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• The High Protein Myth- Exposed Again

How to Get More Calories In

A common complaint I hear from people is that they can’t eat enough. Believe me, I feel your pain. It is difficult to consume all the calories needed to grow enormously bigger and stronger. Here are two tricks I use to help overcome this problem.

1. Eat high glycemic index carbohydrates. You know how you eat Chinese food and are hungry again an hour later? That is because the white rice is a very high GI food. It is rapidly digested and absorbed into the blood stream. If you have trouble eating enough, focus on white rice, white potatoes and white bread as your carb sources. It’s not the healthiest thing in the world but neither is being 80 pounds over your natural bodyweight; you have to make some sacrifices sometimes. Eating like this will insure that you you never feel completely full for too long and are frequently hungy.
2. Consume tons of oil. The easiest way to get more calories is to add a tablespoon or two of oil to each meal you eat. Flax, pumkin seed, hemp, macadamia and olive oil are all good sources of unsaturated fat and will help get your calories up. Each tablespoon is 140 calories so you can see how quickly they add up. Take two a day with five meals and you have an additional 1400 calories in your diet.Simply mix them up at each meal and rotate through each of them on a daily basis.

New Kid on the Block

There is an unwritten rule in online marketing that you don’t do anything for anyone unless you are getting a cut of the action. You don’t help someone promote something unless there is money in it for you. And I totally get that. It’s a business, and business should always be business. You don’t run a website or blog just to promote everyone that you know and to hand out favors.

But what about your close friends?

Many online marketers stick to these rules even when dealing with friends. And, to an extent, I totally get that as well. Even though someone is your friend that doesn’t mean you are obligated to promote something from them that you think is absolute horseshit. Also, it is everyone’s perogative to do what they want to do and keep business and friendship separate.

I, however, choose not to get down like that.

Friends always come before business in my mind. John Alvino, Alwyn Cosgrove, Keith Scott and Craig Ballantyne are all highly respected colleagues of mine. But first and foremost, they are all my good friends. So I will promote anything they do weather or not there is any incentive at all. The incentive is to see my friends do well. If they do something that sucks, trust me, I would never compromise my integrity and recommend it to you. But the fact of the matter is they are four of the smartest guys in the business and would never do anything that is less than stellar, therefore I have no problem helping them spread the word.

People have often told me that certain morals that I hold near and dear are holding me back from ever making as much money as I have the potential to. That’s fine. I need to be able to shave in the morning…if you know what I mean.

So to continue my life long trend of going against the norm, I would like to promote a friend today, on my website for abolutely…FREE (shocking, I know). This is a brand new article that was written by my friend and Virginia Commonwealth University Basketball Head Strength Coach, Danny Vega (pictured above). It’s the first article he’s ever written and I personally thought it was outstanding. I think you should check it out by clicking HERE now.

So What’s the Deal With Tempo?

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the word tempo when it comes to training.

Right?

But why?

I searched every dictionary I could find and there is no definition that remotely resembles what most people think it means when it applies to weight training. It is basically the speed at which a piece of music should be played.

Who ever decided to apply that to training must have had some kind of imagination. The correct terminology is rep speed and from now on will be known as such.

Anyway, to answer the question, here’s the deal with tempo/ rep speed; it sucks.

Well, kind of. But usually.

First of all, changing your rep speed on a regular basis is a way to ensure that you never really know if you are making progress or not. This is actually a great trick that some trainers use. They don’t know how to get their clients stronger so they just change the rep speed There is no way their clients will ever catch on to this ingenious little scheme. In January you are benching with a rep speed of 505 and then in March, a 402 rep speed, come June it’s 323, etc, etc. But how do you know if you are ever getting stronger? It’s just like using way too many exercises (bench, incline bench, 1 board, 2 board, 3 board, 4 board, 5 board, all of those with bands, chains, weight releasers, fat bars or any combo of those) because there is just too much variety to keep track of. There are certain variables that need to remain constant in any experiment, and that’s what your training basically is; an experiment. You are always testing what you are doing and you need to see if it’s working, ie. you are getting stronger. If your bench goes up, is it because your rep speed was different or did you really get stronger? You never know.

That is one of the major reasons why “tempo” sucks.

Anytime you see a routine written with a slow concentric, meaning the lifting portion of the exercise, get up and walk away; it’s shit. You should never, ever lift a weight slowly if you are trying to get big and strong. It makes no sense.

The rare case when this could be of benefit would be during rehab situations. Other than that, it’s crap.

What about lowering the weight slowly? Well, this is where it gets hairy. You see, there actually is a ton of evidence and research showing that controlling and even stressing the eccentric portion of the movement leads to hypertrophy gains.

There are also about ninety six cajillion guys in the history of the planet that have gotten enormously bigger and stronger without ever worrying about that. (See Arnold and the entire cast of Pumping Iron, the entire WWF, IFBB, NFL and just about every other big guy you have ever seen at the gym).

So what about it? What’s the answer there?

Despite all the people who successfully ignored this advice, I still think you should always control the eccentric portion of every exercise you do, never drop the weight. I would say a strict two seconds would be great and if you wanted stretch it to three, that would be okay too. But anything more than that is unnecessary. Eight second negatives are a bit ridiculous if you ask me. Control the descent and explode up, it’s as simple as that.

What about pausing? Pausing is ok, especially in exercises where an extreme stretch can help you grow. Any kind of calf raise is a perfect example of this. You should almost always pause and get a skin ripping stretch at the bottom of a calf raise.

