Happy New Year!!

Just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Happy New Year!! I hope that 2016 is a magical and amazing year, one that finds everyone living their dreams, reaching their goals and kicking major ass!! Love and happiness to you all!!

Leave no stone un-turned

During training, make sure you never neglect those little muscles. Here's the final set of Wrist Curls from Tuesday.

A great variation for the calves.

Here's an awesome variation for the calves that can be done with a couple of kettlebells a couple of dumbbells, a barbell, some weight plates or a sandbag. A nice Seated Calf Raise variation. I've been throwing these in on Tuesday night's training after hitting the bear. I'll usually hit 3 sets of 40, 40 and 20 reps in a super set with 3 sets of  Reverse Wrist Curls. Then I'll hit 3 sets of 1-leg Calf Raises in a super set with 3 sets o Wrist Curls. Fun stuff.

Feeling awesome and strong at 197 pounds bodyweght

Awesome training tonight. Feels good to be at my heaviest weight ever, now clocking in at a rock slid 197 pounds. Started out with Military Press. Nailed 3 sets of 5 in conventional style, followed by 3 sets of6, 5 and 4 in Rest Pause style; making sure to add weight on each set. Then moved onto Deadlifts. Nailed 3 sets of 5 n conventional style, followed by 3 sets of 6, 5 and 4 in Rest Pause style; also making sure to add weight on each set. Finished off with 3 sets of 12 for Weighted Parallel Bar Leg Lifts in a super set with 3 per side of Isometric Side Bends. Awesome stuff!!  Feels great to be continuing to improve. Here's the final Rest Pause set of Military Press.

Tough Post Holidy Workout

Really rough training on Saturday night. After 3 nights off and not eating the best with Holiday food, it was a killer. Started off with Bottom Position Floor Presses. Hit 3 sets in conventional style, then 3 sets of 6, 5 and 4 in Rest Pause style; making sure to add weight on each set. Moved onto Pendlay Rows. Hit 3 sets in conventional style, then 3 sets of 6, 5 and 4 in Rest Pause style; making sure to add weight on each set. Finished up with 3 sets of 12 for Weighted Parallel Bar Leg Raises in a super set with 3 sets per side of Isometric Side Bends. Overall, a strong but tough session. Here's the final set of Leg Raises with Bodyweight plus 10 pounds.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays!! I hope everyone's holiday season is filled with love, peace, happiness, joy and pure awesomeness!!

How's the mass building going

Four weeks into the mass building and I think it's going pretty well.

Here are a few shots while farting around this morning:

 

 

Continuing to break Personal Records

Awesome night of training. It's always sweet to consistently be setting new personal bests. Started out with Bottom Position Squats. Hit 3 sets in conventional style, then hit 3 sets of 6, 5 and 4 in Rest Pause Style; making sure to add weight on each and every set.. Both Missy and I were able to take weights that we couldn't budge before and absolutely dominate them on the final Rest Pause set of 4. From there it was onto Kneeling Biceps Curls. Hit 3 sets in conventional style, then moved onto 3 sets of 6, 5 and 4 in Rest Pause Style making sure to add weight on each and every set. Great stuff. We then finished off with 3 sets of 12 for Weighted Parallel Bar Leg Raises in a Super Set with 3 sets per side for Isometric Side Bends. Awesome training session. Here's a video of the final set of Rest Pause Kneeling Biceps Curls with 10 more pounds than the last video of this movement.

Sometimes you just have to play

This morning while hitting my Joint Mobility and Flexibility Drills, My Neck Work, and Some Isometric Power Flex Work I just had the urge to play around with some Handstand Straddle work.

Had a Blast.

Military Press Rest Pause Style and back up to 194 pounds bodyweight

Feeling amazing to be back up to a rock solid bodyweight of 194 pounds, just 2 pounds shy of my heaviest ever. Feeling strong and powerful. Awesome training tonight. Started off with Military Press. Hit 3 sets of 5 in conventional style. Then moved onto 3 sets of 6, 5 and 4 in Rest Pause Style. Made sure to add weight on each and every set. Then hit Deadlifts. Hit 3 sets of 5 in conventional style. Then moved onto 3 sets of 6, 5 and 4 in Rest Pause Style. Making sure to add weight on each set. Finished off with 3 sets of 12 for Weighted Parallel Bar Leg Raises in a super set with 3 sets of Isometric Side Bends. Awesome night. Here's a video of the first Rest Pause set of Military Presses.

