternally grateful, not only for his life and the lessons he taught me, but also for the prayers and positive thoughts sent to me by so many. I have done my best to acknowledge everyone who has reached out to me in anyway. If I have overlooked you somehow, please accept my apologies as I say, “thank you” again.

Last weekend, a man wrote to tell me that there was no need to thank anyone, that the focus should be on me, my family and what the emotions we are dealing with. I appreciate this man’s words, but there is just no way I can do as he suggested. I literally feel compelled to thank each person who has written me, called or who came to see me at my father’s funeral.
This sense of duty is not something I came up with or read in a book. It was instilled in me by my father.

Just before Christmas, when my dad was in the hospital for a few days, I watched him thank every single nurse or doctor, every single time they came into his room, to help him. Whether he was brought a straw, a glass of water or a napkin, he would thank the person who helped him.

When a nurse was taking my dad’s temperature, he conveyed his dismay that he was unable to send Christmas cards to family because he was hospitalized. The nurse looked up and said, “Oh, I think they will understand.”

As I recall so many precious memories with my dad, feelings can volley around the court from one emotion to another. Thank goodness for my nightly practice of Dao Zou – which has definitely benefitted me in ways I did not foresee when I initially released the program.

I’m telling you about Dao Zou now because it continues to help me process and ultimately detach from emotions such as grief and sadness. There is no attempt to suppress or control the emotions with the program. You let the emotions flow as you rewind your mind and effortlessly enter another dimension; a dimension where peace that surpasses all understanding becomes part of you.

If you’re aware of someone who is battling sadness or other negative emotions, this non-thinking way to detach from them definitely works. I practice Dao Zou every night before bed – and I cannot stop raving about what a difference-maker it is.

Again, “thanks mucho” to all who have written me. Your words of comfort are greatly appreciated.

Best,

Matt Furey

Friends,

A wise one has left the planet. This morning, my father, 97+, took his final breath. He passed at home, in good company with family, as he so desired.

My father had one helluva run. His life was an ultra-marathon; 7 children, 10 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He was married for 63 years and lived seven years after his bride passed.

A veteran of WW II, he was honorably discharged, as his mother was gravely ill and he was the sole surviving son. I’ve often thought that dad’s mother not only saved his life, but helped fascilitate the one he and my mom built.

Since moving to Florida, my dad became a huge Tampa Bay Rays fan. Many of my fondest memories with my dad were of the two of us playing catch on the front yard at our home in Iowa, taking him to Rays games and giving him the opportunity to watch my son and daughter grow up, both of whom are left-handed, as was he.

Before saying goodbye, I held my father’s left wrist and felt his pulse for the first time. His heart was beating fast as he took his final lap.

God love you, Jimmy.

Your son,

Matt

A couple weeks ago, I met a martial arts school owner who had been suffering with knee pain. Her husband, a long-time customer, advised her to begin doing Hindu squats. She agreed to give them a whirl, and to her surprise, her knee pain vanished.

She wondered how this bodyweight squat helped eliminate her pain. I told her the reason is counter to what most of the fitness schmexperts claim, i.e. that if your knees go over your toes when you squat, you’ll shear your knee joints and injure yourself.

The fact is your knees are designed to go over your toes when you squat. If you look at how ballet dancers train, you’ll see some clues. Dancers have incredibly strong legs, yet they don’t follow the standard fitness protocols of the day, never have and never will.

All throughout Asia you will see people sitting in a deep squat position with their knees over their toes. Sitting in a squat is natural for them because they’ve never stopped doing it. But in the western whirld, where we think we know everything about what the human body is supposed to be able to do, we ignore the evidence that is readily observable.

Those who do bodyweight squats with their knees over their toes tend to have far healthier knees than people who don’t.

Does this mean that everyone can or should do squats with their knees over their toes? No, it doesn’t.

There is no one exercise fits all, including certain types of squats. Even so, chances are excellent that doing bodyweight squats the way el Furecat teaches, will benefit you greatly.

You can learn the basics in my Combat Conditioning book and DVDs.

And when you’re ready for more advanced details, more variations, more tweaks and refinements, you’ll become a member of the Matt Furey Inner Circle, wherein I provide monthly video updates with exercises and more, that will catapult you to the next level in your health and fitness endeavors.

As a member of the MFIC, you’ll not only get refinements each month, you’ll also get to see exercises you’ve never seen before. An example of this is the ONLY EXERCISE you need to burn fat and build muscle.

Yes, I boil it all down for those of you who don’t have time for an hour of exercise a day, much less the 15-30 minutes I typically recommend.

One Exercise a Day.

Total workout time is only a few minutes.

And your body changes in an almost unbelievable fashion.

If you already have my books and DVDs, then strongly consider becoming… and then take the time to become a member of the MFIC.

