You’re NEVER too old to learn new things. NEVER too old to become better. It’s OK to change.
Many people take pride in the fact that they will never change. Change means you’re evolving. If you evolve, you are growing from within and that is of utmost importance.
Without growth, You die.
I’m going to challenge you to do some things that you may not be doing….. perhaps you’ve NEVER done these “things”…. perhaps it’s been a long time ago…. I’ll ALWAYS be here to challenge you. I do the same to my athletes and I do the same to anyone I connect with on a coaching level, and by reading this blog, I see myself as your Coach.
Many think I’m too hard on them or too hard on others. Too harsh, tough and not forgiving enough. I simply see it as tough love and if I don’t tell you the truth I am cheating YOU and lying to myself. I lay the law down with my athletes and I truly see no other way.
These athletes MUST realize the opportunity they have and how the world CAN be their if they WANT it.
I tell the parents outright how pissed I am at them when they allow their child to quit a sports team because practice was too hard. I tell them how pissed I am when they allow their child to blame the coach for not starting. Whatever happened to responsibility? Why do we enable how soft people are getting…. America is SOFT. That is #TRUTH and it pisses me off.
Excuses SUCK and so do the people who use them…. got excuses?
YOU suck. Period.
Why are so many athletes quitting in sports…. quitting in life…. and why is it ALL allowed & accepted!?!?
A BIG reason I left teaching was because parents would blame teachers and attack teachers when their child wasn’t getting straight A’s.
I HATED how this “system” was contributing to The Pussification of America.
I refused to partake in the lies, excuses and bull shit so I left it ALL….. built my own world…. Underground Strength Nation.
Do I have excuses for things? Absolutely. I am NOT perfect but I RAGE against it when I allow Mr. Resistance to get the best of me and I fight back, tooth and nail, blood, sweat and tears.
When I catch those excuses I slap myself in the face and kick my own ass and do a complete 180. NO quitting, just brutal honesty with myself, you need to do the same for yourself if you want success.
When I saw 4 comments on THIS Kick Ass Blog I told Underground Strength Nation to check their pulse because that video was so f**ing inspiring that it fired me up how no one had words to evoke after such a video!
How are you NOT fired the HELL UP by intense videos!?!? Come on, Undergrounders…. Lead WITH me or get the Hell outta the way!!!
Some NEW things I am learning:
- Saying “sorry” more often and accepting my mistakes….
- Saying “I love you” more often to those who put up with my craziness and love me unconditionally. I am NOT an easy person to deal with and I imagine it’s tough being on the other side of the relationship with me….
- Nutrition consulting with my friend, Jason Ferruggia. My health has taken a priority like never before since late last winter after experiencing so much pain in my body due to abuse in training and average nutrition. I am pushing more and more for better nutrition and health from the inside out.
- Reaching out to people I’ve lost touch with through the years….
- Refocusing my business to the select few things that I can deliver best in. These areas of my business allow me to bring my best foot forward, giving you the best I’ve got makes YOU better. What makes YOU stronger makes US stronger. That is what Underground Strength Nation is ALL about.
Make NO mistake about it….. These changes have NOTHING to do with a new year or a resolution. They are driven by passion and what is important to my family and Underground Strength Nation. Period.
When I want something I F**King DO it, I don’t wait for dumb ass new year resolutions or any other shit like that. NOW is when I do everything I want. NOW…. not tomorrow or later, NOW.
I suggest you do the same. If you have demons, face them now. If you’ve been putting shit off, do it NOW. You MUST be honest with yourself, dig deep, look yourself in the mirror and look those you love in the eyes and tell them the TRUTH.
The world has enough liars, con-artists, bull shit artists, blame artists, excuse makers and enablers of the weak and lazy.
NOT in THIS House. Undergrounders are a RARE Breed. I know it and so do YOU.
Drop a comment and tell us how you’re going to change for the better. We’re an Army of Bad Mother F**kers, Be PROUD and stand TALL.
Underground 4 Life
-Z-
PS: If you think my Blog is loaded with passion, wait till we connect at the next USC Cert. Austin, Texas it IS.
I LOVE The #ATX, don’t hesitate and say “I’ll go to the next one….”. WHAT “next one”. To Kick Ass & Take Names the time is NOW.
