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...]
REAL Man Muscle Building Ain’t No Joke!
At the end of a LONG day at The Underground Strength Gym, Canada's Pro Strongman, Paul Vaillancourt, stopped by the gym today with his entourage. With plans of stopping by for 5 PM they got lost in the Dirty Jerzee and enjoyed some scenery in what some call the ghetto, others call the projects - not a fun place to be driving through with a mini van, a fauly GPS and not a clue as to where the heck you're going! We talked biz and training for 10 minutes and I was itching to train. Before … [Read more...]
No Respect for Basic Strength Training? Lift in the Garage
I have had some interesting conversations with Jim Wendler. One in particular struck a chord with me quite heavily. In fact, it has helped mold a process I use at my gym when training new athletes. Jim and I spoke about the lack of respect for the weights nowadays, specifically by those who spend too much time on the internet and at these fancy gyms. I see how kids casually skip workouts that their parents pay for without a care in the world. I see how countless high school athletes don’t … [Read more...]