Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Red or Blue Pill discussion....

So this is something Pegg and I talked about and I threw it out there.  Go to the LRB FB page to check out the red pill/blue pill conversation.  It's quite interesting..........

There aint shit new......

This might seem strange coming from someone who sells a book, or program, or whatever.  But I wanted to write this because I always see these "success" stories about training methodologies or programs or whatever, and it really all still comes back to a few tried and true principles.  Mainly, belief in the training program and being consistent with it.

If there is something being touted as "new" or some new method, you can bet every cent you have that it's not.  Why?  Because everything has already been done.  Generally, guys make good progress on a "new" system because...well, it's new.  Enthusiasm is high, belief in said program is at a maximum, and consistency is on point.  What generally happens over time is, just like with any and every training methodology, is that things so down and then what happens is human nature sets in.  Enthusiasm wanes, and then so does consistency and progress.  That really could be a chicken and egg type argument but I don't want to debate which one.

The point is, there is no training system out there that is the key ingredient to your sub-par progress.  That is more "magical" than another.  Not mine, not anyone's.  My training methodologies have been forged out of over two decades of tinkering and application.  I don't adhere to other peoples methods or "systems" because I know what works for me.  I can actually apply my theories to other peoples "systems" because my philosophies aren't flexible that way.  Now, does that make it their system at that point?  No.  Yes.  Probably not.  Who knows?

However, I have no desire to tinker around with other training methodologies anymore because it's been proven for about 6 decades now what works for the MAJORITY of people.

Strength is triples and fives for the most part.

Size is big eating and a metric ass load of reps.

Yes, you need to learn how to wave between the two now and then, but that about sums it up.  I know, it's boring, it's not sexy.  No one is going to read that and believe it.

"Where's all the dynamic effort work?"

"What about special exercises?"

"What about bands and chains and panda bears?"

Sorry.  None of that shit is needed, or really in my opinion, even worth a shit.

Every dude that lifted big shit out of the 70's and 80's had or did NONE of that.  Well, I'm not sure about panda bears.  However the rest of it, yeah.

No one put on a bench shirt, then wrapped bands around it....going either way......and chains....then did a two board press for a single.  That's a lot of bullshit for a god damn single.  What did Kaz do?  Some sets of 10.  Then some more of that.  After that, he did some more of that.  Then he ate a lot, and won some WSM and powerlifting stuff.

Bodybuilders and powerlifters trained really similarly during the 50's, 60's, and 70's.  The only difference is that powerlifters incorporated heavier training in phases.  Now known as "periodization".  I know, this shit is deeper than a conversation between Ayn Rand and Stephen Hawking.  But that's the only real difference in how they trained.  Powerlifters back then also didn't generally eat themselves into oblivion either.  Most of the guys at the top were in pretty awesome shape.  They ate good, trained hard, knew that bodybuilding type shit was good, and then did some very basic periodization work up to a meet.

That's all that's required.  By anyone.  You're not special.  You're not unique, nor do you need a training system with or a special trainer in order to get big and strong as hell.  You don't need to worry about CNS burnout, or if you have some special bars or bands, or if you need to change movements every three weeks.

You don't even need to ask permission 99% of the time.  Instead of asking if some shit works just try it the hell out.  You'll find out in a few months if it does or doesn't.  Just give it a fair time for evaluation.

An old powerlifter I know wrote a post a week or so ago and he basically said...."back in the day, some guys just trained the squat, bench, and deadlift.  Then for a three-four months out of the year they would do some really high inclines, front squats, and elevated stiff legs.  It worked well."

Jesus that sounds familiar.  Oh yeah, that's pretty much the staple lifts in all of my "routines".  Funny how the longer you do this shit, everyone seems to end up in really similar destinations.

On the flip side of that, I was helping a guy prep for a meet a few years ago, and he told me "but I like switching up movements because I just hate going into the gym week after week doing squat, bench, and dead."

"Then why are you powerlifting?"

I mean, this would be akin to a 100 meter sprinter telling his coach "man I hate that we run 100's every week.  Can't I run some easy 400's, or even a 5K?  You know, just to mix it up?"

The lesson here is there is no new program that is going to put you on the map, or that is the secret to unlocking your beast mode to turn you into an elite strong guy.  Hell, writing about it the way I just did isn't even new.  The problem is, every 6 months or so someone creates a whole "new training method"....and it's always something rehashed.  I think it was Dave Tate that said if you want to create a new buzz in training, just start talking about some shit everyone did back in the 80's.

What you should be asking yourself is if your gains are coming because of the effort put forth on it, or because it's really "just that special".....I think we both know the answer to that.  This is why it's important to build a training philosophy that you can and will adhere to when shit isn't going so great.  So that you don't end up hopping around from routine to routine, or from program to program trying to get motivated again.  As I've written before, motivation is bullshit.  It will eventually wane, and then there you are, trying to find something to get motivated about again.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Las Vegas Training

Busted this out before the day got started.

Bodyweight - 247

Db Bench Press - 100's x 25, 15, 12
Some Chest Machine - no idea of weight - 4 sets of 12
Side Laterals - 20's x 30,25,25,20
Tricep Extensions (rope) - no idea on weight just busted out 4 sets of 12-20
Calf Machine - 4x15

Notes - Tired as shit.  Lack of sleep and water from the previous day was apparent.

Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff - Monday morning Vegas edition!

Yes I'm in Vegas.

Because of my flight schedule yesterday, I think that's the longest I've gone without significant water intake since birth.  Basically when I got to KCI there was a line a mile long, so I had to rush to make it on my initial flight.  My second flight in Denver was only minutes behind my landing time, so I grabbed a small bottled water and chugged it then ran across the airport to make the connecting flight.

I got to Vegas and checked in, went to Dinner and drank and drank but I could tell I wasn't hydrated.  I bought more bottled water but my head started hurting later from the fucking dehydration.  I know, makes no sense.  To me either.

I haven't had a chance to look to see what they have here at the hotel gym, but when I'm on vacation I just train fun shit.  Usually no heavy pulls or squats, I do some shit that feels good and gets me a pump.  I'm not really on vacation though, since this is a company triple.

So I've had a lot of questions on some recent topics I will address again --

Reps - 

"Paul you say do reps, and then in your vids you are doing sets of 5."

Sets of 5 are repSSSSS.

I think the point of my article was NOT to base your training around heavy singles.

"But you and Phil did a bunch of singles in that session!"

We did.  However the plan was to just pull a moderate single from the floor, then work up to a top TRIPLE from mid-shin, then a back off set with max reps of 80% of that triple.


If you wanted me to give a simpler high level overview......

Off-season/foundation building -
upperbody - 8-12
lowerbody - 10-20

Strength peaking -
3's 5's and 8's

8's early in the cycle, then lots of 3's and 5's.

The last week or so you hit a single at 93% as a tester.

Can't get much simpler than that.

I also find it weird that guys say their deadlift won't/can't move on reps, when strongmen out pull everyone and they do a shit ton of reps.  I think it's probably because they do a better job of programming their rep sets.  In other words, leaving their ego at the door.

Carbs -

The other big topic for the week.  I think I've pretty much slam dunked this one.

You want to get big, you have to eat carbs.  Not really much room left for discussion in this.  

You're not going to get big and ripped at the same time.  This is a fact.  Ok?

So, low carb diets get you lean.  This has pretty much been solidified.

Carbs help you to grow muscle/get more massive.  We've also covered the biological/physiological reasons why.

I don't mind the topic continuing however there's just no real debate left here.  Much like Genghis Khan, I've beat this war drum for quite some time, and it appears the locals are now scared and running.  The "you can get big on low carb" wall has fallen and been overrun.

Sorry, but you can't.  No one has.  No one will.

Not a ton to write because I'm super busy this morning but I will update as I can.

Viva Las Vegas.....bitches.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Training - Tugs at the Strength Guild

I drove out to my good buddy Phil Steven's place in Topeka today so we could do some tugging and bullshit for a bit.  Phil and I are actually in the process of putting together something pretty big but I'm not letting the cat out of the bag at the moment about it.

