Fitness

Anyone who reads this site regularly knows how much I hate 99% of all public gyms. It’s just not really my scene. Plus they never have the stuff I want and always have too much of the stuff I don’t want. I found this piece by Stuart McRobert which echoes my sentiments (and probably yours) and thought it was awesome so I’m sharing it here: “This gym is all appearance and no substance. It is only because we have a lot of fancy-looking equipment that we impress everyone who knows little or nothing about training. Because we have spent a… continue reading.

How long should your workout last if you want to build muscle and gain strength at the fastest rate possible? When it comes to workout duration less is more. To increase muscle hypertrophy and get stronger you want to get to the gym, hit it hard, stimulate size and strength gains, then get out. That means no more than sixty minutes total, including warm up time. When you start training your body will naturally boost testosterone levels significantly higher than normal. This increased output peaks somewhere around a half hour into your workout. By taking blood… continue reading.

I have a great article for you today by my colleague, Brad Pilon. Brad is a super smart dude who knows more about nutrition than most people have forgotten. He’s also one of the few guys I rely on for dietary advice. Check it out… How Much Protein Should You Eat Per Day? By Brad Pilon You’d think by now we’d have a clear-cut answer to this question, but to tell you the truth, ‘how much protein’ is a question we’ve been trying to answer for over 200 years. In fact, protein has played a central role in nutrition… continue reading.

Bodyweight exercises need to be part of your program if you want to get build muscle, burn fat and improve your overall athleticism. Not everyone needs to or should lift a barbell, but bodyweight exercises are essential. I’ve used them to rapidly transform the bodies of professional athletes, models and entertainers. One of the many things I love about them is they can be done anywhere at any time. But I’m not just talking basic pushups, sit ups, air squats and high rep calisthenics. That’s beginner stuff that won’t really build muscle beyond your first few months of training. We’re… continue reading.

People often ask me, “Are trap bar deadlifts safer than straight bar deadlifts?” In the past I might have been inclined to say yes. But that was before I witnessed a lot of average guys sustain some really odd injuries while trap bar deadlifting over the last three years. You see, when you get used to working with a higher level, more athletic clientele it can skew your viewpoint on things a bit. I’ve found that to be the case with a few concepts that I once believed to be true. After being able to test them on a wider… continue reading.

Arthur Saxon was a big influence on me, as obvious by the Renegade logo at the top of this site. I’m obsessed with old time strongmen and old school methods of training. One of the things I like about the early days of Physical Culture is that everyone did everything. Meaning that bodybuilders lifted heavy weights and competed in contests where they had to do more than pose. Lifters possessed impressive physiques and usually didn’t gain unnecessary fat to simply improve their leverages on an exercise and lift more weight. Olympic lifts were not practiced only by Olympic lifters but… continue reading.

Have questions about how to build muscle and gain weight? Then I’ve got answers… Question: Someone walks into your gym with a fairly modest lifting past (a recreational lifter or a little above) and says “I want to start getting bigger, what are three things I should know or do?” You say… To build muscle and gain weight you have to use big, compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, military presses, dips, chin ups, pushups and rows. You have to train with adequate resistance, meaning 6-10 reps on average and you need to strive to get stronger… continue reading.

In Part 1 we discussed neck, traps, shoulders, chest and triceps. Today we keep it rolling, starting with every a Jersey Shore favorite- the biceps. Curls As with most of these exercises, beginners should use a full range of motion. Let me rephrase that…. Beginners should never do curls. After a few years of training when you start curling you should use a full range of motion. But shortly after that it would be wise to cut the range and save your elbows. Keep the elbows slightly bent in the bottom position and even use a little… continue reading.

You want the simple answer? No. Even though you hear a ton of people saying it the fact of the matter is you don’t have to and, in fact, shouldn’t always use a full range of motion on every exercise you do. People who recommend this are well intentioned. I’ve recommended it myself and still do to beginners. In a general sense it’s very good advice. But when we get more advanced and examine things more closely we get a different story. Sometimes a full range of motion can be dangerous. Other times it can simply be less productive for… continue reading.

Bodyweight training is incredibly effective for building muscle. Some would even argue that it’s better than free weights. Bodyweight exercises don’t beat up your joints as much as traditional weight training exercises do. They allow for a more natural range of motion and improve your overall athleticism quite effectively. Advanced bodyweight exercises require unmatched levels of full body tension. This is what leads to incredible strength gains. However, there are still those who  argue that bodyweight training isn’t as effective as weight lifting when it comes to building muscle. That’s because it’s often associated with high reps, endurance and the… continue reading.

Bodyweight Training Tips From Sin City Normally when you’re in Vegas with Jay Z pumping through the speakers and a big ass shakin right next to you at the pool you’d be thinking to yourself, “Maaaannn, look at those glutes, I’d love to see what that girl could do… In the gym…” Or maybe that’s just me. Or the over 35 year old version of me. Truth be told, I’m obsessed with strength and bodyweight training and am always thinking about it in some way or another. Even when there’s a bunch of tanned, thonged,… continue reading.

Being big and strong is great. But how to become more explosive is a question all athletes need to be more concerned with. Being big, strong and explosive makes someone a bad motherfucker. In most sports strength without speed is useless. Strong, slow athletes usually don’t make it to the top, unless we’re talking bout sumo wrestling. But even then, being explosive would give you a huge advantage. There are countless ways to develop explosive power but I like to keep things simple so here’s the easiest way to do it. Simply add jumps to your workout 1-2 days per… continue reading.

Aside from your neck, the muscles that get exposed to the world more than any other are your forearms. So it’s a probably a good idea for them to be jacked, or least look halfway decent. A lot of guys with average to above average genetics will never need to do any direct forearm work and their forearms will grow just fine from presses and pulls. The rest of us won’t be so lucky. It’s funny because the common message preached to skinny hardgainers is to forget isolation training and only focus on compound lifts. This is… continue reading.

“There aint no cure for the summertime blues.” That’s what Eddie Cochran told us in 1958. And a lot of people know all too well about that particular subject. I’m talking about less than two months from today when June 21st rolls around and it’s officially time to start shedding layers for all to see. Those who aren’t prepared will inevitably be stricken with a fierce case of the summertime blues. That’s because they will be forced to keep their shirts on or live in embarrassment over the next few months, regretting that they didn’t lean down like they wanted… continue reading.

A perfect snatch is a beautiful thing. It seems that more coaches prefer the clean when it comes to Olympic lift variations for power production. But I’ve always preferred the snatch and have been obsessed with it for as long as I can remember. Before I even started lifting weights, actually. Cleans are a great exercise but they are also significantly harder to teach/learn than snatches are. The other issue I have with cleans is that they can lead to wrist and elbow injuries. There are certain athletes, such as basketball players or baseball players, that I wouldn’t want… continue reading.