Shit!
In a few short weeks I’ll be 36.
Time goes fast. TOO Fast. Here’s some stories and lessons I’ve learned along the way & hopefully you’re not too cool to learn from some of these.
Anyway, for no reason whatsoever I thought it would be legit to have a pic of Dr. Ken training with an empty bomb to remind you to push the limits 
1) I remember when I was 7 years old and racing big wheels with my friends down the hill and smashing into garbage cans. That was FUN. As we get older in age and acquire more responsibilities we forget to have FUN. Like I said time goes fast and sometimes I forget this also. Be smarter than me and DON’T forget.
2) I remember arm wrestling all the kids in the neighborhood one night in 6th grade. Everyone beat me. It sucked. It was summer vacation. I went home that night and started doing push ups. I think I did 3 or 4 push ups. The next day I did 5, then 6, 7 and up to 20 something reps. I started doing GTG (Grease the Groove) ala Pavel without knowing it. Do your push ups, kids.
3) When I was in elementary school and my older bro was in middle school he started getting into working out. There was a sporting good’s store in the mall near our home called “Herman’s”. My bro made me go to the mall with him on our bikes, with empty backpacks. He bought 40 lbs, all in 10 lb plates. We each had 20 lbs in our backpack and the ride home had a steady incline. I wanted to quit but he yelled at me and made me push through the hill.
When we got home and I took off my back pack I remember feeling light as a feather walking up our stairs.
4) When I was in 2nd grade our Doberman had puppies, born in our home. My old brother woke me up at 3 or 4 AM when they were born and I couldn’t wake up. I woke up that morning to see 8 puppies. One puppy didn’t make it and we kept one and my Dad sold the others.
The one we kept grew up with me from age 7 till I was 21. When he died I was depressed for 4 days and experienced my first lesson in losing my best friend.
5) I used to play Soccer. My Dad being of Romanian descent didn’t know much about American sports like Football & Baseball. I remember standing in the field and not paying attention until a ball went flying at full speed and nailed me in the gut, knocking the wind out of me.
I was about to fall to the ground in pain and my Coach shouted out to me, “Good block, Zach!”. He totally knew I just got my ass kicked by a flying soccer ball.
6) In 4th grade my BMX bike was stolen by 2 kids. They were big, bad teenagers and my friends and I were playing Football. The apartment complex was known for getting bikes stolen, and these kids stoke my bike in broad day light, in front of all of us. We ALL just froze, it was a surreal experience and time seemed to freeze while the only thing I saw a kid racing away on a bike I saved all my paper route money for and dumped every penny of my allowance into.
To this day I still remember that feeling of seeing my bike ride off to Perth Amboy, NJ.
I would gladly like to meet both of those kids today and would have NO problems spending a little jail time to let them know that I’m not 9 years old anymore and stealing bikes isn’t nice.
To this day, my bikes hold special meanings to me and I’m always waiting for someone to think they can ride away with my bike. It wouldn’t be pretty, that’s for sure.
7) My older bro bought one of those crushers you’ve seen in Pumping Iron. I tried to crush it and I was so weak it slipped out of my hands and nailed me in the chin, damn near knocked me out and I think I cried. I probably did cry. I was a BIG pussy back in the day! ha ha
My older bro bought the soloflex the fall of my freshman year in high school, I was still 13 years old. I think he saved his money as a bus boy to pay for most of it. I thought if I used it I too would look like Mr. Soloflex. I’m still wondering what happened?
9) The first time I ever cut school was freshman year in high school so I could tape American Muscle Magazine. The show would always air at strange times like 3 AM on a weeknight or 12 noon on a weekday. I fell in love with bodybuilding and decided I would use my “sick days” strategically, once a month, to record the monthly American Muscle show. I would then ride my bike to The Metuchen YMCA so I could get in a double workout that day. I was always scared they would call the cops and ask me why I wasn’t in school.
10) The first hardcore gym I ever trained at was called Dynamic Fitness. The owner welded ALL the equipment himself, all the plates were wide flange Ivanko plates. Squat racks lined the wall along with plenty of benches and dumbbells up to 180. It was common place to see bodybuilders benching 315 and squatting over 405. The place was a 7,000 sq ft warehouse and no air conditioning. There were large industrial fans everywhere and I LOVED it.
