Fitness

Special guest post by world record holding deadlift champion, Andy Bolton The Deadlift is a superb exercise. Now you might think I’m biased, given that I’m pretty good at it (In case you don’t know – I’m that big dude that’s pulled over a 1000lbs. Twice)… that said – by the time you’ve finished reading this article I’m sure you’ll want to start hitting the deadlift HARD. Here are 7 reasons why the Deadlift is a superb exercise for serious Athletes… 1. If you’re a bodybuilder, or a guy who wants to be JACKED, very few things add slabs… continue reading.

There’s a helluva a lotta cats out there addicted to pre-workout stimulants. Gotta be cranked for your workout; bouncing off the walls or ready to run through ‘em. So you slug down a triple espresso and stack with it with some 3 Hour Energy Blaster, NO Explode-aria and whatever else they sell at the checkout counter of GNC. Anything short of an 8-ball of coke is fair game. After twenty minutes or so it starts kicking in and you feel superhuman. You’re no longer a guy who barely slept because you were stressed out all night or the guy who… continue reading.

An RSC Exclusive Report – Sign up HERE to become a member today. 13 Rules For Injury Free Training – By Keith Scott LEARN to listen to your body! Being intuitive to what your body is telling you is not easy, but if you take the time to really “listen” you will be able to master it and know when to back off, ramp up, or modify. The obvious sign is pain….if it hurts, stop doing it! But the more subtle forms of pain and dysfunction are harder to notice at first. Here are a few pointers: 1 –… continue reading.

One of the most frequently asked nutrition questions I get is, “How many carbs should you eat per day to build muscle?” Everyone always focuses on protein but if you want to get jacked carbs are crucial. High fat and Paleo style eating can be great for getting lean but not for getting big. That job requires some rice and potatoes. Carb intake should be directly correlated to weekly training volume. For example, let’s say Billy does an old school 5×5 routine twice per week because he believes that as a hardgainer that’s all the training he can handle. There… continue reading.

In 2006 I went up to Boston to do a seminar at Total Performance Sports with some friends and colleagues of mine. The Friday night before it went down we all trained at TPS. I was going toe to toe with my buddy Smitty of Diesel Strength & Conditioning while Alwyn Cosgrove looked on in amusement. We went back and forth, constantly one upping each other and exchanging good-natured insults between sets. Over the previous few months my shoulder had been getting worse and worse from years of stupidity in the gym and several crash landings on dirt bikes, ATV’s… continue reading.

If you missed Part I click HERE. If you missed Part II click HERE. When we last left off I was telling Chris about how we needed to fix his hormonal issues that many hardgainers struggle with… “Okay, good. Let’s please do that.  I can’t live like this anymore. It’s getting so frustrating and depressing,” Chris told me. “Hey man, no one understands that more than I do (see the picture of me at 17 years old, after four years of training, to the left). But if you do what I say you will totally transform yourself. I’ve… continue reading.

If you missed Part I click HERE to read it. Now, back to the story of young Chris, the skinny-fat hardgainer. *** “Okay, so I can’t just rely on the big lifts, I should do some single leg, dumbbell and bodyweight exercises and I need to train my neck and forearms. And if I ever hope to see any growth in my calves at all I’ll have to bomb them like Arnold used to.” “You are correct, sir.” Got it. What else,” Chris asked. Myth #4: Hardgainers Should Train Very Infrequently “You said you were doing the classic HIT… continue reading.

I met up with Chris at Lola’s Coffee shop a few minutes after 10am on a Tuesday. He had a backwards Hurley hat on, faded jeans and a pair of Syracuse orange and navy Nike Dunks. At 6’1” and 170 pounds with narrow shoulders and a small potbelly Chris was anything but jacked. In fact, like me, he had the exact 180 degree opposite genetics of the kid in the picture to the left. Colorful traditional Japanese style snakes and dragons covered his 13-inch upper arms that dangled in his Volcom shirtsleeves. “Look at these pipe cleaners,” he said. “They… continue reading.

The bench press is as equally loved as it is hated. It’s a great size and strength building exercise, but at the same time, one that can wreak havoc on your shoulders, especially if you’re not 5’7″ and built like a brick shit house naturally. If you’re an average injury prone, skinny-fat dude or just someone with long limbs and/or tiny joints you’ve gotta be smart about how you program it. Unless someone is training for some sort of test I never prescribe a plain old, standard flat bench press. I like to add a few tweaks here and there… continue reading.

rsc1t “Hey Joe, always good to see you, my friend.” That’s what my buddy, Laslov says to me every Sunday morning at the Santa Monica farmers market as he engulfs my tiny mits with his massive bear paws. I’ve corrected him several times but just don’t have the heart to keep doing it. So for a brief moment in time each week I’m Joe, not Jay. My wife, Jen and I pick up a jar of freshly ground pecan butter from him along with a handful of green plums, both of which are absolutely delicious. Then we go to Harry’s… continue reading.

If you missed Part I, where the hell were ya? And what’s your excuse? Check it out HERE then rejoin the rest of us back on this page. We’ll wait and try to figure out exactly what exercise this girl is attempting. While we’ve got some time to kill I should mention that my babysitter did NOT look like Elizabeth Shue. Nor has she aged as well, which was evident when we reunited for the remake of Dirty Dancing not too long ago. Anyway… Everyone all caught up? Cool, let’s roll. 14) Low Rest Periods Rule Years ago I… continue reading.

The year was 1987. It was a fall day much like any other in Jersey. The Giants were starting their season looking to repeat as Super Bowl champs. The Simpson made their television debut, and Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston ruled the pop charts. But what’s of particular significance to the readers of this blog is what one skinny-fat white kid with a horrifically bad hairdo and equally bad teeth decided to do around this time a quarter century ago. After returning home from watching Dirty Dancing on the big screen with his babysitter he noticed something disturbing in the… continue reading.

When someone started lifting weights for the first time back in the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s the only goal was to get bigger and stronger. It was unquestionable and undeniable. Why else would you lift weights? There was no other thought that would even possibly enter your mind. No one had ever heard the ball shriveling term “metcon,” or would consider interspersing laps around the building in between sets of jerks and fifty rep snatches. Back in those days you knew about training from seeing Arnold and Franco in Pumping Iron or watching Kaz compete in the Worlds Strongest Man… continue reading.

Some people think they can’t use lifting straps because it’s not accepted by the “hardcore training” police. “That’s pussy shit that bodybuilders do. I’m not doing that.” Maybe it is… or maybe that’s why their back looks better than yours. If you want to do rows with a weight that’s probably twenty or thirty percent less than you can handle, be my guest. Sure, turn a good back exercise into a grip challenge and never train your back with as much weight as it’s capable of handling. That makes sense. What a lot of people don’t realize is that grip… continue reading.

You know why you’re not making the progress you had hoped for? Why you’re spinning your wheels and frustrated almost to the point of depression? Why you look the exact same right now as you did 6-12 months ago? What you’re doing at this very moment is part of the problem. Reading this website could be killing your gains. Why? Because you already read two dozen other training websites and Twitter feeds today that told you two dozen different things. And you have no fucking idea what to believe or do. You’re not sure if you’re supposed to be training… continue reading.