Big Balls`

Well the feedback from the previous post has been just as I intended it. I've heard back from a few good men and women that took the call to action and kicked ass last friday after seeing the video.

One guy got it all the way from India.

Here's a link to his blog post over on Kettlebellplantet.

I really love hearing about it when you get it right. I hope we always have something beneficial to offer.

In the meantime, lets talk about gaining some muscle mass.

My buddy Curd Hos of Neo-Genixx.com and current Ontario Bench press champion stopped by the gym today. He was delivering an order of supplements to me and while we were standing at the counter shootin' the shit, he called out a couple young bucks that were on the bench press.

He told them about a rep scheme that helps add muscle mass, strength endurance and helps you bench more weight for more reps.
Take a weight you can just get 10 good reps with, now try and hit 30 reps in as few sets as possible. If it takes you 7-8 sets and you're down to singles at the end, so be it. But whatever it takes this weekl, is the goal to beat for next week. Example, it takes you 7 sets to hit 30 reps with 225, then next week do whatever it takes to do it in 6 sets.

The young guy on the bench didn't take Curd seriously at first and continued with his usual bullshit routine. Curd then asked him if he would be willing to do the protocol if Curd jumped on the bench and pressed 4 plates (405) without a warm-up. Of course the young lads wanted to see this, and I think they were doubting. Curd took off his watch and smacked 2 reps with 405 without even swinging his arms around for a stretch. Needless to say the young guys did the 30 reps protocol.

Bob's your uncle!

More 150 Action

Hopefully I'm not burning your interest in this blog to the ground with my recent batch of video posts.

I honestly don't know what the fuck is wrong with me, but I have not an ounce, of creative or even productive thought lately.

I've got 2 things on my mind all the time. (of course besides doing a good job of running my business)

1) Getting Sarah ready to win the nationals at the end of the month
2) Getting myself ready for the soon to start strongman season. AND SMASHING EVERYTHING IN MY PATH LIKE A RABID SASQUATCH! (I'm notorious for getting my mind so into a competition that all other aspects of my life suffer. Luckily it's only been my creative thought process so far.)

So here's a couple more vids. (Like logs on the fire)

150 DB rows for 20 reps


Sarah Squatting 345

And if you really are getting bored of these vids, quit being such a nancy and send my a vid of you doing something cool. Of course you'll be the only one interested in watching it.

Mayhem Mondays

I don't know about you but I thought this weekend was pretty awesome for outdoor training. We got outdoors for a couple of events on Saturday and then on Sunday I thought about pushing the prowler. It never happened because I ended up sleeping off some kind of stomach flu for most of the day.

I'm still getting a few vids from strong MF's that want to get famous here on SAS, but not nearly as many as I expected. Doesn't anyone have a camera? Or are you all just a bunch of weak little girls?

I'm going to get you started with a recent vid of my own. Nothing too exciting in the performance dept. but I was demonstrating that even with smashed and mangled fingers, one can still move some iron.



And here's Kapowski giving the brand new 150's a ride.


What did you do on the weekend?

The Max Effort Method

I just got a copy of Jim Wendler's Max Effort Book. So I guess this will be literature review.

This book, much like his III book, is pretty simple and to the point. It has a lot of the stuff that you think you know inside and out, until you read it again. If you are a fan of Wendler humour, you will enjoy this book as it is full of it. It reads as if he was sitting in the room and telling you how it is.

It covers all the basics in regards to a "Westside" template. (and he even explains why not everyone should be running around claiming to train "westside" or just throwing the name out there for improved street cred.

One of the things that I like most about the way he explains the exercises is that he straight up tells you the ones he likes and why he likes them (or why most people like them), but doesn't take a shit on the ones he doesn't like. It's biased, but somewhat not biased. (if that makes any sense at all)

Bottom line is, it's a good read, loaded with good info, and simple enough for the rest of us. I'll be honest, Super Training is WAY over my head. I've got a copy, and it's really good for a one board press. (although I've recently put it in the bathroom at home to try and read a few more sections)

I'm gonna get off topic now and touch on a subject that needs mention. If you come up to me and start blabbering on about neuromuscular this and rigormortis fasciata that, I tune you the fuck out. I'm not University educated. Is it important to know all the fancy words and flow charts and graphs and skeleton diagrams? Not so far. Everything I've learned has been from books (that I could understand), seminars, and trying shit out in the gym myself over the last 15 years. Knowing all the big, book learnin' words may impress some people, but it just confuses the hell out of 99% of the people you will ever work with in the training business. Lucky for me, I have a good buddy who knows all the book learnin' words and flow charts and diagrams, but he also knows how to lift a barbell and work hard in the gym. So when I get stuck, guess who I call on?

