Originally written For Elite Fitness Systems in 2004 When Part One of this article was written a few years ago the focus was on college strength coaches. Unfortunately the unmaking of an athlete begins long before college. It starts at a very young age with uninformed but well intentioned parents. By doing what they think is best for their kids; many parents actually end up destroying their children’s athletic futures. For this story to be complete we have to go back to the beginning. The father of three high school aged boys I used to coach is one such example… continue reading.

Today I have a guest post from my friends Mike Roussell and Alwyn Cosgrove who just launched Warp Speed Fat Loss 2.0. Mike: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. First so we all have some perspective, how long have you been a trainer? Alwyn Cosgrove: I started training people in 1989. Actually 1987 if you count teaching martial arts classes. In 1995 (after college) I went full time. Since day one I’ve been very particular about what I do. I track and tweak everything. When we opened Results Fitness in 2000, we really started to… continue reading.

This is an old article from 2004, originally written for Elite Fitness.  Since it was quite popular and many of you may have missed it, I figured I would reprint it here today… **** I sometimes wonder if there are any prerequisites at all to getting a job as college strength and conditioning coach. As the owner of my private athletic training company (Renegade Strength & Conditioning) I have had the opportunity to work with athletes from numerous colleges and universities across the country and have witnessed their disgust with their schools strength and conditioning programs. Some athletes, such… continue reading.

While everyone’s busy searching for the perfect rep scheme or newest miracle supplement, one of the greatest progress boosters of all is constantly overlooked. The concept of taking an afternoon nap is foreign to most of us yet it can do more for your training than 90% of the other minutia bullshit people waste their time obsessing on. There’s a popular MMA t-shirt that reads “Tap or Nap.” While the intended meaning of the t-shirt is obvious, this slogan can also be applied to your training. Taking naps is so important that if you don’t find the… continue reading.

I’ve gotten a lot of questions the last few days about my opinion on Mike Boyle’s video claiming that the back squat is dead. Like I said, I don’t agree with everything Mike says. Nor do I agree with everything Alwyn  Cosgrove or Chad Waterbury say. But they are smart guys who know their shit. I learn something from each of them and I like a lot of what Mike has to say about warming up, rehabbing and staying injury proof. But I’m never just going to throw out what I know works based on one guys theories. So here… continue reading.

Hey Jay I’ve been following your newsletters for a long time; you give some great advice. Wanted to run an idea by you. I’ve been following your lifting routines for a while and was thinking of breaking it down so that instead of doing 4-5 different exercises 3 days a week, I’d do like 2 exercises each morning. Reason being is that time is a little precious for me; I’m a doctor and I’m in my surgery residency and, as you could imagine, time isn’t exactly a commodity I have a lot of. I was thinking that either before going… continue reading.

By Dave Ruel, “The Muscle Cook” Makes 6 Servings Ingredients * – 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts weighing about 6 oz. / 170 g each * – 1/4 cup / 60 ml of oat bran * – 1/4 cup / 60 ml of wheat germ * – 1 Tbsp / 15 ml coarsely ground flaxseed * – 1/4 cup / 60 ml coarsely ground almonds * – 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml sea salt * – 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml white pepper * – Pinch… continue reading.

Q: Jay, everyone thinks they know how to build muscle mass. But as you and I know, most people never really even get close to their true potential. What is the biggest mistake people make when trying to get big and strong? A: They follow the same old, traditional bodybuilding routine. That means they are training each body part with too much volume, not enough intensity, probably too much intensiveness, and not enough frequency. Just so everyone is on the same page, when I say intensity I am referring to percentage of one rep max. That means that they… continue reading.

“We got the results back from the doctor today. It’s pancreatic cancer. There’s no cure… It’s terminal.” My heart stopped and tears welled up in my eyes. Even though he and my mom never decided to make it official and tie the knot, he was, for all intents and purposes, my step dad. That’s what we referred to him as, and Edward Liebman was one of the greatest friends I had ever known. “Whattaya mean? Are they sure?!” I asked as cold sweat started to roll down my back. “Yes.” I couldn’t speak and began to weep like a baby. continue reading.

1) Include a lot of close grip chin ups and dips in your workout program. 2) Never go ultra heavy on curls or direct triceps work unless you want screwed up elbows. 3) If you already have tricky elbows I’d recommend some neoprene elbow sleeves when training arms directly. 4) Get a massive pump. That’s more important than moving big weight when it comes to direct arm training. 5) Let your bench and overhead presses take care of the heavy loading for triceps. Then pump on pushdowns and extensions for higher reps with low rest periods. 6) Consider training biceps… continue reading.

This is an interview from the winter of 2006 that I did with my good friend, Dave Tate. Since many of you may have missed it the first time around I decided to repost it. Enjoy… ***** I’ve never met “Big Bad Dave Tate.” I have never even met Dave “Fuckin” Tate. Supposedly this is some terrifying lunatic who would throw you through a wall for squatting less than 800 pounds in his presence or suck the brains from your skull if you looked at him wrong. At least that’s what I have read on the internet. I only… continue reading.

People often ask me how I have so much time to prepare meals for myself all day and the answer is… I don’t. I’m super busy, and when it comes to food preparation I’m super lazy. That’s why I’ve become a master of quick, healthy, plant based meals that anyone can make in no time. Today I want to share three of my favorite recipes with you that I eat on a regular basis. All of you that want to eliminate or at least minimize the practice of consuming unhealthy meat and dairy products are going… continue reading.

Here’s a quick interview I did recently with my wacky Canadian buddy, Craig Ballantyne. Craig Ballantyne: What was your workout yesterday? Jason Ferruggia: I ran a dozen forty yard sprints in the morning, about two hours after breakfast. That was, of course preceded by a pretty good warm up. At night, six hours later, we did a heavy lower body workout. Before squatting and deadlifting I like to foam roll for about ten minutes and then get in a pretty good dynamic warm up. I like to be dripping with sweat and feeling very loose… continue reading.

“You’re always saying you’re too weak to be strong.” — Life Wasted by Pearl Jam Another summer weekend just came and went and now here we are yet again, on a Monday morning… With yet another opportunity to change things for the better; to make the dramatic improvements that you have been planning to make for so long. Maybe you thought about it over the weekend when you drank too many beers or ate too many hot dogs at your neighbors’ barbeque. Or maybe you were ashamed to take your shirt off at the beach or… continue reading.

Question: Jason, I just wanted to let you know that I have been following your stuff since 2003 and am a huge fan of your work. I am thinking about opening a small, hardcore gym like yours and had a quick question for you. Would you mind sharing with me what kind of application form you use and how you determine who gets to train at Renegade Gym? From what I understand you don’t just accept anybody off the streets, correct? Thanks for all that you do and keep up the great work. Andy Answer:… continue reading.