The best time to begin is always NOW.

Best,

Matt Furey

In the days of yesteryear, strongmen, martial arts masters and superhuman athletes performed an exercise without weights that gave them incredible results.

Oftentimes these people didn’t have weight training equipment. They didn’t have machines to sit or lie down on. They didn’t have a huge facility to train in.

What they did have was the entire world, i.e. Mother Nature, to train in. They were also keenly aware of their imagination and feel for what to do to get stronger.

Some of these men trained against trees. The Great Gama of India was one of them.

Many write about Gama’s daily regimen of pushups and squats – but few realize that he also trained isometrically.

When I came out with Gama Fitness, I made note of this fact, and provided an entire lesson, amongst all the other valuable lessons, on isometrics and how to do them.

Traditionally isometrics were done for six seconds and the practitioner held his breath. I changed all this with my course, and whatdyaknow, my decision was not only a good move for the students who used the method, it was also the perfect set-up to showcase who learned from me (and/or stole) the information.

If you’ve seen an isometrics course, for example, teaching the “ssssss” sound, you can mark that one down as someone who learned from el Furecat. Prior to me letting that kitty-cat out of the bag, no one ever taught the “ssssss” sound with isometric contractions.

The value of doing isometrics is off the charts. You not only get stronger and quicker, you also get more flexible.

Your body becomes it’s own gym. You can train anytime, anywhere – even when you’re lying in bed, taking a shower, sitting on the couch or standing in line at a grocery store. You can do isometrics while sitting at a traffic light, while taking a boring class with a teacher, or while watching an online video.

Remember, your body is your gym, and isometrics prove this fact faster than any other method of exercise. Anytime you feel stuck in a bodyweight calisthenics exercise, you can use isometrics to breakthrough the barriers and achieve your goal.

Grab a copy of the legendary Gama Fitness course NOW – and make improvements faster than ever before.

Kick ass – take names,

Matt Furey

Millions of people started out the year with resolutions to exercise and eat better. A month has passed and most of those resolutions are long gone.

There are many reasons that so many resolutions went south. And a big one is due to the idea that you must go to a big gym to train and get fit. Fiddlesticks.

Commercial gyms are the worst place you can go to exercise. They create an idea in your mind’s eye that you need equipment to get fit. The truth is this: About the only useful part of a gym is the empty floor space. And if the gym has a sauna, you could add that, too.

But all those ridiculous machines! No friggin way.

All you really need, for the most part, is your own bodyweight. Your body is a gym unto itself.

Yes, you can use ropes, a pull-up bar, rubber cables and various tools that challenge your grip and balance, but almost everything else is garbage designed to make you think “Oh, oh, oh. this is what I NEED.”

It’s an optical illusion. It’s all mental imagery playing on you to believe that a big bloated muscle is stronger, faster, better and more functional. It’s not.

Combat Conditioning puts your mind and body where they belong; turning your body into the only gym you truly need.

With your own bodyweight, there are an infinite number of ways to move and train. But as soon as you sit or lie down on a piece of machinery, you’ve put a strait-jacket over your mind and body.

Want to make good on the promises you’ve made to yourself this year? Then train at home with Combat Conditioning.

Grab a copy of this program NOW – and change your physique/figure for the better.

KATN.

Matt Furey

Just flipped through today’s edition of The New York Post. Saw a headline on page 16 entitled, The Finest Hour.

Beneath the headline was the subhead: 60-minute workouts are key for weight loss.

Hardeeharharhar.

60-minute workouts aren’t bad if you’re training at a sustainable pace, i.e. stretching.

But for the most part, 60-minute workouts are best for personal fitness trainers who work by the hour. I oughta know because I was one of the original personal fitness training gym owners.

I got my start back in 1987, in Soquel, California. My gym had weights, stationary cycles, and a large wrestling mat with plenty of space for bodyweight exercises.

At the time, all my sessions were an hour because we went through a combination of cardiovascular work (20 minutes), loosening exercises (10 minutes), followed by a circuit of weight training and/or bodyweight exercises.

Clients always left the gym feeling fulfilled. They got a good workout in. But the truth is that the workout would have done them FAR more good if it was a grand total of 30 minutes.

Here’s the breakdown:

1. 10 minutes for loosening the joints would be first.

2. A series of bursts or sprints – none of which last longer than 15 seconds.

3. Rest between each sprint.

4. Light stretching

Some details: After each sprint you are well advised to lollygag for 90 to 120 seconds, followed by another burst.

Altogether, you would do five to eight bursts (and no more), each of which gets you huffing and puffing. The lollygagging in between helps you recover as well as assisting with the release of growth hormone.

Total training time for the sprints would be two minutes with sixteen minutes of rest.

30 minutes total – most of which is resting.

