Bodyweight - 239
4" block deadlifts -
135x5,5,5
225x3,3
315x3,3
405x3
500x1
550x1
600x1
Speed Deads -
455x3sets of 3
Elevated Stiffies - 350x10
Shrugs (no straps) - 225x50
Notes - Tired as fucking hell. Still pulled the 600 with good speed even though I felt like dogshit. There is a little cold going around and I don't know if I have it, but I do feel slightly run down even though my sleep has been solid. 80% er.
Strength Life Legacy
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Book excerpt - Programming your cycles
Ok the last week or so has been a lot of serious opinion type talks and it's time to switch gears and actually talk about some training. Notably, let's talk about programming your phases for the strong-15. So that way there's no confusion about what you should be doing in that regard.
Programming - Where all the fuckin’ up starts
The biggest reason why guys training cycles get short circuited is because of ego.
Period.
The truth is, for most lifters, they don’t want to walk into the gym and use “normal” weights. Normal being relative, of course.
They want to be the king in the gym. If they have a 600 deadlift they want to deadlift 600 every week. So when they program in the phases they always program way too high. Then they get into week 5 and wonder why shit is starting to feel heavy. It’s because they refused to acknowledge that they really aren’t all that and a bucket o’ chicken.
People often have trouble coming to grips with their own mortality and inferior abilities. Programming in numbers is just another example of this.
It’s not until you overcome this that you can actually move past what you are capable of now.
That’s another sentence that you probably need to read a few times if you have been frustrated with your training.
Proper Programming - The 85-93-100 rule
Programming for success is not difficult if you adhere to the rules above concerning training philosophy.
So why does everyone have so much trouble understanding what to put in for a max when they start their programming?
Ego is the number one problem.
Put your ego aside, program in a nice little goal for phase 3, then program 85% of that for phase 1 and 93% of that for phase 2.
That’s it. It’s that simple.
But people fuck this up constantly.
Let me quote Ed Coan (again) about how to approach your gym lifting....
“ I always leave the heavy ones for meets. They don't mean shit in the gym and I'll end up overtraining. That's what I used to do when I was younger, but I could get away with it then. Overtraining is really common in powerlifting, just like bodybuilding.”
If I had a dollar for every time I heard a guy say “I hit X amount in the gym before the meet, but I missed it on meet day. I don’t know why.” I would give this book out for free because I’d be rich and retired, banging Adriana Lima. But I’m not, even though I really really wish I were.
You only have so many big ones in you over the course of a training cycle. And I’m not talking about your sex life. Don’t be the guy that competes that is always talking about what he hit in the gym but missed at the meet. Be smart in your programming and reap the rewards.
If you don’t plan on competing, the rules still apply. You’re still trying to get as strong as possible. So put your ego aside and program in a way that sets you up for success. The truth is, you never have to take an absolute max attempt in the gym, to get as strong as possible. In fact, it’s probably counter productive in some ways. It takes longer to recover from these kinds of attempts, it poses a higher risk for injury, and you’re only doing it to demonstrate strength.
You don’t need to demonstrate strength to actually get stronger.
Momentum -
Each training session should build on the next, and each phase should build on the next one, until you are at peak strength. This will not happen if you are training at damn near max weights week in and week out. At some point either your strength will fall off for a while, or your body will give you a nice dose of forced rest in the way of an injury. Either way, both of these things curtail training progress.
So let’s show how Joe Lifter should do this.
Joe Lifter is good for a 405 squat. He knows this either because.....
Joe is smart. He knows 405 would be a REAL max, so he just plans on hitting 415 in the next 9 weeks. So he plugs in 355 for phase 1 (85%), 385 for phase 2 (93%), and 415 for phase 3 (100%).
Joe busts through each phase, gets stronger and more confident. Easily goes 355, 385, 415 on testing day after a short deload. Takes a few days off, decides to go for 425 on his next go round.
Successful lifter is successful.
Now, Matt Douchefag on the other hand thinks he’s good for 405. Even though he’s only done 385 as a real hard grinder as a single and that was months ago.
Matt Douchefag plugs in 415 for phase 3, 385 for phase 2, and 365 for phase 1.
Matt Douchefag wonders why everything feels so heavy just a couple of weeks in, stalls in phase 2 and starts missing lifts. Matt Douchefag sucks, and so does his planning and programming. Matt Douchefag doesn’t know how to leave his ego aside and plan appropriately because he thinks more of his lifting than he should.
Matt douchefag should get beaten to death with an AIDS shovel because he wastes his time and my time, by asking me why his training failed when I’ve covered this on numerous occasions.
In essence, be Joe Lifter. Don’t be Matt Douchefag.
Sources:
TNATION| Atlas Speaks: An interview with Ed Coan. http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_interviews/atlas_speaks
Programming - Where all the fuckin’ up starts
The biggest reason why guys training cycles get short circuited is because of ego.
Period.
The truth is, for most lifters, they don’t want to walk into the gym and use “normal” weights. Normal being relative, of course.
They want to be the king in the gym. If they have a 600 deadlift they want to deadlift 600 every week. So when they program in the phases they always program way too high. Then they get into week 5 and wonder why shit is starting to feel heavy. It’s because they refused to acknowledge that they really aren’t all that and a bucket o’ chicken.
People often have trouble coming to grips with their own mortality and inferior abilities. Programming in numbers is just another example of this.
It’s not until you overcome this that you can actually move past what you are capable of now.
That’s another sentence that you probably need to read a few times if you have been frustrated with your training.
Proper Programming - The 85-93-100 rule
Programming for success is not difficult if you adhere to the rules above concerning training philosophy.
So why does everyone have so much trouble understanding what to put in for a max when they start their programming?
Ego is the number one problem.
Put your ego aside, program in a nice little goal for phase 3, then program 85% of that for phase 1 and 93% of that for phase 2.
That’s it. It’s that simple.
But people fuck this up constantly.
Let me quote Ed Coan (again) about how to approach your gym lifting....
“ I always leave the heavy ones for meets. They don't mean shit in the gym and I'll end up overtraining. That's what I used to do when I was younger, but I could get away with it then. Overtraining is really common in powerlifting, just like bodybuilding.”
If I had a dollar for every time I heard a guy say “I hit X amount in the gym before the meet, but I missed it on meet day. I don’t know why.” I would give this book out for free because I’d be rich and retired, banging Adriana Lima. But I’m not, even though I really really wish I were.
You only have so many big ones in you over the course of a training cycle. And I’m not talking about your sex life. Don’t be the guy that competes that is always talking about what he hit in the gym but missed at the meet. Be smart in your programming and reap the rewards.
If you don’t plan on competing, the rules still apply. You’re still trying to get as strong as possible. So put your ego aside and program in a way that sets you up for success. The truth is, you never have to take an absolute max attempt in the gym, to get as strong as possible. In fact, it’s probably counter productive in some ways. It takes longer to recover from these kinds of attempts, it poses a higher risk for injury, and you’re only doing it to demonstrate strength.
You don’t need to demonstrate strength to actually get stronger.
Momentum -
Each training session should build on the next, and each phase should build on the next one, until you are at peak strength. This will not happen if you are training at damn near max weights week in and week out. At some point either your strength will fall off for a while, or your body will give you a nice dose of forced rest in the way of an injury. Either way, both of these things curtail training progress.
So let’s show how Joe Lifter should do this.
Joe Lifter is good for a 405 squat. He knows this either because.....
- He squatted 405 just recently, and training has still been going good.
- He squatted 90% of that (365) for a triple. This is a fairly good indicator of being good for 405.
Joe is smart. He knows 405 would be a REAL max, so he just plans on hitting 415 in the next 9 weeks. So he plugs in 355 for phase 1 (85%), 385 for phase 2 (93%), and 415 for phase 3 (100%).
Joe busts through each phase, gets stronger and more confident. Easily goes 355, 385, 415 on testing day after a short deload. Takes a few days off, decides to go for 425 on his next go round.
Successful lifter is successful.
Now, Matt Douchefag on the other hand thinks he’s good for 405. Even though he’s only done 385 as a real hard grinder as a single and that was months ago.
Matt Douchefag plugs in 415 for phase 3, 385 for phase 2, and 365 for phase 1.
Matt Douchefag wonders why everything feels so heavy just a couple of weeks in, stalls in phase 2 and starts missing lifts. Matt Douchefag sucks, and so does his planning and programming. Matt Douchefag doesn’t know how to leave his ego aside and plan appropriately because he thinks more of his lifting than he should.
Matt douchefag should get beaten to death with an AIDS shovel because he wastes his time and my time, by asking me why his training failed when I’ve covered this on numerous occasions.
In essence, be Joe Lifter. Don’t be Matt Douchefag.
Sources:
TNATION| Atlas Speaks: An interview with Ed Coan. http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_interviews/atlas_speaks
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Training - Bench
Last night.......
weight - 243
Close Grips - All reps paused
bar x 40
135x10,5
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
345x1
365x3 all reps with long pauses and still explosive
Incline - 315x9, 275x9
Curls and Db Upright Rows - 2 sets of 15 each
Notes - Super tired and achy. Joints hurt and just overall sluggish. Dialed back the food after the weekend of eating way too damn much. Still, 365x3 with all reps paused was fast and easy as hell. I also tied my best incline press with 315 and it was AFTER the benching. My guess is my incline is up to 415 or so now, or maybe a double with 405. However I'm not going to be testing that with the meet coming up.
weight - 243
Close Grips - All reps paused
bar x 40
135x10,5
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
345x1
365x3 all reps with long pauses and still explosive
Incline - 315x9, 275x9
Curls and Db Upright Rows - 2 sets of 15 each
Notes - Super tired and achy. Joints hurt and just overall sluggish. Dialed back the food after the weekend of eating way too damn much. Still, 365x3 with all reps paused was fast and easy as hell. I also tied my best incline press with 315 and it was AFTER the benching. My guess is my incline is up to 415 or so now, or maybe a double with 405. However I'm not going to be testing that with the meet coming up.
Monday, February 27, 2012
From my Facebook about the Ohio School shootings..........
Just wanted to share my thoughts on this. I put this on my Facebook. This is my thoughts on this kind of shit today. Agree or disagree, that's fine. It's my opinion.
Sad to hear about the school shooting in Ohio. 1 dead and 4 wounded.
At what point does this new generation of parent and school realize that the more you suppress normal behavior, like fist fighting, the more it comes out in more violent ways? Kids don't duke it out anymore, because well, they will get expelled and possibly go to jail. So now, they are forced to suppress their frustration and anger to the point of exploding. And that's what happens.
Bullying and fist fighting are now things that are frowned upon, that were just a normal part of growing up in "my time". But pacifist parents that won't spank their kids, or have other kids arrested for a fist fight are responsible for raising this generation of cowards.
Only a coward goes to school armed, against a bunch of unarmed kids and opens fire, instead of settling his differences with clenched fists.
Instead of teaching kids it's ok to settle differences with closed fists and white knuckles, like we all did years ago, we teach them ALL violence is wrong. And they never learn the lessons that served us so well growing up. Young men are SUPPOSED to fist fight. It actually builds character, respect, and believe it or not, often friendships.
I hope at some point things change, and the things that should be "normal" in youth, become normal once again.
At what point does this new generation of parent and school realize that the more you suppress normal behavior, like fist fighting, the more it comes out in more violent ways? Kids don't duke it out anymore, because well, they will get expelled and possibly go to jail. So now, they are forced to suppress their frustration and anger to the point of exploding. And that's what happens.
Bullying and fist fighting are now things that are frowned upon, that were just a normal part of growing up in "my time". But pacifist parents that won't spank their kids, or have other kids arrested for a fist fight are responsible for raising this generation of cowards.
