MBG Intensive Eischens Yoga practice...packed house!!

The above pic is from our MBG Intensive from last week...one of our biggest ever....we just began to limit them too which is cool cause they're getting a bit big:) haha....good problem!!
Jungle Gym XT certification shoot today up in madison! Then drove back...crazy traffic...worked out, then we had some fun and made an awesome vegan pizza!! Yes you heard correct, we're making a JGXT certification and the dates should be posted pretty soon if you're interested.
MBG 1 restoration - did beginner Eischens Yoga sequence first thing this morning
MBG 2 training - well after doing an almost 3 hour JGXT shoot we drove back and i just felt like...man i still got to do something tonight...so:

1. push ups:20,18,16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2 resting about 60 seconds to 15 seconds between sets
2. L seat chins, then JGXT muscle ups: 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 same rest

this felt good, not too hard but good:)
MBG 3 plant based eating;

1. bengal spice tea
2. soaked oats, bananas, almonds, vanilla rice protein with spiralina 
3. more tea:)
4. almonds, banana, orange, pear
5. organic food bar
6. kale, celery, spinach, tomato, broccoli with some hummus
7. corn meal crust, tomato sauce, kale, onions, tomato, vegan patties

QUOTE I LOVE: "like a gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials" Love this quote, simple and strong!!
TELL ME SOME OF YOUR FAVORITES!!
despite a very busy day we feel pretty good and ate great!
hope you all are doing good!
jon

Soul Training for 2 hours!! Powerful Plant Based Meals!!

Now this is a powerful plant strong meal!!

Very busy day today! worked from 8-12, taught noon class, then trained from 1-3, then taught 2 more classes til 7pm then working again:) haha....dang!!....but you know...it was another good day!!:)
Words cannot say how happy i was at our MBG Chicago Grand Opening:) The place was packed, folks were cheering during the beat reps demo, people laughed and cried:), we had 4 various plant based and vegan food tables, barefoot shoe vendors!!! Man, it was a dream come true night!
MBG 1 restoration: did some Eischens Yoga no doubt! Then did a whole series of ROM drills...big swings on the boxes (this is a bodyweight movement by the way, not kb swings:), traveling ring mobility circles, JGXT hip mobility drills....great all!!!
MBG 2 training; worked out with my boy Costellano Huffman (cool as hell dude, strong as hell!!)
practiced planche press ups, to rolls, to L seats variations x 30 minutes about!
traveling rings, to german hangs, to L seat holds x 30 minutes about!
did muscle ups, to PUR assisted muscle ups, to slight assisted off low box muscle ups x 30 minutes!!
then did parallel bars muscle ups x about 15 minutes!!!
then finished with more parallel box drills; jump to planche press holds, to half presses, to roll to L seat to roll backwards to planche holds....then did some back rolls to press ups with slight assistance and dang! we needed it at this point! hahahaha....can you say....fatiqued!!!
MBG 3 plant based eating:

1. maca cafe'
2. kale, banana, lifes basics, rice milk, almonds
3. bengal spice tea
4. beans, spinach, tomato, onion, coconut milk, sweet potatoes
5. wild rice, kale, garbanzo beans, onions, tomatoes, tofu
6. oranges

QUESTION FOR YOU:) what is the funniest things you've seen in a gym? This can be anything from craziest exercise, or most annoying person making noises ever!!!:) haha
one of my funniest is once taking a yoga class in portland oregon and at the end of class while in rest pose this guy starts moaning like he's having sex!! and i'm about to yell shut the fuck up!!!! but hold back as i was a guest at this place....afterwards my friend says that was the first time they ever did rest pose with fists clenched!!!:) hahaha
peace!!
jon

Good day today:) got back in the 15/15 ring:) Strong Meals! JGXT ROM training!

Breaking down the 15/15 x 10 minute kettlebell clean and press workout!!:)
Today was a cool day, got alot of good work done and had a great time training today too:)
We're getting ready for our big Grand Opening at MBG Chicago tomorrow night
Had a bunch of good meetings too today AND re-tested all of the 60 day fitness challengers and
they CRUSHED IT!!!! Awesome!! We'll show you the results in a few days but trust me they were great!
MBG 1 restoration - today did something different and it was great! we used the Jungle Gym XT to do some really cool shoulder and hip mobility and stability drills with it. What we did was for the shoulders was to hang out below the JGXT handles, to rock from side to side, then in circles all the while keeping my feet on the ground....then did the same for my hips while holding the stirrups at my hips and did the same side to sides and then circles each way. it felt awesome while doing them and after!! Try it out!!
MBG 2 training - after doing 3 sets of about 8 of each movement of the shoulder and hip drills, then did 3 sets of about 8-10 big swings, then about 3 sets of 40s of my wrist mobility drills all for warm up!!
Then did the clean and press workout with the 24s for 10 sets of 10 afap...wanted to check that out instead of doing it 15/15 style:) and it was very cool...got challenging at the end and did it in about 11:30 but it wasnt so bad for not having done a 15/15 in over a year:) and this felt a bit harder than 15/15 style...man this is a great workout!!
MBG 3 eating -

