Lance Goyke's Blog

Lat recruitment during deadlifts

2011-07-31T20:34:00.004-04:00

After seeing a video on the RTS forum of some deadlifts, I noticed that the puller's biggest problem was that he wasn't using his lats to his advantage.

I thought simply telling him this would be enough, but alas, I was wrong. He said he really doesn't know how to turn them on when he deadlifts. After doing some thinking, it really doesn't surprise me. There are so few people who talk about coaching in general that it's no wonder the topic of lat recruitment never came up.

I'm going to show you what it looks like to have your lats on and off, outline the benefits of using your lats in your pulls, as well as how to get yourself and your clients in the right position.

"How Can I Tell if I'm Engaging My Lats?"

The easiest thing to look for is the bar drifting forward. Obviously, you'll need a video camera or a coach for this one. If you're experienced, you may be able to just feel it.

However, the bar won't always drift forward without lat recruitment, at least to an extent that is visible. This is where you examine their shoulder position and look for tension in the lats. You'll be able to tell fairly quickly whether or not a person is using their lats to their advantage or not.

Let's start with a video.

The first rep is to show what it looks like to pull without your lats activated.
The second rep shows the lats activated.

Now pay very close attention, because it's hard to see in this video. That's why I chose to use it, however. I want you guys to know that mistakes aren't always screaming out loud to pay attention to them. Sometimes they are very subtle.

Watch the bar in the first rep. It immediately comes out in front as I'm trying to get it to break the floor. This happens very quickly.

If you have trouble seeing it, try staring at the end of the bar rather than at my hands.*

Also on this note, you can use a video analysis software such as Kinovea or Vernier Video Physics to track the bar's path.

Now, watch it again and pay attention to my back position. It's very subtle, but you can see slight instability at the T-L junction, which doesn't seem like a big deal until you remember that only 176 lbs is on that bar.

Now keep your eyes on my back a look at the position right before I initiate the pull. Thoracic spine = kyphotic.

The last thing to examine on this first rep is my spine position at the top when I finish the rep. My spinal curve is excessive and my back is swayed.

Now check those things on the second rep.

My shoulders are very obviously in a much better position.

The bar does NOT come out in front and actually travels back. This shows the bar staying close to my center of mass.

My spine looks WAY better, eliminating the instability, excessively kyphotic curve, and the swayback finish.

Benefits of Engaging the Lats

The most obvious benefit is that the bar stays close to your center of gravity. To spare you from most of the biomechanics of it, I'll just say that when the bar is further out in front of you, it feels heavier than it actually is.

Then there's the very important fact that the lats connect to the spine! Turning these muscles on gives stability to the spine.

There is also fascia interwoven throughout your body that also accomplishes spinal stability.

If it wasn't apparent already, these things mentioned above are going to make your pull way stronger.

This will work especially well for those of you, like myself, who have trouble off the floor rather than at lockout.

To spin off of keeping the bar close is that it's going to allow you to use more of your hamstring strength (or build it if you don't already have it!).

When the bar manages to drift out in front of you, there's a big issue with balance. Those big leg muscles, such as your quadriceps and hamstrings, want to pick that heavy ass weight up off the ground. When the bar gets away from you, however, those muscles end up getting used to keep you from falling over instead of getting you strong.

"How Can I Recruit My Lats?"

By now it is obvious that you want your lats working during your pulls, but you're wondering about the answer to the above question.

If you have a coach or training partner, as you ideally have, have them keep their eyes on you. Most people will be able to tell if you're doing it wrong, at least after they've seen it done correctly.

Then, try the cues in the following video.

Now, AT's pull isn't perfect, but his set up position gets WAY better after I cue him to turn his lats on (he never does).

In the first cue, you place your hands behind the bar by the client's shin ask him or her to push their arms into your hands.

In the second cue, you place your fingers at their armpits, asking them to pinch your fingers.

Another cue that is less hands on is to tell them to "keep the bar close" or "pull the bar into you", but I've found this method is slightly less successful.

All of these cues will bring the bar back towards their center of mass if the client understands them.

If you don't have a partner or coach to help you, don't fret just yet.

In this video, Aaron Cunanan demonstrates a great way to cue your own lats to turn on by rolling the shoulders over first, then correcting by going the complete opposite direction.

Go Pick Up that Bar!

Hopefully this helped clear up the confusion on engaging the lats. You now know what it looks like, how it's going to help you, and how to fix it. As soon as I started paying closer attention to my lat involvement in my pulls, my back felt WAY better, and I'm sure it will for you.

As always, let me know if you have questions.

Thanks!

Lance Goyke
ljgoyke@iupui.edu
http://www.cafepress.com/Liftees

*This method of diagnosis doesn't always work for everyone, but it will work for the purposes of our lesson.

A quick update

2011-07-20T21:31:00.002-04:00

So, to keep all one of my fans in the loop, I'd like to let everyone know about a few updates going on.

First, I'm working at IFAST on a regular basis now. Nothing else to say but "SWEEEEET".

Second, I've been slowly working on moving the blog to an actual website! I'm super excited to do this, but I'm trying to build up some good content for a launch. It will be up before the end of the year.

Last, I've got a pretty time-consuming class going on, so my free time is being allotted to that more than it is to writing content for the new site. This is why things are going slow.

The good news is that when the new site launches, there will be a bunch of new stuff for you guys!

I'll leave you with a picture for the treadmillers out there.

Take care!

Lance

Daniel Tosh's workout to get ready for a show

2011-06-13T10:45:00.009-04:00

First and foremost, let's get one thing straight: I like to laugh. It's even pretty easy to make me laugh. Given this fact, it's no surprise that I am into Comedy Central's hit show Tosh.0.

Daniel Tosh is a hilarious human being. He's been riding this whole "internetz" thing out pretty well, even using Twitter as an outlet to communicate with his fans. Check out this tweet I saw him post last week:

The first thing I did was laugh. Finally! That horrible posture of his has caught up to him. I then experienced a moral dilemma in that I was cheering for someone else's pain, but quickly realized that he gets away with borderline murder on his show, and now my conscience is clear.

Then of course, I had a strong urge to diagnose him (in 140 characters, no less).

Now, obviously, I'm not a doctor. Something else could be going on, and he should get it checked out.

Assuming this had already happened, however, how would I train him? We're going to base our "assessment", which in this case is lackluster at best, on watching him move on television. Here's an example...

NSFW! Beware, this video contains three spoken F words! It also features Daniel with his shirt off, revealing a little more about his posture and giving us a better idea of what he's got going on.

Tosh.0

Tuesdays 10pm / 9c

Big Muscle Guy

tosh.comedycentral.com

Tosh.0 Videos

Daniel Tosh

Web Redemption

The first thing that jumps out at me is the positioning of his ribs.

As we can see towards the video, his infrasternal angle is HUGE! It's actually one of the biggest that I've seen (no homo) in my very limited time examining human bodies.

A rough outline of my infrasternal angle

What does this mean? It's safe to say he needs to work on his external obliques as they are the muscles responsible for pulling those ribs back together. Fixing this and only this may actually eliminate the pain he described. Wall Press Abs would be an example of a good exercise to include in his program.

But that isn't a full assessment, so keeping our eyes where they are, we should realize that his infrasternal angle is very easy to determine due to his pronounced rib flare.

What does this mean? His diaphragm is being used for posture instead of respiration and his ribs are stuck in a position of inhalation. His rib cage needs to be put in a position where he can effectively use it. The internal obliques and transverse abdominis are the best muscles for achieving this "zone of apposition", so those need to be added to the list. Wall Press abs will also train these muscles, as will something like a Half Kneeling Cable Chop.

A key to performing his abdominal work is to completely exhale and then pause for a second before inhaling again. This will help him position his rib cage correctly by turning on his abdominal musculature.

Another thing to note about Daniel is that his scapulae are all over the place. His upper traps and pecs do ALL of the stabilzing of the shoulder girdle as is evident in this video.

What does this mean? He needs shoulder stability. This means serratus anterior, lower trap, and middle trap work: a lot of pulling (chin ups, inverted rows, etc...) as well as some push ups. I would also include a Push Up Plus in his dynamic warm up as well as some Shoulder ITY's in the activation portion of his warm up and/or towards the end of his program.

A point worth mentioning about the push ups is they actually attack BOTH of these goals. The abdominals must resist extension of the spine and the shoulder girdle must be stabilized throughout the movement and protracted at the top.

Now, as a television star, it's hard to address his lower body as it's seemingly non-existant on camera, so we'll leave that out for this post. However, it is a very important part of the assessment process and should not be forgotten in a real-life evaluation.

To sum up the evaulation process, here's a visual aid. Don't mind the white space, it's just there to make sure you're paying attention :)

Findings	Weakness	How to strengthen
Wide infrasternal angle	External obliques	Wall Press Abs
Rib flare	Abdominal musculature	Half Kneeling Cable Chop
Scapular instability	Serratus anterior, mid/low trap	Push ups, pulling

Tell Daniel that I'll finish his program when he's ready to make some changes.

Lance Goyke
ljgoyke@iupui.edu
lancegoyke.blogspot.com
www.cafepress.com/Liftees

Don't get thrown ON THE GROUND!

2011-06-06T17:56:00.008-04:00

First off, a little announcement: I will be writing more. And, likely, the writing will be of something useful. I would appreciate you infecting the internet with my word like a virus, but only if you feel the content is worth reposting. Without further ado, here's a blurb on coaching.

During our training session over the weekend, I happened to randomly conjure up a few new cues.

As you may know, it is of utmost importance that your programming address stability in all planes.

To consider why you should train frontal plane stability, imagine your favorite contact sport. If someone attacks you from the side, frontal plane stability will keep you up and moving on. If you lack it, you'll be thrown on the ground like a phone in a Lonely Island video. You can't trust the system.*

If that joke lost you, watch this video after you're done reading this post.

Moving on, the scenario involved Pete, a new intern at IFAST, and his 12" step ups. His concentric (the stepping up) looked great, but he would "sag" into his working hip as he lowered himself back down.

Apparently, everybody on Google Images calls it the "Coronal Plane" instead.

So first I had to ask myself, "What are the options to make this look better?" I can either coach him out of his mistake, or we regress the exercise. Always try to coach them out of their mistakes first, and regress them only if you are unsuccessful. A lot of things come into play here, such as the client's mobility, stability, and overall athleticism. Pete comes from a highly athletic background, so his capacity to control his movement will be much greater than the hypothetical housewife who has never played a sport in her life.

Next, I examined the problem asking myself, "What movements are happening?" His "sagging" caused adduction of the right hip, and a lengthening of the left ab wall, among other things. Now there are many possible causes for this, such as weak left obliques, overactive right quadratus lumborum, or weak right hip abductors. It's important not to get caught up in muscles and instead focus on the movement when coaching. This is why the fitness industry has adopted the adage "train movements, not muscles". The success ratio is much higher when evaluating movement.

After determining that, I decided we should try to get his trailing leg some stability and maybe that would clear things up. Luckily (or not), the problems went away and his movement looked much better.

I came up with the following two cues to improve frontal plane stability in Pete's step up.

Tapping the trailing leg's heel. This is good for cuing the glutes to turn on.
Pulling on the trailing leg itself. This is good for getting the left ab wall to turn on, as well as promoting a "suction" motion of the hip into the acetabulum (the socket).

Both seemed to work quite well, according to my eyes (a.k.a. Zach Moore). I would venture to guess that giving him an offset load of, say, 8kg in his right hand would also reflexively fix his stability, and that's what we're going to try next time.

One last point to address is the offset loading I just discussed. Why would we want to do that when the other cues have already worked?

Less coaching intensive. With these two cues, I was behind Pete, pulling on his leg or tapping his heel, while Zach stood in front of him looking for a change. 2 trainers to 1 client is not a favorable ratio for making money and utilizing your time efficiently. Similarly, if the offset load works, he may not even need a coach for the most part.
Adding a load. Our main goal with Pete is to groove the correct motor patterns before overloading him. 8kg is a very moderate load that will not tax the strapping young lad much at all, but it will introduce another factor for his body to combat.
Did I mention you don't have to coach him anymore?

That's all I have for you today, but I've heard through the grapevine that Zach Moore has a blog coming up that will really dial home the idea of frontal plane stability, so be sure to keep an eye out for that. The dude continually puts out great content.

Until next time, happy training!

Lance

Clothing company is LIVE!

2011-06-01T23:59:00.002-04:00

I just wanted all of my dedicated readers to know that my clothing company is officially LIVE!

Check out the shop to see all of the designs!

There's also a Facebook page which is basically the website. I'd like to see some pictures of you guys in the shirts up there! Just upload a picture to your Facebook and tag "Liftees".

Hope you guys like it!

Lance

A Little Coaching... The Return of Neutral Spine

2011-05-23T10:46:00.006-04:00

A friend of mine at Powr Performance up in Michigan asked me to critique his snatch grip deadlift over the weekend. I didn't count, but I think there were about 73 "snatch" laughs in total from his Facebook friends.

The video.

He went on to pull 500# later that day.

Sounds like a roundabout task, but this is the novel I sent back to him:

Hopefully you don't hate me after this, but I think it's a pretty thorough response...

You're right about the hips shooting up fast. You can see the bar travel back into you a lot when you initiate the pull to further illustrate this. Since you only need to pick it up, I would consider horizontal movement a waste of energy. Forewarning, if you keep your hips down when you try to pull, you're going to notice that your quads aren't up to the challenge and the weights will have to be lowered.

It's easiest to fix this by imagining during the first pull (from the ground to the knees) keeping the angle your torso makes relative to the floor the same until you clear your knees, then bring your butt through. If the angle gets smaller, you'll put more stress on your back, and if the angle gets bigger, you won't lift it because you'll run into your knees.
Note from Lance: if this doesn't make sense to everyone, I can surely film a video of what I mean, just let me know!

Finish the lift with your butt and get those hips through. You want this movement (and all others as well) to come from your hips, not your low back, so think about finishing tall. If you arch back too much, I would have someone hold their hand behind you at a normal lockout position and tell you not to bump into it. Technically, I wouldn't call those pulls as being the full lift because you're hips never really come all the way through.