Only a coward goes to school armed, against a bunch of unarmed kids and opens fire, instead of settling his differences with clenched fists.
Instead of teaching kids it's ok to settle differences with closed fists and white knuckles, like we all did years ago, we teach them ALL violence is wrong. And they never learn the lessons that served us so well growing up. Young men are SUPPOSED to fist fight. It actually builds character, respect, and believe it or not, often friendships.
I hope at some point things change, and the things that should be "normal" in youth, become normal once again.
Thoughts about life, crap, training and stuff....
This IT band is worrying me. I've had it bad before and I know how much worse it can get. Yes I'm foam rolling and stretching it and doing my lunges (well, sort of, I need to do more). It's not debilitating yet, but I need to get this puppy under control now before it worsens.
Great party at my house Saturday night for the UFC card. I don't have a big place, I have been in our modest house for over 10 years now. So when we get a big group together we're pretty packed in, but it's hella fun. I thought the card was kind of lack luster until the main event. In case no one read the comments in post fight blurb, I thought that they should have kept the title with Frankie Edgar. It was one of those too close to call fights, and in those kind of fights, you always leave the title with the champ. With that said, Bendo won, but Frankie should get an immediate rematch.
Most know I'm a Rampage fan, but I think it's time for Page to think about hangin em up. No one wants to bang with him. So everyone just ties him up, and makes a boring fight of it. Even Jon Jones literally ran across the ring from Page everytime the fighting got close. When everyone knows you hit harder than everyone else at 205, but you have other declining skillsets, you become a 1 dimensional fighter and the losses will start to pile up.
I'd like to see Page get his ass in real good shape and go out with a win. I became a Page fan because of his heart and courage over in Pride. I'd like to see him restore some of that with a couple of great closing fights where he doesn't seem like he's already looking off into the sunset.
It's amazing to me, the fervor that people will defend training methods and diets with. I mean, really. People getting bent out of shape about the fact that some people don't like a training method or "diet", is the very fucking definition of absurd. If you like a diet or training method, and it works bomb-diggity for you, AWESOME. That's fucking more fabulous than Unicorns sprinting through a forrest of trees made from Twizzlers while gummy bears fuck gummy worms. Just don't show up barking like the bitch dog that you are, about how stupid everyone else is for not following your lead. Everyone is going to make their own decisions about how they will train and how they will eat. You don't have the market cornered on training and diets, nor do you have empirical knowledge of diet and training for everyone on the planet. So have a big tall glass of shut the fuck up juice, and stop. Dogma is the preferred weapon of the weak willed and emotionally pillaged. I understand that you need to defend your diet or training strategy like your eternal soul depends on, but.......well nevermind, it doesn't. Just have that glass of shut the fuck up juice about it.
With that said, I still can't believe people still want to talk about weak point training.
Or how a raw guy should do box squats and board presses.
Does anyone think for themselves anymore?
Movies - Watched Killer Elite last night. It was just ok. Nothing super engaging. I never felt like the pace took that notch up. It felt kind of rushed in some ways. Still a decent flick to watch, just not what it could have been.
I'm not even going to write about how bad my diet has been on the weekends. That's the one bad thing about me staying home. I lounge around and I eat and eat and eat. So I really have to show some control from here on out. I was 244 last night. I know how this goes with me. If I don't stop, I'll be 254 in two weeks. Shit is getting under control starting NOW. Boom. I'm up early writing this and will get in cardio this a.m. and bench tonight.
I'm going to be getting an excerpt from the book on here this week. It's one I think will help everyone tremendously. Talks about programming and how you really need to be programming your phases. When I wrote the strong-15 I knew how each phase was supposed to phase, especially based on openers and seconds, and what I needed to hit in the last phase but NOW I have have it down to a science.
Short and sweet on this Monday. I am up early writing like crazy on the book.
Great party at my house Saturday night for the UFC card. I don't have a big place, I have been in our modest house for over 10 years now. So when we get a big group together we're pretty packed in, but it's hella fun. I thought the card was kind of lack luster until the main event. In case no one read the comments in post fight blurb, I thought that they should have kept the title with Frankie Edgar. It was one of those too close to call fights, and in those kind of fights, you always leave the title with the champ. With that said, Bendo won, but Frankie should get an immediate rematch.
Most know I'm a Rampage fan, but I think it's time for Page to think about hangin em up. No one wants to bang with him. So everyone just ties him up, and makes a boring fight of it. Even Jon Jones literally ran across the ring from Page everytime the fighting got close. When everyone knows you hit harder than everyone else at 205, but you have other declining skillsets, you become a 1 dimensional fighter and the losses will start to pile up.
I'd like to see Page get his ass in real good shape and go out with a win. I became a Page fan because of his heart and courage over in Pride. I'd like to see him restore some of that with a couple of great closing fights where he doesn't seem like he's already looking off into the sunset.
It's amazing to me, the fervor that people will defend training methods and diets with. I mean, really. People getting bent out of shape about the fact that some people don't like a training method or "diet", is the very fucking definition of absurd. If you like a diet or training method, and it works bomb-diggity for you, AWESOME. That's fucking more fabulous than Unicorns sprinting through a forrest of trees made from Twizzlers while gummy bears fuck gummy worms. Just don't show up barking like the bitch dog that you are, about how stupid everyone else is for not following your lead. Everyone is going to make their own decisions about how they will train and how they will eat. You don't have the market cornered on training and diets, nor do you have empirical knowledge of diet and training for everyone on the planet. So have a big tall glass of shut the fuck up juice, and stop. Dogma is the preferred weapon of the weak willed and emotionally pillaged. I understand that you need to defend your diet or training strategy like your eternal soul depends on, but.......well nevermind, it doesn't. Just have that glass of shut the fuck up juice about it.
With that said, I still can't believe people still want to talk about weak point training.
Or how a raw guy should do box squats and board presses.
Does anyone think for themselves anymore?
Movies - Watched Killer Elite last night. It was just ok. Nothing super engaging. I never felt like the pace took that notch up. It felt kind of rushed in some ways. Still a decent flick to watch, just not what it could have been.
I'm not even going to write about how bad my diet has been on the weekends. That's the one bad thing about me staying home. I lounge around and I eat and eat and eat. So I really have to show some control from here on out. I was 244 last night. I know how this goes with me. If I don't stop, I'll be 254 in two weeks. Shit is getting under control starting NOW. Boom. I'm up early writing this and will get in cardio this a.m. and bench tonight.
I'm going to be getting an excerpt from the book on here this week. It's one I think will help everyone tremendously. Talks about programming and how you really need to be programming your phases. When I wrote the strong-15 I knew how each phase was supposed to phase, especially based on openers and seconds, and what I needed to hit in the last phase but NOW I have have it down to a science.
Short and sweet on this Monday. I am up early writing like crazy on the book.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
MMA Blurb - A Post UFC 144 Post
That, ladies and gentlemen, was a title fight.
Rampage Vs Bader - Wrong but Rampage got a slam and some cheers.
Kongo Vs Hunt - Wrong. The man of few words was too much for Kongo.
Akiyama Vs Shields - Correct but controversial.
Okami Vs Boetsch - Wrong. I still think Okami is the better fighter.
Pettis Vs Lauzon - (KO of the Night) Correct. Unpredictability wins with a kick.
Gomi Vs Mitsuoka - Wrong. Gomi got him in the second with strikes.
Besides a new champion, I got a refreshed perspective on a couple of fighters and some random thoughts: I under estimated Hunts power. Shields looked like shit compared to Akiyama. Ryan Bader has weird looking abs. Edgar should get an immediate rematch. We need some more ring girls. Prides entrances were better.
As far as Edgar is concerned, he deserves and immediate rematch. The UFC should recognize this and treat him fairly. It seems there is some pressure on Edgar to move down to 145lbs and take a fight against Jose Aldo. Some comments made by Dana at the post event press conference indicated that Pettis might get the shot, and I think that would be a smack in the face to Edgar. If not for the fact that Edgar has spent the last 2 years fighting guys he has already beaten, then for the fact that he threw the new champ around at will.
This was a great card, but it didn't resurrect Japanese MMA. Not that I expected it to. The UFC has indicated that it will come back again soon. I think there is still some serious repair needed for Japanese fans. Not necessarily by MMA in general, but by MMA's major occupier and owner of all things formerly PRIDE dominated.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Training - Skwats
Bodyweight - 240
Bar x 20
135x5,5
225x5
315x4
365x3
405x2
475x1
500x1
530x1
Pause Squats - 425x2 sets of 3
Abduction and Adductor Machines - stack x 12 on the bad girl, stack x 18 on good girl
Calf Raises - stackx13,12
Notes - Didn't feel great today as my whole morning was thrown off a bit. My squats did not feel the greatest. Hips wouldn't breaking properly and my IT band has been bothering me a bit. Will do my best to remedy this this week.
Special thanks to Adam and Rachel who made the drive out to train and chat. Great meeting you guys and thanks for the support.
I plan on eating until I die tonight. There, I said it.
Bar x 20
135x5,5
225x5
315x4
365x3
405x2
475x1
500x1
530x1
Pause Squats - 425x2 sets of 3
Abduction and Adductor Machines - stack x 12 on the bad girl, stack x 18 on good girl
Calf Raises - stackx13,12
Notes - Didn't feel great today as my whole morning was thrown off a bit. My squats did not feel the greatest. Hips wouldn't breaking properly and my IT band has been bothering me a bit. Will do my best to remedy this this week.
Special thanks to Adam and Rachel who made the drive out to train and chat. Great meeting you guys and thanks for the support.
I plan on eating until I die tonight. There, I said it.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
MMA Blurb - UFC 144
This Should Be a Tribute to PRIDE
This Should Be a Tribute to PRIDE
UFC comes to Japan! Here are the cards prime fights. Who I am rooting for in bold.
Edgar Vs Henderson
Rampage Vs Bader
Kongo Vs Hunt
Akiyama Vs Shields
Okami Vs Boetsch
Pettis Vs Lauzon
Gomi Vs Mitsuoka
Mitsuoka Vs Gomi
I chose Eiji Mitsuoka in this match up because he has finished enough of his fights via submission, to fall in line with Gomi's statistical losses via submission. Also, he has finished a few of his fights with punches. Enough that I think he could stand with Gomi long enough to get the take down.
Lauzon Vs Pettis
I choose Pettis as the winner based on his unpredictability. Even with my choice, I feel the match is close to equal , even with Lauzon's added experience. Lauzon has a total of 5 submission of the night awards, and 3 Fight of the Night awards. Pettis has won Knockout of the Night, Submission of the Night, and Fight of the night one time each.
Okami Vs Boetsch
I choose Okami on experience alone. Whoever loses this fight, unless it's fight of the night, will get cut.
Akiyama Vs Shields
Shields will win this. He has fought and beaten a better caliber of fighter than Akiyama. I feel like this fight is to keep him busy, and give him a win.
Kongo Vs Hunt
I choose Kongo by striking. I think Hunt will be comfortable in Japan, as he has fought the majority of his career there. With losses to the top heavyweights in the world, his MMA record of 7-7 is less than desirable. That is, unless you consider who he lost to (Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, and Josh Barnett among some). I think he is the underdog in this match, and is being under estimated. With a weight advantage, Kongo isn't going to be able to man handle Hunt, but doesn't need to if he brings his striking. Kongo has had more fights, and is slightly taller, with an 8" reach advantage. Both fighters are former kick-boxers, so we'll see if that moves this fight to the ground at all.
Rampage Vs Bader
While I like Ryan Bader, Rampage is a badass, and I think the crowd in Japan is going to go nuts for this fight, but mainly for Rampage. Bader has the wrestling background to take Rampage down, but Rampage is growing tired of fighters who just want to take him down. We'll see if he lets that frustrate him as much as he lets his Japanese fans motivate him to pick Bader up and slam him.
