Anyone experienced in physique transformation knows this is nonsense. Most people have a terrible tolerance for carbs, shitty insulin sensitivity and [...]]]> 1) You’re Eating Too Many Carbs

This should be pretty obvious to most people by now, but there are still the old die-hards out there who swear that everyone should be consuming two grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight every day while maintaining a low fat intake. Load up on whole grains and fruit while cutting down on healthy, essential sources of fat like grass fed beef they’ll tell you.

Anyone experienced in physique transformation knows this is nonsense. Most people have a terrible tolerance for carbs, shitty insulin sensitivity and simply don’t do enough physically demanding work to warrant too many carbs. If you want to get lean cutting carbs is usually one of the first and most important steps you need to take. That doesn’t mean you can’t have any but you need to make smart choices and they need to be taken in at the right times and cycled properly.

2) You’re Eating Carbs at the Wrong Time

If you’re above 20% body-fat pretty much any time is the wrong time. In that case I would only recommend vegetables and possibly some post workout potatoes or a once per week refeed. When you get down to 15% you can increase the amount of carbs in the post workout meal or the weekly refeed. Everyone else should limit carb consumption to post workout and night time, as per The Renegade Diet rules. During the day you want to be alert and focused, which is one reason why you don’t want to load up on starchy carbs during this time. Save for them for the night time when you want to optimize serotonin production and rest, relax and repair.

3) You’re Eating Too Much Fat

Some people cut carbs and assume that they’re good to go and there’s nothing else to worry about. Unfortunately, the low/no carb diet isn’t as much fun as Dr. Atkins made it out to be. You can’t just eat pounds of bacon and mayonnaise with reckless abandon and think that you’ll magically end up ripped. Fat contains calories; nine per gram to be exact. At the end of the day total calories still matter, and if you’re eating more than you burn you’re never going to get ripped. Please don’t mistake this as my advocating a low fat diet. That’s just as bad, if not worse, than eating too much fat. A bare minimum of 20% of your calories should come from healthy fats like pastured egg yolks, wild caught salmon, grass fed beef and coconut oil to ensure optimal health. Just be careful about going overboard with it and thinking that low carbs automatically leads to single digit body-fat. You still need to keep a handle on things like total calories.

4)You’re Not Eating Enough Protein

In my experience it’s usually only females who are guilty of this but guys can make this mistake on occasion as well. The average female who can’t lose body-fat usually eats a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast with an egg. One… single… egg.

Then she’ll have a sandwich for lunch with four ounces of lean turkey. For dinner it will be a salad with low fat dressing and four ounces of chicken or fish. Although, in all honesty they may skip the protein all together and just have a salad for either lunch or dinner. Let’s assume she weighs 135 pounds. Most experts would agree that she would need to consume at least 100 grams of protein per day, if not a gram per pound, which would equal 135 grams. Each ounce of protein is around 4.5 grams of protein. So in this example she had 36 grams combined with lunch and dinner plus the six grams from the egg. So that’s a total of 42 grams, which falls just a wee bit shy of where she needs to be.

Females often freak out when you tell them to eat more than six ounces of protein at a sitting but when you break down the numbers for them and reveal just how many calories they’re eating it should make more sense. If they had eight ounces of protein three times per day it would 108 grams of protein. That’s only 432 total calories. Add in the fat and it’s still not that much.

People who eat a sufficient amount of protein usually end up having an easier time getting ripped than those who don’t. Make sure you’re getting enough.

5) You’re Drinking Too Many Protein Shakes

There are two problems associated with drinking shakes when you’re trying to get ripped. First of all, whey protein can raise insulin levels, as I have been telling people since the mid 90’s. If you’re trying to get lean you don’t want insulin to be flowing like the Nile all day. You want a nice insulin surge post workout but the rest of the day you want it under control. That’s why The Renegade Diet limits the intake of whey protein to very small amounts during most of the day and only allows a larger amount post workout or at night.

The second problem with drinking too many shakes is that they are so easy to digest that you don’t really burn any calories when you eat them. When you chew down some salmon and broccoli your body works harder to digest that food and you burn more calories during the digestion process. When you drink something that is so easily digested, like a protein shake, your body does almost no work in the process.

So, when getting ripped is your main goal, limit your shake intake and chew as many calories as you can.

6) Your Liver is Over Stressed

This is usually the last thing people think of when embarking on a fat loss diet but it can sometimes be the most important. Everything that goes into or on your body has to be processed by the liver. That means all food, alcohol, suntan lotion, environmental pollutants, etc. If you are constantly exposing yourself to this kind of stuff and overstressing the liver fat loss will be much more difficult to come by. Cut out booze, stop eating grain-fed, chemical laden meat and incorporate some regular periods of intermittent fasting to give the liver a break and you will find your rate of fat loss is noticeably faster.

7) You’re Eating Nuts

I love nuts. I mean, who doesn’t? Give me a bag of pistachios or cashews and I won’t look up till the whole thing’s gone. The problem is nuts have a ton of calories. When you’re dieting for fat loss the rules are usually the opposite of those followed by skinny hardgainers trying to gain size. Those guys want the most calorically dense foods possible. Fat loss dieters do not. You’re better off filling up on nutritionally dense foods that don’t pack a lot of calories, like green vegetables. If you’re dieting you need to limit your nut consumption to about ten almonds per serving. No too many people can eat ten almonds. Most people eat ten handfuls. If you are strictly tracking and calculating everything all day and you want to load up on nuts at certain times I suppose you could but I wouldn’t recommend it. Nuts can be very problematic for a lot of people, especially those with digestive or auto immune issues. As Paleo Solution author Robb Wolf has noted, nuts should be used the same way you use condiments- sparingly.