Having said that, you're not the first person this has ever happened to. I can't even extend my hips, so it may not be physically possible to lock it out, but more effort can at least be given. Other famous people to not quite lock out incredible deadlifts include Andy Bolton and Eric Cressey. For meet purposes, it doesn't matter, but if you're just training to be healthy, I would work towards a full lockout.

When you bring the bar back down, it really drifts forward. I would try to slide it down your thighs a little more.

The big one in my eyes would be spinal position. You may not have a history of injury back pain, but I wouldn't want you to start! Additionally, you may not have the mobility or motor control to really do snatch grip pulls from the floor, in which case I would suggest you just elevating the bar (blocks/plates are better, but rack pins would also work).

I can say, after being at Elite, that I think I know the way most of the big lifts should be done. I was telling Jordan, but I did NOT pick up much from those big, strong dudes in a coaching aspect, but it DID reaffirm the way I was doing things. I swear my back hurt after five minutes with Kroc and Mike Harris. Then Harris came up to MR afterwards and said he was in pain and wanted to be fixed, which made me feel like less of a know-it-all, whiny bitch. They may be able to tolerate the added stress, but I can not by any means and I'm pretty sure it's not lifting heavy that jacks them up so much as it is HOW they lift. Overall, I think if you know basic biomechanics (muscles that aren't used for stabilizing can be used for moving instead) and spinal health, you can be a fantastic coach.

So, to move on, I feel stronger in the neutral spine position (Charlie Weingroff is a big proponent of this as well), which includes NECK position. I think this may have something to do with how the fascia is arranged when you're in this position, but that's completely hypothetical. I just helped Mike Robertson with a couple videos on the topic which will teach you way better than I could put into words.

Neutral Spine

Neutral Neck

Mike really simplifies things and makes it easy to learn. If you want a more in depth look at whether or not to train with a neutral neck, I would direct you to a blog post Charlie did. After all, most people don't seem to have cervical spine injuries, though I would keep in mind that having the neck out of position can also help contribute to "tension" headaches. He's strong as hell, so it might hold more worth than if it came from myself. Plus, MR suggests it, and that dude pulls like 540#.

"Packing in the Neck" by Charlie Weingroff

And I'll end with something fun to watch: http://youtu.be/8Eg8EPU2bBM

The Karnes Shake Challenge!

2011-03-02T14:10:00.008-05:00

Hopefully by now, many of you are aware of Chase Karnes. He's a smart dude who really "gets it" when it comes to this fitness stuff.

He's jakt and tan, too, bro. That's got to count for something.

Cutting to the chase, Sir Karnes (yes, I just mentally knighted Chase) has put out a couple shake recipes to help others achieve their goals. Two of these shakes are for weight gaining purposes, and both are over 1000 calories!

Side bar: Extra points to you if you laughed at the pun in that last paragraph.

After trying out the deliciousness of Chase's second concoction, I have decided that this weekend will be the first ever Karnes Shake Challenge in celebration of the Arnold Sports Festival which is taking place in Columbus, Ohio at the same time.

The Challenge:

Drink one of the two Karnes shakes whilst in the hole of a bodyweight squat.

Extra credit points will be passed out to those who have a unique kicker, setting them apart from everyone else (e.g. one dumbbell in non-drinking hand, outside in the rain, etc...). I STRONGLY encourage you to get creative, because I'm looking to get a laugh out of at least one of these video responses.

I want everyone to upload their videos of them completing (or better yet, failing) the challenge to the internet and leave the link as a comment to this post by Monday, March 7th.

We're also going to use this as an opportunity to raise awareness about blood cancers and support the Lift Strong community. Alwyn Cosgrove has done a great thing starting the Lift Strong project, and Dave Tate also has a whole line of apparel over at Elite Fitness Systems.

If you don't own either the CD, or any apparel, this would be a good excuse to finally get some.

Keep in mind that all the proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Here are the shake recipes:

Karnes Shake #1
Karnes Shake #2

Now go upload your videos!

It's nice to see kids getting active when the street is ice.

2011-02-01T14:13:00.001-05:00

Which came first?

2010-12-23T13:38:00.003-05:00

Which came first: the movement or the pain?

This is a question you need to ask in order to figure out where your client's pain is coming from. We don't want to simply treat the symptoms. If we don't eliminate the cause, then the symptoms won't stay gone after we treat them.

I shot two videos the other day to help explain myself.

The first is a simple overhead reach, and it's pretty easy to see the compensation.

The first rep is more proper. The scapula is effectively upwardly rotating to help elevate the arm. There are other movements at work, but we're going to keep it simple.
The second rep is highly compensatory. Look closely and try to determine what you see. There is compensation evident by elevation of the scapula, as well as lateral flexion of the thoracic spine.

The second video may be a little more difficult to see, so I tried to exaggerate the compensation for your eyes.

The first rep is a mostly "proper" [albeit extrememly weak] hip abduction.
The second rep shows the compensatory pattern. Again, look and try to determine what is happening.

There is lateral flexion of the lumbar spine. There's a compensation.

And something else isn't right. The hips are rolling back, somewhat like the pelvis is "opening up" towards the ceiling...

Yes. This means that the hips are deviating into FLEXION, not remaining in extension. This takes the load off of our target muscle (gluteus medius) and places it on a muscle which is often overused (tensor fascia lata).

Let me say that again. The opening of the pelvis changes the position of the hip joint.

The ultimate lesson here is to realize that the pain often comes from the faulty movement, not the other way around.

So if you've got a lady who comes to you and says she has shoulder pain when she cooks, see what she looks like when she's reaching up to the top cabinet for plates. If it looks compensatory, teach her how to move correctly. These situations are why the coaching is half of the benefit your clients receive.

Any questions or comments, please feel free to send them my way.

Rethinking the origin and insertion points

2010-12-18T22:10:00.004-05:00

Pectoralis major (sternal head)

Think about this muscle with me for a second. What are the actions of this muscle?

Internal rotation
Horizontal adduction
Flexion
Extension
Adduction

All of these are occurring at the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint.

But wait a minute. Let's think about positioning. You may notice two antagonistic movements on that list, namely flexion/extension. No srsly dats freal. You may be thinking something slightly resembling the following picture:

But either movement is entirely possible given the right conditions, which in this case would mean positioning of the arm. If your arm is overhead, your pec can pull it down (extension), or when your arm is at your side your pec can pull it up (flexion).

That is why we need to rethink the origin and insertion sites as ATTACHMENT sites.

The actions I have listed above are what you learn in school. I took them right out of my notes from the anatomy class I took.

But let's take it a step beyond what you learn in school...

Reconsider positioning. Instead of the arm overhead, what if the arm was FIXED? Completely still. Locked down. What then would move during the shortening of the muscle?

Answer: The rib cage.

Some may say this isn't possible, but if you've ever felt a rib cage, it is VERY movable.

The arm is fixed, so it pulls the sternum closer to that arm. This affects the position of the rib cage, and ultimately can affect many of the things connected to it.

And [sarcasm alert] surprisingly, it comes down the breathing. The pec can open up one side of the rib cage to allow more air to fill the lung. As you can imagine, some pretty nasty postural adaptations can come from this.

Ultimately, I would like you to not get locked into the notion that the insertion point has to be the one to move. The "origin" and "insertion" are both simply attachment sites for a muscle.

Let us begin.

2010-12-02T09:25:00.004-05:00

A little introduction: Isa is probably the best online client EVAR. She had some questions to ask, and I wanted to throw some of them up on the blog in case someone else is asking these questions as well.

Sticking points. Does all exercises have a sticking point? How can I define it? Is it when a new group of muscles "take over"?
A sticking point the portion of the lift which you have the most trouble. Assuming you technique is solid, if you went for a personal record, you would either slow down or fail at that range.
A new group of muscles seems to imply a different movement, so no. Although, the nervous system will be firing every muscle fiber that it can at those sticking points.

What is internal/external rotation? I know I'm doing ER in one exercise, but I still don't really understand what internal and external means. Hips, knees, ankles, shoulders, elbows, wrists? What rotation does your neck do? universal rotation?!
Internal/external rotation is the movement of twisting along an axis, either towards the midline (internal) or towards the outside (external). So when you're doing External Rotation on Knee, you're actually internally rotating AND externally rotating, but the external rotators are the only ones being loaded.
The neck is part of the spine, and twisting is generally just considered "rotation", which you can specify by saying to the left or right.

What are spinal movements called? Like if you twist it, flex it, extend it, bend it to the sides etc..
Flexion (bend forward), extension (arch backward), lateral flexion (side bend), or rotation. These movements are also very commonly found being performed simultaneously, such as extension and rotation.

What's that I'm doing to my hips again? When I sit my knees fall to the left, and I'm trying to always put them to the right instead. (It doesn't hurt but..) It is very uncomfortable to do so, unless I put my whole pelvis at an angle (which means my spine moves too). Is there anything I can do for this? The left hip is more sensitive. How do I know if this is a flexibility or mobility issue? If it's none of them, then what is it?
I don't think the blog people are QUITE ready for this yet.

What's Type I and Type II a/b muscle fibers? Golgi tendon organs? Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy?
Type I fibers are slow-twitch muscle fibers. They are good at taking in oxygen and don't fatigue very easily.
Type II fibers a fast-twitch muscle fibers. They are good at growing up to be big and strong.
Type II/B fibers fatigue very easily. Type II/A fibers bridge the gap between Type I and Type II/B, fatiguing less easily than Type II/B fibers.

Why are my ankles so unstable? (Don't just answer they're weak, give me more). Although I did the whole workout yesterday barefoot and I didn't think about the feet once !
The most probable answer is that it has nothing to do with your ankles, but actually further up the kinetic chain, in your HIPS. I've seen your photos, and those weak hips will affect everything below it (hello knee pain, so nice to see you again). Your hips need to be stronger at externally rotating to keep your knees out and your feet supinated in lifting and gait patterns.

Obliques? Lordosis?
There are two oblique muscles in the abdomen. The internal and external. They have tremendous control over how stable your pelvis is, which helps keep your hips healthy and helps your produce force in the floor. They partly contribute to posterior pelvic tilt. When they're inhibited, however, you'll be set in anterior pelvic tilt (yes, that means you, Isa) which drives the lower back to increase it's curve into more lordosis.

And also, is it possible not to love this picture?
I love you.

Thanks for the awesome workout yesterday! It was really sweet!
I expect more video feedback!

Laters!
Laterz.

PRI FTW YAY!

2010-11-28T18:32:00.004-05:00

I was recently reminded of some good times of my life, and the Postural Restoration Institute really helped those times because learning is fun (NERD ALERT).

Then, I found myself explaining the natural asymmetry we find in almost everybody, where the left inominate of the pelvis is anteriorly tipped, pushed forward, and shifts to the right. This causing the weight of the body to constantly be on the right leg, along with many other tidbits (like the right hip being internally rotated all of the time and it's accompanying weakness of posterior gluteus medius and gluteus maximus).

So now it's time to introduce the corrective stance picture:

The stance on the left is the asymmetrical stance we find in so many people, and the stance on the right is the opposite stance for the correction of this naturally asymmetrical pattern. In PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) terms, we want to get out of the Left Anterior Interior Chain (L AIC) pattern and into a Right Anterior Interior Chain (R AIC) pattern.

I'll keep it short now and try not to steal everything they have (yeahrightlancethatisimpossibleHOLYEXERCISEINDEXBATMAN), but I would expect to seem some new information about breathing coming soon to a computer screen near you.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

A parting clip for a VERY small taste of it. This man is one of the best teachers I've ever learned from.

Myokinematic Restoration from Postural Restoration Institute on Vimeo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T13:26:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

My boss, mentor, and good friend Mike Robertson had a nice, sentimental "what I'm thankful for" post today, and it got me thinking about what I'm thankful for:

Mentors. To those whom I know either personally or mentally. I've been reading other people's stuff for about five years now, and I can say that I've truly learned a lot from everyone.
Mentors++. Mike and Bill deserve a category of their own. You guys have done so much for me (and put up with so much of my shenanigans). I can honestly say I would be nowhere without you guys.
Food. Without you, this day would be dismal at best.
Sleep. Without you, being off of work wouldn't feel so good.
Past summer friends. To all of you who left me at the end of this past summer (Kyle, Eric, Joe, Liz, and Kelly... in no particular order, although I'm sure the girls will beg to differ :D). Some great times, some perspective of the world, plenty of knowledge bombs (PRI FTW), and a chance to spread what I know to you in return. I miss all of you bastards.
Little Stevie. You keep me going, man. Don't let us bring you down when we're not feeling it (in the gym or otherwise). Keep that intensity cranked to 14 and rip off the knob.
Clients. Everyone I've helped whom I can see have changed noticeably. You make this life make sense. I guarantee I'm more grateful to you than you'd think.
The Interwebz. Without you, it would be very hard for me to spread my words.

Lastly, I'd like to mention I'm thankful for myself. This may seem to scream "EGOMANIAC", but let me explain. I'm happy with where I'm at and the progress I have made. I don't feel the need to use Lent or the New Year as an excuse to get something done, I just decide to do it. Ultimately, this boils down to my parting question:

Why put something off when it can help you now?

Keep It Simple

2010-10-26T16:08:00.003-04:00

Today will be short and sweet on the information.

Too many people get caught up in the minutia, and this is especially true on the diet front of fitness.

What if this apple spikes my insulin before bed?

The real question is: who cares?

I need to get my eight servings of vegetables in today!

How about you just eat a lot of vegetables?

This is why the basics are so important. Don't worry about the specifics until you're trying to get down to 5% body fat, and even then, pay someone else to worry about them! Physiology of diet is such a tremendously broad topic, it would take years upon years to understand all of it!

Eat less. Still not losing weight? Eat less.

For my sanity, keep it simple, folks. Please.

BENCH TIME!

2010-10-17T21:14:00.003-04:00

In this gym this Thursday, a contest was declared.

Steve Gabrielsen, Mike Robertson, and I are now in a race to the first 315# bench press in the gym.

I may have to move my bench days to Mondays.

I know you're thinking two things.

"You don't bench on Mondays?"
"Wait, why would you move it to Monday?"

My response to the first is that I need to combat my inner bro. Then, assuming you're getting a proper deload scheduled in your program, the second is a logical concept so it should be easy to understand: you're nervous system (you know, the one in charge of how strong you are) is more primed and ready on Mondays.