Edgar Vs Henderson
This is a hard call. Edgar has the tools to beat Henderson, but I think Henderson wants it more. Henderson has consistently proven that he can not be counted out. He has a slight height advantage, and while I don't think his punching power is near Edgars, I think his versatility on the ground and on his feet, is equal or better than Edgars, minus wrestling. Edgar must be frustrated, having fought the same two guys over and over throughout the last 2 years of his career. While Henderson is a fresh opponent, I feel he deserves this shot, is ready for it, and has a great chance of defeating Edgar. Gut calls this for Henderson.
All in all, I like this card. It has a lot to offer. I think its a shame that Zuffa didn't promote this as a tribute to PRIDE. I also think its a smack in the face to Japanese fans to have this at 10AM their time, in order to cater to American fans. MMA has suffered in Japan since PRIDE, and UFC bringing a nicely rounded card there should have been done in such a way that the Japanese fans felt flattered. UFC needs to realize that the real fans of Mixed Martial Arts, are just that; Fans of Mixed Martial Arts, not the UFC.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Training - Tugs and a video covering some deadlift pointers
Bodyweight - 237
4" Block Deads -
135x5,5
225x3,3
315x3,3
405x3
500x1
525x1
560x1
Speed Pulls - 425 x 4 sets of 3
Elevated Stiff Legs - 315x10
Notes - Really good session. Everything was super fast.
So I wanted to video something I haven't talked about a lot when it comes to pulling. And that's hip height in relation to starting position. I am covering this in RELOADED but I always want to help shitty deadlifters out as much as possible, because I am one.
So you hear a lot about getting the bar up against your shins to start the pull.
No matter what ANYONE tells you, this is not cut and dry. Where the bar is in relation to your feet will/should dictate hip height.
For a guy with long arms, built to pull, he usually just walks right up and puts his shins against the bar, reaches down and pulls. You know what I am talking about when you think about it. Long armed guys just reach down and pull. The hips naturally move into an almost perfectly leveraged position. Look at this video of the great deadlifter Steve Goggins. Bar almost right up against the shins from the start. Steve was perfectly built for pulling. So when he reaches down, he gets into an almost perfect position.
However if you're a shorter armed guy, more built for pressing and squatting like me, then this method doesn't seem to work as well because we are hip dominant, and it turns the pull into more of a stiff legged deadlift because a lack of hip extension to start the movement.
Now look at this video of Kirk Karwoski, who was not built for deadlifting but more for squatting. What you will notice is, Kirk rolls the bar juuuuust a few inches away from his shins before he starts the pull in order to get his hip drops into position.
I'm not saying to squat the bar off the floor, but because guys that are more built for squatting tend to have big asses/hips/legs they should take advantage of this by getting more hip drop into the start of the pull. The way you dictate hip height is by how far the bar is from your shins when you start the pull.
You can roll it away but to me that means you could be slightly out of position at the start of the pull. So what I recommend is wear the same shoes for pulling and find a spot on the shoes that let you know the bar should be in position. Grab, then drop the hips into the right leverage angle.
I hope this helps some guys out that have trouble pulling.
4" Block Deads -
135x5,5
225x3,3
315x3,3
405x3
500x1
525x1
560x1
Speed Pulls - 425 x 4 sets of 3
Elevated Stiff Legs - 315x10
Notes - Really good session. Everything was super fast.
So I wanted to video something I haven't talked about a lot when it comes to pulling. And that's hip height in relation to starting position. I am covering this in RELOADED but I always want to help shitty deadlifters out as much as possible, because I am one.
So you hear a lot about getting the bar up against your shins to start the pull.
No matter what ANYONE tells you, this is not cut and dry. Where the bar is in relation to your feet will/should dictate hip height.
For a guy with long arms, built to pull, he usually just walks right up and puts his shins against the bar, reaches down and pulls. You know what I am talking about when you think about it. Long armed guys just reach down and pull. The hips naturally move into an almost perfectly leveraged position. Look at this video of the great deadlifter Steve Goggins. Bar almost right up against the shins from the start. Steve was perfectly built for pulling. So when he reaches down, he gets into an almost perfect position.
However if you're a shorter armed guy, more built for pressing and squatting like me, then this method doesn't seem to work as well because we are hip dominant, and it turns the pull into more of a stiff legged deadlift because a lack of hip extension to start the movement.
Now look at this video of Kirk Karwoski, who was not built for deadlifting but more for squatting. What you will notice is, Kirk rolls the bar juuuuust a few inches away from his shins before he starts the pull in order to get his hip drops into position.
I'm not saying to squat the bar off the floor, but because guys that are more built for squatting tend to have big asses/hips/legs they should take advantage of this by getting more hip drop into the start of the pull. The way you dictate hip height is by how far the bar is from your shins when you start the pull.
You can roll it away but to me that means you could be slightly out of position at the start of the pull. So what I recommend is wear the same shoes for pulling and find a spot on the shoes that let you know the bar should be in position. Grab, then drop the hips into the right leverage angle.
I hope this helps some guys out that have trouble pulling.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
AMA on Reddit tonight at 6 CST
I will be doing a Ask Me Anything tonight on Reddit in the weight room at 6 P.M. CST.
Please drop in to bullshit with me.
http://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/
Please drop in to bullshit with me.
http://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/
Meet Training / Week 2 - Bench
Paused Close Grip Bench - all reps paused
bar x 40
135x15
135x5
185x4
225x3
275x2
315x1
335x1
355x3
Incline Press -
225x8
315x8
275x9
Db Curls/Db Upright Rows - 4 sets of 20 each
Notes - REALLY nice session. The close grips are still moving like speed bench. 355x3 all paused was a complete joke. So much so that I wondered after the set if I programmed too low. Then I realized that me asking myself that means I programmed perfectly.
bar x 40
135x15
135x5
185x4
225x3
275x2
315x1
335x1
355x3
Incline Press -
225x8
315x8
275x9
Db Curls/Db Upright Rows - 4 sets of 20 each
Notes - REALLY nice session. The close grips are still moving like speed bench. 355x3 all paused was a complete joke. So much so that I wondered after the set if I programmed too low. Then I realized that me asking myself that means I programmed perfectly.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Thoughts about life, crap, training and stuff....and more on the Man Card
Well well well.........
In case you missed it, I wrote a piece about getting your man card back. A lot of it was tongue in cheek, satire type stuff, with a little bit of truth mixed in.
This piece got me called an idiot, redneck, mouth breather, has been, and a neanderthal.
That's pretty fuckin awesome. So I'll expound on this a little bit.
No one writes a "man article" to be an enabler for a pussy whipped beta male, to tell him he's justified in letting his girlfriend/wife hand him his ass. You're pussy whipped.
Period.
Let's reference Urban Dictionary real quick to see what they have to say about it as well shall we?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pussy%20whipped
There's a pretty common theme here don't you think? It echos very similarly as to what I wrote. Again, if you don't like this, then chances are, you are in fact pussy whipped.
I've been married for 16 years. I'm still on my first marriage, fuck you very much. I don't think there is anything more comical than a bunch of hippy blowhard pacifists that get railroaded up the turd cutter by every woman they date, telling me what makes a man, and what makes a relationship work. If it offends you that my standards say you're a pussy whipped bitch, then you are. You getting offended is validation that my words are true.
Sucks doesn't it?
Try getting the sand out of your vagina long enough to realize what I'm saying.
A great relationship is in fact, all about equality. But men who get owned up and bossed around by their women, are not in an equal relationship. In an equal relationship there is not a dictator. If you want to hang out with your buddy, and your significant other pitches a bitch about it, and you cave and don't go, you're pussy whipped. That's giving in to her wants, even though they run counterclockwise to yours. And so long as your wants aren't violating the trust in the relationship or she's not dying of cancer (you get what I'm saying), then you are being dictated to, and you are allowing it. You sir, are pussy whipped and are a "bitch enabler." That is, you enable these bitches behavior.
These same women, have no problem going out all day shopping with their friends while you sit at home, or even keeping other men in their life to spend time with. They call them their "guy friends." The truth is, these guys are just orbiters who want to fuck your girl. You know this, and you're just too much of a pussy to tell her to stop hanging out with these guys. Especially when she dictates to you what you can and can't do, and when you can and can't do it. When one of said guys fucks her brains out, you don't have anyone to be mad at but yourself for being a spineless little bitch, and not laying down some rules that every woman should respect. She banged him because she doesn't have a man at home, she has a dog on a leash.
Do you think she'd be ok with you spending lunch with a hot chic that is "just a friend"? Fuck no (and let's get real, you just want to fuck said hot bitch too).
Shit, she won't even let you go have a guys night out. I don't completely blame the women here. It's dudes who stay with these women that are really the biggest problem.
I'm am not pulling these scenarios out of my ass. They are based off of a large number of relationships I have friends in, and the bullshit I see these same pussy whipped guys going through.
If you don't like that, I suggest you take a long hard look at yourself and make some changes.
My article does in fact slam today's "man". Today's "man" caters to his woman's every whim and way. The dominant woman has become the norm in society, and the majority of them are bossy, arrogant, "can't tell me shit" bitches.
The reason, in my opinion, for this attitude is because we have few alpha males today, and lots of beta males for women to pick from and these beta males get run over from day one, and no real mutual respect is created.
Let me explain a little bit of physiology about this. EVERY woman, especially in the beginning, will push buttons to see what it is she can get away with. ALL OF THEM.
Here's a little story.
When the wife and I first started dating, she worked at a Smoothie King store. One night she was working the later shift and my best friend and I were waiting in the back of the store until she got off work. I heard the door chime ring, and I heard her go "Heeeeeyyyyyy!" in a very flirty tone. My buddy looked at me with that "uh oh, who is that?" kinda look.
She then proceeded to flirt her ass off with this guy for about 10 minutes while my buddy cut eyes at me about it. I was very embarrassed. And pissed off. Let me say up front I am not a jealous guy. My wife can testify to this. This wasn't about jealousy. This was a new relationship and her being over the top flirty with some guy with my best friend in tow, was not acceptable.
After her shift was over we dropped my friend off at a club. In the car I told her that she better not ever fucking embarrass me like that again. She immediately popped off at the mouth to me about it, which I responded by punching my steering wheel in, and letting her know again, not to ever do that shit to me again.
My wife will tell you to this day, that was the moment when she knew she wouldn't boss me around or treat me like shit. She will tell you that up until me, she had treated ALL of her previous boyfriends like shit, bossed them around, and ruled the roost. And eventually she would lose respect and get bored of them, and break up with them.
This is VERY TYPICAL FEMALE BEHAVIOR.
It's in a woman's wiring to try and change a man or own a man, because it makes her feel femininely empowered. Women are wired to find a man and keep a man. And it's easier to keep a man if you own him up. Getting owned up, makes you pussy whipped. Yes, it's that simple.
If you think that's misogynistic then you have your head up your girls ass (when it's not up your own).
My attitude is about EQUALITY.
My wife doesn't want a man she has to boss around. And I don't boss her around. The reason we've been together for this long is because we respect each other and support one another. That is what equality is REALLY all about. Respect, trust, love and support.
I believe very much in respecting your woman, and treating her like she is your queen.......so long as she treats you like the king as well.
I don't see many kings in the relationship kingdom's anymore however. I see a bunch of fools and paupers. I know friends that go on vacation with their girlfriends, and she makes a fucking itinerary, and from the moment they get to their destination the whole time is filled with them running around, doing all the shit she planned for them to do. My buddy always comes back exhausted, needing a vacation from his vacation.
