“Everybody’s doing something. We’ll do nothing!” If I told you that I’ve got a secret that will help you stay healthier and make far better strength gains this year than any year ever before would you be interested? Yes? Okay, here it is… Do nothing. Don’t lift weights. Don’t do bodyweight stuff. Don’t run sprints. Just do nothing. For a month. Now before you all get to thinking I’ve lost my mind (which happened many moons ago) let me explain. First of all, what I’m going to tell you doesn’t apply unless you’ve been training properly for at least three… continue reading.

There are thousands of people who read this site every day who will never make it to Jersey to train at Renegade. So I debated even posting this since it won’t really apply to most of you. But then I realized that no, that’s wrong. It will apply to anyone who trains hard, takes this stuff very seriously and expects the same of all around them. I’ve mentioned my close friend, Mark Crook plenty of times before. He would be a great addition to any serious gym or group of training partners anywhere in the world. He brings it each… continue reading.

“Before I studied the art, a punch was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I studied the art, a punch is no longer a punch, a kick is no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick is just like a kick.” — Bruce Lee The difference between a good, highly experienced strength coach and a C-level, inexperienced one is that they can make complex subjects seem simple. They know enough not to overwhelm beginners with too much information and not to shout out… continue reading.

My company’s logo depicts a recreation of a picture of Arthur Saxon taken in 1906. That’s because I’ve been obsessed with “old school” strength training methods for over 23 years. Whether we’re talking music, sneakers or training I’m old school through and through. From Hackenshmidt to Paul Anderson to Mentzer to Kaz, they’ve all been a huge influence along the way in shaping the Renegade Method and how I design training programs today. Vince Gironda was another big influence who was light years ahead of his time. Like me, Vince was a renegade; a rebel who never… continue reading.

Use these tips and you’ll get jacked. End of story… 1) Make Farmers Walks a Staple They build your traps, core and grip while developing tremendous total body strength and stability. And nothing is more functional than picking up something heavy and walking with it. Do them once a week for 3-4 sets of 30-60 seconds each. 2) Start Wearing Knee Sleeves Before You Need Them By the time you realize that you should probably start wearing knee sleeves it may be too late. The damage may already be done. There is no one who couldn’t benefit from wearing knee… continue reading.

The straight bar chin up with your palms facing you places too much stress on the wrists, elbows and shoulders and should be eliminated from your program. Even if you haven’t experienced it yet chances are good that a steady diet of supinated (palms facing you) straight bar chin ups may come back to bite you in the ass… or elbow, eventually. Pull ups (palms facing away from you) on a straight bar are a bit safer but could also be eliminated if you want to be ultra conservative or you have any shoulder problems. The simple solution is to… continue reading.

The Iron Guru, Vince Gironda was legend in the world of Physical Culture. Here are seven of his best tips. 1)    Get sufficient sleep each night. Growth can only take place after recuperation. Get plenty of rest. 2)    Build up enthusiasm for each workout. Going through the motions of training will not produce results. You would be better off not training. 3)    Cycle your training. Never do today what you can’t supersede tomorrow. Don’t perform more exercises or more intensity than necessary to maintain an upward growth pattern. 4)    Never continue your workout so you run out of steam before… continue reading.

Most of you know by now how much I love the old school pioneers of the Iron Game. One of those legends I always pay my respects to is “The Iron Guru” Vince Gironda. Today I’m gonna give you an awesome way to combine the  Renegade Method with Vince’s training principles. First, start your workout with some type of explosive power exercise like a jump, throw or Olympic lift. This is pretty much a Renegade staple. Three to five sets of 1-5 reps will be sufficient for most people. After that move on to your maximal strength exercise. That will… continue reading.

“I never sleep, cuz sleep is the cousin of death.” Nas- New York State of Mind I was supposed to be Eminem. At least that’s the way I saw it back in ’88. It was my freshman year of high school and the Beastie Boys were yet to be taken seriously, so I figured I could be the first great white rapper. I practiced my rhymes all the time and just knew that within a few years I’d be on tour opening for Public Enemy. Then 3rd Bass came along and crushed my dreams. But I could at least… continue reading.

Instead of discussing how little you can get away with to get in decent shape, let’s talk about how many days a week you should work out for maximal muscle growth and fat loss. Because if you’re reading this site you want to be built like a modern day warrior or Greek God. You’re not the average couch potato looking to just “tighten up a little.” Everybody wants the easy way out. Ten minute arms. Eight minute glutes. Six minute abs. Ya know what nobody wants? The truth. That building muscle and transforming your body takes HARD WORK. How many… continue reading.

I started training people when I was nineteen years old and still in school. After working in the college weight room I got out on my own. At first I was working with adults in a one on one setting for twenty bucks an hour. Eventually I worked that up to fifty and had a pretty good base of clients. They were all the average fat loss personal training client, however, and that was really the last thing I wanted to spend the rest of my career doing. I wanted to work with athletes and I wanted to train guys… continue reading.

Today’s post is from a forum discussion in the Renegade Inner Circle. Question: Jay, I’m opening a new gym and I want to run group training out of it and set it up “Renegade style” as I have a lot of old clients and leads who are interested because I use to teach similar type group training at my old globo-gym. My question for you is what baseline equipment do you recommend getting for it. I know prowler, tire, kettlebells etc. Just wanted to see what your recommendations would be. It would be mainly mainstream… continue reading.

Fourteen months ago I ended my three year stint as a vegetarian. Here are the reasons why… Firstly, I debated about even writing this article at all because the last thing I want is to start a whole debate about the morals and ethics of eating meat. For some reason a lot of people take it more seriously than religion and I don’t really want regular visitors to this site getting all fired up and arguing with each other about something so trivial. But the fact of the matter is a lot of people ask me about my diet and… continue reading.

Last Wednesday I drove over to Rawesome in Venice, like I do every week, to pick up some meat, produce and a little raw butter, cream and goat yogurt. I arrived at the tail end of a government raid in which the LAPD and government officials poured out all of the raw dairy and left with a flat bed truck full of produce, nuts and bison steaks. We all know that it’s not in the best interest of big business/ big pharma for us to be healthy. Apparently selling healthy, organic food is now a crime. A crime worthy of… continue reading.

Yesterday morning I woke up with the intention of going to Six Man in Manhattan Beach. It’s an annual volleyball tournament that attracts around nineteen hundred billion people and is known as the beach party of the summer. However, I had stayed out late the night before with some friends and really wasn’t feeling it. I didn’t have a sip of alcohol but I felt like I drank a dozen vodkas. That’s the funny thing about staying up late. I end up feeling exactly the same whether I drink or not, even if I get the same amount of sleep… continue reading.