Think about it from our IFAST perspective. Each week has a varying optimal intensity level. Usually one is an 8/10, one is a 9/10, one is a 6/10, and one is a 10/10. I don't care what you say, you cannot go balls out every week. You WILL become burnt out (or overtrained, or your CNS will fatigue... whatever you'd like to call it).

Let's say the deload week (the 6/10 week) has just ended and you're starting the 10/10 week. Now it's time to ramp up the intensity, and you've just had a whole week of "rest" for your central nervous system and it's primed and ready to go.

If your goals are specific [AS THEY SHOULD BE ALREADY] set your biggest goal at the start of your training week.

Why don't you do cardio?

2010-09-29T15:08:00.004-04:00

Today's post is simply a quote that sums up my feelings. I would love to tell all of our professors this one. The rest of the post can be found here.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m just a biased strength coach who just wants women to lift weights and nothing else. You’re not that far off, actually. Listen, I understand that there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and that strength training is just a piece of the equation - albeit a VERY big piece. I just know what works. And I know that given a choice, people are going to end up doing what’s easy, and what they’re good at. For most, this entails lots of reps with low weight followed by who knows how many hours on the elliptical trainer.

Coincidentally, the above protocol generally leads to a smaller, weaker, softer version of your original self. Not always, just 99.99% of the time. Conversely, take someone out of their comfort zone - lift some heavy things, add in some metabolic training, beat the snot out of stuff, hit things - and good things start happening to the tune of more lean muscle, less body fat, and arms, shoulders, and an upper back that are going to look fantastic in that strapless wedding gown."
-Tony Gentilcore a.k.a. The Fucking Man

Look at how tall he's staying. Woo!

On a side note, when you Google Images search his name, the results are a bunch of pictures of hot chicks.

Lift weights, guys. TTFN. Tah tah for now.

The Health of a Nation

2010-09-10T17:36:00.003-04:00

I typed this up for my local newspaper, and since it hasn't gotten any air time, I decided I would post it up online because I think it's an important issue, even though the writing may be a little sketch :) Hopefully you enjoy!

The Health of a Nation

While conversing with a fellow fitness enthusiast (thanks Stephanie!), I was reminded of the country’s poor state of health. As you may know, two-thirds of our population is overweight or obese. Of private sector workers, those in the US take 11 sick days a year on average (private sector, larger companies). The UK on average had about 6 sick days a year (private sector). Similarly, Germany averaged about 7
sick days. Oddly enough, we are the only industrialized nation that does not have a law for minimum employment leave from work, seemingly because each person is already sick often enough throughout the year to get plenty of leave from work.

These numbers are boring and not necessarily a true representation, so I’ll get back to health. One of the most fascinating things about eating healthy foods is the way they make you feel. Accompany that with some daily activity and you’ll feel like a new person. Guaranteed.

Now I’m not sure if you’re aware of this fact, but the country is having a bit of a health crisis. [Sorry, a warning label should be required for sarcasm that heavy.] Everybody is concerned with how our money is being spent. Health care is expensive for a country this big. So what do we do?

The answer is simple: educate. If our youth actually learned something about being healthy (smart stuff, not the garbage that’s being taught now in grade schools and colleges), can you begin to imagine the improvements we could make? The productivity each person could experience? The money companies would stop losing because of sick days? The money each family wouldn’t have to spend on obesity- related sickness?

Did you know that type II diabetes, one of the most common diseases in the country, is completely preventable and sometimes even reversible? Other preventable diseases are stroke, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, lung disease, and, to a lesser extent, cancer. What would you rather do: live sickly and spend your extra money on insulin and visits to the doctor’s office, or live healthy and spend your extra money on real food?

Sorry for ranting and blowing your freaking minds. It’s just some food for thought (pun totally intended). Now I have to wonder… can anybody make this happen?

The information algorithm

2010-09-05T23:58:00.003-04:00

This just may be my first original thought ever, but please humor me.

I'm reading on FLZine.com (Leigh is a super intelligent chick) and I'm reading about a forum argument where the subject accuses Jonathan Fass (Jon is awesome, for those who don't know) of using intelligent sounding words to confuse the person he's debating with.

Now what I'm about to explain has been brewing in the back of my mind for a while, but think about this:

Simple learning --> technical learning --> technical teaching --> simple teaching

Think of the process we go through when learning. First, we need to be talked to like a child if the subject is complex enough, because we just don't understand much of anything about it. We need a way to vaguely grasp the concept; we need a frame of reference.

Second, we really start to understand what's going on. We know the basic vocabulary, and we use it. If you've ever learned a lot about one subject, you know that all of those vocab words you had to learn way back when were there for a reason: they are the best way to accurately describe what you're talking about.

Third, we start to understand well enough to teach. As you may have heard before, teaching is the best way to remember something. You have to comprehend a subject in a broad enough sense to be able to figure out where your student is failing. All of those big words are fresh in our minds and we use them because they're more descriptive. As a said before, they are the best way to accurately describe what you're talking about.

Fourth, we have gotten used to teaching the complicated way. We start to really figure out what concepts are harder to grasp, and where simplifying helps. We learn which "normal people" words can substitute the complex ones, and then figure out how to teach anybody of any skill level.

The reason Jon was using big words was because the antagonist had used them prior, insinuating that he had a broad knowledge base. He had qualified himself to "hang with the big boys."

I'm calling it the information algorithm. That name came up within two seconds, so I'm sure it'll be revised if I decide to make an ebook. ;)

And so it begins...

2010-08-21T16:48:00.003-04:00

Monday will be the first day of my internship at IFAST.

Things I'm worried about:

Not conducting myself well. I'm a bit of a clown; sometimes too often.
Irritating the boss man. Got to keep dad happy, you know?
Being absolutely horrible at coaching. This one's completely true, but I'm hoping it'll get better.
Forgetting to write down the things I learn. I've got my notebook, and I'm making an index, so it shouldn't happen.
Being late. I'm notorious for being late to everything. More specifically and frightening, forgetting to set my alarm.
Really messing something or someone up, making other people cover my tracks.
Hurting feet or hips or knees (or shoulders, as long as we're naming off joints that suck).
Misunderstanding what I'm supposed to be doing
Seeing mistakes that aren't there and getting hung up on fixing them.
Having the life force sucked out of me by the one class that I'm taking.
Running out of money. I don't have a lot, plus I won't be getting any income. And I have to drive downtown twice a week.
Learning too much. Hahahahaha. I'm funny. Seriously though, I may become too smart for my own good. With great power comes great responsibility.

God, I HATE this band

2010-08-09T10:29:00.004-04:00

I know it's been a while, but I've got a nice quote for everyone from one of my favorite musicians. It heavily exceeded Facebook's character limit, so I assume it's good material to put up on the blog?

It does not deal with fitness at all, but it does go over a topic and viewpoint that has recently come to my mind and hit home with me, thanks to my good friend Eric Oetter.

"It breaks my heart when I see kids flipping their middle fingers and cussing at bands while they are onstage. Man, this band isn’t metal enough. Where are the breakdowns? This band screams too much. This band doesn’t scream enough. Blah, blah, whine, whine. If you are listening to music simply to look cool then do us all a favor and get lost. And here is a crazy idea. If you do not like a band or their music then DO NOT LISTEN TO IT. Nobody forces you to buy a CD, or illegally download a record. (Disclaimer: Do not illegally download music. Ever.), or stand at a stage and watch a performance. Obviously, not everyone is going to like everything: the mere idea is ludicrous. But showing up just to hate is a waste of everybody’s time, especially your own. Don’t forget, hating something is easy. It is loving something that takes true dedication and character."
-Shawn Milke of Alesana

It's all about integrity, folks. It's something I've really been focusing on, but learn to be a good person, would you?

Precision Nutrition at it again

2010-06-11T10:53:00.002-04:00

Have you ever looked at Berardi's Fitness Profession Nutrition Course? It's got some good things dealing with behavior and compliance, which we know are the two hardest parts of getting people to eat correctly.

"Is the problem the plan itself, or the client's adherence to the plan? Remember, you're not going to view this like most trainers do. You're not allowed to assume that the plan is your responsibility while the adherence is the client's. No, both are your responsibility."

Basically, you set goals low enough that your client can follow them, and add in a new element every week so that it's easier for them to focus. Otherwise, it's just too difficult to follow.

And let's face it, not all of your clients or friends are elite athletes who are 100% compliant on anything given to them.

This is wrong with everybody

2010-06-08T11:37:00.004-04:00

So, assuming you were built like the norm with your heart on the left and liver on the right, you have a problem.

The left side of your pelvis is in anterior tilt.
Your left hip abducts and externally rotates.
Your right hip adducts and internally rotates.
Your left hip needs more strength for internal rotation, namely in the anterior fibers of gluteus medius and the adductor tubercle (on the medial tubercle) insertion point of adductor magnus. This point can be seen in the picture to the right.
Your right hip needs more external rotation strength.
Adhesion between adductor magnus and biceps femoris is very common.

Think about the heart pushing down on the left, and the liver pushing up on the right. How would this influence your diaphragm and pelvis?

If you want the visual of what it does, while sitting, try to suck in your right knee and push the left one out. That's the shift of the pelvis that you have naturally.

You should probably try shifting your pelvis the other way, don't you think?

Abdominal Training, Ground Zero

2010-04-26T17:17:00.004-04:00

Mike Reinold posted a nice part 1 of a three part article on spine and abdominal training.

If you are unsure of what you need to know about abdominal training, this is where you need to begin. Give it a read!

Credit for the article goes to Dr. Craig Liebenson.

Reading for the Summer

2010-04-20T01:42:00.003-04:00

I've caught up on many of my blogs today, and I'm feeling quite productive. Good thing it's two in the morning, right?

With spring classes coming to an end, a few things have dawned on me:
-I need to decide on a company name for myself
-I need to sign up for a limited liability company (LLC) so I can get tax deductions on seminars [this was spawned by a blog post from Eric Cressey about hiring an accountant]
-I still have a paper I need to write before the semester's really over [oh man... finals too... I had that blocked out]
-I need to get a website designed
-This also means I need to get that domain and hosting and wordpress and... Ugh.
-I need a new job for the summer [I may have thrown up a little in my mouth, but email to Cardinal Fitness sent]
-I should make sure I read at least one full training book this summer...

That last point is what sparked this blog post. Any suggestions on what I should read? I'm currently thinking "Low Back Disorders" by McGill or try my hand at "Supertraining" by Siff, but I'm open to suggestions and I'd love to hear from you guys!

SO MUCH TO DO!

----------------
Now playing: Four Year Strong - Semi Charmed Life
via FoxyTunes

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Petition

2010-03-29T19:16:00.006-04:00

This petition could save our country

And better yet, it'll only take you 30 seconds to sign online.

I just finished watching the two-hour premiere of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. The funny thing is that the show is there to motivate you to make healthier food choices, especially for the kids in America, but since I already understand where he's coming from, I'm motivated to help him.

You can watch full episodes on ABC.com here.

COOK YOUR FOOD!

And please sign the petition and pass this along to EVERYONE you know.

Just copy and paste this link:

http://lancegoyke.blogspot.com/2010/03/jamie-olivers-food-revolution-petition.html

Please help this great cause! If you need more motivation, just watch the show. Or listen to his TED talk.

Want to Remember Everything?

2010-03-19T00:19:00.004-04:00

Could there be an algorithm to calculate the optimal times to learn/study a subject, just before you forget it, so that you remember it for longer?

...I find myself thinking of a checklist Wozniak wrote a few years ago describing how to become a genius. His advice was straightforward yet strangely terrible: You must clarify your goals, gain knowledge through spaced repetition, preserve health, work steadily, minimize stress, refuse interruption, and never resist sleep when tired. This should lead to radically improved intelligence and creativity. The only cost: turning your back on every convention of social life.

-Gary Wolf

Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn? Surrender to This Algorithm
It's a bit of a long read, but it's also highly motivating and thought-provoking, which everyone could use more of in their life.

Please leave your thoughts as comments.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

2010-03-05T11:16:00.003-05:00

Jamie Oliver is a Brit. His accent's pretty funny, if you're in to accents. He is the recent 2010 TED Prize winner for his idea worth spreading:

"I wish for your help to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity."

-Jamie Oliver

I don't know about you, but I'm motivated to help.

Breathing vs. Anxiety

2010-02-21T23:36:00.003-05:00

By a suggestion from Bill Hartman, I've started to pick up on Leon Chaitow's blog. The most recent topic was brought to him from a recent paper by Zieman and colleagues (2009) entitled The Amygdala Is a Chemosensor that Detects Carbon Dioxide and Acidosis to Elicit Fear Behavior.

He states:

So we have overbreathing leading to anxiety, which leads to overbreathing....... a real chicken-and-egg situation that demands attention to the causes of anxiety, as well as the mechanics and causes of overbreathing, to achieve ultimate restoration of health.

Underbreathing can also lead to anxiety as well.

We can find overbreathing in those who are chronic chest breathers (don't use their diaphragm, which is the muscle on the bottom of the picture below), have irregular breathing patterns (find themselves out of breath when talking), and other things.

Try to keep your CO2 levels in your lungs in order by slowing things down and taking slow, deep breaths with your belly. This can help you in your fight against anxiety.

Double Kettlebell Swing

2010-02-16T10:45:00.003-05:00

I've only got a few minutes, but I thought of some good, quick, exercise-related content.

The short of it is that I've been doing heavy kettlebell swings with a lot of rest to get in my conditioning after my weight training. This is to build on the oxidative capacity of my fast twitch fibers, which basically means it's helping them breath more (or get more oxygen).

Had our biggest kettlebell felt heavy enough, I would have used only one. However, I decided to pick up two, adding 8 kg of weight.

The problem with the double kettlebell swing is that there's no room for those two heavy things between your legs (no joke about testicles intended).

If you're thinking about giving it a shot, I think I've solved the awkward form problem:

Squat down more in the loaded position of the swing.

This will require more mobility (which I'm sure you're working on already, right?), but makes it much more of a natural movement, as opposed to something that's just there to put torque on your lower back. You probably won't even be falling all over the place, which is pretty awesome when you consider that you're swinging around over 100 pounds in weight.

If anyone gives it a shot, I'd love to hear from you!
Best of luck!

Quote of the Week

2010-01-27T12:54:00.002-05:00

I decided to put up a Quote of the Week, because it's a feature of other blogs that I drastically enjoy.

