WTF?!?!

Victim: Gym Cell Phone Talker. Really? No, seriously, really? You're gonna talk on your phone in the gym? Are you kidding me?

I've written so much about how the gym is a place where like-minded people can go to improve themselves physically and mentally. It's a place where limits should be pushed and records should be broken. Total focus and attention needs to be given to the task at hand: kicking ass. But, this guy(it's usually a man) thinks it's okay to give his attention to whoever is on the other end of that call. Maybe that's why this guy has been benching 185x5 for the last 3 years. Maybe that's why this guy hasn't lost in his gut even though he's been "working out" for 3 years. If mediocrity is his goal, let's all congratulate him on his achievement.

There's no way you can talk or text and still give 100% in the weight room, just ain't gonna happen. It just shows your lack of mental toughness; it shows that you can't fully commit yourself to something. And that something is the most important aspect of life: personal growth. Sure, personal growth doesn't only occur in the gym, but it's a damn good place to start! Even if everything else in your life is falling apart, you can walk into that squat rack and take out all of your anger, frustration, insecurities, etc on that weight. You wage war on it, and in the end you come out as the victor, as a stronger person not just physically, but also emotionally. If you can't spend your 45 minutes of gym time attacking the iron without talking on your phone or texting somebody, than you've got a serious weakness.

On top of all this, nobody else in there wants to hear your stupid fucking conversation about how shitty your day has been or some other garbage. Nobody gives a fuck, stop trying to get every one's attention. Use half of the energy your mouth is wasting blabbering incessantly to actually move a heavy weight and maybe you'll see some results. It's pretty pathetic when your mouth and your thumbs are the strongest parts of your body. There are people in the weight room trying to concentrate on making themselves better and they don't need you as a distraction. Worse yet would be if you came up to somebody to try to give some advice. My advice to you is to get a vasectomy so that the world will be free of another generation of asshole. Get off your phone or get out of the gym, period!


P.S. - I got a little fired up there so excuse the language. Drop a comment below to tell any bad gym experiences with people on their phones or doing other dumb shit. Getting it out helps with the frustration. Also, use this snowstorm to do some shovelling for conditioning. Just make sure your lower back stays flat. Enjoy the weekend!

Supplements

It seems every 16 year old kid with a newly purchased gym membership feels that in order to make any gains, he has to buy the newest designer supplement, because it's "what the pros use." In fact, I know of plenty of cases where teenagers won't even go to the gym if they've run out of whatever product they're using, because then the session "won't be worth anything." This really pisses me off. Hard work is the only supplement you need, and if you're gonna skip a training session because you don't have your special lifting juice, you're a fuckin pussy! Okay, mini-rant over.


The purpose of supplements is exactly what the name implies: to supplement an already appropriate diet and exercise program. Certainly supplementation does have its merits; however, before deciding to use any, a lifter/athlete should be eating a diet rich in whole milk(organic or raw if possible), lean meats, nuts, vegetables and fruits. The lifter/athlete should also be training for strength and performance, but if you're reading this you probably already know that or have heard me say it a thousand times.

So, for the sake of argument, let's say you train hard and heavy and you're eating pretty good (an occasional crappy diet choice happens, but remember that mental toughness is even more important than physical toughness. What supplements could you take to maximize your gains and progress as quickly as possible?

1. Vitamin D - This won't really be necessary for those of you drinking your gallon of milk a day because milk is fortified with D. But for those of you who can't tolerate milk, this is a must. Vitamin D has been shown to be involved in so many bodily processes that you can't afford not to take it, especially in the winter. On cloudy days I take up to 5000 IU. Speaking from personal experience, if I ever forget to take my Vit. D in the morning, I can tell by 2pm when I'm sluggish and don't feel good.

2. Fish Oil - This could be tied for first with D, but whatever. Fish Oil should be used by everyone everywhere. The Omega 3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory meaning they could help with arthritis pain or any other inflammation you may be experiencing. They are great for your heart health, your skin, and have been shown to help with symptoms of depression. They also help your body to utilize fat for energy. I don't trust all fish oil products though. I stick with Costco's brand and Biotest's Flameout. I HIGHLY recommend Flameout and its counterpart FA3. These products are pure and incredibly potent. You can get them at www.biotest.net


3. Acidophilus - This is a probiotic. Take it with meals (1-3 times per day) and it will help straighten out your gut problems. A big issue today is that gut health is very low among Americans. What this means is that alot of people can't even absorb the nutrients they put in their bodies. Eating 200g of protein a day don't mean shit if your body can't absorb it. Not to mention the fact that a huge portion of your immune system is located in the digestive tract. Acidophilus will help to strengthen your gut's ability to absorb nutrients and protect you from sickness.

That's all I'm going to list for you. Protein powders are good if you can't eat meat throughout the day. Certainly a peri-workout shake with a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein will help muscles recover. But if you just drink alot of milk, you'll recover just as much. Don't waste money on NO products and most "super-huge-mega-protein-jacked-intense-hardcore-professional" supplements (you know the ones I'm talking about) are just shitty quality products marketed to people who don't know what they're doing, but see some roided-out bodybuilder claiming that it helped him put on 91 lbs of pure muscles in just 3 weeks. Don't fall for the hype, stick to the basics. Enjoy the snow (sarcasm) and don't let it be an excuse to not train! Go KICK ASS!