I should also add, and this is strictly my opinion, meaning it has NOT been proven and posted on Pubmed… nut butters seem to be easier for most people to digest than actual whole nuts. Just something to consider.

8) You’re Eating Fruit

“What?! You’re telling people not to eat fruit!? Everyone knows that it’s impossible to get fat from eating too much fruit!”

Yeah, yeah I know, that’s why physique competitors eat so much fruit and why all fat loss experts who specialize in getting people shredded recommend such high quantities of it. In our hunter gatherer days fruit was nothing like what you see in the supermarket today. Berries were small, dark and bitter; not the huge sugar sacks most people consume these days. Don’t get me wrong, fruit is healthy and can be eaten by lean individuals in limited amounts but any type of excessive fructose (a sugar found in fruit) consumption will lead to fat loss. Fructose can only be processed by the liver and once liver glycogen stores are full the excess gets converted to triglycerides and stored as body-fat. If you want to get ripped cut fruit completely for a while or limit it to one to two small servings per day. Just be sure to really up the vegetable consumption so you can keep your vital nutrient uptake where it needs to be.

9) You’re Not Training Heavy

When you want to lose body-fat the first inclination is often to crank up the reps and cut the rest periods. I actually have no problem with fairly low rest periods. But not if you’re used to resting three minutes between sets and all of the sudden cut them down to thirty seconds because you decided it was time to get shredded you’ll be in trouble. That never works. All that happens is your weights start plummeting on every exercise and you get weaker and smaller. High reps have the same effect.

When dieting, the primary role of strength training is to maintain muscle mass. That is the single most important thing. Don’t use it as your primary “fat burning” activity… UNLESS you are seriously overweight. If you need to lose more than fifty pounds or so that would probably be fine (although please don’t ever do any of the bullshit you see on those fat camp TV shows). Females can actually get something out of metcon workouts in the right situation as well. The caveat, however, is that that they need to be strong and actually have some muscle mass. If you take a weak female with no muscle and give her a silly metcon circuit she won’t usually get much out of it because she’s too weak to produce enough force. Females should get strong first before they attempt that type of training.

If you’re a guy and are trying to lose 10-20 pounds of body-fat without losing all your muscle mass in the process you should use strength training as a way to maintain size and strength; nothing more, nothing less. So the same principles that helped you get big and strong apply when dieting. Keep the reps low and the resistance high.

10) You’re Overdoing Cardio

Traditional forms of cardio are largely useless for fat loss. But useless is even okay, it’s when it starts to be counterproductive that we have a real problem. Excessive amounts of cardio lead to an overproduction of cortisol which leads to more abdominal fat and numerous health problems. If you want to do cardio that won’t actually hurt you and could do you some good, go for a long walk. No self respecting man should ever be spotted on an elliptical machine.

Sled work builds muscle, burns fat and is irreplaceable

11) You’re Not Running Sprints or Doing Sled Work

Dieting is the most important thing for fat loss. After that you should be doing some form of strength training to maintain your muscle mass. When you have those to things dialed in you’ll want to add in some type of sprinting or sled work. There is nothing more effective for fat loss. See all wide receivers, defensive backs, sprinters, soccer players, etc. for proof. Two or three 20-40 minute sprint or sled sessions per week will be enough for most people.

Don’t have a sled? Get one HERE.

12) You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep

When you’re short on sleep your insulin sensitivity decreases and your cortisol goes up. Both things lead to less than optimal fat loss. You also miss out on the critically important Growth Hormone boost that comes each night during deep sleep. If you want to lose more fat you have to get more sleep. Most people will ignore this and some of you are probably reading this at 2am. Unfortunately this just might be the most important thing on the whole list. More sleep improves EVERYTHING. Make it a priority.

If you liked this post do me a huge favor and hit the Facebook Like button and share it with anyone you think would be interested.

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Thanks to my friend Kevin Kuzia for the appropriate quote to announce the arrival of the brand new Renegade Nation T-shirts.

They’re here in limited quantities and available with free shipping through Monday.

Get yours today and fly the black flag proudly.

Get some, get some, go again…

(Sorry, no orders outside the US. That means no Canada either, eh)

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Blend 1 cup mixed frozen berries and cherries with 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 cup of full fat coconut milk. It depends how thick you want it and the power of your blender, the protein powder you use, etc. But I like it to be really thick like pudding so you can eat it with a spoon. So you may need more or less coconut [...]]]> I’ve been on a kick with this dessert as of late and figured I’d share it with The Renegade Nation.

Blend 1 cup mixed frozen berries and cherries with 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 cup of full fat coconut milk. It depends how thick you want it and the power of your blender, the protein powder you use, etc. But I like it to be really thick like pudding so you can eat it with a spoon. So you may need more or less coconut milk.

In accordance with The Renegade Diet rules fruit/fructose consumption is limited to 1-2 servings per day and only allowed post workout or at night. This is my last meal of the night so it fits the bill. Occasionally I will have a second serving of fruit per day but really haven’t been doing so too often as of late.

This is an awesome healthy dessert but be warned that the fat content in the coconut milk can easily put you over the top of your caloric or fat intake limit for the day so make sure to keep an eye on that. If you know you are going to have this for dessert it would be wise to trim down the fat intake at other times.

