Knee Blowouts, Set Backs, and Cool Towel Trick Improve Squat Depth
There was a time when my squat wasn’t so great (not that they are now). It was February 2009, and just 3 months after my last bodybuilding competition. I just got done having the ACL and meniscus in my right knee reconstructed after shredding it in a freak football accident (what a birthday present). I…
Baby Vomit and Training Out of the Trunk of Your Car
It all started yesterday when I was driving my 15 month old daughter to my mom’s for the day. I was about halfway there and all of a sudden I turn around and she’s choking and vomiting all over the car! I freak out, pull over and rip her out of the car seat, ready…
Protein Shakes vs. Meal Replacement Shakes
Protein is said to the the macro that builds muscle, so it’s no surprise that protein shakes are one of the biggest sellers when it comes to supplements. One question I hear all the time is “Should I get a meal replacement?” The answer is NO. Don’t “get” a meal replacement. If you need to replace…
The Age Old Question: “Should I Get Huge First or Ripped First?”
You finally decided to start taking your training to the next level and want to dial in your nutrition, but you’re faced with a dilemma: Do you cut your calories and get lean before adding muscle -or- should you bulk up, add muscle, and then strip all the the body fat off. Loaded question. This…
Simplify + Patience = Win the Gym Game
We live in a world where the and ‘next best thing’ in the gym sells. Just read any bodybuilding magazine cover: “Crazy New Diet to Get Inside-Out Lean” “Add 2 Inches to Your Arms in 1 Month” “New Supplement Guaranteed to Boost Fat Loss” “5 Killer Shake Weight Exercises to Improve Grip Strength” Is this…
10 Minute Warm Up to Increase Strength
One thing I started doing before I lift weights is implementing a warm up that includes some form of stretching and light movement patterns that will not only get your joints and target muscles firing before lifting heavier weights, but also allow you to get some form of light conditioning in as well. Here’s how…
3 Things [Besides Training and Nutrition] Needed for Fat Loss
You all know to get ‘ripped’, must of us need to plan our meals and eat better , lift weights and do some sort of conditioning. But what about the other pieces of the puzzle? There are quite a few other factors that go into getting lean and mean for summer that don’t involve training or nutrition, but will…
Burn Out Sets with Bands
Of course I love to lift bars and dumbbells, but there’s one tool in my training toolbox that’s been making an appearance a little more often – resistance bands. They’re great for getting a good squeeze on certain movements, especially for your upper body. Here’s how I do it: I currently break down my lifting…
Fear: Embrace It or Let It Paralyze You
Once my wife and I had Mia, just over a year ago my view on a lot of things started to change. I openly started to care less about views of others and started to care more about the views in MY heart and in my gut. I started living with a few simple rules,…
Want to Get Strong? Ditch the Weights
…a couple days per week. Before you decide to freak out, hear me out and read the rest of this post. When we first came up in the gym, many of us were told to train 6 days a week, focusing on 1 body part per day. I guess it worked well. I mean, anything…