This week's quote comes from the one and only Mike Robertson. The context is that of what he learned from the shooting of his new video we did on Saturday: Nothing will ever be perfect.

Lance (my model) may have the slightest bit of knee valgus when he's performing a pistol. He's not perfect, especially after 3+ hours of shooting (although he may beg to differ!)

Hahahahaha, I really do beg to differ.

Ezekiel bread

2010-01-24T12:14:00.001-05:00

I just discovered that the bread I eat gets its name from a passage in the scriptures. As you may understand, this dates pretty far back to show how people made, or should make bread.

The passage reads, "Take also unto thee Wheat, and Barley, and Beans, and Lentils, and Millet, and Spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it..."

The ingredients? Wheat, water, sesame seeds, soybeans, barley, millet, lentils, spelt, and sea salt.

New Year's Goals 2010

2010-01-20T14:27:00.003-05:00

I've just made my decision.

Given my lifestyle, naturally my goals for the new year are going to be gym-related. The two that I decided are the most important to me:

Find out what is wrong with my hips and correct it

and

Increase my deadlift PR by significant poundage (at least 30 more pounds, which would set still rather unimpressive personal best of 435lbs).

As far as my hips are concerned, I plan on seeing a doctor soon to see what's up. Strengthening the obliques are still a huge priority as well.

Now to the deadlift. I have had trouble with this lift for years. I've grooved the wrong motor patterns, and that has hurt this lift for me. My set up has recently gotten significantly better, though.

The other problem with my deadlift is my midsection. I can rack pull the same amount of weight that I can pull from the floor. My core is the failing point, and I'm not too sure where to go from here. Currently, I'm attempting to use more of my lats and obliques (which are still weak, as I mentioned) to build more stability throughout my body.

Anybody have any awesome goals for the new year? I'd love to hear it.

Conditioning for Strength and Power Athletes

2009-12-16T00:33:00.004-05:00

I met my boy TJ Lensch (who has some stellar content on his blog) during his internship at I-FAST.

The reason I bring him up is because he recently wrote an article that got published over at elitefts.com.

Fast Twitch Football

If you think outside the box, you can apply the knowledge to sports other than football (he mentions that their plays usually last about seven seconds, categorizing football players as strength/power athletes). What are some strength/power athletes? How about powerlifters, Olympic lifters, bobsled sprinters, 100m sprinters, and track throwers for a few examples.

Now we know that a lot of coaches will condition their athletes by doing aerobic/endurance work until the cows come home. This is generally a bad idea unless the athletes are endurance athletes.

Then we move on to anaerobic conditioning. This is where glycolysis, throwing up, and the lactic acid burn feeling come into play.

But glycolysis doesn't kick in until after about ten seconds of work is done. Until then, your body relies on the ATP-CP energy system. This is where TJ's article comes into play.

What you're doing when you condition as he mentions in his article is increasing the capacity of your fast twitch muscle fibers (strength and power). You're increasing the oxidative potential of muscles that are not very oxidative.

Don't forget to read his article and give him some love! I'll leave you with an excerpt, which picks up where I left off:

With building the capacity of the fast twitch fibers, you’re in fact increasing the oxidative potential. One thing you must avoid while improving the oxidative potential is efforts exceeding the anaerobic threshold. Highly intense glycolytic activity suppresses the oxidative process and activity of aerobic enzymes.

Mind Over Matter

2009-12-11T02:15:00.002-05:00

I just read an article that Matt Kroczaleski wrote and it sparked a blog topic.

Don't miss lifts. Missing lifts has never helped anyone that I know.

And it's not because we don't want to overtrain (or something of the sort). It's part of the mental game.

Kroc talks about winning smaller battles more often to help you win the big battles later on. The smaller battles are in your training sessions (about monthly or bi-monthly per primary lift), and they prepare you for the big battles, which are your competitions.

Don't miss lifts, and lift with people stronger and better than you. You need to expect that you're going to be successful, or you're going to start bombing at your meets. This builds frustration, and makes it even more difficult to make the progress that you want to make.

Meet Video Documentation

2009-12-07T02:19:00.003-05:00

I'll start off by saying we focused a little more on lifting this time, and having coach Mike and intern Mike there helped us out a bit. They took video of the lifts, so if that's what you're looking for, make your way over to MR's YouTube page.

At the risk of feeling like a dick, I've also decided to post a video of ignorant kids getting their "chest day/week/month" in. It's broscience.:

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T16:30:00.002-05:00

I know... I haven't updated in a while.

I know... that's the understatement of the year.

But I'm trying to ease back into it today by wishing everyone a Happy [American] Thanksgiving. I say this because my friends from Canada won't be pigging out tonight.

We recently wrapped up a USA Powerlifting meet, so I'm sure you guys will be getting an update about that in the near future.

Now we must say what we're thankful for. I'm thankful for technology, good-looking women, and food.

What are you guys thankful for? Let me hear it!

Motorcycle tips

2009-07-14T20:22:00.002-04:00

I noticed a thread on TMUSCLE in the off topic section that was talking about motorcycles. When I finished typing up my response, I decided it was too long to put on a forum post, so I thought it would be a good blog post. No pictures this time, but I believe it's good content. ENJOY!

Here's what I feel I have to tell you:

Do the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) class.

Set aside a bunch of money for gear (at least a jacket, helmet, and gloves).

You need to calculate insurance into the price of the bike. Buying a used bike through craigslist is the way to go, especially for your first bike. Insurance for new sport bikes is ridiculously expensive.

It's not a question of if you will drop your bike or get in a crash, it's when.

Don't get a 250cc engine. Pay attention during the MSF class and get the feel for riding on their 250s, then you don't have to sell it and buy a new bike immediately.

Weight is a big factor on a bike. It gets even better as the bike gets lighter.

On that note, riding with a passenger who's bigger than you can be dangerous if they are stupid. They can control where the bike goes. School them before they get on. Tell them to look over your shoulder that is closer to the ground. Most passengers will think you're crazy if you tell them to lean towards the ground, because... well, it's the ground.

Passengers should hold on tight all the time. If you feel like you didn't get enough grip work at the gym, try holding on to your bike when you're going 130 mph.

Riding two dudes is okay if you can destroy anyone who wants to make fun of you.

Wear ear protection when riding. Some bikes (like mine) are loud enough to cause ear damage. Otherwise, it's the wind that will get to you. Earbud headphones or just plain ear plugs.

Ride with the high beam on during the day. Don't be afraid to flash your lights when approaching intersections or other cars that are looking to turn onto your road. Be aware of people wanting to change lanes. Be courteous and flash your lights if they are clear to change lanes (highly applicable all the time when driving around semi-trucks).

Having said that, most accidents are rider error. I've locked my front brake before (learning experience for sure. Wear your jacket as often as you can, don't ride with shitty brakes, pay attention to what's in front of you, and don't grab that front right lever.) Ride aggressively defensive. Use a high-power machine to get you out of sticky situations. Assume the worst is going to happen. Know who's around you.

Wheelies are awesome as shit.

Learning to wheelie takes a while because you will be conservative. Nobody wants to loop their bike. Not every bike can do a either a power wheelie, a clutch wheelie, or both.

Don't ride in somebody's blind spot, please. That is stupid.

Imagine looking at a person holding a pencil. The person is like a car, and the pencil is like a bike. Keep that in mind.

Riding in the rain isn't much different, but don't assume you have the same traction. Just put your feet down on dry ground and then wet ground and try to tell me you have the same traction.

Rocks and rain hurt on bare skin.

After about a season or two of near-daily riding, you will start to get very good, assuming you're a smart driver.

Don't get aggressive on that back wheel during a turn. That means no tough pressure on the rear brake, nor jacking the throttle.

When it's cold, not only does your engine stay cooler, but so do your tires. Don't try taking any corners hard before you've got them warmed up.

Going faster than traffic is generally safer, because you don't dwell around the same cars that eventually forget about you. Don't get caught speeding.

There is a total amount of traction your wheels have. Both turning and braking use up traction. You can't brake as hard while you're turning as compared to moving in a straight line.

Riding in groups makes you more visible. You can't ride as aggressive, however, because the goal is to stay with your group. Make sure you don't lose the less experienced riders.

Riding a motorcycle makes you a better and safer driver. It also makes it safer for other motorcyclists on the road.

Got anything else? Let's hear it.

Assess and Correct: The Weekend Recap

2009-06-29T02:42:00.004-04:00

It was a busy weekend if I do say so myself. But then again, I wouldn't expect anything less when Eric Cressey is staying at Mike Robertson's place.

If for some reason you've been living under rock for the last month, then you didn't know that Eric and Mike, along with their comrade (wait, Bill isn't Russian...) and guru, Bill Hartman, were filming the follow up movie to their smash hits Magnificent Mobility and Inside Out.

I won't give away any of the secrets of this two-disc DVD set, but the title explains it all. Assess. Correct. The pre-iron part of your gym time will truly be complete if you add this to your collection.

Enough with the plugs! I'm sure everyone is interested in how the weekend went.

Saturday rolls around. We met at the gym at 10 o'clock to go over the exercises listed in the DVD to speed the shooting along. Most of it was pretty self-explanatory (you can thank descriptive names for that), but Cressey decided to bring some New England shit to the Midwest to throw me off.

We packed up and headed to University High School, where Mike has a past relationship (ex-strength coach), and they were gracious enough to let us use their gym for the filming. After having our awesome, double-chicken salads, it was time for the unveiling:

The story behind the picture can be explained pretty well with the aid of an older picture:

Putting it lightly, I generally dress pretty eccentrically when I go to the gym. As Mike likes to put it, the tight shorts just make the tension way too high. After Eric showed some concern, MR took me shopping to pick me out an acceptable outfit.

Anyways, shooting went well (I don't want to hear anything about the knee valgus on the walking
spiderman) and the voice overs were rather painless for Mike, Bill, and Eric. There were a few instances, however, where I was about to reach muscular failure (like the side bridge glute activation exercise, or the 3 point thoracic extensions). It seemed like it had been a long day, being that it was already 8:00 p.m., but the best was yet to come.

The big bang restaurant; Fogo de Chao; Brazilian steakhouse. So much meat, brought to your table on skewers by "authentic Gaúcho chefs." My first Fogo experience was the last time Tony Gentilcore paid a visit to I-FAST.

I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything, but I dominated the food in that restaurant. I even felt accomplished enough to announce "victory!" when I finished the last bite of Turtle Cheesecake (mandibular orgasm, if I do say so myself). My only consumption competitor had to be the current I-FAST intern, TJ. We eat much differently, though, so there's no way to tell. His eating habits are way more fast-twitch than mine. If there is one, I am the endurance athlete of food devouring. Seriously, I'm the slowest eater in the world, ask around. Among our table, we probably had the amount of meat you could get off of a deer.

There are some specifics (epic destruction) of the dinner that took place in the bathroom, but we'll not bother with those.

Needless to say it was a long day. Sleep was necessary. I crashed a little after 2:00, and woke up Sunday to head to the gym at 10:00 again. Just a little warning, I'm about to get slightly motivational on your ass.

I had the great pleasure of getting a lift in with MR and EC before Eric's flight home. I've seen some pretty impressive stuff before, but lifting with Eric is fascinating. First, he dominated box squats with the safety squat bar. The real killer, however, came when he loaded up a bar on the deadlift platform with my personal record of 405 lbs.

If you've ever seen a video of Eric, you know he pulls conventional. Well to switch it up, he was pulling sumo. They're still deadlifts, but switching the stance really does make a pretty considerable difference. The time approaches, he rips the bar off the floor and slams it back to the ground. Then again. Then three more times.

Now, Eric's an unreal athlete, and I feel no shame being roughly five times weaker than him, but how many times does a powerlifter hear the words, "He seriously just pulled your max for five, my friend," from Mike Robertson?

I was obviously motivated for my lifts, and even though I only did repetition back squats, the atmosphere helped a ton! Under the watchful eye of these two, I really dialed in on my form, and it's starting to become natural for me. Squatting four bills is just around the corner. A special thanks goes out to MR for using his keen eye to make me keep my chest up in the hole.

Looking back, I can't thank these guys enough for what they've done for me. In this one weekend, they've helped me as a future trainer, a powerlifter, an eater, a businessman, and even a movie star... Broadway is next, right Eric?

When the time comes, buy this DVD. I promise that you won't regret it.

Post-Fogo de Chao with Bill TJ Mike and Eric.

2009-06-27T22:36:00.001-04:00

A Different Fat Loss Perspective

2009-06-24T11:51:00.004-04:00

Great guest post from John Berardi's site @ Precision Nutrition titled Why You're Not Lean Yet.

This man (Canada K) took himself down to 6% body fat (someone like me is usually around 12 or 13%, and abs usually start to get visible around 10%).

He goes through the emotional side of things, and tells you the truth that it's actually easy to burn fat. There are lots of random thoughts about fat loss. If you're interested in losing weight, this is a great read. It just may make you feel like a little bitch.

We've officially got a dog now. Shih Tzu. Nine weeks old.

2009-06-22T19:47:00.001-04:00

I'm starting to eat. Oh how I've missed food. Carrots and spaghetti sauce.

2009-06-21T15:05:00.001-04:00

I-FAST Testimonial

2009-06-20T23:24:00.002-04:00

Hello world.

My name is Lance Goyke. I'm a 19-year-old, hockey-playing powerlifter, and I've been training at Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training (I-FAST) for almost a year now. I also consider myself an up-and-comer in the fitness industry, trying to follow in the huge footsteps laid out by Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson.

All of the time I spend at the gym is so incredibly valuable to me, and rightfully so if you understand what I take from every visit: learning how to move pain free (my hip hurts), how to lift heavy things (don't forget to grind), how to be explosive (dip quick, stick landing, ninja style), the science behind an exercise (is a Pallof Press a push or a pull?), how to make someone more mobile (the hand-grenade approach), how to pay attention to human movement (is your spine neutral?), or even how to properly keep the top gym in the state of Indiana so fresh and so clean (this is great for your story, Lance).

I've truly taken a lot from Mike and Bill. They listen to what I have to say and don't mind helping me think critically about my problems. They have helped me network with other famous strength coaches around the United States. I've even been offered help with my college courses (no son of mine will fail Physiology!). Plus, both of them are each a wealth of knowledge. Bill just may be the most intelligent man I have ever met.

