Fitness

“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.

You want to build muscle and gain weight fast. You’re not happy with the way you look so you’re in a rush, always eating more and watching the scale each and every day. The problem is the human body is only capable of building muscle so fast. Unfortunately that’s at a much slower rate than many of us would hope for. So when you keep adding more food the only thing that ends up happening is you turn into a fat ass. Maybe I’m nuts but I think most people would prefer to be described as a bad ass rather… continue reading.

Ideally you should squat to below parallel while maintaining a neutral spine. A good deep squat is very healthy for your knees and also recruits the hamstrings and glutes far better than a partial range squat does. However, most people lack the mobility and flexibility necessary to sink a squat a few inches below parallel without rounding their lumbar spine (lower back). When you allow repeated spinal flexion under the heavy load of a squat you’re asking for problems. In fact it’s one of the best ways I know to eventually suffer some type of disc injury. My… continue reading.

My first hand experiences, coupled with all the reading and research I’ve done on sugar the last couple of years has me really down on it’s consumption by anyone at any time. I honestly believe that it’s not really fit for human consumption.  That is, of course, if optimal health and maximal performance are something that interests you. It’s been said that one teaspoon of sugar lowers your immune system response for four hours. Hell, just about anything physical ailment you can think of is made worse by sugar. Do you have any of the following?… continue reading.

IF you missed the first two parts of this post check them out at the links below- Part 1 Part 2 On to part 3… 20) Do Dips on Gymnastics Rings Instead of Parallel Bars- Unlike the bars which keep you in more of a fixed plane, the rings allow you to move naturally and you can work around the pain. If I could only do one upper body pressing exercise to build and strengthen the chest, shoulders and triceps this would probably be it. That’s not to say that dips on parallel bars aren’t… continue reading.

I hope you guys enjoyed the first installment of this article. Today I’m serving up Part 2… 11) Do More Pushups- Pushups are still one of my top ten favorite exercises and always will be. They are also significantly better for your shoulders than any other form of horizontal pressing with a bar or dumbbells. Pushups are highly underrated because people don’t know how to load them properly or do advanced variations. For loading you can get a weighted vest, chains, a Power Pushup (which is awesome) or even have a partner hold weight… continue reading.

I’ve spent the last two and a half decades pounding the shit out of my shoulders. While that sucks for me it’s actually good news for you. Why, you ask? Because when you’ve torn traps, rotator cuffs and labrums you develop a pretty keen interest in avoiding shoulder injuries. You also develop a pretty good MacGyver instinct about how to work around them. And today I’m going to share some of that information with the Renegade Army. Here is a list of 27 tips that will help you keep your shoulders strong and healthy. 1) Do YTWL’s as a Warm… continue reading.

Today we’re gonna talk about how to build bigger biceps. Because, who wants to walk around with their shirt sleeves flapping in the wind? It’s a fate no man should ever have to suffer. Of course, an easy way around that is to buy smaller shirts. Which, as a New Jersey native/ lifelong meathead, I’m all for. But a size small t-shirt with a pair of 11 inch pipe cleaners hanging out of them still isn’t quite the best look. So lets beef those arms up a bit, shall we? Surely. The first mistake most people make when trying to… continue reading.

Some strength coaches and “functional training” guys have a thing against direct arm work. You shouldn’t train bi’s or tri’s because doing so doesn’t help you on the field or develop real world strength they say. Others tell you that training arms makes you look like a narcissistic douchebag. I see this kind of stuff in articles and Facebook posts all the time. In all honesty, I’ve probably said something similar myself in the past just to make a point. The anti arm training brigade says that you should only train for strength or function, looks and aesthetics be… continue reading.

If the deadlift is the best muscle building exercise on the planet why do many successful strength and conditioning coaches not use the movement with their athletes? The reason is simple; the deadlift takes too much out of you and is very hard to recover from. When you have an athlete who also needs to be implementing speed work, conditioning and sport specific drills on a regular basis you can’t afford to compromise his recovery ability to such an extreme level. A hard deadlift session will usually leave him slower, less explosive and with a general, overall feeling of fatigue… continue reading.

Remember the movie, Face Off, where someone removed Nicolas Cage’s face and switched it with John Travolta’s? Well, if you only knew me outside of the gym and then walked in when I was training you would probably swear that had to have happened. The guy who is almost always laughing, cracking jokes and quoting Seinfeld is long gone. I’m angry, laser focused and don’t really see the humor in much. Not because I’m not enjoying myself or because I want to be a dick to those around me, but because I’m very serious about my training and really enjoy… continue reading.

Kyle Matthews knows a thing or two about hard work and dedication. He won the first ever Muscle Gaining Secrets transformation contest a few years back, then repeated his performance when we had another transformation contest for members of the Renegade Inner Circle last year. To do that twice is pretty impressive. Especially considering the fact that between the two contests he suffered three freak injuries that set him back considerably (all of which we didn’t have the time to cover in this interview). Today Kyle’s going to share some of his experiences and explain how he… continue reading.

Choose Your Goals and Train Accordingly I like kettlebell snatches. Only I don’t do too many of them because my workouts already include a lot of overhead work in the form of handstands, presses, barbell snatches, carries, chins, etc. When I throw in too many kettlebell snatches on top of all that my injured, surgically repaired shoulder gets a little flared up. So I’d rather jump rope, push the prowler or run hills like I have since ’84 when Walter Payton inspired me to start doing so. That’s not to say that I won’t do a… continue reading.

Even though my last post ended up being one of the most popular of 2010, and the majority of readers got it, there still seems to be many unanswered questions regarding the topic of conditioning in many people’s minds. Hopefully I can clear those up today. How Important is Conditioning? Conditioning is extremely important. Like Vince Lombardi said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” It can literally be the difference between winning and losing. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should train for conditioning in the weight room. If you’re an athlete how much… continue reading.