The Olympic Lifts

There's been ALOT written lately on use and implementation of the Olympic Lifts, i.e. snatch, clean, clean&jerk. In the realm of athletic performance, the O-lifts are a hot-button issue. Every one's got an opinion, and many of these opinions are very polarized. Either you love 'em or you hate 'em. Well, even though I'm more or less an all-or-nothing kind of guy, my opinion is pretty much dead center: yes, the O-lifts are awesome...sometimes.

In most football weight rooms at one time or another, you'll see the athletes performing a power clean with a barbell. Just as often, the football coach (possibly even the strength coach) really has no idea how to teach this movement properly. Now I'll be the first person to tell you that my power clean technique is not good. I've never been coached in it, and do my best to perform it well, but at this point I know I won't be rising to any national level in the Olympic lifts. However, I would never have a 15 year old kid with no prior weightlifting experience clean a barbell from the floor without alot of coaching. In fact, there are much more efficient and effective ways to utilize the O-lifts, and that's exactly what I'll touch on in this article.

The correct execution of a barbell snatch or clean is a very technical process, one that cannot possibly be taught in a day, never mind the 40-60 minutes an average strength coach has his athletes for each day. BUT, the snatch, clean, and clean & press can be taught much more quickly and easily when NOT using a barbell. By simply changing the training implement, one can learn pretty decent technique quickly. This means that the athlete would be able to reap the benefits of the exercises with a greatly reduced risk of injury and without spending countless hours practicing techniques with weights not heavy enough to produce a strong training effect.

So, what are these implements? I'm glad you asked. The easiest and most readily available is the dumbbell. By using a DB one arm at a time, the shoulders and arms are not locked into a position in which they could possibly suffer injury. Moreover, if the technique fails during the execution of a lift or something else goes wrong, the dumbbell is much easier to "bail out" from than a barbell.

Now let's talk some basic technique for the DB Clean & Press. Begin with the DB on the ground between your legs and grab it with an overhand grip. With a flat or arched back and hips pushed back (like a squat), raise your chest, pull with your elbow, and shrug your shoulder up. Make sure your hips do not raise up before your chest, as this reduces your leverage and compromises your back. Pull the elbow high enough and with enough force that the DB moves to the rack position, which is chest/shoulder height. From here you can add a press by dipping down about 2 inches and then exploding the weight overhead. This will require you to use your shoulders and triceps, but you want to make sure energy is transferred up from the ground through your legs and midsection into the dumbbell. Make sure you press straight up and that your bicep is right next to your ear at the top position. From here, feel yourself pulling the weight back down to the rack position. Then simply lower the weight back down to either the ground or mid-shin and repeat.

The DB Snatch starts off exactly the same way. However, you will need to pull your elbow and shrug your shoulder up with more force. Think of it as if you are trying to pull the weight over your head. You need to pull with enough force so that momentum will carry the DB all the way above your head. Add a slight punch at the top to ensure that your shoulder does not get pulled backwards. From here, once again pull the weight down and repeat. It's important that you pull the weight down because the tension developed will help strengthen your lats and will give you a firm "shelf" to press from when doing any sort of overhead press.

Other implements that can be used for the O-lifts include sandbags, kettlebells, and heavy medicine balls. These are all slightly harder to teach, but are all safer and less technically demanding than using a barbell (but perhaps more physically demanding).

The O-lifts are taught in weight rooms because they improve explosive power. Yes, this can be done by performing high speed squats and benches with lighter weights, and will have just as much effect. However, the Olympic lifts are a great and highly valuable tool to have in your arsenal. You do not have to use them at every workout or every training cycle, but when used correctly and with easy-to-teach implements, they are an incredible asset to have in the weight room.

For those not competing in sports, the O-lifts are crazy effective for conditioning. High rep sandbag or KB clean & presses will rock your body in a way you may have never experienced before. Lord knows i use 'em when I'm leaning out. Give it a shot, but remember that safety and technique are more important than the weight lifted. An injured trainee is an ineffective one. Stay STRONG my friends.

A Little Taste

Today I'm going to give you guys a little taste of my own training, goals, diet, etc...

I'll start off by stating my most immediate goal: place in a natural bodybuilding competition on April 24th. Yep, that's right, I'm going in that direction right now. Small and weak. Just kidding! But I am doing alot of cardio and conditioning in preparation for the show. However, I still lift hard and heavy 4 days per week. For my main lifts I use the 5-3-1 protocol that I've touted basically since the day I started. Just because I'm cutting weight doesn't mean I want to get weaker, so hitting the main lifts heavy every week preserves that strength and muscle even while dieting.

Which brings me to the diet that I use. Currently I'm using the carb cycling approach and with great results. I've used it in the past(also with good results), and so far it's proving to be very effective. This approach utilizes high, medium, and low carb days to manipulate insulin in order to shed fat and preserve as much lean muscle as possible. I would not necessarily suggest that everyone use it all of the time. Certain persons in certain situations will benefit greatly from it, but it takes alot of commitment and time to pull it off. There's other much easier ways that casual dieters or lifters could use to put on muscle and/or shed fat. Carb cycling is working great for now, and hopefully it will continue to do so for the next 8.5 weeks until the competition.

As far as cardio and conditioning go, I use both high-intensity and low-intensity exercise. For the high-intensity work, I'll hit the Prowler, barbell complexes, KB complexes, circuits, and jump rope (hmm sounds familiar, like maybe a previous post...). For the slow, longer duration work, I walk on the stepmill on an empty stomach in the mornings.

