The Big Four-OH

Hey it's my 40th post on this blog. Lets celebrate!

I want to let you know that over the holidays I will be posting a little less frequently but don't worry, I'll get you something to read for sure.

Here's a little ditty that I pumped out for some lat growth last night.
Chin-ups X 100 reps in as few sets as possible
It took me nine sets. I actually was hoping to do it in about 7 or 8 but I went too hard out of the gate.
x15, x12, x10, x10, x10, x10, x10, x11, x12

My back was blasted.

Give this a try. If you are not super duper at chins, start with a lower number. Try 40 reps, 50 reps whatever. Just make sure you work your ass off.

I can still remember when I could only do 1 chin-up. It was back in 2000. I was in college and me and my training partner got on a mission to get better at chins. So we used to do 1 set of as many as we could before every work-out. We even used to give each other a spot so we could do at least a couple of assisted reps.
It worked.
In what seemed like no time at all I was able to do 3, 5, 6 all alone with no assistance. Now whenever I walk by anything that I could do chins off of, I grab on and bang out at least 10 reps.
This same protocol (doing chins before each work-out) has also worked for another training partner that I had several years later. When he started trainig with me, he could barely do one rep. I got him doing them after the warm-up on each session and now I see him pound out 10 great reps no problem. We don't train together anymore but he still trains at one of my gyms.

I actually want to give him a shout out for also doing some great front squats and BB clean and presses. The tall slender bastard learned and listened and contiues to apply good training habbits. Nice work Cracker. (I don't think he reads this but whatever)

In the works of Cyrus; "Fuck off, I got work to do".

Staying on track

Do you remember the call to action post I put up a while back?

Okay big shot, are you staying on track?

Are you working your ass off to make it happen?

I just wanted to remind you that its only about 12 days until the end of 2008.

The time has come to put your money where your mouth was/is.


Here's a glimpse of what I've been up to. I'm pulling out all the stops to meet my call to action.

600X3 reps

Keep me posted on your progress.

I want to know that you are kicking ass and taking names.

We are just setting ourselves up for success in 2009

GOOD MORNING!

Holy Shit my back hurts this morning. And yeah it's mostly because we did Good Mornings (GM's) last night.

Now don't panic, it hurts in a good way. It really is funny how when most people get the slightest bit of discomfort in their backs they panic and start preparing for back surgery. For God's sake people, the back has many muscles just like the rest of our bodies and when you work them, they get stiff. Plain and simple. Getting my boots on this morning was tricky but I'm starting to loosen up.

We did our GM's with my Buffalo Bar. I don't have it up for sale on my website yet but I do sell them too. It's really nice to not have that bar sliding off the neck and tearing up your hard earned traps. No that's not a bar code tattoo on my neck (they are ghey anyways), it's the pattern left by the centre knurl of a straight bar.
With the buffalo bar you can hit horrendous depth (pretty much kissing your own pecker) and the bar doesn't move. The blast you get in the hams and calves is much more noticeable than when using a standard bar.

And for the proper technique.... Well I used to be a real form nazi and my girlish weights reflected that. But Shit-Show pointed out one night that the only rules with GM's is to put a bar on your back, bend over and stand back up again. So we loosened up and slammed a little more weight on the bar.

I still like to get down deep and check my hygiene below the belt, but I push that bar up anyway I can get it to move.

Long live Good Mornings.

Note: This is a Giant Rackable Camber Bar, not a Buffalo Bar
But I like how deep the Jersey Jackal takes this rep. Nice!

Cardboard as my kindling

So yeah the blogging took a shitslide for a few days. I'm sure you can relate to this.
I'm not going to make an excuse, nor am I going to apoligize.

The more important question is, are you satisfied with what you achieved in 2008?

Did you move forward?

Did you break PR's?

Did you gain the mass you wanted?

Did you lose the fat you wanted to lose?

If you answered yes to most of the questions, good for you. I'd love to have you comment on the success.

If you answered no, do you know why you missed the mark?
Did you honestly cover all the bases and try your hardest?

I want this to be your wake up call for 2009. (Yeah it's early, but if you fail to plan, you plan to fail)

Write a list of goals for the year. Then break them down into smaller monthly goals.

Don't just sit there and say, oh yeah that's a great idea, and then keep surfing for some porn. Get off your ass and grab a paper and pencil and start writing it down. Post it on the fridge and get to work.

I want to light a fire under your ass for 2009 and I'm not going to use cardboard as my kindling.

If you need help, my door is always open.

Ultimate Boot Camps

I can't remeber if I've posted about this yet but here it is anyways.

We run a bootcamp group fitness program at both of our gyms.

It's attended by mostly women that are trying to lose weight and look better. We do have a few guys that attend, but the don't make it out on a regular basis.

If I had a dime for every time guys walk into my gyms and make comments to me about how they "don't want to be too big" I would be blogging for free full time.

So my answer to those guys is BOOTCAMP.

To all the guys that just want to look good with their shirt off, want to be in great shape for hockey, want to lose a few pounds off the old gutzito, my answer is BOOTCAMP.

If you think you are too rugged for BOOTCAMP, just ask Kapow about the pace and the type of training. (Kapow is a 6'2" 220lb youngblood that trains with me and he's pretty goddamn strong for a 16 year old) He started shadowing me while intstucting bootcamps so he can become an instructor himself. So on his first night, I made him participate in about 50% of the drills. He was soaked in sweat and the rest of the group left him in the dust on a more than a few exercises.

Even if you are training purely to be strong or to get huge, bootcamp can still keep your work capacity up, help you stay lean, and improve your mobility.

What I'm trying to get out there, is that bootcamp can and will kick your ass, no matter how awesome you think you are. And most importantly, it will make you better and leaner.

Check out the details HERE or the UltimateFatlossbootcamp blog

I also wanted to let everyone know about my recent interview on http://www.criticalbench.com/

here's a direct link to the interview http://www.criticalbench.com/Paul_Vaillancourt.htm

Let me know what you think!

The Same ol' S**T

Unrelated to training today, I want to know if it's just me, or does everyone notice how lately we've all become totally numb in the brain when it comes to conversation?

I see and talk to a lot of people everyday. Both in person, on the phone and by email.

And lately I've noticed (and I'm guilty of it myself) that when we talk to others in person it's alway just "filler". We seem to feel the need to fill silence with bullshit. Of course if there is purpose in the conversation, things are often different.

I really don't have an answer to the problem.

I'm going to try and not use "filler". If I've got absolutely nothing of purpose to say, I will say nothing.

So if you run into me in the future and I just stare at you blankly instead of making some annoying comment about how cold it is, how much the snow sucks, or whatever, just remember this post and try not to hate me.

When I was back in high school I read a book about Ninja. Not some gay teenage story but a real document about the ideals and methods that are practiced by Ninjas. It was interesting and not very applicable in today's society but one part that clearly stands out in my mind was a paragraph about how to communicate orally. It was something along the lines of; if you have nothing of importance to say, don't say anything, if you are not asked a question, don't take it upon yourself to share info with others as they are most likely not be interested, and be very mindful of what you share with others when asked.

I feel these are some very good points and very applicable in today's society. Now of course you may be thinking "why in hell is blabbering on this blog about his opinions that I'm not interested in?" And my answer is that I doubt anyone is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to read my blog.

I hope this post has got you thinking. I'd love to hear what you think about this subject. (this is me asking, so it's okay to comment or email me) and I think that given the type of blog this is, you can speak pretty freely. I would.

Here's another great video

From Parts Unknown.

Today I’ve got a very solid interview from a coach who is going to be a regular contributor on the Serious About Strength Blog.