"Why the fuck don't you just tell her no?"
"That's what she wants to do."
Fool. Pauper.
Does this seem like equality? Doesn't to me. Here's a guy paying for an entire vacation, then gets dictated to by his woman, with what he will do on this vacation. This is ownage. But this is the norm now.
I have never once written to boss your woman, or act like an asshole, or run your relationship in a dictatorship fashion. I have said to take back control of your life, and make sure your woman respects you, and that mutual respect is woven into the deepest fibers of the relationship.
This is not difficult to do, if you have some god damn respect for yourself. No self respecting man gets dictated to by his woman day in and day out. NONE. The excuse of "it makes her happy" is complete and utter fucking bullshit. It would make my kids happy if I fed them chocolate at every meal and never made them do their homework. That shit ain't happening.
Respect yourself first, and expect respect in return from your lady. Women want to feel loved, and men want to feel respected. This should be a mutual handshaking of emotional commitment. And when this is in balance, you will have a relationship built around respect for one another. And then no one is getting bitched up like Ed Norton in the shower in American History X.
When someone writes a piece like this however, these pussy whipped assholes always cry and moan like babies. It's because they want reinforcement that their taking it up the ass by their woman, is still somehow manly. It's not. It never will be. No matter how many times you call me a mouth breather or a neanderthal.
Even if it becomes the standard. There will still always be some real men left to write articles or tell you to your face, that you're a pussy whipped bitch. And you will get all puffed up underneath your cotton turtleneck and think to yourself what a caveman that guy is. But the fact is, he's just a man. And you're just a little bitch.
Now go bake your woman some cookies and give her little dog a bath.
Boom.
Ok enough about that shit!
Weekends can fuck your shit royally if you let them -
This is something that has really made itself known to me for a while now. If you want to derail the fuck out of your training, then don't respect your training and progress on the weekends. What I mean by that is, you can totally fuck yourself from Friday to Sunday with poor eating and sleeping habits. If your diet is tight all weekend, all it takes is some slippage on the weekends to make the whole week worthless. I have a saying about me and alcohol.
When I drink, food is my ugly woman.
I don't get "beer goggles" when it comes to wimmiz. Never have. If you're ugly, you still look ugly to me even if I'm drunk. But food? Shiiiiieeeet. I will blow a diet straight the fuck up after I get a buzz. A month or so ago I had a couple of drinks at Houlihans and then proceeded to eat a whole tray of stuffed mushrooms, their biggest steak, and 5 desserts. Yes, 5 mother fucker. Afterwards we drove across the street to an On The Border (I shit you not) to eat nachos.
I woke up at 3 a.m., after the alcohol numbness wore off, and I felt as if my stomach were going to burst. I ended up having to get up and go walk Buster for about 45 minutes before the pain would subside. I ate shitty the next day too. Why? Lack of focus. Everyone loses it sometimes. I'm human just like the next whore.
If I were in a weight gain at all cost mode, this would be excellent. Except for one thing, the lack of sleep. Which is my next point.
You grow and recover when you are sleeping. If you spend the weekend barely sleeping, when are you recovering? Second, sleep that occurs before midnight is worth twice as much sleep that occurs after midnight. So if you are really serious about training progress, treat the weekend as you would the work week. I'm not saying you can't have a life. But don't curtail the whole week of training and eating by fucking up all weekend. Those two days can take days to recover from. So half the week sucks in terms of training, and then the next weekend you take 2 more steps backwards.
Animal Paks - Worth the money -
So there is some fuckin combination of eboli and mutabi virus going around and everyone is hacking and throwing up and they all sound like an 85 year old woman that has been drinking crown and smoking camel unfiltered for the last 4 decades.
I am not sponsored (duh!) by Universal, nor do I get shit for writing this but I can say, I haven't been sick since I started taking these Animal Packs about 8 months ago. I didn't put much stock into until my wife, who has been sick as well, told me that a guy she works with told her he hadn't been sick either, but that he takes the same shit.
So I got to looking around, and there are lots of guys who have written this same thing. I refuse to believe I'm just lucky. I've been around people that sound like Doc Holiday for weeks now. Including my wife. Nothing. Nada. Good to go. I did feel kind of achy one day, but that was it. I generally get sick as fuck at least once a winter too. But not since I started taking this shit. I'm a believer. And I'm not a big supplement believer guy. But I honestly believe this shit makes a difference.
Finding your mojo again -
I spoke to a good friend a while back. He had been on a long tear of bad ass training, did a meet, and then of course fell off the cliff.
He didn't feel like training, or at least, training sucked balls. He was still going in and trying to do all the shit he had been doing for months and months, after setting PR after PR.
I've talked about this ad nauseam.
You can't be your strongest ALL the time. It's something you can hold for a short period after you cycle up properly. The rest of your time you're either climbing up that hill, at the peak, or leveling off from it. That's it. That's your whole training life, unless you're just training to maintain. And that should really be left for really really old timers.
So anyway, I told him to go in and leg press, do smith machine presses, and basically anything he wanted to do that seemed "fun". Put on 5 plates on the leg press and do sets of 50. Try to beat that each week. Do shit that everyone says is "gay". Why? Because it's easy and fun. And do reps. He had been doing tons and tons of singles and triples forever. What was needed, was a complete change of pace.
How long?
Until the yearning for the big shit comes back again. Who cares how long that is. You can still make training fun and productive doing machines and such. Andy Bolton says he doesn't squat for over a month after a meet. Generally after a meet, or after months and months of that kind of training, you need a break. Don't beat yourself up over taking one. Doing fun shit will help you get your mojo back.
Putting my money where my mouth is.....again and again - Training beginners
So I've been asked a lot about how I would do shit if I could start all over again, and of course the generic answer is always "squat, bench, pull, etc". Which is true. Kind of. I have been lucky enough to have a kid old enough to train, that wants to train, and will be doing the April meet with me. She's been training with me for a few months now, and I was able to actively put this scenario into action. This is going to be a whole chapter in the book, and it's actually quite different than you might think.
In fact, VERY different than you might think because once I was asked to train my own kid, I did a LOT of things different than I thought I would. And by God, did it fucking work.
How about a 13 year old 105 pound girl smoking two sets of doubles with 135 on deadlifts the FIRST TIME she ever tried them, because of the effectiveness of the training leading up to that?
How about going from not being able to squat the bar for a triple to squatting 95 pounds in a few weeks?
Not being able to do a chin up to doing a shit ton of triples and a PR set of 7?
We're talking about a 13 year old girl here that weighed 98 pounds at 5'6" here.
Honestly, I wish this were my full time job because I have no doubt some of the stuff I could do with beginners would be fairly amazing. The biggest issue is, frequency. Training almost everyday has been the norm, and is what I knew would work best. I always thought it would in theory for certain reasons, but it works even far better than I thought it would. All of the anecdotal evidence I had seen, and the theories I believed were put to the test, and shit flat out works.
Again, I want this to be a cradle to grave book. You should be able to pick this book up before you ever set foot in a gym, and have use for it through your whole training life. It's been exciting as hell for to me write, and I'm trying to pour every ounce of anything I've ever learned, or am learning, into it. Not just about training, but about life and the mistakes I've made and lessons I've learned.
I'm really excited about what I've been able to put into action here, and all of the reasons I did it the way I did it, are actually quite different than you might think. Beginners need more volume and frequency than advanced trainers do. This runs kind of counter to most of the thinking about beginner training you read about. Usually it's three times a week, lower volume, etc. I believe, and have a for while, that this is wrong. That beginners will make the fastest progress with lots of volume and frequency because they can't stress their recovery system very much. And most of their strength increases are neurologically and motor pattern movement related. Sure, they build muscle and get stronger, but the big jumps in strength are usually do to an increase in efficiency in the movement. You can get a beginner stronger MUCH faster by taking advantage of this.
I'm off today. So Monday does not suck.
In case you missed it, I wrote a piece about getting your man card back. A lot of it was tongue in cheek, satire type stuff, with a little bit of truth mixed in.
This piece got me called an idiot, redneck, mouth breather, has been, and a neanderthal.
That's pretty fuckin awesome. So I'll expound on this a little bit.
No one writes a "man article" to be an enabler for a pussy whipped beta male, to tell him he's justified in letting his girlfriend/wife hand him his ass. You're pussy whipped.
Period.
Let's reference Urban Dictionary real quick to see what they have to say about it as well shall we?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pussy%20whipped
| 1. | pussy whipped | 3017 up, 344 down |
(1) adj - situation whereupon a male is undeniably at the mercy of his high-maintinence girlfriend & answers to her every beck and call, usually followed by the reprioritizing of girlfriend over friends, family, school, food, water, and air. | ||
| Pussy Whipped | 672 up, 279 down | |||||||
You world blindly revolving around your woman. Jeff's decisions are based on what his woman is doing. Ditching his boys her and forgetting what is important to him. He is SO pussy whipped!
| ||||||||
There's a pretty common theme here don't you think? It echos very similarly as to what I wrote. Again, if you don't like this, then chances are, you are in fact pussy whipped.
I've been married for 16 years. I'm still on my first marriage, fuck you very much. I don't think there is anything more comical than a bunch of hippy blowhard pacifists that get railroaded up the turd cutter by every woman they date, telling me what makes a man, and what makes a relationship work. If it offends you that my standards say you're a pussy whipped bitch, then you are. You getting offended is validation that my words are true.
Sucks doesn't it?
Try getting the sand out of your vagina long enough to realize what I'm saying.
A great relationship is in fact, all about equality. But men who get owned up and bossed around by their women, are not in an equal relationship. In an equal relationship there is not a dictator. If you want to hang out with your buddy, and your significant other pitches a bitch about it, and you cave and don't go, you're pussy whipped. That's giving in to her wants, even though they run counterclockwise to yours. And so long as your wants aren't violating the trust in the relationship or she's not dying of cancer (you get what I'm saying), then you are being dictated to, and you are allowing it. You sir, are pussy whipped and are a "bitch enabler." That is, you enable these bitches behavior.
These same women, have no problem going out all day shopping with their friends while you sit at home, or even keeping other men in their life to spend time with. They call them their "guy friends." The truth is, these guys are just orbiters who want to fuck your girl. You know this, and you're just too much of a pussy to tell her to stop hanging out with these guys. Especially when she dictates to you what you can and can't do, and when you can and can't do it. When one of said guys fucks her brains out, you don't have anyone to be mad at but yourself for being a spineless little bitch, and not laying down some rules that every woman should respect. She banged him because she doesn't have a man at home, she has a dog on a leash.
Do you think she'd be ok with you spending lunch with a hot chic that is "just a friend"? Fuck no (and let's get real, you just want to fuck said hot bitch too).
Shit, she won't even let you go have a guys night out. I don't completely blame the women here. It's dudes who stay with these women that are really the biggest problem.
I'm am not pulling these scenarios out of my ass. They are based off of a large number of relationships I have friends in, and the bullshit I see these same pussy whipped guys going through.
If you don't like that, I suggest you take a long hard look at yourself and make some changes.
My article does in fact slam today's "man". Today's "man" caters to his woman's every whim and way. The dominant woman has become the norm in society, and the majority of them are bossy, arrogant, "can't tell me shit" bitches.
The reason, in my opinion, for this attitude is because we have few alpha males today, and lots of beta males for women to pick from and these beta males get run over from day one, and no real mutual respect is created.
Let me explain a little bit of physiology about this. EVERY woman, especially in the beginning, will push buttons to see what it is she can get away with. ALL OF THEM.
Here's a little story.
When the wife and I first started dating, she worked at a Smoothie King store. One night she was working the later shift and my best friend and I were waiting in the back of the store until she got off work. I heard the door chime ring, and I heard her go "Heeeeeyyyyyy!" in a very flirty tone. My buddy looked at me with that "uh oh, who is that?" kinda look.
