There’s an Early Bird rate for both of these events, so keep that in mind before you decide to hold off. Dean and I are really excited for this and hope to see you there!
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You don’t have to squat, deadlift, bench press, carry, do any chin-ups, or otherwise lift heavy(ish) objects.
It’ll make you healthier, get you stronger, likely curtail depression (as with any exercise), & improve confidence.
If you’re a fitness professional you WILL see this and it’s important to recognize it and to have a handful of strategies in your back pocket to address it.
So remember that post I wrote yesterday detailing the best piece of advice I ever received** which then lead to me discussing WeightTraining.com’s release of their new Workout Tracker app, which then me laying down the ground rules for an opportunity to be entered into a drawing for a free TRX?
Well, I lied.
Kinda.
No, I didn’t lie about crushing raw egg-white protein shakes. All the cool kids were doing it back in the day.
And no, I didn’t lie about the overall ass-kickery of the new App by WT.com. It’s been getting glowing reviews thus far!
I actually lied about the cut-off date for your chance to win the TRX.
It’s been extended through TODAY (January 7th).
As a reminder here’s what you have to do:
In order to be entered into the app release giveaway, you must complete the following:
2. Log a workout on January 7th (<– THAT’s TODAY!!!!)
3. Tweet your logged workout to @TonyGentilcore1 (Twitter) or Facebook share your workout with the hashtag #TonyGentilcore on January 7th (<– Again, THAT’s TODAY)
Winners will be randomly selected on January 8th!!!!.
This is a very common myth and one that makes my insides hurt from laughing so hard. Sometimes I feel like we don’t give the human body enough credit. That if we somehow haven’t had a morsel of food for more than three hours or if we happen to eat, god-for-bid, a 10 oz steak in one sitting, our body is just going shutdown in a rage of shock, and we’ll start bleeding through eyes.
Let me preface this by saying: that is NOTHING wrong with running. Well, there is, but I don’t want to get into it here, so save the pitch-forks for next time.
Where things get a bit murky – and where much of the dichotomy begins – is when people are under the impression that running is an efficient way to lose weight. Don’t me wrong: It can be, but there comes a point in time where the amount of effort put forth doesn’t mirror the reward.
Nate Green wrote a blog post, Nate Green wrote a blog post, Nate Green wrote a blog post.
Nate Green wrote a blog post!!!!!!!!!!!
He doesn’t write as many blog posts as he used to, but when he does they’re gold.
** = outside of “Dude, go see The Matrix, it’s sick!” (1999, as told from a college teammate), and “Tony, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, your fly’s open…..zip up your pants!” (1980-2004, by my Mom)
Today’s guest post comes from Justin Kompf who’s a fellow Cortland State Red Dragon and the man responsible for organizing my little homecoming a few weeks ago. At 23 Justin is already doing big things. Not only is he making waves in the fitness industry, but he’s already teaching COLLEGE courses as an adjunct professor at Cortland. I think back to when I was 23 and all I remember doing is crushing Beverly Hills 90210 re-runs and bicep curls in the squat rack.
Suffice it to say, everyone, meet Justin. He’s gonna be someone you should remember. Good things are a head.
The world is coming to an end, or at least it must be. I have my bachelors of science in kinesiology – key word science. Not to say I’m in love with the whole cellular function of microbes or what Van Der Waals forces are, or even if I spelled that right, but I am keen enough to make observations and make fairly educated conclusions.
For example, if I pick up this weight and move it around I get bigger and I get stronger. Or how about this: people who don’t lift weights actually progressively get weaker until they have legs the size of toothpicks and need a machine to get from A to B.
Another mind blowing (yes sarcasm) discovery I’ve made is that if I eat crappy food my body feels and looks like crap. On the other side of the equation, if I eat lean proteins, fill my plate with vegetables, and sweet potatoes somehow I feel satisfied, don’t get sick, increase strength, and look pretty darn good too. As a scientist I have come to this radical conclusion that if I eat well and exercise well I feel and look good.
It doesn’t take a white coat, nerdy glasses and beakers to be a scientist. I just proved it. Science is the intellectual and practical activity of gaining knowledge through systematic observation. Pay attention, observe outcome. We learned the principle in elementary school Aà B. If Christina picks on me she totally digs me right?
One more time AàB
So wait this isn’t anything new? Eating healthy and exercising are healthy habits that everyone should be doing?!?!?!? I didn’t need to go to school for four years to make this discovery?
This is the reason why I have concluded that the world must be coming to an end.
