Volume 3: Time to GET BIG - Lifting Strategies

Ok, so you're a pro now - you've bought and have been using your belt, wraps and straps. Everything you've read from the basic advice to the eating habits I've described are second nature to you. You're at the gym, you know your way around, made some beastly gains .. but wait for it.. you've been doing that same 4x10 routine for the past year and can't figure out why your shoulder hurts from benching and why your squat looks like a curtsy. Yep, that was me too. Here's bro-science that will blow your mind (I hope you all get my sense of humor in all of this).

Working Sets -

4 (sets) x 10 (reps) - Great for beginners. My absolute go to recommendation for folks looking for a base routine. Gradually increase your weight, but make sure you can complete all 10 reps on the last set.

5x5 - Monster routine for building strength. Usually preceded by 2 warm up sets x 20 reps of light weights. You usually need a spotter for this program, as you go as heavy as possible (keep your weight consistent through the 5 sets).

10x10 - Known as 'German Volume Training' - Lift with a spotter or on a rack, light weight (guide says 60% your 1RM, but I'd suggest even closer to 50%), builds an insane amount of strength and muscle endurance. (also keep your weights consistent through the sets)

5x15/20 - Better known in the bodybuilding world when you're trying to really make your muscles grow, but not necessarily make them super super strong (like a power lifter would). Great for those guys looking to try something new and are typically coming off their bulk right now. The biggest factor of this type of program is to SQUEEZE everything. You'll know what I mean once you're finished watching the below video.

Pyramids - My favorite. You can pyramid any amount of sets you'd like. Currently I go 'up' the pyramid for 3 sets, 2 peak (same weight), 3 sets 'down'. This of course, has varying weight loads. Also typically lessen the reps as the weight gets heavier. E.g., (reps) 16, 12, 10, 8, 8, 12, 14, 20

Mind Muscle Connection -

I don't even need to write. You just need to watch and be amazed.

Splits -

There's a hundred different splits you could do. It depends on your lifting style, what you want out of your plan and how much time you're willing/can to dedicate to training. I'll just give you 3 examples of my own lifting splits. After all, this blog is about me, isn't it?

Cut/Summer plan:
Pyramid/4x10/5x15/20 (depending on how I feel that day)

• Legs/shoulders/arms
• Back/bi/abs
• Chest /tri/abs
• 2 or 3 days of HIIT drill training (think boot camp style), running and/or cycling

Bulk/Winter plan:
Typically 5x5 or heavier/less reps pyramids

• Zero cardio, some boxing once in a while
• Legs x2 a week/abs
• Back/bi
• Chest/tri
• Shoulders/arms/abs

Maintain plan:
4x10/12, pyramids

• Legs/abs
• Shoulders/arms/abs
• Chest/tri
• Back/bi
• Cardio once or twice a week

Techniques: Here are some tips that I really believe in.

Full range of motion (ROM) and partial ROM have their place in lifting. You're not a bastard if you can't ass-to-grass squat, but you are if you rack 3 plates and barely move your legs. Full ROM should always strive to be achieved, with intense mind/muscle connection - but on those special beastly days you feel super strong and you want to throw around more weight, then by all means, don't take your squat past parallel and see what you're capable of. Just never lose your form or risk injury and/or embarrassment from your other brotastic gym rats.

In order to make gains, change things up. Switch your program, change your lifts, grips, weights and reps.

Have some fun. If you're tired of the gym, go outside. If you're tired of outside, go inside. If you don't want to pick things up and put them down, go mountain climbing or something. If you're burnt out, don't worry at all, pour yourself 3 fingers of scotch and watch some Walking Dead. No one says staying healthy requires slaving away at the gym.

