All things old have passed away and now all things begin new again. For some 2011 was the best year of their lives and for others it may have been a hell they hope to never go through again.
Nevertheless, it is futile to linger onto “should’ve-could’ves” if we ever expect to progress towards bigger and better things that await us in the future.
Whatever pain or disappointments we may have experienced will only make us that much stronger and whole lot wiser…if we choose to respond to it that way.
In this journey called life it is up to us to discover who we are and why we’re here. Our gracious creator did not just drop us on Earth to exist and wonder haplessly through life like mindless zombies. Read more...
It’s been well over a decade since I was a free agent preparing for camps by running along side an old Toyota pickup like Forrest Gump going 30 mph on the backside of an airline strip at Lackland Airforce base in San Antonio, Texas. Looking back…that…was not a good idea.
Now have you I was jacked and conditioned like a race horse in the Kentucky Derby but I was running old lady forty times at camps. Knowing what I know now the misguided “Rocky Balboa” training did more harm than good in helping improve my speed and explosiveness. I was more ready for a boxing title match than I was running a blazing forty time.
Even at the college level long distance runs were used to determine our conditioning prior to two-a-days. DUMB…just dumb coach. Shuttle runs, gassers, figure 8s, anything besides long endurance crap. Power athletes train for power not the Boston Marathon. You wonder why your team keeps getting plowed over every season. Read more...
In his “hay-day” Iron Mike was the baddest man on the planet and didn’t hesitate to let the entire world know about it after another first round onslaught when he came out boldly proclaiming, “My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I’m just ferocious.”
Now have you I was a big fan of Tyson the dominant athlete and not the Tyson that self-destructed. He’s arguably one of the greatest heavyweights ever and could have possibly been the greatest ever but he became his own worst enemy. In his prime he brought to boxing what Jordan brought to the NBA.
Tyson was the consummate artisan of his craft under the watchfull tutelage of the legendary boxing trainer Cus D’Amato. This is where the foundation was laid in developing his raw abilities into the unstoppable display of speed and power millions of spectators would shell out fifty bucks to watch on pay-per-view. We all were witnessing the end result of hours of focused and relentless training. The culmination of persistance, dedication, and long faught preparation. Read more...
So it’s been about a month and half since I partially tore my right pec pushing 400 and some change on floor presses. Now heavy bench press training, or any heavy chest training for that matter, may be a thing of the past. Will that deter me from working my chest? Nah…I’ll just be killing it more with pushups and isolation work to bring up the right pec as much as possible while gradually working up from light to moderate bench and incline work. This also forces me to train heavier on the shoulders and triceps to help compensate some for the injury. Read more...
“Back in the day when I was young I’m not a kid any more, But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again”. (Ahmad; 1993)…old school hip hop. Had a relapse again. My bad. Just kind of popped in my head as I begin writing on this topic but that’s just part of the good stuff I do choose to recollect from those days. Read more...
I don’t know too many people that are serious about training and don’t use some kind of music to amp up their training sessions.
I’m of the mindset that you should approach each training session as if you were going into battle and the iron is your opponent. Either you come ready or you get owned. It’s all about a mindset, getting into BEAST mode and just straight DOMINATING it.
Even boxers and mma fighters come out to their favorite music blasting while approaching the ring. This a way for them to clear their heads and get psyched for the destruction that is about to unfold in the ring. Many pro athletes can be seen with their iPods on and getting into this “fight mode” prior to game time. Read more...
Females that can jump up on a “vertical bar” are a dime a dozen but those that can jump up, grasp a “horizontal bar” and crank out pullups all day are of the few and the proud.
Like a close encounter of the third kind, it’s a rare feat that few witness and won’t believe until they see it with their own eyes. It separates the G.I. Janes from the Suzie Homemakers. It’ll make grown men that can’t do pullups question their manhood…tuck tail and coward away.
I’m a firm believer that out of all the strength building movements pullups/chinups are king and unmatched when it comes to separating the BEASTS from the men. Pushups come in a close second since there are many that can’t perform a good strict pushup without collapsing under their own bodyweight. Read more...
Although I continued with football long after highschool basketball was my first love and I always looked forward to the NBA dunk battles between Jordan and Dominique.
Since the All-Star game is this weekend and Blake Griffin appears to be the second coming of “Reign Man” and the “Human Highlight Film” rolled into one I thought it was only proper to pay homage and to remind today’s youngstas that before there was Griffin there was Nique (Human Highlight Film) and Kemp (Reign Man).
You can do all the fancy and gimmicky jump training and buy the latest internet “Jump Out of the Gym” e-book from so-called experts hiding behind keyboards but there are some skills you can’t teach and abilities that are beyond human comprehension. Can you improve your vertical jump and explosiveness? Sure but don’t go chasing after flying monkeys. Sometimes you just need to revel in the moment and be thankful you were able to experience it.
Thankfully I’ll never have to bare any of this madness but for those that are stuck in the doldrums of two-year contracts and Body-By-Jake training, here is a short list to check yourself with and to identify the “ego-lifters” you are sure to encounter:
Always trains in a “Lego Block” fitness club. If you’re going to get bigger and stronger than you better be training where the bigger and stronger train. Jimmy Gym Rat prefers training on shiny machines surrounded by mirrors, flat screens, and Justin Bieber blasting over the sound system. An environment ripe more for pheromone excretion rather than testosterone production.
Trains in his baby brother’s t-shirts. This is similar to Sally Sumo (or Sammy Sumo, if you can believe that) squeezing into skinny jeans to appear slimmer. There really should be a law against that and Kanye West you need to get your testosterone levels checked bra. Huge is huge. Muscle or fat. If you’re jacked like a BEAST you won’t have to wear shirts from Baby GAP. Read more...
I usually see the red flags immediately when encountering over-hyped adds making preposterous claims about “get yoked muscle gains fast” or “one simple trick to ripped abs in just two weeks”. If you’re seeing it on TV infomercials or internet banners on CNN or MSN run for the hills because it’s not worth the time or your hard earned dollars.
They seem to be luring the bewildered with slick marketing propaganda by using sponsored sports celebrities and so-called free trials that get you stuck into recurring billing shipments even after cancelling. You’ve been warned.
Many a gym rat and some competitive athletes swear by NO supplements giving them jacked size and strength gains. The late Red Foxx probably said it best…”Ya Big Dummy!”. Aside from shoving a syringe into your rear or just bustin it at the dinner table and weight room, at the least you’ll experience a decent temporary pump while training but it soon fizzles out. Read more...
