Pipes - Poundstone curl PR

Bodyweight - 241

Poundstone Curls - 65x100 PR

Band Lying Extensions - 100 total reps

Ouch..................

Training - Press

Close Grips -
bar x 30
135x10
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x3
365x5 singles

Band Pulldowns - 5x25
Reverse Grip Bench - 135x5x25

Notes - Still have some kind of virus that is kicking my ass.  Getting in bed after I eat.  Bllllarrrg.

New home gym floor

Not that this is going to blow the socks off of anyone, but last night we put down horse stall matting for the home gym room.  I have been needing to do this for a long time.  It sucked to move this shit in (100 pounds per mat) but well worth it after.

The Lifer Series Part 8 - I will have specific goals, and specific plans to attain them

"A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder." Thomas Carlyle

Your training plan

I have written about goal setting and the importance of it's value many times.  I've also written about tempering your goals so that you always have something attainable in sight, and making sure that you have very specific plans to achieve these goals.

These things make up the trinity of planning your training.

Have a specific goal  

Make sure it's not retarded 

Have a very precise plan for achieving it 

Have a specific goal - 

It's still amazing to me, how many questions I get about things like "look at my routine...does it look good?" without an addendum defining what it is the person is trying to accomplish with said routine.

I can't look at a routine and become the Johnny Carson genie, and extract what it is someone is trying to accomplish with it.

no fucking clue why you're doing that routine....

I've also said many times before, routines are routines.  You need to have a philosophy, or code, about your training paradigm.  I massage my routines all the time, but the principles are always the same.

When you sit down the write out a routine, the first thing you should write out, is what it is you are going to try and accomplish with this routine.

"I want a big bench."

This is not a fucking goal.  Or let me write, this is not a SPECIFIC goal.  I don't know what "jacked pipes" means nor do you.

"I want to bench 405."

That's a specific goal.

Now you can sit down and plan around achieving that.  Unless............

Make sure it's not retarded - 

..........you're currently benching 155.

I run into this shit quite a bit.  Some guy hit's a PR of 500x5 on the deadlift then says he's going to do 500x20 in a few months.  Might as well say he's going to do 500xeleventy billion in a few months.  That's how big the chasm is between those two things.  I've been chasing 500x20 in the deadlift for a while.  I'm at around 13 or so right now, and I hit 500x5 for the first time MANY years ago.

Just this past week I saw where a guy did a 635 raw squat, and BARELY got it, then wrote how he was going to "crush 675 next week".

Never go full retard.

So if you're benching 155, 405 shouldn't even be on your radar.  Shit, 225 shouldn't even be on it.

How about 165 there, Kaz?  Yeah, that might be a good place to start.

Do you want to know why I think most guys don't like setting those kinds of goals?  The small ones, I mean.  Because it reminds them of what they perceive as their own inferiority.  A guy that is maxing at 155 is generally surrounded in a gym by guys doing 185, 205, 225, 275, 315, etc.  So in order not to feel diminished in his own efforts or abilities, he often sets goals, like "Imma bench 225".

He then goes in and benches multiples times a week, does a ton of arm work, neglects heavy leg and back work, over trains some shit, uses shitty form, then gets hurt, whines....talks about how "I was close to hitting 225 (not really) but then I got hurt".

/war story addition to his failed training combines for massive awfulness and apocalyptic style fail/

The weights never lie.  If you can't bench 225, you can't.  If you aren't within an arms reach of X weight, stop looking past a realistic goal.  Focus should be on making a realistic goal, and crushing that bitch before moving on.  Stop being egocentric with your goal planning because you don't want to own up to your own inferiority in comparison to someone else.  The 155 bench guy doesn't like saying "my goal is to bench 165" because he thinks it makes him sound weak.  He ends up staying weak longer because he plans improperly based on goals that are not realistically achievable at the moment.

The stronger man is always aware of his weaknesses, and plans accordingly to fix them.  He doesn't dilute his blood with delusion or poison his mind with misgivings.  He understands the important of an extra rep, or a measly 5 pounds on the bar.

Who wouldn't want to add 60 pounds to a big lift in a year?  What does that come out to?  5 pounds a month.

Kaz didn't have war stories, he just got shit done

However, you can't understand or grok the importance of that extra 5 pounds, if you are worried about measuring up to what others around you are doing, or are capable of.

In part 5, I made it a point to address not caring about what other guys can do or are doing.  It has no bearing on your own training or goal setting.  Grok that shit, then plan accordingly to what YOU can do.

Have a very precise plan for achieving it - 

When I was in Ohio recently, I training with Jim and we went over his summer goals that he wrote about on his site.  Jim had a very exact and precise plan to make this happen.  He met or exceeded all of his goals.  That's not by accident or luck.  He was smart in how he went about his planning.  Not being overzealous in the early goals, or stupid about the long term ones.  This set him up for sustained and measurable progress on a weekly basis.

Now Jim and I are both 20+ year guys.  We understand the big picture, and have no need to rush things.  We understand the importance of starting slow, hitting little landmarks along the way, and then waking up one day, with many goals in the rear view mirror.

Having realistic and specific goals will allow you to look at a proper time table, and create a proper plan for reaching them.  You need to have a purpose for every single thing you do in the gym.  Nothing should be second guessed.  Know why you are doing everything that you are doing.

Then you're no longer a ship without a rudder.

Training - Skwats and shit

Pause Squats -
high bar
135x10,5
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x 6 sets of 3
405 x 3 sets of 3
405 x 5

1 legged squats - 5x15
1 legged calf raises - 100 reps (total)

Notes - Have some kind of virus.  Felt like shit, so I was just happy enough to get this one in.

Lift Run Bang (Phil) Podcast!

Phil joined me tonight for an podcast and as usual, shit was interesting and fun.  Especially when Phil decided he'd rather be on a deserted island with the fish head than the mermaid......Jesus

Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff

Podcast - 
No podcast last night.  Jamie is fulled up with a side project and we just couldn't make time for it.  My apologies.  I'm just going to use the questions from this past Q&A for it.  I will be doing a podcast tonight anyway with Phil, just to make up for it.  Look at how nice I am.

More Congrats - 
If you missed it yesterday, a big congrats to Ryan, who wrote in about making the Arkansas football team.  That guy has worked his ass off for well over a year to make this happen.  Now that he has spent the last year doing the lift and run part, it's time to fucking bang.

Shirt Sale Coming -
I'm all out of black large in the "death is winning..." shirt.  So if you order a black large....you're getting a gray large.  In fact I'm dropping the price on all shirts this week to sell them out, so I can stock one new shirt.  Which is the "death is winning..." shirt.  However the front is going to have a new logo.

Rotational Split - 
Along with the LRB template, I think the rotational split is going to be possibly my best split ever, now that I've really narrowed down exactly what I'm doing with it.  I will be writing more about it this week, and I've really narrowed down this split (which is similar to the split in SLL) and the LRB split, as the single two best templates one can use for training.  The flexibility in both can work for anyone if applied properly.

1 Year Book - 
I've had this cool idea bouncing around in my head for a little while now.  A one year book for non-competing guys who just want to get as jacked, cut, strong, and bad ass as they can.  I always talk about "big picture" and how you can't ride two horses with one ass.  This would give you a template for training year round, how to eat, structure training and conditioning so that you get better every year by concentrating on certain aspects during certain months.  A competing guy could use it too if he planned on taking the year off, or I'd find a way to put the strong-15 competitive cycle in there.  Not sure I'm ready to undertake another writing quite yet, but I like the idea of it a lot.  Similar to what I did with the SPPC challenge this year, but with each section blocked off for very specific goals.

Amazon - 
So it really helps ME if you guys that bought my book or e-book write me a review on Amazon.  Just sayin.......


