Lifting odd objects has been around for ages. I have books from the mid 1800's that show men lifting sandbags, stones, bars with cemented stones on the ends, ice blocks with handles and other muscle and strength building movements that would shock onlookers of today. The great thing is, this style of training requires no gym membership, and trust me, I have heard some of the music being played in these gyms! I bought a protein shake from a gym and heard a song "pumping"....''Don't be cruel, to … [Read more...]
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No more squats?
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 … [Read more...]
Save BIG on Mother’s Day
As a husband, a father, and of course, first and foremost, a son to my mother, Mother's Day has take on new meaning to me. It's a BIG deal. If you've been reading my Blog, you know how proud I am to be a father, and how seriously I take it. Without my mother, without my wife....things would be quite different around here. As challenging as it is to balance all of these amazing things in my life I am very, very blessed. And, I need to make sure I kick some serious ass for my wife this Mother's … [Read more...]
Endless Lessons Learned from The Underground aka “Old School” Bodybuilding & Strength Training Methods
In the 50s and 60s, strength sports were a small "Underground" cult. Even in the 70s. Until Arnold hit the big screen, bodybuilding and literally building your body was viewed as something only a narcissist would do. Today, of course, being strong, fit and healthy is viewed as "normal". I have been getting back to my roots lately, even with my time crunched workouts, I'm hitting the underground bodybuilding methods and it's paying off big time. When I use the term "Underground", those early … [Read more...]
stories of eatin’ clean and trainin’ mean
I think it's much easier than people make it when it comes to getting stronger, adding muscle and getting faster....and I mean getting these results FAST! Make no mistake regarding "easy" and "simple". Easy is walking in the park...simple is hitting one arm rows with 150's for 10 reps per hand without wrist straps. Even simpler is a set of squats for 15 - 20 reps....but damn are the results amazing! We have our athletes on a system of training that just keeps on dishing out results, and … [Read more...]
Why I’m The Anti Purist When It Comes To Training Methods & What REALLY Matters?
I'm an anti purist when it comes to strength and performance training. I don't use only one training tool or only one training method. Why? Simple: I am a purist when it comes to training for Results. Results are THE only thing that matters..... … [Read more...]
The Guru Who Never Was
This oughtta piss some people off :) I am a student first, teacher second. My primary goal is to learn more and more so I can pass on the knowledge to those who want to learn. Still, I receive some funny e mails from people who claim to be "experts" because they were using stones, or sandbags and kettlebells before anyone else was. I must laugh at this egotistical behavior, but it's also why we have a rule at The Underground web site: No Assholes, No Egos. Some people feel the odd need to … [Read more...]
I Beg for Fancy
Above, 1 arm high pulls with a 150 lb Globe dumbbell. Strength training seems to teeter totter between ultra basic to ultra fancy and then back to ultra basic. Fancy never worked too good, yet people cry and moan when they see the basics are encouraged. They then claim they were the originators of these basics whether it's with a barbell, a sandbag a stone or a variation of certain bodyweight exercises. I have books from the 1800's with all of this information. It is powerful, powerful … [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...]
How The Viking, Jon Pall Sigmarsson Inspires The Underground Strength Gym
I have recently watched the documentary on The Viking, Jon Pall Sigmarsson. It's an amazing tribute to one of the most dominant World's Strongest Man Champions. What a pure beast this man was. He unfortunately passed at the young age of 32. To see Jon Pall's evolution of training and various forms of strength competition was incredibly inspiring, and you can bet that tomorrow, at My Gym, The Underground Strength Gym, I will be attacking some serious strongman work using Stones, Sandbags … [Read more...]