The same model can be used for bodyweight exercises such as Furecat pushups, Furecat burpees and Furecat squats. Yes, these are different than those taught in my international, best-seller, Combat Conditioning.

You train long enough to huff and puff, but not to failure or fatigue. Then you yuk yuk for a spell, followed by another set.

You don’t need a personal trainer for this method. Nor do you need an hour. All you need is a method that you consistently follow 3-5 days per week.

This is what I teach to members of the FureyFaithful.com members site.

Forget the 60-minute (or longer) workouts. Results come faster from far less than you are being told.

Here endeth the lesson.

Matt Furey

MattFurey.com

P.S. I’ll be putting up more videos of the different ways you can get your sprints in as well as precautions based upon age and current physical condition. If you’re totally out of shape with joint pain, etc. you’re well advised to begin with the loosening exercises I teach to get the blood and synovial fluid moving throughout your body.

Yesterday “the Bear” came over for some training. I’ve known him for 15 years and have watched him go through some ups and downs.

He’s thick, powerful and strong, but still as gentlemanly as a giant can be. Thus far this year, the Bear has shed over 60 pounds that he didn’t need beneath his coat.

The other day I saw him yapping about how he’s been running sprints to curb his hunger… and how it’s helping him burn fat faster.

I advised him to come over for a visit, to get the latest from me – in reverse.

He replied, “Just let me know where and when.”

My answer: “Tomorrow at 4 PM.”

This is where you discover whether someone’s sincerity is legit. All of us are aware of people who say, “Let me know what I can do for you and I’ll be there.” A second later, after you’ve given the person an indication of what would be helpful, he tells you he can’t. Then why on earth did you say what you said? Dumb asses.

Anyway, the Bear is no dummy. He knows el Furecat well, and if the Furecat says he’s got something good for you, you better be there.

I will be polite now, for a change. I kicked the Bear’s azz yesterday.

And he loved it so much he agreed to appear in my latest video on the FureyFaithful.com member’s site. This installment will give you some winter wonderland tips on how to get yourself super fit, even when it’s cold and snowy outside.

I’ll give you another hint, though, before you watch the new video: Years ago, when I was a young buck growing roots in Iowa, I was a whirld champeen* snow sprinter. The bigger the drifts the faster I ran.

I realize many of you are unable to hoof it the same way in winter that you do in summer, but have no fear, as I’ll cover how to handle that obstacle for you as well.

How, in part, by doing Dao Zou  in the snow. Yes, you can do it in snow. Just don’t do it on the street when it’s icy or snowy. Not a good idea.

Have at it.

Matt Furey

* I was the only one who showed up for the snow sprinting whirl champeenship. Doesn’t matter. A win is a win. HA. And yes, I can speel whird as world and championship as champeenship. It takes talent to come up with alter-nut schpellings.

Back in 1983, prior to afternoon wrestling practice beginning at the University of Iowa, Coach Gable had us sit in the stands for one of his legendary ‘war stories.’

Most of the time, Gable’s war stories referenced years gone by. They were biographical sketches highlighting the attitude, work ethic and training philosophy of the champions he’d previously coached or been around.

On this particular day, this particular war story was different because it wasn’t about how American wrestling champions trained. In fact, it wasn’t even about how wrestlers trained.

The story was about how a group of Bulgarian Olympic weight lifters trained, and how well they were doing.

“They’re training six times a day,” Gable stated.

What? I thought. How can anyone train that many times a day? How you going to survive?

Six workouts a day would doubl (or triple) the number of workouts most of the wrestlers engaged in each day.

True, some guys on the Iowa team only worked out TWICE a day. I don’t recall ever meeting anyone who only trained once a day. There was no way you would make it if that was all you did.

Yet now, Gable was making us feel better about how rough we supposedly had it, by telling us about athletes who trained six times a day.

The key was that all the Bulgarian workouts were brief, usually never longer than 30 minutes. Moreover, a lot of the workout was rest. The athletes made sure to get plenty of recovery time in between sets. The workouts weren’t continuous non-stop action.

I’ve written about this and I’ll write about it again: If you’re not making progress with a particular exercise, or if you find yourself rebelling against a workout because you think you need an hour or more for the workout to have any value, think again. Stop training to failure and stop doing long workouts.

Whether you do one workout a day, or six, none of them need to be difficult for you to make progress. If you opt for more than one session per day, a simple set of one exercise, stopping well short of failure, is the key to making this method work for you.

I go into much more detail on the above in videos on my membership site. In forthcoming videos, I will explain why this way of training is not only far easier, but far more effective and productive.

The method works whether you’re doing Combat Conditioning, Gama Fitness or Primate Power, or any of our other programs.

Keep in mind that less time spent in each workout equals more progress… and training to failure is pure folly.

Kick a$$ – take names,

Matt Furey