In 2006 I went up to Boston to do a seminar at Total Performance Sports with some friends and colleagues of mine. The Friday night before it went down we all trained at TPS. I was going toe to toe with my buddy Smitty of Diesel Strength & Conditioning while Alwyn Cosgrove looked on in amusement. We went back and forth, constantly one upping each other and exchanging good-natured insults between sets. Over the previous few months my shoulder had been getting worse and worse from years of stupidity in the gym and several crash landings on dirt bikes, ATV’s… continue reading.

If you missed Part I click HERE. If you missed Part II click HERE. When we last left off I was telling Chris about how we needed to fix his hormonal issues that many hardgainers struggle with… “Okay, good. Let’s please do that.  I can’t live like this anymore. It’s getting so frustrating and depressing,” Chris told me. “Hey man, no one understands that more than I do (see the picture of me at 17 years old, after four years of training, to the left). But if you do what I say you will totally transform yourself. I’ve… continue reading.

If you missed Part I click HERE to read it. Now, back to the story of young Chris, the skinny-fat hardgainer. *** “Okay, so I can’t just rely on the big lifts, I should do some single leg, dumbbell and bodyweight exercises and I need to train my neck and forearms. And if I ever hope to see any growth in my calves at all I’ll have to bomb them like Arnold used to.” “You are correct, sir.” Got it. What else,” Chris asked. Myth #4: Hardgainers Should Train Very Infrequently “You said you were doing the classic HIT… continue reading.

I met up with Chris at Lola’s Coffee shop a few minutes after 10am on a Tuesday. He had a backwards Hurley hat on, faded jeans and a pair of Syracuse orange and navy Nike Dunks. At 6’1” and 170 pounds with narrow shoulders and a small potbelly Chris was anything but jacked. In fact, like me, he had the exact 180 degree opposite genetics of the kid in the picture to the left. Colorful traditional Japanese style snakes and dragons covered his 13-inch upper arms that dangled in his Volcom shirtsleeves. “Look at these pipe cleaners,” he said. “They… continue reading.

The bench press is as equally loved as it is hated. It’s a great size and strength building exercise, but at the same time, one that can wreak havoc on your shoulders, especially if you’re not 5’7″ and built like a brick shit house naturally. If you’re an average injury prone, skinny-fat dude or just someone with long limbs and/or tiny joints you’ve gotta be smart about how you program it. Unless someone is training for some sort of test I never prescribe a plain old, standard flat bench press. I like to add a few tweaks here and there… continue reading.

rsc1t “Hey Joe, always good to see you, my friend.” That’s what my buddy, Laslov says to me every Sunday morning at the Santa Monica farmers market as he engulfs my tiny mits with his massive bear paws. I’ve corrected him several times but just don’t have the heart to keep doing it. So for a brief moment in time each week I’m Joe, not Jay. My wife, Jen and I pick up a jar of freshly ground pecan butter from him along with a handful of green plums, both of which are absolutely delicious. Then we go to Harry’s… continue reading.

If you missed Part I, where the hell were ya? And what’s your excuse? Check it out HERE then rejoin the rest of us back on this page. We’ll wait and try to figure out exactly what exercise this girl is attempting. While we’ve got some time to kill I should mention that my babysitter did NOT look like Elizabeth Shue. Nor has she aged as well, which was evident when we reunited for the remake of Dirty Dancing not too long ago. Anyway… Everyone all caught up? Cool, let’s roll. 14) Low Rest Periods Rule Years ago I… continue reading.

The year was 1987. It was a fall day much like any other in Jersey. The Giants were starting their season looking to repeat as Super Bowl champs. The Simpson made their television debut, and Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston ruled the pop charts. But what’s of particular significance to the readers of this blog is what one skinny-fat white kid with a horrifically bad hairdo and equally bad teeth decided to do around this time a quarter century ago. After returning home from watching Dirty Dancing on the big screen with his babysitter he noticed something disturbing in the… continue reading.

I like to keep things simple. So a general statement like, “always lift the weight as explosively as possible and lower it under control,” works pretty well for me in most cases. But there are definitely some exercises that you do NOT want to explode on. Doing so can result in sloppy form, training muscles other than those you intended, and injury. Exercises that you don’t consciously explode on are known as high-tension exercises. That means that being tight is more important than being fast. Although I’ve always preferred my ladies to be both. Explosive lifts are high velocity exercises… continue reading.

Sadly we’ve come to the end of this epic trilogy. I know it’ll be hard, but do your best to wipe your tears away so you can read the words on the screen and acquire some more great info from my brother, Nate. If you missed Part I click HERE. And HERE for Part II. We left off talking about pre-workout nutrition and are gonna pick up today with post workout nutrition. JF: What about post workout nutrition? What are your recommendations there? NM:  Well, Eva Mendes is a great post-workout recovery snack…oops, off track again… If you… continue reading.

JF: Aside from cutting all carbs what are the two or three other most common dietary mistakes you see people making? NM: (1) People getting swindled and fooled by marketing executives, and basing their diets on refined “health” foods instead of nature’s “real” foods.  They think they are doing something good for themselves by eating their 100-calorie bars, gluten free muffins, high fiber cereals, pro-biotic yogurts, and organic pizza. If you take only one thing away from my incoherent ramblings, I hope that it is this: organic crap is still crap, regardless of the marketing taglines.  If you refuse to… continue reading.

Having a blog that no one reads kinda sucks. You pour your heart into writing but nobody ever comes to your site. It’s quite a sad state of affairs, really. How are you ever going to help anyone or get your name in print? You’re probably not. Not if you keep on making some of these common writing mistakes fitness pros are all too guilty of (myself included). 1) Don’t Have a Generalist, Master of None Blog No one trusts or wants to hear from a jack-of-all-trades. Be an expert in something. People like and trust experts. I know about… continue reading.

You’re a fitness professional with a website and an intent to share your information with the world. You want to help others and make some money in the process. Nothing wrong with that. But there might be something wrong with your approach. Here’s a list of five writing mistakes you should never make. Note that many are said in jest and that I’ve been guilty of all of them myself. 1) Don’t Use Weak, Timid Language For people to believe what you write YOU actually have to do so first. If you write in a wishy-washy style and tell people… continue reading.

When it comes to nutrition there are few people who are more knowledgeable or who I trust more than Nate Miyaki. I’m gonna skip the long winded intro about his upbringing, schooling and different hair styles he’s had throughout his life. Though I will mention that he was a professional wrestler. That in itself makes him pretty damn cool. Plus he loves to quote Seinfeld episodes and classic 80’s movies. What more could you ask for? JF: Nate, let’s kick it off by addressing your thoughts on ultra low carb diets. Many people believe or claim that cutting all starchy… continue reading.

When someone started lifting weights for the first time back in the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s the only goal was to get bigger and stronger. It was unquestionable and undeniable. Why else would you lift weights? There was no other thought that would even possibly enter your mind. No one had ever heard the ball shriveling term “metcon,” or would consider interspersing laps around the building in between sets of jerks and fifty rep snatches. Back in those days you knew about training from seeing Arnold and Franco in Pumping Iron or watching Kaz compete in the Worlds Strongest Man… continue reading.