Rick Hussey of Big Iron Gym passed away this past week. I'm not a gear whore nor do I appreciate or like geared lifting, however Rick made sure his guys got strong without gear as well and used some very basic, proven training methods up there. So I always appreciated the things he did. He will be missed throughout the powerlifting community.
The 'Reem tore through the K-1 tourney. That guy is pretty much unstoppable at whatever it is he decides he wants to do. And he's a self made guy. He's not a guy that was tearing through MMA at the beginning of his career. He's gotten better throughout it. I really don't care about the roid accusations. Everyone from Sonnen to Carwin to Sherk uses. I don't care. It doesn't bother me and never has. When Wandy was tearing through Pride I loved it. I didn't care or give two shits whether or not the guy was juicing. Good for him, and bad for people who look down on guys who will do anything to compete at the pinnacle of their sport. Especially when you are entertained by it. It's not like guys can just take shit, then not train or show up for camp or do all of the things required to still be the best. If anything, I have found that guys that use are usually the hardest workers and most dedicated to their craft. That's because they will do anything to be the best. It's the naturally gifted that tend to be the laziest it seems.
Fly Like a G6 - Worst fucking song I've ever heard and easily the worst song of 2010. For me, possibly all time. For the life of my I can't figure out how or why people will to listen/buy this shit.
Hot cocoa mixed in with coffee = delight
Playoffs are here. Suck it Raiders, Broncos, and Vikings. I also hate the Falcons but somehow they ended up as the #1 seed in the NFC. I don't think they will make it to the big dance however. And the playoff seeding has to change. I don't care what anyone says. You should never be blessed with a home playoff game with a losing record. This is just absurd. And people can say it's knee jerk, but it's not. We've had plenty of years where teams with 10-6 and 11-5 records sat at home while 8-8 teams made it in. That's stupid and ridiculous. This is a simply solution. You need to win your division with a better than .500 record. If you are 8-8 or worse and a division winner, you do not qualify for the playoffs and a team from another division that would have been the last wild card slot, and everyone that was below that division winner moves up one. Easy.
I have been thinking lately about trying some strongman stuff. Just for a change of pace and fun. Strongman kind of incorporates strength in with endurance (well, the WSM stuff does) which is really more of my cup of tea. We'll see. I think it would be fun.
Back in movie watching mode again! Some quick reviews.......
The Town - Awesome. See it.
The Story of Anvil - Very well done, and very depressing if you are a music guy. Depressing if you aren't too. God bless those guys.
Inception - Finally saw it. Wasn't as good as everyone made it out to be, and didn't need to watch it 10 times, but it was incredible solid and worth a watch.
Some interesting discussion I've had this week on muscular development vs strength. Matt Kroc touched on this a few weeks back as well. Look, if you want to get bigger, get bigger. You need to decide if that is the goal. If it is, you can't be a powerlifter first. Powerlifting is NOT the best way to get as big as you can get. It's just not. I've done every style of training you can think of, and good ol bodybuilding wins out on the hypertrophy front. There is a reason that bodybuilders train the way that they do. Training to failure in a medium rep range as heavy as you can wins. Period. This isn't even a discussion anymore. If you want to get big really fast, that's the best path. Conversation over. If you want to get as strong as you can in the 1 rep max mold, lots of singles, doubles, triples, and some 5's will work. However you aren't going to get a lot bigger training this way. Especially in comparison to the other way. Food is still the main driver. However if you are training low rep for power and strength and eating a shit load, you're just going to get fat as hell. Training high rep/high intensity/high frequency will get you the biggest in the fastest possibly manner. Training the big 3 once per week with low reps is not the best way to get as huge as possible. So remember what you are training for. With that said, training for strength will give you SOME size, and training for growth will give you some maximal strength. Doing 1 for the other isn't optimal however. So train accordingly.
Those of you who don't spank your kids...shame on you bitches. Is there anything worse than spoiled rotten ass kid running around in a store, talking shit to his parents, acting like a complete ass hat? No, and it's your fault. Spankings go a long ways. And don't argue, you won't convince me otherwise.
