He’s hookin,,,he’s hookin…he’s hookin. Yep…exactly how my mind and body was feeling yesterday.

At least I thought it was my intent to video the Power Blast session yesterday to demonstrate another way to get in an intense lifting and conditioning session when you’ve had a busy, restless week or just short on time.

Aside from some serious life altering occurrence or illness there’s never an excuse to carve out time to tend to your temple.

Well…unless you’re already sipping the “Family Guy Kool-Aid” and relegated yourself to a pathetic lifestyle of wussification along with a majority of America and some of its so-called leaders. Meh…I digress.

The camera was available for recording but I wasn’t. Brother was tore up from the floor up to keep it running while I struggled to push through three rounds of this 30 minute session. Took me all of a good 45 minutes just to foam, stretch out, and trying to jump start my engine with two cans of Xyience.

I was feeling more like “Mama said there will be days like this…” instead of “Mama said knock you out”. You know your body and when it’s ready or not. Sometimes you can get it cranking and sometimes you call it a day and come back to battle at another time.

My best tip or advice for getting more energy is not extra coffee, Xyience, or pre-workout. Better rest. Not 4-6 hours. 7-8 hours seems to do wonders on the body and mind.

Anyway here’s the general template for an old school routine called Power Blast. This full-body complex will help you remain in BEASTMODE and steering clear of the realm of wussidom.

Main Lifts: Bench, Bent Rows, Squat, Military Press – you can sub with other variations of compound lifts (i.e., chins or pullups instead of bent rows but keep the order the same).

Stay within 50-65% range of your max and 10-12 reps on main lifts. 10-20 reps on arms and core work. Move through circuit style with minimal rest. This is also a good routine for deloading, GPP, or a repetition day. Here’s the template I worked yesterday:

-Incline Press 10-12
-Keg Rows 10-12
-Front BB Squat 10-12
-Keg Push Press 10-12
-Chain Curls 10-20
-Weighted Dips 10-20
-Weighted Spread Eagle w/Hip Lifts 10-20

Rest 2-3 minutes and repeat. Go for 3-4 rounds.

No excuses. Just do work.

Who doesn’t like a set of blazing guns stretching out the arm sleeves of an XXL shirt.

No…”Vanity Vinny”…wearing your baby brother’s t-shirt doesn’t count. That’s an illusion pal.

I’m not going to bother much digressing into this topic because unless you’re into bodybuilding then I can see the emphasis on isolation exercises for the triceps but if you focus more on a few simple compound lifts and bodywieght movements then this isn’t a conversation you’ll need to be having much with anyone.

Again big eating, healthy portions of heavy compound lifts and bodyweight was the most I did at the onset to beef up my arms for packing on extra size. Big triceps not big biceps is what gives your arms true size since the triceps make up the largest cross-section of the arms.

Everyone has their personal favorites and what they feel has worked best for them. The following is a short list of the exercises I’ve benefited from then and now with my top 3 highligthed in bold. Use them as assisstance lifts and alternate on weekly or bi-weekly period to jack up your bench press as well as powering up your cannons:

1. Close-grip bench
2. Board Presses
3. JM Presses
4. French Press (skull crushers or lying tri ext.)
5. Dips (variations)
6. Pushups (variations)

Keep Killing It

“It may sound strange, but many champions are made champions by setbacks.” (Bob Richards)

After spending most of March looking and feeling like Handi Man I get back from the Genesis Seminar a week ago ready to kill it…only to jack up my lower lunbar cranking out some heavy rack deads as the main lift of a hybrid WSB/Sheiko/5/3/1 template I’ve been experimenting with for about a month.

I forgot I wasn’t Ronnie Coleman and rushed my last lift and paid the piper. Too much back and not enough hips. Another setback just as I was recovering from an annoying sciataca strain and feeling juiced again.

Yet, that’s the nature of the beast and battling the iron for anyone that’s been training with weights for a good length of time. The stronger you get the heavier you’ll train. At some point the laws of physics and nature will respond. It’s inevitable.

Nevertheless there are measures that can be taken to aid in faster recovery and get you back into the gym and crashing the iron without losing too much of your hard-earned muscle and strength gains.

1. Lay off and Rest – Duh…you just tore your pec (uh hum…strained your back).This is a no-brainer here.

2. Lots of Sleep – The best prescription for injury and growth. This is when the body produces HGH to help heal and repair muscle tissue.

