Workouts

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.

There are thousands of people who read this site every day who will never make it to Jersey to train at Renegade. So I debated even posting this since it won’t really apply to most of you. But then I realized that no, that’s wrong. It will apply to anyone who trains hard, takes this stuff very seriously and expects the same of all around them. I’ve mentioned my close friend, Mark Crook plenty of times before. He would be a great addition to any serious gym or group of training partners anywhere in the world. He brings it each… 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.

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.

Here’s a quick way for coaches and trainers to get more out of their athletes and instantly earn their respect. Train with them. It’s that simple. Of course, you can’t do this all the time but once in a while, even if it’s a very rare occasion you should jump in on a workout to show them that you practice what you preach and lead from the front. Athletes will always respect a coach more if he is willing to suffer with them. My advice would be to join in on a grueling conditioning day. Because, let’s face… 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.

Jungle Gym XT– There are countless exercises that can be done on the Jungle Gym XT; many more effective than using a machine or even free weights, such as pushups, flys, dips, assisted handstand pushups, leg curls, hip thrusts, ab fall outs and many more.  At Renegade Training Center we use big, basic barbell lifts as our main maximal strength exercises and then supplement with bodyweight, kettlebell, dumbell and strongman type lifts for accessory work. The Jungle Gym XT gets used at every workout, without fail. It’s also great to travel with because it’s small and light and… continue reading.

I always advise all beginners and hardgainers to concentrate on making linear progress (either by adding more reps or more weight) at each and every workout. Add a rep or a plate and you will make pretty consistent gains for quite a while. This is one of the key components to the Muscle Gaining Secrets program. Eventually, however, you’ll no longer be a beginner or a hardgainer and then the whole game changes. It will become more and more difficult to make linear progress on a consistent basis. This can be hard to accept at first and become quite… continue reading.

Q: Jay, everyone thinks they know how to build muscle mass. But as you and I know, most people never really even get close to their true potential. What is the biggest mistake people make when trying to get big and strong? A: They follow the same old, traditional bodybuilding routine. That means they are training each body part with too much volume, not enough intensity, probably too much intensiveness, and not enough frequency. Just so everyone is on the same page, when I say intensity I am referring to percentage of one rep max. That means that they… continue reading.

While most doctors and health professionals try to scare you into avoiding sodium at all costs, this could actually be the worst advice around for anyone looking to enhance their performance or build a better physique. In fact, there are studies which have shown that moderately high levels of dietary sodium produce very few negative effects or are not actually linked to hypertension and other diseases and conditions. For most of my athletes and clients, eating too much sodium is never a problem; it’s actually consuming too little sodium that is the problem. Once… continue reading.