I wrote a novel two years ago. Am now working on part II. I love to write (duh) and I have had all of these stories in my head since I was a kid. My wife, bless her, talked me into writing the first one a few years ago and it was the best thing I ever did for myself. It's been a great outlet for me.
I am getting my first tat. I'm not sure when, but it's going to happen. It will be big too. If I'm going to get a tat, I'm not getting no little shit that no one can see. I am thinking on my forehead. I'm kidding. Something across the shoulder/back/chest wrap around region.
Anyone who reads my blog and likes it please click on the google adsense like crazy.
I'm really toying with this shirt idea. To sell some t-shirts but I want to get something cool done. I will wait until I can pour more time into it.
I think I'm more beat up overall right now than I've ever been. It's not because of anything I've done wrong really, it just comes with the territory. I have plantar fascitis which just jumped up on me. I didn't increase my running suddenly or anything like that. I blew out my adductor on a squat day where I felt just fine. My elbow tendinitis has been going on for years. So.....I can't run....can't squat or pull heavy.....can't press. That pretty much covers the training bases. Agitated? Yes. Depressed? No. I will rehab the adductor, as I have many times. I am being good to my elbow because I want to bench 450 in the next year, and being stupid won't let that happen. I have dealt with plantar fascitis before, so I know with some rest it will eventually go away. Don't let these kinds of things ruin your everyday life. Anytime you have a pendulum swing in one direction, it swings just as hard back the other way. I have found this to be true over and over again. So I don't sweat it that much.
I hope everyone had a happy and safe new years!
Gotta agree with the steroid comments. If you are willing to do anything it takes to be the best, awesome. It really takes a lot of heart in my opinion to succeed at a high level in anything.
ReplyDeleteFunny that you posted this today on the day that they announced the inductees for the baseball hall of fame. I grew up in St. Louis and as a kid I loved guys like McGwire and Sosa. It kills me that those guys won't get in the hall, yet worked like animals and had all the talent in the world, just because they did things that everyone else did at the time (and still does) in every major sport.
The steroid stuff has gotten beyond ridiculous. They should have never been banned for one, and second the majority of guys have no idea how they work, or how much they work or anything.
ReplyDeletePeople think that you use roids and BAM, overnight you're squatting a grand and deadlifting 800 and benching 600 and look like Arnold and can train day and night and all sorts of fucking nonsense. I try to ignore the nonsense but every once in a while I vent about it.
Damn straight about spanking your kids. My kids are 18 and 17, and I have always gotten compliments about how well they are behaved, especially when we were in a public setting. 'Spare the rod spoil the child' has been my mantra since my kids were born. My kids knew that if they crossed the line, there was ALWAYS a price to pay. I feel that too many parents these days want to be their kids' best friend instead of their parent.
ReplyDeleteI've had PF for awhile now. Major pain in the ass. 2 things that really help me reduce the pain are the rotational hamstring stretch here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/plantar-fasciitis-exercise.html and hitting the hell out of the posterior tibialis with a lacrosse ball: http://www.triggerpointbook.com/plantarf.htm
I don't know if you can do the rotational stretch if its on the same side as your adductor injury. If they are on the same side there might be a relationship between the two.
Hopefully you will find this helpful.
RyanH
Foley - Took the words from my mouth.
ReplyDeleteRyan - I have been using eletro stim on it nightly and that helps. But I will look at those links. Thanks.
Paul:
ReplyDeleteThat G6 song drives me crazy as well...for the longest I wondered why the hell are they talking about a fucking pontiac!
Also 5/3/1 for strength and size? what do you think? I do at least 4 - 5 assistance exercises in the 5 set 12 rep range after the main lift, I follow the BBB platform. My goal is strength and size in that order
http://mta360.blogspot.com/
Yeah I think that doing bodybuilder stuff after the big lift will work awesome. The BBB stuff is good, I like what Jim came up with there.
ReplyDeleteI actually like it better when you squats, then the 5 sets of 10 for deadlifts after. Then do the same for bench and military, and vice versa. That looks really good to me.
