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Once in a blue moon you come across an athlete or a gym rat who, as some of us may have said in the 80s and 90s, is "Built like a Brick Sh-t House".
In my countless years of getting under the bar (Training Since 1989), traveling the world and being in countless gyms I have seen my fair share of lifters who are TRULY built like BEASTS.
You know the look I'm talking about if you've seen the lifters who have spent 10+ years consistently lifting heavy.
It's that Powerful look; Every inch of their body is thick, densely built muscles that you KNOW represent the look of Strength, Power and Performance. None of that pretty boy stuff where the muscles are built from light pump up weights and endless drugs......
These are men who have pushed the limits in the gym.
There aren't too many guys like this in commercial gyms nowadays because they have all defected to training in basements, garages, warehouses and hidden dungeons that only the sub culture of dedicated lifters know of.
Much of today's "problems" regarding the growing population of weak and overly sensitive people would be solved if gyms stopped sounding off sirens anytime someone lifted heavy or used chalk.
Hard work should NEVER be punished. Hard work should be praised. Hard work is beautiful and it is a gift, NOT a punishment.
Hard Training has now been outlawed by pansy ass gyms such as Planet Fitness or by parents of athletes who complain when their kid had to work hard during Football practice. Hard work breeds confidence, success and toughness not just in the gym but in life. ALL men and women can benefit from these traits.
I've had athletes quit The Underground Strength Gym because we pushed them hard in training. I've heard similar stories from other Coaches as well. These athletes complained to Mommy and said we were being mean. If I didn't care about their success, that would be considered mean. BUT, because I care about your success, I WILL push you hard in training.
I am still confused why a large population don't understand that it is GOOD to train hard and heavy and perform exercises with dumbbells heavier than 50 lbs. There is NOTHING wrong with being STRONG.
What if a gym was created where there was nothing LIGHTER than 50 lbs and sirens went off and your membership was revoked every time some half assed lifter checked his cell phone or wasn't training with gut busting intensity?
Now THAT would be a GREAT GYM!
If you want that thick, power look then you need to push the limits and get Strong AF using the following lifts with barbells or dumbbells:
- Squats of all variations: back squat, box squat, front squat, zercher squat
- Power Clean, Hang Clean & High Pulls
- Clean & Press or Push Press / Overhead Pressing
- Barbell / Dumbbell / T Bar Rows
- Bench Press, Floor Press, Incline Press
- Farmer Walks
- Deadlift Variations: Romanian Deadlifts, Trap Bar Deads, Rack Pulls and traditional Deadlifting
This type of training is more of a mindset than anything else.
I often tell athletes.....
You will get STRONG when You're Pissed off at Yourself for being WEAK!
I was doing this style of Gladiator Training when I was busy with full time teaching, coaching wrestling and graduate school (driving 1 hour each way to grad school). I set up a gym in my parents garage and had a barbell, a utility bench and cheap ol' flimsy squat stand.
I purchased my equipment from a newspaper classified ad and traveled to a storage facility in Newark, NJ. I stashed cash in my underwear and sock in case something bad happened! I went on a 3 day split and on some weekends I would travel to a commercial gym just so I could train in a building with heat. My garage was freezing cold, literally.
I got strong as hell from those Gladiator Garage Workouts and packed on muscle that helped me break plateaus that I was fighting to achieve for a solid year! You need the Mindset of a Gladiator if you want to make progress. I've seen too many people train with the same effort they put into watering the lawn, not a care in the world for any intensity.
Gladiators do NOT want to spoiled and we thrive in imperfect training conditions. We want the shitty conditions and the dungeon style gyms!
I want to share with you a Video that is inspiring and speaks the truth about mindset being the key to strength and size.
"They Were More Interested In Becoming Bad Asses..... What Can I Do To Challenge Myself..... They Just Wanted To Be STRONG....."
You should also make some of your own training tools such as heavy handles for swings which can be loaded up with a bunch of 25 lb plates. Swinging heavy weights is excellent for developing your hips, hamstrings, glutes, low back and upper back.
Let us not forget your ability to dominate bodyweight movements such as chins, dips and rope climbs. Don't gain fat and excess body weight if you can't pull yourself up for double digit reps or perform dips and push up variations for high reps.
Can you run? Fast?