I don’t think this interview needs much introduction as it pretty much starts at the basic level, peaks with some great training insight and then finishes on a basic note.
All I need to tell you, is that if I have a question about my training cycle or feel stumped by any particular problem, I usually enlist the help of this guy.

Here it is:

PV-For the record, please state your name:

JF-Jordan Foley

PV-Tell us a bit about your athletic background and what sports you played growing up:

JF-Growing up I played just about every sport. Once I got into Junior High and High School I focused on hockey, rugby, track and field and soccer. I continued to play Varsity Rugby in University and in some Men's leagues.

PV-So a pretty typical sports career. How did you get involved in lifting weights and strength sports?

JF-I began messing around with weights in grade 8 and used to do a high rep circuit of every exercise in the small weight room at my school. My brother and I went there occasionally in the evenings when my dad would go back to do work (he was the principal). This was very sporadic but I enjoyed it. In grade 10, I got a little more serious but not a lot smarter. I used to lift about 5 times per week at lunchtime and the 'plan' was something like this.

Monday - Bench - pyramid style, lat pulldown - pyramid style. Did about 8 sets of each.

Tuesday - Squats - pyramid style, hamstring curls and sit-ups

Wednesday - Same as Monday, sometimes did close grip

Thursday - Same as Tuesday

Friday - Biceps, we did a giant circuit or 4-5 exercises for 3 sets. We did about 10-15 reps per set.

We based this on the advice or our phed teacher who was a beast and used to lift with us, different routine though. It wasn't great but it could have been worse. In grades 11-13 I started lifting more seriously but it was way too high volume and was based on body part splits. I got most of this crap from magazines. Looking back, again, it was bad but could have been worse. I still hit the big exercises and built a good base for later in life.

When I got to university I started to really read up on training and talked to anyone who I thought knew something about lifting. I started really designing my own plans and things really took off. I did this to help my performance in rugby. I attribute a huge part of my rugby success to becoming bigger, stronger and faster.

In the summer before my last university rugby season, I competed in 2 beginner strongman shows and I had a lot of fun. When I was done my rugby career I knew I needed to compete in something to keep me sane and goal oriented so I decided to choose strongman as my new sport of choice.

PV- That’s really impressive that you had a plan in grade 8. Most guys in there 20’s still don’t have a plan. Is it obvious that this is my first time taking an interview?

JF-Not really because you have obviously plagiarized most of these questions.

PV-Plagiarized is such a hard term, I prefer, “Recycled”. We’re hopefully going to have you as a regular contributor on this blog and no doubt you’ll bring some much needed book learning expertise about training.

Why don’t you tell us about your education background in physical and performance training?

JF-My formal background is a Bachelor of Arts in Health Studies, a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education (minus one non-credit component, long story), a Bachelor of Education in the Junior/Intermediate Division with Health and Physical Education as my major and I am also a CSCS (NSCA). That being said, all of that didn't teach me a whole lot about training. It taught me some basics about the human body and helped me sort through the bullshit that I often read. It taught me to be sceptical and to think critically. If you cannot do that then I think you are useless in pretty much any field or industry. You will never come up with something unique or useful.

Aside from my formal education, I read about 5 books per month. Usually 2 are training related and 3 are success or motivation oriented. I like to read about success and successful people so that I can find out what the common links are and then duplicate them. In addition to reading books, I read everything on elitefts.com, marunde-muscle.com, t-nation.com, ericcressey.com and defrancostraining.com. I read anything I can find from anyone I consider worthwhile and this is where the internet is great. Some of my favourite authors are Mike Boyle, Date Tate, Louie Simmons, Jim Wendler, James Smith, Buddy Morris, Joe Defranco, Mark McLaughlin, Landon Evans, Bill Hartman, Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove and many more. I'm sure I forgot a ton of guys but if you read everything on the net from those guys then you will be in a decent situation.

PV- Now that we have the formal stuff out of the way, tell us what your personal training philosophies are:

JF-For team sport athletes: Get strong head to toe. Leave no stone unturned as far as strength. I think that trying to be super specific will not help you for a variety of reasons, which go beyond the scope of this question but I do believe in training the same muscles and similar movements. If I get my athletes strong on a variety of squatting, deadlifting, single leg, pressing, pulling and twisting movements then there is a high likelihood that when they find themselves in an awkward position that they will be strong enough to perform in this position as well as protect themselves from injury. It is also very important for athletes to be mobile and fast. The key with this is to only do what you have time for and what your athletes will realistically do. You can gather all this info from the Parisi Warm-up video and sprint info from Charlie Francis. I will leave you on your own to study that and if you have any questions that I may be able to help with, let me know. It is all actually a lot simpler than some coaches make it seem.
For individual athletes: The proper integration of your strength work, your technique work, your energy systems work and your sport practices are crucial. Attention can be paid to volumes and intensities of all of these since your training is mainly dictated on what YOU need. If you coach individual sport athletes and you do not account for this then you are doing your athletes a huge disservice.

For strength athletes: Work the main movements hard. Squats, Deads, Presses and Pulls. I think about 80% of your results will come from the proper use of these exercises on a regular basis. Also do not forget to train specifically for your sport. You MUST train the lifts that you compete in. I know this can sometimes be difficult for strongmen and I can understand that. If this is the case for you, do what you can, GET STRONGER. If you get stronger, every event gets easier, period. I will use an analogy to relay this: Let’s say you are helping a buddy move and you’re carrying a massive box that weighs like 40lbs. Some people would have trouble carrying this and say “it’s not heavy, it’s just awkward.” That’s bullshit, it is heavy for them given the shape and size of the box. It is a weird shape or not optimal for lifting or carrying, much the same as many of our events. But if I were carrying that box I don’t give a fuck how big or weird it is, it’s 40lbs and it will not be hard to carry because I am strong enough to handle it no matter the size or shape. I’m not saying my event proficiency is amazing, because it’s not. But there have been several times in my training cycles where I have done no event training but simply got stronger on everything and I went and smashed events the first session that I couldn’t do in the past while I was regularly practising those events. One last thing for strength athletes, don’t be a fucking slob. Do some conditioning and it will help your health, recovery and performance.

PV-What is your competitive background in strength sports, and what are your most valued achievements?

JF-I’ve competed in strongman since 2005, but 2006 was my first real ‘competitive’ year.
My most valued achievement was getting 10th place at my first OSM in 2006. It was my first really heavy show and I was shitbait going into it. I only weighed 220lbs and was just looking to make the finals. That show had guys like Travis Lyndon, Joe Montgomery, Jose Plante, Peter Galer, Dallas Hogan, etc in it and I thought I was going to die. I was so happy to pull out a 10th place. A close second to that was getting 3rd at the 105kg Nationals that year.

To be honest, I really haven’t done much since then that has satisfied me but I did get 6th at OSM 2007, won Kingston’s Strongest Man 2006, 2nd at New Liskeard this year, 2nd at the Bavarian Strongman Competition this year as well.

PV- I always say that being unsatisfied is the only way to improve. What type of training methods are you currently using?

JF-I currently use a modified WSBB split. I have been using a form of this for about 2.5 years now for strongman and for about 2-3 years prior to that I was using the principles when I was training for rugby.

I do keep it pretty basic though. I focus on slow and sustained progress. Never miss lifts and listen to your body and mind. On that note, I am currently using Wendler’s 5-3-1 to bring up my incline press and it’s working great. Easy progressions that allow you to have off days are the key when you have a job and a life, you never know when you are going to peak from week to week. That is unless you intentionally do it and your life is moulded around it but realistically not many of us can do that for every training cycle.

PV-What are your opinions on recovery, rehab and prehab?