When you're in the gym, focus on what you're doing. Have some conversations, but remember why you're there. And when you're there, pay attention to what you're doing. MIND MUSCLE CONNECTION! I always hate this expression "it doesn't matter if you run or walk a mile, you'll burn the same calories'". That's so horseshit. Maybe scientifically it's true, but I dare you to walk a full mile while watching a TV show and then walk another mile with no headphones, TV or magazine, focusing intensely on how you walk, how you move, how you step - tell me there isn't a difference! The benefits aren't always in the numbers.

Lastly. Squeeze your ass. In everything you do when you lift. Sounds funny right (especially when you drop the soap)? When you squeeze your butt-cheeks together, you force a more natural pelvic tilt - which is so important if you are deadlifting or squatting.. even doing machine stuff. Squeezing your butt also engages your abs and therefore your core - which will ultimately give you more power throughout all of your drives (muscle contraction).. even when you're doing something like arm curls. Try it.

Volume 2: Food Strategy for my bro-nation

So in reality there's probably about 2 people who read my blog (thanks!), but in my head, I'm a rock star that will change the eventual course of the bro-nation with my vast knowledge of bro-science. Just kidding. I just want to make sure my gym rants at least include nutrition and lifting techniques.

Let's start with mentality. As it's said, mind over matter. I won't bother with trying to tell you what to eat, how to cook it or what color your bell peppers should be - just do a google search on 'nutrition' plan and you'll find a bazillion different diets/plans that will tell you that theirs is the best. I'm going to focus on explaining some of my fundamentals. Again, always keeping things simple will make your life so much easier/better.

First, learn your macros (your daily dietary split of where your calories come from: protein, carbs and fats). Then stop caring about them. Eye-ball your food, don't measure it. Unless you're body building or are capable of micro-managing your diet everyday without becoming insane, just don't obsess over those details - to make things easy, just visualize everything in a fist-size. that's your portion. So eat a fist-sized portion of meat, carbs, veggies/fruit every meal. Easy, right? It really shouldn't be any more complicated than that. Next, you can choose to calculate your daily caloric intake, or if you're first starting out, just focus on what you're eating instead of how much. Too often people step into these insane cardio/diet programs with a thousand new rules and restrictions that are too much to handle. This is the true reason why people fail at these things. Don't make such dramatic changes to your life. Nothing in life that's worth it happens overnight, so accept that the cliche 'it's a lifestyle change' is true.

THINGS TO DO:
- Eat when you are hungry
- Eat consistently
- Eat an equal portion of meat, carbs, fruits/veggies.
- Eat breakfast
- umm. don't have cheeseburgers, excess bacon, soda, that 'extra' kit-kat bar you keep at your desk, etc. (and F it, if you do, split that bad boy up and eat it at 4 different times during the day)

And if you're reading this and say 'well, I enjoy food too much to do all of this' then your mind-frame is not where it needs to be anyway. So come back when it is. In my opinion, the key to a successful healthy lifestyle is being conscious of what you're taking into your body, enjoying the wonderful food life has to offer, but also understanding the trade-off.

THINGS NOT TO DO:
Initially (as you ease into the lifestyle shift)
- DO NOT count calories
- DO NOT weigh your food
- DO NOT decide on a macro split and micro manage the hell out of it
- DO NOT give up on the food you love
- DO NOT starve yourself when you are hungry

Gradually:
- Start being conscious of your calories, macros
- Start deciding which foods you love and decide which you can live with and without. then live without.
- Start allowing yourself to be a little more hungry, your body will adapt.

So I'm sure I haven't said anything you've haven't heard before. The whole purpose of this writing is to now examine what objections you've just made up in your mind as you read this.. and then address those objections. Once you resolve to conquer those objections and actually step up and do something about it. That right there is the 'lifestyle change' I was just talking about.

Cheers.

Some people are so poor, all they have is money

As I was stranded at Newark Penn Station last night - God willing - I found myself gravitating towards the waiting area for the next train to come, which was a whole hour away. As I sat, this sense of awareness overcame me, telling me to stop burying my nose in my reading and look up, just to observe. Having done so, it opened my eyes to see something truly remarkable.

