Question: Jay, I know you are a big fan of box jumps. How do I incorporate them in my training and do them correctly? Answer: Let me start by saying I rarely prescribe a bounding type of box jump where you jump on and jump off of the box, unless I’m working with advanced, highly skilled jumpers. If you have a very low (6-8″) box and are doing it for conditioning that’s okay for people with a decent level of athleticism. But you can’t have unskilled jumpers and average people off the street jumping onto a two foot high box… continue reading.

“Every day of my life, I’m trying to find a different way to get better.” “Nobody’s as serious about health and fitness as me, and staying fit is my top priority.” “What makes you grind?  You have to always be chasing something.” “In any war, you put your back to mine, I put my back to yours, and let’s do what we gotta do.” “You’ve got to go out and show them that I’m a different creature now, then I was five minutes ago, cause I’m pissed off for greatness. Cause if you ain’t pissed off for greatness, that just… continue reading.

Guest post by Renegade Inner Circle member, Joshua Grant. A few years ago I decided to stop training. Completely. This was a kind of experiment on my part.  Having a naturally curious mind I wanted to see what would happen. What would happen if I stopped working out 5 days a week, doing bodybuilding routines, carrying food around in tupperware containers, worrying about the size of my biceps, and just gave up training/dieting altogether. Now you have to realize how big a deal this was.  Before this I had been training and dieting religiously. I started working out for… continue reading.

I wrote this list back when Shades of Grey came out but completely forgot about it for some reason. Today seemed like as a good a day as any to post it. So here are some useless, trivial facts about the dude behind this here blog you’re reading. 1) I only puke two to three times a decade. When I do it’s like a scene from the Exorcist. 2) There are very few things I find funnier than watching someone else puke, though. I’m literally in uncontrollable hysterics. 3) I’m almost never in a bad mood. 4)… continue reading.

A lot of people ask me the moment when things started to “click.” When I was finally able to start gaining size and muscle and stop being a skinny punk. Or when I was able to take what I had learned and turn it into a successful business. The answer was I stopped trying to do everything on my own and found good coaches and mentors. Look at the people that consistently dominate at what they do and make good decisions. Successful athletes, businessmen, and musicians—they all have coaches. Michael Jordan had someone work on his… continue reading.

I want to start by thanking all 1,112 of you who contributed to the NJ Strength Disaster Relief sale. During the course of the sale over a quarter of a million people visited this site but you guys took action. I truly appreciate that, as do the people of New Jersey. Here is the screen shot from my Clickbank account: So you guys raised $8,188.88 for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Then I got three incredible emails from friends… First Chad Waterbury donated $500: Then Dave Draper’s wife, Laree did the same: And finally, Matt of Fat… continue reading.

“Ya best protect ya neck.”
-Wu Tang Clan In the past I’ve always recommended neck training but said that it was optional. That was a mistake. It’s not optional. It’s mandatory. You look infinitely cooler and more badass with a bigger neck and it’s a life insurance policy. No one can argue either of those two facts. Countless athletes and lifters have sustained injuries that, based on their own accounts, could have been life threatening or left them paralyzed, had their necks not been as strong as they were. I was genetically cursed with a pencil neck so I will… continue reading.

What’s up guys? I’m coming at you from the Hyatt Regency in Denver where I’m getting read to go train with my buddy, Craig Ballantyne. Then I will be meeting up with fitness icon, Shawn Phillips, for lunch. I’m in town to do a charity toy drive on Saturday with Craig and about twenty others. We’ll be buying thousands of toys to give to marines to distribute to local kids. If you’re in the area come by and hang out. Last night Craig and I had an awesome steak dinner at Elway’s where we watched the Bronco’s game while talking… continue reading.

Today we have a guest post from Renegade Inner Circle member, John P, detailing his last twelve weeks of training. *** Hey guys,

I just finished up my final week of Yoked so I figured I’d throw out my review in case it’s useful to anyone. A bit about myself: I’m 33 years old, I’ve been training seriously for approximately a year and a half. Starting this program, I had just completed a 3-4 month phase of trying to get lean, where I started around 19-20% body fat and got down somewhere around 11-12%, which was around 186-188 pounds. After… continue reading.

Guest Post by Keith Scott. Not all injuries are really injuries. Huh? What the hell does that mean? It’s simple…over the years I have “magically cured” a lot of people’s injuries quickly because so many injuries are not really injuries, rather they are muscle spasms or knots that are causing pain and dysfunction. This is not to say that these knots don’t cause major pain and problems…they do. It also doesn’t mean that they are to be ignored, because many spasms or knots are a sign that either something was tweaked and needs to be fixed, or that the… continue reading.

I hate doing cardio. There are very few things I find less appealing than the thought of getting on a stair master and huffing away for thirty minutes straight. I’d imagine five rounds with Mike Tyson in his prime to be less painful. Going for a long walk or bike ride a few times per week at a low intensity is a great idea and I think everyone should do it. Pounding your joints on a machine at a high intensity for 45 minutes, five times a week? Horrible idea. When I opened Renegade Gym back in the early 90′s… continue reading.

What’s up guys? I hope you had a great weekend. Although I doubt it was as wild as the one my friend Mike had a few weeks back. Mike came into my gym for the first time as a skinny 12 year old. His dad hired me to get him bigger and stronger for football and wrestling. At the time I was only training regular people, still earning my chops as a beginner personal trainer helping people lose fat. But I really wanted to get into high performance training and help guys get bigger, stronger and faster. So Mike became… continue reading.

Unless you’re the ultimate McGuyver like handyman and you truly enjoy doing it, there’s rarely a time that it’s worth building your own equipment. It’s like saving twenty bucks at the car wash and doing it yourself. It takes you two hours to do a good job. So now it cost you ten bucks an hour. Surely your time is worth more than that. And you could have done something more productive. It’s a mindset shift that can make a huge difference in your life. Save money on material possessions, yes. I’m all for that. Buy cheaper clothes, drive a… continue reading.

Special guest post by world record holding deadlift champion, Andy Bolton The Deadlift is a superb exercise. Now you might think I’m biased, given that I’m pretty good at it (In case you don’t know – I’m that big dude that’s pulled over a 1000lbs. Twice)… that said – by the time you’ve finished reading this article I’m sure you’ll want to start hitting the deadlift HARD. Here are 7 reasons why the Deadlift is a superb exercise for serious Athletes… 1. If you’re a bodybuilder, or a guy who wants to be JACKED, very few things add slabs… continue reading.

Man, I’ve really been on some grubbin’ streak lately. It seems like every time I turn around over the last two weeks another one of my friends is in town wanting to meet up for dinner at one of LA’s finest restaurants. While my wife is a five star chef and makes incredible meals each night it’s always nice to get out amongst the people, give the local females a thrill and order half the items on the menu. Or in the case of a recent brunch at Post in Manhattan Beach with my long time buddy, Mike Schwalb- everything… continue reading.