Too much variety and a lack of consistency is actually a huge problem in most peoples training programs. Using every rep speed you can possibly make up, just makes the problem worse. Stick to a controlled two or three second negative and explode the weight up. Sometimes you can pause in the bottom if there is a good reason and sometimes you can do a slower negative at the end of a set from time to time. But for the most part, keep it simple.

And remember tempo= music; it’s rep speed.

Why You May Need To Eat More Protein

Assuaging Your Low Volume Fears

I have been discussing training volume quite a bit lately and have gotten an inordinate amount of positive feedback for which I would like to thank everyone. However, some people can’t bring themselves to admit that they are doing too much. Others are intrigued by the idea that maybe doing less would yield greater results but can’t seem to let go of the rock. And then there is the group that gives it a shot, only to freak out and go back to their old high volume routines not more than two or three weeks later. To this last group, I need to issue a warning. There is something you must know about low training volumes.

You will shrink. That’s right, you will actually look smaller for a while. That is because your muscles will not hold that same fullness that they did when you did high volume training. One school of thought is that with high volume training, the muscles hold more fluid, nutrients, glycogen, etc. and that is what leads to them having a slightly larger appearnance on an everyday basis. But is that really it? Or is the “swell” actuall from trauma and damage to the muscle? People always say, “you look swole,” or “you’re gettin your swole on.” I think maybe this might be closer to the truth, that the muscle is actually swollen from all the trauma inflicted upon it. If I hit you in the arm fifteen times with a bat, they will probably be an inch or so bigger for the next few days. Fifteen sets of curls have a similar effect.

The truth is that the swollen or slightly pumped look that you carry around with you on a high volume routine is probably a combination of both of those factors. So yes, if you stop doing high volume training you will actually look a bit smaller for a while because you will not be inducing this effect anymore.

However, the body will start to compensate and in time you will grow much bigger and stronger with less volume than you ever did with more. You will have greatly improved recovery ability, much more energy, fewer injuries and a higher sex drive. All pretty good things, if you ask me.

Like Dres once said, the choice is yours.

For more low volume training information go to TheHardgainer.com now.

Interview with Alwyn Cosgrove

Originally written for EliteFTS in 2005

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you get started?

AC: I was a competitive martial artist – LOVED to fight. After winning a few fights, and losing a few I realized that the people I beat, or didn’t beat knew the same martial art as I did. This fascinated me. How could one man beat another man, who had the exact same knowledge about fighting? Strategy plays a part, but that’s part of what you should already know. It kind of hit me that the only thing separating the winner from the loser was how they applied the techniques. How fast they moved. How hard they hit. How long they could go for. When technical skill was identical between two competitors, the strongest and fastest athlete will win almost 100% of the time. In other words it was fitness and conditioning that would end up determining who took home the gold. With this in mind, I started studying physiology, and the methodology of training. This engulfed me. I went to college in Scotland to study it, continued on to a college in England to study some more, and to this day over 20 years since I first walked into a martial arts class I still spend about an hour or so each day still researching the best physical preparation methods the world has to offer.

Q: I know you competed for years in martial arts, can you tell us a little bit about that?

AC: My career ended with seven national titles, five titles in five different weight classes and several international medals. I was prepared to fight anyone, at any weight, confident that my superior conditioning methods would carry me through. It usually did, and as a light middleweight fighter I managed to beat the national champions at both middleweight and at light-heavyweight in the same year. My training was actually ahead of it’s time back then. My only mistake was I did way too much endurance training and not enough raw strength work.

Q: When did you decide you wanted to do this for a living and how did you go about embarking on this path?

AC: It was while in college I started being approached by other athletes to help them, with their training including a National level rugby player, and the captain of the track team. And then two Taekwon-do fighters moved to where I was enrolled in college to have me advise them on their training. They both won the nationals that year. This was a good time for me – as I was learning training theory and methodology academically, and actually applying it at the same time –figuring out what works in the research may not work as well with real athletes in real situations – not too many people get to experience both approaches at once. It really helped ‘fast-track’ my development. I think that’s when I realized that my obsessive studying and note-taking wasn’t normal. Maybe I had something to offer. I continually researched and refined what the science showed would work, what the real world showed did work, and what the top strength coaches in the field had shown had worked. This concept of continually refining the training methods continues with me to this day. After graduating college I left the shores of Great Britain and headed for the United States. I ended up at the US Athletic Training Center in New York City, where my learning continued under Gary Guerriero – the owner of the center. With his help I was exposed to the training of Olympic Athletes, Professional football players, dancers – a whole new world. Now I was getting paid for something I’d do for free!

Q: Who were some of your biggest influences when you were getting started and who continued to guide your path as you went?

AC; I studied under anyone and everyone Jay. Seriously I own more training books than most Borders or Barnes and Noble stock!! I fell into the guru worship BS for a while (i.e. brainwashed) but I regret nothing – it was all a learning experience. I’ve been guided by a ton of people. There are those that really helped me, and there are those who are nothing but scum. They all know who they are.

Q: Who do you respect in this business, who do you learn from?

AC: I learn more form conversations or emails from guys like you Jay, than I ever get from a book or a science journal. Guys that are in the trenches, who’s income depends on getting results – these are the guys you need to listen to. They give me more info than you could get in a year of reading books. There are a LOT of top “names” in this industry who don’t have any athletes training under them. In fact they have no clients at all. Yet – with the birth of the internet – these guys have the guru status.

