The Men’s Fitness video crew stopped by Renegade Gym on Saturday to shoot some footage of Sean Hyson’s amazing transformation and his attempt at a new PR in the squat. Sean is the fitness editor at Men’s Fitness magazine and has been taking the train out from New York City to train at Renegade Gym on the weekends for over a year now.
On top of that we also had a visit from one of my favorite guys in the entire fitness industry, none other than the owner of Monkey Bar Gym, Jon Hinds. For those that don’t know, Jon is a 46 year old white dude who can dunk a basketball, walk on his hands and perform numerous other displays of supreme physical fitness. He’s also a Pan Am games winning BJJ black belt, and one of the all around coolest, nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
While he was in town he was staying in Brooklyn and yesterday morning just decided to buy a bicycle, on a whim, and ride it from Brooklyn, through the Bronx to meet us at Yankee Stadium, while wearing flip flops, no less.
And no shirt. He just bought a Jeter shirt from a… …continue reading.
First of all, congratulations are due to the new Super Bowl Champs, the New Orleans Saints. It was definitely deserved and it’s obviously a great thing for that city.
Although I am incredibly happy for the city of New Orleans I am also a big Brett Favre fan. I thought it would have been a cool story to see Brett come back and lead his team to the Super Bowl after having the greatest season of his long career.
I particularly liked the post game press conference when Brett said that no matter what anyone else thinks he’s going out on top. To dominate like he did at forty years old is very impressive. Think about that for a second… The guy is forty…and a professional athlete… in one of the most brutal, physically demanding sports on the planet… and dominates. It’s amazing when you put it in perspective. Especially since most average guys in their forties are fat, lazy, weak and out of shape. Hell, most average guys in their thirties fit that description.
I often run into former high school or college athletes who are in their thirties now and have long since stopped doing any sort of… …continue reading.
It just wouldn’t be Christmas if I didn’t get at least a dozen random fitness related questions per week from strangers, family members or long lost pals at holiday parties. Kinda like the exchange I had with my old friend Kevin last week…
“Hey Jay, good to see you, buddy. Glad you’re here, I have a couple questions for you.”
“I probably don’t have the answers, but fire away.”
“My shoulder’s been killing recently right here, when I bench press. Here, feel this clicking thing it’s doing,” he says as he places my hand on his shoulder.
Another holiday party; another guy placing my hands on his body. For once I’d like to meet a lingerie model with a supraspinatus tear. Or a pulled pec.
“Feel that? What do you think I should do?”
“How bad does it hurt?”
“Pretty bad.”
“I’m gonna go with stop bench pressing, then.”
“Oh man… I was hoping for another answer. I love benching.”
“But obviously it’s screwing up your shoulder. You can probably go back to it eventually but for now you have to eliminate whatever is causing you pain. That would be the first logical step. See how it feels when you… …continue reading.
“Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price.”
– Sun Tzu
Did you know that you can get down to single digit bodyfat and look like an elite level pro athlete in just three easy, twenty minute workouts per week? And you can do it while eating whatever you want? It’s true…cuz I heard it on the radio… and read it on the internet.
Eight minute abs. That’s right folks, in just eight minutes a day you can get the abs of Cheik Congo (pictured). All it takes is a quick crunch workout. No need to worry about your diet or doing any exercises that actually jack up your metabolism and burn fat.
Six minute muscle. Jay Cutler look out. Because some lazy schmuck is gonna embarrass you right off the stage next year by training no more than 18 minutes per week.
Four minutes to super strength. Wait til Chuck Vogelpohl and Louie Simmons find out that they wasted all those years and could have gotten so much stronger with significantly less time and effort.
Two minute conditioning. Poor Tito Ortiz. All those wasted trips to Big Bear… …continue reading.
“You’re always saying you’re too weak to be strong.”
– Life Wasted by Pearl Jam
Another summer weekend just came and went and now here we are yet again, on a Monday morning…
With yet another opportunity to change things for the better; to make the dramatic improvements that you have been planning to make for so long.