Humans are logical, intelligent creatures. If the general population was forced to be honest, they would admit that they know what it takes to get healthy or at least healthier, but instead they continue to fuel the cyclic, destructive habits that have made them obese, sedentary and sick. Trips to the grocery store are always pleasant reminders of why the world is coming to an end. People who are obese continue to load their shopping carts up with processed foods, carbohydrates, lunch meats, microwaveable dinners, sodas, and candies.
They bring these foods home to their kids who then begin the pathway towards obesity. They don’t know any better, you’d have a better chance of convincing Charlie Sheen to keep his eyes closed in a strip club than you’d have convincing a kid who’s been shoveled processed, sugary foods on a daily basis to voluntarily put down the candy, ice cream or soda.
On another note…We live in a society that rewards people who don’t work hard. Sure, if you don’t want to work that’s fine. Just rest on your laurels! Nobody works hard these days anyways, right? Being successful and getting rich is all pure luck. Just put your feet up and wait for your pot of gold. Don’t want to work, that’s fine the government will pay you not to work.
Nate Green had a tremendous article on his scrawny to brawny website called the “SB2 Manifesto: Rules For Living a Bigger Life”. In the first rule he talked about how there are two versions of us, our ideal selves and our shadow selves. Our shadow self is the guy in our head saying, “it’s okay to sit on the couch for four hours a day watching TV, its okay for us to wear our pajamas the whole day and not learn anything new”. It’s the version of us that thinks that success can be put on the back burner. The shadow self – the procrastinating, lazy, undisciplined self is kicking millions of ideal selves’ asses all across America. Yes, it’s possible to kick your own ass.
We’re on the brink of the end of the world, maybe I’m being a little dramatic here but there is an unavoidable devolution of the mindfulness and work ethic occurring all across the country.
If you’re on this site and you’ve gotten this far in my article I’ll confidently assume two things about you.
First: You’re a meat head; you like to push your body to its limits to see what it’s capable of.
Secondly: You possess a mind that wants to expand.
Note from TG: I’ll also add a third: You obviously have great taste in which blogs you read. Well done.
If you’re nodding yes and yes to each of those, you’ve got a deadly combination of being a meathead with a brain. You not only want to be big, healthy, and strong but you want to be educated about it, too.
You’re not one of those guys questioning why you’re not getting bigger when your program consists of preacher curls, smith machine upright rows, and cable flys and a pre workout big gulp (not the bigger you wanted).
You squat and you deadlift and you read a lot.
Anyways, while we’re low in numbers I feel that guys like us hold some of the last hope the world has.
So let me personally welcome you to the remaining population of mindful, driven men left in the world. Tragically, our species is nearly extinct.
We are a club that defies boundaries, pushes limits in and out of the gym, and observes with the intention of asking why, learning something and applying it to our own lives, thoughts and habits for self-improvement and the betterment of the lives of those around us. Sure, for the most part we keep to ourselves and if you’re like me do a lot of observation on the current state of the world. I believe this is a good thing, we think before we talk and try not to spew out BS like most people out there.
So without further delay, I’ll share a few things I believe us men with active minds and active bodies can do to stave off, and maybe even prevent, the end of the world.
Train for at least one physical event a year.
I’m in the last week before my very first powerlifting meet. I look forward to learning from more experienced people but the last four months of serious training and following Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program have been great.
I’ve hit rep records on just about every lift while making it to the 181 weight class. I usually weigh about 195 pounds. I’ve learned a lot about pushing my body in the gym in combination with smart dieting. My friend recently asked me if I would be interested in doing a tough mudder in October.
Sure why not, it’s certainly not what I am built for but let’s do it. Training for an event creates concrete goals. Also, if you’re not exploring your body’s capabilities then what the heck are you doing? Another benefit of training is that it helps to clear up a lot of other things in your life. I make sure my diet is spot on when training and I make sure I get the appropriate amount of sleep when training. It helps clear up stress and basically acts as your own personal therapist if you need it.
*here is the end result of the competition- 510 deadlift ohhh yeaa!
Read, read, read
Yes I said it three times and there’s a reason. Here’s my three reads:
Read 1: Personal pleasure. E.g. I’m reading Howl’s Moving Castle. Before you Google this I’ll give you the heads up that it’s a movie and it’s a cartoon. So what – don’t judge – I wanted to read the book. I’m also getting a little into The Red Badge of Courage.
Read 2: Business Development or Self Improvement. E.g. Right now I’m reading Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson.
Try to read every single day. If we get in the habit of letting our shadow self win day in and day out he’s going to get stronger making it more and more difficult for our ideal self to win. I’ve been through periods of stagnation where my shadow self put a beating on my ideal self. Believe me it’s best to keep your shadow self’s victories to a minimum.
Create forward progress every single day
There’s a wise proverb that says “Without vision [man] perishes”.
Set goals, daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, career goals and get on a path towards success. I doubt anyone can say for certain what they want to do with their life. For example, my dad who has been an accountant for about 30 years has been talking about getting into training people who are older when he retires. You can be in your mid fifties and still not know what you want to do for sure.
I’ve gone from everything from wanting to be a personal trainer, to strength and conditioning coach, to a nutritionist and now onto a physical therapist. Mind’s change, luckily I didn’t have a dramatic career change of heart so just about everything I’ve done so far is applicable.
Even if you’re not positive where life is taking you that’s no excuse for stagnation. In fact you’re in a beautiful position to explore all of your interest to find what suits you. Hop on some kind of path, you don’t have to know where it’s heading, just know you’re moving forward.
Your weekly, monthly, and yearly goals should match up to career goals. My long term career goal is to become a physical therapist. On my path towards that some things have pleasantly popped up that gave me opportunities to do what I love doing while getting paid for it.
What am I doing to make this career goal happen?
Daily: Reading my current career book as well as peer reviewed articles
Weekly: Shadowing a physical therapist every Wednesday
Monthly: Working on prerequisites for school. I am currently taking chemistry
Yearly: continuing with prerequisites and everything else necessary to get into school
Pleasant surprises that have popped up along this path: I’ve had the opportunity to teach personal training and strength and conditioning classes at my college. I’ve gotten to work with athletes at Syracuse University which has given me the credentials to teach these strength and conditioning classes at my college. The coach I work with at Syracuse gave me a recommendation to teach another class at a community college as well.
Now all I need is a fedora and a whip and I’ll be a full on professor!
The sooner you realize getting drunk isn’t cool the better your life will be
I’m 23 years young, so I still live in that time period where a lot of people my age think staying up until 3 am and getting drunk is still awesome.
Sad thing is that I see people ten years my senior still trying to live the college dream. How productive are you the day after drinking? Not at all. Do you get good quality sleep? Nope. Is it possible to train like a man when you drink two or three times a week? No way. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a beer or two. I do, but it’s not a keystone coming firing at me out of funnel anymore.
Now, small huddle of mindful, hard-working, meatheads – break! Go keep doing what you’re doing, do it better, and convince some other men out there to help push back on the end of the world while you’re at it.
Thanks for reading; I believe there is still some hope left in this world as long as we all set positive examples by respecting our minds, bodies, and of course others. Try to train for something at least once a year, read, read, read, set goals, and try to behave yourself at bars.
Author’s Bio
Justin is a certified personal trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He holds a bachelors degree in Kinesiology from the State University of New York at Cortland where he graduated magna cum laude. He has worked with a wide variety of clients and has spent time at two division one Universities, Syracuse University and the University of California Riverside. He currently assist at Syracuse under Veronica Dyer, the head strength coach in the Olympic sports room. Justin teaches a personal training class at the State University of New York at Cortland and will be teaching two strength and conditioning classes along with an intro to kinesiology course next fall. He likes deadlifting, the shoulder, almond butter, dragon ball z, and Zooey Deschanel. He dislikes bench pressing and people that say YOLO. His website is cortlandfit.com and he can be contacted at [email protected]
Happy belated Columbus Day everyone!!! Or, if you’re Canadian – happy belated Thanksgiving. Or, if you’re located somewhere else in the world and you don’t celebrate those two – happy belated Whatever It Is You Celebrate on October 8th!!!!
I hope whatever it was, it was awesome.
As you probably realized, I took the day off from blogging yesterday because both Lisa and I were away for a brief Columbus Day Weekend getaway. Well, to be more specific, Lisa surprised me with a weekend getaway. Earlier in the week she emailed me from her work and all it said was “you have plans this weekend.” And she reminded me to pick up some toilet paper on the way home, but that’s besides the point.
So, all last week she was stoked about going away and teasing me with hints about where our mystery journey was going to take us.
To my knowledge there was no Star Wars convention within a 200 mile radius of Boston, and I’m pretty sure Alicia Keys hadn’t started some super secret concert tour or anything. Soooooooo, I honestly had no clue.
