Next to a properly sloppy BJ with coordinated hand action, one of the hardest things to find in life, is someone who knows how to do rows properly. We all remember watching Arnold do seated cable rows back in ’77 during that scene in Pumping Iron and thinking “Oh my God! He’s gonna break his spine with form like that!” Actually, half of us probably had that reaction. Those that watched in horror as Arnold rounded his spine were the “smart and educated” lifters. I know this because I was one. We were taught by several gurus about how dangerous this type of thing was so we just laughed as the greatest bodybuilder of all time ignorantly did his rows. “Imagine if Arnold really knew how to train,” we all thought.
Boy was the joke on us.
Believe it or not, Arnold actually knew what he was doing and was doing rows properly. To get a muscle to grow you have to first stretch it under tension and then forcefully contract it immediately following. The stretching is critically important. So let me ask you this…
Where does the stretching come in when you do rows the way… …continue reading.
In the gym today we did one of my favorite back exercises. I don’t know what it’s called because I made it up. Before I get 26 emails from people telling me they made it up or they do it let me state that I made it up in “my own mind,” meaning I had never seen it done before and just came up with it one day. Maybe you did the same and I apologize ahead of time for upsetting you. If I write it in a program I usually call it bent over high pulley rope rows.
It’s a combination of a pulldown, a pullover and a row; the best of all three so to speak. To perform the exercise, get in a bent over position, slightly above parallel and grab a rope attached to a high cable stack. Sit way back with your ass all the way out to counterbalance yourself against the pull of the weight stack. While arching your back, let your arms stretch all the way up overhead. If you do it right, you should feel the best stretch in your lats, all the way from your waist to your armpits, that you… …continue reading.
This is an old but very popular post from earlier this year. The email responses to this post were definitely among the highest of the year so I thought I would repost it for anyone who might have missed it. It was written the day after Randy Couture won the UFC world heavyweight title.
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Last night, UFC legend Randy Couture came out of retirement and won the world heavyweight title at 43 years old.
And some people’s excuse for why they are not stronger or bigger or leaner or a better athlete is because they are… too old? How sad and pathetic.
Last night was like watching a real life version of Rocky Balboa and the only way not to be motivated by it was if you slept through the fight.
Sylvia was the odds on favorite against the older Couture yet he was completely dominated from start to finish. Randy trained his ass off in preparation for this fight and entered the octagon in the best shape of his life.
Sure, we all don’t have the luxury of being able to do nothing but train, eat and sleep like many pro athletes do but to use that… …continue reading.
This may come as a surprise to some of you but I have to let the cat out of the bag…
Many of your favorite internet training gurus don’t train anyone. When I say anyone, I don’t mean they train 5-10 people which really equates to no one. I mean they literally train absolutely no one, not a single solitary soul.
Unfortunately for a lot of you, there is no way of actually knowing that. Being in the position I am in, I know who actually trains people (or has trained people) and who doesn’t (or hasn’t). For that reason there are only a few people who I look to for advice or am interested in what they are doing with their athletes or clients. One of the few people that really piques my interest when he writes something about training is my buddy Joe DeFranco. That is because I know for a fact that Joe has spent the last several years in the trenches working with hundreds of athletes. When Joe writes about training he only presents info that is time and battle tested with hundreds of clients, not just some crap he made up to impress people. While… …continue reading.
Over the last few years, it seems that just about every “in the know” performance coach has discussed the conjugate method and why they find it to be the most effective way to train an athlete. By now I think we all know the definition of conjugate or concurrent periodization and how it involves simultaneously trying to raise multiple qualities. Pretty much all of my highly respected colleagues use or have used the conjugate method. I know I have. And without hesitation I will tell you that in a limited time situation, such as a summer’s worth of training for an off season football player, it is the best way to train.
The results you can achieve in three months of training with the conjugate method are outstanding. You can get significantly bigger, stronger and faster in only twelve weeks. A large percentage of competitive athletes only have 12-16 weeks of uninterrupted training time per year. The rest of the year, they are usually playing one or more sports and have very little time to train. Most of my high school athletes play more than one sport and even college football players play from August until sometimes January. After that… …continue reading.
The simple truth about intervals is this- they suck. You want evidence that they
suck? Let’s take a look at the leanest people on the planet.
First we have competitive bodybuilders. None of them do intervals. Never have
never will. They all do steady state cardio. Some do high intensity, some do low
intensity. But none of them ever do intervals.