Anyways, if you want a good book to help pass the time you spend in the crapper, as well as further your skills and knowledge in the game of getting stronger, buy the book.

Stone Loading

On Saturdays I train strongman events in a garage. And I always get some of the best training sessions ever in that garage. It's dirty, the music is loud, the place is full of primitive strength tools. It's a place where great strength is built and tested.

One of the mainstays of saturday garage training is Stone Loading. My training group is lucky enough to have atlas stones. Atlas stones are the concrete spheres you may have seen on TV while watching Worlds Strongest Man.
We have a set of atlas stones that ranges from 188lbs to 385lbs. We load them to platforms ranging in height from 51" to 72".

Loading 265lbs stone to 72" at Canada's Strongest Man 2008

Stone loading is very taxing on many different parts of the body. It tests your arm and grip, upper back, lower back, legs, hips, abs and most importantly your mental toughness. I have never loaded stones and not been sore all over. (and I'm not talking about the scrapes on my chest and arms) This past Saturday was no exception. I had a really hard time getting out of bed on sunday.

Here's what I did: (After log press and farmers walk)
320lb stone to 54" X2
320lb stone to 54"X3
320lb stone to 54"X3
320lb stone to 54"X3
320lb stone shouldered to 56" + 350lb stone to 51"
320lb stone shouldered to 56" + 350lb stone to 54"
350lb stone to 54"

I did try to shoulder the 320 one last time but I was out of steam. I got a bit frustrated with myself for missing lifts near the end of the sets, but it wasn't until I wrote out my training log that I noticed the large volume of heavy stones I did.



This is one of my training partners, Peter Wagner, he is the owner of the garage I train at. He is also one hell of a stone loader. Peter is almost 50 years old. What's your excuse?

Head Games

I've been wanting to touch on how important I feel the "mental aspect" to success in strength gains.
It's a pretty broad topic so to keep this from becoming 7 volumes long, lets focus on desire and mental toughness.

Developing a successful attitude in the gym is paramount to improving your strength, fitness level, appearance, just about everything. If you're walking into a gym, at least you had enough motivation to get off the couch. But is there enough drive there to do more than take up space at the gym? You must believe that your efforts will lead to achieving your goals.

I cannot explain exactly what drives me. It's somewhere between pride and greed. I always demand more from myself and I always want to be better than the next guy. This attitude or desire to constantly be better is the driving force behind many succesful training sessions.

I see many different levels of drive or desire everyday. I work with people who have so much drive that they wear themselves out. I also work with people that seem like they are one notch above suicide. Obviously the ones with massive desire for change in their appearanc or strength levels get the best results and they get them as quickly as possible.

Once you've developed the desire to work hard, you need the mental toughness to ride through the storm of hard training. My favourite example of mental toughness is from an unlikely source. 30-50 year old women that want to get their 20 year old body back. I've got clients that bust ass through some very challenging training sessions week in and week out and never complain, and never give up. Have you ever seen a guy at the gym load up a bar and do a set of squats to 20 reps or above? There are thousands of great examples of mental toughness, the key is to be one of those examples.

No summary here kids. Just get your brain in gear and don't be a wanker at the gym today. Train till the sweat is dripping and your muscles are burning.

More Goods from the Mentorship

It was a good trip okay. I've still got lots to share.

The training and business end was most important, but I also went down there with a goal for myself in mind. I wanted to break the "washed up meatheads" (Not highschool or college athlete) Trap Bar Deadlift record.

I figured it would be pretty cool to get my name on the Defranco's Record Board. Hell, it's the board that inspired us to start record boards at our gyms.

So did I get on it? You're goddamn right I did! I beat the old record by 150lbs!

"Right there, above Zach Even Esh" and yes I pull a stupid face when I'm excited

Not be outdone by her ol'man, Sarah took a stab at the ladies Trap Bar Deadlift record too.
And hell yeah, she beat the old record by 90lbs.

"Look mom, I made it on the big board" (and with room to spare)

Alright, enough horn blowing and back patting. You already knew we were pretty awesome to begin with. (HAHA) We believe in walking the walk.

I'm really happy for Sarah this weekend and not because of the deadlift record, but because of the confidence she has developed as a strength coach. She knows her shit when it comes to training. It would be impossible for her to not know a lot. It's all we talk about, it's all we read, it's what we do. The mentorship and hanging out with Joe and 4 other great coaches from around the world has brought it out in her mind that she doesn't need to take shit from regular schmoes that walk into our gyms and look down there nose at her as trainer because she is a female.
The way I look at is that we should never blow off the opportunity to learn from everyone we come across. And Sarah is no exception. She has a lot to offer when it comes to training. And in addition to knowing it, she's also stronger pound for pound than about 90% of the men that train in our gyms. SO THERE!

