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...]
STRONG Life 109: Zach & Jim Steel Talk Iron Memories & LIVING The STRONG Life
What a blast I had in this conversation with Jim Steel who is becoming a regular on The STRONG Life Podcast. 12 Lessons from a Never Ending Podcast with Jim Steel & John Welbourn STRONG Life Ep 99 STRONG Life Ep 100 First off, Forgive a few tech hiccups in the beginning as I cut the Video and went pure audio, there is a few seconds of slow audio, but trust me, this episode is GOLD! Here's what's on tap. Jim and I discuss the following topics as well as answer some questions … [Read more...]
Why Bodybuilding Workouts Are GREAT For You
When I made the transition from my bodybuilding workouts I had a bad taste in my mouth. I was wrestling or competing / training in Grappling & BJJ and the 2 simply didn't blend. I was getting injured quite a lot and I wound up ditching a lot of bodybuilding work, mainly because I stopped training in a traditional gym environment and I was now training in my garage. No machines, no cables. Just free weights and odd objects. I began developing a different type of strength. Different than … [Read more...]
Upper Body Blast & Training Mental Toughness
This blog post and video will fire you up to crush an upper body workout and to start attacking your training the same way ya gotta attack life. I seriously see NO other way to be, whether it's life OR lifting. This style of training keeps my mind in check, pushes me mentally and physically, reminds me that I CAN kick ass and go BIG, regardless of what is happening the world. The gym is a place of sanctuary. In life, to succeed at anything, ya gotta be TOUGH. That is why I train for Strength, … [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...]
The TRUTH About Heavy Lifting & Building Muscle
I was scared to go to this one gym. I felt I had to earn my way into training there. I wanted to be at least somewhat respected when I got there. The bodybuilders from that gym were winning all the major bodybuilding shows not just on a state level but also nationally. When I finally made the trek to this gym, the proof was not just what happened on the bodybuilding stage, but in how they ALL trained. They ALL lifted heavy. I saw countless bodybuilders incline bench 315 lbs for 6 - 8 reps. … [Read more...]
35 Life & Lifting Lessons
Holy S**t! In a few short weeks I'll be 36. Time goes fast. TOO Fast. Here's some stories and lessons I've learned along the way & hopefully you're not too cool to learn from some of these. Anyway, for no reason whatsoever I thought it would be legit to have a pic of Dr. Ken training with an empty bomb to remind you to push the limits :) … [Read more...]
Lessons From Golden Era Bodyweight Bodybuilding Workouts & Marvin Eder
This post was inspired from my time spent reading the old books of bodybuilding where the greats from the 50s, 60s and 70s spoke often about all the high rep bodyweight training they did. Hundreds of sit ups and crunches every training session. 100 Pull Ups on back day / back workouts. 100 Push Ups for the warm up. These men from back in the day had physiques that were carved from stone. They had what many call today as "functional strength". Many of these men worked manual labor jobs by … [Read more...]
21 Stories in 21 Years
After lifting for 21 years and having gone through quite the gamut of training methods, training tools, near death experiences and plenty of pain and pleasure mixed in I have learned quite a lot.... A lot in regards to training AND life through these 2 decades. 1) I used to do my homework in the gym. I just wanted to be amongst the weights. If I opened one of my books in the classroom you would find FLEX magazine inside the book. I couldn't get my mind off lifting and being in the gym. 2) … [Read more...]
The Sardinian Strongman
Check out my son, Ethan and I kicking back on "Man Day" (soon to be a International Holiday :) The guys from Pumping Iron trained HARD & HEAVY! They had physiques that were granite hard and man could they move some BIG weights! It was a mix of powerlifting and bodybuilding, something I like to call Power-Bodybuilding, and I feel it is the ultimate way to develop insane strength and an awesome physique! Check out footage from one of the stars from Pumping Iron, and Arnold's training … [Read more...]