I am excited to crank this blog post, as ALWAYS! The photos of old school greats and Golden Era bodybuilding always fires me up.
Energy is sky high lately, I've been fasting often and experimenting with my nutrition and it's feeling GREAT. On a mission to get to 205, lean and mean.... agile, mobile and hostile! I haven't had a scale of my own since about 10 years ago so I'm gonna start tracking everything & dialing in the nutrition to keep my discipline and goals on track.
LOTS of my training lately has been split into training at The Underground Strength Gym in Edison NJ along with my Underground Home Gym in my cold garage. I set up my entire garage with basic equipment. A trap bar, a sled, a barbell, a few Kettlebells and bands. Although small and in a tight space, it's a tough training compound, aka The Underground Home Gym (Full Video Soon)!
Training in the cold has a unique effect on the body AND mind. It REALLY pushes you into a different zone and I am exploring it a LOT lately, not just for the physical effects, but because I NEED to keep challenging my mind, pushing my mental toughness up a notch. I'm tough on myself, never truly satisfied with my mental toughness. In fact, I never feel I am "tough". There is always greater levels to be achieved.
I've also been mountain biking on the cold NJ weekends lately and last Sunday was a legit ride. The temps read 17 degrees with a wind chill of 2 degrees. I had no one to ride with and that NEVER bothers me. Doing things on my own is what I have been trained to do since I began wrestling in 1989.
The cold weather was a test. My fingers were cold as hell, riding alone through the woods I got lost, as I always do when I ride solo but it's been a while since riding solo. Getting lost in the summer time when the weather is warm and cozy is not a problem and getting lost when the weather is upper 90s doesn't bother me either.
When those fingers are freezing numb and your entire body is cold, you begin to LEARN to Do the work on Your OWN:
- Where was the sun when I rode into the woods? To my left or right?
- Listen carefully.... do you hear cars off the road or do you hear dead silence?
- Look at the trails... are there leaves covering the trail signifying little or no action or do you see frozen tire tracks?
- Check your surroundings.... these rocks look familiar, so does that downed tree.... do I go right or left now?
The mind becomes MUCH more alert and the body has NO choice but to push onward and upward.
I have NO problems training alone, working alone, running a business alone, motivating myself from within..... It sounds crazy and often times offends people but this is me, it's been me since I started high school and was introduced to wrestling and I think YOU should get used to the same.
YOU should be able to motivate yourself and NOT rely on others for ANYTHING, learn to NOT give a shit what others think of you and learn to stop waiting for permission, help, support, etc from any outside resource, be it a person or thing. Do it on your OWN.
Does this mean I never train with others? NO. Here and again I try to get in a workout with friends if my schedule allows.
Here is some footage from a recent workout, including my typical warm up using Indian Clubs, a popular training tool for combat athletes as well as from the days of physical culture. You'll also see me using complex training, where you perform 2 - 4 movements explosively using the same motion, i.e. ALL lower body, ALL upper body push, ALL upper body pull, etc....
This training develops mental toughness, strength & power endurance as well as being a GREAT way to add functional muscle mass. There is a BIG difference in hypertrophy from bodybuilding and the hypertrophy that comes from weightlifting, powerlifting.....
If I have some quiet time at The Underground Strength Gym I will train WITH a small group.
Last night, one of my wrestlers showed up late, unannounced, after a LONG weekend of wrestling in Va and cutting 15 lbs (NOT my choice, his Coach's enforce this) he showed up and crushed a workout... on his OWN.
Other wrestlers made excuses for being too sore, too tired, too busy, "I forgot" or the good ol' No show AND No call from the truly non-dedicated.... NOT this kid, he is a RARE Breed and he INSPIRES ME!
He put together his OWN workout without me even telling him what to do, training 3 x as much as ANY other wrestler who walked through the doors yesterday. I didn't even tell him what to do, he just fucking grabbed life by the balls and did it.
I trained along side him, he did HIS workout and I did Mine. I cranked heavy squats on the giant cambered bar, lateral bench jumps, high rep kettlebell swings and cleans.
The special iPod was cranking with new tunes (old in age), some special tunes to inspire, check the newly added tunes below.....
Once again.... training happens best when you do what allows you to "lose yourself and find yourself".....
Stay tuned for another kick a-- blog post, I've got LOTS to share with you and you do NOT wanna miss it!
Drop a comment with your thoughts.
Live The Code 365
--Z--
Train Online with Zach
15 Responses
good luck with your goals. i did a blog post about weight loss that you may be interested in. http://escapetheherdblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/it-shouldnt-be-about-weight.html
Couple things. A few months ago I watched a show that had a Marine sniper being tested. The Devil Dogs out there now they are beasts. In the show a sniper pulls the trigger between heart beats. After a couple shots normal they put him in a tank with temperatures up to 130 degrees for one hour. He was able to control his temperature and shoot between heart beats. Then they dumped bags of ice on him, and he sat in the ice for one hour. Shot between heart beats again. Then they put bugs (spiders and scorpions) on him. He was covered then he shot between heart beats again hitting the target every time. When asked if that was difficult he said it wasn’t bad except he was being bit and stung the whole time. He was asked how he could hit the target with all that going on. “You block it out and focus on your goal.”
