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Speaking Out

April 29, 2007

Jason,
Thanks for finally speaking out! I wish more people would realize the points you made in the e-mail. I had a couple of quick questions:

1. I drink chocolate milk PWO (use low-fat milk then add in Hershey’s syrup). Is it OK to add in a scoop of unflavored whey to the drink?

2. I recently ordered your Tap Out e-book set (LOVE IT!). I’m strapped for cash at the moment due to having my wisdom teeth removed…do you have any cost-effective ways of making blast straps to use for the scarecrow and blast strap push-ups?

Thanks and looking forward to the new book.
-Dan Johnson

Dan,
Glad you liked it. Yes, you can add some unflavored whey to the drink.

You can do some of the blast strap exercises just by getting two long pieces of chain and looping them around a bar. Fasten the ends with some kind of clip or karabiner and then just put a small hand towel around the chain and grab it. This will work for inverted rows, pushups and scarecrows.

Jason,
I believe what you say in this E-mail. When I was in U.S. Marine Corps boot camp, I put on 12 pounds and was more “ripped” than ever. No supplements, and with a hell of a lot of “road work”. Just three meals per day. I appreciate your truth, thanks.
sincerely,
Dale Allen

Dale,
It’s all about hard work. Thanks for the email.

Good man….no bs and I love it. That’s how I base my clients’ workouts as well. Keep it up.
Jason VanHeulen CSCS
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach

Aria Spa & Club

Jason,
Then I would have to imagine you’re doing a damn good job ;)

Jason:

I wanted to let you know how much I’ve enjoyed your recent blog entries; glad you are back.

Martin

Martin,
Thanks a lot for the comments, I really appreciate it.

Can’t wait dude I’ll definitely grab a copy. I am living proof that doing things you don’t recommend really do hinder training results; and, following your routines really do produce fast positive results. I bought your book quite a while back and have periodically deviated from your routines and rules due to lack of commitment. In the short times that I did follow the routine loosely and it has given me about 15 lbs. of muscle.

To back up this newer point about protein supplements, I stopped drinking protein after I got this stomach virus a couple weeks ago. I couldn’t stomach the fuckin thickness of the shake so I had to pass on them. Anyway, since then I’ve just been stickin to lots of beef, chicken, pork, and tuna, plus the multi-vitamin in the morning and fruit throughout the day. First of all I just felt healthier; I felt like a human instead of a science project. Besides improved overall body function, I experienced higher gains in lean muscle instead of the bloated looking bulky muscle.

Anyway, looking forward to the book,
Matt

Matt,
Awesome to hear about your great results. Keep it up.

Hi great to see someone has finally got it right, you are spot on. I was pi**ed around for over 15 years by all these full of sh*t no it alls, until I finally realised that it was all bull sh*t I now train heavy and hard but always add weight weekly or as often as poss, my diet is now ‘normal ‘ but enough to grow weekly and hey presto 46lbs of new muscle in 10 months with no fat increases and twice as strong as before, piece of p**s when you know how! Let me know when your book is out as it sounds like the kind of stuff I now like to read! Put a stop to all the lies and tell everyone how it really works, there must be millions of confused and frustrated lifters out there, its sickening, everyone could easily succeed with the truth.
Good luck with your book
Mark

Mark,
Thanks for sharing your success story. I love to hear them. The truth is what I am going to deliver.

Thank you for dispelling the myths in your latest blog. Damn, it’s about time. Yeah, it’s probably going to ruffle some feathers, but who cares? You’re probably going to confuse the hell out of a lot of people, but it’s up to them to make the right choice. What you write is SO true. Ok, maybe, just MAYBE if you’ve hit a plateau that supplements or a little extra jolt may assist in breaking through it, but it’s nothing you should use on a regular basis.

Cheers. Thanks for all the info.
Bobby Thompson

Bobby,
Every time I open my mouth I ruffle some feathers. It won’t stop me from speaking the truth, however. Keep on the right track.