If you’re a skinny maggot hardgainer who never gets fat and need some extra carbs I’d imagine you could put a few scoops of rice or potato starch in it. I haven’t tried it yet so you’d be on your own with that one.

Anyway, that’s it, simple, quick and damn tasty.

Let me know how you like it.

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Fuck bulking and cutting.

Clearer?

The concept of bulking and cutting is old school bullshit that went out with fanny packs and jean shorts. For the initiated it means that you eat like crap for several months while training hard and heavy. The theory behind it is that it’s impossible to gain large amounts of muscle mass without getting fat in the process. So you accept [...]]]> I’ve covered this topic before but judging by some of the questions I receive I may not have been clear enough. So I’m gonna try it again…

Fuck bulking and cutting.

Clearer?

The concept of bulking and cutting is old school bullshit that went out with fanny packs and jean shorts. For the initiated it means that you eat like crap for several months while training hard and heavy. The theory behind it is that it’s impossible to gain large amounts of muscle mass without getting fat in the process. So you accept a bunch of fat gain along with the additional muscle during the bulking phase then you switch over into “cutting” mode and diet off all the fat.

What’s supposed to happen is that you gain thirty pounds during a bulk, ten of which will be fat, and then during the cutting phase you lose all the fat and keep 90% or more of the muscle. If you bulked for four months and then cut for four months you would theoretically end up gaining about fifteen pounds of lean muscle at the end of eight months. For a natural guy who has been training properly for more than 3-5 years this would be HUGE.

Unfortunately it never works out that way. We all wish it were that easy, but it just aint. If bulking and cutting worked so well there would be far fewer supplement ads because people would be easily achieving the results they wanted. In that case there wouldn’t be as many desperate dudes looking for the solution to their problems for these companies to advertise to.

What Really Happens During Bulking & Cutting

What really happens during a bulking phase is that you gain at least as much fat as you do muscle. That’s usually the best case scenario. More often than not people actually gain more fat than muscle during a 12-16 week bulk. Instead of the hoped for twenty pound muscle gain along with just ten pounds of fat it turns out to be twenty pounds of fat with ten pounds of muscle.

Even if it was 50/50 at the end of your bulk phase you still only end up with maybe an additional two to five pounds of muscle eight months later. For a guy who has been training for more than five years that’s a very good gain but getting fat in the process isn’t necessary or smart.

A smarter approach would be to aim for slower gains while staying lean throughout the whole process. At the end of the year you will still end up making the same progress but having not had to go through the fat-ass phase.

When you allow yourself to get fatter you not only increase the size of your fat cells but there is also evidence showing that you can increase the number of fat cells you have. This means that it will forever be easier to get fat again and harder to get lean. So basically one or two “bulk” phases gone awry and you’re fucked for life.

As many people have said before, the best way to get lean is to never get fat in the first place.

What About Former Fat Powerlifters Who Got Jacked?

This isn’t my first foray onto the internet, however, and I know that people like to argue. So allow me to address the former powerlifter example.

There are plenty of cases of former 275-300 plus pound powerlifters who have slowly dieted down, over the course of 12-36 months, and ended up looking incredible. Some of them are friends of mine.

But before you get too excited about this possibility let me point out what some may be overlooking…

You can’t simply eat burgers and pizza every day for the next twelve months and expect to look like one of the fattest guys in The Worlds Strongest Man. No, no, no. That won’t happen by a long shot. No matter how much you eat, and even how many drugs you take, you can only build muscle so fast. If you’ve been training properly for more than three to five years muscle growth will come at a snails pace regardless of what you do. So at the end of a one year bulk that gets you up to 275 you will look like someone on one of those weight loss shows; far more sloppy and obese than muscular and imposing.

To eat and train your way up to a legitimate 250-275 pounds (without being an obese slob, but still pretty fat) will take most people a decade, bare minimum (if it was physically possible for you at all). Then you will have to remain there for another several years just to kind of lock that weight in so your body knows that that is a normal condition to exist in. At that point you can start the process of very, very slowly dieting down over the course of several months. This could take over a year in some cases. The end result, after 10-20 years of hard work is that you will be one of the biggest, most jacked dudes in your neighborhood at a rock solid 220 or so.

Now you just have to ask yourself if you’re willing to spend all those years walking around looking like an offensive lineman and pounding down 6,000 calories per day or if you’d be happier with a smarter, slower, healthier approach.

I prefer and recommend the latter. I’ve done the old school bulking and cutting nonsense. I don’t have anyone do it anymore.

Get Lean Once & Stay Lean Forever

Staying lean is very important to your health and performance. Getting fat is unhealthy and decreases your performance.

My advice is to get down to around 15% body-fat or lower and remain there when trying to gain size. When your body-fat is 15% or lower while training and eating for size a greater portion of the weight you gain will be muscle. If you are fat get lean first before you start focusing on muscle gain because most of the weight you gain will be fat. So lose the excess fat first. Your body will be more anabolic.

Once you are lean enough to start a muscle building diet make sure to be smart about it. Stick with primarily healthy foods and don’t go overboard on the calories. You definitely need to bring in more calories than you burn, but not inordinately more than that.

Let’s assume you have been training for a few years and that the absolute most weight you could gain would be two pounds of muscle per month. For those beyond the newbie stage this would be an enormous gain at the end of the year but we’ll be optimistic and go with it. If we assume that it takes an additional 3500 calories per week to gain a pound of muscle how many extra calories per day do you honestly think you need?

