Fitness

Guest Post By Sean Hyson C.S.C.S. When you’re a beginner, you don’t think too much about the program you’re on or what food you need to eat to maximize the results. It’s enough to just go to the gym and lift hard. And go ahead and ask an advanced lifter about his training. It’s probably so simple you won’t believe it. But when you’re in between those two stages—an intermediate meathead—you’ve been exposed to just enough information that you analyze, and then over-analyze, everything. And that’s when you fall for the tricks that hold back your progress. Jay… continue reading.

If you’re a skinny dude who is serious about building muscle and getting stronger there are three very critical mistakes that you absolutely can’t afford to make. I can’t tell you how many times I see guys in the gym committing these cardinal sins and how badly I wish I could help them all. Unfortunately I can’t save everyone but I’ll always do my best to give my loyal readers an unfair advantage over everyone else. Mistake #1: Training Too Frequently One critical mistake skinny guys always make is to train 6-7 days per week. This is completely unnecessary… continue reading.

Jeff “Koosh” Kushmerek is a living legend inside the RSC. He’s like Norm from Cheers. Everyone knows his name. To join Jeff and hundreds of others, click HERE to join the Renegade Strength Club. Give us a little background on your training history, what brought you to the RSC in the first place, and how you’ve changed since you joined. I started lifting in 1988. My brother’s roommate from college lived with us that summer. He was a RB for UColorado. We did 21’s and I couldn’t move my arms for 2 days. I was doing workouts from the magazines… continue reading.

Guest Post by Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, RHN, and author of The All-Day Energy Diet I am a firm believer that intense exercise is a must for improved fitness and good health. However, it must be balance with adequate recovery. As a former pro soccer player, I can speak from firsthand experience that it’s how you eat and what you do BETWEEN your workouts that matters most, especially if you want to avoid running your body into the ground. Your body can only handle so much stress before it falls apart. If you love working out, then that’s awesome. What I’m… continue reading.

When asked what the best lower body exercise is most people just say, “squats,” without even thinking. But there are numerous types of squats. And there’s one that you never see anyone doing, that can be a game changer. It’s known as a skater squat or single leg squat. You do them by bending one leg behind you and squatting down on the other. Dr. Stuart McGill is the leading spine researcher in the world and he ranks this among the most effective exercises anyone can do. It has countless benefits… continue reading.

Before you start lifting heavy weights there are a few things you need to do. I like a pre-workout cup of coffee and if it’s early in the morning, a hot shower before. When you get to the gym you have to warm up. I often assume everyone knows that by now, but I’m reminded otherwise every time I’m in a public training facility. Raising your core temperature by doing 5-7 minutes of some light cardio can be a great idea. Then you hit your soft tissue work,… continue reading.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…   Most people shouldn’t be doing Olympic lifts.   The name itself should probably be a giveaway. It’s an Olympic sport. That gives you an idea of the time and effort required to do those two lifts safely.   Athletes who reach the Olympic level start practicing their technique on the snatch and clean & jerk while they’re still… continue reading.

Frank K. is a 48-year-old guy who messaged me about Thursday’s email. He told me that he had some nagging injuries from his years playing football. Because of that, he couldn’t lift heavy if he wanted to. I told him I didn’t want him to. When I say you have to get stronger people often misconstrue what I mean. I don’t intend for you train like a powerlifter. The last thing I would recommend is ultra-heavy low rep sets. Especially a workout full of them, like some of the popular… continue reading.

My name is Jeremy, and I’ve been following Jay’s stuff since picking up Muscle Gaining Secrets in 2008. I was a skinny fucker (weighed about 110 at 5′ 9″) throughout school, and because of it, I was extremely timid and shy. I’m not going to say I was bullied, but I was definitely pushed around a lot and didn’t do anything about it. Lack of size lead to lack of confidence, and it was holding me back immensely. During the years of 2009-2010, that changed. I followed MGS religiously, and was able to go from 110 to about… continue reading.

Twenty plus years ago I had one of the original hardcore, underground, warehouse-style training facilities. Renegade Gym. The music was loud and angry. The attitude was pure ruthless aggression. The floor, covered with chalk. The walls with blood. The closet doors had holes in them. Some from a headbutt before a new PR attempt. Others from the many scuffles that broke out during an intense squat day. This was not a place you came to “exercise,” or “work out.” You came to train. continue reading.

Friday night Jen and I finally finished watching the TV show, Lost. Man, did that ending suck. I’d heard about it for years from everyone. They were even still joking about it on the Oscars a couple months back. I said to Jen, “we put in all that time for that?!” I was so disappointed. All that for nothing. Which is exactly how people feel after finishing many of the popular training programs out there today. They hop around their… continue reading.

Matt Knox is an American Badass. He’s also one of the oldest serving Renegade OG’s. If you want to join Matt and thousands of others, click HERE to check out the Renegade Strength Club. Give us a little background on your training history, what brought you to the RSC in the first place, and how you’ve changed since you joined. I was the smallest person in the world and the biggest p*ssy all the way till I was in my 2nd or 3rd year in the military. I was sick of being the small guy so I googled mass gaining… continue reading.

I always figured the harder ya work, the better your results. And that works incredibly well with strength training… for about 6-8 weeks. Then you’re fried. Overtrained. Joints are aching. Sleep goes to shit. You’re tired but wired. Anxious. Irritable. In a bad mood. Sex drive drops. Can’t get stronger anymore. Weights feel heavy as f*ck. Why does that always happen? Because the body ain’t designed for that kind of pummeling on a regular basis. No sports practices are conducted with such balls to the wall intensity.  You always leave… continue reading.

You often hear that skinny guys, aka “hardgainers,” should do nothing but the big power lifts. That’s sh*t advice. Most “hardgainers” have pencil necks, pipe cleaner forearms, string bean calves and tiny joints. They’re also tight and immobile. All this is what makes you a “hardgainer.” If being skinny was your only issue but you had big joints and the right structure for big lifts getting jacked would be easy. You could do any of those typical programs and you’d feel great and get huge. But you don’t, so you… continue reading.

When reading about training it’s easy to get confused. So lemme simplify it. Progressive overload will always be king. Period. The end. Every other factor like volume, rest periods, etc. is finite. You can do more sets but only up to a point. You can reduce rest periods but where do you go when you’re at zero? The only thing that matters is this- are you making strength gains? “But what about guys like The Rock? I see him doing incline dumbbell presses with no more… continue reading.