There was ALWAYS someone bigger and stronger than you in that gym. It was heaven while it lasted.
11) While in middle school and in Israel, my older bro and I went to the local book store and I found Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. I sat on the floor and couldn’t stop reading the book till I was kicked out at 1 PM when ALL the stores shut down for mid day naps.
The book was twice as expensive in Israel compared to the states. My Grandfather bought it for us anyway. He never said “No” to us.
I STILL have that book today, in my office.
12) I rented the movie Pumping Iron while in high school and watched it over and over ALL day on that first day. It blew me away and all I could think about was bodybuilding and living in California. I was connected to the Golden Era bodybuilders 100 x more than what I saw happening in the 90s.
I began reading books from Arnold and Mike Mentzer. I preferred the black and white pics over the color pics. I preferred the REAL pics of the guys lifting heavy compared to the fake images in the magazines.
13) When I trained at The Metuchen YMCA the membership was $5 a month! They had a York Isometric rack, York Dumbbells, plates and all York gym equipment.
Mid way through high school they got rid of all their York equipment and the dingy basement gym and brought in all fancy nautilus & bodymasters equipment, put it upstairs and added carpeting. I NEVER trained there again. The day that old school gym was removed broke my heart.
14) I remember trying to ride my bike home from the YMCA after a leg workout. I could barely pedal my bike so I started walking it, leaning on it, trying to push it. My legs were cramping up BIG time after following a leg workout from Arnold’s Encyclopedia at the young age of 13.
I was hurting and saw a landscaper along the way watering a garden. I asked him if I could drink water from the hose and I think he saw the desperate look in my eyes and let me drink. I began to cherish the feeling of soreness and the inability to walk after a leg workout was THE main factor that determined if my leg workout was intense enough or not.
15) The first time someone coached me to deadlift was at Apollon Gym. His name was Herman and he still trains there today and I always remember that day. I was deadlifting with 115 lbs.
16) The first year I began wrestling was freshman year. The team was packed and I had to wrestle off for the freshman spot. I got pinned EVERY wrestle off and it fueled my fire to train harder than everyone else. Those consecutive losses also proved to be a burden on my mind and I was never able to recover from so many losses. No matter how hard I trained my mind held me back.
Those depressing times taught me largely how I need to think to become a champion in everything I do. My pain in wrestling and a select few other areas in my life have fueled my first to do what I do today, to help others avoid my painful past.
Wrestling taught me to become immune to physical pain and discomfort.
Wrestling taught me the pain of losing.
Wrestling taught me the power of the mind.
Wrestling taught me emotional pain and it is the ONE thing I never want to face again.
I’ll crank a part 2 soon enough.
Any thoughts, questions or comments feel free to drop em’ below. If you enjoyed this blog, please share with friends via facebook and twitter
BIG thanks,
Peace
–Z–
Filed under Articles, Kick Ass Business, Kick Ass Life, Q & A, Success, Videos, Zach's Workouts, old school strength by on Nov 9th, 2011. 20 Comments. 
After lifting for 21 years and having gone through quite the gamut of training methods, training tools, near death experiences and plenty of pain and pleasure mixed in I have learned quite a lot. I’ve learned quite a lot in regards to training AND life through these 2 decades.
1) I used to do my homework in the gym. I just wanted to be amongst the weights. If I opened one of my books in the classroom you would find FLEX magazine inside the book. I couldn’t get my mind off lifting and being in the gym.
2) I would cut school to record American Muscle Magazine on ESPN. The show would air at strange hours, catering to to the west coast bodybuilding scene. Sometimes the show aired at 3 AM so I would set my alarm in the middle of the night just to watch the show.
I would count down the days till the show and mark my calendar. The weeks I had to wait to catch the next episode seemed like years to me.
3) I used to watch The Lee Haney show on Sunday mornings at 8 AM.”Stimulate, Don’t Annihilate.” I would watch his workout tape before I trained at home when I was 13 years old! Hells Yea I bought that tape!
4) I read ‘Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder’ for 4 years straight while in high school, NEVER allowing the other kids to take the book out from the library so I kept renewing it. I feared they would learn the secrets of Arnold and catch up to me.