3. Anti-inflammatory – Take your fish oils and eat some pineapple (bromelain).

4. Ice/Heat – Brings down the swelling and increases blood circulation to muscle tissue for faster repair and healing.

5. Massage Therapy – Foam rolling (self-myofascial release) releases muscle tension (tightness) while improving blood circulation. Anyone serious about their training should be doing this daily.

6. Drink lots of water – We’re primarily composed of it. Our muscles, joints, and spinal disc core are dependent on it for lubrication, healing, and repairing. Removes toxins and transports nutrients to cells, decreasing recovery time. Again…drink lots of water.

After allowing your body to heal and recover, you may feel a 100% but that doesn’t always indicate you are a 100%, ease back into your regular scheduled training program with more bodyweight and lighter poundages. The tendency is to rush getting back to where you were but that’s asking for it. Let things progress gradually and you’ll come back even stronger than before.

“Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made.” – Wayne Dyer

Coming back refueled and cranked up from the Genesis Seminar I wanted to share a life changing nugget for those with a desire to dominate more in the gym and in life.

If your life isn’t where you want it to be and you’re not all that you want to be the best way to change everything is to start reading.

Reading alone can begin the process in evolving you into a stronger version of yourself instantly. As you change your thinking you’ll begin to change your life just from what you pour into your mind. The new knowledge will empower you and build self-confidence in implementing your learned skills in your field.

Brain Tracy states in one of his books, that just by reading one book one hour a day, one book per week, you will attain the equivalent of a Ph.D in your chosen field of interest every year. When you throw in audio material and training courses or seminars in with the reading you propel yourself forward even faster. This boosts self-esteem and personal power. Eventually making you feel unstoppable in everything you do.

Here’s my own personal list of empowering books read or being read in helping me develop and become a more dominant human being. I’ve narrowed it down to the top five in the areas of personal development and strength training:

Top 5 Self-Development:

1. Bible (leading all-time best seller…enough said)
2. As A Man Thinketh (James Allen)
3. Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon HIll)
4. Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life (Brian Tracy and anything else he writes)
5. Man’s Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl)

Top 5 Strength & Fitness books:

1. Power: A Scientific Approach (Hatfield)
2. Starting Strength (Rippetoe)
3. Science and Practice of Strength Training (Zatsiorsky/Kraemer)
4. WSB Book of Methods (Simmons)
5. Warrior Diet (Hofmekler)

Before hitting the Epsom Salt bath thought I’d crank out a quick write up about this past weekend’s strength seminar put on by David Claiborne of Genesis Athletic Performance located in Houston, Texas.

For two days David was gracious enough to allow us to come into his facility and get a hands-on feel on how he runs Genesis and built it up to what is today.

As most strength coaches should be DC looks the part and walks his talk. He has an impressive grasp of strength training knowledge and understanding on how to apply it to ensure his athletes get the best results possible. You can have all the certs in the world but it means a hill of beans if your clients aren’t getting the results they’re paying you for. No results means you’re out of business.

First day we all introduced ourselves and then David gave us a brief runover of the intenary for that day. We got in some foam rolling, dynamic warmup, mobility, and static stretching before jumping into the free trial session used to assess and weed out the deadweight.

After a fairly intense trial session we took a small break before moving onto the upper body session DC had planned for us. We got in a push-pull super-set of fat-bar push presses and neutral grip pullups. Got some band pullaparts and pushups releases for timed rounds in at some point.

Then DC went all GymKata on me when he had me move every bit of my 260lbs up on the rings performing a version of skin-the-cat. They weren’t the prettiest being that I hadn’t performed a movement like that since I was in grade school and only weighed a buck and twenty-cents but I managed to keep my shoulders in tact and not fall flat on my face coming out of my roll. All lower and upper-body sessions concluded with some variation of core and grip work preceded by a finisher or GPP style circuit.

Now I’ll admit I was disappointed in my level of conditioning as we attacked the sleds during one of the circuits. Trying to be Roller-Derby Man back in March at the skating rink with my girls reaggravated my sciatica and left me near crippled for three weeks. So I went from being Beast Man to Handy Man up until about a week ago before heading down to Genesis-AP.

We concluded the first day by driving over to a nearby Texas Road House in pouring-down rain to chomp at the bit with DC over some rib-eye and beer. An hour or so later I was back at my room and out for the count feeling like I just went five rounds with Brock Lesnar and still had five more to go, but I wouldn’t have it any other way though.