Anyway, we trained for about 2 hours or so along with one of Phil's lifters, Adam, and had a good time with it.

If you want a little mental note lesson about lifting here, it's this.  We did regular pulls up to a light 615.  After that we did mid-shin pulls from the rack.  Now pay attention here.

I do all my mid-shin work off of blocks.  I do below the knee pulls out of the rack.

Phil does his mid-shin work out of the rack.....so mentally, I FELT like we were doing below the knee work, and I ended up just missing 695.  Which would have been a HUGE PR for me.  I missed 675 from this height about a month ago.  You have to remember, I'm weaker from this position than from the floor.  So just missing around 700 from this height is really solid for me.

I tried for 700 after the 695 miss because I still felt like it was there, but it was a no go.  After that I pulled 655, and wanted a triple but I was really fried at that point.

My leg held up ok, so when I get back from Vegas I will begin serious rehab for it.  Overall, we had a great session and a great time.  Here's the whole workout.........

Bodyweight - 239

Deadlifts -

Mid-Shin Pulls -

Pause Squats -

Farmers Walk Shrugs - 1x100

Friday, October 26, 2012

Dave Polumbo's offseason diet

Since Kiefer and Jamie both told me that Dave was the one bodybuilder that got big eating no carb (he didn't), I decided after an e-mail, to look it up.  Here is Dave's offseason diet according to him.

MEAL #1: 10 whole eggs with 1 cup oats-- eat cooked
MEAL #2: 1.5 Met-Rx Packets (white packet) with 100g carb (ultrafuel)
MEAL #3: 6 McDonalds Cheeseburgers with Fries and 2 Apple Pies
MEAL #4: 1.5 Met-Rx Packets
(white packet) with 100g carb (ultrafuel)
MEAL #5: 12 whole eggs, 1 cup oats, 1 cup apple juice, 40g whey protein-- BLEND and DRINK
MEAL #6: 1.5 Met-Rx Packets (white packet) with 100g carb (ultrafuel)
MEAL #7: Chicken (8oz) with 1 cup rice
MEAL #8: 1.5 Met-Rx Packets (white packet) with 100g carb (ultrafuel)
MEAL #9: 12 Whole eggs, 1 cup oats, 1 cup apple juice, 40 g whey-- BLEND and DRINK
MEAL #10: 1.5 Met-Rx Packets (white packet) with 100g carb (ultrafuel)
MEAL #11: (middle of night: 3am) 1.5 Met-Rx Packets (white packet) with 100g carb (ultrafuel)
MEAL #12 (middle of night: 5am) 1.5 Met-Rx Packets (white packet) with 100g carb (ultrafuel)

I know Jamie has a carb phobia, so he desperately wants to believe you can get massive not eating carbs, but here's the deal.


Fact.  Science.  No one has done it, no one is ever going to do it.  Carbs = glycogen and insulin and those two things are the most responsible for TISSUE GROWTH!  Did everyone not hear the part where Kiefer said that insulin is responsible for one thing in the body?  Tissue growth.  You are not going to grow massive amounts of mass without insulin.  

People eat no carb to get LEAN and LOSE FAT.  These runs counter to GETTING BIG and GETTING MASSIVE.

I still win.  

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Training - Incline Hell

Bodyweight - 249

Incline -
315x10.5 failed on 11 AARRRGGG!!!!

Triple Grip Incline -
wide grip/medium grip/close grip non stop - 275x5/5/2
close grip/medium grip/wide grip - 225x5/5/2

Front Raises - 25x100
Db Curls - 20's x 75

Notes - Solid session.

Diet and recipes (there's more to this post than that)

I know, sarcastically, I've been asked about my diet a few times this week. It's the LRB diet and has been for a while.  However I will actually go over it, and some of the changes I have made.

There have been a few modifications because, as much as I dog out all the scientific bullshit, I still read a lot and am always open to incorporating things into my diet I feel may help.

A few things that have been added -

Organic Butter

Coconut Oil


Free Range Eggs

When I have beef now, it's grass fed

Some of the things I have added I read from John Meadows, some of it came from Kiefer, and some from IF.

I'll go over some of these -

Organic Butter - Butter has totally made a comeback and now people realize, it's actually a very healthy food. Butter has perfect ratio of Omega 3 to 6, and well, it makes shit taste better.

Coconut Oil - This shit is the bomb. I will be adding some recipes but let me say, coconut oil makes me feel like I am cheating with food. Shit makes everything taste delicious. I never liked it in the coffee as Kiefer suggested but cooking with it is beyond great. Here is a great article on how coconut oil makes you into a healthy bitch....with citations (nerds). Make sure you buy a quality coconut oil. Do not ask me what that means. Do some research and find out what brands you can purchase locally, or look online. I go to Whole Foods and get the XXX-Virgin. I have no idea if it's really triple-x but that sounds sexy.

Free Range Eggs - Go buy some, and see if the yolk doesn't look completely different than your usual store bought eggs. More vitamin A, E, and omega-3's.

Beef - I have mostly cut beef out of my diet. I know and understand all of the benefits of beef, however I noticed that beef bloats the living shit out of me, and that I tend to not stay lean, or get leaner, when I am eating a lot of beef now. I know this used to not be the case, however I really gain weight fast now if I up my beef consumption. When I do eat beef, it is rare, so I actually have changed over to the grass fed beef. If you didn't listen to the podcast with Kiefer, he confirmed that regular beef is like, not even comparable to grass fed beef. Especially in terms of fatty acids. It's an almost miracle like food, so I go with grass fed ribeye or sirloin.

Carb-cycling and backloading -

I still do carb backloading. I have really figured out how to make that work for me. I do not do it on a training day. I do it BEFORE a training day, based on how I feel. I'll get to that.

I do not really do "low carb". I eat oatmeal and brown rice almost every day. I cannot do "no carb" or super low carb shit. I can't. Just like Jamie has adapted to his keto stuff, I've given that shit a go many times and it's flat out NOT for me. This is why I don't put so much stock into "research" because "research" says that you will become more efficient in this state or that state ketosis blah blah fucking blah, but I find over and over again when I cut carbs out all together, I never get that "rebound" of energy a lot of people talk about. I just drag ass constantly, have shitty workouts, get smaller and weaker.

Also, as I noted in the podcase (which Kiefer agreed, outside of Dave Polumbu) he couldn't name anyone that got massive and strong on no carbs. 99% of guys lifting heavy need carbs. If you wanna grow and you want to get strong, you can't low carb it. If you can, you're an anomaly, not the norm.

This is generally how I work carbs.

If I am feeling tired and flat one evening and craving carbs, I let myself eat. I don't go crazy. Generally, it's been a couple of bags of M&M's and/or ice cream. A fave lately has also been burgers and sweet potato fries, but I tend to go nuts with the ketchup so that kinda counts as simple carbs. I will still generally follow that meal up with some M&M's or ice cream.

The next day, I will cut carbs most of the day. So no oatmeal at breakfast or brown rice at lunch. I know that my glycogen stores are already probably full because of the carb load the night before, and I will wake up feeling "pumped". So in order to keep fat accumulation to a minimum, I just cut carbs on that day, and generally train without my Ezekiel bread and cottage cheese.

I don't eat carbs post workout anymore. Actually I haven't for some time. I never noticed a big difference with them.

So if you wanted to see an overview of what this looked like with training and backloading here it is......

Normal day of eating -

Breakfast -

7-8 egg whites and 2 whole eggs cooked in butter or coconut oil
1 cup of oatmeal

Lunch -

8-10 ounces of chicken or turkey
1 cup of brown rice
asparagus or broccoli (generally as much as I want)

Afternoon -

Pre-Training (optional) -
1-2 slices of Ezekiel bread
1 cup cottage cheese
2-3 tbs of organic jelly

Dinner -
Same as lunch without the brown rice

Before bed -
1 cup cottage cheese
2 tbs peanut butter

Backloading day - always on a non training day but before a training day IF I am going to do it.