She then proceeded to flirt her ass off with this guy for about 10 minutes while my buddy cut eyes at me about it. I was very embarrassed. And pissed off. Let me say up front I am not a jealous guy. My wife can testify to this. This wasn't about jealousy. This was a new relationship and her being over the top flirty with some guy with my best friend in tow, was not acceptable.
After her shift was over we dropped my friend off at a club. In the car I told her that she better not ever fucking embarrass me like that again. She immediately popped off at the mouth to me about it, which I responded by punching my steering wheel in, and letting her know again, not to ever do that shit to me again.
My wife will tell you to this day, that was the moment when she knew she wouldn't boss me around or treat me like shit. She will tell you that up until me, she had treated ALL of her previous boyfriends like shit, bossed them around, and ruled the roost. And eventually she would lose respect and get bored of them, and break up with them.
This is VERY TYPICAL FEMALE BEHAVIOR.
It's in a woman's wiring to try and change a man or own a man, because it makes her feel femininely empowered. Women are wired to find a man and keep a man. And it's easier to keep a man if you own him up. Getting owned up, makes you pussy whipped. Yes, it's that simple.
If you think that's misogynistic then you have your head up your girls ass (when it's not up your own).
My attitude is about EQUALITY.
My wife doesn't want a man she has to boss around. And I don't boss her around. The reason we've been together for this long is because we respect each other and support one another. That is what equality is REALLY all about. Respect, trust, love and support.
I believe very much in respecting your woman, and treating her like she is your queen.......so long as she treats you like the king as well.
I don't see many kings in the relationship kingdom's anymore however. I see a bunch of fools and paupers. I know friends that go on vacation with their girlfriends, and she makes a fucking itinerary, and from the moment they get to their destination the whole time is filled with them running around, doing all the shit she planned for them to do. My buddy always comes back exhausted, needing a vacation from his vacation.
"Why the fuck don't you just tell her no?"
"That's what she wants to do."
Fool. Pauper.
Does this seem like equality? Doesn't to me. Here's a guy paying for an entire vacation, then gets dictated to by his woman, with what he will do on this vacation. This is ownage. But this is the norm now.
I have never once written to boss your woman, or act like an asshole, or run your relationship in a dictatorship fashion. I have said to take back control of your life, and make sure your woman respects you, and that mutual respect is woven into the deepest fibers of the relationship.
This is not difficult to do, if you have some god damn respect for yourself. No self respecting man gets dictated to by his woman day in and day out. NONE. The excuse of "it makes her happy" is complete and utter fucking bullshit. It would make my kids happy if I fed them chocolate at every meal and never made them do their homework. That shit ain't happening.
Respect yourself first, and expect respect in return from your lady. Women want to feel loved, and men want to feel respected. This should be a mutual handshaking of emotional commitment. And when this is in balance, you will have a relationship built around respect for one another. And then no one is getting bitched up like Ed Norton in the shower in American History X.
When someone writes a piece like this however, these pussy whipped assholes always cry and moan like babies. It's because they want reinforcement that their taking it up the ass by their woman, is still somehow manly. It's not. It never will be. No matter how many times you call me a mouth breather or a neanderthal.
Even if it becomes the standard. There will still always be some real men left to write articles or tell you to your face, that you're a pussy whipped bitch. And you will get all puffed up underneath your cotton turtleneck and think to yourself what a caveman that guy is. But the fact is, he's just a man. And you're just a little bitch.
Now go bake your woman some cookies and give her little dog a bath.
Boom.
Ok enough about that shit!
Weekends can fuck your shit royally if you let them -
This is something that has really made itself known to me for a while now. If you want to derail the fuck out of your training, then don't respect your training and progress on the weekends. What I mean by that is, you can totally fuck yourself from Friday to Sunday with poor eating and sleeping habits. If your diet is tight all weekend, all it takes is some slippage on the weekends to make the whole week worthless. I have a saying about me and alcohol.
When I drink, food is my ugly woman.
I don't get "beer goggles" when it comes to wimmiz. Never have. If you're ugly, you still look ugly to me even if I'm drunk. But food? Shiiiiieeeet. I will blow a diet straight the fuck up after I get a buzz. A month or so ago I had a couple of drinks at Houlihans and then proceeded to eat a whole tray of stuffed mushrooms, their biggest steak, and 5 desserts. Yes, 5 mother fucker. Afterwards we drove across the street to an On The Border (I shit you not) to eat nachos.
I woke up at 3 a.m., after the alcohol numbness wore off, and I felt as if my stomach were going to burst. I ended up having to get up and go walk Buster for about 45 minutes before the pain would subside. I ate shitty the next day too. Why? Lack of focus. Everyone loses it sometimes. I'm human just like the next whore.
If I were in a weight gain at all cost mode, this would be excellent. Except for one thing, the lack of sleep. Which is my next point.
You grow and recover when you are sleeping. If you spend the weekend barely sleeping, when are you recovering? Second, sleep that occurs before midnight is worth twice as much sleep that occurs after midnight. So if you are really serious about training progress, treat the weekend as you would the work week. I'm not saying you can't have a life. But don't curtail the whole week of training and eating by fucking up all weekend. Those two days can take days to recover from. So half the week sucks in terms of training, and then the next weekend you take 2 more steps backwards.
Animal Paks - Worth the money -
So there is some fuckin combination of eboli and mutabi virus going around and everyone is hacking and throwing up and they all sound like an 85 year old woman that has been drinking crown and smoking camel unfiltered for the last 4 decades.
I am not sponsored (duh!) by Universal, nor do I get shit for writing this but I can say, I haven't been sick since I started taking these Animal Packs about 8 months ago. I didn't put much stock into until my wife, who has been sick as well, told me that a guy she works with told her he hadn't been sick either, but that he takes the same shit.
So I got to looking around, and there are lots of guys who have written this same thing. I refuse to believe I'm just lucky. I've been around people that sound like Doc Holiday for weeks now. Including my wife. Nothing. Nada. Good to go. I did feel kind of achy one day, but that was it. I generally get sick as fuck at least once a winter too. But not since I started taking this shit. I'm a believer. And I'm not a big supplement believer guy. But I honestly believe this shit makes a difference.
Finding your mojo again -
I spoke to a good friend a while back. He had been on a long tear of bad ass training, did a meet, and then of course fell off the cliff.
He didn't feel like training, or at least, training sucked balls. He was still going in and trying to do all the shit he had been doing for months and months, after setting PR after PR.
I've talked about this ad nauseam.
You can't be your strongest ALL the time. It's something you can hold for a short period after you cycle up properly. The rest of your time you're either climbing up that hill, at the peak, or leveling off from it. That's it. That's your whole training life, unless you're just training to maintain. And that should really be left for really really old timers.
So anyway, I told him to go in and leg press, do smith machine presses, and basically anything he wanted to do that seemed "fun". Put on 5 plates on the leg press and do sets of 50. Try to beat that each week. Do shit that everyone says is "gay". Why? Because it's easy and fun. And do reps. He had been doing tons and tons of singles and triples forever. What was needed, was a complete change of pace.
How long?
Until the yearning for the big shit comes back again. Who cares how long that is. You can still make training fun and productive doing machines and such. Andy Bolton says he doesn't squat for over a month after a meet. Generally after a meet, or after months and months of that kind of training, you need a break. Don't beat yourself up over taking one. Doing fun shit will help you get your mojo back.
Putting my money where my mouth is.....again and again - Training beginners
So I've been asked a lot about how I would do shit if I could start all over again, and of course the generic answer is always "squat, bench, pull, etc". Which is true. Kind of. I have been lucky enough to have a kid old enough to train, that wants to train, and will be doing the April meet with me. She's been training with me for a few months now, and I was able to actively put this scenario into action. This is going to be a whole chapter in the book, and it's actually quite different than you might think.
In fact, VERY different than you might think because once I was asked to train my own kid, I did a LOT of things different than I thought I would. And by God, did it fucking work.
How about a 13 year old 105 pound girl smoking two sets of doubles with 135 on deadlifts the FIRST TIME she ever tried them, because of the effectiveness of the training leading up to that?
How about going from not being able to squat the bar for a triple to squatting 95 pounds in a few weeks?
Not being able to do a chin up to doing a shit ton of triples and a PR set of 7?
We're talking about a 13 year old girl here that weighed 98 pounds at 5'6" here.
Honestly, I wish this were my full time job because I have no doubt some of the stuff I could do with beginners would be fairly amazing. The biggest issue is, frequency. Training almost everyday has been the norm, and is what I knew would work best. I always thought it would in theory for certain reasons, but it works even far better than I thought it would. All of the anecdotal evidence I had seen, and the theories I believed were put to the test, and shit flat out works.
Again, I want this to be a cradle to grave book. You should be able to pick this book up before you ever set foot in a gym, and have use for it through your whole training life. It's been exciting as hell for to me write, and I'm trying to pour every ounce of anything I've ever learned, or am learning, into it. Not just about training, but about life and the mistakes I've made and lessons I've learned.
I'm really excited about what I've been able to put into action here, and all of the reasons I did it the way I did it, are actually quite different than you might think. Beginners need more volume and frequency than advanced trainers do. This runs kind of counter to most of the thinking about beginner training you read about. Usually it's three times a week, lower volume, etc. I believe, and have a for while, that this is wrong. That beginners will make the fastest progress with lots of volume and frequency because they can't stress their recovery system very much. And most of their strength increases are neurologically and motor pattern movement related. Sure, they build muscle and get stronger, but the big jumps in strength are usually do to an increase in efficiency in the movement. You can get a beginner stronger MUCH faster by taking advantage of this.
I'm off today. So Monday does not suck.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Training - Skwats
Bodyweight - 240
Squats -
bar x 10,10,10
135 x 10,5
225 x 4
315 x 3
405 x 2
455 x 1
475 x 1
500 x 1
Pause Squats - 405x2x5
Calf Raises - stack x 14
Adductor Machine - stack x 12
Notes - Really solid session. Was feeling a bit under the weather but everything still felt super easy. The way it's supposed to. 80%er.
Squats -
bar x 10,10,10
135 x 10,5
225 x 4
315 x 3
405 x 2
455 x 1
475 x 1
500 x 1
Pause Squats - 405x2x5
Calf Raises - stack x 14
Adductor Machine - stack x 12
Notes - Really solid session. Was feeling a bit under the weather but everything still felt super easy. The way it's supposed to. 80%er.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Getting your man card back
I went to St. Louis yesterday for work. Long ass day, but had a lot of time to spend with a friend and talk about various shit going on in our life and in the world, or our perception of it.
One of the subjects we discussed was our current generation of males, and what a sad state we are in.
Most men I see today have become domesticated. Owned up by their women/girlfriends, pussy whipped, fat and out of shape, or skinny and out of shape. Pacifists who give too much of a shit about politics, not enough about disciplining their children, and not enough about being a leader in their house/home/life.
You may or may not be one of these clowns. If you aren't, you most definitely know one.
The guy that leaves in the middle of a night of buds hanging out, because his wife/gf texted him. He's the "I gotta go" guy.
/checks phone....sees text from battle axe/
"I gotta go guys."
Yeah that guy.
This is also the same guy that has kids that act like they have been living in the wilderness when and the battle axe brings them over to your house. They have no respect for your home, they are loud as Hyena's fucking, and you get to watch him and the battle axe barter for them to "be nice". They "don't spank" because that's "child abuse" and "we don't hit our kids".
This guy has never been hunting, or doesn't care for it. "Just don't see the point in it." he says.