Sprints of all types are excellent for leg power and even adding muscle to the legs. I suggest Hill Sprints and stadium stairs.
On weekends or after hours, go to an empty parking lot and push your car or truck around with the engine off and geared in neutral. This Strongman style of training builds strength and a physique that lets people know, I AM STRONG!
You need to discipline yourself to do the work. The type of work that challenges you.
Today, there is too much training on machines and cables, often times sitting down or laying down on these machines. The majority of your training should come through free weights and calisthenics.
Maybe 25 - 35% of your training can be machines, the rest should be the training that challenges you and builds you.
Every week or every other week you need a challenge workout that pushes you beyond the norms. These workouts are best done with a group of guys who are all striving to push themselves beyond the norms.
The video below is an excerpt of training at IRON ISLAND GYM, which was owned back then by Dr. Ken Leistner. They first started their "4th of July Massacre" workout inside the gym, the video below shows part 2 of their brutal training day.
It's amazing to see the intensity they all pushed themselves at.
Unless you are fortunate enough to have a group of training partners or belong to a TOUGH gym, you will need to find a way to continue developing your mental edge. Comfort is the enemy. Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable.
StrongMan Training is a GREAT method for pushing the boundaries of strength. In today's era, you can organize a group of guys by leveraging the internet and finding lifters to get together 1x a week or every other week. Training partners will make you better!
When in doubt, I encourage the 5 x 5 method of strength training.
It is the perfect blend of strength and size, as my friend and mentor, Marty Gallagher has often times said.
After 5 x 5 training with a barbell or strongman lift, you can finish with dumbbells, kettlebells and / or calisthenics for the higher rep ranges for hypertrophy. Couple the proper training with powerful nutrition and you have a formula for success.
Sample 5 x 5 Training Session for Legs:
- Squats 5 x 5 (Adding weight each set)
- Walking DB or Barbell Lunges 2 x 20 (10 reps each leg)
- RDL x 10, 8, 5 reps (Add Weight each Set)
- Back Extension 3 x 15 (Add Weight if 15 reps is easy)
Sample 5 x 5 Training Session for Upper Body:
1. Pause Bench Press (Grip Shoulder Width Apart - 2 Count Pause on Chest)
2A. Incline DB Bench 3 x 12
2B. Weighted Pull Ups 3 x 5
3A. DB Pull Over 2 x 12
3B. DB Shrugs 2 x 12
4A. Dips 2 x 15
4B. BB Cheat Curl 2 x 8 (Lower Slowly)
5. Various Grip Strength Exercises
Below is a screenshot of nutrition from a 1985 bodybuilding book written by Franco Columbu:
The above nutrition is simple and to the point. Dinner can be fish or any meat (chicken, steak, etc). For the hardgainer / skinny man or athlete, drink chocolate milk a few times throughout your day and add a protein shake.
If you've read the book SUPER SQUATS, "The Get BIG Drink" is one heck of a challenge. I suggest something simpler that you can drink in one sitting which I describe below...
Underground Strength "GET BIG Shake" Recipe:
12 oz While Milk
1 TBSP Raw Honey
1 TBSP Natural Peanut Butter
1 Banana
1 Shot Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Dried Oats (Soaked Night Before if Possible)
2 Scoops Protein Powder
I simply find that when someone is struggling to gain size, they are lagging in nutrition (especially high school kids) and they are lagging in consistency AND intensity.
Now it is up to you to do the work. Do the work in the weight room, do the work in the kitchen and do the work in your overall lifestyle.
Find a Way while others find excuses.
See you in the Squat Rack!
Live The Code 365
--Z--
7 DAYS FREE INTRO TO GLADIATOR STRONG
The Training Book That Transforms You Physically & Mentally .....
DETAILS HERE - THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNDERGROUND STRENGTH
47 Responses
Great post Zach!
I’ve recently been doing quite a bit of reading up on strongman workouts as I’ve always had an interest in the events and training since I believe it builds solid strength, size and power…truly functional training…
Anyway, today I decided to make my workout a strongman-type event. And, being that I dont’ have any equipment yet, I had to go to my “pussified” gym but I was determined to do this workout or get kicked out and lose my membership trying.