I train outside twice per week here in the land of cheese and beer (WI). Love the cold! The best is when the snow is coming down, you can see the steam coming off your body, neighbors are looking at you through their blinds and you start cranking PRs. With a little metal music blaring in your ears!
Keep up the good work!
@Dustin W.: holy shit that is a SIC story!!!! Reading that reminds me I ain’t shit!
Zach- love how your athletes take the initiative
Keep inspiring during these cold jerzee months!
Looking forward to home gym vid
@Ty Nagel: bro, home gym vid going down manana! U da man for showing the luv!
I hear ya about the cold making ya tough. I do more hiking in the winter than summer for that reason. I also keep my baement gym around 45 degrees. The last thing I want is to workout in complete comfort because that wouldn’t be a real workout.
@Matt: most workouts are UNcomfortable anyway, ha ha
Coach Z,
Awesome blog; as usual – right on time and on point with a message I needed to read. Three years ago I remember Steve Cotter telling me almost the exact same message; rely on no one but yourself to accomplish YOUR objectives – period. There is something of merit and inspiration when others see you go for what you want out of life, when others see you bleed life for every moment and for all its worth.
Since before the new year dawned an initiative called the “Snow Patrol” was started here at the Empire. Every Saturday a community class is held for anyone brave enough to attend. It’s Outdoors. No bullsh*t, no excuses, no matter what the weather – we train. This past weekend we did log PT in the snow, -14C temperatures along a 2.5 – 3km trail. There were three of us and it was EPIC!
To echo what your saying in the article Coach Z, there is much good that comes from pushing yourself both physically and mentally beyond what you think yourself capable; beyond what others could ever even dream to expect of you.
Training in inclimate weather is an amazing way to accomplish both these feats as I have come to appreciate thanks to you Coach. These Snow Patrol workouts are directly influenced by your stories of the playground – the bond that is being forged through enduring these workouts as a community is something I am positive will go a long way to solidifying the “Ludus Hypogeum”.
@Christopher Reed: hells yea, homie, very few r brave enough to do the REAL shit, that is fine, the view at the top is better, the air is cleaner, it is less crowded and that’s just how I like it 🙂
Respect!
Great blog post. Have you ever heard of a supplement company called gi nutrition? And if you have, is it good?
@Ryan: yes, they are awesome, I have used their stuff before….. I don’t supplement too often but when I do they are one of the companies I use, mainly the whey protein…. I have used the PUMP as well which was pretty BadAss but as you can tell from this blog post, my ego gets in the way and I stray from “help” of any sort
That is NOT a good thing, it’s impt. to dial in nutrition
I recently started Athletic Greens and I use a whey protein daily for post WO
GI is legit, and, tastes great…. a rare combination nowadays, quality and great taste
Solo Workouts are truly the way to go.
Do not get me wrong, I enjoy competing with my fellow brothers in iron from time to time, we always push it to the limit–but its never focused on our ‘goals’. We all agree—we get together mainly for the purpose to “push ourselves” past our usual volume or intensity workouts. It gives us a chance to test other shit out and raise hell.
Solo workouts allow you to train your mind without relying on others, it sets a mental perspective on life—it allows you to keep kicking it into gear and going full speed ahead. When you’re working out solo—you do what YOU want without hearing any form of bullshit ranging from criticism to “oh hey did you hear about what happened to the stock market?” You focus on your goals and improve yourself in all areas on a daily basis without relying on one damn person.
Be your own man, do the things you want to do—and kick ass in life. Let nothing stand in your way.
Z is doing it.
I am doing it.
The dudes who posted on this blog do it.
The Undergrounders do it. Live the Code.
@Dustin M.: YOU are THE man!
Live THAT Code!
I LOVE training with peeps, In fact, I miss the days of when I spent year after year burning through training partners….
But doing that shyt on your own, with no1 to motivate you and push you, forces U 2 dig deep!
Underground 4 Life!
zach you are one of my inspirations i utilized some of your information.I just turned 46 so my thinking has to change first before my body.Thats first and foremost.My workout consists of one arm dumbell push press,two hand curl press both exercises i got from you and sqats.I also walk 6 miles every other day.now if you really want to boost your energy dont eat after 6pm.The body goes into a healing and cleansing mode.So thats what works for me.And i hope others will benefit from it also.thank you ill follow you and keep in touch.
just a week ago I saw south Korean soldiers training in the snow without shirt! this is 100% mental workout!