5) On family vacations I didn’t want to relax. I made my Dad drive around and find me a gym. They would often drop me off in the morning and pick me up SIX hours later!
6) On the way to the gym one day, at the age of 14, my brother was driving me there and I was meeting up with two of my idols, both former wrestlers from the high school team and two of the most Bad Ass Wrestlers I knew at the time. Instead of helping my brother I got out and ran down the highway to get to the gym.
7) By age 15 I KNEW I wanted to own my own gym. My Dad would drive me to ALL the gyms within a 1hr drive and I would meet with the owner and ask him questions about running a gym. My Dad always had the business mind and would ask them if they would sell the gym! haha
There was a small, hardcore gym in Perth Amboy, home of John Grimek. The owner was lazy and the place was a yellow building with a few light bulbs and tons of OLD equipment, YORK barbells, dumbbells and a crossover machine connected with rope rather than cable! I would have bought that gym but the owner burnt it down…… Pure accident of course, at least that’s what the paper said. Coulda been quite the gem if I got in there.
9) There was a gym for sale in Newark, in a scary area. It was called Pumps Gym and the owner was a welder. He welded EVERYTHING, all the dumbbells, barbells and he even MADE the machines. The Leg Press was the size of a Volkswagon Beetle.
The Power Rack musta been 11 or 12′ tall!! He was burnt out and wanted to sell it for 10 grand. I had 10 grand in the bank to buy a diamond engagement ring. I ALMOST bought the gym instead!! Instead of the gym, I married that girl and bought some old equipment from the guy
10) When I was in my early 20′s I traveled to California alone, to do some soul searching. I stayed with my older bros buddy from The Israeli Army. Every day I drove into Venice and Santa Monica to train on Venice Beach or at Gold’s Venice.
I ate at the Fire House every day and layed on the beach. I was hoping for some nostalgic feeling of Pumping Iron but it NEVER happened 
I walked into World Gym and saw Joe Gold, Zabo and a few other GREATS from The Golden Era hanging out behind the front desk like the good ol’ days!
11) While in Santa Monica I walked by the ORIGINAL Gold’s Gym where Arnold and the boys used to train. And although it was just a BIG cement wall, I swear I could still hear Arnold talking and weights clanking as if it were 1975 all over again, the year I was born.
Last I heard some dude bought the original building and made it his house. Bastard.
12) I almost moved to Cali that summer and was ready to tell my parents to send me socks and underwear. I bailed and stayed in NJ ans regretted that for YEARS! It taught me to Man the F**K UP and be more of a risk taker. Now that I live 2 minutes from the beach I’m a happy man
13) I remember having a goal of squatting 225 for 50 reps. I hit 46 or so on my own and cranked the extra few with a spotter. That was FUN. Sometimes I wonder if my legs were so damn strong from doing Leg Presses!!??
14) I remember squatting 315 for 22 reps. I wanted to impress this hot girl at the gym but I was too shy to speak to her, imagine that. Figured I could catch her attention by squatting 315 for 20 + reps. She was ALWAYS at the gym when I was there. Except this time she showed up 10 minutes AFTER I did 22 reps with 315. The entire gym stopped to watch me, except for her.
15) I won the “Young Mr. Israel” contest when I was 18 with less than 2 weeks preparation. I was convinced to compete when I went to visit my Grandparents and the gym owner saw me. The competition was held inside an amphitheatre and the crowd was over 1,000 people watching!
The crowd was nuts and there 18 or 19 competitors in my weight class. I beat a kid from Russia to win the contest. I trained with a Navy SEAL and the gym owner, a former physical instructor for The Israeli Special Forces. Those 2 weeks of training were some of the most memorable days of my life!
16) When I was pumping up for Mr. Israel bodybuilding show it was in the basement. I retreated to a small back room and began churning out push ups with my feet elevated and my hands placed on 2 chairs for the extra stretch. Why did I do this? Because this is what Arnold did when he first came to America and competed in his first ever bodybuilding competition on American ground.
