CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Any Day Now Edition

Normally my “Stuff to Read” post goes up on Fridays, but in the event I get called into action tomorrow I wanted to make sure I got this up early.

Copyright: oksix / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Soon I’ll be a dad. And soon my kid will be yelling at me “you’re ruining my life!”

*slams door*

I’m going to laugh so hard.

Stuff to Check Out Before You Read Stuff

1. 2 Workshops Coming Up

Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Vancouver, April 1-2nd.

Dean Somerset and I will be in Vancouver that weekend to talk shoulders and hips and to start a tickle fight.

For more information and to sign up you can go HERE.

SUNY Cortland Health & Wellness Conference – Cortland, NY, April 8th

I’ll be at my alma mater the weekend of April 8th speaking at what I believe is the 4th or 5th annual SUNY Cortland Conference. Other guest speakers include my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Mark Fisher, Brian St. Pierre, and Dr. David Just.

For more information you can go HERE.

2. Men’s Health

Check out THIS article I helped contribute to on MensHealth.com titled 6 Reasons You’ve Stopped Losing Weight.

HINT: it has nothing to do with starting a detox diet of Unicorn tears with a squeeze of lemon.

3. Oh, and this happened

In case you missed the title of the next Star Wars film was revealed the other day along with the poster.

Commence 11-month long nerd boner………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….now.

The Bigness Project: How to Look Like You Lift – Kourtney Thomas & Jen Sinkler

I received an advance copy of this program last week, and I love it. I love everything about it. Who says women can’t (or shouldn’t) train for size? Kourtney and Jen (pictured above) have done a really nice job coming up with a program targeted towards women (but men can do it to!) that’s well designed and complete with everything you’d need to be successful.

All I know is that my wife is sooooo excited to give this program a go once she gets the clear from her doctor. It’s on sale through this Friday night (1/27) so you don’t have much time left to save.

Shoulders: I Like Them Big, Buff, and Beautiful – Julia Ladewski

I think the pic says it all, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give this article a read.

“When you’re at the gym, or maybe the beach or even people watching at a fancy dinner event, what’s one of the first things you notice on a fit, in-shape woman?

Her legs? Maybe.

Her butt? Probably.

More often than not, her shoulders.  Why? They grab your attention. They are eye level and a fit woman’s shoulders pop.”

6 Foundational Movements That Every Person on Earth Needs to Master – John Rusin, et al.

I was pumped to be asked to contribute to this article, featuring knowledge bombs from other stellar coaches like John himself, Joel Seedman, Eric Bach, Dr. Ryan DeBell, Tim DiFrancesco, and Luka Hocevar.

The only movement not listed? Sparta kicking global warming in the face.

Social Media Highlights

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NOTE: I was a slacker on IG this week and only posted this one about an hour ago. I suspect 1 million views by 6 PM. Give or take 995,000 or so.

CategoriesFemale Training mindset muscle growth Program Design Strength Training

Maybe Less Isn’t More

Peruse pretty much any fitness magazine targeted to women and you’ll inevitably see words like, “lose, fat-loss, tight, drop a size, tiny, hot, and lean” plastered all over its pages. This is unfortunate.

Women are programmed, often at an early age, to be less, that in order to be attractive and have self-worth, the smaller you are the better.

I say: Bull to the shit.

It’s no secret I’m a firm advocate for women to strength train. Time and time and time again I witness women transform their bodies (and mindsets) when they choose to nix the endless elliptical sessions in lieu of picking up some barbells.1

There is nothing wrong with choosing to be more.

I am pumped to help promote The Bigness Project from Kourtney Thomas and Jen Sinkler. It’s everything I’m a fan of when it comes to directing women to the right kind of information.

Please enjoy the guest post Kourtney was kind enough to write below.

Maybe Less Isn’t More

I used to be one of those women who made a point to talk about how little space I took up. I’d brag about taking the first middle seat I came to on a Southwest flight because, “I’m just a little girl!” On top of that, I made a point of keeping everything about my already small body as tiny as possible. Because, after all, being less is more when it comes to women’s bodies, right?

More like “Yeah right!”

Over the years, I eventually began to see that there was another way to go. And while, yes, I do walk around in a petite frame, I’ve come to see that what I do with it and how I carry myself can convey a whole different message.

When I first got into fitness, though, it was pretty much cardio only for me. I loved group cycling and endurance running. I enjoyed sweating all over the floor teaching a high-energy cycling class, and I loved running out to the middle of nowhere and melting into nature and myself.

At the time, I didn’t yet grasp that my participation in each of these sports tended to reinforce that same, constant message for me: that less is more. Endurance runners have to be rail-thin so they can be fast. Group cycling classes will claim to burn a gazillion or so calories. The rest, if not explicitly stated, is often implied in skewed marketing messages: stay little.

In time, I experimented and found my way to some weight training. But I started with methods I thought wouldn’t make me too big or bulky. And obviously, to burn more calories, because I still believed that less was more. Along the way, I began to see glimpses of a different way though. Who is this Jen Sinkler person, and what is this Lift Weights Faster stuff I see? Oh my goodness, Girls Gone Strong?

Strong? What a novel concept!

And women were using…what was that called again? A barbell? I was clueless and petrified to touch the thing for the first time, but I eventually gave myself a dose of my own tough love, sucked it up, and walked into the weight room one day. As it turned out, it wasn’t so bad, and I felt capable of being there! (I also realized not everyone knew what they were doing in there.)

And, so, I started with strong, and I believe in that wholeheartedly. I completely agree with Tony when he says that training for performance in lifting is a great place to start. I not only saw my strength come up substantially, but as Tony has also mentioned many times before, I began to see significant physical changes in my body shape and composition.

I was getting bigger. Bigger! Everywhere. And I liked it.