Q: How has your approach to training evolved over the years?

AC: To quote Bruce Lee – Absorb what is useful, Reject what is useless and add what is specifically your own. It has evolved to include more non-traditional types of training – but don’t misinterpret this – the basics are still the single most important part of any program. If you don’t have the “big rocks” in place – your squats, your rows etc, the rest is just details.

Q: How does your approach to training differ from the norm and what do you do that stands out as a major difference from how most people train athletes?

AC: Every athlete needs flexibility. Every athlete needs strength. Every athlete needs speed. I’ve never seen an athlete who was too fast, too strong or too flexible. What do I do that’s different from the norm? The “norm” is so f-ing bad that the main difference is I get results. No bullshit. What do most people do? Aerobics for fat loss. Body part split routines etc I think aerobics is one of the biggest lies in the fitness industry.

Q: For many years, when we were young and innocent, you and I were suckered by many of the same scam artists in this business, if you learned anything from that experience what would it be and what can you take away from that experience as a positive?

AC: Ashwagandha in 3g divided doses does NOT increase your Scott Curl 11.5% (in-joke there). I learned that the Wizard of Oz is nothing but a little man hiding behind his ego. When you pull back the curtains – the mystique is gone.

Q: Ha-ha, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Speaking of that, what are the biggest scams and worst training gimmicks out there today?

AC: Far and way the winner is aerobic training for fat loss. My opinion on most training methods is they have their place (as long as you respect the BIG rocks theory). It’s just that crappy trainers tend to overemphasize them. There’s always an overemphasis in the short term and an under-emphasis in the long term. Think about stability ball work for example. Can it be useful? Absolutely. Should you do every single exercise in your routine on a ball, on one leg and get so good that you could make Cirque de Soleil but still not be able to lift ½ your bodyweight in a Deadlift? Of course not. (And no disrespect to the Cirque De Soleil performers. Those guys are strong.). The overemphasis by certain idiots is a bigger problem than any of the methods themselves. And anything written by __________. (Name deleted in order to be politically correct) That guy’s a complete clown. I can’t believe he’s still around. His big comeback a few weeks ago made my stomach turn.

Q: What are some of the most important tips you could share for some one looking to get into the business?

AC: Commit to being a student. Learn from everyone. If you don’t learn something about your craft everyday – you’re going backwards. Just yesterday I purchased two training books and a DVD. It only takes three years of studying an hour per day, to become an expert in anything you want. And the sad fact is, most of us spend an hour a day doing something. So in three years you’ll be an expert on that same something. So it’s your choice – sports conditioning, business? Or maybe it’ll be ‘Friends’ or ‘Seinfeld’ reruns! Interning with people is the fastest way to get to where you want to go. You’ll learn more in a one-on-one conversation with a good professional in the field than you’ll learn in a year on your own. And remember – you have to invest in your own education. You’re going to have to spend money to learn. But you’ll make it back tenfold.

Q: I know you are big into assessment and body weight training. Why is this so important and what impact does it have, etc?

AC: Assessment – if you’re not assessing – you’re just guessing. That’s the key. I look for certain things when I assess a client, use certain tests. All it does is fast track my program design to get the most bang for your buck. A power lifter has the numbers that they lift – an MMA fighter for example doesn’t have that same feedback. So I’ve developed a system of checks and balances that can really help me get results fast.

As for bodyweight training –I’m constantly amazed by how many people I meet who can bench press whatever pounds of weight, but are unable to perform 10 correct push ups (typically due to a lack of core strength and synergistic muscle stability. As far as I’m concerned – unless you can do an easy twenty push ups, you have no business getting under a bar for bench pressing. In my training facility everyone begins with bodyweight exercises. You have to earn the right to lift weights in my facility.

Q: I couldn’t agree more. If an athlete wants to get faster, what are the five most important things he must focus on?

A: The ability to stop (seriously if you can’t decelerate – your body will not allow you to accelerate) so training the antagonists is key. Maximum strength. Relative Strength. Posterior Chain strength. Explosive Power.

They are in no particular order but if I had to choose only one to focus on – it would be maximal strength. You get a guy stronger and pretty much everything else improves.

Q: Jim and Dave have said that if you over think it makes your program stink. I, for one, feel the exact same way. What is your take on this? Do you think some people take the science end too far and analyze everything to death and suffer from paralysis by analysis?

AC: Absolutely. But people need to remember that guys like Jim and Dave are instinctively writing GREAT programs because of years of experience and years of study. If they over-think it, it will suck, as their initial gut feeling was usually correct. So I totally agree with that.

However some of the programs I see out there – over-thinking it isn’t the problem. I wonder if some of these guys even think at all!!

You need to focus on training the qualities that are: 1- Needed: for example: is maximal strength necessary? 2- Underdeveloped: maximal strength is usually underdeveloped and could likely use some improvement. 3- Highly trainable: maximal strength is fairly easily improved for most athletes 4- Foundational to other qualities: maximal strength is foundational to speed strength and to strength endurance. So we can make the assumption that maximal strength training for most would be a good choice in where to focus your efforts. It is needed, usually underdeveloped, easy to improve and will also improve other qualities. A no-brainer in where to spend most of your training time in other words. This ‘streamlining’ of program design is what I refer to as the BIG ROCKS theory (rocks in a jar). I get asked all the time – what do you think of the Swiss Ball, of chains, of rubber bands, of plyometrics, of speed ladders etc. My answer is the Big Rocks theory. Picture a jar packed to the brim with big rocks. Can you fit anything else in the jar? At first glance, no but if you think about it – you can fit some small rocks. Is it full now? No – you can still fit some pebbles in there. Is it full now? No – we can still add some sand – is it full now? Still no – we can now pour in some water. Now it’s full. So understand that all these bells and whistles and magnificent pieces of equipment are like the water. Its fine, it fits and it can serve a purpose – as long as you didn’t forget to put in the big rocks. By the way – even after you fill the jar with water – there’s still some room for beerJ Which just goes to show you – there’s always room for a couple of beers !