I'll admit to this

While my training goals mainly revolve around optimum health, performance, being able to move with grace and ease, having incredible strength and power and being in great conditioning; I will admit it: Having a muscular body is pretty darn cool too!!

 

 

Proclaiming My Love.........

As we're closing in on the mid-point of the Rest Pause Training Cycle I just had to proclaim my love of this type of training.

It's freaking awesome! Strength and Power are dramatically improving, muscles are getting harder, thicker and denser; conditioning is improving, and the bulking effect is very nice.

Here's a quick pic.

Just for the hell of it.....

On the martial arts and self-protection blogs, and on youtube I've been hitting some videos of Basic Balisong/Butterfly Knife work. So, just for the hell of it I thought I'd do one of the videos of some more advanced Balisong/Butterfly Knife tricks here. Feel free to look up the other ones' at www.brettsmartialarts.blogspot.com  at www.brettsrealdefense.blogspot.com and of course on the YouTube channel.

This one is a little more of an Action Hero/Spy movie style spinning opening.

More reasons why Abstinence is Stupid

You have to love it when the medical community continues to prove what you've been saying for over a decade.

Guess what everyone?

Sex, Either With Or Without A Partner, Is One Of The Healthiest Things You Can Do For Yourself Physically, Mentally and Emotionally!!!!!!

Over the years I've cited countless studies that have talked about the importance of having sex on a very regular and frequent basis.

I've talked about countless studies that have shown that getting off is one of the best things that you can do for your hormones. It does great strides in optimizing your Testosterone, Progesterone, Estrogen levels. It helps with you Growth Hormone levels. It helps with you Immune and Lymphatic System. It Raises Serotonin and Dopamine Levels. And it help you to be healthier, live longer and have a much better quality of life.

I've also talked about countless studies that have also shown the importance of frequent and regular sexual activity for one's self-esteem, self-confidence, self-respect, well being, and overall how it just makes you much happier and feel better.

And I've even talked about countless studies that have shown links between regular and frequent sexual activity and it's ability to boost cognitive, mental and academic function.

Not to mention the relief it provides for anxiety, panic and stress.

That's right:

Sexual Activity On A Frequent And Regular Basis Is The Shit!!!

It's that good for you.

But, my fellow humans, there's even more!!

It seems that more and more studies have shown that the more frequent a male ejaculates, the lower their chances of developing Prostate Cancer are. And, males that ejaculate at least 20 times a month or more, cut their chances of developing Prostate Cancer to almost nil!!

That's Right My Fellow Dudes!! Ejaculate At Least 20 Times A Month, Or More, And You Have Very Little Chance Of Developing Prostate Cancer!! Awesome!!

A lot of this has to do with the fact that by frequently ejaculating, you are actually letting your Prostate do what it's supposed to do, thereby keeping it healthy and fit. And, it has to do with the Testosterone benefits associated with frequent ejaculations!

That's right, Higher Testosterone Leads To Less Prostate Cancer Risk!!

I know that the new media will tell you that high testosterone rates put you at greater risk for developing Prostate Cancer, but let's look at this quickly.

Take a look at anyone you've ever known that has had Prostate Cancer.

Notice something about them.

Just about everyone of them happens to be fat, obese, out of shape old men. In other words, they are the dudes with the least amount of Testosterone on the planet.

It's actually low Testosterone that is the high risk factor for developing Prostate Cancer, not high Testosterone.

So, go out there and get off!! Hit the sheets either with a partner or partners, by yourself, or both and get off 2, 3, 4 or more times a day.

The health benefits are more than worth it!

And, it's awesome!

Yours in strength and health,

Brett

Feeling artistic, the Battling Barbells Shot

Melissa and I were in between warm up sets during our deadlifts last night and I was feeling a little artistic, so I give you "Battling Barbells"

 

 

 

Pendlay Rows, Rest Pause Style

Awesome night of training on Saturday! Started off with Bottom Position Floor Presses. Hit 3 sets in conventional fashion, then moved onto 3 sets in Rest Pause style hitting 6, 5 and 4 reps respectively. Then Moved onto Pendlay Rows. Hit 3 sets in conventional style, then hit 3 sets Rest Pause style for 6, 5 and 4 reps respectively. Finished strong with 3 sets of Weighted Parallel Bar Leg Raises in a super set with 3 sets per side of Isometric Side Bends. Awesome night! Here's a video of Melissa's final set of Rest Pause Pendlay Rows with about 200 pounds.