Meet Prep - 
I have about 4 weeks or so left until meet prep will need to start.  I already have everything outlined for training and really feel ready.  The only thing I'm even slightly worried about is how the quad will feel once I get up into higher percentages.  I have a plan for that as well.  I will write about this after the meet to let you know how it went.  It's more about the further evolution of my training, and again, something Jim and I talked about while I was in Ohio.  As usual, it's something he has come to the realization of over the last few years as well.  Funny how he and I keep doing that.

I hope everyone's Monday is drilling them in the ass like Ed Norton got drilled in the shower in American History X.

Another LRB guy succeeding........

A while back, I posted an inspirational e-mail a guy sent to me, about losing weight and trying to achieve his goal of making the Arkansas football team.  

I got his follow up e-mail today and wanted to share it.  This is awesome, and the whole reason I write and answer Q&A's and do what I do.  

Paul,
I told you I'd let you know how the tryout went! Measured in at 6'3 323(<------I dont know how) had a 25 inch vertical and after the vertical they made us go straight to 225 for reps with no warm up did 25, hated the fact that I was not loose and not prepared for that, after all that we did three stations of speed agility drills with cones bags and then doing some pro I drills, after about 25 minutes of that we broke off into position specific drills. Through out the tryout the head strength and conditioning coach was all over me and loved how well I could move and was also surprised about my weight. Few days later I received the call and was asked to join the program!!! There was about 80 or so players at the tryout and they kept 4 players and a kicker (they had there own tryout) I should start my first day of practice tomorrow I do have to go a certain amount of days without full pads though which will blow because I want to get in there and just hit. I may not suit up or stand on the sidelines for the games, but I reached my primary goal of making the team, now my next is to suit up for a game, idk if I have control of that this season since I'm pretty sure they have already made the dress lists but next I will! but I Wanted to say thanks for all you do with the blog and books, they have helped me tremendously in this journey. 

Training - Press and support work

Bodyweight - 243

Incline Db Press -
20's x 30
60's x 12,8
100's x 8,8

140's x 10 PR
140's x 7

Front Raises - 25 pounder x 100
Band Face Pulls - 100 reps (straight)

Notes - Good session.  Could have probably gotten 11, maybe 12 on the first set and 8 or 9 on the second. As you can see, I practice what I preacher however, and left a rep or 2 in the tank.

 

Assistance Work - Magical Pixie Dust

Hey Paul,

I've asked a question about your rotational upperback split (http://www.lift-run-bang.com/2012/08/a-very-solid-rotational-split.html) before, and I'm afraid I'm gonna do it again.

Is there any sort of exercise selection you'd abide by? Right now I'm running it 4 days a week and using 50 total reps instead of 100 (using 5x10 actually, yeah probably Wendler's fault that I like that rep range for assistance stuff). But would you prefer any type of set up in particular? For instance, keeping heavier upperback shit like rows and chins on bench and overhead days, lighter stuff like face pulls and rear delts on squat/dead days (sort of an upper/lower thing I guess). Or does it just not matter?

Keep in mind I'm an intermediate type lifter so recovery is less of an issue with me than it is with you.

I'm absolutely loving the split though, hopefully it'll pay dividends to my upper back as well in a few months.

Thanks in advance Paul, keep fighting the good fight

=========================================================

Assistance work is one of the most talked about topics in all of training.  I'm not sure why.  You pick a few for particular reasons, you do some reps, you go home.  It's not like pixie dust, where you sprinkle some of it in your programming and "BAM!" magical shit happens.

Because of the preaching of some very stupid methodologies, people have forgotten what assistance, or support work, is for.  

Support work is key for -

1.  Build the musculature involved in the main lifts (mass)
2.  Strengthen the muscles that help the support pillars (elbows, knees, ankles, etc)

3.  Prehab or Rehab

You train the lift, to build the lift.  

You use assistance to build the muscles involved in the lift.  If they get bigger/stronger, that should help the lift.  

It's not "weak point training" (don't get me started), it's just "bodybuilding" for the most part.  

For the rotational split, you can do the upperback specialization one or, Jim and I have kind of narrowed it down to some really handy ones.  Namely.......

1.  Front raises

2.  Lunges/1-Legged Squats

3.  Leg Curls

4.  Kirk Shrugs

5.  Curls

6.  Band Pushdowns

7.  Face Pulls

8.  Sit-ups

8 total movements.  Cool thing about that is, there are 4 workouts in the rotational split, so you just do the big movement for the day, then pick 2 of the small movements.  That's exactly how my split is going to be carried out now.  

As far as sets and reps, right now I'm playing with this "100's" idea.  I like it.  It's fun, challenging, and I don't get beat the fuck up from it.  I see assistance as something I use to "grow", and the main movements as something I use to get stronger.  I know, it's deep and complicated stuff, but I promise it works.  

You can use 5x10, but keep the rest periods short.  However I personally think 5x20-25 is better, and pays bigger dividends.

Mainly however, the biggest thing is to make the muscle WORK in your support movements.  I have no idea why someone wants to use 100 pound dumbbells for curls or skull crushers.  Makes no god damn sense.  If you are trying to build particular muscular areas, you need to make that area do the work....when you get too heavy, you sacrifice form to move the weight through space.  Now, who the hell knows what your prime mover is for that movement.

The one thing I really like about the sets of 100, is that it FORCES you to go incredibly light, and you will have no doubt the next day what muscle did all of the work.

If you want to do 5x10 or 5x100 or 1x100, it's all fine.  Just make sure you use support/assistance work in the right way for the correct reasons.  

Weekend Q&A - For me and Podcast

All questions welcome.  BOOM!

Training - Squats and Tugs

Bodyweight - 242

Pause Squats -
bar x 10,10
135x10,10
225x,3,3,3
315x,3,3
405x,1,1,1

Deadlifts -
225x2
315x2
405x2
505x2,2,2

Cambered Bar Kirk Shrugs - 95x80

Notes - Tired as fuck.  Couldn't get going.  Just a meh session.

How the fuck did I not post this pic?

If you didn't see it on my Facebook Page...........

The Lifer Series - Part 7 - I will cast out cowards, backstabbers, and liars

I read a saying once that basically went, "we don't lose friends as we get older, we just narrow down our choices down to the ones that matter."

Truer words about friendship, and relationships, have never been spoken.  Eventually we narrow down those friends to the ones whose words always ring truest.

As a friend, brother, son, husband.....as a man, your word is what and who you are.  Like it or not, that's the world.  That's not my perception either.  That's my reality and your reality.  You can't escape it.

If your word isn't any good, then peoples perception of your integrity isn't going to be very good either.  If you tell me that you're going to do something, I expect it to be done.  I shouldn't be left to wonder or contemplate if what you say is gospel.

In the movie Jerry Maguire, there is a scene where Cush's dad tells Jerry that he doesn't do contracts....however......

What you do have is my whole word, and it's stronger than oak.

Well if you haven't seen the movie, Cush's dads words ended up ringing hollow as he signed a contract with another agent on the eve of the draft (fuck your spoilers).

That scene really stuck in my head.  He made it a point to let Jerry know that his word was strong as oak.  Harder than a porn star's war hammer after an overdose of Cialis.  Here was a guy that says "hey, I don't do contracts.  I'm from the old school when a mans word meant something."

Backstabbing liar.......

Ooops.  Fuck.

Some would say "well he did what was best for his kid."

Fuck that.

The only lesson his son learned from that, was that at the end of the day your word is your bond.....unless someone else coughs up a couple bucks more.  Cush was already going to be a millionaire.  However dad made sure to perform a gut shot to the stomach of integrity when he showed first hand, that he was a liar, and a backstabber.  His "strong than oak" words, fell at the slightest breeze of the wind.  A redwood his words were not.

These kinds of lessons are the ones your kids, brothers, sons, and friends learn from you.  Whether that means them not trusting you ("I wouldn't trust him to pay me back.....") or never knowing if you'll hold up your end of the bargain ("He said he'd be here......").

