Yesterday I grabbed my shiny new pushup board and cranked out a video for y’all on YouTube.

I perform a couple different types of pushups with the board that will probably give you some grand ideas.

Go watch the video NOW – and subscribe.

 

Today, I’m going to be bold and blunt about your lower back.

Stretching your lower back is a total waste of time. It does nearly nothing to protect you from injuring yourself much less recovering from what went wrong.

Got your attention?

Good.

There is a time and a place for stretching your lower back – but most people have it bass-ackwards.

The first order of business is loosening your joints to coax the connective tissue to loosen up. It is NOT stretching the muscles that are already injured and inflamed.

Remember: Move your joints – move your qi (vital energy) – move the pain out of your body.

There are many, many joint loosening exercises that I do – combined with deep breathing.

When it comes to the lower back, it’s important to circulate your energy without further inflaming the areas that are weak and injured.

This means you would be wise to loosen your hips, waist, pelvis, knees, ankles and neck.

Yes, even your neck. Difficulties don’t just move UP the chain – they also trickle downward.

Stated in an even more pleasant tone, the neck bones are connected to the pubic bones. Seriously, when you move your neck the way I teach, things start to heat up “down under.”

Additionally, you want to make sure you are activating your kidneys as you loosen your lower back and pelvis.

In Chinese medicine, the kidneys control the strength of your lower back and lower body.

Later today I’m shooting a video on an ultra-specific loosening exercise for your lower back that includes stimulation of the kidneys with your hands. On a daily basis I am truly in awe of the power this one exercise causes to be released inside your body – as well as how it helps drive the pain away.

This video will be going up on the Matt Furey Inner Circle – along with all the other videos covering the subject of long, loose and leveraged joint health.

Come train with me.

Kick ass – take names!

Matt Furey

Believe it or not, I’ve been going to the gym for my evening workouts… usually after 8 PM.

I go to a gym filled with dumbbells and barbells.

I go to a gym with treadmills, rowing machines and other cardio devices.

I go to a gym with mega expensive weight machines.

And what do I do once I arrive at this gym?

I walk past all the equipment. All the machines, electronic and otherwise.

I walk past all the weights resting on barbells and racks.

I open the door to a big classroom with wooden floors and mirrors. It’s quiet. No music blaring… no one talking.

PERFECT..

I set a timer that gongs every five minutes, and then I begin to loosen every joint in my body.

As I loosen my joints I feel connections throughout my entire body, especially my hands and feet.

My brain lights up. I feel euphoric.

Loosening your joints moves the qi, the vital energy in the body. I know this to be true because the bottoms of my feet gt so hot they often feel as though they are resting on hot asphalt.

Once finished with this routine, I begin to work my tendons and ligaments and skeletal system the way I’ve learned over the years while training in China.

Within every movement I emphasize relaxed power. If my face ever contorts or strains in any way, I’m doing something wrong.

Whether I move fast or slow or super slow, this spirit of relaxation is supposed to be the same. Whether I’m throwing a punch or a kick, or leaping in the air, my face should never tell the story of how grueling the training is.

And this is where the mirror serves a tremendous purpose in training. Look at your face. Look at your structure. Make adjustments as you move. As soon as you note a mistake, immediately correct it. Not tomorrow. Not next week. NOW!

That’s how you get good.

It’s how you get better.

It’s how you become better than your best.

Feedback is key.

It always amazes me when I go to a gym or an academy to observe a class. First two things I observe are as follows:

1. Level of tension in the face

2. Breathing method

Truth is that it’s very rare to find a strength place in our western world wherein these two essentials are taught. And yet, these two factors influence, in a huge way, how much strength, power, speed, agility and flexibility you will have.

Got tight joints?

Got a stiff neck or lower back?

Then keep the hell away from the weights and cardio equipment.

Learn to loosen your joints with the spirit of relaxation. You don’t “tense” your way to getting loose. You smile your way to it.