I failed math and my calculator’s broken so I’ll wait while you break out yours.

The point is that if your maintenance caloric intake is 2600 you definitely don’t need to eat 5,000 calories per day. Take measurements, watch the scale, the mirror and your weight room numbers and adjust up or down accordingly. If you get to the point where you can’t buckle your pants you’re on the wrong path. If your shirt sleeves are getting tighter you’re usually on the right path.

The most effective plan to help you get this done is The Renegade Diet. The countdown to it’s release is on…

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Hey gents. Good bunch of questions here that Big Jay asked me to respond to:

First up, not all fish oil is created equal. Not by a long shot. The absolute market leader in high quality fish oil (and they have been for years, there is a reason why you will NEVER find them discounted beyond a few $, even via their largest retailer, amazon) is Nordic Naturals. Specifically, their Ultimate Omega product. [...]]]> I asked Chris Ashenden to answer some questions about the new Omega 3 product we introduced yesterday. Here’s Chris…

Hey gents. Good bunch of questions here that Big Jay asked me to respond to:

First up, not all fish oil is created equal. Not by a long shot. The absolute market leader in high quality fish oil (and they have been for years, there is a reason why you will NEVER find them discounted beyond a few $, even via their largest retailer, amazon) is Nordic Naturals. Specifically, their Ultimate Omega product. Compare their pricing for Ultimate Omega vs their own template standard product (Omega) and you will see what happens when you start cranking up the quality and concentration of the good stuff.

Quality costs more.

We set out to find (and ideally beat) the Ultimate Omega product. I think we did that, but I invite you to make your own decision. To aid in that process, we compiled a competitor comparison chart, using only products that had a 4.5/5 star product review on amazon.

We listed out the things that we think matter in choosing a fish oil, then broke it down by combined EPA/DHA per serving, then pricing out – at straight apples for apples – the cost per 100mg of DHA.

Quality costs more. Purity costs more. Wild caught small fish costs more. Ensuring sustainable practices costs more. Extra testing (and throwing shit away that doesn’t pass) costs more.

Whether that purity and quality matter to you is a question of your own choice and your own priorities. Don’t care if it is un-concentrated crap from farmed salmon fed a corn diet that makes the salmon so unhealthy that those farmed salmon have to have PINK DYE INJECTED just so they don’t look GREY and they can LOOK like salmon?? Knock yourself out on the cheap stuff (I give my budget recommendation on the chart given below), personally, I will pass.

All I ask in that comparing us to any other product, you go down the checklist we have on that chart to see what you are paying for, then get out a hand calculator and break it all down, and then compare apples to apples. Note my comments below each of our competitor categories. This link will get you to the chart, scroll down, voila.

We operate on a direct from manufacturer basis. We are not playing the usual game where YOU are paying 20-25% for a distributor, nor a we playing retail where YOU would be paying the further 30-50% requested by retailers.

To put that in perspective, we could make more money by selling 1/4 as many bottles, for a full retail price, but direct to end user.

Instead, at least for now, we are keeping the same model we used from day one with Athletic Greens, offering you direct from manufacturer pricing, for an absolute premium product. We pass all those savings directly on to you for one reason – we want you to get results, and we want to keep you as a customer for a really long time. We are trying to cut the bullshit that goes along with so many supplements.

We set out to match the QUALITY of Ultimate Omega by Nordic Naturals, but with a direct to you business model, can get that to you at between 30 and 50% OFF the cheapest price you will get the same quality product, anywhere else.

I think we did that. The world class fitness rock stars that we snuck out samples to for the last few months agree with me, Big Jay included.

But that is our opinion. You be the judge.

Cheers,
Kiwi

Click HERE for more info on Omega 3.

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In my mind this makes them an essential supplement that [...]]]> For as long as I can remember I’ve taken Omega 3 fish oils because they are quite simply one of the top five most effective supplements in existence. When I take on a new client or make supplement recommendations to anyone Omega 3′s are one of the first things I put them on. Omega 3′s provide us with EFA’s (essential fatty acids) which we really can’t get elsewhere unless we eat a ton of salmon and sardines on a regular basis.

In my mind this makes them an essential supplement that I think everyone should be on.

Unless you have been cryogenically frozen for the last ten years you have surely read about all of their endless benefits by now so I’m not going to rehash all of them but here are just a few:

• Reduction of inflammation
• Fight heart attack and stroke
• Fight Alzheimer’s and helps improve memory and IQ
• Provide blood-thinning benefits
• Improve mood and fights depression
• Benefit joints and cartilage health – LESS PAIN
• Improve blood pressure and cholesterol
• Balance hormones – MORE ENERGY
• May extend telomere length for life extension

Aside from the countless health benefits Omega 3′s also help in the muscle building and fat loss process.

I have experimented with different brands over the years but for the most part I wasn’t able to share or recommend the brands I most often used because they weren’t available to the general public. I got them through doctor friends of mine or through companies who only provided their formulations to high level athletes and coaches.

But all that has finally changed. For the last several months my friend Chris the Kiwi, the big dog behind Athletic Greens, has been sending me their brand new Omega 3 supplement to use personally and with some of my clients and I’ve got to say that I have been absolutely loving it. The quality and purity is unmatched.

He set out with the goal of making an Omega 3 that was better than the current market leader… and he surpassed his goals.

