Hey everybody
Once again I apologize for my infrequency of blogging. I know I’ve got a message, and I know a handful of you read it but I’ve just been so busy with the opening of my new Personal Training Studio in Parsippany and my new squeeze (well relatively new…about 6 months actually) that it ends up on a long list of priorities and I don’t always have a muse when I sit in front of the computer. Anyways a lots been going on and I do have a lot to talk about but today someone else will be doing the talking as today is a guest post.

As you know I have a very different way of doing things than many out there within the fitness industry so when someone comes along that wants to write for my blog I usually turn them down. However I do give there writing a look to see if it’s congruent with what I want to talk about. So this guy Justin has a blog called Alpha Body Blog and asks me to put up a guest post and sends a link to his writing style. I’m already thinking that I’m going to have to shoot him down but low and behold…someone I agree with. It’s refreshing really. Anyways I also wrote for him which you can check out but here’s his post.

4 Forgotten Factors of Getting Stronger

A big problem most guys face when trying to build an athletic physique is a lack of strength.
In other words, most men are just too weak.
Another issue I often see is that many of the men who are strength training are still missing out on a lot more potential strength.
Even if your goal is to build muscle without regard for strength, if you want an athletic looking, muscular body strength training must come into the equation.

Why You Want to Be Strong
An increase in maximal strength will give your body a denser, more defined appearance. If you stick to only high-rep sets you’ll make your muscles more puffy-looking with low levels of strength.
In this article you’ll discover the most common mistakes that are stopping you from reaching your full strength potential – and what to do about them.
The result? You’ll have denser, harder muscles, a more athletic physique and you’ll even grow some more muscle size.
(I gained nearly 7lbs of muscle in only 21 days. See how by clicking here ==> www.21dayrapidmuscle.com )

Strength Mistake #1: Using Light Weights
The first mistake seems kind of obvious but it seems many guys are missing the point. I regularly see guys in the commercial gyms lifting loads for 10+ repetitions per set.
If you can lift something 10 times, it’s NOT ‘heavy’.
The ideal rep-range for most strength training is 8 reps and under per set. This is the only range in which you’ll stimulate the fast twitch muscle fibres which are responsible for the most growth and the dense appearance.
When you lift heavy weights in this range your muscles become partially contracted so they are ready to lift again in the future. This is what is known as a ‘toned’ appearance, which you don’t get from lifting light weights for more than 10 repetitions per set.
I think a large reason this problem still prevails so much is because of mis-information on the subject of ‘heavy weights’. For example, I was working out this week at a commercial gym, and was doing single-arm dumbbell rows with an 80lb dumbbell. I was performing around 3 – 8 reps per set.
One guy actually came up to me and asked why I was doing it. He said “Isn’t lifting that heavy dangerous?”
As a coach I often get caught up in my own bubble and forget that 99% of other guys still have such misguided beliefs about training. It was a bit of a wake-up call that inspired me to write this article to help you know the truth.

Strength Mistake #2: Avoiding the legs
For years this has been one of the most common mistakes about trainees and one of the biggest reasons most guys never gain the muscle they want.
And still most guys are burying their head in the sand to avoid the dreaded ‘leg day’.
(And no, treadmill running doesn’t count as ‘training the legs’).
I would recommend simply taking the leg exercise you hate the least and make sure you add a few sets into your routine every day. This will help you build the positive habit of training your legs (which are about 60% of your body mass, by the way).
Then, I’d recommend introducing sprints into your routine to really work the fast twitch fibres and give you some awesome leg power and core strength.
As another incentive, remember that strength training for the lower body releases a high amount of growth hormone into your body. This means that you can actually see increases in the size of your upper body muscles by including more leg work.
One last point to remember is that getting your legs stronger helps all your other lifts. Imagine, if your legs were 40% stronger than they are now, how much would your push press, Olympic lifts and sprints improve?

Strength Mistake #3: Too many isolation exercises
I don’t see nearly enough guys using the staple compound exercises that are proven to build the most muscle mass – deadlifts, squats, military presses and pull ups.
If you’ve read a single fitness magazine or decent website article in the last 5 years then I’m positive that you know that these are the exercise you need.
So, why aren’t you doing them yet?
It’s pretty obvious – because you know they are harder.
But when was anything (or anyone) easy worth having?
For some serious gains in strength and size immediately make at least 90% of your program based around compound lifts. You may fill in the last 10% with isolation exercises (although for most guys it’s still a waste of time).
The big compound lifts use your entire body’s muscle mass so that means you can naturally lift far higher loads. Think about it – a bicep curl with 50lbs is nowhere as effective as a pull up with your body.
Yet they are both the same movement – elbow flexion to stimulate the biceps…
If we take two guys, all being equal, and had the first guy perform nothing but pull ups for a year, and the other did nothing but biceps curls, which do you think would have the bigger arms after 12 months?
But beyond that, which would have the most muscle mass packed on all over their body?
If you said the first guy, then well done, you’ve been reading!
The first guy would also have far stronger arms than the guy who did just biceps curls. That means that the pull up guy can now (if he chose to) start performing biceps curls at a far higher load than the second man could.
In other words – the guy who does nothing but pull ups will be able to perform more effective biceps curls than the guy who does biceps curls directly and nothing else!
I hope this has helped you see the importance of big, compound exercises and lifting heavier weights.
Onto the last mistake (which even I missed for a number of years…)