This machine actually kicks some ass; much harder than just incline walking on a treadmill, and recumbent bikes are very uncomfortable for me. As of right now, I'm doing 45 minutes on the stepmill 6 days per week, but as the show nears, that will increase. The high intensity work I hit 3 or 4 days per week.

Once this show is over, my plan basically involves alot of heavy shit and alot of whole milk. ALOT. There's no doubt my strength has decreased a little bit since I've already cut around 20 lbs. But, lost muscle is much easier to get back than putting on new muscle. Come April 25th, I'll be going for both the old and lots of new muscle. I'll also make sure to post pictures from the competition.

I've posted this to give you, the readers, some insight into my current training and diet. I would not advise anyone to copy this and try to do exactly what I am doing because dieting is a very individualized process. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments section. If you'd like me to set up an individualized diet and/or training program for you, contact me at any of the options listed in yesterday's post. Go lift some real heavy shit and make sure to drink enough milk for the both of us!

Shameless Plug

If you've been reading any of the articles I've been posting on here the last few weeks, I'd like to say thank you. I do this because I love it and I do it because I want others to love it as well as achieve their goals. Without YOU the readers, I would be nothing. So thank you again!

Here's the shameless plug part: Yes, I work as a strength coach at the Underground Strength Gym in Edison, NJ for Zach Even-Esh (hopefully you've read his stuff; it's badass and he knows more about getting results than most people hope to learn in a lifetime). However, I also train my own clients. Athletes and non-athletes, male and female. I train such a wide range of demographics because, as I've stated in the past, all people can and will benefit from this style of training.



If you'd like to possibly take advantage of my services, you can reach me in a number of ways:

E-mail -- steveriz@eden.rutgers.edu
Facebook -- http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1333740203
Phone -- 201-424-6893 (8am-11pm; ladies, anytime haha)

Here's some pricing options:

2 sessions per week (minimum 3 month commitment): $75/month
3 sessions per week (minimum 3 month commitment): $95/month

Sessions take place at the Underground Strength Gym, 160 Talmadge Rd, Edison, NJ.
Feel free to shoot me an e-mail, Fbook message, or call if interested. If you have some special circumstance, we can talk it over and see if we can accommodate it. Please only serious inquiries from hard-working, motivated, and determined trainees. Fitness level is of no importance because it's my job to help you become the person you want to be.

Some of you may have seen my Facebook group, but at this point it's outdated, so I'll be making a new one in the coming days. Get out there and KICK ASS in everything you do! Now here's some sweet videos!

WTF?!?!

Today I've got something that really pissed me off: college and public weight rooms that don't allow chalk, dropping weights, or grunting. Just yesterday a friend of mine was deadlifting at our college's gym. Apparently the clanking of the plates against the ground was enough to have him told to "please keep it down." Are you kidding me? The gym is where men and women go to improve themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally. Yet, these days it seems that most gyms promote mediocrity.

Well FUCK THAT! Hard work isn't pretty. It's not quiet. It's not docile and it definitely isn't easy! The gyms like Planet Fatness that celebrate acceptance and frown upon going hard don't deserve to even exist. Acceptance is great, but hard work should be mandatory. Hell, when a Planet Fatness opened in my town they had a bowl of tootsie rolls at the front desk. What kind of message are these places sending???



The United States has turned into a country of sedentary people who don't want to work hard. There was a time when gyms were inhabited by like-minded people who had solid goals: get strong and get big. Now the gym is turning into a social place where people can get together and be happy about being out of shape. I wouldn't want to interfere with anyone's happiness, but get the hell out of the gym!

Luckily there's been a recent movement wherein those with goals and the will to accomplish them are going "underground." Basement and garage gyms are springing up and are likely to be the saviors of serious lifters everywhere. These are places where a grunt signifies that you're pushing past your limits; where chalk on a bar is a beautiful sight and not considered an eyesore; where loud banging means that heavy weights and personal demons are being conquered. This is the type of atmosphere where results are expected and achieved. Here, mediocrity is a sin and competition, either with partners or oneself, is celebrated and anything less than your best isn't good enough.

So next time you're moving a heavy weight and some stupid employee who probably doesn't know what it means to give everything you've got comes up to you and tells you to "please keep it down," let them know that you're leaving because you're a different breed. Go find yourself a hardcore gym, whether it's a warehouse or a garage. Find some like-minded people and learn from those stronger than you. Just don't go as far as this guy:

The Deload

This week at the Underground Strength Gym we're having the athletes deload. This means that they are not lifting near-maximal loads. Basically, a deload week should be the time you use to help your body recover and get ready for another few weeks of hard, heavy training.

The body needs a break from crushing workouts every so often so that it can get back up to 100%. Physiologically, this "break" will help your body super-compensate for all the hard work you've been doing and make you much stronger. Mentally, you get a break from pushing as hard as usual, which will allow you to attack the weights the next week with even more ferocity.

In general, a deload should include much less volume (meaning fewer sets than usual) as well as lowered intensity (meaning lighter weights than usual). At times some of the strongest guys in the world will take a week off entirely and do nothing more than some prehab/rehab and soft-tissue work (foam rolling, massage, etc...).



Some people (including myself) deload every 4th week. I personally have found it to be extremely effective for getting stronger and healing my body. Remember that your body gets stronger through rest and recovery. Others may only need to deload every 7th week. There's many options.