Great article! i’ve thought the same about protein and post-workout drinks because i
consumed them methodically and never noticed an ounce more of weight gain nor increase in
strength.

thanks again.
Tom G.

Tom,
I was discussing this with a colleague of mine last night and he was mentioning how all of the studies on post workout nutrition are completely flawed and really don’t prove anything. When will the lies ever stop?

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building | Leave a Comment 

The Supplement Scam

April 25, 2007

Thanks so much to everyone for all the positive responses to yesterdays post. I will try to share more of them this week but here is one that I thought you might find interesting:

Jason- so you think all the research about post-workout nutrition is fabricated. Awful lot of evidence out there for over twenty years. Not sure where this idea is leading.

Do you think most people get enough essential fat? The fish oil thing is fabricated
also? Lots of studies.

How about glucosamine, again a lot of evidence. It seems to have stood the test of
time.

Is there an underlying thought process here?

Thanks

Michael

Mike,
It’s all BS. I am lucky enough to know tons of the biggest and strongest guys in the
world. I have trained tons of athletes who were inhumanly big and strong and fast. Not to sound cocky, but I, myself am fairly strong and fast and routinely outlift people who outweigh me by 50lbs or more. No one believes in that crap. And if they did use all that garbage do you think that they would actually be bigger or stronger? Of course not. Post workout nutrition is the biggest scam of all time. Yes, you replenish glycogen faster, blunt cortisol levels, blah, blah, blah. Who cares? It doesn’t matter nor does it make the least bit difference in the REAL WORLD. If you read the studies you can force a placebo effect on yourself and think it all works and matters. It doesn’t. If I have a Gatorade and pizza and my twin brother drinks some pre-made fancy post workout shake for 16 wks straight it will make absolutely no difference at all. It doesn’t matter because unless you are training three times per day you don’t need to worry about the fastest acting shake under the sun.

See some people believe everything they read. I believe nothing I read. I only want to hear from people who have tons of real world evidence that they have actually seen
supplements do anything with themselves or their hundreds of clients. You can set up
studies to prove anything. Studies are usually worth the paper they are printed on.

Another reason I hate post workout drinks is because I hate ingesting unhealthy processed chemical crap like that. I keep my unhealthy intake to beer, weed and fried food. I don’t need to throw in 60 packs of aspartame and all kinds of other crap on top of it on a regular basis. Food always was, still is and always will be better than supplements.

Fish oil is great. Do people get enough EFA’s? No. Should they eat more salmon? Yes. If they don’t, I have no problem with fish oil. In fact I like it. I was just trying to make a point and as you know I always do so in an in your face fashion.

With glucosamine you kind of missed the point of the article. I was talking about performance enhancement, thus I will not even discuss glucosamine as it doesn’t enter into the equation here at all.

I just prefer to get everything I need through a good, well rounded organic diet. Nobody can argue that that isn’t better than whacking down buckets of pills and chemicals all day. In fact, as a health and fitness professional I think its negligent for me to recommend aspartame and all kinds of other fake shit to people. I would rather tell them to eat fruits and veggies and lean protein and nuts and drink beer on the weekends if they like. They will be much better off.

Like I said, supplements suck.

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Nutrition | Leave a Comment 

Dont Believe Everything You Read

April 24, 2007

You have all read it and heard it before:

You need two grams of protein per pound of bodyweight a day.

You need a super fast acting post workout shake.

You need to take supplements to get big and strong.

You can’t get stronger while dieting.

You can’t do conditioning or cardio if you want to get bigger and stronger.

These are all nonsensical myths that people want you to believe. If you do believe this stuff, it will actually be true. That’s how the mind works. What you believe becomes your reality. I don’t believe any of that stuff and thus it doesn’t affect me or the hundreds of people I have trained over the last 13 years.

You don’t need super high protein diets. It is a waste of your time and money to try to consume anything more than one gram per pound of bodyweight a day. The only time you would even need that much is if your carbs are extremely low. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself. Cut out all your protein shakes and just eat food. Your protein will drop by at least 25% but I would be willing to bet it has no negative effect on your size or strength. This myth is spewed by those who sell protein; don’t buy it.