So, I did 4 “events”:
-Barbell Power Clean & Presses for max reps in 75 seconds
–this one had me gasping for air and my heart rate going crazy
-Farmers Walk (w/DB’s) for 100 feet in fastest time
–fried my forearms, glutes, hamstrings, quads, abs and calves…whew! so intense!
-Seated Rows (done with a rope to mimic pulling a semi-truck) max reps in 30 seconds for each side
–since I can’t pull a truck inside the gym this worked as a good substitute
-Straight Leg Deadlifts for max reps
–grip was fried at this point and legs like jello…used it to mimic sled dragging
All I can say is that I did complete it with some odd looks from some of the other members but man I’m whooped!
I feel every muscle in my body quivering and I can’t remember ever feeling this kind of effect from a workout.
I’m definitely hooked on strongman training.
Thanks to posts by you and Elliot Hulse I’m fired up to keep on killin it!
Thanks Zach,
Kevin Yates
Amen Zach!
I teach a lifting class each wed. and one of the rules I have is that no one is allowed to lift a weight lighter than 10 pounds. With this weight all of our lifts are pretty easy for just about anyone to start off with.
The other day I had someone who insisted on having 8s and 5s for “options”.
Any wonder why this person also can’t seem to make any progress and is constantly complaining about being in a plateau?
I’m the type that trains in my own garage, but i go to the local Fitness First gym once a week cos my school pays for us to go there for PE sessions (i’m 18) :D. There are 2 guys that are there during this session that are buit like absolute tanks, they get so many looks! I’m talking arms the size of my head here, and they don’t look bloateed or anythin, just absolutely thick with muscle, massive backs and traps. All i see them doing are deadlifts and Military presses, with immense weight. Motivates me to train old school to no end. These are the only 2 big guys out of the hundreds of members i have seen there. Shame really.
My last time in a gym was when I walked in and started setting up the bench to do some training. After five minutes of bringing over plates and pulling the boards out of my gym bag. (Not allowed to use chalk, but I could bring boards?! Ya I know!)
A gray hair B!?tch puts down his coffee and paper strolls over and rambles, “I wasn’t done with the bench.” “You are now!” “I am a donor and I can have you removed.” “You can kiss my ass, and I will pull my pants down for you!”
To bad for him I knew people upper administration. It didn’t matter I was done with gyms and will never look back.
No tire, No chains, No chalk, No screaming, No slamming plates, No Metal Music, No Stones! NO Thank You!!
Hardcore never goes away! We just wait for our time!
Well Zach, you know the world is screwed up what used to be right is now wrong. What was wrong is now so-called right, that’s what being politically correct has done to us. Pretty soon the weights will be made of pink foam and the saying will be Train Light Or Go Home. We need to continue to train hard because that’s the only way to build strong, real muscles that actually work.
Funny you brought up that pussy gym!! My buddy was going to join that p.o.s. gym until I got to him and put him on a steady diet of pull ups, tire flips, prowler, and heavy presses!! Alarms were goin off in his head alright, but at least it wasn’t frm planet fitness!! The basics are all you need to get strong!!! Thank you for leading this movement! I’ma do MY best to (as you say) “lead from the front!!”
Zach, when I go the gym (Bally’s) I see a lot of machines
being used and the beach body workouts going on(curls and bench everyday). The squat rack and deadlift area is almost always vacant. Most of my workouts are in my garage using alot of your advice. Keep it real…..
Gosh I wish I would’ve know this stuff when I first started lifting. I have a flag lot now, and I use it for car pushes, farmers walks, sprints, and tire flips. It’s funny, I train more intenesely than I ever have before but I’m having more fun too. Anyone that says they don’t have equipment are really shortchaing themselves. Cuz undergrounders know that’s the beauty of it. I have odd looking objects all over my house. I have a large, heavy paint can instead of a kettlebell. I have my car. I have a tire. I have a sledgehammer. A homemade sandbag. And a barbell that I load up. I don’t even have a bench. I do all lifts standing. And after years of frustration with bodybuilding routines, I’ve noticed muscles stretching through my shirts. And I’ve got the strength to back it up. Thanks Zach. Sorry for the long post. Your website and emails just get me so fired up!
