The Golden Era of Bodybuilding (the 70s) brought on the high volume approach to training. Before this, many of these men trained 3 x week with a full body workout, which is STILL a GREAT program. Men like Steve Reeves built amazing physiques that are still the highest standard for today. Many bodybuilders followed Arnold's lead of 2 workouts a day with the entire body being split across 3 workouts. Arnold changed the scene of bodybuilding not just with his physique, but his charisma. He … [Read more...]
Strength & Conditioning Thoughts: “Perfect” Training vs DOING THE WORK
Above: The Dumbbells at Diamond Gym. To get to the heaviest weights, you must do all the work to get them from the bottom! In sports, you can be a Coach or even a fan watching practice or competition and there will be stand out athletes. If you don't know that athlete, then you have NO clue how that athlete achieved his or her skill. he may have worked his ass off for it or, he might be gifted and lazy. But in the weight room, ahhhhhh, that's a different story. You can stand against the wall … [Read more...]
STRONG Life Insider Ep. 46: Fighting to EARN Your Success
There's a of of talk out there regarding success and how it should NOT be a grind, that it should be easy. When the truth is, it IS hard. There's no 2 ways about it. Whether it's athletics, academics, career, business, etc - success takes WORK. And I KNOW, it has been a while since I have shared a STRONG Life Insider. Well, sometimes I feel like talking instead of writing. Nobody wants to hear about my crazy schedule, anyway. So, without further ado, here we go: … [Read more...]
Building Stronger, Tougher & Faster Athletes: Eventually, Athletes Need a Heavy Bar on their Back
Times have been changing for quite some time..... Strength training with the basics is just not "cool" anymore. "Experts" hate on squats and now we have high school kids who can barely squat bodyweight. And this COVID shutdown of gyms didn't help. When gyms were open, at least the kids were in there training. Now, parents are afraid to send kids to a gym and we have everyone locked down in a "safety bubble" You see, many athletes took it upon themselves to do NOTHING during the COVID … [Read more...]
3 Reasons Why Leg Training Builds the BEAST
I was in my early teens and training at my first "Hardcore Gym". This gym was 7,500 sq ft. NO AC, just a bunch of stand up industrial fans. ALL the plates were deep dish Ivanko plates and there was rumbling throughout the entire gym, blended with some old rock cassette tapes that blasted through the gym. Usually AC/DC or Metallica, sometimes Def Leppard. The back 1/3 of the gym was lined up with leg equipment. Plenty of squat racks, 2 leg presses, 2 hack squats, 2 leg extensions, 2 leg … [Read more...]
Why Coaches Must STOP Training Athletes with Stupid, Dangerous “Workouts”
I am always in shock with how abundant information is, both good and bad, yet still, when left to their own devices, sport coaches are implementing crazy, stupid, BS "workouts" for their athletes. I know this article and video will hit a nerve with coaches. In fact, I know of Coaches who threaten their players that if they DO train at The Underground Strength Gym, they will be reprimanded. How's that for caring about the kids? It doesn't take much work to research what is safe and … [Read more...]
5 Reasons to Surround Yourself with GREAT People for GREATER Success & LIFE
I say it all the time and I can not emphasize this enough.... You MUST surround yourself and engage with battery chargers, NOT battery drainers. On Monday, Dan Goodman (Co Owner of Varsity House Gym) traveled down to The Underground Strength Gym of Manasquan with his Head Coach, Adam Menner. We trained, talked business, shop and LIFE. I wanted Dan to take a birds eye view of my business as we work on the next strategy of growth & impact for my various businesses: - The … [Read more...]
Underground Strength Stories: Tom Platz Squats & Diamond Gym
It was the Winter of 1995 and I was driving to Diamond Gym with my training partners. Our typical 30 minute drive to Diamond was the 3 of us getting fired up to destroy the gym as we blasted music from my special Kenwood stereo. Back then, I had cassette tapes that were special mix tapes with our favorite music. But this one time, the guys were strangely silent. I was scared. Scared that our workout was going to be a wash. The entire 30 minute drive I could just feel their lack of … [Read more...]
Ep. 213 | Do You Skip Leg Day in the Gym AND in Life?
STRONG Life Podcast ep. 213, here we GO! Skipping leg day in the gym is 1 thing, skipping leg day in LIFE is another thing! There are NO shortcuts to achieving REAL Success. We ALL know this, but, how many people LIVE this. I had an athlete recently ask me, Do we have to train legs? I almost had to look around for the hidden camera, I thought it was a joke. But, it was NOT a joke. You see, people of ALL ages are weak minded. They seek comfort. They want easy. They think we OWE … [Read more...]
Us vs “Them”
No need to talk to me, I am here to do WORK. Before you even hit the gym, you've already been preparing for that training session. 24 hours in advance..... The day before you made sure your eating was on point. Plenty of protein to fuel yourself, some carbs to make sure the energy is on point because you know you're going to BATTLE it out in the gym today. You got to sleep a bit earlier than normal to ensure when you wake up, you feel READY. You are "mentally warming up" 24 hrs … [Read more...]
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