If you know Chris you know he does not skimp on things and that purity and quality are of the utmost importance to him. Chris refuses to allow anything to enter his body if it’s not 100% high quality, all natural stuff. Our common interest in supreme health is one of the things that led to the formation of our friendship.

Anyway, for the last 4-6 months I’ve been hounding Chris on a weekly basis because I couldn’t wait for him to make his Omega 3 available to the general public so I could announce it to the Renegade Nation and get all you guys on it.

Well, that day has finally come. Omega 3is here and ready for you to order right now. And when you see the way it stacks up against all other products on the market you will be VERY impressed.

When you see the price you’ll be ecstatic.

It’s the only Omega 3 supplement I will ever use and give to my clients and family members.

I think every member of The Renegade Nation should do the same.

Click HERE now to check it out and get your hands on a bottle today.

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The first, most basic progression of the front lever simply involves holding yourself parallel to the ground in a fetal position with your back rounded and your knees on your chest. Do that 3-6 times per week for 3 sets of 10-15 [...]]]> Longtime readers know how much I have always loved and promoted bodyweight exercises. Renegade Inner Circle members know how much I love gymnastic holds such as the front lever. I believe this should be part of everyone’s training arsenal and is an incredible lat exercise that is nearly unmatched.

The first, most basic progression of the front lever simply involves holding yourself parallel to the ground in a fetal position with your back rounded and your knees on your chest. Do that 3-6 times per week for 3 sets of 10-15 seconds until it becomes easy. Then move on to the next level which I have demonstrated below. The difference here is that you try to keep your back flatter and extend your knees away from your chest so that they are bent 90 degrees. The arms should be straight and you should be pushing down toward your feet like you were doing a straight arm pulldown. You will feel your lats like you never have before and will probably even notice a difference in the way they look within your first 4-6 weeks of using the front lever regularly. Take it slow and steady on these. Don’t be in any kind of rush to progress too fast.

Another cool variation of the front lever can be used to make inverted rows more challenging. If you’re dominating your inverted rows and don’t have any chains or a weight vest to throw on you could always try removing your legs from the ground entirely. Simply get into the front lever tuck position and row yourself up. The easier version is done on a straight bar and is demonstrated below by Jen. Obviously the drawback here is the limited range of motion. But it’s still a great exercise.

The harder version is done on rings which I have demonstrated in the second video. Start by leaning back closer to an upside down position and as they get easier flatten yourself out closer to parallel with the ground.

Both of these exercises can be done on rings or the Jungle Gym XT.

Let me know how it works out for you and if you have any questions drop them below.

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As a strength coach, one thing that I always try to make sure I do is to learn from the best.

That is why last month, I traveled (once again) up to New Jersey to learn from one of the guys who originally got me in this industry and I turn to frequently for information to help take my coaching, and my clients and athletes results up another notch.

Sure, I could join his Inner Circle (I did), and just read his blog posts (I have been for 3+ years [...]]]> By David Claiborne

As a strength coach, one thing that I always try to make sure I do is to learn from the best.

That is why last month, I traveled (once again) up to New Jersey to learn from one of the guys who originally got me in this industry and I turn to frequently for information to help take my coaching, and my clients and athletes results up another notch.

Sure, I could join his Inner Circle (I did), and just read his blog posts (I have been for 3+ years now), and say that he has nothing more to offer or attending his seminar would have been a waste of money, but those would have just been excuses.

Instead I along with one of my coaches took the journey from Houston, TX all the way up to NJ to attend Jason’s Renegade Training Workshop.

I’ve been to other seminars, but each one is always different, so I didn’t quite no what to expect.

When we first rolled into Renegade Gym on Saturday morning, you could tell it was different than all the other training centers, gyms, warehouse gyms, etc. that are out there. This place didn’t just have everything you could ever want to get the best results in your training, but it absolutely reeked of hard work, effort, and mental toughness.

It had everything needed to make you better, including the best strength equipment available, ropes and rings hanging from holes in the ceiling, signs warning you that you better have come to work, and the walls were covered with sayings, banners, records, and old school hip-hop record sleeves. It had that essence that you were going to train harder and be better than everyone else, just from being in that facility.

After taking in the atmosphere, I looked around and saw that everyone was standing around trying to finish the last of their coffee, introducing themselves to each other, and looking like deer in headlights wondering just how much training and pain they were in store for.

Instead we got things kicked off with a brief introduction, some background on Jay and the Renegade programming, and things he never does when training himself and clients.

It was awesome seeing the reach that Jay and the Renegade lifestyle has, as there were people who made the trip from not just all over the United States, but even came in from Canada.

Then it was time to get warm and start moving…

The Renegade definition of warm-up was more in-depth than any other seminar I had ever attended. We spent upwards of 2-3 hours cranking out tons of stretches, mobility drills, and progressions that I had never experienced before.

We not only worked on basic mobility movements, but Jason explained with his fiancée Jen demonstrating, how to scale these exercises up and down based on where you or your clients/athletes are mobility wise.

We took short breaks to write stuff down and by the end of the mobility session, it looked like everyone had just spent an hour in a sauna with how sweaty we were.

It was by far the most warmed up I’ve ever been, and we took a quick break for lunch so we could get back, go over assessments for yourself and clients, and get to training.

After lunch, Jason had invited one of his good friends Keith Scott to come and speak for an hour about assessments and how to implement them into your own training and the training of your clients.

He did an excellent job and helped explain mobility issues and how to fix certain common issues so people can train healthier and stay injury free.