Dinner -
2 hamburgers 90% lean grass fed beef
sweet potato fries
many bags of M&M's

no cottage cheese and peanut butter before bed. So I generally cut off eating at 7:30-8:00

Day AFTER backloading - 
No oatmeal
No brown rice
Afternoon shake
No pre-workout
No carbs at dinner

Recipes -

Eating chicken and turkey can be tiresome. Here are some ways we mix that shit up.

Turkey Burgers:
1 lb. ground turkey breast
1 pkg. onion soup mix
1 egg
Mix ingredients together and form patties. Grill outside or inside with a tsp. coconut oil.

lemon grilled chicken breasts:
3-4 chicken breasts
1 ziplock bag
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
place chicken breasts and all ingredients in the ziplock bag. Let it marinate over night or at least an hour. The longer it sits the juicer your chicken will be. Then grill.

Buffalo grilled chicken breasts:
3-4 Chicken breasts
1 ziplock bag
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup hot sauce
1 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup water
place chicken breasts and all ingredients in the ziplock bag. Let it marinate over night. Then grill.

Coconut Oil Chicken breasts that are good as a mugh -
3-4 Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup teriyaki marinade
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
dash red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. coconut oil

Slice chicken breasts into strips, sprinkle with spices, pour marinade over chicken. Marinate for 30 minutes. Then Melt coconut oil in a large skillet or indoor grill. Cook chicken for about 10 minutes.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff - I'm f'n tired edition

I did 30 minutes of hard weighted vest yesterday morning, then had a hard training session last night.  I'm pretty pooped today and I feel like my lunesta is still kicking my ass right now for some reason.  

For those of you that didn't listen to the podcast or haven't because it's on 4shared, one of the things we talked about was the fact that we do these things for free.  Yet some people have such a sense of entitlement that they complain about it being on 4shared, or ask when we are putting it on iTunes.

First off, we're not putting it on iTunes.  We don't like Apple or "i" shit.  So it's not happening.  

Second, it takes all of 5 seconds to sign up for 4shared.  If you "refuse to listen to it because it's on 4shared" then you can eat a bag of dicks for all I care.  Again, we take time out of our life in order to do this, put it out for free, and people still complain about the format or where it's hosted at?  

Bag of Lexington Steel dicks.  Eat on it. 

Now as far as the quality of information in that podcast?  Top notch.  Again, big thanks to Kiefer for joining us and we most definitely will have him back on.      

I put up my training session as usual last night, and several peeps asked if I could throw up a vid of Pendlay rows the next time.  No problem.  I will say that it's going to look just like the way Glenn teaches it, because well, it's a Pendlay row and he's Glenn Pendlay.  Meaning, there is zero hip movement and my back stays in a static position.  

Thus, like this.......

But since I'm in one of those fucking moods this morning, let's show what is NOT a Pendlay row......

You can clearly see the hip action involved in the video below.  This is not a Pendlay row.  

Same shit here from the same guy......notice the english used by the hips and back.....

Not even close....but at least ol boy admits that it was shit......

I don't know what this shit is, but anyone who does it should be thrown into a fucking well......

As a friend and I discussed, a 315x8 REAL Pendlay row is going to be pretty rare, and very boss.  When I say a REAL Pendlay, I mean with no hip "english".  You simply pull the bar into your upper abs and that's it.  If there is any hip english at all, it's null and void.  Sorry if people don't like "standards" but Glenn taught it that way, so that's how it goes.  Lemme give you a quick hint here what all the people who did them wrong did.  Their hips are too low.  The hips should be HIGH and you should be flat backed.  That will help curb the "english".  The hips do the same thing in this row, that they do in the deadlift.  Namely, throw the shoulders forward over the bar to give you proper leverage against the weight before you can really lift it.  If you keep the hips high enough and DO NOT DIP THEM, you'll do the row properly.  

Let me also add that why are people doing sloppy as fuck rows anyway?  The whole point of a row, is to build your rhomboids.  What happens when you get sloppy is you ask the erectors and traps to get involved, and that's what deadlifts are for.  So you short circuit the benefits of the row by turning it into a half row/half deadlift.  Just deadlift if you're going to do that shit.  Use the row for what it is for.  Building the rhomboids and mid-back.  You can't concentrate on squeezing the rhomboids and all of the back together if you go too heavy.  

I ran these up to 275 for 2 sets of 3 last night, however 225x8 felt best because I could really squeeze with it.  This felt about perfect.  Will get a vid up when I can.  I will be in Vegas next week and my schedule there is slammed so I may not even get out to a gym during that time.  We will see.

Questions, questions, questions.....I'm answering fewer of them now because there is a search function here that will find just about anything you can ask.  Also, that pesky Strength, Life, Legacy book I wrote answers about anything I can think of as well.  This pains me a bit, however I can only answer "what do you think of whole body routines?" so many times before I feel like punching an old lady in the face repeatedly.  

So an interesting conversation between me and a good friend yesterday.  He's a former high level powerlifter mind you, so know that going into this.  

Eric Spoto benches 700 in a meet, in front of a crowd of about....27 people.  "Powerlifting is a dull, boring, sport that no one really gives a shit about."  he says.  I know this already.  Most powerlifters know this already too.  

Fact is, strongman and crossfit games (yes god dammit, crossfit games) are more fun to watch, and have about eleventy billion more hot women (yes, this matters to me).  Meets are 9 hours long, boring, and fairly unspectacular, mostly comprised of fat guys not lifting very much.  I'm not slamming anyone, but that's generally the case.  

When I started writing the 365 manual, I realized that even though I compete (rarely), I'm just as happy not competing, but still want to be as strong, jacked, and boss as I can be, because that's part of who I am.  This is what kind of gave birth to the LRB/365 idea.  Most guys don't want to compete, or maybe they do, but not right now.  However it doesn't mean they don't want to look fucking awesome, be strong and in shape.  They don't want to associate with something like Crossfit however, to do that.  Your training philosophy has to speak to you as an individual and resonate with who you are as well.  Something you can identify with, and associate yourself with.  It's the "buy in" I talk about, within a training methodology.  

So many guys choose training "styles" also based on who or what that training style is associated with.  In the 90's I was a huge Dorian Yates fan, so I trained very much like him.  I made great progress that way too, and I really identified with the things Dorian had to say about training.  Eventually over time, I developed all of the things that worked best for me.  Not just because the application of said training methods worked for me, but because I identified with the "attitude" behind training that way.  

So to come back around to all of this, I had to put yet another meet aside.  In the past, I would go into a funk about this because I still love to compete.  This time however, I went right into a training plan for the things I could do while my leg heals and had zero funk about it.  This is a lesson I constantly preach to myself, but don't always apply it as well as I'd like to.  This time, I did.  So I'm not competing, but I'm still hell bent on getting better and hitting some goals before I do.  I've had periods of laziness in my training the last year or so, but I feel invigorated again and I have no doubt you're going to see a much bigger, better, and stronger PC in the next year.  And that's what LRB/365 is all about.  

Let me add that if you don't have a weighted vest, go get one.  Best thing I've done in forever in regards to conditioning.  Easy on the joints and you will work, son.  Mine is only 40 pounds.  When you're 250, 40 pounds is enough.  30 minutes at a solid clip is nothing to sneeze at.  Going up hills becomes very interesting again.  I should have picked one up a long time ago.  It will be a mainstay in the 365 manual so if you can't find one, get a backpack and throw some weights in it.  Not as ideal, but it will still work.

Oh yeah, and speaking of powerlifting I have a client that went 9/9 with 4 world records this past weekend at the 100% raw meet in Vegas.  I also have a strongman competitor who put his wife on my program and she hit a 50 pound PR in the squat, and PR's in the bench and dead.  If you're not getting stronger......bullet to the chest.  

I need some caffeine.....

