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.