Deload weeks are not a free pass to be lazy. A good use of the deload would be to practice technique with the lighter weights so that your technique will be as close to perfect as possible with heavier weights. Another option is to focus on your conditioning. Beginners may not need to deload for months, but certainly older lifters and those with any pre-existing injuries should take full advantage of a week with less heavy lifting. Avoiding injury is one of the reasons that athletes strength train in the first place. An injured athlete is an ineffective athlete, so deloads are a great weapon for combating chronic fatigue that can lead to poor performance and getting hurt. Stay healthy and drink your whole milk. Enjoy your Thursday night. And here's a cool squat video to get you motivated to move heavy weights:

Top 5 Tools for Fat Loss

March is quickly approaching. That means spring is on its way. Before you know it, it's June and you quickly realize your goal of "getting ripped for summer" might not be realized. Don't fear though because it IS still February so you've got plenty of time to shed that bodyfat. Long steady-state cardio on a treadmill is NOT your best option. Plus, it's really boring and who wants to suffer through boring shit for hours a week just to not get the results they're looking for? Not me and hopefully not you. With that in mind, here are my Top 5 Tools for Fat Loss:

1. The Prowler -- This conditioning tool has long been popular with powerlifters and top level strength coaches, and I remember it being used on that show The Biggest Loser. It's brutal and it'll kick-start your fat loss like nothing else. Push it low, push it high, push it for time, push it for distance. It doesn't matter how ya do it, 'cause it's gonna kick your ass no matter what.

2. Barbell Complexes -- Barbell complexes involve loading a barbell with a certain weight(most athletes should start with 95lbs and can go heavier depending on strength levels and conditioning)and doing a few exercises for a few reps each without putting the bar down. Example:

A. Romanian Deadlift x 6
B. Bent-over Row x 6
C. Hang Clean x 6
D. Front Squat x 6
E. Push Press x 6

Cycle through all exercises without putting the bar down, rest between 30 sec and 1 min(depending on conditioning level), and repeat 5 or 6 more times. Don't be surprised if you vomit. Oh, by the way, the Prowler also makes alot of people vomit, but throwing up is not the goal of this and should never be the goal of any strength and conditioning program.

3. Kettlebell Complexes -- Just like with a barbell, the kettlebells should not be put down until all exercises have been completed. The difference here is that you could use one KB at a time or 2. There's no right or wrong way, so definitely mix it up. Example(one KB):

A. Snatch x 10/side
B. Clean&Press x 10/side
C. High Pull x 6/side
D. Swing x 15

Repeat this 5 times. Just make sure you've got some chalk on your hands because a hand tear is nothing to laugh about (trust me, it friggin hurts!).

4. Circuits -- Unlike complexes, circuit training involves more than one training tool. For instance, a good circuit could include the Prowler, a barbell, and kettlebells. The possibilities are endless. The key is to move from one exercise to the next with as little rest as possible until all exercises are complete. Then repeat for a certain number of sets or a certain length of time. Bodyweight circuits are an excellent way to improve athleticism and jumpstart fat loss, and can be done anywhere. Example:

A. Medicine Ball Wall Throws x 10
B. Med Ball Slams x 10
C. Squat Jumps x 10
D. Lunge Jumps x 5/side
E. Jump Rope x 50 as fast as possible

Repeat this for as many rounds in 15 minutes as possible. Each time you do it, try to get more rounds.

5. Jump Rope -- The good old fashioned jump rope is still one of the best conditioning and fat loss tools around. You can jump at a constant pace for time, or for reps. Or, you could do intervals of very fast jumps followed by slower jumping. Example:

50 reps as fast as possible followed by 100 reps at a slower pace. Repeat till you get to >1000 reps.

These 5 tools are crazy effective. I know because I have used each one of these protocols personally with great success. Hundreds if not thousands of people have used these tools to achieve their fat loss goals. Just remember that you cannot out-train a bad diet. For fat loss, diet is key. I'll touch on the dieting aspect of fat loss in a future article. Now get out there and get conditioned.

Take Action

Have you ever wanted something? It could be anything, a car, a nice house, a hot spouse, even better health. No matter what it is you want or how bad you want it, it's not just going to fall into your lap. In order to achieve your goal or get what you want, you must TAKE ACTION. It's not enough to wish real hard.

Alot of people never take that first step in the right direction. They say the first step is hardest of all, and they're right. By nature humans do not like change. If things are easy and you're used to the way things are, why would you want to shake anything up? BUT! life is all about change, adaptation, and new experiences. Too many people are too scared to make a change. Nobody can see the future so they're scared of what might happen. When it comes to fitness, people might be scared that things will be too tough. You can't be scared. You have to embrace the uncertainty and love the difficulty presented. If you do, you'll learn alot about yourself and what you are actually capable of accomplishing. Don't be afraid to rock the boat, because that's what makes the ride exciting!



There are some people out there who will never take action. For them it's always "tomorrow" or "next week" or "January 1st." Guess what, those are just arbitrary days that you use to rationalize your lack of action. Basically, you just have to jump in the pool without knowing the temperature. Don't live your life with a bunch of "what ifs..." TAKE ACTION! Just do it! Say Fuck It and don't even look back. Chances are, even if you don't accomplish your goals, you'll sleep better knowing that you took a chance, that you weren't just riding the wave of life, that you were paddling like crazy to get past that stupid wave.