Strength Mistake #4: No neural activation
This mistake is costing you a lot of strength potential. Neural activation isn’t really a new concept in the fitness industry but has only in recent years been applied effectively to strength training.
The most notable pioneers of neural activation training are Chad Waterbury & Christian Thibaudeau. For years, both coaches have advocated the rule of never going to failure on compound lifts, and avoiding grinding reps.
This is because the closer you get to failure on each set, the more your central nervous system is fatigued. Your central nervous system (CNS) is the ‘control hub’ that links all your nerve endings to the muscles in your body. A nerve ending has to generate energy to cause the muscle to contract.
Therefore the more fatigued the nerves become the less your muscles can contract, which causes you to lose strength and endurance on each subsequent repetition.
Strength training is really all about managing fatigue, not seeking fatigue.
What you’ll find once you apply this principle is that by managing your CNS and avoiding fatigue you’ll be able to train with more frequency. In most cases you’ll have no trouble training your full body with compound exercises 4-6 times per week.
This is traditionally how Olympic weight lifting athletes have trained. By performing short, but intense, sessions with high frequency this allows them to get the high volume required for muscle growth and neural efficiency, but without wearing them out.
To apply this principle into your training, simply terminate your set as soon as your rep speed slows.
Perform each repetition with explosive speed to activate more powerful muscle fibres.
You’ll find you’ll have less DOMS overall and can train with more frequency and more energy. Not only that but avoiding CNS fatigue actually increases your recovery rate as an added bonus.

So there you have it – use these strength training tips to unleash your potential. Get stronger, get a harder body, and look (and perform) more like a professional athlete.
Author Bio:
Justin Devonshire is a Men’s Fitness & Conditioning Specialist. He is the author of the 21-Day Emergency Muscle Building Blueprint – a unique workout & diet plan he used to gain 6lbs of muscle in just 21 days.
Click Here for a FREE copy of this program.

I hope you enjoyed his post folks, and if you want to read the one I did for him click here.

Ok
It’s been about 2 weeks since the aftermath of Dave “Iron Tamer” Whitley’s workshop over in Manhattan and now that the dust has settled and the smoke has cleared only the truth of the workhop shall remain…and the truth is that this workshop was EPIC!!!

So anyone that knows me personally and how I work professionally to put it bluntly even though I consider myself a student of the iron game…I know what’s up. A basic workshop wouldn’t impress me and even though Dave and I are friends if I didn’t like the workshop I wouldn’t give it a thumbs up… I would just keep quiet.

So when I go to a workshop, or buy info relating to training or nutrition it has to pass 2 different screens.

Is it applicable to my own training ie, will it make me stronger? Is it something I can use with my clients?

The answer to both questions in this case is “yes”. When it comes to the techniques of strength I like to consider my form pretty well dialed in so if someone is able to pick up something I didn’t, it can potentially be a game changer for both myself and my clients. This happened with both my swings, and my getups. My swings, I wasn’t floating enough. My getups, my stance was too wide which was making me disconnect from my chiseled abs (lol). What does that have to do with my clients? Well one thing that Dave also pointed out was that monkey see monkey do. If my clients are mimicking me then if I do something that’s not optimal, then so will they. It’s a method of training called ideomotor training and if they watch you and your form is good then it will make their form good too. If it’s bad then it will make your form bad too (and that’s another reason you shouldn’t watch the Biggest Loser…it’ll make you a $hittier trainer and athlete through ideomotor training) One thing I also noticed about my own movement was during the primal move stuff, I can’t crawl backwards without seriously thinking about it before hand. Something that came out with my rotary stability test from the FMS. Other things that we covered, using target swings for accurate measurement, using swings along with heart rate to train yourself to provide a panic stimulus in a controlled environment (translates directly to performing strongman stuff)

Now the people in the seminar, well it turns out one of my loyal blog readers was in attendance (yeah you know who you are), there were some advanced trainers some of whom I’m friends with on facebook, and there were some people who had never touched a kettlebell before in their life. Every single person there improved their technique and learned a whole bunch of cool stuff to apply to their own training programs as well as their clients.

The way the subject matter was presented…well I think it’s one of the reasons Dave and I are friends, this stuff is serious stuff but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with it. Dave teaches the stuff with just enough technical jargon to let you know that he’s not just some hick from the sticks that likes to pick up heavy stuff. He’s a very smart dude and it shows with his laid back teaching style. There is a reason he is recognized as a master instructor and for a long time was the most popularly reviewed kettlebell instructor in the former (and true) RKC. I would compare the quality of it to any of the dragondoor workshops that I’ve attended…which is saying A LOT. Dragondoor lost a great instructor there (a long with a lot of other ones including the Chief and yours truly when my time expires…I am strongfirst baby)

And to close off the workshop the two of us did a strongman performance for the attendees. We rolled up frying pans, bent steel bars, nails, horseshoes and I bent steel with my nose (something I save for special occasions only). It was special because it was the opportunity to perform next to the guy that pointed me down the path of the instructor, AND the path of the performing strongman. Strength and awesomeness in stereo.