Q: That’s what I always say. Before we wrap this up here, Alwyn, I would like to play a quick word association with you. I’m just going to throw some stuff out there and you say the first thing that comes to your mind.

AC: Okay.

Q: Stability/ balance training?

AC: Water in the jar (See above). But still the single most over rated training factor ever.

Q: Louie Simmons?

AC: Probably the greatest strength training mind on the planet.

Q: Ten sets of ten?

AC: What a waste of time.

Q: Drug testing in sports?

AC: Behind drug usage. An exercise in futility.

Q: Rap or rock?

AC: Rock.

Q: The number one thing some one can do to gain size?

AC: Eat, lift, sleep, and repeat. Add weight to the bar and food to the plate.

Q: As the newest member of our staff, what is it that our readers can expect you to bring to the table and deliver to us on a monthly basis?

AC: A Scottish accent? Hopefully a slightly different approach to training, delivered with no bullshit and no holds barred. I’m not the most politically correct guy in the World so it will be nice to be able to let rip on a censorship free website, instead of a mainstream magazine (where I have to bite my tongue). So if you don’t like what I have to say – you can kiss my hairy Scottish arse.

Interview with CJ Murphy

Originally written in 2005 for Elite Fitness Systems

This week I have the pleasure of introducing you to the newest member or our writing staff, CJ Murphy. Raised in Boston’s roughest housing projects, Murph has gone on to make quite a name for him in the strength and conditioning industry and was recently named one of the top 25 trainers in the US by Men’s Health magazine. An avid strongman competitor and powerlifter, Murph has years of experience in the game and knows what it takes to get bigger, stronger and faster. Although he has the unique ability to speak in a language that everyone can understand and can get his point across without quoting 57 different studies, he is extremely well educated in the field and knows more about training than most people you will ever meet. If you need him to, he can recite the studies and books in question. He just chooses to rely on real world experience first and foremost, which makes him a hell of a coach in our eyes. Aside from being one of the brightest stars in our industry Murph is one of the most genuinely real people you will ever meet with an incredibly quick wit and great sense of humor. Without further adieu, I present the newest member of the Hostile Takeover, CJ Murphy.

JF: Murph, before we get started could you tell our readers about the first time we met and the feelings you had for me at the time?

Murph: Are you kidding me, what kind of question is that? Are you trying to get in touch with your feminine side Jay? You’ve been spending too much time with Cosgrove.

JF: Well he does rub off on me a bit or to me whichever you prefer. I must say though, that the text messages and emails you send me tell a different story but I’ll let you uphold your tough guy image. Tell us a little bit about your background growing up in the “mean streets of Boston.”

Murph: I don’t know how mean the mean streets are, but I grew up in a section of Boston best known for hockey, and bank robbery. It was a 100% Irish Catholic, blue collar neighborhood. I grew up for the first half in the Bunker Hill Housing Projects, which was, and still is a pretty rough section. We then moved to the other side of town when my mom bought a house in the “nice” section. The town is only one square mile, so it wasn’t a big move. Let’s just say that the kids I hung around with were not honor students.

JF: Isn’t it true that the Bunker Hill Housing Projects was recently named the most dangerous neighborhood in all of Boston?

Murph: Yes it is.

JF: Well in that case, Murph, I hope you know that when I joke with you it’s only in good fun. Moving on, can you tell us how you got started training?

Murph: I think I got started the same way many of us did, I tortured my mother to get me a DP 110 pound vinyl weight set, and the bench press multi bench. I went in the basement and tacked the poster of exercises that came with it on the wall and tried to get huge. It didn’t work too well, but I kept plugging away. I eventually joined what I thought was the most hardcore gym I ever saw, because it was pretty much the only one I ever saw. It sucked, it was a chain that is out of business now, Living Well Fitness. It should have been called Living Hell. What kind of a business let’s a 13 year old kid sign a contract? I went there almost every day, and even then, I was one of the only guys squatting! I read everything I could get my hands on about training, magazines, books, especially Fred Hatfield’s work. I think Bill Starr and Fred Hatfield were two of my earliest influences. I also used to love to watch World’s Strongest Man on TV, and think how cool it would be to do that some of that stuff.

I was lucky enough to stumble into a local Gold’s Gym, when they were still real gyms. This place was HARDCORE, even by EFS standards. They had tons of iron, a platform, a few pro bodybuilders trained there (Mattarazo, Demayo, Smith), and a bunch of powerlifters. This was in the mid- eighties . I was lucky enough to learn form a crew of local guys who were competing all the time, including Steve Cardillo (Cardillo weight belts), and they taught me the value of hard work in the gym.

As I got older, and continued to learn everything I could from anyone who would teach me, I started to develop my own opinions, and Louie’s columns in PLUSA really reinforced a lot of the same stuff I had been interested in, and he really opened my eyes to Eastern training methods.