Sign Up HERE, it’s time to change your life.
Filed under Articles, Kick Ass Business, Kick Ass Life, Success, Underground Strength Show, Videos by on Jan 26th, 2012. 31 Comments. 
If you wanna make it to the TOP of ANYTHING you do it starts with the MIND. You can train as hard as you want but if the mind is not straight expect little to NO success.
Same goes for Business. If you don’t believe you will not climb to the top of the mountain. Success comes to those who work for it, believe in it and EARN it!
I’ve got some new business courses about to be released, a mix of mindset and skill set combined with a heavy dose of #HUSTLE. I’ll announce through The Underground Biz Journal, HERE.
QOD (Question Of The Day): If you could give someone ONE piece of advice to achieve success in LIFE and Lifting… What would that ONE thing be? Drop your comments below.
Live The Code
–Z–
PS: Texas, I’m a comin’…. step up and let’s kick some ass, join the growing army of Underground Strength Coaches who are kickin’ ass & takin’ names. Click HERE for details
Filed under Announcements, Kick Ass Business, Kick Ass Life, Monday Motivation, Success, Videos, man up monday by on Jan 21st, 2012. 7 Comments.
Above, Dr. Ken Leistner working on his garage gym, a place known for EPIC workouts, rain or shine, brutal temps irrelevant.It was REALLY tempting to find a way to make my Underground Home Gym a bit more cozy…. warmer….. nicer… a sound system to crank heavy tunes on….. But, as the saying goes, give them an inch and they’ll run a mile with it.
I said to myself, “NO.” Make it tougher to train in, more Uncomfortable than comfortable…. NO excuses.
It’s cold in my garage, I bundle up with shorts AND sweats, 3 – 4 sweatshirts and a hood….and do extra warm ups…. maybe I’ll get a space heater for when the temps REALLY start to plummet but for now, I do the work as is, period. As I type this blog post our first snow fall of the year has come.
Read more on Underground Home Gym…
Filed under Articles, Strength Building, Zach's Workouts, muscle building, old school strength by on Jan 21st, 2012. 7 Comments.
Mindset is THE KEY to kickin’ ass & takin’ names…. I can talk, talk, talk ALL about this, BUT, let me show you a few videos that will tell you EXACTLY what it takes to kick ass in LIFE…..
Special thanks to Chael Sonnen for speaking from the heart…
2012 is gonna reveal some SIC shit to Underground Strength Nation. Enjoy these videos and by ALL means, DO something with the info in these videos, it would be a crime NOT to….
Dan Gable speaks on training like Rocky, training old school and NOT allowing yourself to get comfortable….
Check the highlight below with some footage from Underground Trained, Anthony Ashnault…. Inspiring whether you wrestle or NOT!
Drop a comment with your thoughts on these “videos of the mind”…. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Live The Code, Underground 4 Life
Peace
–Z–
Filed under Kick Ass Business, Kick Ass Life, Success, Underground Strength Show, Videos, old school strength by on Jan 19th, 2012. 11 Comments.
Yo, Homies! Psyched to crank this blog post, as ALWAYS!
Energy is sky high lately, I’ve been fasting often and experimenting with my nutrition and it’s feeling GREAT. On a mission to get to 205, lean and mean…. agile, mobile and hostile! I haven’t had a scale of my own since about 10 years ago so I’m gonna start tracking everything & dialing that shiz IN!
LOTS of my training lately has been split into training at The Underground HQ in Edison NJ along with my Underground Home Gym in my cold garage. I set up my entire garage with Rogue Equipment, everything arrived in less than 5 days! Although small and in a tight space, it’s a BadAss lil’ training compound, aka The Underground Home Gym (Full Video Soon)!
Training in the cold has a unique effect on the body AND mind. It REALLY pushes you into a different zone and I am exploring it a LOT lately, not for the physical effects, but because I NEED to keep challenging my mind, pushing my mental toughness up a notch. I’m tough on myself, never truly satisfied with my mental toughness.
I’ve also been mountain biking on the cold NJ weekends lately and last Sunday was a legit ride. The temps read 17 degrees with a wind chill of 2 degrees. I had no one to ride with and that NEVER bothers me. Doing things on my own is what I have been trained to do since I began wrestling.