It doesn’t matter how fast you replenish glycogen after a workout unless you are training three times per day. Fat free chocolate milk is the best tasting post workout drink going and works as well as any high priced crap on the market today. There is one real benefit to a post workout drink and one benefit only; it helps you get in more calories. By the time you finish training you probably haven’t eaten in at least two hours, maybe more. After you clean up, shower, drive home or to a restaurant, another hour could pass. But if you slug down some kind of shake immediately after your last set it gives you a quick few hundred calories, and then you can eat your meal in an hour when you get home. That’s it. Plus, most people don’t feel like eating solid food after a hard workout which leaves them choking back their own vomit for 30 minutes.

You don’t need ANY SUPPLEMENTS AT ALL! ZERO. That’s right, I said and I stand by it. Supplements suck. They are a waste of time. All of them. Period. The end. Get your vitamins and minerals from eating lots of fruits and vegetables and don’t worry about creatine, glutamine or branched chains. Drink coffee if you need a pre workout boost.

If strength gains are made by improving your neural drive how come you can’t get stronger while dieting? You can. If you believe you can’t, you won’t. If you don’t buy into this, you will get stronger. Now some lifts, like squats and deadlifts, are easier when you weigh more and have a bigger waist because of the wider base of support. Many other lifts will be harder because your leverages will change as your measurements decrease. Who cares? Just keep training to get stronger and you will be fine. If you believe you can do it, you will. If you don’t, you will be weak and small like an internet guru in no time.

I have trained countless athletes over the years and all of them spent a great deal of time running, jumping and playing their sport on top of the time they spent in the gym with me. They all got bigger and stronger. Forget you ever heard the myth that too much conditioning kills your size and strength gains and do what you want. Run sprints, play hoops, whatever; you will be fine.

In the last few days I have done the following while dieting strictly(down 15lbs in the last month):
1 Arm DB Rows- 35 reps with the 100’s
Touch football for two hours Saturday with no warm up
Sled dragging Sunday for an hour
Deadlifts, yesterday- 500×5 from pin 2
Sprints today- 30 minutes intervals

While there is nothing overly impressive about any of that I should point out that I have had less than a gram of protein per lb of bodyweight, 500-1000 calories below maintenance, zero supplements and zero protein shakes. If I believed every myth listed above I should be weak and hospitalized right now. For those that don’t know, without eating right and training hard I have the genetics of Pee Wee Herman. So I am not a freak case. I also try all of this on many, many test subjects. The results are all the same.

Very soon I will be releasing my new training manual which will destroy every myth there is and explain everything you need to know about training, in full detail; uncensored and no BS. No editors, no nothing, just me dishing the straight truth that nobody wants to tell you.

Get ready…

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Strength & Conditioning | Leave a Comment 

The Fitness World: Insane in the Membrane!!

April 17, 2007

A Rant by Jon Hinds:

jonhinds1 200w The Fitness World: Insane in the Membrane!!In real life, we move our whole bodies almost 100% of the time. In sports, in martial arts, when climbing stairs or picking up kids or shoveling snow – we use our arms, our legs, our backs, our stomach muscles all together. Then why do 99% of all people who exercise, train their muscles in isolation instead of using functional fitness?

What good is it to be able to bench 300 pounds with your back supported and your legs unengaged? Who cares if you can leg press the rack? These activities only train you to do… these activities! In the real world, you have to use your full body to get things done. If you only train isolated muscles on machines, you’re setting yourself up for imbalances and injuries.

Just look at all the power lifters at the gym who can’t pick up a comb without a weight belt on.

I think “the Matrix” is true for life and the fitness industry, otherwise why would so many do what is obviously so un-natural?

98% of all people who workout train purely for aesthetics and not for function. Here’s why: they’re getting their advice from professional bodybuilders, not functioning athletes.