I eventually made my way to strongman training and competiton, it was like the next progression for me. I had been involved in martial arts and boxing for many years and got burned out on it, and needed something new. Strongman was it, I haven’t looked back since.

JF: When did you decide that you wanted to make a living in strength and conditioning?

Murph: I was working in a kickboxing/boxing gym, and I was writing training programs for fighters, and some of the regular customers, and realized this is the best job in the world! How do I get better at this, and make a living at the same time? The light kind of went off in my head at that point.

JF: What is it that you love about your job?

Murph: This sounds stupid, but we help people change their lives for the better. That is probably the best part. I don’t care if it’s a pro athlete, or someones grandmother, when you can get someone to WANT to give 100% and be the best that they can be, that is great. It also doesn’t suck when your athletes win titles, and set world records. That is pretty cool too.

JF: Definitely. What are some of the hardest or most stressful parts of your job?

Murph: For me finding balance is the most difficult. I have a family, a full time job as a strength coach, another full time job with the Sheriff’s Department, a business to run, articles to write….I need more hours in the day. I think finding time for things outside work is, at least for me, the most difficult.

JF: You’ve carved a niche for yourself in the industry and have become known as “the strongman guy,” so to speak. I, of course know that there is so much more to your scope of knowledge than just strongman training but that is what you are known for so let’s discuss that a bit. How can the average athlete or lifter benefit from including strongman training into his program and why should he or she do this?

Murph: We have definitely been pigeonholed into this at TPS, but it is not so bad. I think that not only the average athlete, but everyone can benefit from this type of training. You don’t have to use contest weights when training people. You need to use appropriate weights with your goals in mind. With that said, anyone will make progress by introducing new movements into their training. Why not introduce fun activities that produce great results instead of having them suck in the navel as they stand on a stability ball while patting their heads? Strongman training is true “Functional” training (I hate that phrase). It works the whole body in a way nothing else can. It can be loaded for any goal too, conditioning, strength, speed, etc.

JF: What are some very basic strongman exercises that you would recommend to everyone?

Murph: Farmers Walks are very basic, as is heavy sled dragging, and car/truck pushing and pulling. These are lifts that don’t need a ton of specialized technique, and can be done just about anywhere with a minimal investment in equipment. Some heavy dumb bells, a rope and a broken old wheelbarrow can be made into a sled if you can’t afford one, and cars are everywhere for pushing and pulling.

JF: You demonstrate all of these exercises in your DVD, correct?

Murph: Thanks for the plug Jay, of course we do. We also demonstrate the more technical lifts, with slow motion breakdowns, and freeze frames. Some of the more technical ones are Atlas stones, and log lifting.

JF: Anyone that doesn’t have this should definitely pick up a copy as soon as possible (click here for Murph’s DVD) How often should this type of training be done?

Murph: I think it depends on too many factors to honestly answer that. It really depends on your goals, but it can be done in some way every session. For example, have the athletes do Farmers walks at the end of their workout with heavy dumb bells (if you don’t have f/w implements). On the next day, they can do some sandbag work, and car pushing on another day. You can apply a full Westside/Strongman hybrid routine (as described in my article on this site), keep your eye out, there is another one coming out soon with more templates for your enjoyment.

JF: Because there is very little eccentric loading in most of the strongman events, is it harder to overtrain on these exercises or do you not take that into consideration?

Murph: I think just the opposite Jay! In my experience, using stones for example, many beginners overtrain the shit out of this. Because of the lack of eccentric, the perceived exertion isn’t as high, but the neurological demand, due to speed needed (like in Olympic lifts) is ridiculous. Some freaks like Wendler could probably start out doing the same volume as a pro strongman with no ill effects, but the rest of us mortals will quickly overtrain. Especially the biceps! Beginners to this style of training really need to watch the total volume.

JF: If you could only do one strongman type exercise with an athlete what would it be and why?

Murph: I would do Atlas Stones personally, because I like them, and they work for me, although I suck at them! For 99% of athletes though, it is definitely the Farmers Walk, and I’ll tell you why. The Farmers Walk builds cartoonish strength in the ankle/knee/hip/grip and torso. It also hits the glute medius, which is often grossly under trained. The upper back gets smoked too. It can be used for conditioning, strength building, you name it. The Farmers Walk does not require $5000.00 worth of equipment, you can get Farmers Walk handles from my site for less than a set of 45 pound plates, or what you spend at the No Tell Motel with those “Ladies”.

JF: If you had to pick traditional gym lifts or strongman lifts only to train an athlete which would you use and why?

Murph: I wouldn’t want to pick one over the other, but if I had too, it would be squats over stones. The main reason is because the Strongman lifts are pretty technical, and frequently misunderstood, and misused. There are many good training plans you can buy or download for free weight training if you are a strength coach. I am not one of those guys who thinks his niche is the magic bullet or the only way to do things. I do believe that as part of a superior training program, strongman events will make a dominant athlete when used appropriately.

JF: I know you are a big proponent of thick bars in your training. Could you tell us why thick bar training can be so beneficial?

Murph: Jay, thick bars are the shit. Training with thick bars adds a different dynamic to every exercise you use one on. Your grip gets stressed much more, and what athlete doesn’t need a strong grip? When doing pressing exercises, especially overhead, balance is affected as well. Much more dynamic stabilization is required of the athlete. Thick bars generally don’t rotate either, so when doing cleans or snatches it really gets interesting.