The cold weather was a test. My fingers were cold as hell, riding alone through the woods I got lost, as I always do when I ride solo but it’s been a while since riding solo. Getting lost in the summer time when the weather is warm and cozy is not a problem and getting lost when the weather is upper 90s doesn’t bother me either.
When those fingers are freezing numb and your entire body is cold, you begin to LEARN to Do shit on Your OWN:
- Where was the sun when I rode into the woods? To my left or right?
- Listen carefully…. do you hear cars off the road or do you hear dead silence?
- Look at the trails… are there leaves covering the trail signifying little or no action or do you see frozen tire tracks?
- Check your surroundings…. these rocks look familiar, so does that downed tree…. do I go right or left now?
The mind becomes MUCH more alert and the body has NO choice but to push onward and upward.
I have NO problems training alone, working alone, running a business alone, motivating myself from within….. It sounds crazy and often times offends people but this is me, it’s been me since I started high school and was introduced to wrestling and I think YOU should get used to the same.
YOU should be able to motivate yourself and NOT rely on others for ANYTHING, learn to NOT give a shit what others think of you and learn to stop waiting for permission, help, support, etc from any outside resource, be it a person or thing. Do it on your OWN.
Does this mean I never train with others? NO. Here and again I try to get in a workout with friends if my schedule allows.
Here is some footage from a recent workout, including my typical warm up using Indian Clubs, a popular training tool for combat athletes as well as from the days of physical culture. You’ll also see me using complex training, where you perform 2 – 4 movements explosively using the same motion, i.e. ALL lower body, ALL upper body push, ALL upper body pull, etc….
This training develops mental toughness, strength & power endurance as well as being a GREAT way to add functional muscle mass. There is a BIG difference in hypertrophy from bodybuilding and the hypertrophy that comes from weightlifting, powerlifting…..
If I have a quiet time at The Underground Strength Gym I will train WITH a small group. Last night, one of my wrestlers showed up late, unannounced, after a LONG weekend of wrestling in Va and cutting 15 lbs (NOT my choice, his Coach’s enforce this) he showed up and crushed a workout… on his OWN.
Other wrestlers made excuses for being too sore, too tired, too busy, “I forgot” or the good ol’ No show AND No call from the truly non-dedicated…. NOT this kid, he is a RARE Breed and he INSPIRES ME!
He put together his OWN workout without me even telling him what to do, training 3 x as much as ANY other wrestler who walked through the doors yesterday. I didn’t even tell him what to do, he just fucking grabbed life by the balls and did it.
Do me a favor, give him a shout on Twitter, this kid is a motivation to me and NOT many things motivate me.
I trained along side him, he did HIS workout and I did Mine. I cranked heavy squats on the giant cambered bar, lateral bench jumps, high rep kettlebell swings and cleans.
The special I POD was cranking with new tunes (old in age), some special tunes to inspire, check the newly added tunes below…..
Once again…. training happens best when you do what allows you to “lose yourself and find yourself”…..
Stay tuned for another kick ass blog post, I’ve got LOTS to share with you and you do NOT wanna miss it!
Drop a comment with your thoughts.
Live The Code
Underground 4 Life
–Z–
PS: 1 spot left for USC Cert in NJ. Click HERE to sign up and change your life, I am PSYCHED to see you!
Filed under Articles, Kick Ass Life, Strength Building, Success, Underground Strength Show, Videos, Zach's Workouts, muscle building, old school strength by on Jan 17th, 2012. 15 Comments.
Many wonder what we do behind the walls of The Underground Strength Gym.
To explain inside a blog post is damn near impossible…. It’s the experience that goes on, not so much what we do, the exercises we use…. I’ll include a few of our recent videos along with some older videos to try and give you a taste of what goes on.
Read more on Inside The Underground Strength Gym…
Filed under Articles, Kick Ass Business, Kick Ass Life, Strength Building, Success, Underground Strength Show, Videos, muscle building by on Jan 12th, 2012. 5 Comments.
Yo, Bruthas & Ladies of Underground Strength Nation….
I just got a new I Pod for my garage workouts, this is my 3rd I POD, along with my I Phone.
Check this Video….. I am PSYCHED to read your comments!