I know that I will always be in good hands as long as I'm under their wings. All my trust is in these two men, and you are crazy if your's isn't, too.

Here's to a lifetime of experiences waiting to happen!
Lance Goyke

Perform Better Chicago recap

2009-06-20T17:49:00.003-04:00

That was some good ass pizza.

I was in Chicago, Illinois June 12-14th for the Perform Better 3-Day Summit. I accompanied Mike and Bill, two of the presenters.

This won't be a super detailed write up, but I can say that of the people I saw speak, Mike and Bill really killed it. Top two, without a doubt.

Since this was Bill's first year, he was placed on the last day, mostly to see how well he performed. Well pretty much everyone that was still at the summit was at his presentations on Sunday. You can partially attribute that to the fact that at least three other presenters mentioned that he is the smartest man in the industry (for the record, that's insulting to plenty of smart people in the industry, and should not be said). I'm sure he'll be back next year.

While I tagged along with Mike and Bill most of the time, I spent almost all of my time with my peer, Eric Oetter, who also did a fancy recap of the weekend. I can say I'm very glad he joined me, because we could use each other for a buddy system to not rely on MR the whole time. Plus, he brought the funny, and that's awesome.

I'm glad I could get some good video documentation thanks to Eric, but I have to say that talking shop until 5:00 a.m. with him was highly enjoyable. And I apologize to him for the sleep apnea.

Best quote from the weekend goes to Alwyn Cosgrove and his Scottish accent re-enacting Bill's reponse to a question:
"I don't mean to be direct, but you're a fucking idiot."

The future of the fitness industry, eh?

Dinner Saturday night was enjoyable.

"Anybody have any questions? Lance, you better not ask a question."

12 eggs 5 sls. turkey bacon 10 oz snap peas 2 sls bread big tomato milk.

2009-06-09T00:56:00.001-04:00

GTD Wallpaper

2009-06-02T02:23:00.002-04:00

Remember when I talked about getting things done? It was that cool post with a ton of acronyms.

Well now I found a desktop wallpaper that proves that I didn't make up that acronym.

In case you want a motivating desktop for the time feeling, check out this photo!

Quinoa with apples oranges hazelnuts and green onion with steamed tilapia

2009-05-29T00:09:00.001-04:00

Black kidney pinto beans. Corn brown rice chicken sausage and vegetables.

2009-05-19T00:29:00.001-04:00

Salmon crimson grapes and green bell peppers.

2009-05-16T17:19:00.000-04:00

ABC News Goes Intelligent... Sort Of

2009-05-14T00:01:00.005-04:00

Sugar Shock!

I thought the exclamation point added more emphasis.

This video is worth a looksie. They talk about a study from the New England Journal of Medicine.

Now, per the stereotype, we have an intelligent man (Kelly Brownell, Director of the Rudd Center for Obesity of Yale University) saying that a one cent per ounce tax on sugared drinks could result in a 10% decrease in consumption. That's pretty big, seeing as the average American has 50 cans of soda a month.

Even still, per the stereotype, we have a woman (Susan K. Kelly, President of the American Beverage Association) who says something completely retarded that drives me bat shit insane.

"Soft drinks don't play any role in the obesity epidemic. Soft drinks are just another fun beverage along with a lot of other beverages and foods that we like to eat or drink."

They don't play ANY role whatsoever!? Oh man! I wonder where all of those sugar calories on the can go? They must just be secreted immediately while bypassing the digestive system! Awesome!

Even my pediatrician knew that pop is horrible for you. It's not a coincidence that people lose a ton of weight when they cut pop out of their diet.

Chew on that for a while and let your thoughts be heard in the comment section!

Getting Things Done

2009-04-30T12:52:00.004-04:00

In certain areas of the population (like everyone over at Lifehacker) getting things done is a big deal. The acronym GTD is even used relatively often because typing those three words is just too inefficient!

My good friend Josh Corken recently posted a piece titled 7 Tips to Stop Procrastinating. I bet he doesn't know that I have thoroughly researched this topic myself and have some other things to add to this! He probably also doesn't know that I've already read the article that he got the idea from off of The Positivity Blog.

In light of reading his post, I would like to outline the points I've learned to be the most effective for me when I'm trying to GTD.

Just doing something. This is the take home point from the article as well, but I'm going to elaborate a little deeper.
Dedicate ten minutes to a task. If it's really that bad, you'll stop, but once you've already begun a task, you're exponentially more likely to stick with it.
Have short term goals. Setting one or two goals for a day keeps your from being overloaded. Looking at a huge list of things that you must do over the next six months is way too overwhelming.
Batch your tasks. Tim Ferriss loves this idea. If you are constantly attending to your email, then set two times aside each day to check your email and combine the task. It takes more time to start a task twice while finishing it than it does to begin just once.
Know Pareto's Principle. One huge tip I've gathered from Tim Ferriss is to be efficient by using Pareto's Principle. Also known at the 80/20 Rule, Pareto's Principle states that around 20% of your efforts will get you about 80% of your results. So do 20% of your work, save time, and eliminate the stressful things in your life. I believe Tim calls this "selective ignorance."
Know Parkinson's Law. Parkinson's Law states that a task will be finished in the time allotted to it. For instance, if you give yourself two hours to finish a paper, it will take two hours. A good instance of this is every late night when you procrastinate writing your paper, but you still get it finished, don't you? Much quicker than you would have if you'd done it a week ago.

Manage your time and allot short sections to doing a certain task, making sure you could get it done in that time (i.e. don't give yourself 10-minutes to write a six page paper).
Fluctuate stress. This is a point I've taken from the fitness community to further my training progress. It was easy to notice that you're not using a different body when you're in the gym and when you're at work and when you're at school. Your central nervous system (CNS) can be overloaded from too much volume of training week to week. Likewise, your CNS can take hits if you bust your ass at work or if you had three tests last week.

When you begin feeling overwhelmed, step back and take it easy on your CNS. CNS fatigue is one of the biggest problems an overachiever can experience. If your stress is managed, your life will be much more pleasant.

Tim Ferriss is quite a GTD type of person. I strongly suggest you follow him on Twitter and read his blog.

Twenty four hours later...

2009-04-22T20:49:00.000-04:00

2009-04-21T23:21:00.000-04:00

I destroyed my thumb in a door today. Fail.

Video Documentation

2009-04-20T01:47:00.002-04:00

This last week has been very fun.

My cousin visited. We had our first powerlifting meet. We all did at least partially well (except for my disappointing squat attempts which kept my total under a grand).

One of the best parts about the week was my camera. I've been breaking out the videos (and a few pictures) and I've got some great videos for viewing. My goal is to have them all uploaded within 24 hours.

A slight preview can be found on my last post (the one about blue balls). Epic video.

An Explanation of Blue Balls

2009-04-16T02:47:00.002-04:00

In case you're curious, this is what initially spawned this blog post:

Now, the response:

Experience is key

2009-04-07T16:04:00.004-04:00

Everyone loves to have experience. Compare two people you're considering hiring, same price, same education (or "education"), but one has been doing it for 20 years longer.

Everyone wants the guy with more experience.

Now for someone young like I am, 20 years of experience is far away. That would more than double my lifespan if I started immediately!

So how can I, an aspiring college student looking to make a name for himself, get the experience to compete with other professionals?

Well first and foremost, since I haven't harped on it, educate yourself. Make sure that the others are not actually better than you on paper. Don't expect to learn a whole lot in college, but make sure you learn something every day. The internet is fantastic for this if you know how to take what you read with a grain of salt.

Now let's consider a case where education is not worrisome. Well what is the next and most productive step (remember Pareto's Principle and get results)? Get experience from another trustworthy person who has it.

Let me explain. Make sure you are a sponge to information. Listen to everything. Use a mentor's experience to your advantage. That is the single trait that you can learn the most from a mentor.

Caution, though. Make sure you understand what you're learning. Hardly ever is something black and white. Knowing the intricacies will make you a master of your craft.

Something I've found that has been helping me lately is to be the trainee. It's a great way to get another perspective, and therefore understanding your client's side of things. This is crucial.

Until next time folks...

Check out today's breakfast courtesy of the Hell's Kitchen guy.

2009-04-06T12:31:00.000-04:00

2009-04-05T17:35:00.001-04:00

Three specialized workouts for you. Perfect! Because I just want to make my right arm huge and toned!

Food time!

2009-04-04T16:25:00.000-04:00

Check out the food I'm eating on my break at work. Thank you, nearby grocery store!

A change of pace?

2009-04-01T00:49:00.004-04:00

I should let you know in advance that this isn't an April Fool's Day joke.

I would like to let everyone know that I may start offering services now. And, surprisingly, I won't just be selling my body like I had originally thought I would be forced to.

I will be offering nutrition counseling and program evaluation both for a flat rate.

The nutrition counseling will not be person specific, it will be a culmination of nutritional guidelines that you should live by. You will also receive information on gaining weight (muscle), as well as losing it (fat). There is nothing too specific (like a meal plan for a 272.3 lb diabetic woman, broken down by macronutrient profiles). I plan on sticking to the basics, because the basics take you a LONG way.

Program evaluation is simple. I will judge your program, and offer any advice I can give you. This may be quite a back-and-forth process, since this is a distance offer and I can't evaluate you in person. I would like to find out if someone has reasons for doing what they've programmed. All aspects of training design will be considered such as:

Rest protocol
Rep protocol
Volume and proper deloading strategies
Optimal exercise selection
Is it in line with your goals?

This is just a rough draft for now. I'm planning on purchasing a domain and getting a site up in the near future (Adobe Creative Suite CS4, here I come). If you would be interested in either of these services, shoot me an email at ljgoyke@iupui.edu

Stay tuned and get strong!

Checking In

2009-03-26T16:09:00.002-04:00

With almost a month of no posting, I thought I would type a quick update as class is in twenty minutes.

Last week was our spring break, which was glorious to say the least. Tons of motorcycle riding (including a trip to Brown County, IN).

The USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Indiana State Meet is coming up. April 18th. I am entering, along with a bunch of others I know who are all stronger than me. It should be LOADS of fun! I'm planning on finally pulling the big 405. I can't wait to take that sign off of my door...

Those are the biggies! I've got plenty of interesting things that I'd like to share soon! Life hacks (teaser) if you will!

The Tavern in the Square!

2009-03-05T15:41:00.005-05:00

Best... food... ever...

Imagine a meal... say we call it the "Triple Play", and it contains three different types of meat! Beautiful cubes of steak, two hefty chicken breasts, and six pieces of skrimp.

I know what you're thinking: Too good to be true.

Well I assure you that it is not! If you visit Boston, The Tavern is about a five minute walk from Tony Gentilcore's place.

MEAT!

That was one of the best and most enjoyable parts of my experience in Boston. However, that surely wasn't all. Mike Boyle's facility is fascinating. It's very spacious, divided into two rooms. One is dedicated to weight training, and the other is a more open area great for assorted conditioning.

After the seminar, Jonathan Fass drove Mike and I to Tony's place where we waited for the time of our reservation to come. He gave us some scrumptious Metabolic Drive protein bars courtesy of T-Nation. After discussing some taboo subjects, as well as critiquing Kevin Larrabee's incredible style, we began walking over to The Tavern!

At the restaurant, we had a good two or three hour long dinner full of talking and massive quantities of grubbery. After that was over, we walked back to the vehicles and the Fassinator was nice enough to drive Mike and I back to our hotel (THANKS BUDDY!).

The next day, Larrabee picked us up bright and early and took us over to Cressey Performance. Mike gave a private staff-training seminar to a select few of us and used Tony and I as guinea pigs, since I volunteered and Tony's knees are no good. He discussed the hand grenade approach of fixing someones knees by throwing everything (soft-tissue work, stretched, and program design) at the problematic joint, often trying to dummy-proof the advice. What he took us through started to make me sweat, and after taking off my Elite sweatshirt, Eric realized that I was wearing a sleeveless shirt (he pretty much said he was jealous of me), and gave me a CP shirt for being such a good sport.

When that was said and done, Larrabee and I had a training session. BENCH DAY! For the EPIC FAILs that happened on this particular Sunday, go here. If you watch the second video (the one of Kevin not just missing the lift, but actually getting raped by the bar being held over his body), I'm actually in it, next to Mike on the other bench.

Kevin doesn't have much of a rhyme or reason to his benching, haha. He just knew he wanted to bench 300, and improvised the rest.

The rest of the day was:

Mike and I taking Tony's car to go get food (I purchased a large pizza that I got dominated by because it turned disgusting after the first 60% of it).
Eric gave a sales pitch to a baseball team.
Plenty of meeting of the minds.
Eric taking Mike and I to the airport.
Waiting hours for a plane, with plenty of fun walking (Non-Exercise Physical Activity!)
Having another slice of pizza, then officially giving up on it and throwing it away.
Arriving back home.

It was a fantastic experience and I'm glad I was able to meet everyone that I did.

EDIT: Two things came to mind from the Fassinator's comment. First of all, Kevin drove us back tot he hotel on Saturday night. Second, don't let Kevin examine you for a sports hernia with his mouth.

Grub time!

2009-02-26T13:30:00.000-05:00

Breakfast?

MBSC Winter Seminar Presenters

2009-02-17T14:49:00.005-05:00

*DISCLAIMER: This is a long read. I suggest you break it down by speaker.

Let's get into it!

Brijesh Patel talking about training considerations in basketball. Hilarious, because he doesn't really look like a basketball player. He got into how the players usually don't like to train:
.

He said that basketball is a sport that can be played year round, so most of your training is going to be for injury prevention, and a little will be for performance enhancement.

Then he went into the mobility-stability relationship, which you're familiar with if you've heard of the joint-by-joint approach. Ankle, hip, and T-Spine mobility are a must, as usual. He says that a flexibility reserve is basically a precursor to mobility. Core stability was stressed. Then he went into plyometrics, including the different types, and took that subject into speed and acceleration. When he touched on strength, he divided it among single vs. double leg, and supported vs. unsupported, which are some crucial concepts to understand. Then we talked about conditioning, and when it's most important (hint: pre-season), and then mental toughness.

Overall, it was a surprisingly interesting speech. As you may or may not know, I pretty much hate basketball, but it was great to think about it in depth with Brijesh. He didn't have many novel ideas or anything, but he had some great progressions to classic exercises.