Monday, October 22, 2012

Training - Back and Hams

Bodyweight - 250

Pendlay Rows -

Stiff Legged Deadlift -

Leg Ext - 3x20

Notes - Good, solid session.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Chaos and Bang Your Earballs - Dangerously Hardcore Carb Backloading Edition

This was possibly our best podcast to date.  I know we've said that many times, but I think it's true this time.

There is a TON of great information in this one, and Kiefer fit in about as perfectly as someone could.

It's roughly 2.5 hours and we run the gauntlet of everything from the list of "fit" athletes that Men's Fitness listed to Carb Backloading to krocadile (again) to comic book women we would bang.



Saturday, October 20, 2012

Training - Bench

Bodyweight - 245

Close Grips -

365x5 all paused

Upright Rows - barx100
Band Tricep Pushdowns - 100 total reps

Notes - Solid little bench session.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Rehab Plan

Since I do get so many questions about rehab, you can see how I will rehab this injury first hand.

First off, it's the left hip flexor, but the right rectus femoris tendon is also still inflamed.

When I have a setback like this, the first thing I do mentally is ask myself "what can I improve on while I can't do X, Y, and Z?"

Right now, X, Y, and Z are mainly squatting and deadlifting.

So what can I get better at while I let those areas heal, and then break into rehab?

Well, my hams suck.  My upperback still needs to come way up if I want to pull 725+ in the next year.

I need do get serious about ab work (zzzzz).

Since I can't squat or pull, my recovery won't be taxed as hard, I can get more upperbody work in.

So for the next 6 weeks, here is the plan.

Plan of Action - 

Conditioning - Weighted Vest - Daily 30 mins

Day 1 - Pressing
Incline Press/Close Grips (alternate) - big-15 - goal of 315x15, 365x8 for incline, 315x20, 365x10 for close grips
Db Bench - 140's x amap goal of 20
Curls - 1x100

Day 2 - Back, Hamstrings 
Seated Cambered Bar Shrugs - 6x6
Pendlay Rows - 3x8 - goal of 315x8 for a REAL Pendlay row
Good Mornings/Stiff Legs (alternate) - 4x10/1x8-10 goal of 545x10 on stiffs
Leg Curls - 10,5,10

Day 3 - off

Day 4 - Pressing
PBN - big-15 goal of 275x8 on PBN
Db Press - 100 x amap goal of 110's x 20
Upright Rows - 1x100
Front Raises - 1x100

Day 5 - Repeat Back and Hamstring Day

Notes - As you can see, I have my routine and goals set.  I am just going to allow the quad pain to subside.  When it does, I will start with bodyweight squats, then to split squat, and finally to front squats, which is the movement the injury happened on.

When that happens, I'm now very aware that my quads are lagging in terms of strength and need to be brought up.  For my deadlift off the floor and my squat.  I very much use my adductors and ass for squatting, even though my quads obviously get work.  However they are definitely lagging behind a bit and I intend to get that remedied once I can front squat again.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Training - Tugs

Bodyweight - no idea

Deads -
585x2 - pop........so there goes that same left quad that was strained last weekend on front squats.

I'm not really left with much of a choice.  Meet is out.  I need to spend this winter just not squatting and letting my legs rest.  I saw my orthopedic this past week, and he told me I have severe inflammation of the rectus femoris tendon.  So I need to actually not try to rehab it and let it rest.  He gave me a shot in the quad for it, however because of all the compensating I've been doing with my left leg, that quad is now strained as well.  Such is training.

I think all I need to do is just allow my legs to rest, and the inflammation subside, and things will be fine.  I do know that when I recover, that front squats are going to be at the very front of my program.  I really believe that right now my quads are now behind my glute, hip, and adductor strength.  All things have to be in balance or injuries occur.  I spent years building up the adductors in order for my squat to get over 600 beltless, now the quads need to come up as well.

I also think all of that front squatting will bring my dead up as well.

Not depressed.  Going to get my upperbody swole on for a while and let the wheels rest for a bit.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

SLL Programming Combinations Part 1 - Pressing

Been getting lots and lots of questions about mixing programs (not in a bad way) and I am going to outline some ways I would do this.

I tell non-advanced guys NOT to do this because all noobs and intermediate guys overthink the shit out of everything.

So if you fall into that category, then you can continue reading, but don't ask me "can I do..." because you need to just spend time slangin' away at the iron as hard as possible, on some basic shit, until you have been at this long enough, and built enough mass and strength, with enough knowledge about the lifts to call yourself advanced.  Or at least intermediate advanced.  For the sake of discussion if you can't bench 3 plates easily, count yourself out.  Fair enough?

Ok, let's proceed.

Strong-15 and Big-15 combinations for pressing twice a week - 

Close Grips are my staple

These fit in well together.  Even for meet training.  Not just offseason shit.

Day 1 - Bench
Bench - strong-15
Incline - big-15 with 50% set
Rear Delts - 1x100 or 5x20

Day 2 - Overhead Work
PBN - big-15 with 50% set
Front Raises - 1x100

For guys who can bench each week and not get all fucked up, this is a great way to press twice a week.  I would nix the second overhead day for phase 3 of the strong-15 cycle, and just keep incline in there.  Or, if you are doing well pressing twice a week, nix the overhead work, and just move incline to the second day.  Remember, as you get closer to the meet, the intensity level for the big 3 go up, so you have to bring the support work down a notch.

The "all my shit hurts" routine part 2 - 

This routine has really helped a lot of guys.  I've gotten more e-mail from guys hitting new bench PR's from this particular routine than any other pressing outline I've put out there.
Here is the original.

...followed by incline

Week 1 -
Bench (heavy) - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1 (no back offs)
Incline (light) - 225 or 250 for max reps x 2 sets

Week 2 -
Incline (heavy) - up to a top triple, 1x8-10 back off
Overhead Press - medium weight - 2 sets all out

The reason for no back-offs on the bench is because I generally can't rep on bench for more than one week or so, and then my pec minor gets inflamed.  This is what led me down this path.  I can do some singles, but then I do the back off work on the incline.  This doesn't bother me and I can progress nicely.

The only real difference in part 2 of the AMSH pressing, is we'll be more clear about what we're doing for each pressing movement.  

Week 1 - 
Bench - strong-15 no back offs
Incline - back off weight that was to be used on bench x AMAP (no 50% set)
Curls - 1x100
Triceps - 4x25

Week 2 - 
Incline - big-15 + 50% set
PBN - big-15 + 50%
Front Raises - 1x100
Face Pulls - 1x100

But I want to overhead press more!  

I'm glad you asked how to do that.  We're going to use the same method we used in the AMSH routine for overheads.  Except that you overhead press twice a week.  
Day 1 -
Military Press - strong-15 no back offs
Incline - big-15 + 50%
Front Raises - 1x100
Curls - 1x100

Day 2 - 
Klokov Press - strong-15 no back offs
Military Press - use the back offs programmed from the previous military press session 
Face Pulls - 5x20

PBN is starting to make a comeback now that people realize it's not  the shoulder destroyed everyone made it out to be.  Longest caption on LRB EVER!  

My advice is to program very light for the Klokov presses.  They will in fact beat your shoulders up if you go really heavy on them.  My overhead work has never given me any problems but the K presses definitely make me feel more "sore" than any other kind of press.  Not entirely in a great way either.  So be careful here.  

After the K presses you will probably just throw some weight on the bar and go after AMAP.  

You're running the strong-15 here, so again, just like meet prep, don't get stupid for the first three weeks.  use that as an acclimation period and have a good time with it.  The last 6 weeks should be the meat and potatoes of your training ramp.  

I don't know how many parts there will be, but this should be a fun little series because I have so many things I can do with all of the programming in SLL.  

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

LRB/365 Excerpt - Losing strength while getting lean

Let’s be honest here about what getting into truly awesome shape does to you in terms of strength.  Namely, it zaps it.  You can’t get as strong as you can get, and also be in the best shape you can be in.  One is going to take a little bit from the other.  So think of it like a teeter-totter.  The heavier kid always gets his way on that thing.  The heavier your training is tilted to one said, the less the other side gets to have his way in the ups and downs of things.