• maca cafe'
• soaked oats, bananas, almonds, lifes basics, coconut water = very tasty!!
• spinach, mung beans, kale
• kale, veggie burger, baby spinach, sweet potato 
• asparagus, spinach, beans
• popcorn, pink himalayan salt, coconut oil

It was good to train again today, it was an easy workout, hard, but not too hard:) haha
eating was great! looking forward to tomorrow:)
i wish you all happiness!
peace,
jon

Back from intensive, Lessons I learned!!

It was very cool being back in madison for a week! Teaching the intensive's is always a great experience, i learn alot from all sources no doubt. This course was no different as we had folks from all over the world and while i taught them the ways of MBG 3, they showed me that passion, drive of young trainers that is so invigorating...they are so excited to learn and then teach others.
Two of our MBG trainers actually came on their own to help the students in the course learn the Eischens Yoga a few days early in the morning on their own!
One of the intensive students, flew from korea and he was just so respectful and kind it was awesome.
Another MBG Trainer chad barrett did some really really cool Jungle Gym XT stuff as well...hope you can understand this as he put up JGXT's high and low all over the bar system at the mbg madison and would glide from one to the next to the next, pulling, pushing, spinning, using his whole body like a monkey does in the wilds...it was really inspiring how outside the box he was thinking. He also showed a very cool way to kip up off the floor with the JGXT...put it at hip height, lay on your back while holding the JGXT, roll back a bit on your shoulders then 'Kip' up to standing position....it felt great!! And was super easy to do as well....that was very very cool!!:)
Some other students had some real challenges learning, or doing the yoga, or understanding certain concepts and then i see the incredible desire they showed and effort to understand and 'get it'....that is beautiful.
It was also just being back at my crib in madison, it's very chill and super relaxing, i miss that no doubt as chicago is much higher energy:) always trade offs:)
Well yesterday pretty much worked all morning, drove back here and worked the entire drive, worked more when i got here and then trained some bjj last night! whew a full day no doubt.
Looks like the MBG Chicago crew has us ready for our Grand Opening Party on Saturday as well. Talked with Erin yesterday and she seems to have it under control which is great!!:)
Really looking forward to teaching again today! Eischens Yoga class and dang i need to do the whole class too:) I dig that big time.
As a way to keep myself fresh for the course i only teach the course during the 6 day intensive and do not do any other training besides the course...this lets me feel good and strong the whole time which happened...then after that i like to take some time off to recover as the course is 'giving' alot of my energy and i need to re-coup it afterwards...so it's time to chill now:) haha
Til tonight:) haha back at it today!!
peace my friends,
p.s. hope you like the green smoothie above:) it tastes off the hook!!:)
jon

MBG Intensive day 4! Great lessons on training and restoring!!