Day two begin similar to day one with some rolling, jumping, and lower-body specific stretching prior to the lower body session which consisted of a superset of front kettlebell squats with speed sumo deadlifts. DC wasn’t at all hesitant to check us with one of his favorite cueing words, “hips, hips…” when we needed to be sinking them lower in the front squat or driving and extending at the top faster on the deadlifts.

We cranked the intensity up some with another circuit of duck lunges for about 20 yards, sprinting back and cranking out sandbag Zercher front squats and sandbag RDLs for reps for four rounds straight with minimal rest. Shortly afterwards we found ourselves exlploding through with triple extension (more quad and hip drive in contrast to the heave-ho strongman style) flipping tires and getting in some work capacity on the battle ropes.

The seminar came to a final close with DC sharing his training templates and some Q&A related to business, marketing strategies, and various resources that have helped him build a successful business in a short period of time. Afterwards we networked, gave testimonials, took a group pic, and departed our ways, until the next Genesis-AP seminar, armed with some more tools for building a better business and better athletes.

Hopefully my Epsom Salt bath hasn’t got too cold.

It seems like it was eons ago when a buddy and myself were crashing the iron in a hot, grimy, and cramped weight room in the middle of summer at Randolph Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas.

No air conditioning just a couple of big shop fans. No machines. Lots of dumbbells and barbells, benches and squat racks. What more could you ask for?

I mean it was so hot me and my boy swore we saw blue smurfs running across the floor as we were walking in between stations.

That was the idea environment for peak testosterone flow and strength building. Cranked heat and heavy weights. As with any T-Jacked environment you’ll always have your egomaniacs. Always having to convince themselves of their manhood.

Such was the case when some smaller ‘Joe Schmo’ was either too delirious from the heat or forgot to take his meds. The incident is reminiscent of a Chihuahua yapping at a Great Dane. He was popping off at a guy twice his size who looked like an older version of Evander Holyfield. Chiseled and strong upper torso but a weak looking lower body, which “Napoleon” tried to blast him about amidst his tirade by calling him bird-man.

All of sudden the clanging of iron went silent as the rest of the weight room was waiting in anticipation to see if “Evander” was going to smack “Napoleon Bonaparte” back to the 18th century. Fortunately, for “Napoleon”, cooler heads prevailed as others stepped in and calmed things down and the clanging of iron commenced again.

You can’t get that kind of energy and intensity at the pathetic “Lego Block” clubs. In a real gym you check the egos at the door or someone will check it for you in one way or the other.

In the hardcore, dungeon style or warehouse gyms you’re not going to encounter too many episodes as the one mentioned. In these type of environments it’s more like a brotherhood where you’re encouraged and motivated to improve and keep getting stronger. There are no bird-men because every one is doing some form of training comprised of heavy compound movements like squats, deads, and cleans.

This is the foundation from which my training philosophy and mindset is predicated upon. I can’t recall doing much curling in highschool or college but I do recall lots of squatting and power-cleaning. Two of the most important movements you can perform to build dominant power and explosiveness.

Here are the following Super 8 that comprises the foundation from which I construct a majority of my programming around in developing power and improving athletic performance for the athlete and weekend warrior alike.

1. Military Press (variations) – Came to appreciate the press more in college and afterwards once I saw how an increase here always translated over to an increase in my bench. A compound movement or CKC (closed kinetic chain) exercise that engages the legs and core while training the delts, traps, upper back, and triceps. Want a bigger bench then you better start implementing presses.

2. Squat (variations) – In my opinion still the king of exercises and my strongest compound or (CKC) lift all through highschool and college. When performed correctly it’s the ultimate size and strength builder for the entire body. Stimulates the CNS like nobody’s business and sets off a nice testosterone and HGH surge during workouts. Primary movers trained are quads, glutes, and hamstrings but the entire body is engaged from the ground up. Big squats help develop big hops as well.

3. Bench (variations) – Still considered as the gauge of absolute strength from the highschool level on up to the pros. Yet many grown man can’t do their own bodyweight in pulls or chins but want to talk about how much they can bench. Oh and don’t mention doing squats or deads. Mirror muscles will get your duff handed to you all day if you still have a weak posterior chain. I like the bench I just don’t think it’s an accurate gauge for overall strength. The military press is a better gauge for upper body power. The bench press trains the chest (pectorals), delts, traps, upper back and arms.

4. Deadlifts (variations) – Another CKC exercise I would have gave more emphasis to in the past knowing what I know now about developing a powerful posterior chain for increasing speed and explosiveness. What I lacked in not doing deads though was compensated with always doing squats and cleans so when I did pick it up the strength was there I just had to continue perfecting technique and that is very crucial in performing deadlifts without blowing out your back or tearing a bicep. Develops grip strength and trains the same muscles as the squats except you begin with a concentric push from the floor with the quads while finishing with a pull and hip extension through the top.