Now, bodybuilding is a sport, and the goal is to look better than your opponents. Okay, I got that. Bodybuilders win by sculpting each individual muscle, and isolated training works for that purpose. but if you are not a bodybuilder, what the hell?

Why do you train the same way they do if you are NOT competing as a bodybuilder! Why not train for true health instead of the illusion of health?

Most bodybuilders are FAR from healthy.

They take drugs (big red flag), they are completely obsessed with their own appearance (another red flag), getting bigger is the goal of all in the sport. NOT performance, but appearance!

They eat massive amounts of animal protein. The China Study, the most comprehensive nutritional study ever done, proves that diets with over 10% animal protein leads to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and many more problems with long term health.

Bodybuilders consume diets of at least 40% animal protein for year after year (BIG RED FLAG). This lifestyle, which is sadly followed by most Westerners, also breeds very un-healthy animal factories whose sole purpose is the confinement, enslavement and slaughter of animals.

Now I understand eating meat is a way of life and changing it would be hard for many, but the benefits are incredible. I know we can do it!!

Ted Nugent has a TV show that puts average Americans in his world for a short time. They must kill live animals to survive and eat, as well as stay on the show. People do not respect the lives they take; they do not think about it when they see it cleanly wrapped up in the grocery store. When they see and feel the life leave the animal they killed with their own two hands and respect the animal for providing, that is different.

My ancestors lived that way for thousands of years here in North America. Respect is long gone now, in all but a few. We can stop the slaughter and tourturous conditions for animals all over the world (check out www.peta.com.) A lot of red flags, makes you think why? It is insane to me, why do so many follow a system that is so unhealthy in reality.

So how about changing the mindset and madness of the fitness industry! How about exercising for performance, training the whole body and mind, and learning to use your body -  NOT a machine! How about not static stretching anymore. Man, what a waste of time!! Humans are the only animals on the planet that engage in static stretching! Why is that? Do we know some secret about mobility and flexibility that Mother Nature doesn’t?

All animals active stretch, it’s normal and healthy.

I proclaim a fitness revolution:

  • Let’s stop looking in the mirrors after every set
  • Let’s work out purely for performance, so we can feel healthy inside and out.
  • Let’s eat plant based diet that is good for us and the planet! No more buying of the cheap junk foods and dead factory-farmed animals that make us and our planet sick.
  • Let’s STOP SUPPORTING THE ANIMAL FACTORIES!!!! How about eating organic!

We can do better. We can train for health and function, not just for fashion. We can eat for health, not just for cheap protein. Can we exercise, eat and live naturally OR are we really that shallow and exercise purely for looks? Eat for comfort and affordability and screw what is right or healthy for us and the planet.

How about being conscious, truly living healthy, exercising the whole body and re-learning how it really works and eating a diet that is less destructive to the planet and us, one that is over 90% plant based.

Believe me, if you think you will get all weak, you won’t! You can still get enough protein 100% from plants and gain muscle too! Many have done it in the past and many do it now, including my good friend Mike Mahler and myself. Mike has been a vegan for about 15 years and is one of the strongest persons i’ve ever met.  Hell, just look at the animal kingdom…the silverback gorilla: basically vegan!!

I’m done, getting off my box for now!
Jon

P.S. I’ll be back!

Be sure to check out Jon’s site and all of his incredible products by clicking HERE.

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Lift Strong

April 6, 2007

liftSTRONG copy Lift Strong
This morning, while in the midst of my “upper body dynamic warm up” (three, cross chest arm swings; think Hulk Hogan on his way to the ring to wrestle the Iron Shiek in ‘84)I remembered that I had forgotten to notify everyone of the launch of a very exciting new project.

My good friend and two time cancer survivor, Alwyn Cosgrove, recruited a number of the top experts in the fitness industry for a huge compilation of incredible information. It is a total of over 800 pages of kick ass training info for only $24.99!!! All of the proceeds go to cancer research.

Please visit http://www.liftstrong.com/ to pick up your copy today.

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment