Be honest in your training. You have to be honest with yourself, this thought comes after watching some guys in the gym that I see quite frequently. I know some of these guys and we exchange courtesies and move on about our way. If you watch them they seem to be doing all the right stuff, they hit large, multi-joint, compound lifts like squats, presses of all kinds, deadlifts and so on. These are the things that I talk about a lot to do, but after watching them I realize that there is something else that comes in to play.

That is intensity. They spend more time talking about their lifts than they do actually getting anything done, they do the same thing week in and week out. It is peripheral in what I see, but it seems like the same sets, and the same reps, and the same lifts, in the same order over and over with lots of rest, and I mean a lot of rest. On top of all of that they bitch about never having enough time. Look, rest is good it allows for recovery so you can hit another max effort set, and this helps build muscle. Cool, but you can still take 3 minutes rest on a lift and get a lot done, you just do another exercise in between the sets, it’s called supersets. They work great, especially if you hit every exercise within a couple reps of failure. There is only one problem that most people have with this, it freaking hurts, it jacks up your heart rate and you don’t have time to stand around and B.S. with each other. I would agree that this system is not going to be ideal for high end power lifters, or weight lifters, but if your goal is overall strength and fitness I think it is the optimal way to train.

Another thing, in my opinion that is super important is to vary your training, don’t always do 3 sets of 10 reps on the bench press and then move to 4 sets of 8 reps for fly’s. Change it up so you are increasing weight for less reps, change to an incline bench press, or a DB bench press, Move exercises around so you are fresher during certain exercises. These are all important to stimulate muscle growth and to make you a fitter, well-rounded lifter. Please notice that I say “varied” not random. Keep track of what you are doing and work on progressive steps to work towards a goal. All workouts should have some sort of goal in mind.

One more thing, work on new physical components. Self admittedly, I do a lot of pull ups, way more than I probably need to in order to keep my performance in the area high. I like them and I personally think that it is the number one upper body exercise for overall strength and fitness. So back to my friends in the gym, I was doing weighted pull ups and one of them told me that he could never do that. In my head I was thinking, “of course you could.” You just never do them, he’s about the same size as me, he just chooses not to do them. So to wrap it all up, he’s just not being honest, he could definitely do them, what he’s really saying is that I don’t want to take the time to improve on them. That’s all.

Another Workout:

5 Rounds:
Run 300 meters
20 weighted lunges
15 Burpees

Rest 3 minutes

3 sets
Incline Bench press
10-15 Reps
30 Air squats between sets

Rest 2 minutes

Accumulate 5 minutes of planks

It’s been a great week, hopefully we can keep crushing it into the weekend. Try this burner of a workout.

20 Minutes, Every minute on the minute

Minute 1- 14 Dumbbell squats

Minute 2- 14 alternating Dumbbell cleans

Rest 3:00

40-30-20-10

Push ups

Dumbbell curls (20lbs for me/ 10lbs for my wife)

I used a 50lb Dumbbell on the first part and my wife used a 20lb, use whatever you think you can keep up with the on the minute work, you can also hit the squats without weights if you think the weights will be too much. A good rule of thumb here is that if it takes you more than 30-35 seconds to complete each set you might end up running in to a wall towards the end.

I’ve found no better remedy for a clouded and cluttered mind than an exhaustive fitness session. Doesn’t matter the length, load or number of sets/rounds, only qualifier is to recognize a “limit” and push just over that threshold. On the other side of of that preconceived line in the sand is a mental state I can’t seem to replicate through other ventures. Something happens, in your head… or something breaks, not really sure. The weight/distance is irreverent to your finances, your job or whatever other self-imposed or environmental limitations. Fitness is a personal journey and an incredible equalizer. Have some looming deadline, big event, etc., put in a wicked session then get back to thinking. It’s always helped me gain perspective and get out of my own way.

“The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs.

Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.” – Henry Rollins

Go get after it!

I coach a baseball team for 10 and 11 year olds. The boys had a bit of a rough practice, and lots of heads were hanging low. At the end of practice I asked the boys a question, “Who can tell me what being tough is?”
I got a whole bunch of different answers, one of the boys puffed his chest out and said, “People that walk around like this and think they are really cool.” (which was my favorite answer HAHA) Of course, I said no, that’s not it, I was told that if somebody beats up somebody else, if the person is scary etc…

I tried to explain to the boys that real toughness is not any of those things, but instead (in my opinion), it’s the ability to press on in any situation, when you feel like quitting and you keep moving. When you do quit, and have the courage to try again, learning how to fail, and learning from that failure. These things all are done with toughness.

This was not even the point of this mind vomit though, it was what I learned from this conversation. I realized that sometimes we take for granted what others don’t know. Almost every kid raised their hand and wanted to tell me what being tough was all about, but none of them really had a clue. It made me think how many people we run into on a daily basis and what we say and how we interact with them may be taken a different way than how we meant based on what they think we mean when we say certain things or talk a certain way. Also, flip that on its head and think about it the other way, how many times do you hear something and you muddy what they say with your own thoughts.