JF-This is like brushing your teeth….we all know that we should do it but people tend to blow it off. Then they only notice the neglect when the shit hits the fan and they either have cavities or can hardly reach depth in the squat.

PV- Great Shit analogy Rick!

JF-I think that recovery is paramount in training. You can only train as well as you recover and one is useless without the other. You need to be sure to address all aspects of it, which I feel are: nutrition, rest (time between workouts), sleep and stress. For those of us who work for a living, we need to also use a deload week every 3-6 weeks. I say this because I notice that when I am busy with my job or school, I have to pay particular attention to recovery and require a deload week but when I am on holidays and sleeping and eating plenty I can go full out for weeks and weeks.

Rehab and prehab serve and important role as well but you need to be sure to not get carried away. The purpose of rehab and prehab is to either help you return to training/competing in your desired activities or to help you continue to train/compete in your desired activities. What I mean by this is that if you have an injury you may have to alter your training in a big way but once that injury is healed you may only require a little bit of prehab to prevent the injury from returning and killing your training.

For strength athletes and most athletes in general you would be wise to focus on shoulder stability, thoracic mobility, lumbar stability, hip mobility and soft tissue quality. If you address these things a few times per week you will instantly feel better and your training will be able to continue without setbacks. Some great resources for this information are Eric Cressey, Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson.

PV-Tell us a bit about the school you are working for and the position you hold there?

JF-Currently I work at an all boys independent high school. I work in residence with the boys, I teach a few sections of learning strategies and supply teach. In addition to this I coach football, hockey and rugby. We are currently renovating our weight room and once that is complete I will be designing and implementing strength and conditioning programs for our students and staff. It is our hope that in the future that this can be a fulltime position where the coach would also help teach physical and health education units in performance enhancement and physical fitness.

PV-So when you are working with these young (and presumeably weak as shit) athletes, where do you start and what are your staples in terms of exercise selection?

JF-Wow, this is complicated question but I’ll try and give you some of my ideas.
I usually lay out a simple program that focuses on squats, single leg exercises, press, rows, chin-ups and lots of lowback and ab work. The key to being able to do this is being there to coach them through it. If I see something that is not working out I will either modify it on the spot or take it out and come back to it later. I like to hit the focus lifts with lower reps but not necessarily a high load. This gives them an opportunity to lift “heavier” weights while still maintaining good form. It is also possible to accumulate a high(er) volume by simply using more sets than using high reps sets that inevitably end up being of poorer quality.

I consider that to be the ‘art’ of strength coaching, recognizing when something is not working and fixing it. It’s easy to make a program on paper but when you see a flaw in form or execution what do you do and why do you do it? That’s the key right there. For instance if a kid’s form is off on the squats, what is it? Is it lack of strength, mobility, practice, focus….???? Once you figure that out, what are you going to do to fix it?

PV- I couldn’t agree with you more about how training programs on paper are not the same in the weight room. It takes a few hundred hours in the gym to be able to identify these things both as a coach and as a lifter.I know you are a “go to” guy in the strongman and strength training community (as I’ve used your knowledge and resources myself), what would you say is the biggest mistake most guys are making when trying to get cock strong?

JF-I think most guys are using tunnel vision and only focusing on what they are good at. If something is not making you better at what you do (strongman, powerlifting, a particular sport) or helping you get closer to your goals then STOP IT. Don’t waste your time on things that have no purpose. Of course there are some exceptions to this rule but it is the most common thing that I see that is holding guys back.

PV-What are some of the most common questions you get asked by your peers and training partners?

JF-I would say the most common question is “why do you do such and such?” it’s always about the why and sometimes about the how. I have a specific reason for everything that I do personally and for everything that I recommend to others. A lot of people have difficulty seeing why I do some of the things that I do but it always serves a specific purpose. This is a great question for people to ask because it means that they are concerned with what they are doing which is crucial for continued progress.

Another very common question revolves around exercise intensity. I usually don’t use percentages to progress my weights and also rarely prescribe them. I often spend a lot of time explaining to people what a ‘heavy triple’ or a ‘near max’ is. While I often get this question, the usual answer is that this is something that needs to be figured out on your own with the guidance of someone who has already figured it out. You need to know what ‘feeling’ produces the desired result and similarly, what ‘feeling’ produces the undesired result.

PV-If you could assemble a panel of experts who you feel are the best of the best in terms of knowledge and experience in the strength and performance world, who would be on that panel? (lets say top 6 brains in the world)

JF-Charlie Francis, Buddy Morris, Mark McLaughlin, Mike Boyle, Eric Cressey and James Smith.
There are plenty of others as well but at this moment, this is my list for both my personal and coaching needs.

PV-Now that we have them all assembled, what would be your 3 most important questions for the group?

JF-Some of these questions are actually groupings but it’s my answer so I’ll do whatever I want!

1) How can we build and maintain maximum strength by using sub-maximal weights?

2) How can we monitor/modify volume and intensities without the use of an OmegaWave system? What sort of auto regulation schemes do you use?

3) How do you monitor/modify many athletes in a team setting? Who is responsible for the recording of workouts? What systems do you use to chart individual and team progress?

PV-Who are your favourite training partners and why?

JF-When I first started training Strongman with Joe Montgomery and Thom Lamb I really took off so those guys would have to be my favourites. From there I have trained with a bunch of really good ones: Dain Wallis, Dave van den Heuvel, Cody Kennedy, Sean O’Donnell, Brandon Watt, Dave Shorrock, Adam Ross and Dave Brown. Coincidentally, all of those guys are really good friends of mine as well. I think this has really helped me because we communicate well with each other to figure out what each of us needs to progress.

The bottom line is this, training partners don’t need to be experts or anything like that, they need to be committed to progress and be reliable to show up and help the whole group get better. They also need to be honest with each other about what is needed and what should be discarded.

PV- So true, just reliable and committed to getting better. But Dain Wayliss???? C’mon how hard up for a partner does a guy have to be?

What does the future hold for Jordan Foley? What do you hope to achieve and contribute in the next year?

JF-I wish I knew. Right now my career is my focus and I am trying desperately to land a fulltime physical education teaching position or a job as a strength coach. This is very tough to do in Ontario and anywhere in Canada for that matter. This means that I might even end up overseas teaching next year or anywhere at all. It is very important for me to love what I do all day every day and for me this means I MUST be either teaching physical education or strength coaching. I will also be looking for strength coach jobs and in the next few years this might mean that I go back to school for a masters degree and to gain some more intercollegiate experience as well.
As far as my lifting goes, I plan to continue to bring up my strength and also focus on my event proficiency by hitting events at least every 2 weekends. If all goes to plan and my job/job search doesn’t screw my training too much I hope to go top 5 this year at OSM.

PV-Final Question, If you were a character on the Trailer Park Boys, who would you be?

JF-Toughest one for the end eh……but I have thought about this carefully and one really sticks out above all else….GREEN BASTARD.

PV-Thanks Coach Foley for the great interview and I look forward to your goal oriented training methods and highly analytical input here on the Serious about Strength Blog.(and of course your “angry coach” style attitude that I’m sure the readers of this blog will enjoy)

(I was very suprised Coach Foley never listed "Chuck Berry" as one of the experts he'd pick for the ultimate round table discussion. Who knew?)

Cheatin'

After 11 weeks of dieting (which I didn't find too tough to start with) I was instructed by Shelby to add a cheat meal once per week.

This is not a bad thing at all. It did however take mere seconds to decide what my first cheat meal would be. Sarah and I have spent countless conversations discussing our cheat meal options since about the second or third week.