JF: I know you want to be politically correct here but I don’t really care about that so I would just like to mention that anyone who read a magazine article by a famous guru claiming to have found a guy to personally design thick bars and handles for him and his athletes was completely duped. Murph was the one who was having this stuff created and our little “yoda” friend stole this info and told the nation that he had come up with it.

With that out of the way why don’t you ell us a little bit about your history competing in strongman?

Murph: I was hoping you wouldn’t ask! I’m known around the gym as the 9th Strongest Man on Lower Broadway! Seriously though, I have not competed for a few years because of a knee injury that has hampered my event training. I’m trying events out events for the past few months, and things are going well, so I’d like to make a comeback this year. I’ve competed in quite few contests including New Englands Strongest Man, and the Extreme Strongman Showdown.

JF: You also compete in powerlifting, although as I hear it, you should stick to strongman. Anyway, you can’t knock a guy for trying. What organizations have you competed in and do you still compete?

Murph: I lift mostly APF because my schedule is so crazy and there are great meets in the New England area run by guys like Russ Barlowe in Maine. My last meet was the 2004 APF Pine Tree State Open where I was in the 308 class. I’d say I’m the winner of that meet in my class, but there was no other 308’s there, so that would be kind of dishonest. I did go to compete against whoever showed up, except no one did in my class, so fuck it, I won. My next meet is in September.

JF: What are your thoughts on the following statements:

You can’t run with the sled?

Murph: Why, who says this crap anyway? Of course you can run with the sled. We’ve heard that it alters your running mechanics but in my opinion you can definitely improve your first four steps in the sprint.

Plyos should only be done by those who can squat double bodyweight?

Murph: This is just ridiculous in my opinion. Five year olds do plyos when they play leapfrog don’t they?

Baseball players should not bench press?

Murph: I’m not the biggest fan of athlete’s bench pressing unless they have a test, like the combine, and why is a rep test in the combine anyway? I think dumb bell benches are a better choice for them. I can’t wait to see the response to that one.

JF: While I can see your point here and may even agree, the fact of the matter is most people always want to bench though, especially high school and college kids. Don’t you think that a compromise sometimes has to be made to keep the athletes happy?

Murph: We don’t bench press unless you’re a powerlifter. We stick to dumbbells and it’s never a problem. I prefer to use the overhead press. I just don’t see the risk of injury to reward, it’s just not there for me.

You must always do the most neurologically demanding exercises first in your workout. Meaning you must always do plyos or any kind of speed work before heavy or max effort work?

Murph: Again, why? I know there are a million studies showing this, but at least for me, I know my plyo’s were always faster after I have done something else first. I understand the reasoning behind the statement, but I don’t think it applies to everyone. I don’t think you can transfer power violently fast like that without some sort of warm up. We are primarily a strength gym. We always find that our plyos are better at the end of a workout after our strength work. Doing plyos first negatively effects the strength work and that is our main priority. Everyone who comes here is primarily here to get stronger.

JF: What would you say to some one who is looking to get into the strength and conditioning industry?

Murph: Find a good coach to intern under and keep an open mind to new things. Read everything you can get your hands on, and educate yourself. Another thing that might be the most important thing is stay under the bar yourself! You need to lead by example.

JF: What do you look for in a good strength and conditioning coach? Besides the fact that they look good in spandex.

Murph: Experience making people stronger, and not just someone who was strong when they came in. There is a huge difference in the coach who made a 500lb squatter an 800 lb squatter than the guy who took a 225 squatter and made him 315 squatter. You need to know how to motivate an athlete to strive to be the best, to be able to instill a work ethic in an athlete.

JF: Aside from joining us in The Hostile Takeover, what else does CJ Murphy have going on right now that our readers can look forward to?

Murph: Right now my main focus is on our upcoming expansion. TPS is going to be making a move to a new facility in the near future, and it will be more of the same from us, not a watered down strength and conditioning factory like you see so much of sprouting up now. I’ll keep you posted on the progress. Look forward to our upcoming line of strongman products which includes atlas stones which are a great tool for training athletes. We have logs, stone molds, farmers walk handles, Conan’s’ wheel, Viking press, car deadlifts and any other strongman equipment you can imagine.

JF: What’s the worst training gimmick?

Murph: Functional training. It’s the biggest scam going. Also anything prescribed by ACE.

JF: Without getting too detailed, what are your thoughts on nutrition?

Murph: We give clients a meal plan broken down meal by meal. We give most people a general guideline on how to eat, it’s nothing magical. The most important thing is to make sure that your protein needs are met consistently throughout the day every three to four hours.

JF: I know you are addicted to slugging down iced coffees on a regular basis. Any thoughts on the negative effects of caffeine on insulin sensitivity?

Murph: You can’t argue with science and I would definitely agree with that. But if I don’t have my iced coffee nothing gets done.

JF: As many people know, music is my life’s obsession so I can’t finish without asking you for some recommendations of songs to train to.

Murph: Brujeria. I’m stuck on that one lately. Jimmy turned me on to that one.

JF: I heard he also turned you on in other ways but we won’t go into that. Any hip hop playing in TPS or what?

Murph: Oh yeah, we play old school hip hop.

JF: What’s old school hip hop to you?

Murph: NWA. Can’t go wrong there.

JF: My man. What else, any Public Enemy?

Murph: Hell yeah.

JF: Anyone who listens to PE is okay in my book. I knew there was a reason I liked you. It’s been a pleasure Murph, thanks for your time and we look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

Murph: Thanks for the interview Jay, and let’s get you a neck harness so you don’t have to flex your traps all the time.

