Do You Need Carbs Pre & Post Workout?

Guest Post by Nate Miyaki, Author of Feast Your Fat Away Here’s the thing about gaining muscle in general. Anabolic activity takes time.  Protein synthesis is elevated for 48 hours post-workout.  So building up a gun show worthy of selling tickets to is not just about a 3-hour eating window or whatever, its about what you do with your overall diet. If you are training 3 or more days a week, every meal matters for muscle growth, not some magical shake at a magical time. If you strength train Renegade-style, and eat enough protein and calories, you will… continue reading.

5 Reasons You Should Eat Some Carbs On Rest Days

Guest Post by Nate Miyaki, Author of Feast Your Fat Away About a year ago, I was hanging out with a colleague and friend of mine.  We were downtown around lunchtime. In between intermittent deep thoughts about important nutrition topics, we were trying to look down the shirts and up the skirts of some fine looking women in their business attire. Now here’s what I don’t get. I had just returned from Hawaii, a place where women walking around in bikinis is the norm.  I wasn’t going to see anything different hiding under those work clothes… continue reading.

Life Lessons From The Prowler – Listen To Yourself

Guest Post by Kevin Kuzia There’s something that needs to be set forth in perfect clarity before the rest of this magical blog post unfolds: I have a deep, abiding love for EliteFTS’s Prowler. Oh sure, it’s probably a one-side, unrequited kind of love, but ahh… love it is. Like any good relationship, the attraction is more than just the physical. It began that way, much like the googly eyes you get the first time you spotted a comely lass from across the room in your favorite local watering hole. You become smitten.  Such was me with the Prowler in… continue reading.

How the “Busy Trap” is Sucking Your Soul & Ruining Your Life

You’re not “too busy.” Get over that lie. We keep ourselves eternally “busy” by checking email and Facebook, obsessively over-measuring and over-analyzing everything, second-guessing, waiting for perfect, asking too many opinions and essentially “working” round the clock while getting very little done. We all fall victim to it. It crippled me for years. While getting caught in the busy trap is horrible for your productivity at work, it can also ruin your social life. Because you keep yourself constantly “busy” by doing inconsequential nonsense you actually “don’t” have the time to do the things you want to do. For years… continue reading.

3 Ways to Open Up Your Hips

Guest Post By Eric Wong It’s been over 7 years since I first started training MMA fighters… I still remember the day I approached my “sensei” who had a 4-2 record at the time, fresh out of university where I earned my Kinesiology degree, nervous that he’d laugh me out of the dojo about my suggestion that I be his strength and conditioning coach for his next fight. Thankfully, he didn’t laugh at my suggestion off and instead we started training together. We won and lost together and we’re still good friends to this day. He even popped my “UFC… continue reading.

Creatine 101

Guest Post by Sol Orwell. What is creatine? Creatine is a peptide molecule, critical to the optimal functioning of a cell. It is best known as a ‘high energy molecule.’ Cells use a different molecule, called ATP, to function. ATP can be made through the use of fatty acids, or quickly by using sugars. Creatine, in its storage form, called creatine phosphate, is even faster than glucose, though limited by the amount of storage space it can take up. What does creatine do? Creatine is well known for increasing power output in athletes and gym goers. It… continue reading.

The Marshall Mathers School of Strength Training

Here are a few training lessons based on the titles of 37 Eminem songs (in bold italics). A lot of people start training and they’re all gung ho for a month or so. But how many people actually stick with it? It’s all about survival. You’ve gotta treat it like serious business if you ever want to see your body going through changes, and hope for people to one day refer to you as the monster. You’re a soldier and every workout is a battle. You can’t be brainless about it and go to the gym without… continue reading.