The severity is going to be very individualistic.  Some people may not get much weaker, and some people’s strength may have totally gone into the shitter.  What people don’t realize is, you didn’t get weaker permanently, you’re just in a weakened state because of an energy deficit.  I know that sounds like an obvious statement, but I wish I had a dollar for every time some guy that ate himself into a whale to bench 3 plates told me he didn’t like to get in shape because he loses all of his strength. 

A lot of people think you need to get fat in order to get stronger.  This is retarded and completely untrue.  The reason strength rises while you are gaining weight, is because there is generally a calorie surplus involved.  So there is an abundance of BCAA, ATP, and glycogen readily available for your body to use for energy and contractile power.  This makes for a stronger you.  But the fact is, fat has no functional purpose for strength.  The “gives you more leverage” argument is bunk.  Even if your chest measurement increased by an inch, that’s not enough change in ROM or leverages to make up for the 30-40+ pounds on a lift people often get when “bulking”. 

Don’t think so?  Give me said fat guy, let me take away all of his carbs for the next 2 weeks, and watch his strength drop like a rock.  Now, his measurements didn’t change.  He’s still virtually the same “size”.  It’s the lack of energy coming in from food, and the lack of fuel resources that made him bottom out.  The extra fat he’s carrying isn’t really serving a purpose in helping him move weight or be strong.  

If you think being a fat ass is required to be strong, then all you have to do is look no further than Jamie Lewis, Stan Efferding, and Dan Green.  Who all own raw total records in the 181, 220, and 275 pound classes.  They all did so in single digit bodyfat.  

I don’t recall Ed Coan nor Doug Young nor John Kuc ever looking like lard asses.  I believe that Mariusz won the WSM title a record five times, lean as shit. 

Is it easier to just eat processed diarrhea all day long for that surplus of calories?  Sure.  Lots of guys do it.  They also look like fat frat boys that don’t even look like they lift.  There really is no reason why, other than being lazy as fuck, to not put some effort into making sure your calories come from quality sources 90% of the time.  Getting a surplus in can be difficult, however you would be amazed at how well a small surplus of quality makes you feel and allows you to train, in comparison to a big surplus of shit.  

I've gone down that route before myself, and each time I regretted it.  I looked back and saw that I looked like shit, felt like shit, and lifted like shit.  Have some go with your show...but shit man, have some show too.    

The reason for this long “speech” about this is, if you got weaker when you got leaner, it’s not something to panic over.  You lost strength because you have an energy deficit.  Which is also why you are leaner.  All that has to happen is for an energy surplus to return, and strength will come with it.  Don't be such a god damn baby about it. 

Monday, October 15, 2012

Training - Bench

Bodyweight - 249

Close Grips -

365x7, 3 (all paused on the set of 3)

T-Bars - 3 plates x 10, 4 plates x 5, 5 plates x 10,10
Front Raises - 25x100

Notes - Felt good for the first time since well over a week ago.  The 405 moved really fast and super easy.

365x7 is 1 off a PR.  So hopefully I can tie that the next time I bench.

Beast mode

It's a rant kinda day, so enjoy this one on the LRB FB page about "beast mode".

Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff - Monday Edition

So I didn't log my training this weekend because well, it was the most frustrating weekend of training in a very long time.

Saturday I tried to pull.  I was excited about pulling Friday, and was pretty pumped to take a run at 550x10 on deads.  I figured 8 was in the cards, but maybe I'd have a +10% day, and eek out the 10.

So I woke up Saturday, ear hurting, drainage, feeling like shit.  Great.  I tried to do my pause squats, but my quad pain has been coming and going a lot, and I can never tell on any day if it's going to feel good...or not so good.  So it felt really fucking awful Saturday on pause squats.  I literally couldn't get past 315.  Not only because of the quad but because the weekend before, I blew out my calf (on the right leg, same leg the quad hurts on...more on that).

So I start squatting, and the calf is definitely not 100%.  More like about 63.7%.  Everytime I would get into the hole, it felt....weird.  Like I was turning an ankle.  The strangest feeling ever.  It hurt like a bitch.  Nevertheless, I did 10 sets of 3 with 315, trying to make up for lack of weight with some volume.

So I went to pulls, and I knew this would not be good.  Because the deadlift is not my friend anyway.  On this day, she was in full PMS, cut my balls off mode.  My leg and calf weren't too happy with pulls either, and there's nothing worse than to be thinking too much during big movements and not being able to explode properly.  So I shut it down after a few warm ups, and kicked the fucking bar in frustration.

I sat on the floor, and contemplated what to do.

"Just train tomorrow." I thought.

So I wiped off the grimace, went and took some pain meds and went about my day.

Woke up Sunday, feeling bad still.  Ear still hurting, drainage, and some fever.  Kids all feeling like shit too.  Awesome.

I went and did a half hour weighed vest walk.  I figured maybe just getting the juices flowing would help a bit.  And it did for a while, but as the day wore on, the more fatigued I grew and I ended up in bed napping for a bit.

Still determined to push through, I thought I would mix it up, and start off with some front squats.  Not heavy, just light.  Some sets of 20.

barx20 - ok
135x20 - good
185x20 - ok not bad
225x20 - feeling ok
275x5 - what the fuck was that that just popped in my left quad?

I have no idea.  I thought it was a cramp, or spasm.  But apparently, I pulled something in my LEFT quad.

None of this surprises me.  I've been feeling myself shift around a lot in my squats because I'm still not confident in my right leg, because I'm always "feeling" for pain in it.  And guess what?  It's there!

So now, my left hip/vastus lateralus is strained.  So I have (I'm pretty sure), extreme inflammation in my right rectus femoris tendon, and because it's not 100%, my right calf gave way last week while squatting.  Because I was still trying to "hide" my right calf and quad, I then proceeded to strain my left hip flexor.

This is just some beautiful work.

So both legs, and 1 calf are now not in good shape.  Zero fucks given.

I knew I couldn't pull from the floor because of the calf and shit, so I went from the blocks.  I worked up to 635, which was way too much of a grinder, because again, I was "feeling" for shit to be off.

After that I shut it down, limped out of the rape cave and sat on the couch.

"What to do?" I thought.

Both legs are fucked now, and so is my right calf.  I am supposed to do a meet in a month, and there's no way I will be able to squat or really pull for a few weeks.

Part of me wants to see what happens, and part of me wants to just shut it down.  I only plan on about 1 meet a year because it's a big commitment for me to take off of work, travel with the family, and do all the things I need to do in order to relax to compete.

I have a doctors appt this week, to see if I can get a cort shot in the right hip flexor.  If that helps, I might stay on track.  If the doc says I need time off (that seems to be the biggest help with this particular injury) then I may shut it down, and just do the Spring meet with Pegg.  I don't know....I'm about as frustrated as I can remember being with training in a very long time.  Which is weird because the first week of meet training was the best first week I can ever remember having.

I know all the right answers.  Take the time off, let it heal up, rehab it properly, then do what I need to do.  But I'm still pissed about missing that meet in Spring of this year, and very frustrated with not being able to compete.  Add to the fact that I can't train like I want to and I feel like setting homeless people on fire.

Not throwing in the towel, just venting my frustration.

And speaking of injuries.........

Injuries - 

I probably get...20 injury questions a week.  My first question is always "did you get SLL?"  I ask this because I wrote everything I know about rehabbing injuries in that chapter.  It's not a sales pitch.  However I won't lie, I'm quite fucking annoyed at this point.

I had 17 injury questions in the last week.  SEVENTEEN.

Some of those people had bought SLL and their injury was not covered in it, all I had to was say "page 129".  For the ones that had not, I write shit so you can read it.  So buy the book, or don't, but spend that  money at the doctors office.

Not only that, as Jamie and I both discussed, we are not doctors.  I'm going to the doctor to see about my hip this week.  I'm not messaging some other guy that lifts weights about it.

I get something in the range of 100-200 questions per week, and I do my best to answer them all.  However I spent almost a year on SLL, for the purpose that if you had a question, that book probably had the answer.  Yet I still get questions on shit that is in that book.