JF: Sounds like a plan and I’ll definitely look into it. Anyone interested in learning more about CJ Murphy and his training techniques can check out www.totalperformancesports.com Thanks again, Murph.

More On The Secret

Today’s post is a follow up on my post from last week about the laws of attraction and the Secret and all that hocus pocus. This post originally appeared on OddTodd.com and was brought to my attention by a very good friend of mine who happens to be good friends with Odd Todd. I thought it was hilarious and had to post it here. Check it out…

Messing with “The Secret”
So someone sent me a video called ‘The Secret’ recently and told me to watch it. So I did. It was kind of interesting kind of sort of.
It’s a thoroughly cheesed out video that basically said that there’s this “big secret” out there. A super secret secret to success that successful people know. Now on DVD! The general idea is linking the power of positive thinking to actual science. Like if you think that you want a new job and focus on that goal or whatever– the laws of attraction will actually manipulate the matter of the universe to have things to help you get to your goal– gravitate toward you. And in effect alter future reality– not spiritually but scientifically by having the universal force clear a path toward your goal or some mumbo jumbo stuff or whatever. Like when you’re having a good day things fall into place because you’re attracting good things with a positive attitude. And when it’s a bad day the negativity piles up because you’re repelling the good stuff.. or something… or whatever. Yadda yadda… That sort of stuff.

Anyway, I do believe in the power of thinking positively and believe in sending good vibes to people who need em– but I don’t really believe universal manipulation was meant for straight profit and selfish reasons. Like if you sit there only praying for only yourself all day– I’m not sure that’s the way to go. This video was all about using this ‘power’ to hook yourself up with money and stuff. Sort of preying on ego maniacs who want shortcuts. Like some guy on the video said, ‘He always gets a perfect parking space right in front at the Mall because he visualizes it before he gets there.’ (Try that in Manhattan…) And some guy who wanted a new car thought about it and somehow he won a car or some crap. Seemed like alot of bs…
But I figured I’d give it a shot anyway! I mean I walk around doing nothing alot so I figured I might as well spend some time trying to manipulate the entire universe for my own personal reasons!

So all day long I walked around trying to visualize good things and alter my personal reality for fun and profit. And I think I might have actually had an effect on things! Because everything all day long went totally wrong. A total backfire day! If I was heading down into the subway I’d try to picture the subway pulling up just as I step onto the platform. All day long the subway would pull away just as I got there. And it would be like an overlong wait till the next one. I knew that getting $100,000 was a tall order so I tried to picture somehow getting ten dollars out of nowhere. Nothing. Not one cent. The nintendo DS game I wanted to get for my nephew was out of stock. When I approached an elevator, I visualized it waiting in the lobby for me– but it was on the top floor and took forever to come down. When I tried to hail a cab… there were none. I spilled on my shirt. I was late to everything. A bartender ignored me. Roscoe puked on my rug. And for the most part the whole ‘positive thinking’ day turned out to be a big mess. Nothing I tried to visualize came together! So I chucked the whole idea overboard.

My conclusion was… positive thinking is fine and dandy but if there is any truth to the idea that you can manipulate universal matter to affect your reality– don’t mess with it all greedy and only tap into your god-like superpowers on occasion for very good reasons. Or face the wrath of a backfire…
ok bye!
tOdd

The Things People Do

During a normal week of training, coaching and consulting I visit quite a few different training facilities other than just my own. Of course, many of these visits provide me with the opportunity to witness some seriously disturbing images. Yesterday I was in a public gym in New York City and witnessed the following:

A man in his early thirties doing dumbell presses with FIFTEEN POUND DUMBBELLS!!! And not only that but he was struggling. Now I am the last guy to make fun of someone for being weak or being a beginner or what not, but FIFTEENS at thirty years old?!!? I mean come on! How can you even walk the streets as a man? I would be terrified everywhere I went if I knew that I was that weak. I’ve never trained a single female that didn’t work up to at least thirty fives. The sad part is I will see that guy again in a few months and at the most he will be doing twentys.

Bu then again, I doubt it.

Worse than that was that this guys trainer, who after careful assesment, decided that just what a guy this weak needs is six sets of cable crossover flyes with hideous form after his dumbbell presses. Brilliant deduction. That will get him strong and huge in no time.

Later I saw that same tandem repeating a few more oddities. At the trainers instruction, ol’ Pure Power boy was doing some kind of standing knee raise that seemed to make no sense at all. It was a move that you would see Tito Ortiz do to Ken Shamrock at a UFC event by grabbing his head and pulling it down into his knee while simultaneously flexing at the hip and lifting his knee to Kens head. But there was no opponent, no head to hit; just air. He did this for numerous reps, apparently as his “cardio.”

The next thing I saw was a trainer forcing his client to do twisting sit ups on a Roman Chair with a broomstick behind his head. The guy was obviously a novice and couldn’t do a single rep. But the trainer yelled at him and made fun of him incessantly and forced him to press on. One of the trainers friends walked by and he shouted, “John come here. Watch this.” Then proceeded to tell his client to attempt another set, no less than twenty seconds after the last “set,” mind you. They both laughed. On the last rep, it looked like the guy broke his back in four places and collapsed to the floor screaming. He had to be carried out.

I also saw a guy listening to his iPod, the entire time he trained his client. I shit you not.