Kneeling Barbell Curls, Rest Pause Style

Awesome Rest Pause Training last night. Started off with Bottom Position Squats. Hit 3 sets in conventional style. Then hit 3 Rest Pause set of 6 reps, 5 reps and 4 rep respectively. From there moved onto Kneeling Barbell Curls. Hit 3 sets in conventional style. Then hit 3 Rest Pause sets of 6 reps, 5 reps and 4 reps. Then moved onto 3 sets of 10 for Weighted Parallel Bar Leg Raises in a super set with 3 sets per side of Isometric Side Bends. Great training. Here's the final set of the Rest Pause Kneeling Barbell Curls.

Awesome Conditioning last night

Hit the conditioning hard tonight. Upped the weight on "The Bear" by 10 pounds and hit 1 set of 5 and 4 sets of 4 with it, ending with the set of 5. Then hit 3 sets of 35, 35 and 30 respectively for Seated Calf Raises in a super set with 3 sets of 10 for Reverse Wrist Curls. Then hit 3 sets of 12 per side for 1-leg Calf Raises in a super set with 3 sets of 10 for Wrist Curls.  Great training!! Here's the final set of the bear with the added 10 pounds on the bar.

Weighted Leg Raises on the Parallel Bars and an awesome training night!

Hit a great training session last night. New cycle, Old School! A Rest Pause training cycle.
Started out with Military Press. Hit 3 conventional sets of 5 then moved onto 1 sets of 6, 1 sets of 5 and 1 set of 4 in Rest Pause style. Then moved onto Deadlifts. Hit 3 sets in conventional style then moved onto 1 set of 6, 1 set of 5 and 1 set of 4 in Rest Pause Style. Great stuff. Hard, heavy and brutal. Finished off with 3 sets of 10 for Parallel Bar Leg Raises with bodyweight plus 10 pounds in a super set with 3 sets of Isometric Side Bends. Here's the final set of leg raises!

I find this absolutely hilarious!

Alright, anyone that know me, has read my tips, seen my blogs, my pics, my log or any of my videos knows that I love bodyweight training. I use it a ton, and I really enjoy it. I also tend to get great results from it as well. I love regular calisthenics, bar athletics, gymnastics, acrobatics, martial arts, Dynamic Tension, isometrics and a whole lot of other bodyweight based work.

That being said, I also find this absolutely hilarious.

It seems that I've seen more and more bodyweight courses (books, ebooks, dvds, etc) that use pictures of John Grimek to advertise their courses. Usually it tends to be this picture that they use:

Which is funny in and of itself, being that it's a great picture, but I wouldn't say it's the best Grimek picture out there, lol.

The think I find funny is that these courses will use John Grimek as their "model" for the type of results that you can achieve using their bodyweight course.

Now, I'm a John Grimek fanatic, he's my all time favorite strength and bodybuilding icon, and he's a lifetime hero of mine. But, Grimek was not a bodyweight training athlete.

Yes, he did his share of calisthenics, and he was a good acrobat and hand balancer, but he trained in a lot more disciplines than that. Grimek was a world class Olympic Weightlifter that represented the United States at the Olmpics. He held numerous World Strength Records for barbell lifts. He was an undefeated bobybuilder. And, in his own words, his favorite way to train was with heavy squats and heavy overhead presses, sometimes building entire cycles on nothing but these lifts. And he continued to train with heavy squats and presses, and heavy pulling movements right up to the end of his life.

So, is it really true advertising to use Grimek's image in the ad copy for a bodyweight only training program? I'd say no, I'd say it's false advertising all the way.

And I'm not ripping on bodyweight training by any means at all. I love it and use it myself. And, I can show you dozens of men and women that have created tremendous physiques using noting but bodyweight training. I just think it's funny to use an icon of the weight lifting world to advtertise bodyweight only training.

But, that's just me.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!! I hope that you all have an amazing Holiday!!!!

Some weird thinking part 2: The new "Natty" Excuses

My Acid-trippy Herman Groener Impression, lol!

Alright, I'm proud to admit that I'm a natural athlete. By that I mean that I've never taken any type of anabolic steroid. That being said, I really couldn't care less if others use them. I figure that we're all big boys and girls and we can make the choice for ourselves on what we want to do. For me, however, they never have been appealing.

I do have to say though, that I really am getting sick of the attitude of an ever growing number of other natural athletes. And no, I'm not going to call you "Natty." It's a terrible and god awful name. if you had any self-respect at all you'd stop using the term yourselves.

Alright, now that I've probably pissed some people off, it's time to get down to the brass tacks.

I was going through my teenage years during the 1990's. A time when the "Freak" bodybuilding physique was just coming into vogue. At the time, bodybuilders were starting to get more and more massive, they were starting to really build up names for themselves based upon their freaky parts.

Some of these guys were so impressive they looked like they belonged in Marvel and DC comic books.

Paul Dillet and Lee Priest come immediately to mind.

Paul Dillet looking more like the Hulk than the CGI crap we see in movies

Lee Priest, a much better Superman than any of the actors that have been playing him recently

It was a time of huge, bigger than life bodybuilding; Huge and powerful Powerlifters; Huge Pro-wrestlers; Huge and Ripped Action Stars and everything else that inspired a young boy to grow up to be a muscular, strong, fit man.

Now, none of us were under any false pretensions. We knew that a bunch of our heroes were on the juice. Hell, a number of them would proudly tell you exactly what they were taking, how much of it, and what their cycles were.

But you know what?  We didn't care. We still knew that we could learn from them, even though we may not have had any interesting in juicing up. We knew that they had great information on training, eating and supplementing.

The Late Great Mike Matarazzo looking Huge!

Also, we trained our asses off to emulate them. And, we didn't wither and die. We thrived!!

Even without the steroids, we trained our asses off, ate our faces off, took our supplements and got great results.

It was awesome.

And now, in 2015, and at 39 years of age; I still train my ass off (actually training much harder and much more frequently than back in those days), eat my face off and take my supplements.

And, while a number of my peers are devolving into fat, out of shape, unhealthy and lethargic people that seem to get older every time you see them: I continue to improve. Getting stronger, more fit, more chiseled, healthier and younger.

Now comes my problem.

It seems like a growing number of young natural lifters try to use being natural as some sort of excuse to why they are not getting results. And they tend to put huge limits on what they can accomplish.

They'll all say the same crap too. Shit like, "I'd look like so and so too if I used the drugs they did." Or, "It's impossible for a natural lifter to get size like that." Or, "Being natural, there's no way I can get that ripped." Or, "I'm getting good results for being a natural. You can't expect me to get as far as the 'roid users do." And a bunch of other crap like that.

Obviously these guys have never heard of people like Maxic, Sandow, Aston, Moss, Grimex, Steve Reeves, Otto Arco, Sig Klien and the like.

John Grimek showing that you can get incredible results with no juice!

Guys from the time well before steroids and supplements who busted their asses day in and day out, ate a ton of meat and veggies, and grew out of this world bodies capable of super human acts of strength and fitness.

The real truth is this.  If you're not getting the results that you think you want you're probably not training hard enough. You're probably not training correctly. You're probably not sleeping enough. And, you're probably not doing anything right in and out of the gym.

Instead of making lame ass excuses, get your butt under the squat bar and squat more, deadlift more, overhead press more. Get your bent rows up into the 300-500 pound range, stop fiddling around with bullshit training and eating and get real about it all.

I can guarantee you that you'll get better results. How? Because thousands of natural athletes before you have.

Now, get under the bar and squat hard.

Yours in strength and health,
Brett

L-sit Walks

Finished up my Saturday night training with some L-sit Walk practice. Still really rough, but it's come a long way. Here's the final set:

Having fun with the Handstand Push ups

During Saturday Night's "Bodyweight Blitz" I was having a ton of fun with my Freestanding Handstand Push ups on the parallets. Here's the final set. Nothing like going until you fall out of the set, lol.

There's some weird thinking out there

There really is some weird thinking out there.

It seems that there are a ton of people that believe that being muscular, strong, fit, healthy and ripped is a new thing. They seem to think that no one before 10-20 years ago was fit, chiseled and awesome.

Obviously these people have never heard of:


Steve Reeves:

John Grimek:

Reg Park:

Eugene Sandow:

Chuck Sipes:

Alan Meade:

Alfred Moss:

Or a whole host of other men and women that were building incredible strength, fitness, health and awesomeness in the late 1800's through the early to mid 1900's. And of course, from eons before then.

So, next time you're thinking that old school doesn't work, or you're thinking that the newest high tech crap will get you results. Stand back for a second and think about the guys above that built there bodes with nothing more than hard ass, heavy ass work using barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells and their own bodies.

Hitting the abs hard!