I'm really getting geared up for the summer program again. I can't wait until hockey season is over and our guys get back. I love working with them and seeing them progress and get better.
I can't wait to dust off the prowlers and sleds. And I've also got a few new tools to get everyone stronger and faster this summer.

I actually got a call yesterday for an appointment to start working with a teenage girl that plays competitive hockey and fastball. We're ready and fully loaded to bring any athlete closer to their goals. You don't have to wait until the snow melts to get started. In season, pre-season, off-season, we're ready for it.

What does your wife do in her spare time?

A Few New Moves

Sarah pumpin' the gun show

So, I'm back to the grind and still high on the fact that I was at Defranco's for the weekend.

Everyone keeps asking me what the main points that I learned were and yada yada.

Here's my summary of the Defranco's Mentorship:

-Attittude and Atmosphere are probably the most important factors to having a good training session.

-Keep things simple, there is no need to follow your clients around with a stop watch and a clip board. Teach them how to squat, bench etc and let them get busy.

Joe tells the group how it's gonna be

-Small group training is the best way to get the best attitude and atmosphere mentioned above. Of course you have to weed out people that are not looking for the same success and not willing to give 100% all the time.

-Rest periods during max effort lifts should not be regulated. Take as much time as needed.


-Super setting the accessories and utilizing bands and DB's will alow the groups to keep working hard without much equipment.

Mike "the asshole" Guadango about to set a 10yd PR

-One day a week should be dedicated to recovery work. (wednesdays works best if possible)

-I learned how to perform assisted PNF stretching the way Joe performs it on his athletes. This little routine will make a huge difference in anyones day to day operations and mobility.

-Kids that train at Defranco's scare the shit out of their competitors on game day. The DTS t-shirt is a badge of honour that must be earned throught hard work and dedication.

-The "Asshole" is really a great guy. Don't let the title fool you.

-I was doing a good job of warming up my athletes last summer. Joe's warm-up at the sprint session was almost identical. (although I picked up a couple new things too)

-There is nothing fancy about WSSB, just simple and hard work, the way I like it.


There are probably 1000 other little tid-bits that will help me do my job better and help me help kids get ready for their sports but those are the things that I learned by "just being there" and seeing things unfold.


If you are like me and seriously want to be known as the trainer that creates scary athletes then you should definately try to get in on a mentorship with Joe in the future.




Thanks Joe.



Okay Kids, who wants to slay the competition like never before?

Layin' the Smack Down

I was reading a Q&A Question on Elite yesterday, and the answer was way over my head, but something caught my attention and had me worried I was missing the boat when conditioning our hockey players in the summer.

So, since the answer was way over my head I sent it off the Coach Foley to translate it for me.

After he translated and explained a few things, everything made good sense and I was relieved to know I was using proper programing with our hockey players. (Not that I needed any other proof than the fact that our guys kick ass in training camp)

I'm sure glad to have the kind of resources that I do. Thanks Jordan.

Tomorow morining I'll be packing up and heading south to not so sunny Wykoff New Jersey.

My wife and I will be 2 of the first 6 people to take part in the Defranco's Mentorship Program. We will be spending the weekend shadowing Joe and his staff while they run work-outs for their NFL combine athletes, some college guys and also some high school athletes. We are going to learn all the ins and outs of how Defranco's Training systems is run as a business.

I hope to bring back as much info and experience as possible to help our summer athlete program flourish. We had great success with all the guys we worked with this summer (using the WSSB template) and I am anticipating even more top level athletes in 2009.

The Strong Ones (Part 2)

So in part 1 we've identified the why's and the what-nots (yes, I think I just made that up now) of finding and surrounding yourself with strong/good training partners.

So how does on go about getting on board with the people they aspire to be like?

I don't think there is one single answer to a question like this. There could be many different ways to aproach it and I'll share with you how I've gone about it myself.

The first thing you have to ask yourself is what do you have to offer these people. You can't always expect to get, get, get, and never contribute back. (See the "Piss Pucks in Party Town Post" Nov. 18th 2008)

The fastest and often the easiest way to get help from people is with money. Plain and simple. I've spent almost $4000.00 on attending training seminars alone (before travel and lodging) in the last 3 years. This gaurantees you are going to get your questions answered. I know of one top strength coach that even hired another top strength coach for a 1 hour session at the going rate just so he could ask questions and pick the brain about coaching athletes. (I just got an idea for a future rant here.)