Now came the part everyone was waiting for…

It was time to train!

We got things kicked off with another brief warm-up that had everyone sweating, mobile, and ready to roll.

We started with some explosive med ball throws and 1-arm dumbbell snatches to get the body primed and ready to move some weights, then we went straight into overhead pressing technique.

We broke up into 3 groups and got to work. We wanted to work up to a heavy set of 3-5 using good form while allowing the legs to generate enough power to get the bar moving.

I finished off the lift with 225 and then it was time to bench.

Before everyone started benching, Jason and his brother Jared taught the proper bench technique including everything from how to set up, where the bar should touch the chest, the bar path during the entire press, and where your grip, arms, and elbows should be during the entire movement.

We then split back up into groups and got after it. We were instructed to work up to a heavy single.

After not benching for 3 months, just hammering overhead press, and push-up variations I was able to get 335 x 1. I probably had some more left in the tank, but made too big of a jump and failed at 365. Not as bad as I thought spending that much time away from the bar.

Chase Karnes, a strongman in my group who also hadn’t benched in 5-6 months crushed 365 and probably could have done more.

Here is a video of him destroying it-

It was getting late after everyone finished up benching, so we moved onto the bodyweight movements.

Jason showed us over 10 different push-up variations and how to apply them to our training. He even showed us different variations using blast straps/rings, and sliders.

Then we spent the last part of the evening working through 1-arm push-up progressions. This was awesome as it gave everyone a starting point and progressions to work towards performing a legit 1-arm push-up.

Watching one of the biggest guys there crank out 1 armed push-ups after learning the progressions was definitely a great way to end the training for the day.

Check out his video of him crushing them -

So after a great day of learning and training, everyone went back to the hotel to change, shower, and head up to a restaurant to get a well deserved dinner and a few drinks in.

A few of us stayed later than most including Jason and we sat around picking his brain on training, business, and just talking.

Sunday morning we arrived back at Renegade for a lower body session, and with how sore most people said they were from the day before, we knew it we were in for some fun.

After another brief warm-up including wall walks, and other bodyweight movements that typical warm-ups don’t include, we got things started by performing 3 different types of plyo jumps.

We spit into groups and spent time at each station performing box jumps, box squat jumps, and hurdle jumps, with Jason walking around correcting form and offering feed back (him and his staff did this the entire seminar which was definitely awesome).

Staying in our groups we then learned the technique for the barbell high-pull, when to use it, and why he prefers this movement over the conventional clean for most clients and athletes.

A few quick sets on that then we started squatting.

Jay went over again squat form and technique, explained why most people don’t have the mobility to squat wearing shoes like Vibrams or New Balance Minimus, and while walking around watching people squat, would point out why in a real life setting.

Working up to a heavy single, I went 455×1, which felt really good.

You can check out the video here –

Probably could have kept working up, but I was there more to learn and not max out, and everyone really wanted to get into deadlifts, assistance exercises, and some prowler fun.

We got started on deadlifts off platforms/mats (4-6”) and again Jay stopped everyone to explain why he recommends these and how they work just as well as conventional deadlifts, but are safer.

Again working up to a heavy single there was some serious weight being pulled and I ended up hitting 585 for a single. I was shocked that I pulled it since I haven’t done any type of deadlift other than Trapbar in over a year.

Again Chase smoked the deadlift and here is a video of him pulling 635 for 1 -

So now that the big lifts were over, it was time for some fun…

We took a quick break and then got right into a bodyweight assistance circuit to hit some weaknesses and get extra work in.

It consisted of 2” wall rope climbs, where your feet are pushed up on a box and you raise and lower yourself up and down the rope keeping your body entirely straight.

Rope climbs for max reps, then head straight over and perform 10 reps on each leg of single leg bench squats with Jason and his staff showing the proper way to perform these so you don’t risk injuring your knee. After the squats, you head straight to L-Sits for 30 seconds on dip bars.

Then after a brief rest you repeated all of the above for a total of 3 rounds.

This was not the finisher, but instead just a general assistance circuit. For most people there, it seemed like a finisher, but after catching our breath, Jason pulled out the prowlers and it was time to give it all you had left in the tank.

The finisher consisted of prowler pushes (1-trip), medball slams (10), and 1 arm KB Swings (10 each arm) – 4 rounds.

What a great way to finish. Everyone gave the last bit of strength and energy they had to push through it. The entire time Public Enemy was blasting on the speakers, and Jay and his staff was coaching and motivating everyone to finish.

Once everyone got their senses back and could walk again, Jason pulled us all together again to say a few last words and thank us all for coming.

Most people hung around for 10-20 minutes afterwards to talk with him and others and it was definitely a great experience and was worth every penny, the journey from Texas, and braving the bitter NJ cold.

I definitely plan on going back to the next one he offers and I know that after attending, every athlete and client I train, is going to get better results from that 2 day seminar as well.

Thanks again Jason for taking the time out of your schedule to put this on and look forward to the next one!

David Claiborne (DC)

PS. The next Renegade Strength & Conditioning Workshop, scheduled for February 25th & 26th at Renegade Gym in NJ is now sold out. Hope to see you at the next one!

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• About

Register before February 1st during our early bird special and you’ll save a hundred bucks.

The last one sold out in less than a week so I can’t make any promises for those who procrastinate.

