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 … [Read more...]
Get Under the Bar
"Get Under the Bar" - Dave Tate has a powerful book titled "Under the Bar". I don't care what you get under, but get under something heavy. Get your hands dirty, lift it, push it, pull it, drag it, carry it, press it, throw it.....I've seen people develop strength by moving many different kinds of "weights", but, those who made the most porgress lifted HEAVY. There are no two ways around it, you gotta lift heavy weights to develop incredible strength. Strength that you can use in the real … [Read more...]
Why I HAD to get an Anvil!
I saw a ton of posts at Dave Draper's awesome site dedicated to Dr.Ken and many spoke about his son, Kevin. They posted this pic and it motivated the heck out of me to get me an anvil. I am loving the anvil, I'll be posting pics, articles and videos of anvil training at http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com You tell me, does Kevin look like a BEAST or what?!?! If the pic above doesn't motivate you, check your pulse. In Strength, Zach Even - Esh P.S. - The snow is coming down HARD … [Read more...]
Q&A: Building Muscle, High Reps vs Low Reps
Above, the Back of BIG Kevin Tolbert Zach, It's a bit confusing to me as I've been reading a lot of books about building up muscle & strength. Many of them said reps should be around 8-12 and anything more is a waste of time. I hear you're saying that we should go for high reps to obtain muscle. Please tell me the difference between doing high & low reps? What impact does it have? You see I've only started training recently & want to build up my muscle. I've … [Read more...]
The Competition and the Battle
At The Underground Strength Gymnasium we hold regular competitions amongst the members. These are unannounced battles and they really hype up the crew at hand to step it up. Noone likes to lose and sometimes a loss exposes their weak area(s) and makes them work smarter AND harder towards filling those gaps. Our last contest was a pull up contest. The winners received a Captains of Crush Hand Gripper. Pull ups are like squats for the upper body. They're amazing at developing strength and … [Read more...]
NJ Seminar on April 5th
Strength and Performance Enhancement Skills that Work in the REAL World.... On April 5th, I'll be presenting along side Pamela MacElree and Jason C. Brown, the co owners of Cross Fit Philly. This will be a seminar based on what works in the REAL world, with real application, not book smart jargon to try and sound impressive. You will be gaining knowledge from 3 people who train hard on their own in addition to training countless clients on a daily basis. I'll be presenting strongman training … [Read more...]
I Still Remember Him, 19 Years Ago
I was 13 years old, my Dad was getting the big set of stairs in front of our house rebuilt. I used to run up and down those 32 stairs back in high school after they were built, after I ran my 4 or 5 mile wrestling run. The guy who built the stairs was named Americo. He was a shorter guy, maybe 5'6", but I still remember the day he was showing my Dad the different bricks and stones which could be used for the stairs. Americo's hands looked like big meat hooks, his forearms were massive … [Read more...]
Anvil Training
All you need is a barbell, a pull up bar and the desire to eat big and lift big. But, if you're like me, you may have quite the infatuation with the "Golden Era" of bodybuilding and the olden days of strength training. This is why I am always on the hunt for training tools that have history behind them. My latest toy is a 125 lb Anvil, which was a popular strongman implement used for gripping. George Jowett actually grasped a 168 lb Anvil by the horn, and then cleaned & pressed … [Read more...]
I Thought You Needed This..
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 … [Read more...]
Breakfast before the Storm
My Breakfast before the Storm: 4 whole eggs 4 egg shites 2 bananas 2 clementines 1 cup of coffee I tend to alternate coffee and green tea through several week cycles. This is what my body is telling me and I go with it. I stray away from dairy products as much as possible except the eggs. I used to do the ol' bodybuilder breakfast of 8 egg whites and one yolk, but after 7 or 8 years of the same thing, I decided to add more yolks to my breakfast and I feel stronger. And this did … [Read more...]