10 Renegade Rules for Being a Badass

When most people think of the word “badass” they think of Harley Davidson, the old Oakland Raiders, Iron Mike Tyson in his prime, Rambo, Charles Bronson and Bruce Lee. But there’s more to being a badass than just being the type of mofo people don’t mess with. It’s all about living your life a certain way. Following a certain code of conduct most others don’t adhere to. Here are 10 ways to become a badass: 1) Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable If you never push yourself outside of your comfort zone you’ll never know what you’re capable of in life. And… continue reading.

6 Ways to Improve Your Sleep

I’ve been a horrible sleeper since 1996. Don’t ask how I remember the date when it happened. Somehow I just do. I never had sleep problems before that. But then it started. Getting more and more awake as the evening went on. Taking at least an hour to fall asleep. Waking every two hours then taking another 30 minutes to fall back asleep. It was a nightmare (pun intended) that I had to deal with for 15 years until it finally started getting better the last few years to the point where now I am getting tired by 8pm, can’t… continue reading.

4 Simple Ways to Increase Mobility

Guest Post By John Alvino What is your main motivation for going to the gym? Does it stem from an intense desire to increase your mobility? I didn’t think so. Mobility training isn’t fun and it doesn’t give us the psychological satisfaction that “real” training provides. Not only that, it’s boring! And it takes patience, effort, and dedication. For these reasons, it’s rarely done. This is an unfortunate fact because for many of us, mobility is the most important fitness quality to develop and maintain. Without it, your movement ability, joint health, and quality of life can all be seriously… continue reading.

Some of the Best Training Advice I Ever Got

It came to me back in the early 90’s when I was wasting hour after hour in the gym each week and not gaining an ounce of size or strength. At that time, like a lot of people then, and unfortunately, now, I was doing too much volume but never really giving my body a reason to grow. That’s when I discovered Dorian Yates. He had won the Mr. Olympia for the first time that year and the way he trained was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Yates said, It’s simple really:  When you stress the muscle beyond… continue reading.

11 Training Myths That Kill Muscle Growth

If you want to build muscle and get strong you have to avoid the bullshit and myths that flood the fitness industry. Here are a few that will kill your gains: 1)  You Should Lift Every Day No, you shouldn’t. You need to rest some time. That’s when you grow. Do three hard strength training workouts to build muscle, and 1-2 HIIT workouts to burn fat and boost your conditioning. One complete day off per week is a good idea.  On another day do something of a lower intensity like mobility work or go for a swim. 2)  You Don’t… continue reading.

“My Only Wish is to Wish For Nothing”

We live in a world full of unhappiness. Everyone’s stressed and depressed, jealous and envious, bitter and angry. Everyone wants a better life. We want to be richer, prettier, bigger, leaner, smarter. Nothing is ever good enough. Or is it? Maybe the world we live in has blurred our vision. Information overload, Facebook status updates, a never-ending stream of advertisements and celebrity lifestyle features can make us forget what’s really important. And what’s really important is helping people; motivating, touching and inspiring them. It’s about leaving a legacy. That’s far more important than leaving a status update. We should strive… continue reading.

So You Can’t Squat? Do This Instead

Guest Post By Eric Cressey The squat has been hailed as “the king” of all strength training exercises – and rightfully so; it’s a compound exercise that activates a ton of muscle mass and improves lower body strength and athleticism arguably better than any other exercise.  The only problem? A lot of people have horrendous squat patterns. Seriously, some people put a bar across their upper back and immediately start to look like the brutally unathletic kid who always got picked last during the recess football draft during elementary school.  No matter how much he liked football, it didn’t matter… continue reading.

Is Raw Milk Dangerous? (The Raw Truth)

Guest Post by the creator of the Truth About Fat Burning Foods, Nick “The Nutrition Nerd” Pineault Hey, get ready because the Nutrition Nerd is back with the raw truth for you. Just poured myself a large glass of fatty raw milk, and I’m so eager to destroy this one particular nutrition myth that I feel like I could rip my shirt and grow a yellow mustache while I’m at it. That’s how enthusiastic this stuff gets me. Before we address all the B.S. you hear in the media about raw milk’s safety, let’s ask the… continue reading.