Finished out last night's training with 3 sets of 10 for Abdominal Roll Outs with 215 pounds (Bodyweight plus 30 pounds). Did them in a super set of 3 sets of 5 per side for Saxon Side Beds. Here's the final set:

Hitting some more PR's: 600 pounds on the Shrug for 6 sets of 5-6 reps

Great night of training last night. New PR's again. Hit a nice 6 sets of 5-6 reps in the Shrug with 600 pounds on the bar! Woo Hoo! Started out with 6 pretty solid sets of Bottom Position Floor Press, then moved onto 6 sets of 5-6 reps for Shrugs, 1 sets of 4 minutes of continuous, non-stop Squats with 135 and finished with a super set of 3 sets of Abdominal Roll Outs and Saxon Side Bends. Here's the final set of Shrugs. And yes, I do believe it was the Yoda hat that allowed me to do it, lol!!

New PR: 6 sets of 15 with 455 pounds in the Squat

Awesome training last night. Great Behind the Neck Presses and Bent Rows, then finished out with 6 sets of 15 reps for Parallel Squats with 455 pounds on the bar. A new PR for this rep range. Shout out to Melissa as well who nailed her 6 sets of 15 with 335 pounds on the bar. Awesome wok baby!! Here's my final set with 455:

Putting the Parallet Combo back in to the routine

I had taken a month of so away from this one, and thought I should hit a few sets of it again. So, here's the final, Yoda inspired set of my Parallet Combo. Not bad at all.

Hitting the 1-arm Assisted Pull up hard!

I hadn't had these in the training for about a year and a half, so I thought it was time to go back and hit them again. Here's the final set of the Assisted 1-arm Pull ups on the Rings. Rough, but still strong, and I think the Yoda hat had a lot to do with it, lol.

Parallel Bar Dips to Straddle Planches

Awesome Bodyweight Blitz on Saturday night. Hit numerous sets of Parallel Bar Dips to Straddle Planches, 1-arm Assisted Pull ups on the rings, my Parallet combination, Front Lever Pulls on the rings, Pistols, 1-leg Repetition Hamstring Bridges, and L-sit Walks. Great stuff. Here's the final set of the Parallel bar Dips to Straddle Planches, a little rough, but the last set should be. Oh yeah, Pikachu wanted to be in the video too, lol.

Cranking out some Kettelbell Bent Presse/Screw Presses for technique

After my 6 sets of Barbell Bent Presses/Screw Presses, I thought I should do a little extra technique work. So, I grabbed a 53 pound Kettlebell and hit a quick set of 10 on each side really concentrating on the hips. Felt awesome.

New PR on the Barbell Bent Press aka the Screw Press

Hit a new PR on the Barbell version of the Bent Press, aka the Screw Press. Nailed my first 5 sets of each side with 95 pounds, then kind of blew the last set, lol. This video's of the 5th set and you can see that the form is starting to slip a lot, lol. Tough set.

PR on the Barbell 1-arm Clean and Press

Hit a solid new PR on the 1-arm Barbell Clean and Press. Nailed 6 sets on each side with 105 pounds. Felt strong and pretty awesome.

Hitting the Super Bear hard

An awesome night of conditioning last night.

Hit 5 rounds of the Super Bear. Hitting every muscle in the body plus getting the old heart and lungs going strong.

Then moved onto 3 sets of 10 for DVR Biceps Curls in a super set with 3 sets of 10 for DVR Triceps Extensions.

Great stuff!!

Here's the video of the final round of the Super Bear

Hitting a new PR for Military Presses

My deadlift may have stunk tonight, but I nailed a new PR in the Military Press. 6 sets of triples with 190 pounds. Here's the final set. I'll admit, it isn't pretty, but the final set never should be anyway, lol.

Honoring the neglected arts

And, taking some time to honor some of the more neglected areas of martial arts and self-protection: Realistic tactical training in the offensive use of and the defense against firearms, blades, blunt weapons and improvised weapons.

Taking some time to honor a few more arts

Taking another moment to honor the martial arts, specifically the Grappling arts that I've spent 30 plus years working hard on becoming proficient in including various forms of Sambo, Judo, Jujitsu, Catch Wrestling and Aikido. Also, a huge shout out to Melissa for taking the falls, twists, cranks, chokes and nerve attacks during these pictures. You're awesome angel!

A fantastic conditioner

Started off with the old Steve Maxwell "Omelet." Without putting your bell down you hit 5 1-arm swings, 5 high pulls, 5 snatches, 5 clean and presses, 5 cleans, and 5 step back lunges. Repeat on the other side and continue on until you're thrashed. Hit 4 rounds of it.

Afterwards hit a tri set of 3 sets of 10 per side for 1-arm DVR Biceps Curls, 3 sets of 10 for DVR Reverse Grip Triceps Extensions and 3 sets of 12 per side for 1-leg Calf Raises.