Click HERE for more info and to register now. Related Posts: Events Disclaimer Introducing Rampage 2.0 Renegade Inner Circle Updates- 7/11 Inner Circle Updates- 5/15/10 666 Strength & Mass Phase 1 is Here Online Coaching Application Gaining Muscle & Losing Fat [...]]]> We’re excited to announce that the next Renegade Strength & Conditioning Workshop has been set for February 25th and 26th at Renegade Gym in Watchung, NJ.

Register before February 1st during our early bird special and you’ll save a hundred bucks.

The last one sold out in less than a week so I can’t make any promises for those who procrastinate.

Click HERE for more info and to register now.

Related Posts:

• Events
• Disclaimer
• Introducing Rampage 2.0
• Renegade Inner Circle Updates- 7/11
• Inner Circle Updates- 5/15/10
• 666 Strength & Mass Phase 1 is Here
• Online Coaching Application
• Gaining Muscle & Losing Fat at the Same Time: Is it Possible
• 9 Quick Tips For Bigger Arms
• Training: Renegade Style

Maybe it was your fault or maybe it wasn’t.

Maybe your dad died or you got fired or divorced.

Thing is, none of that matters now. You don’t have to forget any of the hardships you endured but you do need to leave them behind you. Sitting around thinking about what was or what could have been does no one any good.

When my step dad, Ed, died a few years ago it seemed like all I could do [...]]]> Maybe you screwed up last year. You showed signs of weakness or lost your way.

Maybe it was your fault or maybe it wasn’t.

Maybe your dad died or you got fired or divorced.

Thing is, none of that matters now. You don’t have to forget any of the hardships you endured but you do need to leave them behind you. Sitting around thinking about what was or what could have been does no one any good.

When my step dad, Ed, died a few years ago it seemed like all I could do for the next few weeks was sit around in a deep depression. I was emotionally crippled until one day my mom told me that, “Ed would never want to see you like this. Life is for the living. Unfortunately, as harsh as it sounds, Ed is gone and isn’t coming back. But you’re here and need to keep living your life. That’s what he would want.”

The next day I got back to Hustlemania, set some new goals and started pursuing them with relentless aggression.

I still keep a picture of Ed next to my bed and look at it every morning. But the sadness is gone. It has to be. Any negative emotion you harbor, be it sadness, jealousy or anger, will only take you further away from living the life you truly want.

Trust me, I know. I had some minor anger issues for many years when I was a lot younger due to certain childhood circumstances. All it ever did was hold me back in life. Nowadays the anger is gone. Sure, I’m still human and something could piss me off once in a blue moon, but it will take a hell of a lot more than it used to. And in the rare case that it happens I’m over it in literally two minutes.

Because of that I’m happier, healthier and more successful.

2012 is here. It’s a brand new year. It’s a chance to do things your way, to take control of your life, to achieve new goals and live on your own terms.

We all screw up. We all have obstacles to overcome. And no one is lucky enough to escape some sort of tragedy or death in the family that has a deep effect on us.

But we have to keep moving forward. It’s the only choice.

I spent years of my life living in the past. Missing “the good old days” or wishing I had done this or that, full of regret. I can tell you from experience that it’s no way to live.

From the Outhouse to the Penthouse & Back Again

In 1994 I made $200 a week training people.

By 1996 I finally had an athlete to train. But just one.

In 2001 I was booked around the clock, had close to a hundred athletes per day in my training facility and was making more money than I ever dreamed of.

In 2006, after more than a decade running a very successful six figure training business I was told that the building my gym was in was being sold and that we had six months to find a new location. After searching desperately, hiring a lawyer, going through zoning board meetings, and a whole bunch of other nonsense, six months came and went, and I was forced to close down.

It was one of the darkest hours of my life and I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dave Tate and Alwyn Cosgrove for helping me get through it. Luckily my friend, John Alvino, opened his place a few weeks later and we were able to transition a lot of people over there and keep Renegade alive.

However, I had taken a hit. More than half of my clients couldn’t make the drive. Even though my income was cut by 50% I still kept spending money like MC Hammer.

Dinner at Nobu? Call the crew, it’s on me.

Vegas for the weekend? Get the penthouse suite.

Since I no longer had the twelve hour a day commitment of running Renegade on my own I decided to move into New York City for a while. It was something I always wanted to do and seemed like it would be a nice break.

Seven months later, after going out to five star restaurants, bars, clubs and lounges six to seven nights a week I was out of cash… and by out of cash I mean completely broke. You party like a rock star with reckless abandon for 10-12 years straight and it will eventually catch up with you.

I was young and dumb and have no excuses. When younger friends of mine start making good money I always pull them aside and tell them my story and to not be like me.

About this time in 2006 there was an average of ten bucks in my pocket on any given day, just enough to buy gas and bagels. In one of the most humiliating moments of my life I had to call my mom and ask if I could move into her spare room for a while.

Talk about depressed….

How I Turned it All Around

Six years later I’m residing on the beach in Santa Monica, California, running multiple successful businesses, have one of the most visited blogs in all of strength and conditioning, am helping hundreds of thousands of people, doing what I want, the way I want and literally loving every waking second of my existence. My life could honestly not be any better.

Now before some of you tell me to go fuck myself, let me assure you that I only share this with you for no other reason than the fact that I believe, in my little pea brain, that it proves anything is possible.

I have no special skills. I do nothing exceptionally well, naturally. I was a D+ to C- student, at best and got under 900 on my SAT’s. In other words I’m far from the smartest guy in the room.

I’m also easily distracted, have a short attention span and, for many years of my life, always looked at the glass as half empty.

