Fitness

Guest Post By Al Kavaldo,  Author of Stretching Your Boundaries The first time I ever took a yoga class I was 24 years old. I had been working as a personal trainer at a commercial gym for a little while and decided it would be good for me to get firsthand experience at some of the classes we offered. Like many young guys, I arrogantly went to that first class with the expectation that it would be very easy and very boring. I was wrong on both counts! The class challenged me in new… continue reading.

Guest Post By Sean Hyson One time, I made the mistake of Tweeting that I had to modify my workout in order to make better use of light dumbbells, which was all the equipment I had available to me at the moment. Seconds later, some “bro” responded, smugly suggesting that if I’m serious about training, I should seek out a better, more “hardcore” gym with heavy dumbbells. Obviously, he didn’t know me, because there are few places on earth I’d rather be than in a hardcore gym at any given moment. And, normally, I have no interest in using light… continue reading.

Just a quick note today to let everyone know that the Bikini Body Workouts 60 Day Transformation program that my wife, Jen, and I put together for all the female Renegades out there is finally live. It’s available for immediate instant download right now. And it’s on sale until the end of the week for 50% off the regular price. In the program you get: The fully 60 day workout guide The nutrition plan The 21 Day Booty Blast Videos of all the exercises And, of course, some pretty sick results along the way. This the perfect plan to help… continue reading.

Guest Post by Renegade Inner Circle Member Matt Knox I was the skinniest dude in my town. Period. Dot. Exclamation point. Don’t believe me? If I wanted to wrestle in school (9th grade), I would have had to gain at least 5 pounds. Yep I couldn’t even make the wrestling team because I didn’t weigh enough to make the smallest weight class of 93lbs. Pathetic. Did that stop me? Nope I would play football next year with all of my buddies right? Wrong, I was so small that my parents and coach did not want me to play because… continue reading.

Should you train to failure or not? Nobody seems to know for sure. So I will end the confusion. And, just so everyone is clear, training to failure literally means that the weight is falling back down on you. You actually never want to do that. Instead you can train to technical failure. That’s the point where another rep with perfect technique would be impossible. But even that’s a little far for my liking. I always tell people to stop sets with 1-2 perfect reps in the tank. Now, granted those 1-2 reps will be hard and much slower than… continue reading.

The biggest, strongest dudes in the world all do four things. 1) They Use a Limited Number of Exercises Per Workout In most cases that ends up being no more than about six, total, sometimes as high as eight. But certainly no more than that. So don’t make the mistake of thinking that you need to do what your favorite pro bodybuilder does and that you need four exercises each for chest, shoulders and triceps. That’s nonsense. One, or at the very most, two exercises, per muscle group is usually enough. While there may be some validity to… continue reading.

Guest Post by Nate Miyaki, Author of Feast Your Fat Away About a year ago, I was hanging out with a colleague and friend of mine.  We were downtown around lunchtime. In between intermittent deep thoughts about important nutrition topics, we were trying to look down the shirts and up the skirts of some fine looking women in their business attire. Now here’s what I don’t get. I had just returned from Hawaii, a place where women walking around in bikinis is the norm.  I wasn’t going to see anything different hiding under those work clothes… continue reading.

Guest Post by Kevin Kuzia There’s something that needs to be set forth in perfect clarity before the rest of this magical blog post unfolds: I have a deep, abiding love for EliteFTS’s Prowler. Oh sure, it’s probably a one-side, unrequited kind of love, but ahh… love it is. Like any good relationship, the attraction is more than just the physical. It began that way, much like the googly eyes you get the first time you spotted a comely lass from across the room in your favorite local watering hole. You become smitten.  Such was me with the Prowler in… continue reading.

Guest Post By Eric Wong It’s been over 7 years since I first started training MMA fighters… I still remember the day I approached my “sensei” who had a 4-2 record at the time, fresh out of university where I earned my Kinesiology degree, nervous that he’d laugh me out of the dojo about my suggestion that I be his strength and conditioning coach for his next fight. Thankfully, he didn’t laugh at my suggestion off and instead we started training together. We won and lost together and we’re still good friends to this day. He even popped my “UFC… continue reading.

Here are a few training lessons based on the titles of 37 Eminem songs (in bold italics). A lot of people start training and they’re all gung ho for a month or so. But how many people actually stick with it? It’s all about survival. You’ve gotta treat it like serious business if you ever want to see your body going through changes, and hope for people to one day refer to you as the monster. You’re a soldier and every workout is a battle. You can’t be brainless about it and go to the gym without… continue reading.

I’ve been a horrible sleeper since 1996. Don’t ask how I remember the date when it happened. Somehow I just do. I never had sleep problems before that. But then it started. Getting more and more awake as the evening went on. Taking at least an hour to fall asleep. Waking every two hours then taking another 30 minutes to fall back asleep. It was a nightmare (pun intended) that I had to deal with for 15 years until it finally started getting better the last few years to the point where now I am getting tired by 8pm, can’t… continue reading.

Guest Post By John Alvino What is your main motivation for going to the gym? Does it stem from an intense desire to increase your mobility? I didn’t think so. Mobility training isn’t fun and it doesn’t give us the psychological satisfaction that “real” training provides. Not only that, it’s boring! And it takes patience, effort, and dedication. For these reasons, it’s rarely done. This is an unfortunate fact because for many of us, mobility is the most important fitness quality to develop and maintain. Without it, your movement ability, joint health, and quality of life can all be seriously… continue reading.

If you want to build muscle and get strong you have to avoid the bullshit and myths that flood the fitness industry. Here are a few that will kill your gains: 1)  You Should Lift Every Day No, you shouldn’t. You need to rest some time. That’s when you grow. Do three hard strength training workouts to build muscle, and 1-2 HIIT workouts to burn fat and boost your conditioning. One complete day off per week is a good idea.  On another day do something of a lower intensity like mobility work or go for a swim. 2)  You Don’t… continue reading.

Guest Post By Eric Cressey The squat has been hailed as “the king” of all strength training exercises – and rightfully so; it’s a compound exercise that activates a ton of muscle mass and improves lower body strength and athleticism arguably better than any other exercise.  The only problem? A lot of people have horrendous squat patterns. Seriously, some people put a bar across their upper back and immediately start to look like the brutally unathletic kid who always got picked last during the recess football draft during elementary school.  No matter how much he liked football, it didn’t matter… continue reading.

Guest Post By Rob King In a few short months I turn 40 years old. To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about turning 40. More than anything, I think about how being 40 is going to impact my training. I love being strong, I love lifting, and I want to do this until the day I die. With over 20 years in the gym lifting, my body has a lot of mileage on it.  But I refuse to be “that guy” that talks about the good old days in the gym.  My good old days are right… continue reading.