People thought I was crazy, then again, people still think I’m crazy.

Back when I was first training athletes in my garage, and even before I had a garage to train them in, our athletes were getting brutally strong without ever doing the tried and true barbell back squat.

How could this be? Super strength without the KING, squats?

I didn’t own a barbell, but we did have plenty of other “things”, and Mother Nature was our natural gym.

Then, I made myself a sandbag, 100 lbs., from an army - navy duffel bag.

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Today I had a skinny guy stop into the gym….after he left the gym next door.

The other day, another skinny guy who confessed to being a former inmate stopped by as well.

I’m starting to worry who the heck will be stopping by next.

The former inmate confessed he was way bigger in “the pen”. I bet he was….eating all day, push ups and sit ups every day, hitting the weight pile almost daily. What can you do in the weight pile?

Nothing fancy…..I saw what the prisons have: benches, barbells, dumbbells, dip bars, pull up bars, squat racks. These are the essentials.

Today’s drop in was a guy I have seen for YEARS as I used to train at the gym next door. He has not changed in about 7 years while training 4 days a week. He was pissed off that he still weighs 135 lbs.

I bet if I looked at how he ate it would be pretty poor, with not enough quality food, skipping breakfast, no post workout meals and enough food to keep a 5 year old kid satisfied.

Training mistakes? He said he squats and deadlifts - are these magic exercises? Hmmmmm, they’re supposed to work like magic, but, if your entire program is not organized well, squats, deadlifts and all the other top notch exercises won’t do jack sh*t for you.

So, here we have two guys in frustration….both skinny and unable to get bigger, stronger or more muscular.

One guy has been struggling for what I know to be 7 years…..at least.

Soon I’ll post photos of a once 88 lb. weakling who began training with us 2 years ago, and now weighs 125 lbs. 125 may seem like nothing to you, but, that is a whopping 37 lbs of added weight, much of it muscle.

Stay tuned!

In Strength,

Zach Even - Esh

P.S. - Wanna get jacked and strong? Want muscles that truly are “functional’? Want to have FUN while training? Click HERE and get after it!

I have spoken many times before about getting people to respect “strength training”.

It does piss me off, to see people whining about not being to get stronger, faster or bigger. I see these same people doing 1 arm dumbbell preacher curls staring at their biceps just like what you would see in FLEX magazine.

I used to read FLEX magazine cover to cover, day and night. I had a book shelf that was at the verge of collapsing because all my muscle mags were weighing it down, bending each shelf to the point of destruction.

It’s easy to get caught up in that stuff, because the photos look so enticing and if you copy exactly what you see you too will get jacked!

Not so, my friend….

If you need a wake up call, take a walk into the woods…sprint through the trails, jump over the logs, carry the logs, squat and lunge with the logs.

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What the heck happens at The Underground Strength Gym?!?!?

 Many people are asking….

Well, for one, we train in groups. The energy levels are infinitely higher with these groups. The groups are created after a client is screened through a trial session and then placed in a group that best suits his / her needs.

Not everyone is accepted into our program because we can not allow a half dedicated individual to ruin the powerful chemistry of our groups.

You probably remember me talking about the “Champion’s Attitude”, well, today, one of the Football groups trained while our Gladiator Crew trained and man did they light that place up! The tires were getting flipped down the parking lot all the way to the edge of the street! I’m sure the oncoming traffic was getting scared!

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Zach,
   Question on squats. How often do you include squats in your workout?
What kind of squats do you use (zercher, front, breathing, etc.)? Thanks!

Jeff

ANSWER

I personally do squats at least every other week. Usually I alternate deadlifts and squats, but, it’s not absolute. There are times where I squat several weeks in a row.

I use MANY different squat variations, all of which you’ll see outlined through various articles at http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

There are times where I break all the rules and perform several different squats all in the same workout.

Box squats, olympic squats, sandbag squats, zercher squats and anything else I can shock my body with.

In the video above you can see me box squatting with chains and bands.

I definitely believe BIG time in squats. They pack on muscle like no other exercise, speed up the metabolism and have an overall effect on the entire body, something I have never experienced or seen with any other exercise!

Unless you have a physical condition that forces you to avoid squats, I suggest hitting them regularly!

In Strength,

Zach Even - Esh

P.S. - If you want to learn more muscle building secrets that I use with myself and my clients then check out http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

Sometimes you need to go overboard and take things to a “crazy” level with your training.