You should respect your word as much as you respect yourself.  Maybe that's really the root of the problem with cowards, backstabbers, and liars......it's hard to know what respecting someone else means, when you have no idea how to have any respect for yourself.  

Someone asked me a while back, "so, what does it mean to respect yourself?"

That's really a great question, because everyone tells you do that, but how often do you ask them to define it?

One of the principles I outlined in Strength, Life, Legacy was to have a code that you live by.  This code should be made up of ideas and traits that you believe set you apart from others, raise the standards which you live by, and keep you from compromising who you are because of peer pressure or dire circumstances.  Deviating from said code, is not an option.  Once you do, what is your code worth?  Remember, you can only be as good as your word, or the "words" (your code) that you say you live by.  If your own code isn't any good, how good is the man that defined it?

This is, in a nutshell, what self respect is.  Living your code in an unforgiving and uncompromising way.  It's the outline of the principles you live by, and for no reason do you deviate from them.

Part of that code should be, to be a man of your word.  Say what you mean, and mean what you say.  Never compromise that in the face of adversity.  Once you do, anything else that comes out of your mouth can always be questioned by those you gave your word to.  Never lie to someone you trust, and never trust someone that lies to you.

With that said, people generally don't like the truth.  Most people ask other people to justify and enable their actions.  Only keep those close to you that will give it.  Thus, narrowing down your choices to people you know will always tell you the truth, will stand beside you when you need them, and tell it to you like it is when you're fucking up.

Part of your code could easily be to ask yourself about these kinds of people and friends......

Do they have my back when I need them?

Will they tell me when I am wrong, or that I need to change things?

Can I always depend on them to tell me the truth, even if I may not like it, and vice versa?

Even if ol boy has a ponytail, his handshake should still mean something...

Reality is, you may have great friends that can and would honor all of these things, but may not because they may care about not wanting to "hurt your feelings" or how you feel.  It's your responsibility to let them know that regardless of circumstance, they need to be up front with you.  If they can't honor that, then they aren't worth keeping around.

On the flip side of that, you should always be able to be up front with them, even if feelings get hurt or egos are bruised.  It happens.  However you need to lead by example.  Which is another great code to live by.  If you expect to be treated a certain way, always set that example to others, so when their efforts falter your own actions don't justify it.

At the end of the day, as I've always said, only spend time with the people who are going to cry at your funeral.  If you want your life to be as easy as possible, make sure those people understand your code, and have a similar code as well.  This is always make life easier.

After all, no one ever said their life was easier because they were surrounded by cowards, backstabbers, and liars.

Training - Press and Pipes with massive PR and a call out

Bodyweight - 240

Close Grip Bench -
bar x 50
135x15
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
365x1,1,1,1
405x1

Poundstone Curls - 160 reps BOOOMMM!!!

Band Lying Extensions - 100 total reps

Notes - Eric Lilliebridge and I are having a friendly competition on the curls, so he did 130 other night.  I upped the ante and did 160 tonight.  I guess it's first to 200............

This pic is exactly what my motto is all about........

One of my best buddies, Timmy...........fucking awesome.

Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff - Columbus, Ohio edition

Thursday - 16Apr2012

I left for Kansas City International Airport at around 11:30 a.m.  My flight departed around 12:50, with layover in Atlanta.  I arrived Columbus around 7:30 that nigh, so that made for a fairly long day of traveling.

Pegg picked me up from the airport, and we were both starving.  We ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory (his choice), and proceeded to get shitty service because, as Pegg put it, "you know that god damn waiter is thinking "look at those two meatheads....you know they aren't going to tip worth shit.""

How prophetic the Peggers is.  I am a GREAT tipper if you give me solid service.  Notice I said "solid", not even spectacular.  I appreciate that waiters and waitresses make their money off their tips, so if they are doing a solid job I always tip well over 20%.  Well, Ol' Boy even fucked up our appetizer right out of the gate, and nary could a refill on water be found.

"Does that look like guacamole to you?" Pegg said, staring at our appetizer.  "I swore we ordered the southwest chicken tacos."

Many profanities followed.  Service still did not improve.

Dinner with this beauty will impede the waiters ability to do a good job....

Eventually our shitty waiter came around to ask us if we'd like to order and much to his surprise, we told him we were there in fact, to eat food.  I can't imagine the shock waves that must have went through his body as we dropped this knowledge bomb upon him.  Of course, he fucked up my order and forgot my sweet tater fries, but I expected nothing less at this point.

After we ate and left little in the way of a tip, then we headed on over to this bar across the street, grabbed a couple of drinks then headed home.

Friday - 17Apr2012

I slept in a bit, if you wanna call it "sleep", then woke and we worked out a time to meet Wendler.  Jim knew I was coming into town and we had planned on meeting for lunch and also talked about maybe doing some training as well.

Before lunch however, Pegg and I headed off to Costco and picked up all the meat that Pegg was going to cook for our BBQ Saturday night.  We ended up grabbing 6 slabs of ribs and over 4 pounds of chicken, along with an cart full of other accessories for said Bar-B-Q.

We unpacked the car and then headed back out to meet Jim for lunch.  Of course we met at a place called BJ's.  What other place would three grown men that still make high school jokes all day meet?

Of course..........

Jim joined us and we basically had a 3.5 hour lunch.  For a few reasons.

Pegg's powers of destroying a waitress' ability to do their job once again was in full Sith like force, and it took about 90 minutes before we even got to order our appetizer.  Another hour went by before Jim finally goes "Are we going to be able to order some fucking food?"

During our time of not having food, we just bullshitted a lot, caught up with how things had been going, and just laughed about a bunch of random shit for a while.  I suppose what women call "male bonding".  Just not as gay.

After we actually ate, Jim and I talked about training the next day and told me to let him know what was up so that we could get together.

Saturday - 18Apr2012

With Pegg sleeping in, me and my buddy Alva headed out to get breakfast at IHOP, sans Pegg.  Without Pegg in tow, service was excellent and timely.  Not once did Alva or myself want for a refill, nor did it take 7.3 hours to get our food.  Once it arrived, it was exactly as we had ordered it.

After we were done eating our timely meal, we returned to the Pegger's lair and talked about going to train.  Pegg said he wasn't going to because he needed to get all the stuff for the bar-b-q ready, so Alva and myself headed off to train with Jim.

I want to be very clear about this.  It's a big privilege to train with Jim at his home.  Actually, let me say that it's a big privilege to get an invitation from anyone to come train in their home.  However I know how guarded Jim is with his time.  He doesn't just invite anyone to come train with him.  It's not an "open to come train" kind of fucking thing.  It's very much via a "invitation only" kind of thing.  I can identify with Jim on this because I get a lot of guys going "hey let's do some training together" but I've trained alone for the better part of 20+ years.  I don't prefer training with people, nor would I ever invite someone I don't know to come train at my home.

Think about that for a minute.

I imagine Jim gets hit up about that a lot, and honestly, I can't imagine how people come to such conclusions.  It's not a lot different than inviting yourself over to someone's house for dinner, and they don't even know you.  You're asking them to open up their home and time to a total stranger.  Why?  Oh because "I lift weights too".  People are amazing sometimes.  And by amazing, I mean, totally fucking stupid.

Training at 5-point gym and a Biotest plug....no sarcasm

Before I write about the training day, I want to actually say something that will in fact send some shock waves through the fucking universe.  Ok so that won't happen, but it will shock the hell out of my readers.

I am going to take back some of the shit I said about t-nation and their supplements.

While at Pegg's I saw how much Biotest shit he had from when he was using their products.

"So is this shit really any good?" I asked.

"Yeah, it really is." Pegg told me.

"Come on, man"

"No, I'm serious.  That Anaconda, you can train for fucking ever on that shit."

"For real?"