John Pallof spoke on lumbopelvic dysfunction. John is a physical therapist in the Boston area, and really knows his shit. He almost reminds me of Bill Hartman, who as Mike Robertson described, is on another level when it comes to movement assessment. I can't describe how true that really is.

His speech was deeper than any of the others, and will be hard to try reproducing. I'll try to keep it basic by saying that he divided his speech into two components: first talking about femoroacetabular (hip) impingement [FAI], and second he talked about the sports hernia.

He defined FAI and described the different types. He talked about the clinical exam to find it (I believe he said an MRI was useless). It should be recovered with manual therapy, soft-tissue work, and proper exercise selection (like everything). Then, getting into the sports hernia (which he described as soft tissue lesions), I learned from Jonathan Fass to not let Kevin Larrabee examine me for a sports hernia with his mouth.

All in all, a great speech. John really knows what he's talking about.

Chris Nowinski spoke on concussions. Coach Boyle heard Nowinski's speech and told all of the other speakers that they were giving away some of their time because he wanted Chris to be able to speak.

This speech was somewhat different than the others (although the same could be said about Pallof's speech), but it was fantastic content. Chris went into his history and how he wrote his book "Head Games" and how he started a company (Sports Legacy) to educate the public on how dangerous undiagnosed concussions could be. He said that when you get dizzy or black out, you've had a concussion, even if you have no symptoms.

He tied in the Chris Benoit case, and overall made great points. In closing, he said he believed that the NFL should have a start the front against these undiagnosed concussions.

Nowinski's speech was great. You sure can tell he went to Harvard. You would never guess that he was a professional wrestler.

Mike Robertson talked about low back care. This was filled with necessary information for absolutely everyone. Low back pain is so incredibly common among everyone in the country.

Mike's speech actually made me laugh (I have no other reaction to emotion besides laughing. Some say I am immature, they're crazy). Mike's speech was textbook Speech class work. My old Speech teacher would have given him an A for sure. He was the only one who really used any sort of pathos (emotional appeal) because he had some stories and personal experiences he told us about.

He dove into the Joint-by-Joint approach again and talked about hip/t-spine mobility and all of the other stuff that you should understand. Basic take home point: if one thing is fucked (stiff/short hips) then it looks above or below it to compensate (low back). He talked about progressions (posture first, followed by motor control, endurance, and finally strength/power). He used an example of a client, broken into four different levels of back rehab. He also had about seventeen different self-made continuums.

Maybe he's already taught me everything, but I didn't find much new in this. I guess that's part of the reason I was able to laugh at his close, hahaha. A great speech that is crucial to everyone's knowledge base.

Eric Cressey talked about off-season baseball training. If you sit back and examine baseball, you know that it hates the athletes that play. As he stated, "There is nothing even remotely healthy about throwing a baseball!" It is murder on a player's posture, especially for pitchers. If you've read any of Eric's work in the past decade, you may know that he likes baseball. He is one of the best baseball player strength coaches (I learned to never call him a "trainer") that are in the country. He talked about common asymmetries that you'll see (glenohumeral internal rotation deficit [GIRD] and lead hip internal rotation in pitchers). Since baseball has such a long season, it's hard to develop much during the season.

The topic of training baseball players is so in depth that it's hard to cover it all, as he even found out during his speech. Boyle was rushing him because we were going over on time, so Eric was afraid he fucked his speech because he moved like a well-oiled machine, haha. GREAT content as always. Check out his stuff.

Mike Boyle talked about strength and conditioning for the young hockey player. Most of the beginning was not focused on specifically developing hockey players, but on developing athletes. THIS SHOULD BE COMMON KNOWLEDGE! Hockey has begun to get shitty because parents think that letting (or making) their child specialize in one sport promotes how great they'll be at this sport. This is far from the truth. Generalize in the younger days until about junior or senior year of high school. This means that you should play as many sports as you can! Coach Boyle says that some parents say that they want their kids to be happy, but you need to be a parent and make them play another sport! It is what is best for them.

Coach Boyle also dissected hockey throughout the world. The US has not brought many great players because of the early specialization problem. Canada and Europe, sadly, are starting to follow us and are, in turn, making hockey as a whole shittier. He also mentions to avoid words like "development" and "exposure" because they are terms used to make you spend money.

He also talks about the players, saying most don't want to be great, but the ones that do just need guidance. There are three things you need to improve: Strength, power, and specific conditioning. On the topic of specific conditioning, he mentioned a very interesting study. The Gibala study compared twenty minutes of interval training (30 seconds sprint / 4 min rest) with 90-120 minutes in the "heartrate zone" (a.k.a. steady state cardio). Both of these types of conditioning had the same improvement in oxygen utilization. Think about that: one hour a week versus 4.5 to 6 hours a week? Which one do you prefer?

GREAT SPEECH. I was very interested and on the edge of my seat the entire thing. Great shit to hear. There's nothing more I can say really. The entire seminar was full of fundamental knowledge and I did get to learn some new stuff.

Mike Boyle 3rd Annual Winter Seminar

2009-02-14T23:20:00.003-05:00

Today was Saint Valentine's Day. A day to take your significant other out on the town and enjoy yourselves... and probably get a little action, as well. For some, however, it's a day to spite all of those who are in a relationship. Reminiscing on relationships past; dwelling on the good as well as the bad.

Then, there are a select few, who decide to leave everyone else to come to Boston to get their learn on. The 3rd Annual Mike Boyle Winter Seminar was held on the day of hearts today, and I was in attendance.

And I can say I sure am glad that I was there.

Six speakers. I went for free because I came with one of them. Some intense knowledge bombs were dropped by Brijesh Patel, John Pallof, Chris Nowitzki, Mike Robertson, Eric Cressey, and Mike Boyle.

This post is mostly just an introduction, since I don't want to get too riled up before bed. Mike and I are going to Cressey Performance tomorrow at 9 in the morning, and I will need some rest.

I will do two more posts on this seminar in the near future. One will be on all the speakers and presentations. The second will be on my experience.

Let's just say that it was the best Valentine's Day ever.

2009-02-13T14:48:00.001-05:00

It says, "U gotta get it up to get your load off"

Advancing even further on!

2009-02-10T14:48:00.005-05:00

I've come a long way since college started. But now I have to ask myself... What's next?

I know I need to finish college. However, being in Physiology makes me want to let a morbidly obese woman sit on my face.

I forgot how much I hate homework, reading things I don't care about, and being told stuff that I don't have the slightest knowledge on. I'm hoping I can get through this rough patch, but who knows?

Some fun anecdotal evidence for you*: I can put my Physiology class podcast on and tune it completely out while eating, but when I switched over to the FitCast I instantly started to focus on it. Maybe this is telling me that I'm going to do horribly on my first test today.
While trying to spend all of my money on a bike, I am realizing that I need more income. I made less than 12 grand last year. Sweet. The problem is that I don't have the time to work too much more at Fridays. What's the solution?

Perhaps the blog is the solution. I would like to read and post a review on different products. I can then use ClickBank to make money. If my review is convincing enough for someone to click a link and go buy the product, then I get a large percentage of the sale. So if you find one of my reviews interesting, don't hesitate to make a purchase and help a brother out!

On that note, I am now taking donations! You'll notice a button in the upper right that says "donate". I would appreciate any kind of donation and would love to hear some feedback. Don't feel bad to request some blog content from me, especially if you are donating to this poor, starving college student. I've really had to take on more financial responsibility now that my dad lost his job. I currently make the most money in the family!

In addition, if there's any work I can do for you from home for you (you know, typing and whatnot), I would love the side work!
I am trying to figure out a product I can make and sell. I would like to get an article or two online at Elite or T-Nation to get my name further out there.

I've been weighing the options of an interview series on training hockey players, as proposed to me by the ~~almighty~~ supreme vagina Mike Robertson**. I've also played around with the idea of an e-book, because my first idea for an article turned out to be a large amount of writing.

Anybody out there have helpful ideas? I'd love to hear feedback.

*I got very sidetracked while typing this because I saw a nice sport bike driving away.
**That's what you get for calling me stickman, sissy boy.

Great stuff is everywhere

2009-01-29T15:02:00.004-05:00

I've got a number of things to talk about, so I'm going to keep each point short so I can hit on it.

First, commercialized education sucks. I am already sick of school. And I'm taking a class that I haven't learned anything new in. Introduction to Exercise Science. It's making me think that maybe I'm a little more advanced than some others, eh?
Second, a great interview went up on T-Nation today. This was an interview done with Dave Tate by Nate Green. I would rather you read that article than finish reading my blog if you're short on time. Probably the most memorable is the section about the five-year-old kid.
Third, I found a 2007 Kawasaki Z1000 on eBay recently. I'm dying to get it. It's a possibility and probably likely. The only problem is that this purchase would be inconvenient. It's in South Carolina, which is would require about 24 hours of road time. Kyle said he's game, though.
Fourth, the Mike Boyle seminar is approaching quickly. Am I really spending Valentine's Day with Mike Robertson? That's a little gay. I bought my plane ticket yesterday (the price went to $200 from $140, so good thing it was my Christmas present). I'm very excited to meet a ton of new people, hear Pallof talk about the hip, hear MR talk about low backs, EC about baseball players, and Boyle about... HOCKEY players. Needless to say, I think training hockey players will become my specialty, so I'm excited as hell.
Fifth, Tucker Max is hilarious.
Sixth, Tim Ferris is an incredible individual. If you're going to follow someone on Twitter or a blog, be sure that he is one of them.
Seventh, I've been pondering with getting my CPT from the NSCA (Certified Personal Trainer / National Strength and Conditioning Association). There are two downsides to getting certified right now, however. First, I have to take a CPR class, which is something I'm required to take soon for school and could kill two birds with one stone. Second is that it's over $400 to take the exam. Fuck that.
Eighth, I found an article about remembering everything you've ever learned. It's long as fuck, and intimidating to begin reading.
Ninth, I'm happy to report that my visit count is going up more than a month ago. I thank everyone that reads, encourage you to subscribe, and to tell your friends to do the same if you enjoy it! Comments are also encouraged because I'm actually a real person trying to make a name for himself and sure don't mind talking to people.
Tenth, on the side of my visits going up, almost a quarter of my site visits are regarding my review on "Built for Show". I'm going to have to start reviewing more things more often.
Eleventh, since I wanted to keep the ending interesting, and ten points was just too perfect, behold hot chick Krystal Forscutt courtesy of Google and of the folks invovled in The Fitcast.

Kettlebells!

2009-01-27T15:19:00.002-05:00

Kettlebells are somewhat of a fad in the fitness industry. Everybody's using them!

As you can see, the weight is lower and not centered around the handle like a dumbbell. This messes you up a bit, and really hits your stabilizers.

There were a couple things that brought kettlebells to my attention. One is a recent article that Nate Green wrote on T-Nation about his experience with kettlebells. It can be found here.
The other was the seminar that Mike Robertson and Bill Hartman put together here at I-FAST. Brett Jones, a master RKC instructor, was nice enough to come here from Pittsburgh and taught myself and the other attendees the basic kettlebell moves. We spent hours upon hours just learning the kettlebell swing and the Turkish get up.

My parents said, "I can't see this lasting all seven hours. You're just learning a few exercises." I could tell that Brett would have talked all day if we would have let him. There are so many intricacies to be considered. Hands on training is a great way to learn the moves. The only way, if you're going to do it correctly.

Kettlebells are a little expensive, but a great tool to keep around the house for some rest day exercise.

Changing somebody

2009-01-22T15:42:00.002-05:00

The topic today was sparked by somebody I know wanting to change somebody else.

I'm going into this to redefine the word and phrase.

I wouldn't say that changing somebody is entirely possible. A person was made how they are, and you can't, for example, change somebody's genetics.

But a personality is, for the most part, manageable. A person generally doesn't really "change" without admitting they have a problem and being willing to change.

But people change when they're around different people. It's a fascinating phenomena. That is why your goal is to surround yourself with those who are better than you or who are where you want to be. You advance! You become a better person! Likewise, if you hang out with drug addicts and high school dropouts... guess what happens?

You are a product of your environment.

This is fact, not arguable. Now a person wants to change someone. Well this target will change, but because you indirectly influence them and their daily habits!

Pantyhose is manly?

2009-01-18T02:15:00.002-05:00

I've got a new article for you to read. You don't have to be a powerlifter to appreciate it, either. It's for everyone, and it's probably a ten minute read if you're a slow read, and also not paying attention.

Sell Your Daughter for Lunchmeat

I'll keep it short because I actually want you to click that link and read the article.

It involves a clever backstory, which is used to segway into an in-depth discussion about what makes a man manly.

One of my favorites in a long time. Let me know what you think!

Higher Education

2009-01-15T00:09:00.002-05:00

So it has begun. A new semester with a new array of classes to attend.

I managed to get 12 credit hours on two days of classes. So I'm downtown at IUPUI all day Tuesday and Thursday.

Things are a lot different this semester. Each one of my three classes have a lecture time. Two have labs. And one has a recitation. It's quite a serious load, too, because I'm enrolled in Physiology (which I'm taking before Anatomy), Physics, and Intro to Exercise Science.

My Ex. Sci. teacher is a self-proclaimed hard ass. I would definitely say he's the professor most like a drill sergeant, but nothing to really worry about. Ironically, this is the guy that organizes internships and I talked to him earlier about being an intern at I-FAST in the future. I was also reminded that I have to attend a camp over the summer in Wisconsin. We tie knots, make fires, and bond with absolutely everyone. I've been thinking about switching schools to avoid this repulsive and retarded idea.

I don't know what to expect from my two, more difficult classes. I've never had a class with laboratory time, so it should be interesting. Bright side is that I don't think I need to buy a book for Physics.

No ground-breaking ideas in this blog, so I'm going to cut it now. You may be getting a new update on what I think you should be reading in the near future.

You can't fix everyone

2009-01-07T03:45:00.003-05:00

I would like to state another thing that I learned in 2008.

You can't fix everyone.
I like going on like a nerd about nutrition, training, and the other stuff that makes me feel intelligent and a little funny in my genitals. But after ranting to at least a dozen people without seeing improvements in them, I learned it's not worth the energy. I've drastically helped one kid alter his lifestyle and he lost at least forty pounds from diet alone in a couple of months just by following some guidelines I gave him.

