What’s the hardest thing to do in the gym? Find an unoccupied bench press on Monday (or Tuesday or Wednesday…). Bench press is the most popular exercise in America because everyone wants a big, impressive chest. And somehow, the bench press got crowned as the best chest-building exercise of all time. But if the bench …
Squats are hands down my favorite exercise. They bring the full package – they can make you strong, huge AND athletic. They’re the exercise equivalent of the perfect woman – smart, funny AND beautiful. The problem is, squats are rarely beautiful. In fact, if you walk into the average gym, nine of out 10 squats …
On Saturday I competed in my third powerlifting meet – the Old School Iron Wars, sanctioned by 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation – in Williston, Vt. At a body weight of 190.8 pounds, I squatted 501, benched 330 and deadlifted 540. I placed second overall in the Open 198 division with a 1371 total – a …
I set a personal record this week… for lifting weights five times without training in the same place once. Between traveling for the Cressey Performance Fall Seminar and running away from Hurricane Sandy, I got to see a bunch of friends and lift in some really cool environments. All the changes of scenery have helped …
What a wild weekend. Seventy-two hours of lifting, learning, friends and hurricanes. Minus watching the damage inflicted by Hurricane Sandy from afar, the past three days have been amazing and I’m about to tell you why. On Sunday, I attended the Cressey Performance Fall Seminar in Hudson, Mass. For those of you who read my …
In the first part of this post, we talked about five pieces of training equipment that everyone should have in their gym bag. Here are five more key tools that ensure you can get a great training session no matter where you are. 6. Foam Roller/Lacrosse Ball Soft tissue work has become extremely popular in …
What’s In Your Gym Bag? 10 Training Tools Everyone Should Have – Part 2 Read More »
A look inside someone’s gym bag can tell you a lot about a person. Whenever I see someone walk into a gym completely empty handed, I’m blown away. First, I’m amazed and impressed that they can take such a minimalist approach to training and still get results. And then I awake from fairy tale land, …
What’s In Your Gym Bag? 10 Training Tools Everyone Should Have – Part 1 Read More »
Yesterday I harpooned my white whale. On New Year’s Eve 2009, I wrote down on a sheet of paper that I wanted to squat 500 pounds in 2010. Better late than never. My training plan called for a “mock powerlifting meet,” so I tested my maxes to gauge my progress with five training weeks left …
Training Update – Max Testing and the 500-pound Squat Club Read More »
Change is good. Comfort is not. At least not til you’ve earned it. Unless you’re the best of the best and at the very top of your sport, class, profession or whatever endeavor consumes your life, you’d better not be comfortable. That means you’ve settled. That means you’re complacent. That means others are doing what you will …
Counting calories sucks. It’s impractical. It’s time consuming. And it’s largely inaccurate. But nine out of 10 dietitians, doctors and trainers will tell you that “calories in vs. calories out” is the key to weight loss or gain. And generally, it is. The law of thermodynamics tells us that if we take in more calories than we …
Counting Calories and A Day in the Life of Tony’s Stomach Read More »