Carey, in regards to your paint can kettlebell, I made a T handle plate loaded kettlebell from 1″ pipe from Home Depot and it cost less than $15 to make. I used a floor flange and a piece of 10″ or 12″ pipe (I’d have to measure ) to load the plates on, then just screw a T on top of that with 2 small pieces for handles. I think that I used 3″ pieces for the handles but they are a tad too long and catch on my sweatpants, so check your hand width. I can basically only do 2 arm swings with it but it was worth every penny.
“What if a gym was created where there was nothing LIGHTER than 50 lbs and sirens went off and your membership was revoked every time some half assed lifter checked his cell phone or wasn’t training with gut busting intensity?”
pls, sign me up..
{ya forgot 2mention sirens goin off 4grown men grinding to Michael Jackson tunes}
z,
that is great stuff !! i always look forward to a “pick me up ” email from you. at the end of the day there is 10 things that you didn’t do and 10 new things to do in the morning, you can get a little down , but your emails give me that shot of energy !!
thanks z !!
That is my goal here to get my training to the point I can open a public strongman gym. A place to get fukin jacked!! Strong man implaments, barbells, heavy db’s and kb’s, ropes and sleds
Ryan
Great post! I still go to the gym with my buddies since it’s a bit cold now for us to be training outdoors like we would the rest of the year. We’ve gotten in the habit of bringing our own gear (bands, ropes, rings, vests, etc) to keep the workouts challenging. People either think we’re nuts or that we’re hardcore athletes, when we’re really just a bunch of guys have a blast getting strong and fit. If I didn’t have my buddies to keep motivated with real effort in the workouts, I’d get depressed being surrounded by people lifting dinky weights and walking on the treadmills.
Great post Zach. Every time I read your blog it gets me pumped. I love training heavy and intense. I don’t understand why people fear strength. People should see the strong as motivation not intimidation. It gives people something to work towards. I love when there are people lifting heavy and intense. I look at them and say I want to be stronger, faster, more explosive, than that guy. Nowadays people are soft. They are afraid of competition, they are weak, both mentally and physically. I wish they would close down those wussy gyms. They do not even deserved to be called gyms.
Keep up the great work.
Kevin, good work bro!
Try dedicating 5 minutes to each exercise
Hit 2 – 5 reps every minute, rest the remainder of the minute
the DB farmer walks are awesome and will DEFINITELY get U kicked out of ur pansy ass gym soon 🙂
Proud of you, ha ha!
–z–
Andy, I hope you learn your lesson from them
start deadlifting and military pressing bruddah!
Gary – hells yea, you did your friend a great service 🙂
you’re an angel, ha ha
Carey – you can get freaking huge and strong as hell w/what you have, NO bench needed. Those workouts rule!
Sol – Michael Jackson is the KING, come on bruddah, ha ha!
Michael, it is MY pleasure!!!!
Ryan, that would be cool
tons of power racks, free weights, and a back area for sled / prowler work, strongman training, etc.
Better have GREAT LAWYERS, ha ha
Gonna have to teach the public how REAL lifting goes!
Zach I always look forward to your posts. I laughed out loud about the thought of a bell going off if you are NOT training hard enough – man that would be meeeean!!! Bring it on I say. I get tired of the pussy’s in my gym taking up space chatting about crap or texting, when clients and I want to get in there and haul ass…
Very motivating words you use, keep it up
Thanks for the fire in my belly to train even harder today!
Kat
Well guys, let me tell you that the gyms you are describing AT LEAST HAVE FREE WEIGHTS!!
Yep, I was walking around in Barcelona and I saw this huge gym, and decided to get in and get some information. A good looking receptionist told me that I was free to get in and check the instalations. Then a teacher appeared and said “I will show him around” and he did…stationary bikes, eliptic bikes…”Where is the weights room?” “There!”….Isolation machines, sparking chromed. “No, I mean free weights, barbells, dumbells, a pull up bar…” “Oh, there!”…..AMAZING, all there was was a racket of dumbells and the heavier was 20 kg (45 pounds).
“Ok, I´ll leave my phone number at the reception desk, please call me if you get the male model please!”
Sadly I think he didn’t even understand what I was talking about.
I get fired up by all the emails I get from you Coach… I’m planning on hitting one of your certs in the future. I’m going to the Crossfit Football cert in May, and after that your cert will be next! My wife Carey Kepler is speaking at the affilitate gathering in Miami where you are presenting as well, I had her watch a video of you, told her she needed to meet you! Keep being real.