I’ll show you how it’s done.

Let’s loosen up together. It’s much easier than you can imagine.

Follow along with me in the Matt Furey Inner Circle

Within a month of loosening your joints on a daily basis, you’re going to be blown away at how much better you feel, how much stronger you are – how much more energy and flexibility you have.

Come get some.

Kick ass – take names!

Matt Furey

It’s one thing to do 2,000 pushups per day. It’s another to do only three pushups, and to take one minute for each of them.

That’s three minutes for three pushups.

Yes, I know you can do the math – but some people truly can’t, so my quick computation was for them, not you.

Here’s another key point:

Doing pushups on the palms of your hands – (regular pushups) – don’t do your body or brain nearly as much good as doing them on your fists.

And if you’re an athlete who wants to throw or hit harder, then (regular) pushups on your palms are a definite no-no. Not to mention idiotic exercises such as the bench press, deadlift and curls – which tighten and shorten the very tissues you need to relax, so you can coil and uncoil with ease.

This past weekend I spoke to the father of a boy who was previously throwing over 90 mph.

And despite working harder and harder in the weight room, he hasn’t gained a single MPH of velocity. In fact, he’s gone in reverse – and NO ONE can figure it out, except el Furecat.

Get the boy OUT of the weight room, pronto. And start him on the exercises I teach in the Matt Furey Inner Circle.

It’s insane to watch all the coaches buying into the weight training for ALL sports thinking. It’s even crazier to see ball players hiring powerlifters and bodybuilders to make them stronger for sports such as baseball, tennis and golf.

Hahaha.

Remember when Tiger Woods was a twig?

He crushed the ball and won tournament after tournament.

Then he BULKED UP.

What was the result? Did he hit the ball further? Was he more accurate? Was he injury free?

Negative on all three counts.

You’ll note that Tiger is playing better these days. You’ll also note he’s no longer as bulky.

Hmmmm.

Meanwhile, the push-pull gooorooos are still telling you that bigger, stronger muscles are better.

Better for what?

Fitting into bigger clothes?

Stronger in WHAT way?

For the weight training exercises or for the movements involved in their respective sport?

By the way, as an aside, I weighed in at 196.2 pounds yesterday. Gearing up for all new videos, maybe even a new book, showcasing my current thinking and training.

Sneak peeks available at Matt Furey Inner Circle.

Kick ass – take names,

Matt Furey

Legend has it that the Great Game of India did as many as 2,000 pushups per day. And he never lost a single bout in over 5,000 matches.

Former NFL running back, Heisman Trophy winner, Olympian, MMA fighter and lifelong martial artist, Herschel Walker, has been doing at least one thousand pushups per day for decades – and he is still kicking ASS.

Thing is, all pushups are NOT created equal.

Some are FAR BETTER for you than others.

That’s why I created an entire video series around the BEST pushups you can do and put it up for members of the Matt Furey Inner Circle.

Become a superhuman member NOW – and perhaps you’ll be undefeated in all you do as well.

Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Kick Ass – Take Names!

If you want to be fitter than you’ve been in years, or even fitter than you’ve ever been – then pull up a chair and picture what I have to say.

The more mainstream you are in your thinking, habits and routines – the greater the chance you’ll live a mediocre (or worse) life.

For example, mainstream society eats three meals (or more) per day.

Mainstream eats from ALL the food groups.

Mainstream goes to a gym to workout.

Mainstream runs on treadmills and uses electronic gadgets instead of your own bodyweight.

Mainstream says to avoid meat and eat grains instead.

Mainstream takes meds.

Mainstream says to cut down on protein and avoid fat.

Mainstream relies on technology to remember.

Mainstream watches television for an AVERAGE of 21 hours per week (and that’s an old, understated figure).

Mainstream doesn’t read.

Mainstream eats candy and drinks soda.