And then there was the female trainer who was dressed in designer jeans and knee high boots working the streets, I mean gym floor. An odd way to dress for a job in a gym, I thought. Meanwhile her husband “trained” another client across the gym while answering his phone every five minutes and sending emails like a horny 13 year old on myspace.

It might just be me but if someone is paying you for an hour, I think it would only be right to stay the fuck off your phone. But maybe I’m wrong.

When my time was finally up in this circus, I made my way to the door, longing for the relief the outdoors would provide my scarred psyche. I tried to look down so as not to witness another travesty. It didn’t work and my attention was grabbed again by an overweight girl in her twenties and her trainer. She was doing lying chest presses with a FIVE POUND medicine ball! FIVE FUCKING POUNDS! Two and a half pounds per arm. The worst part about it is that girl has been there for over a year.

I’m guessing that she won’t be achieving the Jessica Biel look by summer.

How did this ever happen to my industry? I’m truly ashamed.

***************

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Hopes & Wishes

It’s come to my attention lately that tons of people are obsessed with some movie called “The Secret.” All of these people are also living their lives by some supposed law of attraction or something like that. I think the two go hand in hand, but I could be mistaken. As far as I have been told, one of the things you do, when you follow these “life altering principles” is to think of what you want in life.

Ok, visualization, I have no problem with that. Sounds good.

Not only do you think about it, but you “ask” for it. That’s where I got a little confused. Who you ask, I’m not really sure. It seems quite popular though so I gave it a shot. I called Hugh Hefner and asked him if I could move into the mansion. He hasn’t called back yet. It’s only been three months, so I haven’t given up hope. I also called Puffy (P. Diddy to the rest of you) and asked if he would put me on his next single and help me improve my dancing skills a little. He threatened to hang me upside down off the roof of some building, like he used to do to people in the mid 90’s, if I ever called back again.

I guess you have to really be deep in the inner circle to get that wish granting guy’s number.

A friend of mine, who is in on this whole phenomenon called me recently to tell me of all the great things that were happening in his life. I was blown away by what he had going and asked him what he attributed all his recent success to. He told me he just “asks” for it and it comes to him.

WTF?!

“Who da fuck you askin?! Cuz I seriously need to meet this dude!”

Another premise of this whole belief system is that you tell people what you want to happen in your life. Meaning that if you want to make a million dollars a year, you tell people that you make a million dollars a year. That is why you will see tons of online marketers talking about how many millions they made this year while there fat asses take the free shuttle to the airport instead of the limo they should be able to buy.

While I know this seems like it’s lying and being dishonest, there has to be some magic behind it, right? Well, that’s what I thought, so I gave this principle a try as well.

For the last three months I have told every girl that I’ve met that I’m hung like Ron Jeremy. Sometimes they want proof. I explain to them that as much as I would love to show them, I am engaged to be married and my fiance would not approve. I then go on to explain that the young lady I speak of is none other than the lovely and talented, Vida Guerra.

Sometimes, they ask for proof of that. This is where things get a bit sticky. I have no pictures of V (my nickname for her) and I in my wallet, nor any on my phone. Not even a text message or missed call from her. Finally I have to concede, to the ones that push the issue, that I’m caught and I was lying (wishing/asking, I forget which one).

Now knowing that the God/Master of wish granting that all these people believe in couldn’t possibly let me down twice in one night, I offer to prove to them that only one of my statements was a lie (wish). If they come back to my place, I will gladly show them that I am not the liar I appear to be.

When it turns out that both of my wishes had been rejected in the same night, a general feeling of melancholy fills the room. I had been hoodwinked, duped, bamboozled, yet again, for the umpteenth time in the last three months. She, on the other hand, just has that same mirthless, desolate look on her face that most girls who get to know me end up with; only in this case it took a lot less time than the usual two months.

Like my friend John Alvino asked, how could this law only apply to online marketing and not penis size? Does that almighty master know when you are trying to sneak one by? Are there only certain wishes he grants? I mean my friend got a new job, a new girlfriend and all kinds of other stuff just because he asked. So why hasn’t Vida Guera replied to the question I asked her then? Maybe I’m just a cynical bastard and it doesn’t work for people like me.

Or maybe, just maybe, there is no “universal law” that is based on FUCKING LYING. How about that? Could that possibly be so? Maybe, no matter how many times you tell someone that you make five million a year on your membership site or that you are going to be opening up for the newly reunited Led Zeppelin or that you have a twelve inch penis; a lie is just a lie.

Ever think of that?

Now to be fair, there may be more to “The Secret” and all the principles that go with it. I just have never had the heart to watch it. The fact that every else is doing so, makes it even less appealing.

What I’m saying is that you can “ask” and you can “wish” for things all you want. No one cares. Hard work and perserverance; that’s how you get what you want in life. If want to bench press a certain amount of weight, I can ask for that to happen every night before I got to bed but unless I put in the hard work necessary to achieve that goal, it’s never going to happen.

You can also lie about how much money you make to every person you meet. It doesn’t affect us. It’s only you that has to live a life filled with dishonesty and deceit. And it’s you that is truly missing out on the meaning and joy of life because money has become your only undying obsession.

Also, if you really discover the power to magically change the universe and make all things work in your favor just by focusing and asking, don’t you think you could find something a little more noble to do with that power than just increase the size of your own wallet?

Maybe end the war, help the homeless, something along those lines…

Na, wishing for your new Ferrari is more important than all that.

(And by the way, Vida, if you’re reading this… call me.)

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