Drop a comment below, share your most kick ass workout / training songs. Try and limit them to 10 songs that if you could only have 10 songs to train to, these would be YOUR Underground Play List!!
Underground 4 Life!
Peace
–Z–
Filed under Articles, Kick Ass Life, Underground Strength Show, Videos by on Jan 10th, 2012. 56 Comments.
Last week, during the holidays I was in Disney with the family. Since we drove, I had LOTS of FREE time to catch up on stuff I rarely get to do…. watch TV (Thank You, I Phone) .
When I watch TV, I LOVE finding stuff that inspires me…. NO time for negative, energy sucking BS.
Read more on Herschel Walker, My Truth & EVERYONE’S Truth…
Filed under Articles, Kick Ass Life, Success, Videos, old school strength by on Jan 6th, 2012. 24 Comments.
Whether you are a business owner or not is NOT relevant to this post.
Watch this video and let me know your thoughts, and, as a preface, if you’re pissed off at this video, it’s VERY likely I am talking about YOU.
This is about work ethic, a requisite if you want to be successful in your life, your health and anything that you partake in.
I’ve held down jobs since as long as I can remember….
As far back as 2nd grade, I recall when Winter came and it snowed, my older bro woke me up at the butt crack of dawn to shovel driveways with him to earn money.
When I was in elementary school I held TWO paper routes at one time, one in the morning before school and another after school. I remember having $26 in my pocket EVERY WEEK after “collecting”.
America has problems…. I have TOO MANY people crying for a refund of $12.95 or $19.95, telling me they don’t have the money or they need to wait until summer until they get a job. WTF!!??
How is $19.95 a challenge for someone? I am safely assuming that these people have NO jobs. I bet this is pissing off many, or, perhaps you question why I am ranting here?
GREAT question you have. I am fired up because I HATE seeing people down in the dumps, BUT, I hate it more when these people aren’t doing jack shit to get OUT of the dumps. I can’t help you if you don’t wanna help yourself. I’ve been in the dumps and it sucks…. BAD.
I remember crying myself to sleep as quietly as possible so my wife wouldn’t hear me, with my back turned to my wife, as I wondered how the hell I would find a way to pay the mortgage.I had nightmares of our house getting taken away from us and I feared the embarrassment of failure beyond what my words can describe.
But, I did it. I found a way to succeed. I went after it, chargin’ hard to make it happen. I did what others would NOT do. I did what others feared. I woke up early, stayed up late, worked through my lunches and prep time while teaching and used my sick days to attend business seminars.
I don’t respect the cry babies…. I DO Respect the people who dig deep and GO for it, Brass Balls ALL the way. I’ve had MANY aspiring Strength Coaches fly to NJ (often times from overseas) and scrape together money to make it happen, so they could learn the skills via my Underground Strength Coach Cert.
These dudes had the eye of the tiger, they didn’t say things like…. “I don’t have the money…..” Instead, they found a way to MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Think about that…. what type of person are you?
- The guy who Makes it happen….
Or…..
- The guy who says I don’t have _______ (fill in the blank with ANY word)?
You can choose to be a victim of circumstance OR you can volunteer to CONTROL your circumstances. The choice is yours.
Get off your ass….
Let me know your thoughts, drop a comment.
Peace
–Z–
Filed under Articles, Kick Ass Business, Kick Ass Life, Monday Motivation, Success, Underground Strength Show, Videos by on Jan 2nd, 2012. 13 Comments.
Let me leave you with these 2 videos today…. especially with the new year upon us and all those Bull Shit “resolutions”.
Here’s THE TRUTH: You want something?
Why wait for January 1st?!?! F**K that, DO it NOW.
Check these videos…..
Please take a few seconds and share this out via twitter and facebook.
And, if we’re not connected yet, let’s fix that!
Connect with me on FaceBook HERE
Connect with me on Twitter HERE
Looking forward to seeing your comments 
Peace
Live the Code
–Z–
Underground Strength Nation – FINAL chance before price triples, Ass Kicker Go HERE
USC Cert has a few spots left, Action Takers Go HERE
Filed under Announcements, Articles, Kick Ass Business, Kick Ass Life, Strength Building, Success, Underground Strength Show, Videos, Zach's Workouts, muscle building by on Dec 23rd, 2011. 7 Comments.
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