Mainstream thinks you need to eat breakfast because it’s supposedly “the most important meal of the day.”

Mainstream is on a diet.

And mainstream is fat, unfit and unhappy. Not to mention SICK.

Meanwhile, el Furecat is a total badass.

At damn near 56, all things considered, he moves better than he has ever moved. And he looks awesome.

And he’ll help you do the same – IF you’re willing to abandon some of your mainstream mental images, beliefs, ideas, actions and habits.

If what you’re currently doing ain’t workin’ – then follow the Furecat, for he’s made all the mistakes ahead of you, and knows the way out of this mess.

Matt Furey

P.S. Be the contrarian you were born to be. Don’t fit it. Be YOU. Be the fittest, baddest ass YOU that YOU can be. Follow Furecat – NOW.

I can already hear the uproar. It’s coming from all corners of the planet.

Did you see what el Furecat wrote today?

He said, “Weight training is bad for the brain.”

Yes, I did, and here’s the rest of the story.

Weight training can benefit the brain… a bit. You’re using your hands to push and pull, and this alone has benefits to the brain.

You’re learning to move your body in various ways, you are increasing blood flow and you’re breathing a bit deeper.

All of the above benefit the brain.

But the reason I say that weight training isn’t good for the brain is because, relatively speaking, you can train someone who has very little brains to do it.

Push – pull and do so in a straight line.

How hard is that?

Or lie down on this machine and push. Or sit on this unnecessary gizmo that costs thousands of dollars, and pull.

The real brains in weight training are those who are continuously figuring out how to make expensive equipment – and selling it by the truckload. They’re the smart ones.

Now, I’m not saying that people who train with weights are stupid. Far from it.

What I’m saying is weight training, relatively speaking, doesn’t benefit the brain anywhere close to what training with your own bodyweight does. And that’s why it’s bad. It’s bad when you compare it to other exercise methods.

Go outdoors and walk backwards and your brain will benefit far more than pushing and pulling a bunch of iron or lounging on machines. I taught this years ago in my Dao Zou program – which I recently updated in China – and scientific studies now back me up.

Learn tai chi or another physically complicated martial arts routine, and the benefits to your brain and nervous system are off the charts. Each and every movement comes with a never-ending ocean of details you are to remember and work on.

Compare that to a set of preacher curls.

What did you have to remember? How taxing, memory wise, was the movement pattern to your brain and nervous system?

As for the bodyweight exercises I teach in Combat Conditioning and in my other books and videos available to members of the Matt Furey Inner Circle, in terms of the brain benefits, it’s so far ahead of weight training that I’ll stick with my stock answer: It’s not even close.

Don’t believe me? Think I’m full of it? A shyster?

Then take the following test: Go into a gym, sit on a chair in front of a military press machine and do a set of however many reps you want. How much thinking or reorganizing of your nervous system was involved in that?

Now grab a set of dumbbells, stand on your feet, and do the same exercise. Which do you think involves the brain and nervous system more?

Last of all, find a wall, kick up into a handstand and do a set of pushups with your heels to the heavens.

Hmmm.

I think we have a winner.

And it ain’t the machine or the dumbbells.

Give your body-brain the training that benefits it most.

Anytime, anywhere, anyplace, your body is your own gym.

Use it so you can use it.

Kick ass – take names!

Matt Furey
Matt Furey Inner Circle

When I was training in Chen Village in China over the first 40 days of this year, a young man from Europe, who was part of our group, got sick.

He wasn’t handling the cold very well – and was only able to train a few days out of the first few weeks he was there. By his own admission, every joint in his body ached.

The Chinese were freaked out because he didn’t eat meat or consume any animal products.

Moreover, he’d go to the store and return with various citrus fruits, a jar of peanut butter and a few coconuts.

Living in a cold climate and eating as though he’s residing in the tropics.

Pure insanity.