If sex ever comes up, in a serious way, he's not banging it out with the wife/gf but once a week or so. He talks about it the same way he talks about rotating the tires on his Stratus or changing the oil. A mundane task that has to be done. Not something that seems to get his blood pumping.
This is a sad existence.
A while back I wrote a piece about how to how to lose your man card. If your test levels have bottomed out and you find yourself washing your wife or gf's toy dog for her on the weekend, then maybe it's time to rearrange some shit.
Let's talk about it.
Go hunting -
Please spare me your animal loving bullshit here. I love my dogs and cats and all that shit too. But we are STILL hunter gatherers. Notice how "hunter" comes first there?
Get out, and go kill an animal to eat. This is one of the very basic instincts you have, that has been fucked out of you by our tree hugging society.
"Don't kill bambi!"
Go fuck your own face.
How do you think you got here? Your ancestors killed animals, and then ate them. Get back in touch with your primal self by learning how to shoot a gun, how to field dress an animal, skin it, then eat it. You can cook it first, my bad.
Or not, that's even manlier.
I don't care if you kill a deer, or a moose, or a squirrel, or a rabbit. I don't care how you kill it. You can shoot it, or jump out of a god damn tree with a spear like Rambo. Just kill something that is made out of meat, that you intent to eat.
This is the essence of part of your male wiring.
But for a lot of men it has been driven out of them by society. This is not a "turn into a caveman" rant. This is a "find your inner warrior lost manliness" rant. Developing your primal self through actually hunting and making a kill for food is day 1 man shit. Yes I know, you can go to a fucking MacDonald's on the corner and get "meat". Don't be an asshole, try to understand what I'm getting at here.
Do a survival camp out -
Being in IT, I work with nerds everyday. For years I tried to get them to go with me on a weekend bare bones camp out. I only had two guys that would kind of agree. Basically, pack enough stuff for a breakfast the next morning, and that's about it. You can even combine this with your hunting expedition, and that's even cooler. That's what we had planned. The ones that flat out said no, were exactly the kind of domesticated pussies I'm writing about here. No balls, and owned up by their women. No desire to live life in an uncomfortable manner for more than a couple of minutes.
Bring a knife, some fishing line and hooks, and a sleeping bag. That's it. Spend some months researching how to build a shelter (off the ground), learn how to make fire without a Zippo. You don't have to go out and do this for a week, though I have and it sucked thoroughly. My neighbor does it yearly in Colorado Moose hunting. I hate him for not taking me, but apparently it's some long standing tradition between him and his old friends. Which is cool, and I can respect that.
Put yourself out of your domestic shelter for a weekend or so. You (probably) won't die, and you'll have some awesome fuckin stories to tell. Just avoid anyone in the woods that asks you to squeal like a pig.
Get in shape and quit drinking so much god damn beer -
I haven't had a beer rant in a while, so it's time.
Yes I hate beer. I don't get the god damn obsession with it. It tastes like shit, fills you up, and makes everyone I know that drinks it regularly, look like everyone I know that drinks it. Namely, fat and shitty. Bloated face, big gut. Pretty non-fucking manly.
I also love when little bitches who read my rant about it, throw a little-bitch bitch fit about it. Your function creates your form. If you're packing a beer gut and are fat, maybe it's time you change some things in your habits? Ever notice when they want to cast a bad ass mother fucker in a movie, that's supposed to whip people's asses like it's his job, that he's in shape? When they made 300 did they ask Gerard Butler to get a fat gut for his role as one of the baddest mother fuckers of all time, or did they ask him to get chiseled?
Ever notice that Roy "Big Country" Nelson is kind of a comedy act in MMA? Also notice, that he's lost 3 of his last 4 fights and 5 of his last 8? Heh.
If Roy got his fat ass in shape, and dropped to 205 he would probably be one of the better 205 guys out there. Ever notice most of the best fighters are in bad ass mother fucking shape? Yeah. Thought so.
You really have no reason to be fat. None. Be strong, be in shape. I know way too many strong as a bull lifters that are in shape and lean. And a lot of lifters I know that are fat, tend to be heavy beer drinkers. Cut the beer out and get your fat ass into shape. Train like you're going to have to fight Alistair Overeem in 8 weeks and see how that frame of mind changes you.
Or sit back behind your computer on an internet message board and make jokes about people who lift and run and are in shape because you don't have the stones to be.
Change your relationship attitude -
Quit getting bossed around like a bitch. Period.
A friend of mine recently went through this shit. He had been dating this girl for a while, and was getting pretty owned up in the relationship. Her dogs were shitting all over his carpet, he wasn't getting sex like he wanted, and she was dictating everything that was going on in the relationship. He told me that this was a problem in his former relationship. Literally, that he "didn't have any balls" when it came to telling his women, what was what. He told me that she still hung out with her ex boyfriends, and that shit made him mad as hell. But he wouldn't tell her to stop.
I told him to fucking grow a pair. To either break it off, or lay down the law. And to quit running to her beck and call all the time. Be a fucking man, don't get owned up like you're a second class citizen. If she didn't like it, she'd leave and problem solved.
So he did. And they broke up. And a week later she came calling for him back. And he laid down some ground rules about what was cool and what wasn't. Since then he's told me their relationship has been awesome, and she's respected all the things he asked of her. He even gets to hang out with his friends again (GASP!) without her permission.
Don't be this guy. We all know this guy, or you may be this guy. Guys do this because they have become desperate. They have trouble finding a girl or getting a girl. So when they get one, they hold on for dear life and do everything she asks. This is fucking pathetic. The best thing about a hot chic? There's two more right behind her.
Your girl is replaceable if she sucks. She definitely should be replaced if she isn't sucking enough.
If you're getting owned up in your current relationship and you're miserable about it, grow a pair of balls and do something about it. Be a man. Be a leader. Don't be led.
I'm not telling you to you need to treat your woman like shit. I'm saying, if you treat her like a Queen, and she treats you like the Fool, you need to find a way to get your crown back.
Make time for YOUR friends -
I had my birthday party last month, and over 30 people showed up. It might seem shallow on the surface, but I thought that was a pretty good indicator of the kind of friend I've been. If people don't like you, they don't spend 9 hours making you a cake, show up with $50 and $100 bottles of liquor and stay until 3 in the morning.
This isn't a "look at how awesome I am" newsflash from the city. I make this point because, when people show up to celebrate your birthday, it's some type of indication that you have been significant in their life in a positive way.
I take friendship very seriously. More than most I think. Get back to some basic male bonding with your good friends. And no, that term is not gay. If you want to use a different term, go ahead. But I want to steal from wiki here since I think it lays it out pretty nicely.........
Male bonding is a term that is used in ethology, social science, and in general usage to describe patterns of friendship and/or cooperation in men (or, in the case of ethology, males of various species). The exact meaning of the term differs across contexts.
In the context of human relationships, male bonding is used to describe friendship between men, or the way in which men befriend each other. The expression is sometimes used synonymously with the word camaraderie. Friendships among men are often primarily based on shared activities and ambitions, instead of emotional sharing (which is common of women's friendships). This can include playing musical instruments, video games, business ventures, creative endeavors, journeys, quests, sporting activities, fishing, hunting, camping,gambling, social drinking, or working with tools.
So if you haven't spent some time with your buds lately doing fun male shit, make time for it. Play some Call of Duty, watch the fights, eat a bunch of meat from the animal that you killed and play Slayer really loud until 3 in the morning.
Lastly, have an awesome weekend -
If you can't laugh at these bits then you are a whore, and deserved to be treated like one.
I hope everyone does something awesome and worth talking about this weekend.
Lift Run Bang mother fuckers.
One of the subjects we discussed was our current generation of males, and what a sad state we are in.
Most men I see today have become domesticated. Owned up by their women/girlfriends, pussy whipped, fat and out of shape, or skinny and out of shape. Pacifists who give too much of a shit about politics, not enough about disciplining their children, and not enough about being a leader in their house/home/life.
You may or may not be one of these clowns. If you aren't, you most definitely know one.
The guy that leaves in the middle of a night of buds hanging out, because his wife/gf texted him. He's the "I gotta go" guy.
/checks phone....sees text from battle axe/
"I gotta go guys."
Yeah that guy.
This is also the same guy that has kids that act like they have been living in the wilderness when and the battle axe brings them over to your house. They have no respect for your home, they are loud as Hyena's fucking, and you get to watch him and the battle axe barter for them to "be nice". They "don't spank" because that's "child abuse" and "we don't hit our kids".
This guy has never been hunting, or doesn't care for it. "Just don't see the point in it." he says.
If sex ever comes up, in a serious way, he's not banging it out with the wife/gf but once a week or so. He talks about it the same way he talks about rotating the tires on his Stratus or changing the oil. A mundane task that has to be done. Not something that seems to get his blood pumping.
This is a sad existence.
A while back I wrote a piece about how to how to lose your man card. If your test levels have bottomed out and you find yourself washing your wife or gf's toy dog for her on the weekend, then maybe it's time to rearrange some shit.
Let's talk about it.
Go hunting -
Please spare me your animal loving bullshit here. I love my dogs and cats and all that shit too. But we are STILL hunter gatherers. Notice how "hunter" comes first there?
Get out, and go kill an animal to eat. This is one of the very basic instincts you have, that has been fucked out of you by our tree hugging society.
"Don't kill bambi!"
Go fuck your own face.
How do you think you got here? Your ancestors killed animals, and then ate them. Get back in touch with your primal self by learning how to shoot a gun, how to field dress an animal, skin it, then eat it. You can cook it first, my bad.
Or not, that's even manlier.
I don't care if you kill a deer, or a moose, or a squirrel, or a rabbit. I don't care how you kill it. You can shoot it, or jump out of a god damn tree with a spear like Rambo. Just kill something that is made out of meat, that you intent to eat.
 |
| It's hard to get much more primal than this |
This is the essence of part of your male wiring.
But for a lot of men it has been driven out of them by society. This is not a "turn into a caveman" rant. This is a "find your inner warrior lost manliness" rant. Developing your primal self through actually hunting and making a kill for food is day 1 man shit. Yes I know, you can go to a fucking MacDonald's on the corner and get "meat". Don't be an asshole, try to understand what I'm getting at here.
Do a survival camp out -
Being in IT, I work with nerds everyday. For years I tried to get them to go with me on a weekend bare bones camp out. I only had two guys that would kind of agree. Basically, pack enough stuff for a breakfast the next morning, and that's about it. You can even combine this with your hunting expedition, and that's even cooler. That's what we had planned. The ones that flat out said no, were exactly the kind of domesticated pussies I'm writing about here. No balls, and owned up by their women. No desire to live life in an uncomfortable manner for more than a couple of minutes.
Bring a knife, some fishing line and hooks, and a sleeping bag. That's it. Spend some months researching how to build a shelter (off the ground), learn how to make fire without a Zippo. You don't have to go out and do this for a week, though I have and it sucked thoroughly. My neighbor does it yearly in Colorado Moose hunting. I hate him for not taking me, but apparently it's some long standing tradition between him and his old friends. Which is cool, and I can respect that.
Put yourself out of your domestic shelter for a weekend or so. You (probably) won't die, and you'll have some awesome fuckin stories to tell. Just avoid anyone in the woods that asks you to squeal like a pig.
Get in shape and quit drinking so much god damn beer -
I haven't had a beer rant in a while, so it's time.
Yes I hate beer. I don't get the god damn obsession with it. It tastes like shit, fills you up, and makes everyone I know that drinks it regularly, look like everyone I know that drinks it. Namely, fat and shitty. Bloated face, big gut. Pretty non-fucking manly.