I noticed dozens of homeless people: some sleeping, some sitting, some chatting with each other. I realized that these were repeat visitors coming into the train station to seek refuge from the wintery streets. Out of my peripheral I could hear a man calling to another "Andy... Andy.. come here" he said. "Did you go to church on Sunday? How are you? How are you?". I watched as this man (I never got to ask him his name) interacted with Andy. After several minutes, I saw that man walk over to his own belongings, pull out a neatly folded plastic bag, which no doubt he had used many times before, and gave it to Andy. I don't know what he was using it for, but he freely gave it to Andy, telling him to keep it. I felt like I was watching a modern day parable:

Luke 21 New International Version (NIV) - The Widow’s Offering 

21 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

I thought to myself, how RICH this man must be. In his seemingly destitute situation (which of course, is my own bias/pretentious observation) he gave freely to his friend. It was a vivid reminder to me that we, on a daily basis, struggle with giving up our worldly possessions, as if they had a single meaning. Yet we lack what is so integral to what true life really is. Love.

We spend our days toiling at work, gathering our nuggets of fortunate like Scrooge would, hoarding them and hoping they would bring real value to our lives. Please don't confuse fortune either. It may be a blanket thought to assume it can be just about money, but we horde time, resources, jealousy, pride, hatred, selfishness, you-name-it. We keep them close to our hearts (and our pockets) like children we were meant to protect.

Last night was a reminder to me that although it is good to work and good to keep and bring up, we must never lose sight of the most important things. That is to give thanks to God for what He has allowed us to have, appreciate those who are in our lives and honor the both aforementioned. For what is enjoying life if you can't share it with those whom you love?

Volume 1: Bro science in bro lifting for my bros

May your meals be light and your lifts be heavy - Swolltech motto

I figured I'd switch it up from all this heavy, philosophical stuff and just get to the heart of things. Plenty of people ask me how to kick start their weight loss / muscle gain growths. So, here's all the bro science I've gathered for the past 4 years, all rolled into some tongue-in-cheek advice. This is just my take on dieting, lifting and living a healthy life - so please, take it with a grain of salt.

Speaking of salt, stop eating that shit. It'll kill you. Do you know what salt does for you? It sticks in your system, it fills you with water and it makes you soft and fluffy. Which, by the way, is the total opposite of what I'm sure you're looking for. So here's my number one recommendation - Limit your salt. Realize that the average person (according to the CDC, so no bro science here) only needs about 1500mg of salt. That's less than a teaspoon! Most Americans eat double or triple that amount daily, especially if you're one of those guys that eats out all of the time. So I challenge you, go on a SALT diet. SCREW all of the rest of the diet nonsense until you're further down the road - counting macros (fat, protein, carbs), weighing food, portion sizing, simple carbs vs complex carbs - throw it all out. Just make sure you throw it all out in front of you, because in a few weeks you'll be far enough in your program to have to pick it back up.

Now that we've got the diet thing out of the way (caveat: yes, once you get past "phase 1", you can start focusing on macros, portion, etc. - this is just to get you going) let's talk about lifting. Just like number one, stop focusing on all of the complex gym jargon about muscle-ups, clean and presses, olympic snatches etc. Are those great, fully-functional exercises? hell yes! Can you do them? hell no. So stop trying. Focus on building a base first and then as your body gets more adept and stronger, then move to the more complex moves. Getting healthy is a marathon, not a sprint. No one picks up a light saber and expects to fight Darth Vader on his first night out.. so why the hell would you want to be the guy trying to deadlift 4 plates with me, saying "I got this bro". So put your weight belt, metal hooks and knee wraps away, you don't need it yet.