"I got no reason to lie about it." Pegg said.

I wanted to give it a shot, so before Alva and I left I mixed up some and downed it.

I also want to say that their chocolate Metabolic Drive tastes awesome.  No shit.  I'd totally buy it just based on taste.  I'll come back to all this shit later.

So Alva and myself arrive to train.  Jim and Alva had to bench, and I needed to squat, do some upper back and 1-legged work.

For my squatting I did two things I've actually never done before.  I used a buffalo bar, and squatted in a monolift.  The monolift thing is really no big deal, I still walked my shit out, however the buffalo bar was awesome.  I use a really wide grip to squat with, and on the 7 foot power bar, my hands still feel a bit jammed up.  With the buffalo bar however, there is no such problem, plus the curl of the bar makes it feel really comfortable on your bar.  Totally going to be a purchase I will make soon.  It makes squatting feel so much better.  I also want to add that Electric Wizard as background training music is incredibly fucking solid.

I think my squatting went something like this.........

Pause Squats -
bar (55 pounds) x 3 sets of 10
145x5,5
235x3,3,3
325x3,3
375x3,3
415x3
465x1
315x3x3x3

T-Bar Rows -
warm ups then...
5 plates x 15
6 plates x 6

Speed Skater Squats - 3 x 10 per leg

Jim hit a very easy 365 bench, and Alva did a shit ton of overhead presses.

All in all, a pretty normal session.  Until I start talking to Jim about all of the super high rep work I had been doing.  The Poundstone curls and face pulls and shit like that.  So while resting between sets of t-bars, Jim starts into a set of curls.  I realize at about 25 or so that he's going to try it.

"Trying for 100?" I say.

"Yeah."

So I grabbed the video camera for proof that Jim curls in his own power rack.  What a disgrace.......



As you can see, Jim was pretty torn up from the curls.  For anyone that hasn't done these, everyone who gives them a shot pays for it.  It's pretty amazing what an empty bar done for ultra high reps can do to you.  Jim sat after this set and held his right forearm for quite a while and laughed about how bad it was cramping. Eric Lilliebridge had the same complaints after I talked him into doing them a little more than a week ago.

After the curls, Jim and I started brain storming about training for a while.  From there shit just took off and we ended up doing a whole bunch of things that I'm not going to write about here, because Jim is going to do am article about that soon.  Trust me, it's going to be fucking awesome.

This was the best part for me.  Reconnecting with Jim on the training brainstorming like we used to do.  This is exactly the kind of shit we did via e-mail for years, and Jim and I always seem to be the exact same page in regards to our ideas.  Not only that, it's uncanny how we both end up doing much of the same shit all the time without ever running it across each other.  This session was no different.

When we came to an area that we were both unsure of, we would go back and forth on the pros and cons of doing it, and eventually settle on dropping something or adding it in.  Jim wrote on the white board as we hashed a few hours worth of shit out, and then actually fucking tried some of it right there.

We also talked at length about strength peaking and all sorts of other shit, but the one thing we talked about, that I wish people could have been there to hear and grasp somehow, was how Jim and I both said that in spite of the fact that we both program using percentages, we know what a weight "feels" like that we need to be using.  We can't quantify what that percentage is.  It might be 83% or 87% but that after all of this time, we know how certain weights need to move and feel, in order to be proper working weight.

In between sets, we kept brain storming and talking about training ideas, so training basically went on for about 3.5 hours.  No shit.

But we weren't dicking around it was time to do our sets.

At one point I asked Jim if he were ready to do the next thing on the list and he goes "fuck no, give me 18 to 20 minutes".  Then we would sit around and brain storm some more.

I went in expecting just to get some training in and came out with a metric fuck ton of ideas about new training ideas and evolving some things both Jim and I had already been toying with.

And back to the Biotest plug, I never got tired.  I felt good the whole time, with a solid level of energy.  I honestly do credit the Anaconda for that because both Pegg and Alva told me that's exactly what it did for them.  That you could train, train, train, on it and let me tell ya, that was exactly what we did that day.  If there was ever a day I needed something to sustain me through a long session, this was that day.

After training, we went to Jim's basement where he keeps his music equipment and he let me bang on his drums for a while.  I was a little rusty but it's always fun to get a few fills in when I can.

So basically we trained, talked training and music, and hung out for about 5.5 hours.  Pegg was throwing a fit because we were supposed to have butter and honey for his bar-b-q prep and were "taking for fucking ever!"

We finally managed to make it out of Jim's house, and returned to the Stabbin' Cabin where Pegg was still getting shit ready to go.

That evening, Pegg cooked us up some fantastic bar-b-q.  Ribs and chicken, and other friends brought some awesome dessert (thanks for the chocolate chip cookie dough brownies, Brandy!), and we all ate until we were stuffed.......and then some.

Sunday  19Aug2012 - Departure

Sunday morning Pegg and I met Mike Ruggiera, his wife Lori and his two beautiful kids out at IHOP.  I've known Mike for maybe 10 years now, but like most people I know through powerlifting or the net, never had a chance to meet him.  Mike is brutally huge.  I mean, thick like you can't imagine, but most importantly you get right away that Mike is every bit as genuine and nice as he comes across on line or on the phone.  As is his wife.

Of course, IHOP fucked up my order.  I ordered whole wheat blueberry pancakes.  They brought me regular banana pancakes.  You know why?  Sith Pegg.  That's why.

After breakfast Pegg dropped me off at the Airport to a teary goodbye (no not really), and I proceeded to upgrade my seats thanks via a suggestion by Jim.

In closing, I had an unbelievable trip and spent time with some amazing friends.  This is what life should be all about.  Doing things that enrich your existence, and build depth with friends that are almost like family.

I can't say thanks enough to Pegg for having me out, and for the time Jim took out of his schedule to hang and train and bullshit.  To Alva for being awesome in general.  I hope to make more trips out in the future and create many more stories to talk about.

Death is winning the war, but this weekend I got to win a battle.  That's pretty damn sweet.  

Training - Press and shit

Bodyweight - 242

Incline Db Press -
20's x 50
60's x 12
100's x 8
140's x 8
100's x 20

Band Pull Aparts - 100 total reps
Poundstone Curls - bar x 100
Band Extensions - 100 reps

Notes - Nothing over the top, but solid.

Get a tank for 10!

I have just a handful of the LRB tanks left, and summer only has a few weeks left, so grab one for cheap while you can.

WORD OF WARNING!  These shrink in the wash.  So that's why the sizes are what they are.  If you want a med, order the large, if you want a large, order the XL.

More on beginner programming and combining programming methods

The lifer series will continue next week.  I've been too busy with work, training, and getting ready for my Ohio trip to really sit down and concentrate on those types of articles.  However I meant to address this particular question this week/next week anyway, so let's do it.

Paul, I (and perhaps others) am curious as to what sort of programming you have laid out for a beginner. What I mean is, I have SLL and you outline your beginner program for a fresh out the womb beginner but don't really go much further than the first 6-8 week period, and then a Phase Two routine but don't go into much detail on that. You mentioned in your rotational split post that this is similar to your daughter's current split. I'm curious what your programming changes to as someone becomes less and less of a beginner and how progress is tracked and planned (if at all). 

===============================================================================


Ok to start, you don't have to run the beginner template in SLL for only 6-8 weeks. You could run that thing for a very long time. There's honestly no REAL such thing as a beginner routine, per say. Just that the finer points of the program are in place for specific reasons. I named those reasons in SLL.


This summer Hannah spent her workouts doing the following most of the time.


Squats (light and heavy sessions)

Deadlifts (usually moderate, with some heavy block pulls in there every other week or so)

Chins (every workout)

Bench Press, Floor Press, Db Bench Press, Overhead Press (usually she'd do 2 of those 4 in a week)


However now that she's getting ready for a meet in November, we really broken down her training into a more structured platform.