Here's the final set of the conditioner on the left side:

Having some fun in the garage!!

Having some fun farting around in the garage with a Front Double Biceps Pose and a Side Chest Pose

Doing my best Van Damme

Was watching Bloodsport and thought I'd do my best Van Damme!!

Honoring some of the arts I've studied

I've had the honor and privilege of being involved in the martial arts and self-protection for over 30 years now. So, I thought I'd take a moment to honor a few of the traditional striking and weapons arts that I've had the privilege of training hard in. Various methods of Karate, Kung Fu, Kempo, Kenpo, Tea Kwon Do, Eskrima, Arnis and Kobudo.

Hammering the abs hard

My favorite abdominal movement, at least at the moment. The 3rd of 3 sets of 10 at the end of last night's training with bodyweight plus a 20 pound weight vest

Kiling the traps by hammering the Shrugs

After a strong 6 sets of Bottom Position Floor presses with 295 pounds, it was Shrug time. Hit a strong 6 sets of 6 reps with 575 pounds. Finished up with a 4 minute non-stop set of Squats with 135 pounds and a super set of 3 sets of 10 for Weighted Abdominal Roll outs with bodyweight plus 20 pounds and 3 sets of 5 per side for Saxon Side Bends with 53 pounds. Here's the 6th and final set of Shrugs with 575.

Awesome old school night part 2

Last session of these I said I should add 10 pounds to the bar. So, tonight I did.

Here's the 6th and final set of Barbell Reverse Grip Clean to Reverse Grip Press with 195 pounds..

Felt solid and strong!!

Awesome night of Old School training!!

Awesome night of Old School training!!

Here's the 6th and final set of 1-arm Barbell Snatches (on the left side, and yes I did them on the right as well, lol) with 115 pounds.

A Special Message

It's amazing how often I hear people say things about how they wished they looked like so and so, or were in the shape of this or that person, or had the strength of someone in particular, or that they wished they could drop the fat or gain the muscle. I'll even hear people talk about how much they'd give to have a certain person's body for a day. Instead of wishing, hoping and dreaming, I much prefer to take action and make those dreams a reality. I don't have a "dream body" I have a goal that I I'm going to attain!!

Don't neglect your strengths

In regard to my last post; while you want to hammer your weaknesses you also don't want to neglect your strengths. Here's the 6th and final set of 15 reps of Parallel Squats with 425 pounds. Felt awesome

Training the Weaknesses

If you really want to get great results:


You have to train you weaknesses Hard!!


Here's the 6th and final set of last night's Behind the Neck Presses with 155 pounds. Kept the movement slow nd controlled to really hammer the hell out of it!!

Where have all the posts gone?

I'll be posting a bunch of writing coming up, but the videos and the photos aren't working because of Windows 10. So, If you want to catch up on the videos and pictures feel free to look them up at facebook and youtube under Brett Stepan.

Keep on creating your greatness!!

High Bar Bent Arm Levers and Rings Archer Pull Up/Typewriter Pull Up Combo

I had a great video of a mixture of the Archer Pull Up and Typewriter Pull ups from last night's training as well as a nice one of High Bar Bent Arm Levers from this morning's practice; but blogspot sucks dick. So, check them out at youtube or on facebook.

Melissa making 300 pounds her bitch

Alright, so Melissa and I put Heavy Deadlifts back in our training last night. Figured we'd work on    getting the groove back of the movement. And Melissa goes on to make 300 pounds look like a feather for 5 sets. On her 6th set, she just missed 325. I'd post the video, but blogspot sucks so    check it out on facebook or at youtube.

I was going to post

I had a nice video to post from Saturday Morning's High Bar practice, but BlogSpot won't seem to let me post it. I've uploaded it, and nothing. I took it from YouTube an nothing. So, Fuck you BlogSpot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Learn to.......

One of the best things you can ever do is learn to truly love the roughest practices and the hardest training sessions........

..........For it's in these that you'll find the greatest growth physically, mentally and emotionally.

Parallel Bar Dips to Straddle Planches

A terrific night of training last night. Really felt everything clicking just right. Here's a set of Parallel Bar Dips to Straddle Planches from the session.

In Stillness.....

In Stillness and Quiet, You Will Always Find Peace!!

Backwards Roll to Top Support To Forward Roll for Reps on the High Bar

Why?  Because these are fun and awesome!! My final set of 4 for Backwards rolls to Top Support to Forward Rolls on the High Bar. Felt wonderful!!