So my whole point of all of this is, for myself, I need to be impeccable with my words, and check in with people during conversations to ensure what I am saying is what they are getting, and of course here is a workout for you all:

5 Sets
10 Front Squats
15 GHD or inclined sit ups

Rest 2 minutes

3 sets
10 weighted, one legged squats, or DB squats
:30 second plank

Rest 2 minutes


3 sets
12 weighted back step lunges
20 air squats

10 Minutes Every minute on the minute
5 strict pull ups
10 push ups

A well balanced fitness life. As I start to age I see this as a more and more important part of my fitness. It’s also the one I have to keep my eye on the closest. My work life balance is fairly easy, I don’t have an overcomplicated, all-encompassing job, when my work day is over it is very easy for me to leave it at the office, I also work part time on my days off as a trainer at a gym, but I usually do that early in the morning and don’t miss time with the kids or the wife, generally speaking. However, my fitness can have a tendency to tip the scales, I love to work out, I just love it, and If I am not working out I find my mind drifting to workouts I want to try or do, or when I will have a few minutes to squeeze a few pushups in or some band work at my desk, I think addict would probably be the best word to describe it. I have paid for this addiction a few times though, at 35 I have had a gang of injuries leading to a few surgeries, most of these were my own fault, I constantly was try to lift heavier and heavier for more and more reps or faster, and wouldn’t you know it, I got pretty strong, that is, right before something would give out.

As I get older, and I know I am not that old, I am becoming more aware that training 3 times a day for no other reason that I saw a workout I wanted to try is not very smart, and it takes away from time I could just do something active with my family members, and it hurts my body. I don’t have social media so I wasn’t doing it for that. I don’t really compete in much (I have a little bit in sprint triathlons, and CrossFit comps), I was training because I just liked the idea of it, and like the outlet. However, I have realized over time I can work out 40 minutes to 1 hour a day, hit those workouts hard and with a purpose and be pretty dang fit, I am still increasing my capacity in some areas and I don’t feel like something is going to give way at any minute. I still find an excuse to work in an extra work out here and there, and still have things I want to accomplish physically, but the focus is starting to turn into how long can I keep great fitness and sustain my fitness over time, and turning to other hobbies I enjoy, like shooting my bow, or traveling with the family.
Fitness is important to me, and should be for everyone, but balancing all things is starting to become more important to me, so crush your goals, whatever they may be, but try to work on something you may be putting on the back burner too, it may help enrich a part of your life that you didn’t even know was there.

Today’s Workout:
5 sets
8-10 weighted pull ups (do strict if you can’t add weight)
8-10 incline Dumbbell bench press
Little rest between movements

3 set
8-10 overhead press
8-10 bent over or cable rows

5 sets
6 barbell flat bench press
6 strict pull ups

3 sets
12 dips
5 lat pull downs or neutral grip pull ups

I don’t really have anything intelligible to say today, stress is taken a lot of my time lately, building a house can be tough I guess. There are two of us that write on this page, and we are just normal guys, with jobs and families, we grew up in the Marines together, live a long ways from each other and have maintained a great friendship throughout the years. I don’t think most of these posts out too much and just start writing most of the time, and try to share what gets me through my day, and why I think training is important. My partner is much more thought out, you can probably go back through these and see the differences in who is writing, he is much more articulate and really focuses on the words that he uses, I just kind of through stuff at the wall. I hope the few people that read these know that we write these to possibly help someone in their day whether they are unmotivated or just don’t know what to do, just some advice that maybe you needed to hear that day. In no way are either one of us trying to be a guru or think our way is that best way. Okay moving on from that hogwash here is a workout hopefully you can all enjoy:

20 Minutes, Every minute on the minute Perform:
6 DB clean and Jerks
8 Push ups
10 Air squats

Rest 3 minutes

100 Walking lunges
100 Situps

Do something. I truly believe that whatever your daily activity is try to do something outside the regular daily routine. This is one of the easiest ways to build great discipline in life. When I started working out I had no idea what I was doing, but I had an old wrestling coach tell me just do 20 pushups every time a commercial came on while I was watching TV. So I did that, then I started doing sit ups with them, after that I started going to the gym with my friends. Slowly but surely I learned more and more from observing others training and finding the pitfalls in my own training. If you start and are consistent about it you are going to learn a lot just by trial and error and observation. You may just be starting out and hopelessly lost but just stick with it, you will, little by little figure things out.

Today’s workout
10 Sets
5 Front Squats
5 strict toes to bar

5 sets
12 hack squat
10 single leg squats

3 sets
20 sit ups
30 step back lunges

I was pressed for time and really had to push to get this in so not much rest here, move as fast as you can without getting close to failure.