The reality is, most guys can get to the gym maybe two or three times a week. Cool. You know your body best and you know what you like and what you don't like. Keep your lifts simple! Be deliberate about your program and stick to it for the next 12 weeks...yes, the whole 12 weeks (change your program at the end of this time). The third fundamental shift is stop giving yourself excuses. The words "I can't work out right now" needs to leave your body. Pick the schedule that works for you, pick the times, pick the workouts and stick to it. again KISS (keep it simple, stupid) - just pick something and do it. Also, if it's easier for you, bring a log. Most gym noobs don't realize this, but you don't look like a noob because you're carrying around a notepad and writing stuff down. You look like a noob when you wander around aimlessly doing 2 sets of a half-ass workout, moving from one machine to another. Most gym rats respect it when they see a beginner making a deliberate attempt at learning the craft.

My fourth and final recommendation is just freakin' show up. Now that you've picked everything out and customized your own gym schedule, just get in the car - no matter how tired, busy, hung over, blah blah blah, you are and just get to the gym, scan in and get your gym clothes on. I guarantee you just being at the gym will get you psyched up enough to do what you have to do... Oh and please remember to look at yourself in the mirror, gaze for miles into your own eyes and say, yes, I will look sexy as f--k, naked.

Here's my list of lifts - add any variation you want (grip, machine, inside, outside, upside-down, rope, barbell, dumbell, whatever), there's a ton of ways to do these - you can also combine them in whatever days you want. Common ones are chest/tri, back/bi, push/pull, shoulders/legs, quad/ham, leg/abs, chest/shoulder, etc.

Chest	Back	Shoulders	Legs	Arms
Incline dumbell press	Pull ups	Dumbell press	Squats	Arnold curls (bi)
Bench press	Machine pull downs	Military Press	Lunges	Hammer curls (bi)
Decline barbell press	Bent over row	Front raises	Leg press	Reverse curls (bi)
Cable flyes	Dead lifts	Lateral raises	Leg curls	Pull downs (tri)
Wide Dips	Good mornings	Rear delt flye	Leg extensions	Skull crushes (tri)
	Shrugs	Cleans	Calf raises	Dips (tri)
				Close grip bench (tri)

A great teacher shows you how to look, but not what to see

Start on one side of the street and the artist seems like he's cock-eyed and out of his mind, but take a few steps around the corner and you get to see a masterpiece. This shift in perspective can spell out whether or not you get to see a beautiful piece of artwork, or just a waste of paint, chalk and time. If you've been reading my writing, you probably already know where I'm going with this. As 20-something year old's, I think we're already aware that we have very little influence on how the storm can roll through our lives, yet we do have the choice to dance in the rain.

Let's be honest though, for most, learning how to be one way after being another way for so long is an arduous task. It requires steady diligence, sight of goal and an uncompromised strength to achieve... or so we think. I invite you to entertain the thought about the what if. What if it were easy to change? What if it were easy to just wake up one morning and say, "You know what, today I won't hate Mondays". Then think about the "what-if"...what if it weren't so hard to actually know that "what if", doesn't really have to be a "what if".

Matthew 18:2-6 describes how we need to become like children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Having spent my entire life thinking I was growing in 'wisdom', I've realized that with this 'wisdom' comes hard rules and restrictions, mostly created out of the fear of what is to come if and when they are broken. No, you have to act this way because you're a man or No, I don't deserve to be loved -  it all boils down to fear. Fear that if I act a certain way, others will judge me and perceive me a certain way, fear that if I let my walls down and let someone in, I'll just get hurt again. Tough stuff to ingest, I admit, but as I grow as a man, I realize that there are things that should be left in the care of a child.

How easy is it for a child to hug another? How easy is it for a child to smile at the small things and not let a drab morning affect their day? How easy is it for a child to trust that those around them will love them as they should?

What if we could trust like a child, but to trust with the understanding that there is evil in the world and to trust anyway. Then take away the "what if". Let's trust anyway, let's love anyway, let's act without fear of being judged, anyway. How awesome would life be if we could just do this.. and what if we actually did? I won't sit here and tell you that it's easy, or that you won't make mistakes along the way, (Lord knows I have and will) but in order to improve our own qualities of life, we need to see the silver lining in all things, change our thoughts from the glass being half empty to the glass being half full to wow, that's a nice glass I've got.