Meanwhile, the Furecat is eating deer. lamb, rabbit, chicken, beef, pork and eggs. On top of that, he’s drinking kefir and yogurt. He’s even drinking raw goat milk, seconds after the goat was milked.

He wasn’t sick for a single second of the trip.

The Chinese would offer him rice, noodles and white buns – and he refused 100 percent of the time. As strange as they think it is, encountering someone who doesn’t eat starch, it’s even more bizarre to meet a vegan. They don’t understand that at all.

“How you going to keep warm?” they remark.

But keeping warm isn’t an issue if you refuse starches. In fact, it makes keeping warm far easier because your circulation is better. Additionally, your body isn’t inflamed and your gut isn’t bloated.

Additionally, the healthy fats from the meats, the kefir and yogurt lubricate your joints so you’re not in pain. They flood your brain with the nutrition it needs to function at your best.

I told the 23-year old if he ate nothing but meat for a few days, especially fatty meats, he’d probably regain his health.

“But I haven’t eaten meat since I was 15,” he quipped.

“What an opportunity to change your life,” I replied.

He turned and walked away.

Diets are a religion. Truly.

Diets attract true believers and nothing short of death will rid a person of dietary beliefs – unless the person is truly open to answers.

Many dieters aren’t.

Some people have written me to ask if I’m following this diet or that.

The answer is “no.”

I’m not following a diet, even though I think there are many fine, dandy and admirable diets out there.

What I follow is a way of eatin… and not eating.

And hear me out on this: Even though I don’t eat starchy foods, if I HAD to in the case of an emergency, I could and would.

If I was ill for 30 days out of 40 and someone suggested I make a change to see what happens, I would make that change to find out.

I would make the change instantly.

Life isn’t about already having all the answers. Life is about making adjustments along the way. It’s about admitting you don’t know it all, and never will, on any subject under heaven.

That’s just one of the reasons members of the Matt Furey Inner Circle love coming back for more. They always want to see what the Furecat is up to now.

One thing is for sure, there’s always something new – and it’s life-changing.

Come and get it.

Kick ass – take names,

Matt Furey

Today’s question comes from L.D. My comments will follow:

Hello Matt,

Thanks for your wonderful fitness information. I have to say I have not been good using that info. Anyway, my question is concerning doing exercises as an amputee. I have had my left leg amputated just below the knee. I’m currently in rehab, so still have sometime for healing and building skills for a prostheses.

Can I utilize any of your exercises once I’m healed, to get stronger, etc.? Thanks for your all you do to help people stay fit.

–L.D.

M.F. Thank you so much for writing and for the positive feelings you exude. Being an amputee is an opportunity for you to get stronger and fitter than ever before while being an inspiration to others.

I encourage you to watch YouTube videos of some of the amputee wrestlers and other athletes who have done the remarkable and seemingly unfathomable.

There are double-amputees who took up the sport of wrestling and kicked ass. I’m confident that with your ability to transcend and overcome circumstances, you will do extraordinarily well.

The key is going to be focusing on the small steps – not the big ones.

Take each day, each breath, at a time. Overcome feelings of frustration and discouragement by realizing you are BIGGER than the limb you lost.

Also, keep in mind that you are indeed LOVED – and this thought alone will get you wherever you need to go.

By the way, I started a YouTube channel myself before the New Year. Now that I’m back from China, I’ll be putting up more videos on a regular basis I encourage you to subscribe to my channel.

Last night I put up a video of el Furecat doing Tai Chi in China – mostly due to the encouragement of my wife, who finally, after five years of practice, told me I was “pretty good”.. and wondered out loud why I didn’t post this particular sequence on YouTube.

Well, it’s up now. Take a gander by going to https://youtu.be/33YKMeBYR9M

Kick Ass – Take Names,

Matt Furey

P.S. Also, tons of new content is up and more will be going up on the Matt Furey Inner Circle – including how I dropped my weight back to what it was 21 years ago, when I won the world championships in Beijing, China.