The Worst Straddle Planche of the Day

After a rough morning rings practice and evening squats session yesterday, it felt awesome to dominate the High Bar and Parallet practice today. Here's my worst Parallet Straddle Planche of the day. And it's not bad at all.

Hitting the full Reverse Muscle Up Negatives on the Rings

A pretty solid, but rough practice this morning on the rings. Here's my final set of a full Reverse Muscle Up Negative, starting at the handstand and slowly moving down to the inverted hang. These went really well today, but the rest of practice was a little hit or miss. Lol!

A Moment of Gratitude

Taking a moment of grattitiude and realizing just how blessed I've been in my career. For a few decades now I've had the honor and privelage of being a professional in the strength and fitness, nutrition, health and wellness, performance and physique field. In that time I've been blessed to be able to help literally 100's of people; from teenagers to folks in their 90's, and from the average person looking to drop some fat and get fit and healthy to amazing athletes looking ...to crush it in their sports; achieve all of their goals and dreams. Then move on to achieveing even bigger goals and dreams. It's amazing to not only love and be passionate about what you do, but to also be able to help so many become helathier, more fit and truly live a life of adventure. So I have to thank all of my clients; past, present and future for the adventure we've all been on and for letting my help you all achieve your dreams. The last few decades have been amazing and I'm looking incredibly forward to the many decades to come, training and coaching you all to achieve more. Love for all of you! Now, go train hard and create your greatness!!

Let's see:

Let's see: Diagnosed as a child with a degenerative bone disease in the hips and told I wouldn't be walking as an adult. Yep, that happened. Then, broke 3 vertebrae in the back and tore apart all of the muscle, tendons and ligaments on the right side of my body from the neck to the hips. Told I'd always be weak as a kitten, never be able to move my right side very well, and that I'd live in constant pain for the rest of my life. Yep, that happened. At anytime thought about let...ting those things limit my life or what I was capable of becoming or doing, using them as an excuse to not train or reach for the stars, having those things keep me from my dreams or from becoming the best that I can. Never, Nope, Not going to happen. Couldn't even imagine dreaming of that SKATA! You only limits are in your mind. And sometimes it pays huge dividends to tell your mind to Shut The F$%K Up! Now, go create your greatness!!

High Bar Dips

A movement you rarely see outside of  gymnastics and bar athletics, but such a great conditioner! The final set of 20 for my High Bar Dips to finish off the bar work on Saturday!

High Bar Fun: Backwards Rolls

Having a blast during Saturday morning's High Bar and Human Flag practice. Here's my first ever completed Backward Roll on the High Bar. Felt awesome, so I celebrated at the top while Melissa laughed.

Got 2 incredible compliments today

It's hard to make me blush, but I couldn't help it today after these amazing compliments. First, I had two young men (about 13 and 15 respectively) that had watched some of my rings practice yesterday and some of my parallet practice today. About midway through practice the older one walks up to me and says, "Sheit, you are one Jacked and Strong Vin Diesel looking Mother F-er. That's Awesome! I had to make sure to thank him and his brother very nicely for the high praise. Then, as I'm finishing up practice a really sweet 50 something women walks up and says, with the most charming Minnesotan accent, "That was really impressive, sir. You remind me of that Patrick Swayze in the Roadhouse Movie." Again, I had to thank her deeply. High praise all around. It really warmed my heart.

Awesome training tonight!

After an interesting morning practice, I rebounded nicely to kick some serious ass this evening. Great training session. Hit 4 strong sets of 6 reps for Upright Rows with 205 pounds. Nailed 3 sets of 6 per side for 1-arm Read Delt Raises with 123 pounds. Got in 3 really strong sets of 8 per side for 1-arm Lateral Raises with 88 pounds. Nailed a strong Shoulder Death with a pair of 25's. Got in 3 strong rounds of my Abdominal Death Set. Hit 3 Awesome sets of 5 reps per side for Saxon Side Beds with 53 pounds. And finished up with a 10 round mixture of Medicine Ball and Kettlebell Conditioning. Great Training Session! Here's the final set of the 1-arm Read Delt Raises!

Starting the journey to mastering the Reverse Muscle Up on the Rings

Started the journey to mastering the Reverse Muscle Up on the rings. Figured the best way to progress would be starting out with doing sets of negatives (or eccentric phase) for the elevator portion. Here's the final set of them from this morning's rings practice.