Day 1 -

Squats (heavy) 5,4,3,2,1,1,1 1x4-5 heavy

Ab Wheel - 5 sets of 8-10


This day has usually looked like 65x5, 75x4, 85x3, 95x2, 105x1, 115x1, 115/120x1, 95x5


Day 2 -

Squats (light) - this is usually 4-5 sets of 65x5 - in between sets of squats, she does db bench press for sets of 10 with the 20's.

Floor Press (heavy) - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1 - in between sets of floor press she does chins

Dips - AMAPx1

Chins - AMAPx1




Her floor press is usually something like barx5, 65x4, 70x3, 75x2, 85/90x1 all fast and solid with a pause


Day 3 -

Deadlifts - warm up, then usually 8-12 singles with between 135 and 175

Incline Press on machine - 5-6 sets of 8

Cable Rows - 5 sets of 20


On deads, we work on technique a lot, and pulling with a lot of bar speed. In between singles I have her walk over to the machine incline press and knock out a set of 8. Once she gets in a groove, and 135 starts moving super fast, I will go to 155 and we will do more singles or some doubles. Once that looks faster, we will go to 175 for a single or two, then usually a back off set of 155x3.


A lot of her "programming" is very static in this way. Because she's not benching 225 and pulling 315 there can't be a lot of big weight jumps, so we work in small ones. For the dead I try not to have her grind out too many sets or singles that are slow. Even with a 14 year old girl, if she has a day where we do that, her squat tanks for 3-4 days until the low back recovers. So we focus on speed and technique.


I do have her grind out whatever she can get on the floor press or bench, chins, dips, incline, etc. We also have some days where I throw in set of Poundstone curls and we see what she can get with the 35 pound bar (usually 70 reps or so).


So if we wanted to outline a similar looking routine for someone who could program in with both the strong-15 and big-15 programs, this is how I would do that, with this particular program..........





Day 1 -

Squats (heavy) - strong 15 w/o the pause squats

Ab Wheel - 5 sets of 8-10


Day 2 -

Squats - do the pause squats from the strong-15 that were not done on day 1

Bench Press - strong-15 with back offs

Dips - AMAPx1

Chins - AMAPx1


Day 3 -

Deadlifts - strong-15 including back offs

Incline Press on machine - big-15 programming here

Cable Rows - 4-5x8-12


This is just one example of how you could program using the strong and big-15 templates into 1 training phase. I'm going to be writing more about that down the line.


I am off to Ohio tomorrow so don't expect any/many blog updates until I return. I should have some good stories to return with, as I will be spending time with a lot of bat shit crazy people.


Wish me luck.

Chaos and Bang Your Earballs 14!

We had James Steel back on, and this time he was not raped or attacked by robots.

Some things discussed -
Mobility for athletes
Assistance work that sucks
Me training more often
Speed and percentages in workouts

All in all, this is one of the best TRAINING podcasts we have done, with almost no fluff.  Enjoy.

Quick Q&A for the podcast tonight

We are having James Steel back on since he turned into a robot during the last podcast.  Try to keep the questions more related to Jim and stuff he can answer......

Training - Squats and Deads

Bodyweight - 245

High Bar Pause Squats -
bar x 10,10
135x3,3
225x3,3
315x3,3
365x3
405x5

Modified Sumo Pulls -
225x2
275x2
315x2
365x2
405x2
455x2
500x2

Conventional Speed Pulls -
500x1,1,1

Db Shrugs - 140's x 3 sets of 20

Notes - This was THE BEST squatting has felt in maybe 6 or 8 months.  NO pain.  And look at the speed I had at 405 with good pauses.

Remember last week, I had several terrible sessions.  Two weeks ago I may have had the worst squat session I've had in 10 years.  It was that bad.  I did NOT let it get me down.  Tonight felt awesome.  No pain, I felt REALLY strong.  I know from experience that the way 405 moved tonight that I'm very close to already being back to 100%.

Also, check the speed of 500 after all of that volume on squats and pulls..................

Overall a very solid session.

Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff

UFC 150 - If Bendo did enough to win the title from Frankie the first time they fought, I can't understand for the life of me how Frankie Edgar didn't do enough to get it back in the rematch.  Judging makes no sense to me anymore.  I'm not a "he got robbed!" kinda guy, but if what Bendo did in the first fight was enough, then Frankie got robbed Saturday night.

Cool story from this weekend...........So Saturday night me and the little lady go out to eat.  We try Houston's, and there is a 45 minute wait.  We put our name down anyway and go sit by the bar.  I'm not happy though and neither is she.  "You wanna try Fogo?" she asks me, referring to the Brazilian steakhouse across the street.  "Sure".  So we walk over and check to see what the wait time is there.  "30 minutes" we are told.  Cool, that's 15 minutes less and better food.  So we go stand outside to wait because it's nice out and I recognize the guy leaning against the wall, also waiting to be seated.  His name is Dexter McCluster and he plays for the Chiefs.  I introduce myself and we chat for a bit.  His girlfriend shows up to eat and as it turns out, she's from New Orleans (we are originally from a small town just north of NOLA).  So we all hit it off and chat for quite some time before Tiff and I are called in to be seated.

When we sit down at our table, it turns out it's a table for four.  Dexter and his GF haven't been seated yet, so I go back outside and ask if they'd like to join us.  So we spent the next 3 hours chattin it up, having some drinks and eating WAAAAY too much awesome Brazilian steak.  We exchanged numbers and made plans to hook up later for more food and fun.  Great guy.

So I've been at the 100 rep curls and the 100-150 reps for triceps for a while now.  Going way back to when I was talking about "small workouts".  Over the past few months I've really bumped up the reps and volume to make sure I'm getting in a shit ton of reps.  This is my pic from over the weekend.

This is exactly what happened to me after I tore my bicep the second time  I was doing tons of reps for biceps and triceps, light weight, a few times a week.  For whatever reason, my arms really seem to respond to it.  If your arm growth has been stagnant throw in the poundstone curls once a week, then another session of high volume dumbbell curls (5-6 sets of 25, LIGHT with short rest periods) and you will see the benefits.

No podcast night night.  Jamie was busy with some business stuff and I had to run errands to get ready for my Ohio trip.  We are going to try and get back together on Tuesday night if possible and knock it out then.

So I've been tinkering with the new split, and am going to have some articles out about it soon and also how to incorporate some of the various cycles from Strength Life Legacy into it.

Also, and this should excite some of you, I'm working on a strong-15 volume tapering method.  For those of you who love higher volume work on the three powerlifts.  This is something I have actually kind of been doing by default with my squatting because I've had to stay light.  But I will be implementing it with my new split, and with my bench and pull as well because I can't do reps on bench for more than a couple of weeks at a time.

I managed to get around to also watching a movie with the fam this weekend.  Wrath of the Titans.  Terrible reviews.  We loved it.  Acting was bad, story was terrible, lots of random shit happening for no apparent reason.  It had a lot of special effects and was fun, so we all laughed and cheered and had a good time.  A movie doesn't always have to click with the intellectual in me for me to like it.  If my girls like it, I will probably like it with them.

I leave for Ohio Thursday morning, won't get back until Sunday night so don't expect a lot of updates or an update until possibly next Monday.  I should have some solid stuff for when I get back however, since I am staying with Pegg and will see Wendler and possibly Kara Bohigian on my travels out there.

I will be offering up some online personal training soon.  Right now, I probably get 100-150 questions a week and I like to answer as many questions as possible.  However I need to consolidate things like "can you take a look at my routine and tell me what all I need to fix" type of questions.  Basically, guys asking me to write out routines for them.  I can't possibly get around to always answering these as thoroughly as I like so I am going to be creating some online options for those who are SERIOUS about their training.