So this past Saturday was the chosen day. The plan was to finish the Turtle cheesecake that Sarah had started on her cheat meal, pound back a small pizza lover's pizza from Zio's (A great pizzaria in Renfrew), demolish some tacos and burritos from Taco Smell, clean up a chocolate cake from the local bakery and wash it all down with some milk.

The only catch with the cheat meal is that is has to be the last meal of the day.

Here's how it all went down.

On my way back from Ottawa with the taco bell, I was a little behind on my regular meals. I shoveled in the last bowl of cold rice and chicken breast as we stopped for gas in Kanata.
When I arrived at home and laid out all my goodies, it had only been about an hour since I finished the last bowl of cold sawdust (it's actually not bad at all but pales in comparison to tacos and cake)
I tried to stall but Sarah was on my case about eating my cheats in front of her. (When I checked I didn't have her tied to the kitchen table. WTF?)

So I put on some fat pants and got ready for action.

Now, I've been around the block a few times when it comes to eating, I've even held a few buffet titles and impressed many a waitress with my eating prowess. So I knew that to get it all in I would need the proper aproach.

The pizza was still piping hot, so I microwaved the tacos and got the cakes laid out on the table. The trick to pushing back large amounts on an already half full tank is to get it all swallowed in 20 mins or less.

The stage was set. I started with a beef supreme taco. I flew through 2 slices of pizza and then hit a chicken supreme burrito. Trouble reared it head early. I could feel the wall coming faster than I had expected. So I did what any respectable eater would do. I put the third burrito on ice and sucked back another slice of pizza. I couldn't miss out on those delicious cakes.
The turtle cheesecake went down well. 11 weeks had caused me to forget the sharp power of super dense cake and caramel sauce. I was hoping to wipe the earth of the second cake but it was not as delicious as I expected and the class 4 sweat started to pool on my brow. I made a pretty good dent in the bakery cake but stopped near the half way mark to suck back some milk and hopefully complete the pizza.
It wasn't to be. I had made a rookie mistake. I had left the milk on the counter. This required me to get up from my eating station and thus lose my flow. I got most of the milk down but the train wreck occured on my way back to the pizza and cake.
My stomach was topped out. I had only put in a solid 15 minutes but that was all I could take.

I shamefully threw in the towel while Sarah made fun of my weak attempt. I headed for the couch with a great deal of bloated pain in my abdomen. Soon the sugar induced insulin coma took me and I was snorring away on the couch.

I have another shot coming up this friday.

I promise to not let anyone or anything stop me next time.
(The victim this Friday will be bacon and tomato sandwhiches. I will attempt to eat 1 pound of bacon with as many tomatos and toast slices as it takes. And yes I will be laying the mayo on thick.)

Getting a little Crazy on Sunday

So what could possibly be crazy on a Sunday? Maybe this -21 degree weather. (Not really it's December, what the hell did you expect?)

I'll tell you.

It was a kettle bell crazy press.

We just bought a couple of sets of little kettle bells to try out in our boot camps, and I got the great idea to try out some crazy presses with them.

This is simple to set up. Quad up a mini band and loop it through the handle of the kettle bell, and then hook the other end of the band around the end of the barbell. Make sure they are even on both ends of the bar and get to work.

If I could offer one bit of caution though. If you've never done a crazy press before, start out with a VERY LIGHT weight. We started with an empty bar and a pair of 12kg kettle bells and it felt like I was trying to bench press a water bed. It was all over the place.

We noticed 2 big benefits while (and after) doing this exercise. The first was that it really challenged you to stay tight....everywhere. I was more alert to squeezing the bench with my shoulders, pinching my ass cheeks and driving my feet into the floor with 95lbs of bar weight and 90lbs Kettle Bells than I've ever felt with 300 in my hands. The second was the crazy blasting our chest and shoulders got.

These were my sets:
bar +24kg of KB X 15 reps
bar +40kg of KB X 15 reps
95lbs + 40kg of KB X 18 reps
95lbs + 40kg of KB X 17 reps

I look forward to trying this out with my swiss bar, for an added element of instability and shoulder work.


Here's Shotgun pumping out one of his last sets, looking less like his arms were still drunk from Saturday night. (And Shane, I know you're watching this, so check out your feet move after rep 2. Fix that shit!)
Yes he wears his oly shoes for everything. I was able to talk him out of using them to push the prowler.

Who Gives A F***K Friday

Now that we're all on the same page as to what day of the week it is, here's a couple of good videos.



(Sorry for being short and sweet. I'm not being lazy, I'm just being busy)

A Call To Action

Just the other day, a buddy of mine posted up a deadlift challenge on the Ontario Strongman forum. He challenged any taker's to race him to a 750lbs deadlift. (And you're damn right I took the challenge. I plan on beating his ass.)

His call to action is moving me and a few other dedicated individuals to aim high and keep shooting.

So I'm calling to action every single reader here on my blog.

I want you to do something you've never done before.

It doesn't have to be a 750lbs deadlift. But it has to be something that is just beyond your reach right now.
Something that is going to take a balls to the wall effort to achieve.

And the challenge is to get it done before the end of 2008.

Post your goal in the comments area of this blog entry, along with your real name and where you currently stand on the challenge.
example: I Paulv currently have a best Deadlift of 655lbs and did 620 for 2 last month. I am taking the call to action and plan on lifting 700lbs before the end of 2008. (I hope to lift this by X-mass)

I, Johnny X currently have a best 500m row time of 1:35. I am takin the call to action and plan on breaking the 1:30 mark by the end of 2008.

Grow a pair and take the challenge. We will all motivate each other to improve.

Post it in the comments section and then feel free to update your progress in the comments of the daily blog post.

I may have a prize for the most impressive challenge breaker.

Here's a motivational vid to get you in the mood for action.


NOW GET TO WORK!

The Breaking Point

How close do you come to the breaking point before you realize what's happening and take a step back? Take a deep breath and let shit slide a little?

I'm proud of being my own boss. I live to be busy on projects that I'm interested and excited about. But sometimes I overload the platter. (I've always liked the quote, "bite off more than you can chew, and chew it.)

Today I'm taking that step back. I'm throwing my hands up and not giving a fuck. (Even though it only "World's Greatest Wednesday" and not "Who Gives a Fuck Friday")

So if I told you I was going to do something for you, or get something for you, or whatever, it's going to be a little late. Deal with it.

Oh and by the way, my training for World's is going well. (Trying to be positive here)
I still don't know exact details of the comp, but I'm looking forward to it.

Please don't ask me when we are moving into the new Renfrew location because I have no idea.

Have great Day!

I'm in on Defranco's First Mentorship program in January
Look out for us to be kicking even more ass with the athletes this summer.

NC Double WOW!

I took a drive (A long damn drive) to Schenectady NY this past Saturday. My wife and I went to watch one of the athletes from our summer elite program, Jason Walters, play hockey. He plays for Union College. They have a Division I hockey team in the ECAC division. The game was impressive. Very fast, not chippy at all and squeezed into an intimate 2200 seat facility. It was great to finally see Jason play as we have worked with him for the past 2 summers and we know he's going to take his hockey career to next level. Oh yeah, they beat providence 4-2.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast we got a tour of the rink and the campus. The campus was nice, packed with history and great buildings, but the rink is the defiantely the centre piece.(In my opinion)

Messa Rink @ Union College

The dressing room had an NHL feel to it. Each player had a stall with all the equipment hung up on hardwood shelves. The floor was wide open with a huge "U" inlayed in the rubber matting. Across from the equipment stalls was a tiled bathroom shower area that looked like something from the newest YMCA or maybe even biggger. Around the corner on the way out to the players bench and ice was a wall of hockey sticks. And if you continued down the hall instead of heading out to the ice area the room opened up again (this is the impressive part) to host 2 power racks with platforms, 10 spinning bikes, a GHR and a Reverse hyper. Sweet set up
Jason was proud to add that his prowler was also kept in the dressing room gym area, thus making it the complete set up for any athlete or powerlifter. (not that any powerlifter will ever touch those bars and bumpers)

So, they have a crazy good set up right in the dressing room. But that's only in the dressing room. Downstairs underneath the ice surface, was a 2000sq foot room that looked kinda like a physio facility. It had 4 or 5 massage tables, ice baths, hot tubs, rehab equipment, electro stim machines, you name it, they had it. Just a sick set-up.