Yes sir, thats exactly what I do , but I may add in what you suggested with regards to the DL then 5 sets of squats and vice versa...thanks
ReplyDeleteHappy new year
HNY to you too man.
ReplyDeleteFirst post here so gotta say, big fan of your training philosophies etc. However, got to disagree with you on the fighters juicing issue Paul.
ReplyDeleteI understand your points about guys that will do anything to be the best and that you personally may not care if a fighter takes steroids or not but how about the guys that fight by the rules, don't juice, but have to get in there with someone that does?
It's not enough to say, "well they can juice if they want to . .!" Those guys that are juicing are taking drugs that make them something that they could not be without steroids whether it be bigger, faster, stronger, whatever and the bottom line is it's CHEATING - - at least whilst steroids are banned by all the major promotions and athletic commissions!
Steroids never improved someones hand/eye coordination. Which is generally one of the biggest factors in fighting. That and cardio. And anabolics do not increase cardio.
ReplyDeleteThe main factor is helping guys recover from injuries, so that they can fight again sooner.
SEcond, in all pro sports there is going to be guys who skirt the rules to win. When you start talking about millions of dollars at stake people will work for every edge they can get. If you chose not to use, that's fine. I just don't have a problem with it. Cain beat the living dog shit out of Brock Lesnar. Obviously Brock uses and Cain doesn't. It didn't help Brock take a punch better did it? So in the end, ability will always ALWAYS overcome performance enhancing drugs.
Also, generally the increase in what a drug "makes a guy" is different, and often times less than people believe. Some people think you can run a cycle of test and all of a sudden be benching 500 and dealifting 700, but it just doesn't work that way. Every guy responds differently.
In the end, people are going to do what they feel they must do in order to have a competitive advantage.
Lastly, making someone "something they are not" is something we do with weights, nutrition, and OTC supplements. Should we also tell guys they can't lift, do cadio, and only perform their art to get ready? Everything athletes do to prepare makes them better they are naturally.
Thanks for the response and interesting perspectives Paul!
ReplyDeleteAnabolics -used properly - allow athletes to train harder, longer, more frequently, etc., and can therefore result in better cardio; i'm pretty sure thats why the cyclists and other endurance athletes are using them?
Secondly, whilst I'm pretty certain that Lesnar uses, or has used in the recent past - I'm not so certain that Cain doesn't!
Finally, I think that your last point is bit of a diversionary tactic! The BIG difference is that training and legal nutrition are WITHIN the rules - juicing isnt, it's cheating!!
Well as far as training longer and more frequently, it all depends on what you are using. That's a common misconception. Orals typically make a guy feel like shit.
ReplyDeleteUntil Cain gets busted, I will assume he doesn't because the guy looks like a bowl of jell-o for the most part. And my whole point there was, using steroids doesn't make you a better fighter even if you are stronger or in better shape than the next guy. Just like it won't make you hit a curve ball.
With reference to Cain V., I'm not saying he is juicing but, on the other hand can't say that he isn't just because he looks "soft"! For example, Josh Barnett also looked pretty soft and look at all the sh*t he was on!
ReplyDeleteWhether it's stronger, better cardio, increased recovery, whatever,(and these are all factors in being a better fighter); steroids obviously give the results that the athletes are looking for otherwise why are they using?
Maybe we will just have to agree to differ on the issue but feel free to answer this one Paul.
When steroids are banned in a sport, is an athlete that uses them cheating?
I think the Josh Barnett issue a good one. Obviously Josh was using for recovery and not cosmetic use. If Cain somehow got busted, the same would be said.
ReplyDeleteYes, according to the rule book, it's cheating. I've never argued that. I just don't care. It doesn't bother me and never has. Lots of guys are going to do everything they can to get a competitive edge. When you start factoring in millions of dollars, well it's pretty simple math.
People want to see freak athletes then complain when said freak gets busted. He's still a freak with or without anabolics more than likely. That's why it doesn't bother me.
Yeah, at the risk of appearing to contradict myself, I pretty much agree with most of what you said there Paul! Thanks for the exchange of opinion.
ReplyDeleteDiscussion is always good Geoff.
ReplyDelete