Fitness

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.

A lot of times people like to look for weaknesses too early on. The reality in most cases is, that you just have to practice the exercise more, perfect your technique and get stronger. In his prime Ed Coan may have had specific weaknesses and addressing them would have enabled him to go to set new PR’s. For most people who are at a beginner to intermediate strength level it’s really just going to come down to getting better at the exercise and using a lighter, more manageable weight. If I put 20% more weight on the bar than you… continue reading.

Guest Post by the creator of The Truth About Fat Burning Foods, Nick “The Nutrition Nerd” Pineault Your healthy food sucks. Wait a minute…. What the hell is this nerd talking about? Let me explain. What I mean is… your healthy food probably sucks. You know the grass-fed beef, free-range eggs, alternative sweeteners, olive oils, etc. that you’re paying a boatload of money for? They’re not what you think. After spending hundreds of caffeinated hours in front of my computer being the real self-educated nutrition nerd I am, I realized that most people get scammed when shopping for… continue reading.

Hey Renegades, I’ve got a great interview for you today with my colleague, Martin Rooney, the creator of the Training For Warriors system. Check it out… Jason:  Let’s start with an exercise that both of us share a common love for – sprinting. Why should people be doing it? Martin:  Thanks Jason.  Funny we start with sprinting because I say that sprinting is the exercise that most people stopped doing a long time ago.  Most trainers aren’t doing any speed work and it’s a shame. Lifting weights and then sitting on the couch is not complete training.  Sprinting, even… continue reading.

It’s pretty common practice in the fitness industry to tell females to throw out the scale. We say this because their goal is to lose fat and the scale doesn’t always accurately reflect what’s actually going on. More often than not it becomes a source of mental torture. What I’ve come to also realize, is that guys trying to gain muscle should throw out the scale too. I mean take that fuckin thing and heave it into the nearest dumpster immediately. Why? Because guys trying to get jacked obsess over the scale the same way that girls trying to… continue reading.

Guest Post by Tyler Bramlett, Creator of the CT-50 System One of the most common mistakes people make is getting married to the idea that the only way you can progress with your training is by increasing the amount of muscle you have or how much weight you can lift. While it’s nice to stand in front of the mirror and know for certain that you’ve packed on a few pounds of lean muscle or shed some unwanted body fat, there’s another area where you can make some serious gains. You see, strength training… continue reading.

Guest Post by Dave Dellanave I don’t watch a lot of TV, but when I am traveling I always turn the TV on in my hotel room and I swear to you the show MythBusters follows me around. Every time I flip the TV on, the two main characters, Jamie and Adam, are dissecting some new half-truth. I love the show because they savagely, gleefully test the validity of a wide range of myths, movie scenes, YouTube videos, and news stories — often leveraging explosions and destruction to put the term “indestructible” to the test. Often,… continue reading.

As a young meathead, I did a lot of stupid stuff in the gym. I mean really f’n stupid. But I was in my twenties and thought I was invincible. Not to mention charming and handsome with the bloat of youth filling my puffy face. Oh, where have ye gone? Father time, you’re a cruel bastard… The point is that stupidity eventually led to shoulder surgery. That’s why I cringe every time I see someone doing upright rows or lateral raises.   I see it in… continue reading.

I just got a great message from a Renegade trainee: “Your workouts are my favorite form of training I’ve ever done in 20+ years. I’ve gotten in the best shape of my life and never enjoyed training more than I do right now.” – Optimized You (on IG) My inboxes are always flooded with messages like this. But I never tire of the feedback. It fuels to keep going, to keep leading more people toward the light. I love getting people off the merry-go-round of bad training programs and… continue reading.

Everybody knows that squats, deads and presses get you huge and that bodyweight training is just for conditioning, right? Wrong. One look at rings gymnasts or a quick YouTube search of dudes dominating chin up bars in every park in New York City will show you that bodyweight training can get you jacked. That’s because exercises that force you to move your body through space have a higher level of neuromuscular activation than those where you are simply moving your limbs. It’s one of the reasons why back squats are better than leg presses. Some of my favorite bodyweight exercises… continue reading.

Guest Post By Renegade Inner Circle Member Kevin Cassidy I was lost. For seven years of my life I was living in chaos, pollution of my body, and destruction of my mind. My life was in a downward spiral leading to my bottom. I started off with the world in my hands, and became willing to give it all away for another drink. I have been involved in athletics my entire life. I grew up playing football, roller hockey, ice hockey, basketball, baseball, and soccer with my friends. When I grew older my love for the game… continue reading.