Across the hall from the physio room was the full weight room that is only used by the men's and women's hockey teams.

(pause for a deep breath)

It was about 4000sq feet. It had another row of spinning bikes, a bunch of jump boxes, a good stash of kettlebells, 5 double racks, 2 deadlift platforms, a full set of color coded bumpers for each rack and platform, another GHR, a crazy looking reverse hyper machine (that I took a shit on because it wasn't the west-side style) that was a cable and stack set up that somewhat resembled a lying leg curl (I was very un-impressed that they had this contraption, but at least they had a real one in the dressing room), a couple of pulldown cable stations and bunch of benches and DB's.

They've got 5 of these bad boys

This post has gotten way out of hand. Bottom line is the Div I NCAA schools have all the good shit, when it comes to training and sports facilities. It was very mind blowing.

I also carried 370 per hand farmer's walk handles on Saturday morning before heading out.

Who in the hell is Shelby Starnes?

For those of you that have never surfed around on eliteFTS.com, first of all shame on you for missing out on the best resource for training and performance info, and secondly you are probably asking yourself, "who in the hell is Shelby Starnes".

Well I'm gonna bring everyone up to speed on who Shelby is, and what exactly it is that he does. I feel pretty lucky to be able to snag a big time guest like this for an interview on the SERIOUS ABOUT STRENGTH BLOG.

Sarah and I both hired Shelby about 10 weeks ago to get us ready for the provincial powerlifting championships and the world light weight strongman championships respectively. The results have been nothing less than extraordinary. I've had a pretty good grip on nutrition for a long time but working with Shelby is on another level all together.

Before Starting with Shelby (240lbs)

Week 9 of working with Shelby (236lbs)

Without any further delays lets get to the questions.

PV-First of all Shelby, Welcome to the Serious About Strength Blog

Where are you from and where do you live currently?

SS-I was born and raised just north of Detroit, Michigan. I still reside there.

PV-How tall are you and how much do you weigh?

SS-I'm just under 5'7 and my offseason weight is usually around 220 lbs. (110kg.). My competition weight has been right around 176 lbs. (80kg) the last couple years, but I'm trying to bump that up to 185-190 this year or next.

Shelby Starnes (Offseason)

PV-What came first, the nutrition knowledge or bodybuilding and powerlifting,and when did you get involved in all this stuff?


SS-I've been interested in the nutrition aspect since I started lifting weights in 1997, when I was 20 years old. I realized right from the start that nutrition was a crucial element of bodybuilding and weightlifting, so I studied it extensively.
Growing up, I was never a very athletic person and I smoked, drank on occasion, etc. When I was 20 I realized that my dad was in much better shape than me (he exercised daily on his treadmill) so I decided to get into better shape.
I started by using his treadmill, and gradually developed more of an interest in a healthy lifestyle, some light weightlifting, etc... eventually it morphed into full-fledged hardcore bodybuilding.
I got out of bodybuilding in 2003 for a variety of reasons, and decided to just lift weights recreationally. That didn't last long, and I developed an interest in strength (rather than size) so I ended up heading down that path, eventually getting involved in competitive powerlifting. That lasted from mid-2003 to early 2005.
Now I'm back to bodybuilding but still follow powerlifting, train with powerlifters, and occasionally dream of growing a goatee and getting fat again.


PV-What are some of your best lifts as a powerlifter and your best comps as a bodybuilder?

SS-I always competed as a 198 in powerlifting, and my best lifts were a 600 squat, 435 bench, and a 600 deadlift.
In terms of bodybuilding, at my first show I won the overall in the novice division and took second place in the open middleweight class. Since then I've competed twice at the NPC Jr. Nationals, placing fifth in 2006 and sixth in 2007.

PV-When do you plan on hitting the stage in a banana hammock again?(It's cool, I've pranced on stage in the past too.)

SS-I'm tentatively planning on competing at the NPC Michigan State Bodybuilding Championships in May, 2009.

PV-Do you have any plans to do another powerlifting meet in the future?


SS-Probably not. I was going to do a meet last year - just as a diversion from my bodybuilding offseason- but I ended up rupturing my pec about a month out from the meet.


PV-How long have you been putting together diets for other people?

SS-After my first competition in 2005 I started helping some friends with diet plans, and it quickly grew from there.Nowadays I have clients all over the country as well as the world (Canada, Australia, UK, Belgium, Greece, etc.).

PV-What is the name of the company that you currently are involved with, doing diet and training plans?

SS-Troponin Nutrition. We also carry our own line of supplements, as well as books, videos, and strength training equipment (we just came out with our "Motor City Squat Yoke", which is a combination front squat and Zercher harness). Check us out at http://www.troponinnutrition.com/

PV-How did you get hooked up with Troponin and Justin Harris?

SS-I hired Justin to prep me for my first bodybuilding show back in 2005, and I've been working with him ever since.

PV-I know you do a lot of work with men and women that compete in bodybuilding, figure and now strength sports, do you have any clients thatare just looking to lose fat for health reasons or to just look good naked?

SS-Yes, a lot of my clients aren't competitive in any particular sport - they just want to shed some fat, get healthy, and, as you said "look good naked". I will work with anyone that is committed to making a change.

PV-What are some of the things that you are able to do with your clients besides just getting lean?

SS-I do a lot of offseason plans to help clients gain maximal muscle while staying lean, and also do plans for clients looking to drop water weight for a competition weigh-ins, setting up an optimal eating schedule for meet day, etc.
I also offer customized training consultations for those interested in having me do their training as well as nutrition.

PV-I know you are a CARB CYCLING guy, can you give us a summary of what that means?

SS-Carbohydrate cycling is a method of eating that can be modified for weight gain, weight loss, and also weight maintenance. Put in simple terms, carbohydrate cycling involves consuming a high carbohydrate diet on some days of the week, and a low to moderate carbohydrate diet on other days.

The high carbohydrate days raise the body's insulin levels, fill glycogen stores, keep the metabolism burning efficiently, and stave off muscle catabolism. The low carbohydrate days are the "fat burning days." They keep insulin levels low enough to allow for maximum fat burning while retaining muscle.

PV-Is there ever an age that people reach that would make it difficult for them to benefit from your diet plans?

SS-As we age our metabolism slows, but the same physiological principles still apply. As such, carb cycling is still my method of choice for older athletes.
I should mention though, that while I predominantly use a carb cycling approach, I will use other approaches if the situation warrants it.

PV-I found out about you when you went on board at EliteFTS.com, how did it come to be that you got onto the Q&A staff?

SS-Dave made me promise not to talk about that (the initiation rituals are illegal in most states).
Seriously though, Justin had been on the team for a while and I think they just wanted to diversify their reach, so they asked if I would be willing to lend a hand. What's it like to be a part of the elitefts team?
The exposure has been great. I'm very thankful to be on a team of such great athletes and individuals, and hope to be able to contribute and be part of the team for some time to come.

PV-I've met Justin Harris at a Seminar and he was way the hell over everyones head with his science and book words. What's it like working with that guy?