5. Cleans (variations) – If squats were to be dethroned this would be the movement that does it in my opinion. Once you have developed technique the power and explosiveness will soon follow. This one movement significantly help bump up all my other lifts up and improved every aspect of my athleticism which allowed me to be that much more dominant in competition. I still perform these bad boys to help keep my other lifts up while improving work capacity.

6. Pulls/Chins (variations) – If they’re good enough for the Marines then they’re sure enough good enough for me. This is another bang-for-your-buck exercise that should be a staple in any serious program because it just simply delivers results for upper body strength and muscle gain. Improves grip strength while developing the arms, back, delts, traps, and core. In addition there is a strong correlation between pull-ups and sprint speed. I don’t care how much you THINK you can bench, you ain’t JACKED until you’re cranking out 10 or more of these bad boys.

7. Dips/pushups (variations) – Relative body strength in its purest form. Herschel Walker attributes pushups as his main staple for developing his upper body. Along with pull-ups it remains a staple in the military for pt testing and conditioning. It is a great accessory movement that assists in increasing strength in the bench and military press. The primary movers are the pectorals, delts, and triceps but the core and other muscles are engaged as well. It’s a sad sight to see grown men that can’t do ten straight reps with his own bodyweight.

8. Sprints – There’s just no comparable substitutes for improving anaerobic power and getting a shredded physique than sprinting. Finding an open space or hill and going for it. Whether you’re doing intervals, builders, or shuttles sprinting will get you in shape faster than jogging, plus it’s building muscle simultaneously enabling you to burn fat more efficiently in the long term. Ever seen an Olympic sprinter’s physique? They look like a human anatomy man that stepped right out of a Human Biology book.

“There is no such thing as ‘firming and toning’. There is only stronger and weaker” – Mark Rippetoe

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.

I know how the holidays and the beginning of another year can be a tough time for a lot of people who are either enduring some kind of mess or have gone through some kind of loss that causes them to sink into debilitating lows that can literally suck the life and passion out of you.

Choosing to harbor and hang onto stuff you can’t change or that’s out of your control can lead you to an early grave and a life unfulfilled.

As in training, when the results stop coming and you feel like you hit a wall then you know it’s time to reassess things and make some changes to your regimen. The life application…the moment you change then your circumstances around you will change. The external always reflects the internal.

In this period of my own life I’m at a crossroad and know nothing will get better until I get better. Feeling sorry for yourself ain’t doing nobody any good but the Devil, and you can bet he’s bringing it day in and day out relentlessly.

We all are going to have setbacks at times and it’s how we respond that reveals who we are and what we’re really about. Training and being a competitive athlete can teach you a lot about yourself and dealing with life’s challenges that will come your way.

Losers are full of excuses, always whining and focusing on temporary problems and obstacles while the winners seek out solutions to problems and confront the giants blocking their way head on. Most of the time, the biggest giant we’ll ever confront is the one staring back at us in the mirror.

It’s a new season in your life. A fresh start to do things better this time around. Don’t make resolutions just make it happen. Choose to be the change you want in your life. Set some new goals, lay out a plan and keep attacking it until you make it happen.

“Do or do not. There is no try” – Yoda

A good way to set it off is by removing junk out of your life. Anyone and anything you know that is a constant thorn in your side and deadweight needing to be disposed of at the nearest landfill. They are like kryptonite, sapping the life essence out of you every time you get near their negative energy.

Surround yourself instead with positive, high achievers. People that will build you up and help bring out a stronger version of yourself. Stop hanging around bottom feeders and start swimming with the sharks.

Look, I don’t know where you are in life or what state of mind you find yourself in because of people or circumstances, to hell with all of that, each of us has the same twenty-four hours and need to just make the most of our opportunities.

You are where you are in life because of you and whatever you truly want out of life you’ll have to want it bad enough for yourself because no one can want it for you. So decide today what it is you want and go after it like there is no tomorrow.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Viktor E. Frankl

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.

If you’re a strength athlete and want to fully maximize your genetic potential in strength, explosiveness, and muscular size, you should be training explosively with weights and interval sprinting. Kill the slow endurance-movement nonsense.