First things first, happy New Years my blog readers and friends!!!

A while ago there was an infomercial going around about kettlebell training called Kettleworx. I refrained from writing about it partially because it wasn’t worth my time, I didn’t want to bring more exposure to him and because sometimes I am better at writing then others and was saving it. I waited as long as I could and then I saw this video.

Please note it hurts me to put that video up here…physically hurts me, like when I have the beast up overhead…wait no the beast at least brings me pride and joy.

So in this particular video Shanahan is claiming to be a “badass kettlebell trainer” or “kick butt kettlebell trainer” and wishes to be listed as one. Here let me show you what a badass kettlebell trainer is like with some other videos of some true badass kettlebell trainers.
Here is Brett Jones

And here is the Iron Tamer Dave Whitley

That’s the world of badassery where I come from…not that my opinion represents the official opinion of Strongfirst or RKC or any other thing I’m affiliated with…these are my opinions and mine only…and opinions are like @$$holes…they $hit on things.

Anyways despite what makes a true badass trainer isn’t what they can do but what they can get others to do I’ll follow along…Ryan Shanahan if you can perform what I can do…even though you are bigger than I am I’ll give you your props. If you can’t you have to say “I am a tool” on your videos.

Anyways here is the my review of kettleworx.
I managed to get my hands on a copy of kettleworx because one of my clients happened to have one. It was a gift from her husband who in the fog of half sleep saw an infomercial promoting it, knew she liked kettlebell training and bought it for her. Thoughtful guy but he was the victim of marketing…like so many which is one of the things that fuels this blog.

Anyways the last I checked the heaviest kettlebell that kettleworx lists is 25lbs. My girlfriend (she’s new btw…hot and smart too) after training with me just 2 times was using the 26lbs kettlebell for getups and the 44lb one for swings and didn’t bulk up and look like a man like Shanahan claimed a while back…and used kettlebells heavier then the badass Ryan Shanahan.

Anyways my client who gave this to me was using the 53lb kettlebell for getups…more than twice what kettleworx uses. So does kettleworx work? Probably not…even if you can get through the cheese of the video…which brings me to my next point.

Beyond the bad training info, beyond the light kettlebell which btw if the ball weighs as much as the handle defeats the purpose of using a kettlebell…the production is awful. With an annoying grin Shanahan will say something to the effect of “Now we are going to do swings for 60 seconds” which stops after 40 seconds or something to that effect. Thank goodness because those swings are awful and shouldn’t be performed by anyone regardless of how light the kettlebell is.

Now he also claims to have the most popular kettlebell video on youtube…you know how? It’s because the thumbnail that goes along with it has a scantily clad woman on it…which because men tend to be horn dogs automatically generates tons of views.

Now on his website under the frequently asked questions, he says that proper technique is essential to kettlebell training. Well I agree with him here, unfortunately neither he nor his anorexic looking models demonstrates it and with weights to light to generate any kind of reasonable training stimulus. Now admittedly there are different styles to kettlebell training but despite him claiming to be the global leader in kettlebell fitness (b.s.) his technique doesn’t resemble the Strongfirst/RKC technique which is internationally recognized as the gold standard of physical training with kettlebells nor does it resemble AKC or IKFF technique (the gold standards of kettlebell lifting sport). So what makes this guy’s technique correct? Well he claims it so I guess it is /rolls eyes. Remember there is no licensing board when it comes to this stuff and anyone can claim anything on the interwebs.

Anyways it’s difficult to get past the sheer cheesiness of it and I guess he is trying for a new market by trying to make himself seem hardcore or whatever… I find it hard to think of anyone as hardcore when they are doing rowing in a video and saying things like “uh oh there’s a shark, we have to go faster”. Well I suppose hardcore is something that can be claimed…if it’s earned but it takes more to be a badass then wearing mma style shorts with a skull on it and having a dummy wearing a ski mask in your garage.

So Shanahan, are you going to rise to the challenge?

Now one of my resolutions for the year is to provide an alternative instead of just criticizing. You know to actually provide something of value instead of just trashing something. So, since the market was originally for fat loss, and now for becoming a “badass” I’ll refer you to another badass kettlebell trainer by the name of Geoff Neupert.

Geoff Neupert has a kettlebell fat loss product named kettlebell burn and it realigned how I design my programs. He has a section specifically dedicated to strength and it will make you stronger and the fat falls off faster.

If you need 20 minute workouts he has another one called kettlebell express (sorry I don’t have the link but I do have the ebook). I’ll admit I haven’t field tested express like I did burn but I know Geoff, I trust Geoff and I know his stuff delivers as promised. He’s a coach first and and internet marketer second which is more than I can say for most people promoting via the net.