I also love when little bitches who read my rant about it, throw a little-bitch bitch fit about it. Your function creates your form. If you're packing a beer gut and are fat, maybe it's time you change some things in your habits? Ever notice when they want to cast a bad ass mother fucker in a movie, that's supposed to whip people's asses like it's his job, that he's in shape? When they made 300 did they ask Gerard Butler to get a fat gut for his role as one of the baddest mother fuckers of all time, or did they ask him to get chiseled?
Ever notice that Roy "Big Country" Nelson is kind of a comedy act in MMA? Also notice, that he's lost 3 of his last 4 fights and 5 of his last 8? Heh.
 |
| Chalk up another "L" |
If Roy got his fat ass in shape, and dropped to 205 he would probably be one of the better 205 guys out there. Ever notice most of the best fighters are in bad ass mother fucking shape? Yeah. Thought so.
You really have no reason to be fat. None. Be strong, be in shape. I know way too many strong as a bull lifters that are in shape and lean. And a lot of lifters I know that are fat, tend to be heavy beer drinkers. Cut the beer out and get your fat ass into shape. Train like you're going to have to fight Alistair Overeem in 8 weeks and see how that frame of mind changes you.
Or sit back behind your computer on an internet message board and make jokes about people who lift and run and are in shape because you don't have the stones to be.
| I need to ask this question more..... |
Change your relationship attitude -
Quit getting bossed around like a bitch. Period.
A friend of mine recently went through this shit. He had been dating this girl for a while, and was getting pretty owned up in the relationship. Her dogs were shitting all over his carpet, he wasn't getting sex like he wanted, and she was dictating everything that was going on in the relationship. He told me that this was a problem in his former relationship. Literally, that he "didn't have any balls" when it came to telling his women, what was what. He told me that she still hung out with her ex boyfriends, and that shit made him mad as hell. But he wouldn't tell her to stop.
I told him to fucking grow a pair. To either break it off, or lay down the law. And to quit running to her beck and call all the time. Be a fucking man, don't get owned up like you're a second class citizen. If she didn't like it, she'd leave and problem solved.
So he did. And they broke up. And a week later she came calling for him back. And he laid down some ground rules about what was cool and what wasn't. Since then he's told me their relationship has been awesome, and she's respected all the things he asked of her. He even gets to hang out with his friends again (GASP!) without her permission.
Don't be this guy. We all know this guy, or you may be this guy. Guys do this because they have become desperate. They have trouble finding a girl or getting a girl. So when they get one, they hold on for dear life and do everything she asks. This is fucking pathetic. The best thing about a hot chic? There's two more right behind her.
Your girl is replaceable if she sucks. She definitely should be replaced if she isn't sucking enough.
If you're getting owned up in your current relationship and you're miserable about it, grow a pair of balls and do something about it. Be a man. Be a leader. Don't be led.
I'm not telling you to you need to treat your woman like shit. I'm saying, if you treat her like a Queen, and she treats you like the Fool, you need to find a way to get your crown back.
Make time for YOUR friends -
I had my birthday party last month, and over 30 people showed up. It might seem shallow on the surface, but I thought that was a pretty good indicator of the kind of friend I've been. If people don't like you, they don't spend 9 hours making you a cake, show up with $50 and $100 bottles of liquor and stay until 3 in the morning.
This isn't a "look at how awesome I am" newsflash from the city. I make this point because, when people show up to celebrate your birthday, it's some type of indication that you have been significant in their life in a positive way.
I take friendship very seriously. More than most I think. Get back to some basic male bonding with your good friends. And no, that term is not gay. If you want to use a different term, go ahead. But I want to steal from wiki here since I think it lays it out pretty nicely.........
Male bonding is a term that is used in ethology, social science, and in general usage to describe patterns of friendship and/or cooperation in men (or, in the case of ethology, males of various species). The exact meaning of the term differs across contexts.
In the context of human relationships, male bonding is used to describe friendship between men, or the way in which men befriend each other. The expression is sometimes used synonymously with the word camaraderie. Friendships among men are often primarily based on shared activities and ambitions, instead of emotional sharing (which is common of women's friendships). This can include playing musical instruments, video games, business ventures, creative endeavors, journeys, quests, sporting activities, fishing, hunting, camping,gambling, social drinking, or working with tools.
So if you haven't spent some time with your buds lately doing fun male shit, make time for it. Play some Call of Duty, watch the fights, eat a bunch of meat from the animal that you killed and play Slayer really loud until 3 in the morning.
Lastly, have an awesome weekend -
If you can't laugh at these bits then you are a whore, and deserved to be treated like one.
I hope everyone does something awesome and worth talking about this weekend.
Lift Run Bang mother fuckers.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Week 1 Meet Prep - Deadlifts
Bodyweight - 237
4" block pulls -
135 x 5,5,5
225 x 3,3
315 x 2,2
405 x 2,2
500 x 1
525 x 1
Speed Pulls - 385x5x3
Ab Wheel - 3 sets of 15
Notes - Again, 525 off the blocks is really easy and fast. Took a vid to show that in week 1, this is as heavy as I want to go. This basically looks like a speed pull and should in week 1. I drive this home all the time, the first 3-4 weeks everything should be easy and fast.
4" block pulls -
135 x 5,5,5
225 x 3,3
315 x 2,2
405 x 2,2
500 x 1
525 x 1
Speed Pulls - 385x5x3
Ab Wheel - 3 sets of 15
Notes - Again, 525 off the blocks is really easy and fast. Took a vid to show that in week 1, this is as heavy as I want to go. This basically looks like a speed pull and should in week 1. I drive this home all the time, the first 3-4 weeks everything should be easy and fast.
Brifday Cake Pic
I told everyone I'd get some pics up. Well, this is probably the best one. I was pretty hosed by this point.
It was an awesome evening with friends. Best ever.
It was an awesome evening with friends. Best ever.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Muscular Potential
This is a gay topic, but it's Valentine's day, so it's probably apropos.
First off, the answer is, I don't know. I have no clue as much muscle you, dear reader, or anyone else can expect to gain over the period of your training life.
But we can speculate based on some bullshit, can't we?
Extremes -
Before we talk about this gay topic, one of the things that must be done, is to throw out extremes. That means the guy running 2 grams of test a week along with insulin, GH, trenbelone, deca, and a whole host of other compounds has to be discarded. The great majority of guys that pick up a weight are never going to go to these extremes to put on muscle mass.
You also have to throw out dudes that are like 6'5" with 2" wrists and shit. Guys that were 2 pounds when they were 15 years old. That shit is not normal either.
If you have been training for 10 years and eating like a ravenous cannibal, and you're like 107 pounds, you're just as much on the extreme scale as the guy shooting a full syringe of anything everyday. Not worth talking about.
Natural Bodybuilders -
I personally don't want to get into the wrist measurement, ankle measurement, how many inches from your taint to your asshole, blah blah I don't care. I also don't want to get into arm or chest or whatever measurements. That's not even worth debating.
We can look at height, weight, and eye ball the conditioning level.
And do not send me your god damn pics to judge your bodyfat. If you want to know, go get it measured like I do. That's the best way. But the sake of the article, we will in fact use a little eyeballing just for the sake of conversation.
The best place to start, in my opinion, would be to look at natural bodybuilders. So let's look at a few.
According to the T-bag article, Kiyoshi actually eats up for his contests. He runs around 175 in the offseason and then eats up to around 205 for his contests. This is strange and unusual, and yes I know some guys do it, but they are few and far between. Never the less, the dude is in contest shape, which is around 5-6% or so at 5'10" and 205 pounds. Let me also add that he's 40 years old.
Skip LaCour
If you don't know who Skip is, then well either you're some kind of noob to bodybuilding or you've just never picked up a Flex or Muscular Development or some other muscle rag. Skip is probably the most successful natural bodybuilder of all time. He's certainly the most well known one. I used to chat with Skip quite a bit and I know for a fact that in this particular pic he was 213 pounds at 5'10". Let me also add that Skip is over 40 as well.
John Hansen
John Hansen won the Natural Mr. Olympia in 1998. According to pretty much every stat I could find on him he's about 5'8" and 210 pounds in contest condition. Let me also point out that Mr. Hansen was born in 1963. So when he won the 98 NMO he was 35 years old.
Jeff Willet
Jeff is another very well known natural bodybuilder like Skip (they also both are/were sponsored by AST). Jeff is the proverbial midget of this bunch, at around 5'7". And he was a 198 guy as a competitor. Jeff is 37 or so, approximately.
Doing the math -
If you take all of these numbers at face value, and add up the math you get an average height of around 5'9".
If you do the same for their contest weight you get around 206-207 pounds.
If you divide 69 inches by 206 pounds you get 2.98. Let's just round to 3. So roughly, 3 pounds per linear inch.
Is that a very crude way of measuring it? Maybe. But all of these guys come out to about the same weight per linear inch really. Can't be a coincidence.
Also can't be a coincidence that all of these guys are within an ear shot of being the same size, and all say they are natural. I'm not going to dispute their claims of being natural, that's not what this particular post is about. For the sake of discussion, I'm going to say they are all natural and these stats are real. Which I believe they are.
If you do believe all of, that would say that the above average genetically gifted guy, would fall within that 3 pounds per linear inch range. So if you're 6'1" and wanted to have some IDEA (read that word over and over again, since none of this is fucking science) of what your potential might be, then you'd figure around 219 pounds or so. Again, that seems about right too.
Where it all falls apart -
Anyone who reads these things and immediately begins protesting starts in with the "well I've only been training for X number of years and I'm already x-weight and have x-inch arms".
Ok good for you. In contest shape? No. So shut the fuck up.
There's a whole mind fuck world of difference between 5'10" 205 shredded and 5'10" 205 at 12+% bodyfat. It's not even comparable.
The biggest most guys have is that they underestimate their bodyfat. The guy that thinks he's 10% is usually more like 15-17%. Calipers are nice, but they can be off by as much as 5%.
Second, numbers don't always tell the whole story. I had a friend who got his bodyfat done in a bod-pod and he was 11% bodyfat. 6'3" and 205 pounds. You'd expect him to have a pretty good build wouldn't you? Well you'd be wrong. He looked like shit. Was the epitome of what most people think of as "skinny-fat". He carried a lot of weight in his ass (no homo) and legs. But had no visible abs and no real visible muscle separation. I was surprised that his bodyfat measured that low because that's generally the range I am in (legit) with quite a bit of muscular separation.
"But I have visible upper abs in the morning!"
You're still fat. I wish I had a dollar for each time some fat guy told me this. This is NOT abs. Second, everyone carries bodyfat a little bit differently. The 20%+ fat guy could still have an outline of abs, but carry the majority of fat in his legs and ass (no homo). The 15% guy may carry that "belt of fat" around his waist, but have very lean legs and a really lean sexy ass (no homo).
More number crunching -
So here is the other deal. Most guys aren't going to diet down to 5% bodyfat. We just aren't. I have no need to do so, nor do I want to. I already eat very little and do a lot of conditioning. I have been a legit 6% before and I was 202 pounds (at 5'11") and I was running 40 miles a week, biking, swimming, and lifting. It was when I was preparing to go back into the military after 9/11. That was as small as I could get and that took 8 months. I was very very fucking lean, and cold all the god damn time. I had veins running through my lower abs and my legs looked like granite. Yes it was cool, but the work to put in to get there wouldn't seem worth it to me just to show off.
So where does that leave the average guy? Well in SHAPE, and that's in the 8-12% range. I'd say you calculate that more like 3.2 or so. Again, is this crude? Fuck yes it is. But what else do you have? Talking about wrist measurements is gay and meaningless. That means you'd be walking around at 225 pounds at 5'10" at 8-10% bodyfat. Look dude, that's big. The MAJORITY of guys at your gym that weight more than that are not anywhere close to 10% bodyfat.