To add to that, if there is one thing that bugs me, it's the guy that says he can't pay for online coaching (or coaching in general), but somehow finds a way to pay for beer and bullshit supplements.  I suppose it's a built in mechanism to keep the blowhards away, but still, I hate when someone goes "Oh I will I have to check to see if I can afford $50" when I know plenty of teenagers who blow $200 a month at GNC on protein and NO-XPLODE.

Get your priorities straight.

Once again, for those that don't have me on Facebook........

Personal Page
Lift-Run-Bang

.........I put up an article that you single dudes must read.  It might explain a lot about what you are dealing with today out of women with "Princess syndrome".  My advice for you is to constantly cut these women loose as soon as you run across them.  Never waste a moment of your time trying to please a woman who cannot be pleased and needs constant attention and catering.  Let some other schmuck fall on that sword.

I hope your Monday tastes like a 2x4 with nails in it.

Training - Press - Pull - Pipes

Bodyweight - ???

Close Grips -
bar x 50, 40
135x20
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
365x1,1,1

Seated Row - 5x20
Barbell Curl - 65x100 total reps (4 sets I think)
Rope Pushdowns - 100 reps

Notes - FINALLY a decent session.  The singles at 365 felt like an empty bar.  Really fast speed.

Note about ebooks.......

Right now if you order either of the e-books, they will say + shipping.  Obviously, there is no shipping cost on e-books.  However fetchapp says this is paypals problem, and paypal says it is fetchapps problem.  Being an IT guy, I know this finger pointing bullshit all too well.  This problem just popped up.  If you ordered one of them since last night and need that $6 back that badly, shoot me an e-mail and I will refund it.  Otherwise, I can just consider it a good Friday charitable contribution.

To fix this issue, since paypal and fetchapp are just standing around pointing at each other like the siblings who won't claim that nasty fart, I simply dropped the price so that with the $6 shipping fee, the price is correct.  Just wanted to throw out that out to eliminate any confusion.

Strength Life Legacy on Amazon

I now have SLL on Amazon.com (yay).

So for any of you guys who bought the e-book or paperback, it would be a big help to me, if you would write a review for it.  If you thought it was shit, say it.  If you masturbated to it......might wanna keep that to yourself.  However a review, even a small one, would be greatly appreciated.  

Here is the link.......  

Strength Life Legacy on Amazon.com

Thanks guys (and gals)!

Strength Life Legacy In Paperback

SLL is now available to ALL in paperback.  

Go here to get it! 

A very solid rotational split

This is similar to the split I used to use when I evolved from DC training into powerlifting. 

I wanted to throw this out there because as I get into training "ruts" I will go through ideas and templates a million times before I "see" something that settles with me.  

Something some really advanced guys and I have been chatting about recently was upperback work in every  session.  This is something my old DC split did and something I think most guys will benefit from greatly.  

This is similar to many other splits I have written out, with a few twists.  

You can work this routine however you'd like to rotate it.  2-6 days a week.  Wouldn't matter.  This may be my bread and butter for a while.  It just kind of jumped up on me tonight.  Hannah's split right now is really similar as well.

Day 1

squats - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1
upperback work - 100 reps pick one chins/rows/face pulls/rear delts
1 legged work - 100 reps pick one lunges/speed skater/leg ext or leg curl

Day 2
press - Bench or Incline - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1
upperback -  100 reps pick one chins/rows/face pulls/rear delts
triceps/biceps - pushdowns/db skulls/overhead triceps, etc db curls/cable curls/poundstone curls - 100 reps

Day 3
squats-light 2x3 using strong-15 back offs
deads - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1 or 25/45 doubles method to a top crisp double
upperback - 100 reps pick one shrugs/rows/pulldowns

Day 4
press - Db overhead Bench or Incline - 2x12-20
upperback -  100 reps pick one chins/rows/face pulls/rear delts
triceps/biceps  - pushdowns/db skulls/overhead triceps, etc db curls/cable curls/poundstone curls - 100 reps

Training - Squat hell

I know it wasn't called for it, but I squatted.

Pause Squats -
high bar -
bar x 30
135 x 10
225x3,3
315x3,3,3
335x10,10
405x3x3
Low Bar - 315x3x3

Band Pull Aparts - 5x20

Notes - Went with instinct tonight and just squatted.  That's what your code is for.  To let you know what you need to get back to doing.  Right?

405 bench testimonial

On my Facebook Page.........

I just wanted to say thank you for your books and articles. Last night I finally hit a 405 bench press (after years of trying) with the help of your "all my shit hurts" template and various bits of awesome from your Strength Life Legacy book. It's really amazing how much progress I've made alternating flat and incline bench each week. I'm excited to have found a plan that works so well for me and can't wait to see how far I can take it. Thanks again, keep doing what you do! --  Jeremy Chapman

BOOM!  It's awesome to get that first 405 bench in the books.  Congrats Jeremy!!!  

Rebooting

The last few weeks training has not been great.  I don't need a no-deload deload as much as I just need a reboot in terms of backing off.

Sometimes I don't differentiate between the two, but there is.

No-deload deload = Fuck the gym, fuck weights, I need a break and to get hungry again.

Reboot = I still desire to train, but shit isn't going good.  In fact, I want grandma's to die training has been going so bad.

On a reboot, here is the deal.

1.  Back off - Back way the fuck off in terms of total tonnage.  Stop trying to hit PR's.  Dial the intensity level (both in terms of real intensity, and perceived) back and start light.  If a lift has stalled or regressed, just reset it but don't try to face fuck it into progressing.  It's just going to revolt.  This is a time to be kind and gentle.

2.  Change support work - I do not believe in that horse shit broscience called CNS burnout.  I do however believe that excitement and/or boredom play a huge part in training success.  Sometimes you just hate doing the same god damn movement over and over again.  Switch it up.

3.  Move some shit around.  If I have separated my squat and dead, I'll often throw em back in together again for a while.  If they are together, I will split them up.  It doesn't seem like much, and it doesn't change the philosophy of what you're doing.  However it can be enough to give you a break from the monotony that existed to recharge progress.

You don't need to overhaul your "routine" in order to get the fire stoked again.  Just reset your shit, and don't sweat it.  As you can see, I just had a terrible session and I am not sweating it.  I know I have just fallen into the valley and need to take a few small steps forward, rather than trying to run back up the hill with blood on my shoes.

Makes no sense I know, but fuck it, it sounded good.

As a reboot here is my changes........

Monday - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Bench - strong-15 but light
Seated Db Press - 5x10
Pushdowns - 100 reps

Wednesday - Squats and Pulls
Pause Squats - leg is still not healed so I'm sticking with the lighter pause squats for now.  Will work on speed at 365 for high volume
Sumo or Conventional Deads - either 1x8 or a ton of doubles using the 24/45 method
Single Leg Work - 100 reps

Saturday - Back/Biceps
Shrugs - 8x8 light and explosive to start
Cable Rows - 100 reps
Poundstone Curls - 1x100+

That's it for meow.  Remember, when things are shitty it doesn't take a total overhaul to get back on the progressive track.  Just some fine tinkering and the understanding of where you are at in terms of peaks and valleys.

Training

-100000000000000% session

nuff said

Paperbacks and shirts are being shipped!!!

Just an FYI.  I know it took a little while but the paperbacks and shirts are being shipped today!

The Lifer Series - Part 6 - I will focus on the big picture, not quick fixes or fads

"Arnold doesn't come in a bottle."  

Back many moons ago, when I used to buy muscle rags and read them furiously cover to cover, I remember this article from one of the writers that was covering a bodybuilding show.  It wasn't the show that I remember about the article.  In that article, he wrote about how he saw a young man in the audience that was wearing a shirt a particular motto on the back on it.

"Arnold doesn't come in a bottle".

He had no idea what that meant, and neither did I.  For some reason however, it stuck with me.  ""What the fuck did that mean? " I thought.