As it turned out – Lisa planned a completely Autumnal extravaganza complete with apple picking, raspberry picking, goat farm touring (including cheese sampling – YUM!), and of course, pumpkin deadlifting (see photo above).
To top things off, she also booked a room at this wonderful bed-and-breakfast in Wakefield, NH – The Wakefield Inn – that was about as quiet, charming, and colonial as they come.
Too, we ate at this restaurant (appropriately called The Restaurant) that had a burger called The Elvis.
What’s The Elvis you ask? Well, it’s a 1/2 lb of beef with bacon and peanut butter – arguably three of my most favorite things combined.
Honestly, though, it wasn’t as epic as I thought it was going to be, but I was glad I ordered off principle alone.
All in all it was an amazing weekend filled with lots of laughs, LOTS of food, and some cool new memories. But now it’s back to the grind.
However, before I get to the Stuff You Should Read I first want to note that, unbeknownst to myself until after the fact, last Friday’s post was my 1,000 post of all time.
Holy shit nuts!!!!
I just wanted to take a few seconds to thank EVERYONE for reading all my articles and for all the support throughout the years.
It’s surreal to think that a blog that I originally started back in 2006 on a whim (which I aptly titled “The G-Spot.” No, I’m not kidding. Sorry mom) which then led to the Step-Up blog on the Boston Herald, which then grew into the current TonyGentilcore.com, would turn out to be as successful as it’s been.
I’m humbled – and immensely grateful – that so many people visit on a daily basis and don’t think I suck. Well, I’m sure there are more than a few who do think I suck, but such is life. All I have to say to these people is: thanks for the traffic!
Thanks again everyone – here’s hoping for another 1,000 posts!
Nate Green is one crazy bastard. Just for the fun of it he did this experiment where he gained 20 lbs in four weeks, lost it all in five days, and then gained it back in 24 hours.
And he documented EVERYTHING along the way. Don’t worry, he had some pretty smart dudes monitoring every crumb eaten and weight lifted – Martin Rooney and Dr. John Berardi. N0 big deal.
It’s a FREE e-book chock full of insights and details behind the experiment.
Anyone interested in weight manipulation should check this out. It’s a real quick read (less than an hour), and written in Nate’s signature witty style.
It seems everyone is intermittent fasting nowadays – *raises hand* – yet many don’t really know what to expect before embarking on their little adventure. Will you feel hungry all the time? What foods should you focus on? How do you go about structuring your feeding schedule? And, maybe even more important, if done long-term, does one run the risk of growing a third nipple?
Here, Anthony sheds some light on a few topics that many people don’t necessarily touch on, including a really funny anecdote on how people can be a little bit too anal about whether or not it’s okay to break the fasting window by a few minutes
This was an EXCELLENT article by Coach Hamer that I feel every coach should take the time to read. The point that resonated with me the most?
#9. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.”
What a profound statement to make, and something I feel many, many coaches are afraid to do. I know there’s a huge sense of machismo and bravado in the strength and conditioning community, and it’s often seen as a “weakness” to admit when you don’t the answer to something.
Listen, we can’t all be Gandalf or Gray Cook. You can’t expect to know everything and anything….it’s impossible.
There’s a lot to be gained from admitting you don’t know something. And a lot to be lost when – and granted this is a worse case scenario – you give someone the wrong information and they end up hurting themselves.
Yesterday was one of those days where I couldn’t wait to get home. It certainly wasn’t the stack of dirty dishes waiting for me in the sink, nor was it the pile of laundry that I had been puting off – although, for the record, they both got done!
No, I was anxious to get home because I wanted to dive into Nate Green’s The Hero Handbook. Once my “chores” were done, and the next day’s meals we made, I grabbed my laptop, light a few scented candles, turned on some Sade, and….whoa whoa whoa, wait a second – I’m thinking of Monday night. My bad.
Okay, so last night I drove home, blah blah blah, washed dishes, made my meals for the following day, grabbed my laptop, sat on my couch, and read.
While it’s been a really enlightening read thus far, there was one phrase in particular that really struck a chord with me:
A hero builds his body – his greatest asset – to look good and withstand sickness and physical obstacles.
Ding ding ding ding ding
So true. In fact, the above statement is very much analogous to a Mike Boyle reference from an article he wrote a while back, where asked a simple question:
Imagine you are sixteen years old and your parents give you your first car. They also give you simple instructions. There is one small hitch, you only get one car, you can never get another. Never. No trade-ins, no trade-ups. Nothing
Ask yourself: how would you maintain that car?