Another strong-15 testimonial - 

Sent in from Daevid......

9 for 9 with 4 PR's.

You can read the whole thing here 

That's it for today.  I'm working on trying to figure out a plan of action to rehab and stay in this fucking meet.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The Lifer Series - Part 11 - I will become the fucking lion

This is the final installment of the lifer series, and without a doubt the most important one.

In Strength, Life, Legacy I wrote about the journey of the lion.  Being exiled, finding his way, learning to survive on his own, then coming into his own and ruling a pride.  Being a protector and overseer of his family, and his legacy.

Some may call that hokey.

I could give a fuck (anyone that follows my blog, probably already knew that).

To me, this very high level overview is one that we should want our life to parallel.  The nomadic lion doesn't spend his days as if they are limitless, wasting them away in fruitless endeavors.  He knows his days are numbered.  Death is winning, and he's fucking doing something.  Every day, every hour, every minute matters.  Nothing is taken for granted because the life expectancy of a nomadic lion is very low.  He overcomes, or he dies.


What is your life expectancy?  Do you live life like each day, hour, and minute matters?

Most people don't like to sit around and speculate about their own mortality.


What are you really doing with your life?

Everyday can't be the most exciting day of your life.  But that's not what this is about.  It's about growing into a stronger person physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  The growth that you have in those areas are all about priorities, and level of effort.  In fact, just about every decision you make in life will boil down to those two things.  Without a purpose however, your priorities and level of effort can be fleeting on a daily basis.

Since you know that death is winning, when is the last time you asked yourself "what's really most important to me", and gave an honest answer?

Death, Friendship, and The Pride - 

I lost my two best friends in a three year period.  Both to car accidents.  Both times, I was supposed to be with them, but other circumstances had prevented it.

The one thing I was able to cling to, after the death of both of my friends, was that they KNEW, without a doubt, how much their friendship meant to me and how much I loved them.  

When is the last time you told your dearest friends you loved them, and thanked them for their friendship?  I do so as often as possible.

Nothing would have pained me more, than to have lost them, and gone on living knowing that I never let them know how much their friendship meant to me.


I have some very good friends like that today.  I tell them how much their friendship means to me, and that I love them.  Even when one particular one calls me a "fag" for doing so.  I know deep down, he really appreciates it.  Asshole.

Outside of my blood family, these people are part of my pride.  Part of my domain.  If someone threatened me or my family, they would consider it a threat to them as well, and stand with me.  They know that same respect and honor is returned from me to them as well.  Friendship isn't about the people you've known the longest, it's about the people you know that will never leave your side.    

Blood and Purpose - 

Everyday that I wake up is an incredible blessing.  Kissing my girls, walking them to school, telling them I love them and then being greeted every afternoon by big hugs and kisses.  This never gets old, and everyday it feels just as amazing as the day before.  This is why I am here.  This is my purpose.  To protect my family, to protect my pride.  My friends, my loved ones, those closet to me.

My legacy is to be the very best father, husband, and friend I can be.  I fail at times.  I falter.  I'm human.  I will never fucking quit though.  There is no quit in me in that regard, and never will be.  I will own this walk and this path until my I take my last breath.   

This is what drives me.  This is my purpose.  This is what drives the lion.  A purpose.  He already knows his purpose upon exile.  I knew my purpose many, many, years ago.

Life will not be what you want it to be, until you find that purpose and immerse yourself in it.  When you find what this is, life becomes whole, and you will no longer feel like you are left "wanting" for something.  It's your purpose, and you know it is because of how deeply it resonates into your soul, and etches itself into the very core of who you are.

I'm not saying every man has to set out to seek the same path that I did.  Hardly.  In fact, I'm saying this is a very individualistic thing.  It has to speak uniquely to you.

Everyone has to find their own purpose.  They have to define their own set of values, and discover what's most important to them.  There should be a core set of values that drives you because your time is limited.  What you do with that time can either matter and leave an echo through time, or it can be as meaningless as a droplet of water in a monsoon.

The Path -  

Your purpose will ultimately dictate your path.  Your actions on that path will ultimately define you.

Your path can be littered with apologies and regrets, or it can be decorated with accomplishments, achievements, and gratitude.  It's all your choice.  YOUR CHOICE.  You cannot pass the buck, or be a weak willed incompetent.  Everything you do, and every emotion you decide to invoke is all your choice.  No one can make you angry, sad, happy, or indifferent.  You choose to feel that way.

"I was wronged!"

That's fine.  However, how you decide to respond to being wronged is entirely your choice.  As you carve your own legacy out, remember that all of these decisions are entirely up to you.  Making the difficult choice is called "the difficult choice" for a reason.

Traveling the path of the few, is always harder than traveling the path of the many.  Making choices that don't always benefit you, or cater to your selfish wants and desires can be difficult.  Being honest with yourself about why you are making the choices that you are making is imperative.  Does it benefit you at the emotional or financial cost of someone else?  Are you sacrificing your integrity or honesty with your words and actions?

Your actions will ultimately define you.  You will ultimately define your own path.

Live, to persevere.  Persevere, to live... -    

He doesn't complain about the heat of the day, or the lack of food.  He understands the hardships that come with his walk, his journey.  He uses these times to his benefit.  He learns how to push through when times are tough, food is scarce, and he's getting his ass handed to him by the elements and his foes.  In other words, the nomadic lion uses this time to harden the fuck up.  He'll need to be hardened later when the lives of his cubs or females are at stake.  If he can't survive these early hardships, he'll never be strong enough to protect those who will need him the most.

When he finally overcomes these trials, he doesn't act like a whiny bitch about all the days when he was hungry, or tired, or bleeding.  Those were the hardships he had to persevere through in order to prove himself worthy enough.  It was earned, not given.

A man who lives life like this is rewarded in the same way.  He understands that nothing worth really having is free.  He appreciates the value behind something that is earned.  He has no problem digging in during the hard times in order to grow into something stronger than he currently is.  These things come with the territory of purposeful walking.

If he stays true to his purpose, and does so with honor and integrity, he will never have to apologize for who he is and what he is about.  If he is asked a question, people know they get an honest answer.  If he gives his word, it matters.

Death is winning....  

At the end of the day, we are all inevitably carcasses on the safari planes we call life.  Do the winds echo your name with a whisper of respect, dignity, strength, honesty, and integrity?  Do they whisper that you were a coward, backstabber, leech, and liar?

Or do they not even whisper you were here at all?

Build your body to make it strong.  You cannot protect or provide for anything or anyone, if you are weak and feeble.    

Be responsible for your decisions, and don't pass the buck.  You get all of the power in regards to your own actions.  No one can MAKE you feel anything.  You decide that for yourself.

Cut off emotional vagrants and leeches.  You must learn how to let go of a hand that is attached to someone that desires the abyss.    

Cast out backstabbers, and liars.  You have no reason to keep anyone who fits this description in your life.  Most important, don't become either of the two.

Stop caring what others are doing that have no matter in your life.  Your own accomplishments and purpose should be at the forefront of what your energy is going into.

Have specific goals in lifting and life.  Your next minute or hour is not promised to you.  Don't drift aimlessly in the pit of iron or in life, not knowing what you are doing.

Find your purpose, accept the responsibilities that come with it, and harden the fuck up.

That's what becoming the lion is about.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Training - Press

Bodyweight - 248

Incline Press -

315x9-3 50% set

Db Bench Press - 140's x 9,5

Pull Aparts - band x 3 x 20
Poundstone Curls - bar x 100

Notes - Not terrible, but not great.  Not too bad that my incline is only 2 reps off my best ever and I haven't inclined in a while.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Knowing your worth

Champions are born; not made.

One of the truest phrases ever uttered in the history of dick swinging.

The other day a friend of mine talked about his short comings as a lifter and his value, or lack of, to some of the people sponsoring him.

My response to that was that his attitude was bullshit.