Why did it work for him? He was willing.

He showed interest. He asked me to help him get "like me" at least five times before I actually helped him. I knew he was serious.

Don't worry about helping everyone out. Most people generally have a helpful nature about themselves, so don't worry if you're not doing everything you can to change the world. It's very difficult to do that alone.

I'd like to someday get to the point where I don't tell everyone that rounds their back that they shouldn't. That they should use their hips to pick things up, not their spine. That they shouldn't wear high heels too often. That they need to keep their weight on their heels when they squat down. That they need to stop slouching and use their back more. That they need to lift weights because it will improve the quality of their lives. That they need to not eat so much carbohydrates. That they need to have more protein. That they need to stop twisting in their lumbar spine so that they can crack it because their back hurts. That they need to get up more often and stay active.

I'd like to someday get to the point where I don't tell everyone that they need to listen to me because I know what the fuck I'm talking about.

Reflection of 2008

2009-01-05T04:51:00.005-05:00

This is another idea that I stole from someone else's blog. This one comes from Nate Green.

What I Learned in 2008

His post is pretty funny, I suggest the read. But here I go, reflecting on what I learned in the last year.

Don't be afraid to try to achieve some of your goals.
This is a generic title. I am inspired by people more successful than me. At least those whom are not too drastically older than I and whom write books called "Built for Show". I now brainstorm ideas for products I could make and sell under my name. Get myself out there. Get some passive income flowing. It now seems attainable because I've used those around me to push myself. Do something!
Meet your mentors.
I never thought I would ever come in contact with Mike Robertson or Bill Hartman before this year began. They opened a facility near my house, and I went for it. Now I'm smarter, in better shape, started networking, and attending seminars. Mike and Bill have truly hooked me up.
There are people who figure out the "science of getting laid" so to speak, and they are very helpful.
This interest was sparked by Nate Green. Built for Show and his interview with Nick Savoy brought a new hobby to my life.
Don't be afraid to spend money.
Don't do it foolishly, though. I have always been very stringent with money, with good reason. I save it for bigger things that I find more use in. The big purchases this year were things like a motorcycle, Building the Efficient Athlete, and a laptop. The only other things I spent money on were basically gas, supplements, and some food. Use your money on things you will use (like a seminar where you can network, a laptop you'll take to school, or a motorcycle to take up a new hobby).
Most of the guys you look up to are probably not douche bags.
After talking to some people and meeting some others, I've concluded that these famous people are actually real. Nate Green takes compliments well, Bill Hartman has hit the age where he now has great stories, and Tony Gentilcore and Mike Robertson are hilarious. Didn't think Mike was a character? Just look at the sign on my bedroom door.
Reading is very beneficial.
Generally, I read solely for knowledge, and I've gotten very smart and enjoyed learning. I also have realized in this past year that when what is written makes you laugh, you will also enjoy it. That's why I always suggest you read Tony G's blog and Nate's blog.
When I start to write, it's hard to get me to stop.
It's also hard to get me to stay on topic.
The first two rules of Fight Club are: You do not talk about fight club.
I've taken up new entertainment hobbies. I've seen every episode of Friends at least three times and every episode of Scrubs at least five times. I've started watching classics, such as "Fight Club", the "Rocky" movies, and a shit ton of Arnold movies. My new fascination is House.
Cameras are fantastic.
Reviewing old moments. Taking video of things you'd like to watch over. Get a camera with a video feature and go nuts.
Weak glutes sucks
I leave you with that. Goodbye.

Nate Green's "Built for Show"

2009-01-02T02:26:00.005-05:00

I just finished reading Nate Green's new book "Built for Show" today. Especially after reading the last chapter, I knew I wanted to review it.

I've only got good things to say about this. Seeing as I trust him as a trainer due to the fact that I know who he's learned from and I know how confident he is in his work, I can say that the programs in the book are worth it themselves. Even though I only skimmed through that part of the book seeing as I'm not new to this rodeo, I can feel good about recommending them to anyone.

The parts of the book I enjoyed the most were the parts that were about showing off your hard-earned results and working some magic game on the ladies. You get some pick-up advice, plenty of humor (I can honestly say I made audible laughing noises at least three times while reading this book), some fashion advice, and some pre-game advice (get your pump on!) Nate operates knowing that he's not an expert, but knows more than the people he's writing to, which is all that matters (which you would know if you've read Tim Ferriss's "The 4-Hour Workweek").

Chapter Twelve is titled "The End of the Beginning". I don't want to give anything away (like this is some fiction novel) or infringe any copyright laws, but it's his way of pointing you in the right direction. I can say that I identified myself with this (one sentence in particular). Let's just say that he and I are a lot alike.

I give this five out of five snug-fitting sweaters (I'd like to make my review rating based on the book somehow). At $13.57, it's almost a steal. Pick it up (along with "The 4-Hour Workweek" to get the urge to do what you want with life) and get free shipping on Amazon.com.

The Weekend Post

2008-12-21T02:45:00.003-05:00

Now, I try to avoid posting on weekends. Most of your hits don't come from the weekend.

However, I'm so low on hits (as well as posts) that this doesn't matter in the slightest. Having just made a new note on Facebook, I would like some words to be the opening to my blog, as opposed to two videos of babies.

I am a big fan of random thoughts. It feels like I just did a random post, however, so I'll attempt to stay structured.

I had a high school alumni hockey game today. We, as the alumni, play the varsity team for some fun exercise. Every year the alumni team wins rather effortlessly.

This year was a tad different.

The game began, and after two periods, we realized we were losing... pretty badly.

Midway through the third, we were told to evacuate the building. There was apparently a carbon monoxide leak in the building. Ohhh... so that's why all those other teams had kids with headaches and a bad case of vomit mouth.

The game was called with us losing 12-4. Horrendous, indeed, but it would have been more fun if we had less people show up. We probably had four or five full lines (that's at least twenty people), and ice time, as well as bench space, was rare.

It sure was a good thing we left the building that had a gas leak and went outside to breathe all of the exhaust fumes found in the parking lot from the bunches of fire trucks, ambulances, and other generic vehicles.

The Evil Look

2008-12-14T02:18:00.001-05:00

I'm not particularly fond of babies, but these are hilarious.

Random Friday Thoughts

2008-12-13T02:51:00.003-05:00

I don't have much on my mind. Boring. Here it is.

I've heard that I should be famous for motorcycle crashes. It's apparently the only thing I'm good at.
Responding with noises is sometimes better than words.
I will fucking learn how to whistle someday soon.
Cheetahs are fucking powerful!
PETA pisses me off.
My friend Gavin puts used coffee grounds in the same trash as his cat's used kitty litter to make it smell better.
The Friday's in the Castleton Square Mall Food Court is quite small. They still put up some decent business though.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra is good for Christmas listening.
You can not focus on school if you're a drop out. Nor can you graduate at first semester if you're a drop out.
Nolan is lazy.
I need to hone my game skills. Need some fire Bs in the gym, you know.

That's all I've got right now. Enjoy the weekend!

Inspiration from others

2008-12-07T17:09:00.004-05:00

A while back, Nate Green was interviewed by Dr. John Berardi. You can find the interview here.

It's basically JB helping Nate get the word out on his book. It's a good listen and a great plug for "Built for Show", because the book pretty much sells itself. It's a great concept and a fantastic idea and is put together really well.

During this interview, JB tells Nate how he is an inspiring character. I thought about it for a second, and if you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that I talk about Nate... well, too much.

But I've mentioned JB before, too! I thought about Nate for a second, and realized he is probably the most inspirational person I know of. Then I thought about Berardi, and realized I wasn't as inspiring by him. You may not remember, but I've called John Berardi a genius before. He is the man. One of the smartest in the world, especially if you just consider the others in his field.

So I had to ask myself, "Why am I not inspired as much by John Berardi as I am by Nate Green?" Well...

Nate is young. I'm even younger. He makes me want to bust ass to get where he is in four years.
JB's concepts are ridiculous... in a good way. It feels like he is light years ahead of me.
Nate feels more accessible. He has a personal blog that I love to comment on. JB is the head of a huge project, Precision Nutrition.
Nate's topic are very interesting. Hell, the subtitle of his book is "Four body-changing workouts to build muscle, lose fat and looking good enough to hook up." Every guy wants to hook up! This is especially true for myself and my circle of friends who just don't act correctly around women. On the other hand, nutrition is kind of a boring topic, not boring in general, but compared to hoisting women onto different pieces of furniture, it does take the back burner.
Nate Green has explored my blog. That is huge to me, and makes me a tid bit biased.

That's just a quick list... any other thoughts on the subject?

Trainer is a nimrod continuation.

2008-12-03T00:28:00.005-05:00

A week or two ago, Tony Gentilcore posted a new blog post about stupid, retarded trainers. I have no intentions of stealing his thunder, so I strongly suggest you go read his original post right here.

Now, just so you know, Tony is hilarious. His is a blog I would suggest anybody subscribe to... so do it.

The reason of this post is to talk about a new story I just heard.

My good friend Kyle told me an experience he had today while training two women from one of his classes. He said, "You guys are going to do squats... you remember how to do squats, right?"

One of the girls replies, "Yeah I remember!"

Then her sister says, "This trainer told my friend that women shouldn't do squats because they don't have a muscle in their back that men do."

Have you vomited yet? I'll wait for you to clean it up.

Yeah, she said that the bar doesn't hurt men as much as women so they should can the squats altogether. Nothing about other squats (FRONT SQUATS!) and nothing about not being a pussy about it (girls don't need to be babied like that, they're tough on their own) and nothing about how this trainer is fucking retarded (silly stupid).

This person did not say that women have less muscle, no... they have a different amount of muscles. Apparently, the Y chromosome that men get also gives them a different anatomy.

Let that sink in... now reject it. Don't let anybody try to make you that stupid.

Disgusting. And this person makes more money than I do.

A new laptop

2008-12-02T01:01:00.002-05:00

On Thanksgiving night, I was one of those douche bags waiting outside of Best Buy to get a nice door-busting sale.

All in all, it paid off. I ended up getting a new laptop for $406 and some change, which I'm currently using to send this post.

Toshiba
3 GB RAM.
160 GB hard drive.
AMD dual core processor.
Shitty camera and a microphone.

So now I've downloaded Skype, so let me know if you've got a name that I can befriend, because I don't know of anyone on Skype.

All in all, a great deal for four hundo.

And hell, maybe I'll do some nice video posts in the future.

Getting huge

2008-11-25T00:25:00.002-05:00

The day has come.

Today was my first day of structured mass dieting in a long time.

Eggs, Surge, another shake, brown rice, canned chicken, almost a gallon of Vitamin D milk, Superfood, Leucine (a.k.a. cough medicine), BCAAs, and Flameout.

I almost felt sick for part of the day. I left for school around four and had planned to eat my post-workout meal around 3:00... I ended up finishing it around 6:45. 1 cup of uncooked brown rice is nothing compared to roughly 12 ounces of dry ass chicken.

Needless to say, I was pretty full when I finished that meal, and skipped the meal I had planned on having at school (which consisted solely of a metabolic drive protein bar, so I didn't miss out).

The damn family ordered pizza, of course, so I had six slices... bleh. Whatever, it'll be cool.

I'll probably end with two fillets of salmon tonight and my last servings of Leucine and Flameout.

Also, I'm very excited to try out ZMA. I'm about to have a great night of sleep.

Any questions? I'd love to give some feedback.

The book

2008-11-21T02:02:00.003-05:00

I just made an Amazon purchase. I should be getting Built for Show around the 25th.

Also, I ordered the audio CD version of Timothy Ferriss' The 4-Hour Work Week. Getting another book to read just wasn't a good idea. Examine:

Things I own, but still haven't read:

Hardcore Bodybuilding (last on my list of priorities because it's a little more dated)
Low Back Disorders
Supertraining
Atomic Dog: The Testosterone Principles
Plenty of free articles that I just keep discovering
My actual homework/class books... but whatever

So as you can tell, another book to read didn't sound very appealing. However, an audio CD is easy to listen to! I bought The FitCast Insider about a month ago and have listened to every interview at least once.

Simply put, it's a lot easier to listen to information while you're driving than it is to read information while you're driving (yes, I have done both).

And a side note, I'm beginning to bulk hardcore on Monday. Hopefully I'm done being sick by then, and I can get huge. The $200 Biotest order is in and I've done some limited planning, just can't forget to get groceries on Sunday after hockey.

I'll probably bulk update on the blog in a month... assuming there's good news.

Find out where your hits are coming from!

2008-11-17T20:26:00.004-05:00

My good friend Josh Corken has his life in order. He's organized and shooting up in the field of graphic design, trying to make a name for himself.

He's even somewhat driving me to advance in my field of fitness, although I would be doing the same because of necessity and other big, young names such as Eric Cressey and Nate Green (the bastards).

Back to the topic, Josh referred me to one of the many features that Google offers, called Google Analytics to track the hits on my blog. After reading up on this, it's a great way to make more business.

Analytics gives you a rundown of your total visits, where your hits come from, what browsers they are using, the average time on your site, returning vs. new visitors, the network they are on, and their internet speed, AMONG OTHERS!

Some of these features don't seem to offer much of a value, but it is quite obvious where some of the benefits come from.

Put simply, if you know where your hits are coming from, you can advertise there more often, ultimately turning visitors into customers.

Cleaning House

2008-11-12T19:02:00.006-05:00

You are reading the blog of the current cleaning lady for Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training. I now view everything as dirty and dusty and it needs to be fixed!

I had my first vacuuming session today, and I can honestly say that I sweated more during the cleaning part than the lifting part (it was just a deload week, upper body day).

Hell, at least I'm starting to do some cleans!*

Thanks to Ben Fink Shapiro for this picture.

For some useful information, however, there are some great deals I'd like to make a note of from Amazon.

First is Nate Green's new book Built For Show. This guy is the man, that's all there is to it.
Next up are a tad businesslike. This one I discovered from Nate Green, ironically. It is called The 4-hour Work Week
Next is a classic called Think and Grow Rich
It would be a real cheap purchase and I could get some free shipping! Woo hoo!

Sadly, I just spent fifty bucks on Supertraining by Dr. Mel Siff. Damn EliteFTS sales always get you! It's cool, though. Maybe I'll buy some more books, eh?