As you might guess, he went on to say that most people would be meticulous with oil changes, using proper fuel, keeping up with maintenance, etc.
Taking it step further, he then asked:
Why is the human body different? Why do we act as if we don’t care about the one body we were given? ONE BODY. No refunds. No warranties. No do-overs.
Some pretty heavy stuff right?
Just the other day I shared with the world how I had a little, shall we say, “bug” crush my world, and I essentially spent the entire night praying to the porcelain gods. It wasn’t pretty. Matter of fact it was downright scary at times, and I have to give credit where credit is due and thank my girlfriend, Lisa, for stepping up to the plate and taking care of me.
Afterwards, I received several emails – mostly from friends and family – asking me if I was alright, and more importantly, to inform me that if I ever break up with Lisa, they’d pretty much disown me.
But there was one email, though, from a distance coaching client no less, that is the real inspiration behind this post. It was a simple email – basically just saying that it was nice to see that I had such a speedy recovery and that “it’s a sign of a healthy body” that I was able to do so.
Again, a hero builds his body – his greatest asset – to look good and withstand sickness and physical obstacles.
How many of us are quick to equate six pack abs or the ability to fit into size zero jeans as “healthy.” I know plenty of guys with impressive abs that are a train wreck on the inside – booze, smoking, drugs, you name it. Not healthy. Likewise, there are plenty of women out there who somehow squeeze into size zero jeans, yet haven’t had a carb since 2002. Again, not healthy.
Looking good, as subjective as it is, is only half the equation. There’s no question that hitting the gym a few times per week is going to help. As an example, I can count on one hand the total number of times I’ve missed a scheduled training session.
Forgetting your gym clothes (again) is not an excuse. It’s a cop out. Lets be clear – there are only a handful of reasons to skip a training session:
– you have ebola and/or
– Jessica Alba just called and needs you to be her personal oil boy for the day.**
That’s pretty much it.
But there are so many other factors that come into play. A few off the top of my head that come to mind…..
1. Going to bed at a decent hour. I may be butchering this, but it’s been said that for every hour of sleep you get BEFORE midnight, it’s worth two hours afterwards. Meaning your quality of sleep is much more “quality’ish” if you sleep from 10-6, than it is from 2-10.
What’s more, having a routine that doesn’t involve playing Call of Duty right before bed might be a good idea. Same thing goes for those of you spend all their time on the internet.
Get off Facebook for crying out loud and do something productive, like read a book, or have sex.
2. Buying and cooking real food. Simply put: you are what you eat. If you’re the type of individual that lives off of Hot Pockets and frozen pizza, it’s no wonder you have little energy and feel lethargic and depressed all the time.
Conversely, providing your body with ample nutrients, vitamins and minerals from whole, real, nutritious foods will make your immune system as strong as an ox.
You wouldn’t put low grade fuel into your BMW, right? Why, then, not treat your body the same way?
3. Call me lame, but limit your alcohol intake. I am by no means passing judgement – if you’re the type of person who enjoys a glass of wine with dinner every night, or even a nice, cold brewski on a hot summer day, more power to you. But there is a big difference between that and pulling off your best Charlie Sheen impression every night of the week.
I’m sure I could make this list longer, but I think you get the idea. Building a healthy body – unfortunately – is a lot more than just heading to the gym every day. While admirable, it’s only part of the equation. Have any suggestions/tips/rants you’d like to share? I’d love to hear them below…..
**EDIT: Just read on Yahoo’s home page that Jessica is pregers, again. RATS!! Okay, Olivia Munn, you’re up!
What can I say, that guy has his shit together. Nate has traveled around the world, started his own successul small business, eliminated all debt, has been featured in the likes of Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, T-nation.com, and has essentially taken life by the balls and hasn’t made any excuses along the way. It’s inspiring really, and is exactly why he wrote this handbook – to prove to everyone (even you), that you can live the life of your dreams.
And It’s Free
No newsletter sign-ups, no entering your email, so spam. It’s free. No strings attached.
I’ve started reading it myself, and I have to say – it’s good, real good. Favorite line so far:
Don’t have the body you want? Your fault.
Working a job you don’t like? Your fault.
Shitty grades in school? Your fault.
Up to your eyeballs in debt? Your fault.
It’s all your fault. But this is actually great news.
Because it’s your fault, you can take responsibility for it. And if you take responsibility for it, you can change it.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Nate’s a great dude, entertaining writer, and obviously has a wealth of knowledge to share that goes well beyond his years. Do yourself a favor and check it out – I promise it will be well worth it.