I'm probably never going to break any world records or put up astronomical totals.  This doesn't mean that my coaching, knowledge, and ability to teach others is somehow diminished or less valuable.  How many great football players make great coaches?  And how many great coaches were even decent football players?  What if coaches thought "well I was never a record setting running back, so there's no way I can coach."

Does that make any sense at all?  

I don't put my worth as a lifter, man, or coach in numbers alone, because I can work as hard as I can, and still fall short of where others have gone before.  This is the harsh reality of life sometimes.  If your basis of self worth is derived ONLY from beating others you could very well fall short, and then what are you left with?  Emptiness, disappointment, and a feeling as though your accomplishments are worthless because they fell short of what someone else accomplished.  On the flip side, what if you do set records, and later your records are (and most likely will be) broken?  Are your accomplishments now worthless?

This is anti-lifer thinking.

I'm not saying not to be competitive.  Far from it.  Be a pitbull about your goals, and go after them with every ounce of piss and enraged madness that you can muster up.

What I'm saying is there may be factors that arise that you have no control over.  And if your entire mindset has been on reaching a singular goal, you may have missed all of the other blessings and achievements that came along with trying to reach that goal.  You have to learn how to be multidimensional in your thinking throughout the journey.

I told my friend that he was selling himself short because he is a wealth of knowledge, worth every bit of what his sponsors are doing for him.  Period.

What if his help, coaching, teaching, etc helped someone else to go on to set world records?  What if he helped someone get into lifting, like my coach/instructor did, and it saved them from a life of addiction, depression, or worse?  

If you have something to offer, then offer it up and don't sell yourself short on your ability to give back to others.  Don't be so short sighted that you only see value in the things you accomplish solely related to you.

Champions are born not made, true......but most champions also had a championship caliber supporter to help them achieve that greatness.  

Keep your mind open and vision wide.

My Crossfit rant

Go read

Monday, October 8, 2012

Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff - Your own training life cycle, even more on reps, LRB/365, and my training

I hope errbody had a jet setter lavishly styled weekend.  That sentence is dripping with sarcasm if you didn't catch it somehow.  I'm pretty positive all you did was sit around and watch football, eat shitty food, and contemplated awesome plans that never transpired.

So let's kick this Columbus day off right then, shall we?

Your own training chronological timeline - 

The last few weeks, for whatever reason, I have spent a lot of time thinking about my training and how it has evolved the last decade or so.  I wrote that piece about the chronological timeline of my training, and it got me to thinking about all of the days that I spent pushing sets as hard as possible, with rest/pause and strip sets and all various ways to force my body to respond to training stimulus.

Over time, I have adopted a more methodical approach to my training.  Leaving a rep in the tank, going conservative in programming, and coaxing out little gains here and there.  I personally believe that both methods are warranted and have a place.  It just all depends on where you are at in your training life.

I've had a lot of guys write in to me that got a late jump in life to lifting and seem bummed because they feel they "lost" out by not lifting when they were young, and having all of those years to build their base.  Maybe, maybe not.  What I do know is, you won't get any further sitting around worrying about lost time.  The second thing I know is this.  Because you're still a beginner, you can train your balls off using all of those perceived intensity methods, and make up for lost time.

The one thing you should have noticed in my training timeline was that, it only took me a few years to get to about 85% or so of where I am now.  I honestly feel this is pretty normal.  Now, is that work "cemented" like it is now?  No.  What I mean by that is, is the strength foundation as solid as it is now,after 23 years?  Of course not.  I wouldn't expect it to be.  The initial makings of it were though.  The difference between me and 14 when I started, and me just 4 years later at 18 were nothing short of miraculous.  I see no reason why if you start at 33 or 40 or 51, that you can't have the same kind of results in a similar period of time.

So my answer to your question(s) of "did I shortchange myself by starting so late?" is a general "no".  Yes, you lost some time on having your foundation already in place by starting late.  But from a results standpoint, you could be in the same place strength/conditioning/muscular wise at 43 if you started at 33, then if you started at 18 IF IF IF you are smart about your training.  That means not fucking around for years doing unproductive shit.  So the real shorting coming is this, you can't spend any time bouncing around from routine to routine, trying to find "shortcuts" and ways to circumvent the process.

Going back to my point about hard training vs coaxing.......you need to train fucking hard.  I mean ball busting hard.  There's no reason you can't if you're still a noob.  Your strength is shit, your recovery is good in relation to it.  Go balls out to failure for medium to high reps and try like hell to get more reps, or more weight on the bar every week.  It's that simple.

There will come a point where doing that, no longer pays the kinds of dividends that is worth the effort.  In other words, if your effort is a 9 on a scale of 1-10 and your results are a 8 or 9, then keep blasting your balls off.  Eventually the body will get closer to it's genetic ceiling, and most of that kind of training returns a result of about 4.  Not worth the level 9 effort.  Coaxing gains is slow and methodical, but it works, and you don't have to beat the living shit out of yourself day in and day out, week after week.

You just need to be honest with yourself about where you are at in your training life cycle, and what level of effort you need, and what level of effort you can generate on a weekly basis.

Let me also say that if you train long enough, you may need to return to those ball busting roots every so often to get over a hump.  There is no perfect way to time or plan all of this out.  It really comes to back to your own desires and goals.  I had years there where just training was good enough.  I had years where the desire really burned to get past some plateaus as well.  Over the course of your training life, there will be an ebb and flow to it.  This is pretty natural.  Otherwise, you're just going to burn yourself out with the ball busting shit, or you're going to go nowhere because you coasted for too long.

No one can give you a lifetime plan for when you need to wake up to realize you haven't gotten better in the last two years, or to tell you "hey, you've gotten injured 14 times in the last 6 months...it's time to slow down."  You need to figure some of this shit out on your own.

Repping - 

So I wrote an article last week about repping, and happenstance has brought me across more and more and more shit that just speaks volumes to me how repping is really the cornerstone of getting fucking strong.  Not god damn singles.

Kaz is possibly the strongest human that ever walked the planet top to bottom.  That we know of.  Kaz lived on sets of 10-20.  During his bench cycle he did eventually work down to a triple, but outside of that he repped his nuts off.

Lived off reps
Ronnie Coleman is possibly the largest bodybuilder of all time.  Lived on reps.

Stan Efferding.  The strongest bodybuilder of all time.  Lives on reps for the majority of the year.  In other words, that's where his foundation comes from.

Derek Poundstone.  Reps.

Dorian Yates.  Reps.

Doug Young.  Reps.

Lived off reps and chest pubes

Strongmen in general.  Reps.

Yes, drugs and all that jazz too, I got it.  The game is the same on the natural or drugged end.  None of the biggest and strongest guys on the planet got that way, training predominantly on singles.  NONE.

I write this again because I see so many guys now that live on singles as the mainstay of their program.  I don't care what anyone tells you, living in the 5-12 rep range will give you everything you need, 95% of the time.  Sprinkle in some weeks of singles here and there (or use them as your primer for your back off sets like I do), but BEAT REP PR's.  Again, 90-95% of your training should be in that 5+ rep range work.  Triples are fun too, and triples can do anything singles can do really, so why bother living "single"?

For every one guy you can tell me that used singles predominantly to build an elite level of strength I will show you 20 that used reps as their mainstay.

I don't need to whip out studies to prove this.  I will just whip out 5 decades of bodybulders, then powerlifters, then strongmen who all based their training around reps.  I know this seems like such a simple concept but certain training philosophies, mainly certain geared training philosophies, have pushed max singles on a weekly basis.

Mix in some heavy singles from time to time.  Just don't live on them.

LRB/365 - 

LRB/365 is in the works and is going to be pretty damn cool.  LRB/365 is for you guys and gals, that may not want to compete, but still want to be as massive, strong, and conditioned as you can get.  Not everyone wants to don a unitard and lift in a boring and slow competition that is called powerlifting.  If you don't, but you still want to be strong and fucking awesome, this will give you an entire year of planning to strength peak, cut bodyfat and get into shape, maintain your strength foundation while doing so, strength peak again, then build mass.  All setup so that you only need to figure out what your specific goals are for each cycle.