By training explosively with moderate to heavy weights and sprinting we’re recruiting and building the
white muscle fibers (Type IIb) or fast-twitch muscles. They will give you optimal returns in both strength and size. Your marathoners and triathletes display more of the red muscle fibers (Type I) or slow-twitch muscles. Unless endurance is how you get your rush on I highly advise you steer clear of this type of activity if you expect to have maximize strength and size gains.

Training with a strength sled or prowler is one of the best ways I know of for improving endurance and explosiveness while simultaneously stripping away unwanted body fat. Now coach if you want to transform your athletes into unchained beasts then this is a preferrable route to take.

The results for explosive training speak for themselves but research provides the scientific proof that’s hard to argue with:

1. Maximum power output is directly correlated to the percentage of Type IIb muscle fibers (Bosco et al., 1983; Hakkinen et al., 1984).

2. Hypertrophy occurs mainly in Type IIb muscle fibers in response to weight training, especially explosive training (Hakkinen et al., 1984; Thorstensson et al. 1976).

3. The potential for explosive output is determined by the composition of fast-twitch muscles (Hakkinen et al., 1984).

4. Endurance training hampers the capability of neuromuscular system (CNS stimulation) for maximum output (Dudley & Fleck, 1987).

5. Endurance training decreases vertical jumping ability, a fast-twitch movement (Bosco et al. 1983; Ono et al. 1976).

6. Strength training does nothing for improving aerobic power but improves anaerobic performance (Hickson et al., 1980).

7. Strength training integrated with endurance activity may improve performance in endurance sports where explosive bouts of effort are displayed (Dudley & Fleck, 1987).

8. Endurance training performed on concurrent days with strength program hinders size and strength gains (Hickson, 1980; Dudley & Djamil, 1985).

9. Concurrent endurance training and strength training decrease explosive output due to adaptive responses in the muscle (Hickson, 1980; Dudley & Djamil, 1985; Dudley & Fleck, 1987).

10. The prior findings are not based on overtraining or research design and thus should be taken into consideration by coaches and athletes in developinng their programs (Dudley & Fleck, 1987).

11. Power, size, and strength are slowly deminished as a result of endurance training that destroys fast-twitch fibers which are then replaced by slow-twitch fibers and neuromuscular changes appropriate for slower movements (ARmstrong, 1987).

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.

Tyson was literally an unstoppable beast once he stepped into the ring because he had already told himself what he was going to do before the bell ring. It wasn’t just physical preparation but it was mental as well. He had developed an unstoppable mindset. Many like to claim that he was just a slugger or a brawler but I disagree when you watch his earlier matches. He already had most of his opponents intimidated so it wasn’t much for him to rush in and lights out baby.

Nevertheless haters are going to hate so my take away for this is to highlight some of the attributes that make an unstoppable athlete. Whether you’re an athlete or not I’m sure there something here most can glean from in retrospect to their own life:

1. Vision/Ambition. Seeing it before it happens. Tyson once stated all he saw prior to one of his fights was his fist going straight through the head of his opponent and coming out the other side. Now that’s some strong imagery. Jordan use of visual imagery allowed him to make a free throw with his eyes closed during a game because he had already made that shot a hundred times in his mind. This is the same technique used to see yourself already running that 4.3 forty or benching 400lbs on the bench press before you even touch the bar.

2. Focus/Determination. Without this nothing happens. Intense focus regardless of the distractions that may get in your way is what separates greatness from mediocrity. Keeping your eyes on the prize. This is usually the game changer when setting goals and following through with a plan until you make it happen. I personally believe of all the traits this is the most important determining factor for attaining anything worthwhile in life.

3. Confidence/Belief. No one is going to believe in you more than yourself. Plus it doesn’t mean squat what anyone else believes anyway. Practice and preparation builds confidence. Many times having plenty of it can come off as being arrogant or cocky. That’s only if you can’t back up your talk. Deion Sanders used to get flack for his cockiness yet he backed it up every time he picked off a pass or ran a punt back for a TD.

4. Passion/Motivation. As success coach and motivational speaker Les Brown would say, “You Gotta Be Hungry!” Passion is the fire or inner drive that fuels elite athletes to go after that goal or dream and be better than average because no one can instill in you the desire to be more than what you are.

5. Perseverance/Tenacity. Quitting or failing is never an option for the dominant athlete. Come hell or high water they grind through whatever life throws at them. Life is going to happen so they don’t sit back whining and making excuses they dig down deep and go into BEAST mode. This is usually what separates the elite athlete from the average athlete.