For some people taking action might mean asking their boss for a raise. For others it might be starting a business even though you're not sure if you'll make it. For others it might be hiring a coach and making yourself accountable to someone. No matter what it is, the time for taking action is NOW. Don't wait because life is short and you gotta live it on your terms. So I challenge you today to go out there and take a chance. Stop listening to the voice in your head or the people around you and just go after something you want. Stay STRONG and take ACTION!

Progression

Too many people buy a gym membership with next to no prior training experience. They have good intentions of losing fat or getting stronger, but they really don't know how to accomplish their goals. It's definitely a step in the right direction, but when untrained populations walk into a gym and go through the motions of "treadmill, bench press, biceps curl, leg extension, crunches, and over to the treadmill again," they are going down a road that will lead to imbalance and possible injury. On top of this, since the person is undertrained anyway, he or she probably already has several muscular and/or postural imbalances. It's very hard to accomplish your goals when you're injured and can't go to the gym at all.

You've read on this site before that everyone should train for strength with big compound movements (squat, deadlift, chin ups, etc...), and this is still the case, but what about people who are so undertrained that to perform these movements with weight is either too difficult or unsafe? This is why we PROGRESS to these awesome strength-building movements.

The first thing someone like this should do is hire a knowledgable coach. That does not mean someone who will show you how to do a single-leg overhead squat on a bosu ball. That's just plain wrong. You need a coach who knows the proper technique for all the big lifts and has gotten others and himself stronger over the years. If he's a good coach, he'll realize the need for progression.

Think about this: why should someone who cannot do 10 honest-to-goodness push ups start bench pressing? They shouldn't! Should someone with super tight hip flexors and an ass that's completely forgotten how to work deadlift right away? Nope! When first starting a strength training program after having never trained before, one should focus on mastery of bodyweight movements while also focusing on correcting imbalances. This does not mean spending 45 minutes stretching. Remember, the goal is to get stronger, so you must work to get stronger while still working to mobilize joints, loosen tight muscles, and activate "sleeping" muscles. The key is to incrementally progress towards being able to properly and efficiently use weights to get stronger.

Here are some progressions that I would suggest for beginners:

High Hands Elevated Push Ups -> Low Hands Elevated Push Ups -> Push Ups
(Once a trainee can do 15-25 bodyweight push ups, he or she can probably start using a barbell as long as there are no other special circumstances, i.e. elbow or shoulder injuries)


Band Pull Aparts -> Recline Rows -> Chin Ups
(It might take a bit longer to reach chins than push ups. People in today's society have very weak backs even though your back is what keeps you walking upright. Just keep working hard on the pulling movements. Once you can do 1-5 chin ups, a good way to increase the reps is by doing up to 10 or more sets of 1-3 chins for technique practice.)

BW High Box Squat -> BW Parallel Box Squat -> BW Squat -> KB or DB Goblet Squat -> Barbell Back Squat
(BW=Bodyweight; the Goblet squat is a squat in which the weight is held at chin level in front of the body)


These are just some examples, but clearly you can see the focus is on mastering one's own bodyweight. This will allow the muscles to be able to control themselves more and will allow the joints and ligaments time to get stronger so that they will be more capable of handling weights.

Other movements that you should be focusing on would be corrective movements that can also improve strength. Glute bridges are an excellent way to activate your butt muscles, which will greatly improve your posture and ability to squat and deadlift.



This article is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more corrective exercises that I will address in another article. Till then, go KICK ASS!

WTF?!?!

Let me start off by apologizing for not posting anything yesterday or Wednesday. Things were pretty hectic with shovelling and all, but I should have made time. No excuses, and I'm sorry. Now on to better things!

This week's victim: Smith machines. These are the racks you see in commercial fitness centers that have a bar fixed to the rack and attached to counter-weights. It hooks and unhooks from the rack to offer "safety" to the lifter (yeah right!).



What's my beef with smith machines? Aside from being a staple in places like Planet Fatness, it's just not healthy for one's joints. Let us look into this deeper by examining some specific exercises often performed on a smith machine.

Since the bench press is probably the most popular movement in fitness centers, it makes sense that it is probably also the most popular movement done on a smith. In this instance you may buy into the fact that it is a very safe option since the hooks could potentially save your life from a falling bar. Nice try, but a good spotter is a better option. Since the bar is in a fixed plane of motion, your joints are locked into this movement pattern. Why is this bad? Well because every person has different arm lengths, chest widths, and joint mobility. If everyone is different like this, does it make sense that they should all bench press in exactly the same plane of motion? Nope! If I were a betting man I'd put some money on the premise that smith machine benching has caused a good chunk of shoulder injuries over the years. If you're benching on a smith, do your shoulders a big favor and stop.

Next up is the squat. Yes, the king of all exercises is being pussified in mainstream gyms across the country. Note also that a solid majority of smith squatters also probably put a neck pad on the bar, thereby proclaiming to the world "YES! I was born a man, but have identified my true womanhood!"(No offense to the ladies reading, just don't use a neck pad when you squat.) The problem with squatting on a smith machine is that it takes all of the stability requirements out of the movement. This means little, if any, involvement of the hamstrings and glutes. Bodybuilders could use this movement as a solid quad-builder, but as I've mentioned before, everyone should train for strength. When the hamstrings and glutes are not properly trained, postural problems can occur. What most frightens me about smith squats is that since the hamstrings do not have to perform their job of stabilizing the knee joint, the integrity of that joint becomes impaired. But, if you want to some day tear your ACL or other knee ligaments, then please feel free to continue smith squatting.