I liked it so much, in fact, that it became my primary goal. I’ll never forget writing my initial email to my first coach and my No. 1 goal as “Gain some size. As much hypertrophy as possible.” Oh, how different that was from the last 30 or so years of my life — that a woman should actively say to herself, I don’t want to shrink. I want to grow! I don’t want to lose weight. I want to gain! And then deliberately work toward getting bigger?

It took a little time to get behind fully, I’ll admit. Just like so many other women, I’ve been conditioned by the mainstream messaging to know nothing other than slender, slim, and thin-is-in. Not to mention, quiet, polite, and ladylike. Flipping the script on all of that doesn’t happen overnight. But changing my training focus to hypertrophy not only helped me to discover the most fun kind of training ever (seriously!), but it helped me to embrace my own body, more than I ever thought possible.

I used to hate my “linebacker shoulders” and big arms. Now? Are you kidding me? Let’s beef ’em up so I can bust out of my sleeves! I used to cringe at my outer thighs and cover them up with my hands so they’d look like the ones I saw in the magazines. Now? I cannot stop leg pressing because I want to see my muscles through my pants.

Letting go of less is more was freeing. It was empowering. It was a gift, an open door to start exploring what other mainstream misconceptions might be out there. I’ve always been one to go a bit against the grain and question the norm, and while it took me a little while longer to do it when it came to what I wanted for my body, when I got there? Everything changed.

Loving my big arms (and doing 10,000 biceps curls) enriched my life exponentially and boosted my confidence about everything through the stratosphere. Who would have thought that working deliberately to bulk up would have that effect? Oh, and it also happened to have the effect of creating a physique that I, personally, consider totally rockin’.

More muscles has meant more everything for me. More quality relationships, more fun, more business, more love. All of it — seriously — because I made a choice to defy that less is more rhetoric and train specifically to be bigger.

Because, sometimes? More is more.


Are You Ready for the Bigtime?

The Bigness Project is a brand-new hypertrophy-training program built to get you built. Written by Kourtney Thomas, a strength and conditioning coach who has spent the last few years focused on the small details that will get you big, this program—or “brogram,” as she refers to it in the most gender-neutral of ways—delivers on the promise of bigger arms and a bigger life.

Consisting of tried-and-true muscle-building techniques, The Bigness Project will guide you through 14 weeks of training that will support your overall strength, develop a stronger mind-muscle connection, and give you a look that leaves no doubt that you lift weights.

Designed for lifters of any experience level, The Bigness Project includes:

  •       A comprehensive User Manual that explains the philosophy behind the program and walks you step-by-step through every aspect of Bigness training and lifestyle.
  •       14-week hypertrophy training program.
  •       A complete exercise glossary including 95 written and photo demonstrations of every movement in the program.
  •       A video library containing 20 in-depth explanations of the most detailed movements and components of the program.

Now available—all aboard the gainz train! To celebrate the kickoff of the Bigness Project, the program is on sale now. Get your copy HERE and join us in the gym this week!

About Kourtney Thomas

Kourtney Thomas is a personal trainer and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with a passion for empowerment and hypertrophy training for women, which she coaches virtually with Kourtney Thomas Fitness. When she’s not at the gym doing some variation of biceps curls, Kourtney loves to ride her Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe anytime the weather is above 50 degrees, travel to national parks, stay up too late reading copious amounts of science fiction and fantasy, and bake elaborate cakes and cookies—because something has to fuel those gains. Drawing on the above, her personal motto is “Big Arms, Big Life,” and she lives by that daily.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 1/20/17

Lets get right to it shall we?

Copyright: donatas1205 / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Stuff to Check Out Before You Read Stuff

1. I Am Not Afraid to Lift: The Retreat

Save over $300 off registration with the Early Bird rate for I Am Not Afraid To Lift® – THE RETREAT with Artemis Scantalides, Julia Ladewski, and (my wife) Dr. Lisa Lewis on May 5-7, 2017 at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.

Designed BY women FOR women this weekend retreat is sure to be a treat (<– HA, get it?) covering anything and everything with regards to lifting things (bodyweight, kettlebells, barbells), nutrition, and mindset training.

I’ll be there too, albeit on Daddy Day Care duty with a then 4-month old. Any dudes wanna hang out? Anyways, it’s going to be an amazing weekend and a lovely opportunity to surround yourself with other positive, powerful, intelligent, and unabashedly strong women.

Go HERE for more details.

2. Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Vancouver

Dean Somerset and I will be in Vancouver, BC, Canada the weekend of April 1-2nd, 2017 putting on your flagship workshop.

It may be the only time we’re on the west coast of North America all year so whether you have to hop on a plane, drive a few hours, or take a hovercraft….get there.

Go HERE for more info and to take advantage of the EARLY BIRD rate.

3. Push, Pull, Legs Podcast

In case you missed it earlier this week I made a cameo appearance on the Push Pull Legs Podcast.

And now this week’s list of stuff to read…

How to Look Like You Lift – Kourtney Thomas

I really dug this article from Kourtney Thomas. One quote stood out:

“Building a muscular physique requires deliberate work.”

It ain’t just gonna happen.

The Best Way to Get Motivated for the Gym – T-Nation

I had the pleasure of being asked to contribute to this article that was featured on T-Nation earlier this week. Having a little trouble motivating yourself to get to the gym? Know someone who feels the same way? Slide this article on their desk or pin it to their door. They’ll get the message.

4 Warm-Up Mistakes You’re Probably Making – Tony Bonvechio

Don’t worry: this won’t be your typical slap on the wrist article reminding you to do your warm-ups. And it won’t cause you to toss your face into a brick wall from sheer boredom (you know, cause most articles on the topic are boring as shit).

Tony’s a legit coach. Listen to him.

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