This addition of “Best of 2012” highlights my four favorite exercises I’ve started doing this year. I’ve included exercises for power, mobility, upper body and lower body. Each one played an integral role in helping me set multiple PRs and staying healthy in 2012. Check ’em out. 1. SUSPENDED PUSH-UP/FLY COMBO This is my newest …
2012 is coming to a close and, like any year, it had it’s ups and downs. And like any year, 2012 came with it’s fair share of lessons to be learned. I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned with you, so this is the first installment of a multi-part series titled the “Best …
Coaches and trainers are always seeking ways to add variety into training programs. It’s easy to stick with the same exercises and just change sets, reps and exercise order. But to really keep things interesting, you’ve gotta get creative. Too little variety can lead to staleness, plateaus and boredom. But too much variety can be …
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 …
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 …
