I'm not even sure I can write anything that will speak louder than this training video of Craig Monson, below. When I see these videos, I sometimes think I was born in the wrong era. The Golden Era of Bodybuilding was beyond different, you can literally FEEL the energy exploding out of these videos. Powerlifting in the 70s & 80s? The purity of hardcore gyms that were legitimately "hardcore" - there's not too many of those gyms around anymore. The word is, You can't survive being … [Read more...]
Zach’s 40th Birthday Sale!
Pic above is with my Grandfather & I, 1976, when we first moved to America. Statue of Liberty in the back. I was 1 year old. _______________ The day has come way TOO fast. Today I am 40 years young but it seems like yesterday I was 6 years old riding my big wheel with my buddies and smashing into garbage cans. Some of my athletes who are in college will quickly go from 20 to 40 and I'll be 60. This journey called Life goes FAST. I ain't got time to be weak or half ass this journey and … [Read more...]
QnA: Building Muscle, Weightlifting Belts, Burning Fat & Police Academy Training
In this Video QnA I answer a loaded question on the following topics: - Training around a manual labor job - Weightlifting Belts (Also addressed HERE) - Back Injuries (Also addressed HERE) - Eating to Get Lean & Build Muscle As a Vegetarian - Building Muscle Through My Training Programs (Gladiator Project & Underground Strength System) - Training for Police Academy Check out this loaded QnA Below.... … [Read more...]
STRONG Life Ep. 51: Viking Manhood Lessons & My Thoughts
In a previous blog post someone mentioned that I MUST read the article by Chad Howse on 'Viking Manhood Lessons'. When I followed the link and read through the article I was fired up. I loved it. It inspired me to lift heavy shit and crush my workout that day. I was inspired to eat more meat and veggies. I was inspired! That's what I do. I find inspiration through things. I find the good in things, the lessons and ways to improve from what comes across my eyes. Then.... I came across the … [Read more...]
The TRUTH About Getting Jacked & Why The Iron NEVER Lies
Over 10 years later, I am still shocked with how strong I got and how much muscle I packed on when I trained in my parents garage. I bought a 300 lb weight set from CostCo, had a pair of 50 and 100 lb dumbbells, a flat utility bench and flimsy, cheap squat rack, aka a gun rack. Let me further explain.... ALL Truth.... … [Read more...]
The MOST Important Thing To Do In The Gym
The three of us were driving up The Garden State Parkway heading Northbound. It was a cold, dreary winter day in NJ. It was early 1995 and winter was in full swing. I was driving, as always, since my training partners had no money OR no car, typical of aspiring pro bodybuilders, yes? My 2 training partners sat quietly in my Mazda 626. I had a special sound system installed specifically to get me amped up for the gym. In fact, everything in my life revolved around the gym. How … [Read more...]
How To Build An AWESOME Home Gym / Garage Gym
There is something PURE about training in your very own home gym - be it the garage, basement, backyard or spare bedroom.... Heck. I've heard of some home gym set ups in people's kitchen's! No matter where, there is magic that happens in a kick ass home gym. I recall reading from Dr. Ken, that even though he owned a large gym (I believe it was Iron Island Gym?) he still did his own workouts in a custom made home gym, where he also trained NFL players and other BEASTS. I've got video footage and … [Read more...]
Lessons Learned From The STRONGEST Guy From The Old School YMCA (Circa 1990)
I still remember that guy, even though I met him when I was only 14 years old, a freshman in high school with dreams of being bigger and stronger than everyone else. Back then, the YMCA was ending the era of "old school". Believe it or not, The Metuchen Y was very much like the Y that Golden Era greats trained out of like Dave Draper did when he was a Jersey boy. The plates were all YORK barbell, the squat rack was the rarely seen today York Isometric Rack. No machines except the cable … [Read more...]
Return of The Golden Era Bodybuilding Workout
Golden Era bodybuilding is a far cry from many of the bodybuilding methods of today. A focus on free weights, heavy lifting, hard work on the basics and no fads. No fad diets or fad workouts. The bodybuilders from the 70s and prior never questioned if the basics of squats, deadlifts, rows and the like were good enough or not. Today, everyone wants the short cut, the new fad and the easy way. F**k that. Easy workouts produce weak minds and weak bodies. … [Read more...]
Gladiator Garage Gym Workouts
It was The Fall of 2002, and I had drawn the line...... I was up to my neck in work as a grad student plus working full time as a teacher. I was also coaching Wrestling and the season was a few short weeks away. My time was pressed to say the least. Sunday mornings I would wake up and work on research papers from 10 AM until 10 PM. It was the first time in 7 or 8 years that I was unable to make the trek to my favorite hardcore gym, Diamond Gym. I was too busy to drive 30 minutes each way, … [Read more...]