Shocking your body every once in a while is good for the sould. You will feel great overstepping the typical boundaries and rules of “weight lifting” and you’ll get stronger because of it.

Back in the day, there was a HUGE bodybuilder named Vic Richards. He never competed, but he was a freaky gym monster. He never followed the typical rules, instead, he would spend time on an exercise. Maybe 1 hour of squats, or 1 hour of benching or 1 hour of leg presses.

I was so motivated that I would copy his craziness. Not the smartest thing to do at age 16, but I was so passionate for the iron that I couldn’t resist. I squatted for nearly 2 hours and had to ride my bike home from the gym! I couldn’t ride my bike, nor could I walk my bike.

Here and there you need to go beyond your limits. This is also why Vic started his training with two guys called the “Barbarian Brothers” who were known for moving massive weights and breaking all the rules of working out, which is also why they were the strongest guys in Gold’s Venice.

I’m not telling you to train till you can’t walk….but, by now, you know that breaking the rules is gonna have to happen sooner or later. Stop following the rules and start making progress!

This is exactly why I created http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com - too many complicated, overly fancied up workouts that weren’t giving people results.

It’s time to break the rules.

What’s your next step?

In Strength,

Zach Even - Esh

The squat has been the lift that has been responsible for developing all around strength. When you squat heavy and low, you work your quads, hams, glutes and entire back side like nothing else. The squat has that amazing effect on the rest of the body where it tightens up your abs, making them strong and sturdy, it adds muscle to the upper body and stokes your metabolism.

If you haven’t been squatting, then what the hell have you been doing?

Check our latest article on Rack Training at The Underground to see more powerful variations of the squat.

In strength,

–Zach–

Oh boy, let me tell you a story from way back when…..

Back when I was 13 and 14 years old (now 32) I used to ride my bike to the Metuchen YMCA, which was a good 4 mile bike ride.

No worries, as I always rode my bike as a kid, day and night, for over 12 hours a day. No kidding, I rode my bike from 7 AM until 10 PM at night, only to come home for dinner.

My lunch was the famous cheese and crackers and some soda from whatever convenience store my friends and I found along the way.

Where are all the kids today riding their bikes?

I guess they are riding their virtual bikes, kinda makes me sick if you ask me.

Anyway, back in the day, the YMCA was older, not like the one standing today, fancy and new with a pretty weight room.

The one I was lucky enough to belong to had a dark, whole in the wall gym downstairs, with tons of old York plates, the old York power rack, a few benches, a cross over machine and a dip stand.

The dumbbells were the beautiful round heads that I often shop for at garage sales
The guys training there knew about the basics, and I did as well, I learned pretty well from Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. I have the original version, w/guys like Franco, Bertil Fox, Jusup Wilcosz, Al Beckles, Casey Viator, Danny Padilla, Sergio “the Myth” Oliva and Ed Corney featured in there, amongst many other Golden Era greats.

One thing I learned to enjoy right away was the barbell squat. I did endless sets every leg workout, followed by that old school flat bench with the leg extension and leg curl hooked up.

I trained my legs so hard that riding my bike was imposisble, and when I tried to walk that was more impossible. I loved that feeling of being unable to walk
I see gyms today and the smith machine is being hovered around while squat racks are for barbell curls. Not good!

My legs grew like weeds because I squatted for heavy weight and low reps as well as heavy weight and high reps.

Have you ever tried squatting heavy for sets of 20 - 40? This is brutal work let me tell you!

I added muscle the old school way back then. Lots of squats, lots of milk and lots of turkey sandiwches.

That doesn’t work too well for me anymore, the milk and turkey sandiwches that is.

But the squats sure as heck still work, and they always will.

If you ain’t squatting heavy and hard, then what the heck are you doing for gaining serious strength and size?

It’s time to get serious and that means squatting.

The old school ways of strength are incredibly effective, they are also straight forward and have that awesome, NO BS way to them.

Check out our most famous NO BS strength products below, it’s the way to go if you’re serious about building lean, rugged, real world strength and muscle!

Check em’ out,

http://UndergroundStrengthKit.com

http://combatgrappler.com/RussianLion.html

They are two of the best out there, and now it’s your turn to get your hands on them.

Dedicated to your success,

Zach Even - Esh