In reply to Sol, MJ (to me) maybe the King of Pop (R.I.P.), but Zach is one of the many modern-day Kings of Strongman Training!!!!
(And, no, I do NOT listen to MJ tunes while working out! I’m eclectic in my musical tastes…always the hard-hitting S^&* when I work out!)
I didn’t see a woman’s P.O.V. as far as working out at home, so I’d thought I’d pitch in.
When I had a membership at the Y (before my budget had to be altered due to the car breaking down), I didn’t really experience the whole “No-grunting-because-there-are-donors-here” thing. But I did have to shake my head and sigh at the people who would be holding conversations during their workout sets. And those damned machines!!! Ugh! I was probably the only female member NOT using those things.
I purchased a pair of Powerblock dumbbells shortly before my car broke down, and after it broke down and work hours were reduced prior to be posted at my current site, I decided that enough was enough. Here it was, my Dad had converted the garage into a small gym. I had only gotten the Y membership because I was learning how to swim. I didn’t need it anymore because I knew there was a community pool up the street that charged only 18 a month compared to…well, never mind.
I’m actually a lot better off since I left. I don’t have to look disgusted at the women that yak away while on the machines, not giving the exercise their full attention…and sharing recipes for dip. Oh, the excitement.
I’m able to push myself a lot better and growl out loud all I want to. Only thing is having wait about 5 hours before the solar heater has heated up the entire garage before heading out there to train. (Shameless plug/reference to our beloved Zach)
Home gyms are better, period. Even my dad agrees, even though he hasn’t been working out due to a very low energy level and a old back injury. (He’s from the old-school days of training, where you could grunt out the last 5 reps of a bench press and the only response you got from the other patrons and the managers was “Keep it up! Push it! Push it! You’re almost there!”
Gentlemen (and ladies), go hard or go home and get fat and lazy on the couch….
I with you dude. I’m tired of seeing skinny, pussy ass dudes everywhere that are not only weak in body, but also weak in mind and in spirit. Somewhere along the line, it became “not ok” for a man to be tough…to be rugged…to be strong.
Bullshit.
I’m a tough dude. Strong. Intelligent. Hard worker. Dedicated. I don’t roll over…for anybody.
And if you don’t like it…well…then get the f@ck outta my way before I steamroll your ass on the way to accomplishing shit you wish you could do.
Can everybody do it? Hell yeah. But whether or not you have the balls to do it is something else…
Good post brotha.
Wiggy
http://www.workingclassfitness.com
http://www.workingclasscardioworkout.com
I said “screw it,” bailed on 24 hour fitness, and have started training at Skiba’s place in Carteret, NJ. It’s worth the half-hour down the turnpike each way just to train with like minded people, never mind the fact that Skibs has every strength tool known to man and then some.
There’s just something inherently wrong about training with Taylor Swift blaring on the gym stereo, rubberized plates with handles, and watching the fat personal trainer hard at work “training” some fat middle aged woman with the infamous pink dumbbells. Oh and forget about training with the denizens of 24 hour fitness or God forbid finding a training partner. Brah, broski, and broseph are all about shrugs, curls and cable cross overs supersetted with exciting tales about last night at “da club.” New Jersey’s commercial gyms give me the creeps.
Leia – the men posting on the Blog have all probably just fallen in love with you,
As they say, “A Hard Woman is Good to Find!”
Thnx for being here, psyched to see more of your comments!
–z–
Kris thnx bruddah man, psyched to meet you, will you be in Miami?
Kat, thank YOU, love seeing the ladies on board here! Kick ass!!!!
Steve, yo bro, tell the Skib’s I said wus up! That gym is serious shit!
–z–
Zach, I’ve been following your blog for about 2 years now, but I just decided to drop my first comment. I’m training the way you describe it in this post, and I gotta say: The situation in German gyms is the same pussy ass way you mention. I go to a regular gym, but I work as hardcore as I can. I’m about the only one doing deadlifts; I won’t even mention squats here… It’s really embarassing sometimes being around those people…
Well, I love your blog, keep killin it!!
Greetings from Germany
the pussification of the human race have to end.
