Motivation

I was originally gonna write this last May, after the death of MCA. But I figured the internet was full of enough articles eulogizing Adam Yauch at the time so I’d hold off. Plus it’s easy to get oversentimental about celebrities when they pass. When you wait eleven months it gives you a clearer perspective. I grew up thirty minutes outside of New York City listening to 80’s and 90’s hip hop. Run DMC, Public Enemy and LL Cool J provided the soundtrack for my youth. In the beginning I was never much of a Beastie Boys fan. Like… continue reading.

Guest Post by Renegade Inner Circle Coach, Keith Scott Ice Cube has always been one of my favorite rappers of all time. I have never made a Hip Hop training mix that does not include a plethora of Ice Cube tracks. One of the best lyricists of all time, Cube brings anger, aggression, and intensity in almost all of his songs. These are a few of the ingredients that every training session needs. So, here are my top 15 Ice Cube training songs. 15. Pushin’ Weight – (War & Peace Vol. 1) – Great Cube song… continue reading.

Guest post by Renegade Inner Circle Member, Addison Marshall When I was playing Spring football my freshmen year I started having very bad rib pain. After a few tests, I learned that my ribs had cracked from a spleen that had been enflamed with Leukemia cells. Finding out I had cancer was the worst news of my life. The first 6 months were hell and my body was showing it.  I had lost about 30 pounds and most of my muscle.  I just ate shit all day and was always to tired to workout.  I eventually gained weight… continue reading.

Guest Post from Renegade Inner Circle Member, Chad Proud Ah, where to start? I first started training, err, caring about my physical appearance back in 2008. I was 20, and a sophomore in college at the time. I had always been the scrawny kid growing up, and used to be teased incessantly for it (even by my own family). So much so in fact that I actually felt proud when I weighed 206 lb. Now, mind you this 206 lb. came from a consistent diet of popcorn chicken dipped in applesauce, Cheetos, cookies and pop (dorm cafeteria favorite). continue reading.

Guest Post by Renegade Inner Circle Coach, Sean Hyson Good training music has to make you excited, alert, and even a little bit angry. For guys, it’s natural to turn to rap and metal (and, of course, rap-metal), to evoke this condition. However, these aren’t your only options, and if you train consistently throughout your life, you’re going to crave a change eventually. I think the real purpose of training music is to bring out your passion. You have to be somewhat emotional and worked up emotionally to train hard and purposefully. So, really, any music that… continue reading.

“Every day of my life, I’m trying to find a different way to get better.” “Nobody’s as serious about health and fitness as me, and staying fit is my top priority.” “What makes you grind?  You have to always be chasing something.” “In any war, you put your back to mine, I put my back to yours, and let’s do what we gotta do.” “You’ve got to go out and show them that I’m a different creature now, then I was five minutes ago, cause I’m pissed off for greatness. Cause if you ain’t pissed off for greatness, that just… continue reading.

I want to start by thanking all 1,112 of you who contributed to the NJ Strength Disaster Relief sale. During the course of the sale over a quarter of a million people visited this site but you guys took action. I truly appreciate that, as do the people of New Jersey. Here is the screen shot from my Clickbank account: So you guys raised $8,188.88 for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Then I got three incredible emails from friends… First Chad Waterbury donated $500: Then Dave Draper’s wife, Laree did the same: And finally, Matt of Fat… continue reading.

“LaRue, you up and ready? I’m gonna swing by and grab you for a quick run to the mall,” I tweeted @CraigBallantyne (to save money on the international texting, because I am just that smart) at around 8:30am on Friday. Since Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove and Chad Waterbury had gotten in late from the West Coast I figured they would all still be asleep along with other friends and family members staying at the hotel. But I knew that whippersnapper, Ballantyne would be up and working. I picked up Craig and we embarked on a journey for some new Vans. continue reading.

Stop worrying about shit. It’s as simple as that. And doing so can dramatically change your life. Never worry about that which you cannot control. To spend time thinking “what if,” or stressing about things that potentially may go wrong is a total waste of your time here on this planet. If something is beyond your control there’s no use even thinking about it. Focus only on what you can control and don’t waste time worrying about anything else. “What if my boss yells at me for trying this new approach?” “What if this marketing campaign fails?” “What if I… continue reading.

Firstly, we have a new look to the site which is a bit cleaner and should make for easier reading. It’s still a work in progress and we’ll be making a few more changes. I hope everyone likes it. After an awesome night out on the town Wednesday in NYC with John Alvino, Sean Hyson, Zach Even-Esh and six of my other closest friends (including Mark Crook and Mike Schwalb who I’ve mentioned plenty of times before) I’m still trying to piece it all together and make sure my liver still works. It was a wild night. Those dudes know… continue reading.

“After 12 I’m worse than a Gremlin, feed me hip hop and I’ll start trembling.” – Rakim I’ve had an intense love affair with hip hop music since it’s birth. I grew up listening to Run DMC, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, LL, The Beasties and Big Daddy Kane.  In the early 90’s I spent my free time mixing records on Technique 1200’s. This is a subject I’m very passionate about and have spent decades studying. I was originally gonna simply list the top 50, but I figured that would be a cop out. To do this right I had… continue reading.

The NFL season has come and gone. Here in America we are entering that great sports void that happens every year between the end of football season and the beginning of baseball season. It’s the dead of winter, there’s very little to do and neither of the two most popular sports is on TV for your viewing pleasure. A difficult time for fans, to be sure. The good news is that gives you more time to dedicate to your training. There’s only about 16 weeks until Memorial Day weekend so there’s no time for slacking off. (***Shameless Plug Alert- 16… continue reading.

Maybe you screwed up last year. You showed signs of weakness or lost your way. Maybe it was your fault or maybe it wasn’t. Maybe your dad died or you got fired or divorced. Thing is, none of that matters now. You don’t have to forget any of the hardships you endured but you do need to leave them behind you. Sitting around thinking about what was or what could have been does no one any good. When my step dad, Ed, died a few years ago it seemed like all I could do for the next few weeks was… continue reading.

I polled the Renegade Nation on my Facebook and Twitter pages asking for your favorite rock songs. I wanted strictly rock, not metal. So Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Social Distortion and that kind of stuff. Some of the answers we got could definitely be considered metal and what category do you put Rage Against the Machine in? Anyway, here’s a compilation that will hopefully give you some good ideas to your workout play mixes. Please do me a favor and post your top 3-10 favorite rock training songs that AREN’T already listed here. continue reading.

Yesterday, the magical streak of Tim Tebow came to an end and there were a lot of happy people. That’s because people hate Tim Tebow. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots put a temporary end to Tebow-mania as Brady showed the youngster how the position of quarterback is meant to be played. As a result there were a lot of unhappy people. That’s because people love Tim Tebow. He’s a polarizing figure who, over the last few months, has become one of the biggest sports stories of the year. Like him or hate him I think there’s a lesson… continue reading.