How to Be Happy

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” - Dr. Seuss

 Follow me. Got your ready bag? Grab it.  Both handles? Lets go.

I am me and you are you. In essence, you comparing yourself to me or me comparing myself to you, we are actually comparing ourselves to ourselves of who we are not. Coincidentally, the idea of being someone else or comparative to someone else simply highlights what we do or do not see in ourselves.

 

I think the quote is a great summation. Facebook posts/statuses, instagram hashtags, epic trip picture albums, check-ins from exotic places of people doing exotic things. This is the reason why people face so many insecurities. It's because we use social media to gauge our own successes against others. but why? It makes no sense.  Any champion will tell you that it's the years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears that no one ever sees is what makes the champion, so why do we constantly wish we were someone else, or harbor a secret jealousy for someone who we perceive is 'doing better' than us in 'life'.

I digress. My post is about a single thing. I've found in my life that I, as much as I truly would like to believe, am not good at everything I do. I am not nearly as handsome, smart, funny, or strong as I think I am - and that's OK. For the longest time, I struggled with trying to define who I was and who I wanted to become. Then it dawned on me, I am who I am and will never be anyone else. It was up to me to be the best person that I know I could become. 

So here it is, my advice to you: Want to be happy? Be you... but always be on the look out on how to be a better you. Is the you of tomorrow better at running? better at your job? predicting stocks? cutting wood? or being a better cook? Whatever you is waiting tomorrow, just remember that that person is dependent on what you do today.

For you.

Dear Hard Work, I love you.

Okay, so I ripped off the name - that's ok. I've been searching and waiting all month to figure out what I wanted to write about for my first topic of this 12-entry New Year's resolution. What better way to start than to write about everyone's favorite one: to lose weight and go to the gym. Well.. not exactly for me. Having gone to the gym 3-5x a week for the past 4 years, my resolution (and for my sanity) ought to be to stay out of the gym, but we all know that's not going to happen.


After watching this video, it made me ask the question - Why do I go to the gym? How and where do I get the motivation each morning to day-in, day-out push myself to the brink of exhaustion? In hindsight, the answer seems so simple now. It's because my body is the way I choose to show the world that I'm still going and life hasn't beaten me down to the point that I can't get up. It's not just about me, it's about an idealogy that was born a long time ago that made me face the stark reality that I'm not able to control anything in my life, but am equally as tasked to be accountable for how I react to it. You see, Hard Work represents something greater than just beeping into the gym and banging out a couple of weights. It represents a journey from point A to point B, and eventually points C and D. It's one of the only things in life that is guaranteed to not happen unless you pour your very heart and soul into it. The human body just isn't built that way - fast gains and quick losses are reverted back as swifly as they come. It's only in running the proverbial and literal marathon with diet, exercise and mental stamina do you realize goals.


I always go back to a place - a not so happy place - when someone talks about the grind. The grind is the place you go to when you have to push that extra rep, run that extra couple of feet, or walk away from that double scoop of extra fudgy volcano brownie goodness. It's somewhere that we all go to test ourselves. It's a place we go to really understand how far we can go -- and then go further. It's weird to those who don't get it, but to those who have achieved this usually grow somewhat addicted to the feeling. One more rep, one more mile, one more .. anything. It's this addiction that I've found that is the driver to my motivation to lead a positive life.


The grind takes me to a place that holds me accountable for the success that I have had and will continue to have. Always counting on Hard Work to go hand-in-hand with self-sustenance... constantly pushing the envelope on how far my body can go, allowing that mental burn to flood into all facets of my life: Worship, work, family, friends, love and wanderlust. After all of the failure, set backs, achievements and success I know I'll have, I can easily agree that the source of motivation has always been that after every day, each morning brings me closer to who I want to become and reminds me to take a look back at who I already am.