6. Discipline/Habits. Without this you can throw your goals out the window. Elite athletes are creatures of habit that put in hours of relentless training perfecting their game and attaining peak performance. They understand the importance of following a structured training and nutrition regimen that is monitored with a training journal. This helps track their progress and ensure the necessary tweaks are made so they are ready to compete at a high level.

7. Motivation/Attitude. Where the mind goes the body follows. Even top athletes go through the occasional mental funk or “hit a wall” in their training. Most times the simplest remedy is a changed mindset and removing energy drainers from out of your life. Usually they are people and bad habits. Do whatever is necessary to get back into a positive mindset and restore your energy. Then go crank up the iPod and wreck shop.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” - Muhammad Ali

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.

An injury is just a minor setback. If you’re doing any serious lifting at one point or another you’re bound to encounter your share of strains, sprains, and tares. So being strong as an ox can have its disadvantages, in that training heavier, whether raw or equipped, makes you susceptible to unforeseen injuries. I’m cool with that trade-off myself. The odds of injury are far less though compared to “Jimmy Gym Rat” with the big ego, poor technique, and constantly over-trains. All attributes for an eminent disaster waiting to happen.

If you’re wondering why I didn’t go get an MRI, well I just felt it wasn’t serious enough for the time and costs involved. At this stage in my life it’s just not necessary. I don’t plan on competing in bodybuilding or power lifting and not being able to train for several months while recovering and rehabbing from surgery isn’t cutting it for me either. Staying off of it and refraining from any chest work has allowed it to heal as well as it’s going to get.

This wasn’t my first injury. Probably want be my last since I’m a very active person and love to punish my body. It is what it is. Following some common sense rules for intense training bouts may not prevent all injuries but it can help decrease the odds for the unexpected ones occurring.

1. Having flawless technique. This is usually the first thing to go out the window when the ego takes over and the poundage goes up too soon. With the bench, it’s bouncing the bar off the chest and raising the hips off the bench. With squats, partial knee bends (not getting the butt parallel) and a hunched back. Drop the weight man, master your technique and it will come to you. You got to saddle the pony before you can ride it.

2. Listen to your body. Your body never lies. If it’s feeling beat down and needs more time to recover don’t ignore the warning signs and risk unnecessary injury that could have been avoided. Go home and rest up so you can return fully recharged and ready to battle another day.

3. Pre- and post-stretching. I can’t emphasize this one enough. Yet it’s often neglected and those that don’t incorporate it as an integral part of their training are short changing themselves. Proper and adequate stretching improves muscle elasticity and helps decrease the likelihood of muscle strains or pulls. An often overlooked benefit of regular stretching is that it indirectly helps increase muscular strength by improving range of motion and allowing more muscle fibers to be recruited when performing lifts, thus helping build stronger muscles.

4. Roll it out. The poor man’s self massage therapist. Foam rollers are used to perform self myofascial release (self-massage) on sore spots and tight muscles. Most elite athletes serious about staying on top of their game utilize rollers to target tender areas or trigger points to decrease density and over-activity. Rolling before a session or event will improve performance and post-workout will allow for quicker recovery for the next training session.

5. Be properly hydrated. You can’t drink enough of it. If we’re made up of 60% of it you’d think common sense would tell you to drink plenty of it. For intense training and preventing cramping and dehydration drinking 1-2 gallons a day is highly recommended. It acts as a natural cleanser and plays a major role in energy restoration to the entire body. Ever noticed hardcore bodybuilders always lugging around a gallon of water? They know and value the important affects water has on building muscle and decreasing fat storage.

6. Have a good training partner. Preferably someone just as strong and knowledgeable. You should be able to feed off of each other’s intensity and energy. They need to be as focused and committed to training as you are and not yapping and distracted by eye candy. That’s if you happen to be training in the local “Lego-Block” fitness club. He is going to push you to go harder while ensuring your safety by properly spotting you on heavier lifts.

7. Be mentally psyched. Come ready to battle and dominate. This may be the most important lesson out of all the ones mentioned. Where the mind goes the body follows. Trying to train when your mind just isn’t into it can be deflating and possibly lead to unwanted injury. Life has its stressors and if we allow it to it will zapp the passion and want to right out of you. Killing our energy and hampering our gains because all that stress does nothing but jack up the cortisol levels, which wreak havoc on the immune system and inhibits the release of growth hormones and testosterone necessary for repairing and building muscle. This eventually leads to fatigue and gradual loss in muscle and strength gains. Find a way to remove the stressors and energy zappers out of your life so you can perform at your best and be the strongest and healthiest that you can be.