SS-He's definitely a nerd trapped in a super heavyweight's body.
Seriously though, besides being a great nutritionist, bodybuilder, and powerlifter, he's also a great business partner and friend. Like with Elite, I look forward to a long prosperous future together.

PV-I'd like to thank you for doing this interview, is there any shout-outs or thanks you'd like to send out?

SS-I definitely want to thank all my clients for kicking ass on a regular basis, and supporting me in what I do.
I also want to thank Justin Harris, Dave Tate, and the EliteFTS team for all they've done for me. I'm very fortunate to work with such a great group of people.

PV-If people want to get in touch with you and have you help them look and perform better, how can they reach you?

SS-I can be reached via email at shelbystarnes@troponinnutrition.com and my webpage is here:
www.troponinnutrition.com/shelby.htm

I am also on the Q&A staff atwww.elitefts.com/

If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to drop me a line!

PV-Thanks again Shelby, I can't say enough great things about your services,and I don't really have to because I walking around looking and feeling like an animal and people notice everywhere I go.

SS-Thanks for the opportunity, Paul.

Bangin' the iron pile

Last night we had a great session. Of course, ironically it was on the bench press. Everyone loves to bench eh?

Things started out a little loose but as we got through the warm-ups we pulled it together. It must've been a combination of the "shut up and lift" mentality we all seemed to have and the fact that the gym was busy as hell and all eyes were upon me. The pressure was on for me to put up, as I can never seem to shut up.

I want to welcome "Kapow" to the 300 club. He put up a pretty solid stroke on 3 bills at the tender age of 16. Nice work buddy.
And he did it after all his work sets on the 5/3/1 method. Leave it to the young bucks to want to go big all the time. (It was supposed to be a down set)

I've got a very special guest coming to the blog very soon. (hopefully later today) So stay tuned for a great interview.

Prowler Playoffs

So now that we have a good 4 inches of snow all over the place, (I think it sucks and I don't care how much you spent on that new Snow mobile) our prowler season has come to an end. It's very unfourtunate that we dragged the regular season out too long and didn't get a chance to have a true playoff season.

I'm sure some of the crew was temporarily relieved by the coming of the snow and the end to our prowler sessions. Especially Dirty Frank, who's broken schedule had him coming back to more plates on the prowler after every layoff he took. We eventually worked up to 3 plates per horn on the prowler and were getting pretty good at double ups with that weight.

We will now be focusing our attention to the rower. The anxiety is still there when I look at that long, slender bastard. 500 meters has been our standard. I look forward to working back up to 3 500's at the end of each training session, as one has been kicking me in the guts lately.

It's going to be a long winter.

To make sure we can crown a true prowler cup champion at the end of next season, I've already laid out the playoff schedule for 2009.

I already miss that scraping sound, but not the nausea, pounding head, dizzyness, stupids and massive prowler hang-overs.

Jello Legs Johnny

If you like to squat and you feel that low back and hamstrings are beach muscles then you have probably met Jello Legs Johnny. For most people it's a love/hate relationship with Jello Legs Johhny. We love the fact that he signifies a great amount of effort in our training, but we hate the way he makes going to the can a true pain in the ass (no pun intended) for a day or two later.

Most people know ol'Jello Legs. He always shows up around the middle of a squat session and sometimes overstays his welcome. Sometimes he just comes running into your life like a screaming freight train as you grind out anything over 10-12 reps while squatting. This is the case when you know he's coming as you have set it in your mind that you are going for 20 reps with a weight on the bar that you have only ever gotten 12 with. Oh yes, he'll be here shortly my friend, just step under that bar and get to work.

Other times the dirty bastard is a little more sneaky in his aproach. While doing lunges for example, he's nowhere to be found during the training and sometimes you won't see him when you're leaving the gym. But when you wake up a 1am to let the dog out for a leak, you are less than impressed to find Jello having a pants party as you nearly fall on your face when you take that first step off the bed.

Any way you slice it, if you want to be fit or strong or both, Jello legs Johnny is going to become a close companion. He's there to remind you that you've worked hard.

I'm sure you can guess why I'm writing about Jello Legs today.

Here's what I did last night.

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats- 225X5, 315X5, 365X5, 385X3, 430X1

Hack Squats- 15 reps, 20 reps, 20 reps, 20 reps (all sets with 3 plates per side, this is where I met up with Jello)

Super Man back Extensions-4 sets of 15 reps with a 25lb plate

Hanging leg raises-4 sets of 25

Rower-500m X 1:27.2

Good times, hamstrings and low back are feeling very real today.

Let's get one thing straight..........

I'm gonna start by saying that what I'm about to say may offend you.



It's blows my mind how many people, both male and female walk into our gyms or talk to me on the street and make a comment along the lines of "Oh, but I don't want to get big bulky muscles" 0r "I'm already big enough, I just want to tone".



What the fuck makes you think you are just going to walk into the gym, pick up a barbell and instantly explode into a rippling mass monster?

This guy just started last month

I've been at this game for over 10 years. I've had a strong desire to be a "rippling mass monster" from day one and let me tell you from experience that it's not easy to get "big bulky muscles". It takes huge commitment to training, eating and the "get huge" lifestyle. By NO means do I feel like I am there yet, but I work hard week in and week out, stuffing myself with food and training like a madman even when I'd rather be at home in bed. (wait a minute, there's no place I'd rather be than training my ass off at the gym or at Pete's Garage.) So it's a little bit of a piss off when people assume that they will end up looking freaky after they've spent a month in the gym.



99% of the people I deal with in the gym and personal training business, just want to lose fat, be healthy and look good naked. I have no beef with that at all. It's actually something that I admire in all of our clients. They've taken the step forward to making themselves look and feel better by hiring us to help them. But just to reassure everyone, even if you trained as hard and as heavy as possible for a full 12 months, chances are you won't have to have the door frames widened in your home due to growing a pair of shoulders that block out the sun. And that's assuming that you're nutrition, rest and recovery are all spot on.



Next time you come across a massive freak of nature, ask him or her how long they have been working at becoming what and who they are.

The Way of the Rack

Just about every (half decent) gym in the world has a power rack. Although it is becoming more common place for the powder puff, big box store gyms to not have a rack, it pretty much is a staple all around the world to have a power rack.

A good or great weight room is built around a good or great power rack.

I always think of the rack as the place where great strength is built. Without the rack, where would one squat, perform Good Mornings and Rack pulls?

Yes I am aware that one can always improvise to get the job done without a rack. I have improvised many times. I even built a pair of olympic style squat stands so I could get more done in my small gym if the rack was occupied.

When the rack is occupied...........

It better not be for barbell curls. Lets just leave it at that. This rant has been beat to death so I will leave it alone today.

Honor thy Rack, Love Thy Rack.

When I walk into any gym, when I see a beat up rack with the paint worn clean off, I know I'm in the right place. These are the places where strength is built.

Tastes Like Kevin Bacon

The title comes from the last song I heard on the radio on my way to work this morning.

How important is having a good sound track to fuel your training?

I didn't think it was too important. As long as it wasn't the talking of lame ass DJ's on regular radio when I was about to attempt a heavy set or a sweet slow song about love or sadness, I was usually okay.

I make it a habbit to keep my training playlist stocked with the likes of Sabbath and Slayer. Hatebreed is also good back ground noise when trying to train your ass into a pulp.
But I never really rely on having "the" perfect song playing at any given time. I try to keep focused on the lifts and the music is just background noise.

It is common to hear guys whining about having to train with really shitty music playing and how it ruins their session. I guess everyone is different but c'mon, how dependant can one be on the music?
I definately agree that a good playlist helps, but the lack of good riffs should not be reason to throw the session down the toilet and act like a spoiled Trust Fund Boy.