Last but certainly not least is the smith machine deadlift. Yep, that's right. If you just did a doubletake, believe it because I've seen it! (I've also heard of people doing clean and jerks on a smith but even I can't fathom that one.) I'm not sure what's worse, seeing people deadlift on a smith, or seeing them do it with a round back. Either way, when I saw it happen I wasn't sure whether I should laugh, cry, yell, or vomit. Anyway, why is this bad? Once again, that fixed plane of motion comes into play. The deadlift is such a simple movement, yet it's more technical than most would think. The bar should always remain as close to the body as possible, because this will ensure the shortest bar path; the lower back needs to be flat or slightly arched (not hyperextended). Tight hips and inactive glutes aside, deadlift technique is very personal. Length of calves, length of femurs, and length of arms all come into play when positioning oneself for an optimal deadlift. By having the bar set in one plane of motion, the smith machine just cannot account for individual differences. Don't fuck up your back by deadlifting on a smith.

I do realize that there are special populations who may need to use a smith machine for certain movements for certain reasons. But I'm writing for those who are serious about strength, performance, and health. It's plain unhealthy to use the smith. Weight training has enormous benefits for health and longevity, but only if you do it right. So go train hard, squat heavy, break records. Just make sure you're doing things the right way.

Stay STRONG and enjoy the weekend!

How to Warm Up

When I ran cross-country in high school, our typical warm up was a 2-mile jog followed by about 10 minutes of static sretches. I won't get into the details of why I disagree with that warm up routine, but I will talk about how to properly warm up to get the most out of your workout with the least possibility of injury.

Why warm up in the first place? Several reasons: to raise your heart rate so that blood pumps more quickly throughout your whole body, bringing oxygen and nutrients with it; to increase your ability to move you joints through a full range of motion; to lubricate said joints; and to activate muscles so that they fire optimally. With all that good stuff being said, can you really justify not warming up before each training session? Nah, not really.

So, to achieve all of the outcomes just listed, a warm up must be thorough. However, many people don't have enough time in their day to spend upwards of 10 minutes warming up and then going through a 45-60 minute training session. For this reason, I am a big proponent of the standard warm up that we use at the Underground Strength Gym for our athletes:

BW Squat x 10
Reverse Lunge x 5/side
Push Up x 10
Band Pull Apart x 15-50 (the stronger you get, the more you can crank out)
Abs x 10-15 (any ab exercise will do, but stay away from crunches on the floor)
Jump Rope x 3-5 minutes



This warm up is simple, quick, and thorough. More importantly, it helps athletes and anyone else perfect technique on all of these movements. It's much easier for an athlete to squat correctly with a bar on his back when he's been practicing the technique before every session. To this warm up I personally add a static hip flexor stretch holding for 10 seconds each side. More times than not, an athlete will come in with very tight hip flexors, which will negatively impact his performance. With today's sedentary lifestyle in which most people are sitting down all day, tight hip flexors are becoming an epidemic. From personal experience, just a week's worth of stretching my hip flexors once or twice a day has mad a huge impact on my ability to squat without hip pain. Make sure that when performing a warm up, you concentrate on perfect technique and a full range of motion. You don't have to speed through it, but a good pace will ensure that your blood gets flowing and your joints are well-lubricated.

Warming up doesn't have to take a half hour, but it must be done. The warm up I've outlined is great for groups of lifters, and is a valuable aid in helping athletes learn and practice the skills that getting stronger requires, i.e. perfecting technique. Dan John once said, "If it's good, do it everyday." By squatting, lunging, pushing, and pulling everyday, you can really build up these skills. Jumping rope is not only great for raising your heart rate before training, it's also a great conditioning tool. Think of it this way: if you jump rope for 5 minutes everyday, that's 35 minutes per week, almost 2.5 hours per month. Think about how much better conditioned you'd be simply from jumping rope 2.5 hours more per month. Little steps add up. A proper warm up is one easy step to ensuring that you stay injury free and get the most out of your training.

Stay healthy, stay STRONG!

P.S. - Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on becoming SuperBowl champions. Hard work and dedication pays off.

How to Get BIG

If you're looking to get stronger, there's proven ways of doing it. Too many guys train looking to get stronger, but are using suboptimal programming to get there. There's another group of guys who train purely to get bigger muscles, regardless of gaining strength. 95% of people in both of these groups would be better off following a strength-based program (such as 5-3-1) and eating to fuel gains in strength and size. I will go over training and diet information that will make your journey to getting huge a little bit simpler.

Let's start with the training aspect. To get stronger, one must place the entire body under a good deal of stress to force adaptations. When your body adapts to a stimulus, i.e. a loaded barbell, it gets stronger to be able to deal with the demands placed on it. The nervous system must be stimulated to work hard to move whatever object you are attempting to lift. The resulting systemic response will help add muscle to your entire body and make you stronger. The more stress that is put on the body as a whole, the more your muscles and nervous system will grow and adapt. The best way to stress the body like this is to use bigcompound movements in your training. The best examples are: squats, deadlifts, chin ups, overhead presses, rows, bench presses, and cleans(with sandbags, barbells, or dumbbells).

Big movements such as the ones I just listed allow you to use heavier weights than would a cable crossover or a back extension. The heavier the weight, the more muscles will be involved in the movement, and the more the nervous system will be activated. These movements also require the use of large quantities of muscles/muscle groups. For instance, a squat does not simply utilize the leg muscles (like a leg press). It also involves the lower back, upper back, and abs. Stress is placed across the entire body, which explains why heavy squats pack on so much muscle and produce so much strength. Isolation movements like curls and push downs have their place in any program, but these are not responsible for the type of growth that can occur due to squats. The isolation/single-joint movements can not be loaded heavy enough or involve enough muscles to force the same type of adaption as a squat or deadlift.