My training - 

To tie all of this in, I have really started going back to my roots for this training cycle.  I've needed to do this for a while, and it's time.  My quad still isn't 100% so I am going to have to dial down expectations for this meet, squat wise.  A cort shot should be in the works this week, I hope.  Aside from that, I think that going back to what I've always known, and that's beating rep PR's, is a great option for my squatting right now.  I intended to do that yesterday but something popped in my low back (I feel fine today) and my calf.  Both are just a little tender and I know why it happened.  I had some drainage for a few days and had been on sudafed.  Generally if I am on sudafed I have to be very careful because it really dries me out something awful.

So expect to see me really implementing reps back into my squat training again.  I honestly doubt at this point I will go heavier than 500 in prep for this meet, then let the chips fall where they may on meet day.  If I can have 4-5 more productive squat works using a lesser intensity but busting some rep PR's, I think I still might do ok.  My enthusiasm is a bit more tempered because last week I felt great with no pain, but this week I've been fairly achy.

Facebook Sausage Fests - 

I've had it.  Fed the fuck up.  I am so done with seeing hot women put up pics of themselves for nothing more than the adoration of sackless sheep, aka beta and omega males, to line up and write "omg you're so beautiful."  Or "if I were there I'd treat you like a princess."

I haven't figured out which I hate more.  The brainless bitches that do this, or the sackless fucks that line up to tell her how hot she is.  Jason Pegg and I have been blowing up these little sausage fests now, and we thoroughly enough it.

Let me spell it out to you fucking bozo's that do this shit, and I hope none of my readers do this shit.

You're never going to get that, ok?  Fact.

You lining up and selling your manhood and self respect by groveling over a chic on FB just makes you look like a fucking douche.  Stop doing this shit, and get your sack back.  You never EVER see men with options (read, THAT CAN GET WOMEN!) doing this shit.  EVER.  Why?  Because they know it actually lowers their value in that chics eyes.

I grew up with this chic that ended up in Playboy.  On her Facebook page, she literally would put shit like "I need my yard mowed...." and 15 guys would post "I'll come mow your yard."  She told me once that more than a handful of guys showed up to mow her yard.  My response to her....."and none of those guys have a shot at the pussy."

Her response?


You know why?  Because when you do that shit, you're a god damn chump.  You are owned.  Women don't want chumps, they want champs.  And champs are a challenge.  They are men that have enough self respect not to salivate over them, or throw themselves helplessly into the beta male fray just hoping for a taste of the sweet nectar they dream of and premature ejaculate to every night.  Women want, what they cannot have.  Women don't want yard mowers.

The guys that do this, that throw themselves at women like this, are the enablers of women who have over inflated opinions of themselves and become first class bitches.  Yes, I blame you beta and omega males for this shit.  Why?  Because it doesn't happen if all eleventy billion of you don't tell her how hot she is 45,000 times!  You don't think she's been told she's hot before?  I mean, you think she's going "WOW, I didn't know!"

NO!  She's aware!  She's got big tittays and a big round ass.  She wears dental floss for a bathing suit in a 35 degree photo shoot.  You telling her she's hot, and her "liking" it, does not mean she wants your dick.  I know, world crushed.  Deal with it.

Stop doing this god damn shit and get your sack back.  Have some self respect and stop groveling at the feet of unworthy women.  Pay more attention to that chic who spent the last 6 years cultivating something awesome about herself, like an education or working at the humane society.  Give that attention to the woman that can sit down and have an intelligent conversation with you, and can talk about something more than her god damn Brazilian hair treatment or designer nails.  Leave those shallow bitches to the guys with faux hawks, spray on tans, and affliction shirts.  Those aren't men, those are brainless douchers posting as men because they physically possess male parts.

I love a hot woman just as much as the next guy.  The difference is, I don't throw away my manhood just to tell her something she already knows.  Don't be another sausage fest guy.  Separate yourself from that pack and be something better.  You'll be rewarded for it.  I guarantee it.

And speaking of Facebook, here is the LRB page.  You can tell me I'm hot.  

This is Monday however, so I hope you get blasted with 1,000 MPH nerf footballs at some point in the day.
GeT SuM!!!!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Interview with IFBB Bikini Pro Christie Marquez

Here at LRB we like to mix it up from time to time.  So while I've done interviews with people like Pro-bodybuilder Stan Efferding and top powerlifter Eric Lilliebridge, I also like to branch out and do interviews with women who compete as well, such as Rachel Guy (who also owes me some pictures, Rachel!).

This time, it's IFBB Bikini Pro, Christie Marquez.  Christie was awesome enough to do this interview with me, but she does lose major LRB points for not knowing who Slayer is.  ;-)

Interview is below....

Christie tell me how you got started training?  

I was initially approached by the owners of my gym (P-Fit, VeniceCA) to compete in a fitness competition. At the time I had no desire to compete and lacked the self confidence to believe this was something I could do.  I responded to them saying there would be no way anyone could get me on stage in a bikini. Let the truth be told, that in actuality I was studying for an incredibly difficult professional exam (The series 7) and I didn’t have the time to concentrate on both things. However after I passed the series 7, my self confidence grew and I felt as though I could take on the challenge.  That’s when I decided to start training for my first competition and 7 weeks later I competed in my first show.  It’s been 3 years since then and I haven’t looked back since.

Tell me a little bit about your training philosophy?  What do your usual training methods or routines look like?  

I was trained by old school bodybuilders. Failure is the only option when I’m doing a set. My routines consist of 4-5 day splits and cardio 6 days a week.

Dieting generally seems to be the toughest part for bodybuilders, fitness/figure/bikini competitors.  How long does your contest diet last, and what tricks or tips have you found that help you through the rough spots the most, i.e. when you want that piece of cheesecake more than you desire oxygen?  

I made the decision to completely change my lifestyle and follow a year-round “diet”. The difference between show prep diet and my offseason routine is my calorie intake and macro break-up. My coach, Kim Oddo (Body By O), specifically designs my programs so that I don’t stray too far from my contest weight in the off season.  This makes it easier to transition into show prep.

You know I’m in contest prep when I have a stick of sugarless gum in my mouth and a cup of green tea in my hand. It’s great to have friends who are like-minded when you’re in contest prep, because they know exactly what you are going through. We are able to lean on each other for support.

Outside of the dieting, what's the worst part about preparing for a show? 

There is no worst part for me. I love what I do or I wouldn’t be doing it.

What's the best part about preparing for a show?

The best part is watching my body transform and knowing that I’m achieving all of this because of my hard work. This is a 24hr job; you have to make sure you are getting in all your meals, workouts and very important rest.

When is your next competition?  

As of now, I have not yet decided.  However I’m staying right on track so that if I want to jump into a show it would be a pretty simple transition.

Let's change gears....what is your passion outside of competing or training?

My passion is my family for sure. I’m Mexican-American and grew up around a huge family. When I’m not competing I spend most of my free time with them.

Tell me your top 5 favorite movies?

The Lost Boys
Flash Dance
Shawshank Redemption
The Pursuit of Happiness
The Hangover

What are your 5 biggest pet peeves?  

People who feel they are entitled
Sneezing/Coughing without covering your mouth
Bad drivers
Talking on cell phone while at the gym
Negative people

List your top 3 Slayer albums?  

Who? Lol

c630folder Full Discography : Slayer

How much emphasis do you place on the judges' opinions of your physique and your future training regimen? 

A whole lot! The judges are up there for a reason and if you don’t take their critiques seriously, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. Believe it or not they are there to help you succeed.

At what moment does all of the training, sacrifice, dieting, and expense seem worth it to you? Describe the moment and why it is so significant to you.

See I guess that’s what’s different about me; the significance started from day one of training and never went away. I have the fighter mentality and will not let anything get me down for too long. Surrounding myself with positive people and staying away from the negative allows me to be this way.

Twitter @IFBBPROChristie and Instagram @snapchoo