Now when performing cardio music is becomes a very integral part of my ability to work hard.
I hate doing cardio on any of the typical gym machines. (treadmill, bike, stair climber) My "Hard as Fuck" playlist is a staple of my cardio sessions. And the other night I found out just how important it is. My ipod ran out of battery power.
WOW!
My speed dropped instantly and even my best efforts to speed back up seemed helpless.

I guess to conclude here I will just have to say don't be a baby if the radio is sucking when you are lifting iron, and make sure your ipod is charged up with good muzzak and battery power before you climb onto that bike for some intervals.

Yeah, What Dave said.

If you've known me for any amount of time since I've really gone over the deep end for strength and performance, (shortly after I caught myself covered in oil, wearing a banana hammock on stage in front of large crowd) you've probably heard me talk about a guy named Dave Tate. (And if you haven't heard of Dave then you better set up an appointment with me immediately so we can cover the basics......)

Anyways, Dave keeps his training and life in general log on his website http://www.elitefts.com/ and recently he's been spending time supervising his son in kindergarten class. He's started a series of articles about observations made in kindergarten and how he applies those lessons to our everyday adult life. I have found it very entertaining and insightful.
32 things I learned in kindergarten

This week he talked about "that person" that always seems to get in our face and blabber on about something we really don't give two shits about, putting you into an awkward situation of, "do I tell them to piss off, or just stand here in agony and listen?". It prompted me to quickly evaluate my own behaviour and habits. (thanks Dave)

Something that is on my plate daily that this lesson can be applied to is our impending location change in Renfrew. I get asked daily about when we are moving. Hell I've been asked twice this morining and it's ten after 7 am.
I often have to apply Dave's lesson #14. I just give my best guess and it usually makes me feel okay. But after so many set backs I now don't give a strait answer at all. Because I just don't know when we will move. I know we will, but I don't know when.

So after all the rambling here's a training montage to help get your blood boiling to train your ass off.

RED DRAGONS!



How about that 590 raw bench. (black t-shirt, huge goatee, watch it again, it's the last frame of the clip)

Never felt Better

I've always tried to follow my instincts in terms of how I feel when training. If I'm feeling really good, I go all out. Try to hit a PR whether it be in reps or weight.

If I'm feeling a little off, I usually just soldier through as best I can and get the job done. This usually means going all out anyways and often ending in disappointment due to missed lifts.



I've always understood that a deload is neccessary every so often to allow the body and nervous system some time to recover from the pounding they have received in the past 3-4 weeks.

I've planned many deloads into my training but the mistake I've always made is that I don't plan the work-outs during the deload. I usually just leave my training log in the office and say something along the lines of, "I'm gonna take it easy tonight and train bodybuilding style". This is what I feel has lead to missing the boat many times on the deload.



I've recently been following the 5/3/1 method for the raw lifter from Jim Wendler's III manual .

Without spending an entire post on the method, lets just say it's a "Keep it simple, stupid" type method with minimal workload for maixmum strength gains.
(I want to mention that this manual is the shit for trainees of any skill level and is super easy to follow. If you are serious about getting stronger then you must own this book.)

The part that I feel has made a big difference in my success is that I trust Jim's knowledge and have just shut off my brain and followed the method exactly the way it's laid out.



So last night was the first real deload day for deadlifts. The deads were easy but got me sweatting, I killed my accessory work and even the prowler felt easy.



Best of all I woke up this morning and was able to get out of bed pretty easily. (Usually the morning after deads I struggle to sit up in bed or even move for that matter)



I have to say the deload was great and I'm glad I was able to let go of my ego and just do what was written on the page.

Piss Pucks in Party Town

I used to be pretty good a snowboarding. Good enough to make my paycheck by teaching kids how to ride a half pipe and giving mountain tours at Lake Louise.

How does this tie into piss pucks? What in the hell does any of it have to do with training?

I once read an interview article in a snowboarding magazine about a Canadian guy who had run the ranks of pro snowboarding and had become an action film maker. He was widely known for being a total loose cannon and his party stunts such as breaking beer bottles over his own head.

Something that stood out in that article and has always stayed with me was his piss puck analogy.

"There are two types of people, givers and takers. Givers always contribute something beneficial to others around them throughout their lives and when they die, givers go to party town to spend the rest of eternity. Takers on the other hand, never contribute and are only out to satisfy their own selfish needs. When takers die, the also go to party town. But they go as a piss puck. All the givers get to spend eternity drinking their face off and pissing on the takers"

So now, how does this tie into your training?

Well have you ever trained in a group or with a training partner?

If you have it doesn't take long to identify the givers and the takers. Givers are contributing to the improvement of the group by helping in whatever way is best suited to their individual abilities. The new guy loads plates and helps spot, the veterans are always coaching and teaching the new guys. The givers work for the best interest of the group which in the end helps them achieve success too.

Takers usually don't contribute much to a training group. They bring a poor or negative attitude, they always seem busy or in a hurry to leave when someone else needs help or it's time to clean up. And they usually don't have much good advice or coaching cues to offer the other lifters in the group. Ultimately they may benefit short term from the coaching and labour of the givers but in the end they hold back the progress of the group and themselves.

What are you contributing to the people around you?

Wild Weekend

Yeah, what makes for a crazy weekend for me may have most people snorring due to boring. This weekend we left the house early and headed for Toronto in a rented box truck.

I was on a mission to deliver a shiny new pair of Prowlers to the brand new athletic facility at Upper Canada College. Now you are probably scratching your head and thinking, "never heard of that college before", and that's because it's a private boarding school for high schoolers. I'm not sure how long it's been around for but I saw team pictures on the wall dating back to the 40's.

Anyways, the important thing is that the athletic department now has 2 prowlers that will be helping them get their athletes in peak condition like never before.

When we arrived a couple of the coaches from the school wanted to have a prowler session to try them out and asked us to join them. Of course it was pouring rain. No problem they have a bubble that covers half of their turf football field. unfourtunately for us the weekend security gaurd couldn't access the light switches so the bubble was out. We sucked it up and did a bunch of pushing pulling and suicides in the rain.

It was a great prowler session despite the cold soaker we were experiencing.

Here's what I did on the prowler:

Thick rope hand over hand pulls (100') into a low handle sprint (100') X3

15yd suicides (high/low handles)

1 suicide race against one guys training with us. (Yes I won, and my prowler had an extra 50lbs on it)

Tonnes of fun and a long late drive home.

The Aftermath (Recovering from the Safety Squat Bar)

Well, just as I expected the Safety Squat Bar blasted the crap out of my back, hips and quads.

Sometime around 3pm yesterday things really started to tighten up. The penguin walk was starting to develop from some seriously tight legs and man was my upper back tight.

Obviously if you want to get the most out of the next training session, not to mention be able to function at work the next day, you need to take some action on the recovery front.

Drum Roll Please!



If you haven't heard or used a foam roll, check it out here.


Now that we are on the same page, let me tell you why I feel the foam roll is so damn important to a quick recovery.

Because I've used it many times and it works!......DONE DEAL

I rolled out my quads (or I.T. Bands for those of you that like to get technical), my groin, my upper and lower back, I even rolled way up onto the traps. Standing up after the 10 minutes of restorative work, I can immediately feel the difference. My legs are still tender but I can move very freely and even drop into a deep oly squat position with ease.


So why are you still limping around for 2 days after your crazy squat session?

Grab a foam roll, recover faster and keep moving forward in the quest to be BIGGER AND STRONGER. (or in the case of most ladies just stronger and sexy looking)

The Safety Squat Bar

If you've never seen one in the gym than you probably don't know what your missing. And yes I am talking about the safety squat Bar.