The other half of the BIG equation involves eating enough calories to fuel muscle growth. Part of getting stronger is physically putting on more muscle mass. In order for the body to build muscle, it must have enough calories to both repair damged muscle tissue as well as build new muscle tissue. If you train hard with heavy weights and big movements, you will need to eat alot of food so that your body can recover properly. If you're training hard and heavy, but are seeing no gains in strength or size, look at your diet. Are you really consuming enough protein and calories to support your training?

If the answer to the above question is no, then you need to start packing the food in! Make sure you're getting at least 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight per day. Seems pretty easy but with all the shitty food out there and the fact that protein foods aren't usually "convenience" foods, it can be tough. Skinny guys should definitely be drinking a gallon of whole milk every single day on top of a diet filled with lean meats, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. If you're 300lbs and 25% bodyfat, you don't necessarily qualify for the GOMAD, so use your best judgment. Some people gasp at a gallon of whole milk everyday, but it really isn't that hard, and it tastes deliciously. It's a shame that society wants guy to look like the cast of Twilight these days. Let's be honest, those guys are small and probably weak as shit. They need to be drinking a gallon of milk a day and so do alot of guys. If you're afraid of losing your 6-pack, then you don't have the courage to get big and strong. (N.B.: I'm not condoning getting fat as hell, but in order to get stronger you need more food, and this could result in a gain in bodyfat. But! if you've put on alot of muscle, nobody will care that you're not as defined because you can probably now kick more ass than ever before.)

It's all very simple. Strength and size can be attained through commitment and hard work. The hard work requires you to lift heavy shit and force your body to grow. To help you do this, you need to eat alot and drink your milk. I'll leave you with this: babies are born at around 7-8lbs. At two years old babies are about 28lbs. What did these babies eat to put on so much size? MILK!

Go Heavy, Go Hard, Drink Milk

WTF?!?!

This is the first installment of a weekly series I call "WTF?!?!" These posts will call into question (and probably downright hate on) many things in the fitness industry today. It's more or less no holds barred.



This week's victim: "guy who lifts in gloves." I'd actually love to know who first started wearing gloves while lifting. You know the kind I'm talking about, fingerless pads that look like they belong more in a bondage film than in a weightroom. I'll admit, I wore gloves for about a month when I was 16, then I realized that my parts are on the outside. So here's the question: Why do people wear them?



My guess is it started sometime between the late '80s and mid '90s. I venture that guess because at around the same time, adolescent males became infatuated with being as "cut, ripped, torn up, etc." as possible. Their abs are clearly defined but i feel like these guys are missing something...oh yeah, any semblance of muscle! I can't say all guys who wear gloves are weak and small because I've seen older/bigger guys wearing them too. These guys aren't off the hook either though because often I've seen them wearing said gloves while doing some kind of HIT workout on machines. Wow, you guys are BAMFs (Dane Cook probably wears gloves too, that unfunny pussy).



Okay, so we know gloves suck, but why are they still so popular? Let's look at the purposes they serve.

1. Not letting your hands get calloused.

2. Thickening the handle of any object you are holding.

3. Letting the world know you're a tool.



Based on these three things, I can't see a single vaild reason for wearing gloves. Men used to be men; they worked with their hands doing hard labor. Meet any dude who raised his family in the '50s and '60s and I'll bet he's got a strong handshake and hands like a baseball mit, and just as rough. If you dont strengthen the skin on your hands, the next time you do a heavy deadlift(although these guys probably don't deadlift), have fun with your torn hand.



Look at #2. Whenever you thicken a handle, it makes the exercise more challenging. This could be considered a good thing (Fat Gripz are awesome), but in this case the guys probably aren't getting much overload, so using a lighter weight due to your piss-weak grip won't give much of a training effect. #3 is pretty self-explanatory.



If you're concerned about not toughening up your hands, so you use gloves, you probably shouldn't even be in the weight room. It's a special place where men and women go to push their own limits and show what they're really made of. Wearing gloves shows that you're made of marshmallows and wine coolers.



If you like this rant, drop a comment below! If you don't like it, you probably wear gloves in the weight room. If you've got any ideas of your own for WTF?!?! let me know in the comments!

Resources

Today I'm going to give a list of great resources. Everything you learn is either from someone else or by doing something yourself. Unfortunately, alot of people who want to know how to lift the right way just don't have anyone to teach them. Nothing will ever replace a qualified strength coach (having a few weekend certifications isn't enough to necessarily be called "qualified"), but there are many great websites where you can learn a shit ton about how to train efficiently and effectively. Here's a list of what I consider to be some of the best out there:

1. http://www.elitefts.com/



2. http://startingstrength.com/



3. http://undergroundstrengthcoach.com/


4. http://www.tmuscle.com/



5. http://70sbig.com/



If you read a little something from any of these sites, you'll probably know more than 50% of people in the gym. BUT! Reading is not enough. 95% of what you're gonna know will come from being under the bar, never forget that. Training hard has to always be the #1 priority. So get out there and lift! Then lift some more! Then eat to recover!


P.S. -- Short post today, but tomorrow I'll be starting a weekly series that I hope everyone will really enjoy. Stay Tuned and Stay STRONG!