Maybe you thought about it over the weekend when you drank too many beers or ate too many hot dogs at your neighbors’ barbeque.
Or maybe you were ashamed to take your shirt off at the beach or your friends pool party and you promised yourself that life would be different come Monday morning. That you would finally step up and make the changes you have thought about for so long.
While some of you were nursing your hangover with coffee and a greasy, fried sausage biscuit yesterday morning, the dedicated were doing fasted cardio before sitting down to a healthy breakfast of green tea, organic eggs and fruit. Others slept off the booze lying around on the couch all day while the driven were running hill sprints in the hot sun.
Just like every Monday, you have a… …continue reading.
Since Memorial Day Weekend, which is the unofficial start of summer, just passed, I have a question for you…
Did you meet all of your goals that you had set? Did you live up to those New Year’s resolutions? Did you gain all the size and strength that you vowed you would? Were you as lean as you hoped?
If the answer is no then you need to ask yourself why. And you need to step it up a notch. Where I’m from the beach season doesn’t really get into full swing for another month. Make it your goal to make dramatic improvements between now and the Fourth of July.
Write it down and be specific.
Post it on your refrigerator.
I don’t care what your goal is. To get bigger, stronger, leaner, faster… whatever. Just pick one or any combination of those and get after it with a vengeance.
Only you can decide what goal is worth pursuing. For me, I am still trying to gain back the weight and strength I lost from having shoulder surgery and that is far more important to me than getting ripped right now.
You may have the same goal, and if so… …continue reading.
Got a little too fired up to train way too long before tonight’s workout. Approximately two and half hours prior to training I was listening to some old Rollins Band stuff and working myself into a frenzy. I want my old size and strength back yesterday. Not three months from now, not a week from now, not tomorrow. But yesterday. And I want to triple my previous bests in the worst way possible.
Since I have gotten worked up like this a million times in the past only to burn myself out come workout time, I tried my best to keep calm. I did some work and talked to people who have a calming effect on me. But no matter how hard I tried to suppress it I couldn’t hide the fact that I just wanted to get my hands on some heavy iron and rip the bar in half.
One of my training partners arrived at the gym early and said, “Wow, you’re already reeeeally pissed off, huh?”
“I wanna rip your fucking face off right now.”
“Now that’s what I like to… …continue reading.
- Rebel Without A Pause- Public Enemy
- We’re Back- Bobby Creekwater, Cashis, Eminem, Obie Trice & Stat Quo
- Renegade- Hed PE
- Bleed it Out- Linkin Park
- PscyhoSocial- Slipknot
- War Within a Breath- Rage Against The Machine
- Fish Out of Water- Mudvayne
- Davidian- Machinehead
- Zero- Smashing Pumpkins
- Survival of the Streets- Cro Mags
- 99 Problems/ One Step Closer- Jay Z & Linkin Park
- Freedom (live)- Rage Against The Machine
- Butcher Knife Bloodbath- Jedi Mind Tricks
- What a Day- Nonpoint
- You Don’t Know- 50 Cent, Cashis, Eminem, Lloyd Banks
- Undead- Hollwood Undead
- Prophets of Rage- Public Enemy
After what seems like a hundred years of training a million people I can unequivocally state that your results in the gym are directly proportional to your IQ. You either “get it,” or you don’t. The first time someone walks in the gym I usually have a pretty good idea of what their long term progress will be within thirty seconds of meeting them. If not, I know for sure by the end of their first workout. Their attitude, work ethic, and usually most importantly, intelligence are the telltale signs of where they will be in twelve weeks. Some may question why I put smarts before work ethic, but the fact is smart people always work hard. That’s why we call them smart.
If I demonstrate an exercise and someone can’t do it fairly well, no matter how complex the movement, within five minutes of me teaching it, they are probably never going to be a good athlete nor will they ever be one of the big dogs in the gym. That’s just how it is. This has never been proven untrue during the 15 years that I have been training people.
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