I was training at my local gym for 6 weeks and the heaviest dumbbell was just 50lbs, when i was performing dead lifts, military press, heavy squat, training the heavy with the BB the man of the gym say Hey don`t do that you might get hurt.
I said f..k it
now I’m training in my back yard, using sandbags, body weight, sprint, trowing rocks, underground training
preparing to start competing in power lifting
thanks Zach for all the information and motivation
leading from the front
Zach,
I’ll know by Monday if I’m coming with my wife or not… trying to arrange for the Grandparents to watch our 2 kiddos for us..if not just the wife.
GREAT Post! I can’t tell you how tired I Get of people belonging to gyms that try to put a limit on what you can do, how you can do it and the goals you’re trying to set. Take a glance around the country at our obesity rates and it’s becoming clear that the way we’re doing it isn’t working…time to shift! Thanks for this!
i love deadlifting. but i also enjoy other oldschool exercises too. i do no isolation whatso ever. when i started lifting, i was 170. i had done body weight only and was strong. now i am 185 and am stronger than my dad who works in a steel shop!(weight in pounds)
We need a H/C gym that has a “YOU ARE LIFTING LIKE A VAGINA” alarm to tell people what’s up!!! Yet another reason why I train in my garage/backyard with the help of sites like you’ve got goin on here!!! THANKS ALOT FOR THE GREAT DEPUSSYFIED INFO!!!!
couldn’t have said it better…i have a friend who manages one of the planet fitness places and tried to get me to sign up…seen no power rack, just a smith machine and left…plus they were giving free pizza and i guess they do that once a month..i understand springing for pizza but do it for that team that just won state or that person who dropped 50lbs…not for the people that are having trouble even making to the gym
I agree 100% Nice article.
Great post and from the comments you can feel the intensity and passion from my fellow Undergrounders. When I began training at home I told myself I would never again go back to my old gym. The feeling of raw power as I lifted stones, sandbags, tires and everything else simply could not be matched in the gym. Due to a lifetime membership at 24hr and dues that equal $5 a month I said what the hell and kept it. As my attitude towards was constitutes quality training I found myself developing a me vs them attitude in the gym. When I am in between dumbell snatches and standing near the cable machine I tried not to laugh when they ask if I was using it. Over time I thought that the gym was an evil place. I continued training myself at home then said what the hell and started taking my style back indoors. I brought with me chains, ropes and clubbells. I take what the gym has and make it work for me, trainers ask what I am training for and I say “the uknown”.. I have shared my thoughts on training with many people there and can see there wheels begining to turn. Yes there is a pussification problem but also an obesity problem . I now take the attitude that I am greatful these people are doing something good for themselves, and when the are ready to put down the cables I’ll be there waiting for them… “Lift in the Moment”….
Unfortunate misogyny in the article and comments aside (therefore saving all of you from feminist ravings…you’re welcome), the simple idea of car pulls and pushes blew me away.
It’s easy to forget how much we have access to, at our fingertips, for exercising. And this coming from a person who already trains almost outside, even in Canadian winters. Gyms definitely aren’t the only way.
Just found your post by accident via Prismatic. Thanks for the idea, Zach. Off to get some more gains!
All I have to say is “Fuck yeah!”
Hey Big Z, These messages just keep getting me pumped! I have no regrets leaving my pussified gym over a year ago. Defineitly turning heads in my street, my neigbours now know when im working out in my garage as the weight hits the ground on my dead lifts or when im smashing the fuck out of my tyre with the sledge hammer and it echoes down the street, i love looks on peoples faces as i farmer walk big weights down the road and back, I even cone off the end of my street so we can push my truck! Looking forward to my new Underground strength nation training shirt turning up brother! Representing down here in melbourne australia!
That’s how I train.
Either from my garage / driveway or at my own gym.
Simple does NOT mean easy!
I’m so with ya Brutha! The mission?. MAN THE F#$& UP!! Eradicate the whining, sniveling, “I’m telling my mom you made me work hard” crybaby mentality from the face of the earth! Let’s bring back the “MAN” in Human!
Thanks for the great post, Zach!
I am in complete agreement with you on this.
Wusses aren’t allowed in my gym!
Exactly! That’s why I left the globo gym and train my clients like absolute beast’s. No matter what level they enter. Thanks for all you do man! You keep driving me!