All the other kids were staring at me trying to figure out what secrets I had from America. After winning they all accused of me being on steroids and the Navy SEAL I was training with kind of flipped out. Kind of
17) I remember copying everything Vic Richards said in the magazines. It was common to find me doing things like:
- Squats for 2 hours
- Leg Press or Hack Squat for 2 hours
- Bench Press for 2 hours
18) I remember a kick ass, hardcore gym in my hometown that was packed with powerlifters and bodybuilders. The music was always loud as hell and everyone was lifting hard and heavy.
The owner sold his gym near the jersey shore, came back and painted all the brown equipment white and baby blue. The clientele cleared out like the plague was coming, the tape deck was removed (yes, it was THAT long ago) and eventually the gym shut down.
Shoulda stayed hard core. Period.
19) After years of trying to find a hardcore gym, as they were all either burned down, burnt our or sold out, I purchased a $ 99 300 lb barbell set from Costco. The training I had was f**ing awesome. I began purchasing odds and ends from E Bay, classified ads and Craigs List.
I was benching, power cleaning, deadlifting, floor pressing and shrugging.
The garage was freezing, literally. I purchased a space heater which did little to keep me warm. I wore 2 pairs of sweats, 3 – 4 sweat shirts, hats and gloves. I purchased a 2nd space heater, but when turned on, I shorted the entire house. My Dad wasn’t happy. I continued to train through mid December until I got sick for a full week and had to retreat back to a “regular” gym. F**K
20) The first time I ever saw Pumping Iron was when my friend’s Dad rented the movie for me. I didn’t leave the house and must have watched it over and over again until I had to go home. My friend’s Dad copied the VHS for me so I could watch it over and over again…. except this time at my house, haha
When the anniversary edition came out and all the lost footage was brought onto another DVD, I did the same thing. Spent ALL day watching that movie!!
21) There used to be an OLD School YMCA in Metuchen. All the equipment was by YORK and all the dumbbells were globe style or round heads. I would ride my bike there and barely make it home alive. I would try to ride my bike at other times push my bike.
Those days were THE BEST! I remember asking a landscaper if he had any water as I was pushing my bike home after killing myself with a leg workout copies straight out of ‘Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding’. The guys would always play AC / DC in the radio tape deck and this is the gym where some of my earliest articles about ‘NO Rules Training’ came from as some Beast named George was tearing up the YMCA weight room.
I have PLENTY more stories to tell, perhaps there will be a Part II.
Drop a comment with some of your memories and stories from lifting. Looking forward to reading them!
Lead from the FRONT!
–Z–
Filed under Articles, Kick Ass Life, Success, Zach's Workouts, muscle building by on Jul 14th, 2010. 21 Comments.
Check out my son, Ethan and I kicking back on “Man Day” (soon to be a International Holiday
The guys from Pumping Iron trained HARD & HEAVY! They had physiques that were granite hard and man could they move some BIG weights!
It was a mix of powerlifting and bodybuilding, something I like to call Power-Bodybuilding, and I feel it is the ultimate way to develop insane strength and an awesome physique!
Check out footage from one of the stars from Pumping Iron, and Arnold’s training partner, Franco Columbo, aka The Sardinian Strongman
If you want to mix bodybuilding with powerlifting and strongman training don’t forget, if you pick up a copy of http://UndergroundMuscleBuilding.com, simply forward your receipt to my e mail and I will mail you a copy of my 2 hr DVD, Behind the Walls of The Underground, where you’ll get an inside look at how we train to develop awe inspiring strength and a Gladiator’s physique.
Kill it!
–Coach Z–
PS: Check out my previous Blog Entry and you’ll see a highlight of the DVD you’re about to get as a gift when you take action and get your copy of http://UndergroundMuscleBuilding.com
Filed under Announcements, Articles, Strength Building, Success, Underground Strength Show, Videos, muscle building by on Apr 8th, 2009. Comment.
Growing up I watched the movie Pumping Iron a million times. When I first got it, I must have watched the movie a dozen times in a row!
I seriously just kept rewinding the tape and watching it over and over and over….
I then finally got to see Raw Iron: Which were all the outtakes from Pumping Iron. Same thing….watching it over and over and over….
Today, there is something awesome out….
And, my 7 month old son is learning the RIGHT way!
Check this out…..
The movie is called STRONG. I was at Joe D’s place a few times during the filming and they interviewed me and my athletes as well. You’ll see some footage of a few of our Underground beasts as well.
