CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work Uncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Chest Builders, Tickets to the Gun Show, and New Blogs

6 Coaches on Chest Training – A Bunch of Smart (and Swole) Dudes

A while back I was contacted by the editors of T-Nation to contribute to an article specifically geared towards people interested in pull-ups:  how to not suck at them, how they can go about building a back wider than Kansas, you know, stuff like that.

It went over really well, so the higher-ups at T-Nation decided to ask the same crew to write their thoughts on chest training, and this was the end result.

60 Must-Read Health & Fitness Blogs for 2013 – Greatist.com

I was truly honored (and humbled) to have my blog listed amongst so many other esteemed health and fitness professionals.  As it turns out, many of the blogs I follow on a consistent basis (Mark’s Daily Apple, Bret Contreras, Adam Bornstein, Eric Cressey, Kellie Davis, Girls Gone Strong, to name a few) made the list, which doesn’t really surprise me because they’re all fantastic.

But it was nice to get e-introduced to a number of other blogs that are equally as awesome and badass.

Maybe you’ll find one on the list you’ll enjoy?

2 Tickets to the Gun Show – Dan Trink

Honestly, Dan had me a “Gun Show,” so I’m already in and an easy sell.  But in case you’re not up to snuff with broscience lingo, my good friend Dan Trink, Director of Training at Peak Performance in NYC and co-author (along with me) of the first three month’s of programming for Greatist’s Workout of the Day (GWOD), released his very first fitness product this week that’s a 4-week arm specialization program.

For those who don’t know Dan, he’s a brick shit-house and has arms bigger than both Optimus Prime and Megatron combined.

See?  Told ya.

But he’s also one of the nicest and most down-to-earth human beings I know.  Not that that really matters when purchasing a product, but I just thought you should know….;o) I generally shy away from people who are a-holes, let alone endorse their products.

Anyhoo:  As a dude, I know the first thing I do when “sizing up” other dudes is to look at the size of their arms. While it doesn’t necessarily tell me much in terms of how strong they are (or if they have some super secret Jedi mind trick powers that I don’t about), chances are if someone’s rocking 18″ pythons, I’m not going to attempt to take their lunch money.

Having big arms is the “holy grail” for just about any guy who has ever lifted a weight in the history of the world, and this 4-week program delivers the goods.

The manual includes 4-weeks of programming, training templates, and links to videos of every exercise.  The only thing it doesn’t include is a tape measure and a copy of Hulk Hogan’s theme song, “Real American.”

It’s on sale now for $14.99 until this Friday at midnight, and then it reverts to the normal price of $27.99.  So for 0.54 cents per day, you could have Rambo arms.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.

====> Get Your Tickets Here <====

CategoriesUncategorized

Greatist Workout of the Day

Affectionately referred to as GWODs, these are workouts designed by both myself and strength coach Dan Trink that will give people a firsthand look as to what a well structured, properly progressed fitness routine should look like.

Taken from the Greatist.com website:

“….these are high-quality, comprehensive strength and conditioning programs anyone can use. GWODs were created after Greatist.com readers expressed their frustration at a lack of quality fitness programming accessible to the average gym goer — not just the most “elite” or “hardcore” individuals among us. So we partnered with some of the best minds in the health and fitness industry to create killer workouts we could give our readers — for free (we think you’ll agree that’s a good price).”

You read that correctly:  FREE.  As in F to the R.E.E.

A few things to note:

1. It’s purely coincidental that both Dan and I could pass for a Mr. Clean impersonator.

2. We recognize that there are limitations to this program.  I think I speak for both of us when I say nothing will trump working with a reputable trainer on a face-to-face basis. But that’s the thing: there are a lot of crap trainers out there writing crap programming which are woefully craptastic at best, and flat out dangerous at their worst.

That said, everyone is unique with their own set of weaknesses, strengths, imbalances, injuries, and experience level and I’d be remiss not to recognize that following a program written for the masses will address every issue for every person in every circumstance.

It ain’t gonna happen.

You’re your own unique flower, and we understand (and appreciate) that.

However, we feel confident that the programming we’ve outlined will be a welcome breath of fresh air for the Greatist community (and the rest of the interwebz for that matter).

3. We’ve covered all the bases from the warm-up (it’s a lot more than just doing some cute arm circles and hopping on the elliptical for five minutes) to laying out, set by set, rep by rep, a well organized, structured, and progressive workout plan (2x, 3x, and 4x per week) that will help people move better, get stronger, and feel like a million bucks.

4. We’re not saying it’s perfect, and we’ll be the first to say that it’s still a work in progress.  We’re still very much  at the “grassroots” level with this shindig, and we’ll undoubtedly have a few kinks to iron out as the upcoming weeks/months progress.

But we’re really excited that we have the opportunity to help a lot of people and hopefully assist them (and more importantly, YOU) take their fitness and well-being to the next level.

So what are you waiting for?  Check it out HERE.

Enjoy the ride!  It’s going to be awesome.