How about sprinters? They sprint. Then they rest. For a long time; not 30-60
seconds. How long do they sprint for? Usually about ten seconds at the most. A
100 meter dash takes an elite sprinter about ten seconds to compete. And after
they do that they are completely gassed and need at least 3 minutes rest before
they can repeat the effort.
What about wide receivers, running backs and defensive backs? Anyone see Reggie
Bush on the cover of the most recent Men’s Fitness with no shirt on? How about
Terrel Owens on the cover of Sports Illustrated last year? These are physiques
that most people would kill for.
Do they do intervals?
Absolutely not.
They sprint and then they rest. They do plyos and conditioning drills… …continue reading.
Yesterday, as expected, I ruffled a lot of feathers and generated a lot of positive responses with my post about why intervals suck. Some of you love doing intervals and others were in full agreement with me about their effectiveness. If you love doing intervals then you should continue to do them. Doing something you love doing will always improve your results. If you have very limited time, then you might want to opt for some kind of interval training as well. That is one of the benefits that the proponents of intervals sell- get twice the results in half the time. But I have never really seen it happen. I have never seen anyone get truly ripped from doing a few 10-15 minute interval sessions per week. People who get ripped put in a lot of hard work. I honestly believe that you don’t need more than three 45-minute weight training sessions per week to get great results in size and strength. But getting ripped, especially if you are fat to begin with, or just want to get down below 8% body-fat, requires a lot of time and effort. Bodybuilders often finish their last few weeks before a… …continue reading.
(NOTE: Don’t miss the video at the end of this post)
Friday morning I opened my inbox to find triple the normal amount of emails as usual. These extra emails were all reactions to my last two posts about intervals. As I scanned through them, one in particular caught my eye. The subject was “Thank God someone finally said it” and the email was from none other than world renowned fat loss expert and fellow Jersey native, Tom Venuto.
“I got a real kick out of your last 2 articles… glad you said it like only a guy like you can say it! 
”
Tom Venuto
Tom is the author of the highest selling fitness ebook of all time, Burn The Fat, and has helped thousands to get in the best shape of their lives. He is also a competitive bodybuilder who regularly steps on stage in with bodyfat in the low single digits. Like Arnold, Franco, Shawn Ray, Flex Wheeler, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler he does steady state cardio to get himself in that kind of shape; not intervals.
Tom talks the talk… …continue reading.
I spent this past weekend with my good friends Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, CJ Murphy and Alwyn Cosgrove. Minus Dave, we were all speaking at The Big Seminar being held at Murphs place, Total Performance Sports. My full recap of the weekend will be coming up on Friday but for now I would like to share some funny stuff.
To understand what we are talking about you need to know what Rhodestown is. Rhodestown was created by heavyweight powerlifter, Matt Rhodes. It’s basically all about being big and strong and the opposite of metrosexual. Rhodes, Vinny Dizenzo, Dave and Jim all take acceptance into Rhodestown very seriously, which made for some hilarious conversations over the weekend including Cosgrove’s excessive questioning about how he could get in. Below is Matt’s original post:
Welcome to Rhodestown
We will not be drinking Kool-aid. Rather, Liquid D-Bol in Gatorade, EVERYDAY!
I feel it’s time to elevate my god-like status to that of cult leader. My followers are growing in numbers. This is a message for those who choose to listen, and a warning for those that do not. And, I am the one to bring this message. A message of hope.
Here are… …continue reading.
We were supposed to be doing the two tough guys pose but I couldn’t keep a straight face (as usual).
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What I Learned at the Big Seminar By Alwyn Cosgrove
1. Big is a relative term. What is Big in Boston would not be allowed into Rhodestown.
2. Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran has gained a lot of weight since the glory days. He is no longer “hungry like the wolf”. In fact he usually leaves food on his plate.
3. If a 275lb man doesn’t finish his dinner, a 300lb man will be upset.
4. Jason Ferruggia really is a vegetarian. It was not a marketing ploy for his new product line as was originally thought.
5. In the host’s wisdom – you should put the guy who flies in from a different time zone on first. Which was 5 in the morning his time. Which means he has no idea what he said.
6. Jabba the Hutt was based on a real person.
7. A goatee that is too heavy can cause a large muscle imbalance.
8. Jim thinks programs are not important
9. Jim thinks plans are very important.
10. No one knows the real… …continue reading.
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