Today was another great day for the intensive, we covered all variations and paths to getting too and walking on your hands as well as all kettlebell pulls and presses. ONE BIG AHAA came up again today and that was "Staying Connected". My old brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor Rickson Gracie use to tell me jiu-jitsu is like like jon....but when i trained BJJ and i did not really understand it...over the years i began to understand it more and more and he was right. It is flowing sometimes, sometimes soft, sometimes strong! Like Bruce Lee said, be like water my friend! So true! Another point i connected today at the course is "being connected"....WOW!! In relationships, in bjj, in training, in eating, in eischens yoga...it is all the same!! Being connected in each gives strength and makes things work better, easier. let me explain: "Being Connected" in all of the below is literally being conscious, in the moment as well as literally being connected....i'll explain....it's simple again which is good huh:) :
Relationships - not thinking or being in the future or past when with someone else, being present, there, listening, being WITH them!
In BJJ - no doubt doing BJJ puts you in that zone of being conscious, that is why i think so many love it, it is literally being in the moment...in the now...being connected spiritually but also literally being connected to your training partner in a ballet of constant free flowing movement....in competition if you really are good at connecting to them you always feel heavy on them without effort, they always feel your pressure and weight. BUT in the pure joy of rolling BJJ this connection is the effortless flow and movement with your training partner...it's instinctive, natural, flowing and leaves you feeling amazing and it is...you've just connected to a primal instinct of natural play with another!
In Training/working out - you can look at it the same way if you are training for the pure joy of it or even if you are training for competition...connecting to the joy of movement with instinctive movements and play, climbing, crawling, running, jumping, rolling, reacting...all connect you to our natural instincts....BUT even if you're training hard, if you connect to your body you literally make all movements stronger and more efficient. Today we talked about that often til at one point Brian ( a very strong and experienced trainer) asked me what i meant by being connected in this aspect. I said it is when each link from your feet to your hands is aligned and in position to produce that powerful movement...when you have NO weak links at any point...so we reviewed his kb push press...(good connected video above)....he slightly stuck his butt out on the dip into his squat...all i said was keep the elbows 'connected' by keeping your hips slightly forward as you dip into your squat...then staying connected explode up in a 'haaaa' and he looked at me like wow, that was very cool:) he got it! that to me was very very cool:)
In eating - this one is easy...being connected to earth! eating foods from the earth! in a way that shows you are connected to more than your own ego and eating in a way that helps the earth to become healthy and happy again and that is a plant based nutrition plan. That is being connected to earth with what we eat and why we eat what we eat....that is being conscious and connected to the greater good!
In Eischens Yoga - easy again...in EY we want to be connected all the time, engaged in our movements and this makes us heal and prevent injuries better for ourselves and others...again this is being more conscious than just for ourselves and it is really being connected to the greater good!!

just some more simple thoughts:) hope you like them:)
peace my friends:)
i must say, i love doing what i do...i get to connect on so many levels and help the greater good! now that is very very cool:)
jon

MBG Intensive in Madison FULL HOUSE:) some simple PB meals

Making a point while teaching:) haha NICE lime green shirt!!:) haha

Day 1 of our MBG April 2011 intensive started out great! A full house, folks from all over the world...korea, germany, canada and all over the usa:) love meeting folks from all over the country and world:) First days are always interesting:) Getting to meet folks and learn about them and their road to
where they are today is always very cool...some are trainers, some are wanting to be trainers and get the heck out of their current job that drives them crazy:) I've seen it so many times and each time that person once they make that change to doing something they love...like training and living in a more conscious way...they love life a 100% more....that is priceless:)
Yesterday after working all morning and teaching then driving up to madison i went and did our 10-1 prison workout at my old playground and had a simple and strong workout....all by myself on the playground...it was great! Did planche dips and chin ups in straight sets (meaning each set was completed without a break).  Love the simplicity of movements and feeling a good workout done!
Just wanted to check in with you all and tell you some interesting AND OVERLY SIMPLE points from the last few days:
Rest - here is a simple one from my good friend john allen....whenever you feel tired that is cool, listen to that, our body is saying "listen to me man"!! Any animal if tired lays down and chills....we dont....because of this we get really tired and then need stimulants in order to stay up and active....so be like gorilla:) and when tired "Chill like a Gorilla"...it does a body good!!
Sleep - stop eating 2 hours before bed, only go to bed when ready to sleep or have sex...that is it...if you're not sleepy then dont go to bed and watch tv....instead do something that begins to relax you like reading some simple book....your body will tell you "it's time, go to bed":) This is simple and effective.
Eating - i know this will blow your mind but try this one on for size if you want to lose some weight, EAT ONLY TIL SATISFIED!! listen to your body again on this one....eat half of a meal and sit for a minute...yes that means stop eating:) and just take note...am i still hungry? probably not...especially if you're eating nutrient dense foods full of vitamins and minerals:) if you're cool, then put the food away for later. That is a simple point...so from now on take a serious look at your portions and try this one out for size!!:)
Training - try this one out as well....just practice things you want to get good at for a week or two... listen to your body...(common theme going on here? haha:) and just train intuitively...maybe one day do just handstands and maybe throw in some playing on poles practice too...do it til you feel "i'm cool" then get out of there....pay attention each day and listen and do it...you'll be surprised at how great you feel when done training, what an amazing workout you got AND how much you improve at those skills at the end of the week!!!
Todays TIP!!! LISTEN AND FOLLOW WHAT YOUR BODY SAYS and you will become more in touch and will reap greater rewards than you ever thought:) Happiness:) haha
Peace my friends!
jon

What a day!!!! WGN at the MBG!! Crazy BJJ and MBG training today!!!...and of course Meals:)

MBG Students doing some high level Eischens Yoga feedback!!:)

What a day!!!! WGN today was off the hook fun!! We were laughing so much it was a joke!! haha
First WGN comes in and we do a spot every 15 minutes about: http://www.wgntv.com/news/morningnews/aroundtown/ 
Click the around town monkey bar gym part 1 and then part 2 links.
It shows quite a bit:) The true fun was during alot of the filming we were messing around on the bars and the students, trainers and all were just laughing so hard we could barely stand:) haha

• After WGN then we ate a quick bite: quinoa flakes, dates, banana, flax meal, lifes basics (which is awesome:).....
• then worked for an hour, then went back and trained bjj for about 2 hours with luiz, raphael (black belt who i use to battle with in Rio who is up here for a few fights, and man he has gotten wicked good!!), danielo (crazy tough little guy, awesome purple belt...more like a black belt haha:) and then for sure thiago...luiz's brother who is also a 2 time world champion and just amazing. So after training for 2 hours, THEN we worked out MBG style for another 2 hours!!!

OFF THE HOOK!!!

• plyo box planche presses to muscle ups, to L seat combo
• then we all did muscle ups like crazy for awhile
• then we all did plache presses from the bar...man this was tough...not quite pressing all the way up yet but i got to full extension which was dope!
• Then we did flagpoles, then moved to 1 arm handstand holds assisted by stall bars with other arm and then lowered ourselves down to L seats....very very hard!!

man it was a blast! we all look forward to doing more training like this this summer...we do this and we're gonna be RIDICULOUSLY BAD ASSES!!!! hahaha!!
THEN
taught 3 classes today and did my Eischens Yoga no doubt:) and my shoulder routine for sure:)
It was a great day:)
for lunch i ate kale, garbanzo beans, onions
for snack - i finished eating my quinoa flakes bowl of breakfast:) haha
for dinner i ate quinoa pasta, peanut sauce with tons of baby spinach, onions and veggies:)
Whew what a day:)
peace my friends and i wish you all could of joined us today:) I know you were here in spirit:)
jon

COOL SATURDAY!! My old stomping grounds, bike rack workout, soul food dinner!!

My old bboy stomping grounds:) Water Tower Place:) haha

QUESTION - if you went back in time to when you were a teen, could you do now what you did then? I did not get out and dance:) but i did go check it out again:) recently i did check out if i still could do some of the stuff i did back in the day and was happy to find out i can...even though 28 years ago when i was a bboy (breakdancer:) i was only 135lbs...now at 215 i can still crush some windmills...the headspins hurt too much as i got a big old knot on my head still from spinning on it so much back then:) hope it didnt damage my brain too much:) haha
Man today was cool, i chilled:) rode my bike all over chicago (as i'm about to again today...its 83 out!!) and then did a simple workout...on a bike rack! then had a great dinner at Soul Veg Rest on the south side! A good simple day:) The above picture is Water Tower place in downtown chicago on michigan ave about 800 north....man i use to breakdance almost every friday and saturday night here with my brother greg:) we'd dance from about 8pm to about midnight then we'd go to a house club and dance more til sunrise:) what an awesome life!!! Make about $150 bucks each a night...talk about in shape too:) haha Try doing the six step for 1 minute:) We danced for hours on the street, then eat, then club dance til sunrise:) crazy shape!!!!:)

My bike and my rack to workout on:) haha

So after riding all over i stopped had some coconut waters from whole foods, then rode and looked for a simple quiet place to workout and found it....this bike rack is perfect for dips and body rows...so i did 3 x 12 dips and 3 x 16 rows and that was it:) simple and felt great! Then got home later and did 5 sets of 5 full power wheel rollouts (straight body with 1 60lb power jumper band assisting) alternated with chest expander shoulder routine and then mixed in some indian clubs too....simple and felt great!!!

Soul Vegetarian East Restaurant salad bar is off the hook!!!

After training Jessie and i went out for dinner to one of our favorite joints SVR on 75th and Indiana and we both got the salad bar....kale (soaked all day...which is alot better absorbed than cooked), red cabbage and chickpeas...delicious meal!!!
That was my saturday, hope you all had a great day too:)
Please look for us on TV tomorrow (national!!) WGN is a national station so we'll be on at 7-8 am and again at 8-9am cdt....CHECK US OUT AND GIVE US SOME SHOUT OUTS OKAY!!!
peace my friends!!
jon

Old & Great MBG 15/15 videos!!!, Strong Training, Eating, Restoration...on WGN monday!!!!

MBG Madison 15/15 clean and press x 10 minutes, then 15/15 squat and swings = crushed students!!!:)  Love this workout and this is tomorrows so if you can watch it and try to match it and have a crazy hard workout!! We filmed this one maybe two summers ago in madison and it was hot out and the whole class kicked ass on this workout. This is just showing a little clip i believe...re

Here is the first half of this workout clip...the intensity, the challenge, the FUN!! haha...for me:) haha
It's great doing this workout outside  and getting the whole class going for it hard-core!
Today was a busy one here in chicago...worked all morning, then trained at noon, then designed and laid out next weeks workouts, then taught from 5-7 tonight....but it was a good day:)
MBG 1 restoration - Taught Eischens Yoga class today and did alot of new poses in the mix today; elbow dog, all warriors with movement and then finished the class with restorative pose...not rest pose but restorative which is different....i completely set the students up in a completely comfortable position for them to just relax into....you do this so that they feel NO pressure anywhere on their bodies. It is extremely relaxing and whole seminars can be taught in this methodology....it's great for you!
MBG 2 training - just wanted to do a simple workout...to focus on super simple exercise and really really focus on my form and breathing on each exercise....just kept going back and forth between clean sets of chin ups to chest and push ups....yes push ups:) Try doing them without any collapse in the shoulders...it is very very hard to do and it forces you to really align 100% of the time you're doing the exercise. Then did the same with planche dips and cliffhanger crawls....very simple and dang it felt great!!
MBG 3 eating - all day ate simple and strong meals

• maca cafe
• 2 bananas, 10 dates, pecans, lifes basics protein powder (hemp, rice, pea proteins), water
• great lunch at whole foods: kale, cous cous, pecans, pine nuts, peas, potatoes = crazy good!!!!:)
• 4 pieces of sprouted bread with raw almond butter and pure raspberry jam
• baby spinach, kale, kidney beans, onions, tomato, pumpkin seeds, ving & oil dressing
• popcorn, coconut oil, pink himalayan salt

We're busy here working hard to blow this place up.
MONDAY at 7 and 8 am WGN is coming to the MBG Chicago and doing 2 hours of intro's from our place!!! We're gonna get crazy air time and get the word out big time!!! Watch us if you can cause WGN is a national network!!:)
peace and love my friends!
jon

Awesome 15/15 for 25 minutes!!!! Super Strong meals!! EY no doubt!

Here's a video from our Road Warrior videos walking on my hands. If you want to walk on your hands
i have a 8 step pattern that will get you walking on your hands in no time:)
Todays workout was WICKED!!! Me and my boy Cos and Jeremy trained and did my favorite workout of all time...the MBG 15/15 workout!! For 25 minutes!!!
MBG 1 restoration - Did Eischens Yoga in class today
MBG 2 training - 15/15 x 5 minutes of 2 exercises x 5

1. Handstand push ups x 6,6,6,6,6 = 30 (assisted with 70lb bxt)
2. Muscle ups x 4,4,3,2,1 = 14
1. rest 2-3 minutes
3. Chin ups to sternum x 6,5,3,2,2 = 18
4. Planche dips off boxes x 10,10,8,7,6 = 41
1. rest 2-3 minutes
5. JGXT muscle ups (measured to hips and feet 1' past support) x 6,6,6,6,6 = 30
6. Tricep layouts on the stall bars x 5,5,5,5,5 = 25
1. rested 2-3 minutes
7. JGXT foot up lunge (left first set, right second set) did 9s,9s,8s,8s,8s = 42 each leg
1. rested 2-3 minutes
8. 2 sets of Glute Ham Developers with partner holding feet to slow negative with body straight 2 x 8, then plyo push up back to top position with a 2 count hold

MBG 3 plant based eating - drank about a gallon of water today:)

1. maca cafe'
2. quinoa, raw protein, bananas, dates
3. spinach, mango, raw food meal
4. coconut water
5. arugala, tomatoes, kidney beans, onions, vegan corn bread, split pea soup
6. coconut water and an orange

QUESTION FOR YOU: Have you ever been marked by an animal? When i say marked i literally mean scared in some way. Some folks have said your spirit is often the animal that has marked you:) When i was 6 years old i was bitten in the face by my 250lb saint bernard, right under my left eye, missed my eyeball by 1/2 inch...it was an accident, he was sleeping while we were watching the movie born free, his foot was sore and i was petting him for the whole movie when i shifted and hit his foot a bit and he turned and bit, then realized what he did when he saw my face covered in blood. I did not feel bad at all, just for George as he was my boy and i must of hurt his foot...he felt very bad after and i wasnt hurt beyond the holes in my head!:) haha SO my spirit animal is a Saint Bernard...named George!!
Peace my friends! Got new internet connection again so videos are a coming back!!! hey hey hey!!
jon