Another method is to become the "plate monkey" of the guys you want to train with. This is the most entry level aproach. You have nothing to offer but your sweat and effort. Start by showing up at the same time they train. Chat it up with them when its appropriate and offer to load plates and spot. This sounds kinda shitty but you can learn a tonne just by being a spotter. You get to observe from mere inches away. You get to here all the cues and learn the lingo. You are also doing the lifters a big favour because you can never have enough plate monkeys and spotters.

Once you've developed some status as a guy in know, you can also trade info with people. You may be a really good warm-up or stretching guy but need to get better at benching. Find the best benchers through association and offer to help them with their mobility in exchange for some bench coaching.

The list could go on and on, but the bottom line is, you have to have something to offer. Even if it's just a good attitude and the fact that you show up on time all the time, ready to kick ass in the weight room. You don't have to be bull ass strong to get into the club, but you have to be dedicated and ready to give. Many times I would pick a weaker athlete with a good attitude over the guy who is naturally strong but has a poor work ethic. The good attitude will take you much farther.

Okay kids, talk amongst yourselves.

A Huge Congratu-Fucking-Lations To UF Team Member SHANE CHURCH for his WIN at the Montreal CPO powerlifting meet. I'll have to confirm his numbers but he did Squat 7 bills (700lbs) and won the 242lbs open division. This is not an unusual thing for an Ultimate Fitness athlete to WIN, as we always train with the attitude that winning is everything and second place is only defeat. Nice work buddy! I won't tell how much prep he did for this meet though. (NONE, greasy greasy bastard. Just signed up and won.)

Rant Time!

Okay kids, put your seatbelts on, it's Rant Time.



As you may or may not know, my wife and I make our living by teaching people how to train. We own a pair of gyms, we work in them full time and we are 2 of the 3 trainers that work in our clubs. Basically what I'm trying to say here is that my paycheck or lack thereof comes from me knowing about strength and fitness training (especially fat loss) and being able to help others achieve there physical goals.



I don't really have a good term or title to describe exactly what I do, but to the average Joe, I'm a personal trainer. BUT, I am not certified (like thats some glorious, godly thing) by any personal training company or organization. And let me tell you why.

When I first got into the business I had already been training myself for about 10 years. I had already competed in bodybuilding and powerlifting and was a pretty good student to the ways of the iron. I even had a client that I was training privately in his home 3 days per week for 6 months. Needless to say I knew a bit about training and nutrition and how to achieve success.

I looked into a few of the different companies that offered personal training certs and was horrified by what they had to offer. I did find one company that seemed to have it's shit together but they seemed to be out of business or not interested in new members because I never got a reply to any calls or emails.

One point that I want to make here before moving on is that personal training companies that offer certifications are just that, independant companies that offer certification courses on what they feel are the important skills and knowledge to be a personal trainer.

Just because you have a nice website and charge $400.oo for a weekend long certification course doesn't neccesarily mean you offer the best product.

I'll get the point here. I've come across a few individuals, that feel it neccesary to stop by my gyms or meet me in the street and want to look down there nose at our business because we are not certified. These people are often certified by one company in particular (rhymes with fan-bit) and are usually mortified that we answer their questions about certification with "I'm not certified by anyone".

This rant was fueled by one person in particular that recently came into our gym and inquired about some of our rates and training programs. The person then proceeded to tell us they were a 15 year veteran of personal training and were certified by a company that rhymes with fan-bit. The person then (as usual) inquired about our certs and had little to say about our answer.

Here's the question I have all you fuck tards with a fancy piece of paper with gold foil and your name on it from fan-bit. How many people have you trained? How many of them achieved their goals? If you are such an awesome personal trainer then why in hell aren't you making a living teaching others how to get fit?
If you want to feel high and mighty about your paper certification from the 2 day course you took about personal training, don't try me. From now on, I will be asking the hard questions.

My wife and I have been training clients for over 4 years. We started with nothing and built our business into something I'm very proud of. We did it without paying some companies bullshit fees to have a piece of paper on the wall. We did it with a lot of trial and error, a lot of reading, a lot of travelling to seminars, a lot of phone calls and emails to people who already had great success in the business. I've spent thousands of hours reading and studying training methods. I've logged thousands of hours in the gym trying shit out on myself. I've logged hundreds of hours in the gyms training others to reach there goals. And guess what? I've never bragged about how awesome I am (or used to be) to another trainer. I've never looked down my nose at another trainer with less experience. I'm willing to pay it forward and share what I've learned, and most important of all....I never stop learning, studying, trying hard to stay on top of what works.

That's all.

Have a great day.

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".

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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)