It wasn't until years later that I had an epiphany about it.

I was hanging out with my training partner in the supplement store he worked in, listening to him tell me about all the stupid ass customers he had to deal with on a daily basis.

"I have these people that come in, and they ask me "what can you give me that will make me want to go to the gym?""

I laughed and asked what his retort to such nonsense usually was.

"I tell them, "sorry we don't have motivation in a bottle yet.  I think they're working on it.""

For some reason, my brain did one of those over-my-head only-scientifically explainable chain relations, where it attaches that moment to another moment in time, and his words set off my memory of the motto from the back of that guys shirt.

"Arnold doesn't come in a bottle".  

It seemed totally obvious to me at that moment, what it meant.

Arnold is the icon, the pinnacle for most guys when they talk about physical development.  You can't go pick up a bottle of "Arnold" at the store, and turn into him however.  You're not going to get tub of protein powder, or bottle of superdrol, or even a bottle of test and deca, and become Arnold overnight.

Hell, Arnold didn't even become Arnold overnight.  Most guys that have been around the squat rack a few years have seen Pumping Iron.  Arnold trained his balls off, and was incredibly meticulous in his diet and entire preparation.  Let's not act like Arnold was some lackadaisical dickwad who fucked about on machines or did a few heavy singles like most lazy fat guys do.

Arnold, like most successful people, had a big picture view of his life.  I remember reading that one of his goals was "to have his first million by 30".  Which he did.  A million in the 1970's was a lot different than a million now, too.  He did it through real estate, and a lot of that work was done with his own bare hands (and slave labor through Franco too).  He didn't mind putting in the work and letting things develop over time because he had a plan, and he would see it through.  When he did see it through, all the things he had been working for, came to fruition.  Imagine how sweet the nectar of that success was.......amazing.

It didn't happen overnight, but it did happen.  It happened because he was willing to put in the time and the work for it.  It happened because he planned.  It happened because he saw things through, even when shit fell apart (and I'm sure it did at times).

The reason your training sucks, or your progress sucks, or you suck is because want to go to the store and get Arnold in a bottle.

You want that quick fix.  To wake up tomorrow, and all your weight training or financial or relationship dreams to come true.

YAY!

Wouldn't that be nice?  Sure it would.  How much would you really appreciate it?  Probably a lot actually.  As much as if you earned it?  Obviously not.

How many lessons would you have learned through it?  Fucking zero.

When I wrote the darksidin articles, I couldn't believe how many guys overlooked that MASSIVE point I was trying to make about maxing out natural potential.  It's the struggles that teach you the most about how to fix things, and make you better.  You just have to persevere through them.  How much do you learn about something, when it's never broken?  If you never learn how to fix a problem, how much does your knowledge base grow?

In the last podcast, one of the points I made about guys who are really good at something naturally, is that they generally don't have a lot to offer to guys who are not naturally good at that thing.

If it came easy to you, what can you really tell me to get better, since you don't know what it's like to struggle with that thing?

Mind you, I don't dismiss that that someone could have something to offer.  However if you want to really find a gold mine of information, find a guy that slaved away for years at something he sucked at, and made it respectable.  Then you'll really learn a lot.  Most guys however, go right to the guy with the best lift or greatest physique and get their information from them.  Then they try to implement these methods, only to be disappointed when they aren't a champion 13 days later.

The issue with lifters in general, is that most of them don't want to enjoy the journey or learning process.  They say they do, then they violate the rule about "not giving a shit what others can do".  Then they start routine hopping or taking more drugs, or doing whatever, in order to catch up with someone else or do what they can do, or look like they look.  Lifting and bodybuilding is such a "me" recreational activity that most of the people involved in doing it, are "now" people.  I want it NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW.

"That diet didn't get me shredded in 7 days!  It sucks!"

"That routine didn't have me benching 660 in 13 days!  It is worthless!"

If you don't put down the yard stick long enough to stop measuring yourself against others, you'll never stop trying to look for short cuts.  Your whole life you get warned about short cutting shit, but there you are, taking every new supplement that comes out and trying every new training routine that hits the internets or magazine rack because you think it's going to do something miraculous.

The last code of "not giving a shit about others..." ties so closely in with this one.

When you stop giving a shit about what other people are doing, you will stop looking for quick fixes and stop turning to fads in order to get better.  Remember, getting better should be cultivated at the very fabric of who you are, and what you are about.  Getting better is generally the antithesis of quick fixes.  It's 5 pounds here, 10 pounds there.

If you are deadlifting 450, why are you programming your next strong-15 cycle for 515?  You REALLY think that's going to happen?  It's not.  My programs and philosophies are for guys that know and understand the big picture.  That this cycle builds on the next one, and that one builds on the next one....that my life doesn't depend on me making my ultimate goal in one cycle.  It comes with an understanding that there is a process involved in getting jacked and strong as fuck.  The term "next level" doesn't come from a bottle of test or a super secret Russian squat program.  It comes from 10,000 hours of work that eventually forges you into something you never thought possible.

When I wrote about becoming the lion in Strength Life Legacy, I wrote about the nomadic lion and his journey.  Without that journey, he could never be strong enough to have his own pride.  He had to learn how to hunt, fight, kill, survive, and all the lessons he would need to know if he were to be victorious in earning his own pride someday.  He didn't just wake up one day, and have his pride handed to him because he was the son of the king.  This is a lie, I don't care how many times you saw The Lion King.

· Michael Moss Wildlife Photography

Fuck no, he was exiled.  His keep had to be earned.  If he survived, it meant he had what it took to be king; to reign.  Lessons were learned, and he grew strong in body and mind from it.  Without going through that fire, he wouldn't have what it takes to protect his pride and be dominant.  It was a requirement.  Remember what I wrote in the last article about fire?

You can't blaze a trail without knowing the importance of fire.......

Without your journey, you will not become the best of anything you could ever be.  Stop looking for quick fixes and special routines.  Get back to understanding progression over time, quality eating, rest, recovery, intensity, blood, snot, and vomit.

Get better, not bitter, from battles lost.
Stay humble with battles won.

The tears shed in victory and defeat are part of the ingredients to making the elixir that you seek.  How many tears do you think it takes to fill up a bottle titled "The Lessons of My Life"?

The nomadic lion loses many many times to bigger and stronger males because he's not seasoned enough or strong enough to overcome them.  He doesn't quit, he doesn't give up.  He doesn't go to the fucking African Lion GNC and sift through the pages of a magazine to find the latest supplement that will make him king of the jungle.  He puts his head back down, sinks his teeth into something else, and bloodies himself.  He knows what he has to do, and that there are no short cuts to do it.

Head down, eyes in front, back to work.  Arnold doesn't come in a bottle.

MMA Blurb -

MMA Blurb

I apologize for my tardiness. It took me a while to dine on and digest my words. I was stunned by Chris Weidman, dumbfounded by the new TUF announcement, and blinded by spinning jackassadry.

Chael definitely reminded everyone about his potential to dominate opponents. Silva included. It's too bad he couldn't maintain that level of dominance instead of switching to spinning back fist attempts. As Nick Diaz put it "So we're throwing spinning shit now?!?!" A few people implied that the back fist was improvised, but I remember watching video of Chael at open workout practicing it over and over. Silvas defense for Chaels spinning shit was probably the most impressive move of the fight, both in simplicity and effectiveness. A dazed Chael spun for it, Silva stepped under, and simply tripped him. As Sonnen looked up at Silva, with his back against the cage, the look on his face was as classical as it was honest, and the rest is history.

For Chaels disadvantages in this fight, I can't really think of any other than his T/epT ratios were within much more acceptable ranges. I brought this up with Paul before the match, and he insisted it wouldn't matter. I am not saying it helped one way or the other, but thought it was worth a mention. Going one round in dominant beast mode, vs his previous 4.75 rounds is telling of something. Cutting as much as Sonnen does, even with Dolce, is still a disadvantage. Silva is just so quick. I feel like his synapses are smaller. That trip along with the knee were so quickly improvised.