This movie rocks, BIg time!
If you have kids, this is what you need to watch with them.
This is not just a movie on training athletes. It’s about overcoming adveristy, about achieving your dream’s and going for it, it’s about family, love, friendship and commitment.
It’s about what so many of us SHOULD stand for but unfortunately don’t.
Check it out at http://STRONGmovie.com
This is the Pumping Iron of the Millenium!
Kill it!
–Z–
PS: Got comments or questions? Post em’ in the comments below! BOOYA baby!
PPS: I bought 30 copies of STRONG to give as gifts to our athletes at The Underground Strength Gym! Nice, eh?
Filed under Announcements, Strength Building, Success, Underground Strength Show, Videos, muscle building by on Feb 7th, 2009. 2 Comments.
Keeping the same theme: Killing it w/heavy basics…
Here we go….
What did you think of those exercises and my insane commentary?
Post comments below!
Kill it!
–Coach Z–
PS: The interview with Coach Ethan Reeve can be found at http://UndergroundStrengthManual.com – the best interrogation I ever had the pleasure of doing. You will LOVE it!
PPS: Monday, 11/24, 7 AM, EST: The Gladiator Strength Seminar will be released right here, on the blog. The bonuses are killer! Just wait and see!
Filed under Announcements, Calendar, Strength Building, Success, Underground Strength Show, Videos, Zach's Workouts, muscle building by on Nov 23rd, 2008. 4 Comments.
Since the explosion of the internet and the fancy shmancy gyms that have been popping up on every corner of every town, notice how everyone struggles with results?
You shoulda seen the gym Lou Ferrigno trained in when he was in Brooklyn, preparing to compete against Arnold. Oh man, what a little dungeon that was, with barely any room to move…..
Barbells and dumbbells and what else???
Come on, you know the deal….
sweat, blood, blistering effort, intensity…..
This is what training is about…. going in there and getting it done and not fearing what may happen to you.
You block out the pain, block out the sacrifice and focus on beating your previous best.
I kid you not, get yourself an old barbell from e bay or craigs list, some used dumbbells and then go to town on them!
You’ll freak people out with the speed you’ll slap on muscle and gain strength.
Kill it!
–Coach Z–
P.S. - This is the course I follow when it’s barbells, dumbbells and bodyweight only. Nothing fancy, you don’t even need a bench for this! Check it out HERE!
Filed under Articles, Success, Videos, Zach's Workouts by on Jul 16th, 2008. Comment.
When I was 13 I started getting heavily into bodybuilding.
But what impacted me most was the info found in the original, Arnold Schwarzenneger Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. In this HUGE book were tons and tons of black and white photos of the rugged bodybuilders from the 50′s – 70′s.
These guys were more like what I call a “power-bodybuilder”.
They hit heavy deadlifts, heavy olympic lifts, heavy powerlifts, heavy cheat curls, HEAVY EVERYTHING.
They developed incredibly rugged, rock hard physiques and man did they motivate me to do the same!
These photos made me feel like I was living during the Golden Era, training with the crew at Gold’s Venice and on Muscle Beach.
I would watch Pumping Iron over and over again, and on weekends I would have my Dad drive me to see other gyms in the area as I dreamt of owning my own gym one day.
I wanted a hardcore gym, a dungeon like faciluty where everyone busted their ass and sweated buckets to achieve their goals.
I wanted a gym where everyone understood their purpose, and that was to train your ass off, surround yourself with other highly motivated beasts and to WIN!
Well, whaddya know…. dreams become reality and I own my own hardcore facility. Just as I envisioned.
I believed, I had the guts to make it happen and I took massive action – these are 3 keys to success.
If you want something to happen badly enough, ask yourself if you have followed the 3 steps above.
If not, how about NOW would be a great time?
In Strength,
–Coach Z–
P.S. – Wanna see what kick started my gym and my business? It allowed me to open up a kick ass gym with barely any investment, while others are out spending tens of thousands and paying loans, I owe not one dime to anyone and continue to kick ass. I am showing the world how I do it, get started HERE.
P.P.S. – Stay tuned, I’ll be announcing the next USC Certification course, very likely to be in November!
Filed under Articles, Success by on Jul 16th, 2008. Comment.
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