On top of that I had zero self confidence as a kid.

That’s why I got into strength training. That’s probably why many of us do. I was sick of being smaller and weaker than everyone else and the threat of being pummeled into oblivion constantly looming over my head.

Over the course of many years I not only got bigger and stronger but I developed the self confidence to know that I could do anything I wanted in life. I went from doubting everything I ever did to knowing, without question, that I could dominate. The strength I gained in the weight room was so much more than physical. It changed me mentally and emotionally and made me the man I am today. It transformed me into someone who isn’t afraid to take on any challenge and knows that victory is the only possible outcome.

That, and that alone, is why I think everyone should do some form of strength training. Until you experience it for yourself you may think it’s all just an act in vanity or silly nonsense, but when you see the change it can make in people like me and the thousands of others I’ve worked with you realize that it’s probably the single greatest thing a person can do for themselves.

Armed with the self confidence the iron bestowed upon me I set out to make some serious changes. The only thing I had going for me naturally was an inhuman work ethic and a burning desire to get better. I knew there were things I didn’t like about myself and I wanted to change them. I had to get focused and more disciplined… so I did just that.

When I was sitting alone rotting in my mom’s spare bedroom I had a dream of moving to Southern California. I hate cold weather and I hate driving. I wanted to live on the beach in a town where I rarely had to drive anywhere. So setting the goal of living on the beach in Santa Monica was pretty much a no brainer.

Instead of wishing or asking the universe or whatever they do in the Secret I decided that I would make it happen by working my ass off, surrounding myself with the right people and creating a routine of daily success habits.

I set specific goals, gave myself a deadline and promised myself that I would not fail.

Everyone Needs a Support Team

Along the way I got a lot of help and great advice from my friends Craig Ballantyne, Alwyn Cosgrove and Dave Tate. Those three guys have made a huge impact on my career and I would never have achieved the level of success I have in life without them. My mom was also always there for me in ways I couldn’t even begin to count.

Over the last four and a half years I couldn’t have done a third of what I’ve done without the love and support of the best girl in the world, my partner in crime, business and life, Jen Grasso. I’m not sure the word “take” is even a part of her vocabulary. She only knows “give,” and asks nothing in return. I couldn’t be more blessed or grateful to have her in my life.

We all need a support system. No one can do it alone. In fact, social support is one of the biggest benefits of The Renegade Inner Circle, and is why the members achieve their goals faster than those who try to take the solo route.

Cut the Dead Weight

I cut out all the deadbeats in my life and now associate only with positive thinking, hard working winners.

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve known someone or even if they are related to you. If they’re a negative force they’re gone. You need to cut them loose, no matter how hard that may be. I did it. All the other successful people in the world did it. You have to do it.

Shit talkers… gone.

Complainers… gone.

Depressed or depressing people… gone.

Jealous people… gone.

Pessimistic people… gone.

People who are forever broke… gone.

People who doubt your dreams… gone.

People who say, “It must be nice”… gone.

People who always put a negative spin on everything… gone.

People who use the phrases, “I hope,” “I’ll try,” “Hopefully”… gone.

People with a major aversion to risk taking… gone.

Who you spend time and associate with is literally one of the most important decisions you can ever make. You become the sum of the people you surround yourself with.

Any negativity that is around you will, over time, seep into your brain and change the way you look at things and decrease your chances of success.

This, I promise you.

Want to lift heavier weights? Train with stronger people.

Want to make more money? Spend time with rich people.

Want to be a better person? Spend time with good, positive people who are void of jealousy, hatred and bitterness.

It’s a very simple formula yet so many people overlook it.

When you are positive and in the right mind state good things just seem to happen. Opportunities present themselves that wouldn’t otherwise.

That may sound like some weird, existential hokey bullshit but it’s 100% true.

If you’re staying in a job you hate simply for the benefits you need to start spending more time with more successful people. Insurance costs about $400-$500 a month. Do you really think your happiness is worth that? Do you really think that if it honestly meant that much to you that you wouldn’t somehow find a way to make that money back?

Work where you want to work.

Live where you want to live.

Do what you want to do.

Not taking a risk is often the biggest risk you can take and will lead to a lifetime of regrets.

What I did to achieve success is nothing. There are people who truly had to endure real hardship and struggles and have gone on to be some of the most successful people on the planet.

Get Your Mind Right

I always thought that rah-rah success talk was corny and clichéd. I downplayed the importance of goal setting and mindset. Because of that nothing in my life was as good as it could have been. Not my training, not my business, not my relationships… nothing.

So as corny or clichéd as you may think it sounds I want everyone to start off the year knowing that literally anything is possible. There is nothing you can’t do if you get your head right and are willing to work your ass off.

But it’s not just working hard. There a plenty of people who do that. It’s all about working smart.

I will be back later in the week with a bullet point checklist of essential steps for world domination, guaranteed to make 2012 your best year ever.

In the meantime remember this-

I’ve had no self confidence.

I’ve been depressed.

I’ve been pessimistic.

I’ve been broke.

I’ve been surrounded with negative people and told I’ll never make it or that I’m a dream believer (I am) and am wasting my time.

I’ve been down and out.

I have no special skills and am far from the smartest, strongest or best looking guy in the world.

If I can find happiness and success you definitely can too.

PS. An awesome goal setting/achieving system that I highly recommend is the Magic Hundred. Click HERE to check it out and get the new year off to a banging start.

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• New Look, New Goals, New Questions
• Keep it Real(istic)
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