I trained with a guy in Wichita who was 6'2" and around that 8-10% range at 251 pounds, and he was an absolute monster. Everywhere we went people stopped and stared. That puts him in a 3.3 per linear inch range, but he was not natural, and had very good genetics to boot. He had always been naturally very lean. And the leaner you are, the bigger you look.
Bottom Line -
I believe in knowing your limits, because I feel like knowing them puts you in a better position to progress faster. If you have been training for 10 years in a hard and dedicated manner, and your best ever bench press was 315, you're never going to bench 500. Not without some "supplements". And even then, it still probably isn't going to happen (that's a whole different article).
Let me add that as you can see, most of these guys are in their 30's and 40's. That generally means a few decades of hard training. If you're a young guy, don't expect to be at that level when you have 5 years of training under your belt. If you are, you're awesome and I salute you. However 99% of you won't be. Maybe that's what the 99% REALLY is. I fall into this same category. When I was 18 I was 220 or so pounds. But I promise you if I dieted down for a contest in that time I woulda stepped onstage at something in the 170-180 range, at the most. And I was bigger/more muscular than most guys at that age obviously.
If you believe you can be 6' 230 ripped naturally, brother go after it. Eventually you will learn what your limits are. Just don't bullshit yourself. Get your bodyfat checked and be honest in your evaluations. 5'9" and 205 lean is BIG. Is it big compared to IFBB pro bodybuilder big? No. It's not. But unless your purpose is to try and go pro, you don't need to be that big, nor do you want to take all of the shit you'd to take to make that happen.
Don't obsess over the scale. Go by what you look like and what you feel like. Two guys that are both 5'10" that step on a scale that says 205 doesn't mean they have the same build, or the same proportions. If one dude is 5% bodyfat and the other 15% then one dude is going to looking fucking jacked to shit and the other is going to look like shit.
Eventually you will be secure in who you are, and you'll come to terms with what you can accomplish. One of the reasons guys obsess so much over this shit is because they aren't happy with who THEY are. No amount of muscle in the world can make up for that emotional short coming. I know, I went through it. Lots of guys reading this will go through it, are going through it, or have made it to the other side like me.
In the meantime, just put your nose to the grindstone and worry about being the very baddest mother fucker you can be. And the rest of the pieces will fall into place.
First off, the answer is, I don't know. I have no clue as much muscle you, dear reader, or anyone else can expect to gain over the period of your training life.
But we can speculate based on some bullshit, can't we?
Extremes -
Before we talk about this gay topic, one of the things that must be done, is to throw out extremes. That means the guy running 2 grams of test a week along with insulin, GH, trenbelone, deca, and a whole host of other compounds has to be discarded. The great majority of guys that pick up a weight are never going to go to these extremes to put on muscle mass.
You also have to throw out dudes that are like 6'5" with 2" wrists and shit. Guys that were 2 pounds when they were 15 years old. That shit is not normal either.
If you have been training for 10 years and eating like a ravenous cannibal, and you're like 107 pounds, you're just as much on the extreme scale as the guy shooting a full syringe of anything everyday. Not worth talking about.
Natural Bodybuilders -
I personally don't want to get into the wrist measurement, ankle measurement, how many inches from your taint to your asshole, blah blah I don't care. I also don't want to get into arm or chest or whatever measurements. That's not even worth debating.
We can look at height, weight, and eye ball the conditioning level.
And do not send me your god damn pics to judge your bodyfat. If you want to know, go get it measured like I do. That's the best way. But the sake of the article, we will in fact use a little eyeballing just for the sake of conversation.
The best place to start, in my opinion, would be to look at natural bodybuilders. So let's look at a few.
Kiyoshi Moody
According to the T-bag article, Kiyoshi actually eats up for his contests. He runs around 175 in the offseason and then eats up to around 205 for his contests. This is strange and unusual, and yes I know some guys do it, but they are few and far between. Never the less, the dude is in contest shape, which is around 5-6% or so at 5'10" and 205 pounds. Let me also add that he's 40 years old.
 |
| 5'10 205 pounds |
Skip LaCour
If you don't know who Skip is, then well either you're some kind of noob to bodybuilding or you've just never picked up a Flex or Muscular Development or some other muscle rag. Skip is probably the most successful natural bodybuilder of all time. He's certainly the most well known one. I used to chat with Skip quite a bit and I know for a fact that in this particular pic he was 213 pounds at 5'10". Let me also add that Skip is over 40 as well.
 |
| 5'10" 213 pounds |
John Hansen won the Natural Mr. Olympia in 1998. According to pretty much every stat I could find on him he's about 5'8" and 210 pounds in contest condition. Let me also point out that Mr. Hansen was born in 1963. So when he won the 98 NMO he was 35 years old.
| 5'8" 210 pounds |
Jeff Willet
Jeff is another very well known natural bodybuilder like Skip (they also both are/were sponsored by AST). Jeff is the proverbial midget of this bunch, at around 5'7". And he was a 198 guy as a competitor. Jeff is 37 or so, approximately.
| 5'7" 198 |
Doing the math -
If you take all of these numbers at face value, and add up the math you get an average height of around 5'9".
If you do the same for their contest weight you get around 206-207 pounds.
If you divide 69 inches by 206 pounds you get 2.98. Let's just round to 3. So roughly, 3 pounds per linear inch.
Is that a very crude way of measuring it? Maybe. But all of these guys come out to about the same weight per linear inch really. Can't be a coincidence.
Also can't be a coincidence that all of these guys are within an ear shot of being the same size, and all say they are natural. I'm not going to dispute their claims of being natural, that's not what this particular post is about. For the sake of discussion, I'm going to say they are all natural and these stats are real. Which I believe they are.
If you do believe all of, that would say that the above average genetically gifted guy, would fall within that 3 pounds per linear inch range. So if you're 6'1" and wanted to have some IDEA (read that word over and over again, since none of this is fucking science) of what your potential might be, then you'd figure around 219 pounds or so. Again, that seems about right too.
Where it all falls apart -
Anyone who reads these things and immediately begins protesting starts in with the "well I've only been training for X number of years and I'm already x-weight and have x-inch arms".
Ok good for you. In contest shape? No. So shut the fuck up.
There's a whole mind fuck world of difference between 5'10" 205 shredded and 5'10" 205 at 12+% bodyfat. It's not even comparable.
The biggest most guys have is that they underestimate their bodyfat. The guy that thinks he's 10% is usually more like 15-17%. Calipers are nice, but they can be off by as much as 5%.
Second, numbers don't always tell the whole story. I had a friend who got his bodyfat done in a bod-pod and he was 11% bodyfat. 6'3" and 205 pounds. You'd expect him to have a pretty good build wouldn't you? Well you'd be wrong. He looked like shit. Was the epitome of what most people think of as "skinny-fat". He carried a lot of weight in his ass (no homo) and legs. But had no visible abs and no real visible muscle separation. I was surprised that his bodyfat measured that low because that's generally the range I am in (legit) with quite a bit of muscular separation.
 |
| 10% = muscle separation |
"But I have visible upper abs in the morning!"
You're still fat. I wish I had a dollar for each time some fat guy told me this. This is NOT abs. Second, everyone carries bodyfat a little bit differently. The 20%+ fat guy could still have an outline of abs, but carry the majority of fat in his legs and ass (no homo). The 15% guy may carry that "belt of fat" around his waist, but have very lean legs and a really lean sexy ass (no homo).
More number crunching -
So here is the other deal. Most guys aren't going to diet down to 5% bodyfat. We just aren't. I have no need to do so, nor do I want to. I already eat very little and do a lot of conditioning. I have been a legit 6% before and I was 202 pounds (at 5'11") and I was running 40 miles a week, biking, swimming, and lifting. It was when I was preparing to go back into the military after 9/11. That was as small as I could get and that took 8 months. I was very very fucking lean, and cold all the god damn time. I had veins running through my lower abs and my legs looked like granite. Yes it was cool, but the work to put in to get there wouldn't seem worth it to me just to show off.
So where does that leave the average guy? Well in SHAPE, and that's in the 8-12% range. I'd say you calculate that more like 3.2 or so. Again, is this crude? Fuck yes it is. But what else do you have? Talking about wrist measurements is gay and meaningless. That means you'd be walking around at 225 pounds at 5'10" at 8-10% bodyfat. Look dude, that's big. The MAJORITY of guys at your gym that weight more than that are not anywhere close to 10% bodyfat.
I trained with a guy in Wichita who was 6'2" and around that 8-10% range at 251 pounds, and he was an absolute monster. Everywhere we went people stopped and stared. That puts him in a 3.3 per linear inch range, but he was not natural, and had very good genetics to boot. He had always been naturally very lean. And the leaner you are, the bigger you look.
Bottom Line -
I believe in knowing your limits, because I feel like knowing them puts you in a better position to progress faster. If you have been training for 10 years in a hard and dedicated manner, and your best ever bench press was 315, you're never going to bench 500. Not without some "supplements". And even then, it still probably isn't going to happen (that's a whole different article).
Let me add that as you can see, most of these guys are in their 30's and 40's. That generally means a few decades of hard training. If you're a young guy, don't expect to be at that level when you have 5 years of training under your belt. If you are, you're awesome and I salute you. However 99% of you won't be. Maybe that's what the 99% REALLY is. I fall into this same category. When I was 18 I was 220 or so pounds. But I promise you if I dieted down for a contest in that time I woulda stepped onstage at something in the 170-180 range, at the most. And I was bigger/more muscular than most guys at that age obviously.
If you believe you can be 6' 230 ripped naturally, brother go after it. Eventually you will learn what your limits are. Just don't bullshit yourself. Get your bodyfat checked and be honest in your evaluations. 5'9" and 205 lean is BIG. Is it big compared to IFBB pro bodybuilder big? No. It's not. But unless your purpose is to try and go pro, you don't need to be that big, nor do you want to take all of the shit you'd to take to make that happen.
Don't obsess over the scale. Go by what you look like and what you feel like. Two guys that are both 5'10" that step on a scale that says 205 doesn't mean they have the same build, or the same proportions. If one dude is 5% bodyfat and the other 15% then one dude is going to looking fucking jacked to shit and the other is going to look like shit.
Eventually you will be secure in who you are, and you'll come to terms with what you can accomplish. One of the reasons guys obsess so much over this shit is because they aren't happy with who THEY are. No amount of muscle in the world can make up for that emotional short coming. I know, I went through it. Lots of guys reading this will go through it, are going through it, or have made it to the other side like me.
In the meantime, just put your nose to the grindstone and worry about being the very baddest mother fucker you can be. And the rest of the pieces will fall into place.
5 songs to listen to on Valentines Day
I did one of these before, and it's time to do one again. Everyone likes lifting music. But on V-Day, the estrogen is in full Tsunami mode.
Today, you must put up a big wall of testosterone in order to overcome it.
Anti-Valentine Day Songs for everyone!
White Knuckles - FFDP
Take back control of this day with your knuckles. What do you tell a woman with two black eyes?
Nothing. She's already been told twice.
The Motor City Madman knows what to do when a bitch is out of control. Stranglehold with some face crushing!
This song needs no jokes to precede it.
........and neither does this one........
And lastly, let's just get this shit straight.......
Today, you must put up a big wall of testosterone in order to overcome it.
Anti-Valentine Day Songs for everyone!
White Knuckles - FFDP
Take back control of this day with your knuckles. What do you tell a woman with two black eyes?
Nothing. She's already been told twice.
The Motor City Madman knows what to do when a bitch is out of control. Stranglehold with some face crushing!
This song needs no jokes to precede it.
........and neither does this one........
And lastly, let's just get this shit straight.......
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