I was upset for about 30 seconds until Silva handled his business afterwards like a gentleman. For that, he is forgiven for any previous acts of debauchery. He handled it like a real champion. Chael has handled his loss really well too, which has to be a lot more difficult than winning.

The main event doesn't excuse the remainder of the card. Forest needs to get a grip and quit running out of the damn ring. I knew that match was going to decision before Forest distracted me with that badass tshirt. (Pauls still kill his though.) If that card was a meal at a restaurant, I would have asked for the manager or possibly dined and dashed. Depends if I had a coupon or not. Instead of watching the card in its entirety, I found my ADD ADHD OCD kicking in, in 1080p HD, and supplementing it with a few racks of pool.

Moving on to UFC 149, which is like UFC 148's cloned bastard red headed step child minus the WWF'esque salesman. I expected Barrao to finish Urijah. While some may find that disappointing, I attribute it to Urijahs toughness. Broken ribs hurt man and he's proven he's tough in more fights than one. I wish Urijah the best, but I don't know what's next for him. If he expects to make any leaps or bounds in this stage of his career, he is going to need to get out of the comfort zone in his training camps and completely switch it up.

The next season of TUF was announced as Roy Nelson vs Shane Carwin. This idea makes me blink uncontrollably, my hair line starts itching and I have to scratch it in wonder. Fat guy vs giant tank. Reminds me of this one time I wanted to fight Paul for taking the last cookie. Why don't we just run Carwins numbers through the old "How many 5 year olds can you beat up?" simulator, and then give him a title shot? The way title shots have been arbitrarily decided lately would justify this. I love Roy, and actually enjoy rooting for him as a gate keeper. He's a great role model for fat guys all over. I realize that Frank Mir isn't going to be around now, and other gate keepers are needed, but that doesn't excuse the matchmakers from making matches that actually make sense. Carwin may exhibit signs of ring rust, but following that logic doesnt turn up very many other like examples for guys at Carwins level. Carwin vs Cain would have been perfect. I don't get the Roy choice.

Chris Weidman. Did you guys see him? Impressive. That shit was free.  Rumor has it that Munoz had some serious cutting to do. The Vera vs Shogun card was free too.
UFC 150 is coming up, but Im not so sure I'll be getting it. The last two were supposed to be blockbusters, and I am beginning to think the fights should be dynamically priced based on fight metrics plus KO/TKO figures. I would have got more excitement getting robbed for 120$ than the last two cards combined. I can't say the same about their free or under cards. Strange imbalance there.

Then again, the cards could be worse.

Random Blurbs

Rampage on UFC 148

If BJ wants to come stay, you let him.

Fighters then and now thread on Sherdog.

Seagal claiming credit.

Tommy Toe Hold

Judging Criteria Changing This is kind of a big deal.

Statistics from all 200 fights so far this year.

Parenting tips from Nick Diaz. Teach your kids to break brick.

Frank Mir got picked over Tim Sylvia. Go figure.

LA Kings reject VIP offer from UFC

Ceaser Gracie is talking Diaz vs Silva now. Ed Soares responds.

An Olympic MMA Fantasy Team

MMA used to reintegrate terrorists

Training - Small Session

Last night -

Band Pull Aparts - 5 x 20-30 reps

Poundstone Curls - bar x 120 PR

Band Pushdowns - 5x30

Notes - Quick and dirty.  

Chaos and Bang Your Ears 13!!!!

With special guest James Steel..........James is awesome, however his mic and Skype is NOT.  So this ended up being possibly the most unintentionally funny episode EVER.

Jim is going to have a redo next week at his office where his connection will work better.  We were all disappointed because once Jim got going he had a lot of really awesome stuff to talk about, which is why we rescheduled for next week.  You'll still get some good info (and laughs) out of this one however.........

Training - Squats and Tugs

Bodyweight - 239

Pause Squats -
high bar - 375x3x3x3
low bar - 375x3x3

Modified Sumo Deads -
225x3
315x3
405x8
500x1
405x1x1x1

Lunges - 2x20

Notes - I honestly could not tell you the last time I pulled sumo, because I think sumo is gay as shit.  With that said, I've had a ton of people tell me that sumo can do a nice job of boosting the conventional, and I've never done it, because again, I think sumo is gay.

MY hips are rising too fast.  I know this.

Another awesome testimonial......

AWESOME transformation and testimonial from Jack Davey.  This is how you are a smart lifter and massage things to make them work.  Rather than asking for permission, he just went to work.  In the end, no forgiveness was required because he made shit work.  Great f'n job!

========================================================================

Earlier this year I had that moment where I looked in the mirror and realized I had let myself get to a place I didn’t want to be. I had been reading Lift run Bang and Chaos and Pain for a while and realized I had no excuse to be out of shape and look like shit. Sure my lifts where going up but man it doesn’t feel that good when your waist size goes up with your squat.

First Photo 15/1/2012 at 102-104kg (224-229 pounds)
Second Photo 1/8/2012 at 86-88kg (189-194 pounds)  

I decided to change things up and here’s what I did with my diet
I followed the basic outline of the apex predator diet and each day would look something like this:

530-600am Wake up, Low carb shake chug as walking out the door to work

900-1000 After work, Train.
Followed by another shake

Lunch
Usually about 400-500 grams of low fat meat, loved kangaroo as its cheap as chips here in Australia and tastes damn good.


300pm
Another shake

800pm
400grams to 1kg of Fattier red meat depending on if it was a big or small workout day and energy levels etc. Sometimes the whole day was low fat meat if energy levels were high.

I had one day per week that I ate every carbohydrate I could get my hands on and as I got leaner I tended to play it by ear and have 1-2 refeeds a week if I felt like shit. The leaner I got the more I needed carbs.


For Training I didn’t really change anything. What I was doing was:

3-4 Big workouts a week.
4 on an energetic week 3 when feeling a bit run down or on light weeks.
3 small workouts consisting of a lot of bodyweight exercises on gymnastic rings.

I also did about 30-45minutes steady state a day taking the dogs for a walk.

I made a bunch of lifting personal records while leaning out. I improved on EVERY LIFT while going from at 104kg to 86kg. Who says you can’t lean out and be strong!

Deadlift- I used to be a part of the don’t Deadlift to be good at the Deadlift crowd. Damn It did not work!!

Previous best:
210kg/ 462 pounds at 104kg bw.
Current best:
212.5kg/467.5 pounds for 3 reps from a 2.5 inch deficit at a new bodyweight of 86kg.

Previous best:
Squat 200kg/440 pounds at 104kg bodyweight only just made depth.
New PR
200kg/ 440 pounds at 86kg to Below Parallel, didn’t try to max out but 200kg felt significantly easier.

Pull-ups
Previous PR of only 12 reps!
New PR of 18 reps!

Overhead press (one of my worst lifts)
70kg (155 pounds)
to
80kg (176 pounds)

Mainly I would like to thank Paul and Jamie for their awesome blogs, they have completely changed the way I approach my training, I was stuck in a rut until I started approaching things with less ego. I stopped being afraid to start my programming a little lighter rather than go heavy and start missing lifts all over the place, It really has been the key to my increasing strength. At the same time reading Chaos and Pain made me realize the Mark Rippittoe program I had been doing was no where near stretching the limits of my training volume, I started lifting 6x per week and paving my own path rather than a 3 day a week cookie cutter approach and go figure I didn’t get attacked by the overtraining boogeyman! I know my lifts are not earth shattering but you know what? I don’t give a shit! You lift more than me? Good for you! It doesn’t have any bearing on me at all. It isn’t about the numbers its about the process. I know I for one am not heading toward the big empty. I cant thank you guys enough for helping me realize this.