This bar is fresh on my mind this morning because it was loaded on my back last night. I can already feel the stiffness coming. It will soon take over my posterior chain (from the back of my knees and in this case to the bottom of my neck).

Simply put the safety squat bar blast you pretty much from head to toe.

So for eveyone that has squatted with this bar, I know you are feeling a slight bit of sympathy for me and maybe a bit of jealousy if you don't have regular access to one yourself.


Why is this bar so different?

Whay makes it blast the back differently that a regular bar?

It's so simple that you may almost miss it. It's the offset position of where the plates are loaded in relation to the bar that sits on your back. The offset causes the bar to almost always try and twist itself true. And that my friends is why it you feel it in the back.

There is no substitute for this bar. It should be in the toolbox of every serious lifter or athlete looking to perform better.

I build 'em and sell 'em here.

I gaurantee it will drive up your squat, deadlift and overall performace.

The Ultimate SupersetTraining Workout For Fat Loss

Until recently, the cornerstone of most resistance training workouts has been performing exercises in a straight set format. Essentially, this means you perform a certain number of reps for a chosen exercise and then you rest anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes based on your training goals before repeating this set a certain number of times based on your goals (Generally 3 sets of 10 is common). For more of a fat loss and lean muscle gain emphasis shorter rest periods are ideal. For more of a strength or power emphasis, longer rest periods are prescribed.

So, what’s the problem with this format? Well, though straight sets are extremely easy to digest for people new to fitness, they are also an extremely inefficient way to organize your training. In most commercial gyms you’ll typically see someone perform three sets of 10 reps for let’s say the bench press. They pump out 10 reps, go to the water fountain, talk with some buddies, watch a couple of highlights on TSN, and then make their way back to the bench to hit up their second set. In general, most people, guys in particular, tend to take about 3-5 minutes between sets. In the case of three sets of 10 on the bench that means it would take up to 15 minutes to complete only one exercise. That means you’d need at least in hour to perform four different exercises! This is pure bullshit. If you need more than 1-2 minutes rest, we better have a talk about conditioning.

A much more effective and time saving method to ordering your exercises is using the alternating set format. Here you’ll perform one exercise, rest for a short period of time, then perform another non-competing exercise, rest for a short period of time, and so forth. Alternating sets allow you to work different areas of your body when you would otherwise be resting with the straight set format. Plus, by working another area of your body with a non-competing exercise you allow your body to recover from the previous exercise(s). The result is more work accomplished in less time, the cornerstone of any sound fat loss program. There are several ways to perform alternating sets outlined below:

1.) Supersets: Alternate between two different non-competing exercises (e.g. upper body and lower body such as push-ups and lunges)

2.) Trisets: Alternate between three different exercises (e.g. push, pull, and lower body such as push-ups, rows, and lunges)

3.) Circuits: Alternate between four or more different exercises

Though circuits and trisets are excellent alternating set options, I believe superset training is by the far the best option time and time again.

Here is an example of some superset training we use in our

Ultimate Fat Loss Boot Camp:

Exercise#1a- Squats

Exercise#1b- Dips

Bridge: 100 jump Ropes

Exercise#2a- Pull-ups

Exercise#2b- Leg Raises

Bridge: Jogging Burpees

Perform each superset up to four times for total body fat burning workout.

Basically, in the same 15 minutes that it took to get in three sets on the bench you could have gotten in three sets of two different exercise for a staggering total of 15 work sets! Plus, the intensity on each exercise will be just as high as in the straight set format because in this five exercise circuit you will have full recovery with over four minutes before you return to any given exercise (just as you did with the straight set format described earlier).

To recap, the key to creating the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss is to perform each exercise with maximal intensity while separated by brief rest periods in order to accumulate a high volume of total body work in the shortest amount of time possible. Circuit training provides for the best of both worlds and is thus simply unmatched for simultaneously maximizing fat loss and lean muscle gain. Use the following template I use with my many boot camp clients for some killer, yet simple fat loss circuits:

Exercise#1- Double-Leg

Exercise#2- Push

Exercise#3- Single-Leg

Exercise#4- Pull

Exercise#5- Core



I’ll be sharing some more great circuit training workouts from my boot camps in the weeks to come.

Stay Strong

Paulv

www.ultimatefitnessgyms.com

Shut up and Train

Sometimes we don't need to think about it, talk about it, worry about it, or whatever.

We just need to shut up and lift.

How do you make this happen?

Plan your work-out the day before, write it down in your training journal and be ready for battle when you get to the gym.

Plain and Simple.

Here's my plan for tomorow night.

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats-(using the 5/3/1 method, this is the "3" week)

GHR-4 sets of 15-20

DB lunges-3 sets of 100' (turn @ 50')

GHR sit-ups with a mini band-3-4 sets of 20

Prowler-3 dubs with +180lbs (minimum)

My Supplement Staples

Supplements have been around for a long time. They work great but you've got to remember that they are a SUPPLEMENT to your nutrition plan and not a magic pill or potion.

It suprises me that there is still so much confusion surrounding supplement use and what supps are required for an individuals needs.

Here's and example of my current supplement use:

Protein Powder- I go through a 5 pounder of Whey Fusion in about 2 weeks. I use it in breakfast shakes when I'm running late. I drink it pre and post training, and I also drink a big 3 scooper in the middle of the night when I wake up to take a leak.

Waxy Maise-This supplement has been around for a while and used to go by the name Vextrago. It is a high molecular weight carbohydrate. So what the hell does that mean?
It passes the stomach very quickly and it pulls water and other nutrients with it. It is unmatched as post training carb source. It's also an easy way to get a lot of carbs in if you are trying to gain mass.
I take 1 scoop pre training, 1 scoop during training, and 3 scoops post training.

Beta-Alanine- This amino acid is cheap and easy to add to your supplement regime. This amino helps you build new muscle proteins. Which means a leaner more muscular body. It also helps your muscular endurance. I've broken more rep records in my training than ever before using beta.
I take 1 tsp pre-training, and 1 tsp post-training.

Creatine- If you haven't heard about the strength and endurance gains that creatine help you get, then you better stop living in your cave. It's been around for a long long long time. It is NOT steroids. It will NOT make your balls shrink, it will NOT cause water retention. Wake the hell up.
I use CX-3. I take 3 caps pre-training, 3 caps post-training and 3 caps with breakfast on non-training days.

Z-test- This is THEE ulitmate MAN supplement. It is a Zinc, Magnesium, vitamin B6 complex and tribulus. Tribulus is a herb that tells your body to produce more of it's own natural testosterone. I always feel well rested, have crazy vivid dreams and fell frisky as hell with my Z-test. It's very popular for older guys too. It helps you feel the "love" again. If you know what I'm sayin'
I take 6 caps before bed. I live on this stuff.

Neo-Lean Fat Burner- As I'm ramping up my nutrition and trying to be a lean 240lbs for the LW worlds, I've been adding in some extra morning cardio and Neo-lean is my fatburner. Its strong enough to keep me feeling alert and energized on the stair climber at 5:30am and I can also notice that I stay warm and sweat a little bit all morning.
I take 2 caps before my morining cardio with a double espresso, and I take 2 caps in the afternoon when I start to feel lazy.

And last but definately not least.....

L-Leucine- This is the most important of the BCAA's (Branched Chain amino acids) It helps keep your body in an anabolic state. This is important if you are trying to gain muscle, deal with a lot of stress and/or do a lot of endurance training.
I take 5g pre-training, 5g during training (with my waxy) and 5g post training.

It seems like alot, but let me tell you I'm progressing forward like never before, I'm lean and I feel unstopable under stress.