Always working on improving: parallet l-sit to straddle planches

Not quite where I'd like them to be, but always improving. Here's the final set of parallet L-sit to Straddle Planches from this morning's practice. Great morning practice today :)

Getting it done

Really awesome night of training. Made some adjustments due to the neck injury, but still kicked ass!Hit 4 sets of 8 for Rings Archer Pull Ups Moved onto 3 sets of 4 for Rings Front Lever Pulls Nailed 3 sets of 10 second contractions for Isometric Bent Rows Hit 3 sets of 10 second contractions for Isometric Shrugs Got in a strong 3 rounds of the abdominal death set nailing, without resting between movement, 20 Parallel Bar Leg Raises, 12 V-ups and 12 Coffin Sit Ups per round. Hit 3 sets of 5 reps per side for Saxon Side Bends with 45 pounds. Finished up with 10 rounds of Wall Drive Sprint Conditioning. Great stuff. Here's the final set of Archer Pull Ups.

My first attempt ever

Added in a new rings skill this morning. Here's my first attempt ever at the L-sit to handstand to L-sit on the rings. Felt pretty good. A little rough, and I made sure to have the rings low, just in case. But, felt pretty solid.

Wonderful Rings Practice this morning

Awesome rings practice this morning. Felt like everything from the basics, to the new stuff, to the routine, to the conditioning work kept improving. Here's the final set of the routine for the day. Not bad at all.

Having a little too much fun

I think I might be having a little too much fun during High bar and Human flag practice on Saturday!!

Missy getting it done

Awesome Saturday High Bar and Human Flag Practice!

Here are some awesome pics of Missy getting it done with her human flags:

Straddle Planche just keep on feeling stronger

Love the fact that the Straddle Planche just keeps on getting stronger and better :)

Kicking booty with the parallet combo

Amazing morning of Parallet Practice today. Everything just keeps on improving, which is awesome! Here's the final set of my favorite Parallet Combo (V-sit to Handstand to Bent-arm Lever back to V-sit). Felt Wonderful :)

200 pound upright rows

Awesome night of training last night. Nailed a bunch of sets of upright rows, rear delt raises, lateral raises, shoulder death sets, abdominal death sets, Saxon side bends and sprint conditioning. Great stuff. Here's the final set of the upright rows nailing a nice 6 reps with 200 pounds. Felt awesome.

Adding fun new tumbles

Working on a new tumbling pattern this morning. Going from a Back Extension to a 1/2 turn Handstand into a Forward Roll. Overall went pretty well, but I really realized how hard turning becomes when you sway your back and don't keep your legs tight. Lol.

Alwasy working on solidifying the Basics

Always work on your foundation and the more advanced stuff comes much better. Working on my basic Butterfly kicks.

Nailiing 216 for 1 arm Bent Rows

Awesome night of training last night filled with wonderful things like Archer Pull ups, Front Lever Pulls, 1-arm Bent Rows, Isometric Shrugs, Abdominal Death Sets, Saxon Side Bends and Rope Skipping Conditioning. Here's the final (and not necessarily prettiest set, lol) of 1-am Bent Rows usig 216 pounds per side (two 88 pound K-bells, a with a 35 pound K-bell and a 5 pound weigh plate tied to one of the 88's).

Parallet Stalder Press

Had a wonderful Parallet and High Bar practice this morning. Everything is improving so well, I love it. Thought I'd hit some Stalder Presses on the Parallets as one of my new movements. Aside from the Straddle L-sit at the beginning needing work, I have to say all 3 sets went really well. Here's the final set.

Owning 435 pound on Barbell Hack Squats

Had a terrific night of training last night. Setting personal records on each exercise. Here's the final set of Barbell Hack Squats. Felt like I completely owned the 435 for each rep of each set. Awesome improvements.

What happens when you're not pleased with a performace?

Even though I had done 3 sets of rings Bent-arm Levers to L-sits earlier, they felt like a huge weak point during the multiple sets of the rings routine. Well, what do you do when you're not pleased with the performance? You jump back up and hit a number of extra sets! Here's the final set of these from this morning. And yes, I'm in a compression shirt because, even though it's still August, it was only around 55 degrees outside. Lol!

Upping the ante on the rings routine

During this morning's practice the first two sets of the rings routine felt too easy. So, I upped the difficulty level. Changed the straddle front lever to a full front lever, and changed the figure-4 back lever to a straddle back lever. Felt challenging, yet wonderful. Not a bad final couple of sets. Here's the last one from this morning.

Fun with Flags Returns

And now it's time for a special   episode of Missy's Fun With Flags:

My gorgeous bride making huge jumps in her progress toward the human flag! Awesome work angel!!