The Missing Piece

Ever seen a Rocky movie? My guess is that as long as you dont live in Tibet, you probably have. I would say most people think of the training mantages in those movies first (who could forget Rocky climbing an enormous mountain in Siberia with just his bare hands!) There's a very obvious common theme in all of those movies aside from bad music: HARD WORK! In today's fast-paced world, everything needs to be done by yesterday, and any spare time needs to be devoted to tweeting. Everyone wants their goals to be attained faster than Usain Bolt's 100m time, and this must be why so many people jump at the chance to spend $29.95 on whatever the newest infomercial product is. Well I'll share the secret with you, the best thing for acheiving your fitness goals was invented a few million years ago: Hard Work! People these days are afraid to get their hands dirty, to feel uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is the only way your body can adapt and get better, a.k.a. change. And isn't that the goal of anyone starting a fitness program, to change his or her body?

So, you have to embrace the uncomfortability. It's the only way you'll improve yourself. It's about overcoming challenge and adversity. And then you know what happens? What once was tough and grueling becomes easy and commonplace. Then you must bring it to the next level and make yourself uncomfortable again. My boss and mentor Zach Even-Esh (http://undergroundstrengthcoach.com/) often talks about the "Pussification of America." He's referring to people being afraid of being uncomfortable, and he's absolutely right. Let's try to reverse this trend. Let's try to once again be a nation (a world) of pioneering people not afraid of hard work, because hard work is exactly what went into making this country what it is today.

Unfortunately, hard work doesn't produce an instantaneous change. Things just don't work that way. The other piece of the puzzle is the one most forgotten: time. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is the ideal physique. It could take 6 months for someone to get the results he or she wants, or it could take 6 years! The point is that you must be in it for the long haul. You must learn to enjoy the process, enjoy being uncomfortable. When you can do that, you'll never be satisfied, and you never should be! Always try to improve, always try to go that extra mile. Hard Work + Time = Results. A simple equation, but certainly not easy. Learn to embrace the process, and know that what you're doing is making you better not only physically, but better as a human being also.

Everyone Needs Resistance Training

This post is directed mainly at the ladies out there who want that perfect body, or anyone looking to get in the best shape of his or her life.

This morning was the first time I've done low-intensity cardio in a very long time (more on that in another post). What i saw is what I've seen countless times in any fitness center I've ever entered: women doing tons of low-intensity cardio to "tone" or "firm" their bodies. I can't completely demonize treadmills and other devices because they do indeed serve a purpose. However, what I will hate on is the fact that women have been socialized into thinking that the treadmill or recumbant bike are the only pieces of equipment that will help them reach their goals. It's the old "weights are from Mars, treadmills are from Venus" scenario. It's a shame too, because so many women (and also men) are missing out on the greatest results in the shortest amount of time. What I'm alluding to is not any "magic fitness bullet" (although the real Magic Bullet blender is awesome!!!). I'm talking about trainees balancing their low-intensity training with a mix of high-intensity cardio and weight training.I have trained several women, and not once did I have them do any slow cardio training. I never said they couldn't do it on their own, but my focus was training them like I would train any athlete that came to me. I had them lifting with dumbbells, kettlebells, sandbags, and their own bodyweight. And guess what! They LOVED it! It was fun, new, exciting. It offered them a challenge an they enjoyed the process.

Now for the reasoning behind it. All humans, whether male or female, are more alike than they are different. Muscle will always dictate how well or poorly a person's metabolism runs. Unfortunately, when a person does not focus on building strength and only focuses on trying to burn fat through cardio, the muscles do not get strengthened and therefore the metabolism does not improve. Usually the typical response from women is "but I don't want to get bulky." Luckily, because of the hormonal differences between men and women, a woman would never be able to look like a male professional bodybuilder without putting alot of chemicals into her body. So relax! Don't worry about turning into the Hulk overnight because it's just not in the cards.

I'm not going to tell anyone to stop doing cardio altogether. If you enjoy distance running or rowing or taking long walks, you should keep doing what you like to do. But you must remember that weight training will bring about great results very quickly, and it will likely be very fun! Here's a quick example to illustrate my point: When thinking of what demographic (in general) has the best overall bodies, who comes to mind? The answer is athletes. If you were to look at how the best athletes train, you are more than likely not going to find very much low-intensity training (unless their coach still listens to what Joe Wieder and Flex magazine have to say, but I'll save that rant for another time). Athletes train with weights and at high intensities, so it's no wonder that so many have 6-pack abs and great overall physiques. Here's a picture to illustrate my point. I don't know about you, but I'd rather look strong and healthy than gaunt and sickly. So before you spend 3 hours a day on a treadmill, think about what is your best option for getting that body of your dreams. Here's a sample workout that is both fun and effective and can be performed in pretty much any gym or fitness center:

1) Squat 5x5

2) DB or KB Clean&Press 3x5

3a) Chin Ups or Recline Rows 3x10

3b) Push Ups 3x10

4) Walking Lunges 2x100'

5) Plank 3x max time

WELCOME!

Welcome to the newly completed Rizzo's Performance Training blog/website. Here you can view updates about training programs being offered, training and diets tips and advice, as well as a look at my own current training. Look for new posts daily. I will also post links to other great online resources for serious athletes, lifters, and fitness enthusiasts. Just a quick overview for now, but check back soon for new posts and info. Stay strong and keep killin' it!