Originally published at EliteFTS.com 11/2005 Last night I closed the doors to my strength and conditioning facility for the last time. After over ten years in the same town and the same building, it was time for me to move on to new challenges. When I finished carrying the final few medicine balls out to my truck I locked the doors permanently. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to meet a few friends for dinner. When I arrived I walked into a surprise party thrown for me by over thirty of my closest clients. I was touched… continue reading.

In the quest to get bigger, faster, and stronger many athletes overlook the most important aspect of training, which is recovery. The faster you can recover from an intense workout the faster progress will be made. Recovery does not mean just getting as much rest as possible in between training sessions. There are many steps to be taken in the road to recovery and if you want to reach your training goals it would be wise to utilize as many as possible. Perhaps the best way to aid recovery is to avoid over-training. I will not go into great detail… continue reading.

For EliteFTS- Originally written in 2004 Am I the only one who reads articles by other strength coaches and wonders if I’m losing my mind? Reading about an iso-quasi-eccentric upside down fat bar hang clean supersetted with sub-maximal dynamic effort isometric depth jumps can have the profound effect of making you tear out your own hair in an effort to figure out a way to incorporate these methods into your workouts. The sad fact is that many of the people who read these articles don’t realize that much of these methods are unnecessary and even useless. By constantly trying all… continue reading.

Originally written for EliteFTS.com in 2003 I wasn’t feeling that great and should have known better. I didn’t sleep that well the night before and had been stressed out of my mind all day. I had a million things to do and barely had time to eat since breakfast. By the time my workout rolled around shortly after 6pm, I was shot. I thought about just putting my workout off until tomorrow. That would have been the smart thing to do. Unfortunately my training partners arrived and cranked up the music and started to talk some trash. I tried to… continue reading.

I have been getting a lot of questions about how to avoid aspartame and what kind of protein powder I recommend to those that still like to drink shakes. First of all, let me point out that there are several studies which show numerous detrimental effects from artificial sweeteners, such as memory loss, birth defects, links to cancer and erectile problems in males (if all the other ones don’t scare you, I’m guessing the last one might cause you to raise an eyebrow). Mysteriously, none of these studies are conducted in the United States. I’m sure everyone can figure out… continue reading.

For EliteFTS I was born with a rebellious streak. It’s been with me just about every day of my 32-year existence. When I wake up every day, I know that I’ll probably do or say something that will probably be nothing more than an act of rebellion in some form or another against something that I see as wrong or unjust. I don’t know why that is. I just accept it as part of my nature. I can’t control it so I embrace it. It’s who I am. Just like I can’t allow society’s rules to control the way I… continue reading.

A Rant by Jon Hinds: In real life, we move our whole bodies almost 100% of the time. In sports, in martial arts, when climbing stairs or picking up kids or shoveling snow – we use our arms, our legs, our backs, our stomach muscles all together. Then why do 99% of all people who exercise, train their muscles in isolation instead of using functional fitness? What good is it to be able to bench 300 pounds with your back supported and your legs unengaged? Who cares if you can leg press the rack? These activities only train… continue reading.

Recipe courtesy of Metabolic Cooking Makes 4 Servings Ingredients • 1 pound pork tenderloin • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar • 2 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce • 1 clove garlic • 2 teaspoons soy sauce • ½ teaspoon grated ginger • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard Directions 1. Place the pork in a slow cooker (or in a baking dish). 2. Combine all remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix together. 3. Pour mixture over pork, coating the pork generously. 4. Cover… continue reading.

A few weeks ago I saw the all time greatest rap group and one of the best and most influential bands of any genre, ever; Public Enemy. It’s quite possible that I have seen more concerts than anyone on the planet but that was by far and away the best. If you don’t have any PE on your training mixes you are seriously missing out. Some must have, immediate downloads are: -Lost at Birth -You’re Gonna Get Yours -Bring The Noise -Night of the Living Baseheads -Rebel Without a Pause -Terminator X to the… continue reading.

Originally written in 2005 for EliteFTS Despite the busiest summer I ever had both professionally and socially, my training has been better than ever lately. I’m hitting PR’s on everything and the weights on all of my assistance exercises are flying up. For the past several years not much has changed about the way I train, nothing drastic at least. This summer, however, I made several major changes which I believe all played a large part in helping attain the outstanding results I have been getting recently. Following is a list of the changes I made and why I think… continue reading.

Originally written in 2006 by Alwyn Cosgrove & Jason Ferruggia for EliteFTS Over the past year, we have both received tons of emails and phone calls that go something like this: “I have listened to you for a while now and have purchased several products from you. I’ve watched you and your reputation grow.” Or like this: “What was the one thing you did or the one step you made that took you from being a ‘personal trainer’ to a more accomplished fitness expert? Basically, what got the ball rolling for you and got you that first… continue reading.

I would like to start by thanking everyone for all the positive responses to the last post on using age as an excuse. Here is just a small sample of what you guys had to say… “Good rant; problem many have is that the medical /allied health community sets the bar way too low. Unless there are serious orthopedic issues or other serious medical issues then most people underestimate their physical capabilities. Our job is to enlighten them and show them the way. Many of those medical conditions are diseases of misuse/ disuse, anyway. Use it or… continue reading.

Last night, UFC legend Randy Couture came out of retirement and won the world heavyweight title at 43 years old. And your excuse for why you are not stronger or biggeer or leaner or a better athlete is because you are… too old? How sad and pathetic you must be. Last night was like watching a real life version of Rocky Balboa and the only way not to be motivated by it was if you slept through the fight. Sylvia was the odds on favorite against the older Couture yet he was completely dominated from start to finish. continue reading.

Today we have part one of a new interview with my friend and colleague, the Underground Strength Coach, Zach Even-Esh. Zach, tell us how you learned about “Underground” training? ZE – Well, without a doubt, my very first days of training at a gym always leave me with the recollection of George, a jacked dude who was built like he was carved from stone. This guy was solid muscle! He never did what the rest of us did. He trained his own way, his own style and he never cared what others said to… continue reading.

Here’s a tasty dessert from Paleo Cookbooks. Ingredients Lemon Filling 1 cup lemon juice 5tsp finely grated lemon rind (approximately 4 lemons) 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup coconut milk 4tbs arrow root 5 egg yolks Meringue 5 egg whites 2tbs maple syrup Instructions Preheat a fan-forced oven to 160o Celsius/325o Fahrenheit. Place lemon juice, lemon rind and maple syrup in a medium size pan on low heat. In a small bowl, combine coconut milk and arrow… continue reading.