When it comes to strength training most people love to mentally masturbate about meaningless minutia all day long. They get all stressed out about one concept followed by the next. Because so and so said this or they heard XYZ from this other guy. They can’t commit to any program because they second-guess the shit out of it. Then, if they actually do start a program they’re constantly worried about doing everything perfectly right. Or thinking there might be a better way. So they obsess over: •    How many days a week should I train? •    Should I do… continue reading.

Guest Post by Mark Crook It was June 28, 1991 and I witnessed what was probably the most memorable “metal” moment of my life. I was standing with my brother about 10 rows back center stage in Madison Square Garden during the “Clash of the Titans” tour and there was an evil sounding chant blasting through the arena…. “join us, join us, join us”… but in reverse. It got louder and louder and concluded with a demonic shout of “Welcome Back!” followed by a crashing of drums and guitars with a blast of red light and smoke filling the entire… continue reading.

Guest Post by Renegade Inner Circle Assistant Coach – Kyle Matthews I grew up painfully shy and can remember being self-conscious for as long as I can remember. I grew up playing sports year around. I played football, baseball, and basketball from the earliest age possible until I got to high school. I was always active. I also never excelled at any of those sports. I hadn’t developed the competitive spirit yet and my shy nature killed any aggression that I could have used to my benefit. Until I started pop warner football, that is. I loved football. continue reading.

We recently wrapped up our 90 day muscle gain contest in the Renegade Inner Circle. All of these guys followed the Inner Circle workouts and used the Renegade Diet (some with the advanced modifications we have in the RIC for faster gains). There were a lot of great submissions but we’ve gone through the after pics and narrowed it down to these guys. Now it’s up to you vote for the grand prize winner who gets an ALL EXPENSES PAID beach vacation to Santa Monica, California where he’ll hang out and train with me for four… continue reading.

I was sitting in the downstairs lounge at Southern Hospitality in New York City Saturday night having a great conversation with Nate Green about life, productivity and happiness when Mike Geary wandered over. He wanted to discuss The Renegade Diet and get some more details about it. I broke it down for about a minute or two before one of the top twenty most annoying human beings on the planet made his way into the conversation. He told me had some type of hypnosis business and then started spewing out one excuse after another for his… continue reading.

“Ricky! What’s up, buddy? Long time, no see. Looks like you’ve been training pretty hard. Your entire torso is much thicker than the last time I saw you.” “Thanks for noticing, Jay. I’m trying, man. Been following the programs you laid out for me and it’s really working.” “That’s great to hear. Hey, I’m actually heading to the gym in a couple hours. Did you train yet today?” “No.” “You wanna jump in for a session with me?” “Seriously? You think I’m ready for that?” “Dude, you’re the size of Arnold. You’re jacked. You’ve been doing what… continue reading.

Thanks to everyone who hopped online and joined us for today’s Facebook Friday. I had a great time answering everyone’s questions. I was firing off answers faster than Macklemore can pop tags at a thrift store… If you missed it, here is a recap of what went down:… continue reading.

Guest Post by Renegade Inner Circle Coach, Keith Scott Most of the shoulder injuries that I have seen and treated in my career from weight training come from pressing or pushing exercises. While shoulder problems can occur from pulling types of movements, in general, the shoulder is much safer and we see fewer injuries from most pulling types of motions. Many pressing movements can place the shoulder joint in a much more dangerous position. It is essential that people learn to do things to properly safeguard their shoulders as much as possible during pushing or pressing days. Whether you… continue reading.

Guest Post From Renegade Inner Circle Coach, Sean Hyson 1) Periodization is Overrated Unless you’re an athlete with a firm schedule of competitions and a clear off-season, pre-season, and peak-season, you’re better off not planning your training too far into the future. Pick a variety of exercises that you want to get strong on or need to bring up weak points, find the appropriate rep ranges to work them in, and cycle through them. Allow yourself to adjust workouts based on how you feel on a particular day. Arnold and the other bodybuilders of yesteryear who never read a… continue reading.

If you’re picking teams for any type of sport choose the guy with the big hamstrings and J-Lo ass. You know he’ll be powerful. If you wake up one day in some Game of Thrones type world and have to fight a guy to the death in order to have your life spared choose someone with no hamstrings and a pancake ass. If his feet are pointing out to the side like Donald Duck, instead of straight ahead, that’s a pretty good sign that he’ll be easy to bring down. Hamstrings and glutes are the power muscles. They improve your… continue reading.

With Facebook’s recent change to the commenting system it makes it possible for us to restart up the weekly live Q&A’s. These will be every Friday at 12:30pm EST HERE. Make sure you like that page to stay up to date with the latest info. If you missed here’s what went down today:… continue reading.

Guest Post by Mark Crook You like “metal” music”?! Really?! But you have short gray hair, wear glasses, you’re middle-aged, you wear a suit, work a corporate job, no tattoos, drink good wine… no way!! I’ve heard this far too often and I’m sure many of you have as well. According to society, we should’ve outgrown this music by our late twenties and calmed down listening to nothing heavier than Tom Petty (I like Tom Petty, by the way, but everything has its place). I don’t care what anyone says… a gym can be playing rock or hip hop or rap… continue reading.

Guest post by Renegade Inner Circle Coach, Keith Scott When I was in high school I was a 3 sport athlete. I trained all year around for football, wrestling and baseball. There was never a month that I wasn’t in the gym, on the field, on the mat, or somewhere doing what I thought would make me the best. I had ZERO idea what I was doing, but I did stuff anyway. I would spend my weekends jumping off of my picnic table in my backyard. Why? Because someone once mentioned how great plyometrics were. What… continue reading.

Guest Post by Greg Hudson. I’ve been following The Renegade Diet for 6 weeks now. I’ve been training for around 8 years and the gains have been steady and minimal. My diet has obviously been the limiting factor. I lost 6kg of fat in 6 weeks (I’m sure body fat % has dropped and lean muscle mass increased but I wasn’t measuring it), but have had some great muscle/strength gains it would seem as well as fat loss. I’ve gone from 76.5kg to 70.5kg in 6 weeks. I went from doing 20kg weighted dips and chin-ups to doing… continue reading.

Yesterday, after finishing my daily success routine that I go through each morning I walked down Main Street to Dogtown Coffee. Along the way I checked the rent on a couple vacant spaces and nodded or said hello to everyone I made eye contact with. In a world where social interaction seems to have been replaced by staring at your cell phone I always like to go out of my way to talk to people and try to make them smile. Sometimes it just freaks them out but that’s fine too. That still brings a smile to my face and… continue reading.