*I couldn't resist at all.

P.S. I would like to thank Max Engling for being so good looking and getting somebody to take such a strange picture of him. His was the first picture I thought of when I started writing this post. Way to go, buddy!

P.P.S. I would also like to thank Ben Fink Shapiro for the great shot of Max. He's the guy on the other side of the camera, putting all the pieces together!

The Earth and aspiring young men

2008-11-05T02:51:00.005-05:00

After doing hours upon hours of homework and pretty much blowing off my girlfriend (I've been doing homework from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m... I regret to say that it had to be done), I've found time to do a little reading.

First off, in my Health class homework, I had to visit a site called My Foot Print. You may have already heard of this because I know that I had. It's about you doing your part to reduce the waste that the world makes.

You take a quiz and it rates you on your carbon, food, housing, and goods and services footprints. I scored fairly well, considering most things were out of my control for the most part (family things like recycling). However, I use way more food than the average person because I have meat and/or seafood every day. That will never change for me, because this site pretty much wants you to be a vegetarian. I am proud that I am doing more in the other categories, however.

I suggest you go and take this because environmental health is a big problem in the world. This is a good way to educate yourself.

Now on another note, I noticed that Kaiser had a new interview up on his blog with Nate Green, one of my more enjoyed writers at the present time. Nate is a very knowledgeable ex-personal trainer who now works full time for Testosterone Nation. They were talking about "marketing", but really about self-improvement. They said the foundation for your marketing is who you are, so make sure you stay who you are and don't be fake because you may be able to fool yourself, but not others.

Here's a nice quote I got from this post:

“Be honest, interesting, and humble. Be intriguing. Listen. Surprise them.”

I almost immediately printed that up and posted it around my computer.

Good stuff in the article, and I'm starting to wonder if I'll buy his book with the greatest title ever...

Hah, okay, I probably will, and I will probably buy it in conjunction with "The 4-Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss to get the Amazon.com free shipping. I'd spend about twenty six dollars to help Nate get closer to a best seller list and learn how to better myself.

Bitches, huh?

2008-11-01T02:30:00.002-04:00

I don't really know how to open this, so I'll let Scrubs do it for me. Enjoy the next minute and sixteen seconds.

Women.

Ah. Gosh.

I have new evidence on women.

My good friend Kyle Penfound takes a speech class on Thursdays over in Carmel, IN. During this class last Thursday (10/29/2008), the class was split into two age old groups: men and women.

The goal was simple: You're given a topic and your stance on it, and your side has to argue the given stance.

Every point the women made was horrible, and they ended up losing every debate. What Kyle, as well as one of the more intelligent students who was judging, both noticed that the women had horrible rationale. All of their points were driven simply by emotional appeal (pathos), while all of the men's arguments were driven by logical appeal (logos).

For instance, it is debate night. The topic is violent video games and their role in causing violence in children. The women are arguing to get rid of video games, while the men are arguing to keep them. The women are up first, and they talk about how it is damaging the kids and referenced a study where the kids play violent video games, then are put together with another kid in a place where they are in control and acted violent towards them. The men then come up and talk about the rating system and how kids under 18 can't even purchase mature games. Then they state that the average age of a person playing video games is 35, which was a fact found from a man in the group who had the topic for his final speech. The women then respond by saying, "We don't know where you got those facts, but that's a lie." Then they talked about kids again. Then the men explained how the average age of a video gamer really is 35, and restated the rating system point. The women hit a very similar rebuttle as before... and here's where the men win the debate. This may be irrelevant to the point I'm trying to make, but the men have the closing statement and bring up how the women have no stated their stance on the matter by saying, "We're not really sure what point you're arguing, but we're going to assume that you're against violent video games for children." They close with their point of view and win the debate.

Now, many of the women's reponses were, for lack of a better term, stupid. However, some people are stupid, and that just happens. It's irrelevant to this case.

Did you notice the emotional appeal? They were worried about the children, and not trying to explain facts.

It's something to think about. It's pretty easy to notice, too, among other things such as general craziness and irrational thinking, but I won't delve in to that.

I'll close by saying that Chiodos is amazing simply because of their song "One Day Women Will All Become Monsters."

Kevin Nash on Steroids

2008-10-29T03:24:00.004-04:00

I'm investigating the WWE tonight. YouTube has many videos on this. I can't decide what to think about Vince McMahon yet, but I've always kind of thought he was slimy. I've seen a bunch of shit where the media (CNN in particular) takes what somebody says completely out of context and makes them seem bad.

Everybody needs to watch the documentary "Bigger, Stronger, Faster", especially the bitch in this following video. Kevin Nash talks about steroids in a very, very knowledgeable sense, and really hit the media hard when he exposed them for being attracted to the steroids part of the story, when alcohol was a much more likely cause. This woman is so ignorant and oblivious to what is going on. She needs to read Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" because she obviously doesn't know that nobody ever wins an argument. She is very unprofessional and I would love to send her hate mail and see her get fired. :)

As far as the Benoit case is concerned, McMahon talks a lot about their strict drug testing policy, which is a load of shit because it is nearly impossible to accurately test for them. Some think it was "'roid rage", which is as rare as any side affect and possibly a myth. Benoit used his head a lot when wrestling, and it showed in a brain autopsy that was conducted. They said "his brain was like that of an 85 year old person with Alzheimer's." I think it was probably because of his brain state, alcohol use, and possibly just his personality type. Knowing that he had marital problems, he was probably predisposed to this happening.

Highly Effective Nutritional Programs

2008-10-26T02:39:00.003-04:00

Dr. John Berardi is a genius.

There are many reasons for this indisputable fact, but this is probably the best one.

Everyone knows that basics are what drives everything (Pareto's Principle, anyone?).

I'm reading an interview with Dr. Berardi done by Chris Shugart (At T-Nation.com, of course) on the concept of G-Flux, and I was reminded of his (originally 7) Habits of Highly Effective Nutritional Programs.

It's a good list to memorize, that's for sure.

Eat every 2 to 4 hours
Eat lean, complete protein with each feeding
Eat fruits and/or veggies with each feeding, for a total of around 10 servings per day
Based on your body type and goals, use appropriate carbohydrate timing
Eat a healthy balance of fats, about one-third of each type (saturates, monos, and polys)
Ditch most calorie-containing drinks like soda and fruit juices
Focus on whole, unprocessed foods first
Eat whatever else you want 10 percent of the time
In most cases, prepare/pack your food in advance
Incorporate lots of variety; don't fall into a food rut

Ask questions!

2008-10-22T21:35:00.003-04:00

Most people don't know that I'm all about self-improvement. I have been ever since high school ended. People will be more willing to deal with you if you're not a douche bag.

Mike Robertson has an interesting blog today.

For some quick writing action, I wanted to expand on it. He talks about asking questions and finding out what kind of person your trainer is.

I would like to suggest you do that daily.

Ask questions about your professor.
Ask questions about your bosses.
Ask questions about your friends.
Ask questions about your enemies.
Ask questions about your mentors.
Ask questions about your influences.

Asking questions is basically a great way to develop a bull shit detector. Sift through the nonsense. *see closing Bruce Lee quote

I leave you with a few Bruce Lee quotes that I have around my computer, the last of which is an important one in my life and pertains the most to this article. *see closing Bruce Lee quote

To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.

As you think, so shall you become.

Showing off is the fool's idea of glory.

Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless. Hack away the unessential.

Thanks for the fame

2008-10-20T20:16:00.002-04:00

My last post called "Tone down the protein, please" was featured as a guest blog on Mike Robertson's blog because he thought the article was just as retarded as I did. I would like to personally thank him for the great amount of fame and women that flew my way over the weekend.

Now time for random thoughts!

I want the FitCast Insider.
I want Combat Core.
I want the Indy Performance Seminar DVDs.
I want Warp Speed Fat Loss.
I want Unstable Surface Training.
Homework sucks. It's not that hard, but it's boring as shit.
New project: Learn PHP to develop a Facebook application.
My wounds are healed almost completely. I'm still discolored, but pretty much all of the skin is back.
Did pretty well on my Statistics exam for forgetting I had to take it today.
My lifts sucks balls. It's hard to not be impatient when I want my weights to go back up.
Switched my IUPUI email over to Gmail. Not too bad.
I need to do a Statistics project and take two tests by roughly Wednesday.
I have about nine grand in the bank. Six is going to my parents for my car, so I'm guessing I have about three saved up for my next bike.
I need to register for classes next semester so I don't get boned.
Haven't played guitar in forever.
Blogs are fantastic for learning and selling things, haha.

Tone down the protein, please

2008-10-17T01:25:00.003-04:00

MSN is the leader of health, right?

Ehh, I'm not so sure.

I'll a attempt to dissect this article in order.

Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., has just told us that we eat too much protein. Not we as my friends in the bodybuilding community, but we as in the population. If we want specifics, the third paragraph is what set me off. She says that working out puts us in an anabolic state overnight. Night time is synonymous with catabolism! Some hardcores who don't care about sleep will wake up in the middle of the night to drink a shake or take some BCAAs to stop the muscle eating! Hell, even working out alone puts you in a catabolic state if you don't have proper post-workout nutrition (which, thankfully, she discusses later).

She mentions a study by Peter Lemon that suggests this is true. After a quick search of PubMed.com, a site that consists of fitness and nutrition studies, I've found that this professor does a lot of research work with world-renown Dr. John Berardi. Not a surprise seeing as they're both Canucks. For the record, I never actually determined what study she was referring to. I really wish she had cited the information!

"More protein can lead to more body fat"
No shit. Excess calories need to go somewhere, and if you eat too much of something, it will be stored as fat. However, protein, out of all the macronutrients, is the least likely to be stored as fat because of it's inability to make for a good energy source. She fails to mention that protein is harder to digest, and in turn burns more calories. She used a great tactic that is used when talking about statistics a lot. A journalistic lie if you will (much like what every processed food manufacturer does). It's kind of like if I were to say that only a small percentage of my body gets erect when I see things like Isla Fisher.

Sure it's true, but it's very misleading.
Ohhh, Isla...

She wants us to consume less than a a gram per kilogram of bodyweight. I am "overweight and I'm less than 80 kg. She says 65 grams a day for me.
You have got to be fucking kidding?
For the record, a cup of chopped broccoli is usually a lot more than somebody will eat in a day. Much greater than a serving that the beloved Department of Agriculture makes so popular. And she thinks the average American consumes 100 grams of protein! 100 grams!? If you look on a nutrition label you can easily find out that they base those off of 50 grams of protein a day. I would venture to guess that most people don't get that unless they have a figure in their life that enjoys cooking.

"Timing your muscle fueling efforts"
This paragraph actually baffled me. How can she read great work like that of Nutrient Timing by Dr. John Ivy and still think all of this other stuff? I do think that 4:1 on carbs:protein is a little excessive on the carbohydrate side, but I would say that you want at least 2:1.

Last line:
Peanut butter on bread. Nothing about the peanut butter being natural. Nothing about the bread being 100% whole grain. Don't even worry about the fact that there's roughly no healthy loaf of bread that you can find in a grocery store. Just throw those fats onto those carbohydrates and get a lovely, gigantic insulin spike! Speed up the fat gain, Mommy! I'm taking up sumo wrestling!

Snobbery!

2008-10-12T14:48:00.003-04:00

This week's new old Atomic Dog article on T-Nation was a good one.

Plug the King of England in the Ass

TC spoke of how he is a snob. And damn proud of it because that means he has faith in himself. A better way to put it is "intellectual integrity".

Good stories. Plenty of humor, as usual. Pretty short read, as well.

There's no reason you shouldn't read through this article. You'll grow as a person.

Updates

2008-10-08T15:13:00.003-04:00

I've taken in a lot of information between yesterday and the two hours I've been awake today.

I listened to hours of the FitCast.
I learned a lot about how I can link to the internet through text messages.
I adopted Twitter, as well as Facebook mobile.
I was kind of excited to get EC's new e-book on Unstable Surface Training, then I found out it's forty bucks, and I'm not ready to shell that out right now. Sad news.
The road rash is healing up nicely.
All I want to do it train.
I'll probably do hockey on Sunday and jump back into training on Monday.
I need some more money for sure.
I need a new bike and I need to get to the Ryan Lee bootcamp next year and I need to buy things and I need to finish my education and I need to open a gym.

So much to do!
Good thing I have a few years to worry about these things.

I need to get that Z1000 though after winter. Awesome.

I promise to keep these posts shorter... it's started becoming an updating novel lately.

Road rash

2008-09-30T19:03:00.003-04:00

Motorcycles are awesome.

You take up less space.
You look cool.
Chicks dig bikes.
You can pretty much be anywhere on the road that you want to be.

...among other reasons.

Well I experienced my first motorcycle crash yesterday, at roughly 3:50 p.m. on 9/29/2008.

If you would like to see all of the pictures I took, then click the picture below that pretty much sums everything up, but may I suggest you check them out after reading the following story:

It was somewhat of a slow, average day. Upon wakening, I got ready and left to go train. Had a quick deloaded session, and went home.

I proceeded to take texts and calls from crazy people. Stress levels have been high lately. Women situations and stuff... you know.

I picked out my All Time F!&#ING Low shirt, then decided to put it back because it's collar stretches out when I ride my bike, and since Kyle didn't wear his leather, I figured I'd suck it up with him. So I changed into my new Elite FTS shirt. It fits real nice.

I'm looking to be on time, so I'm ready to leave but these phone calls and such are keeping me at home. I finally get going a little later than I had hoped, so it's time to race.

I went faster than normal, bolting down 146th. Then I start slowing down as I come up to the Allisonville intersection. The light changes to yellow, I think about stopping, but I don't really feel like it and I'm not sure that my shitty, worn out brakes could have made the stop, so I speed up again. I actually make it through this incredibly long intersection with only a little red light time, so my conscience is relatively clear, but since my bike is loud and my headphones are in, I decide to check my mirrors to make sure I'm not getting pulled over. All good.

Then I look ahead.

Traffic is moving so slow that it looks like it's stopped. I guess I was going pretty fast and I kind of freaked out for a second. I grab the front brake to get ready to slow and evaluate if I should swerve or just try to stop. Problem is even though my brakes are shitty, apparently they can still lock up my front wheel at high speeds.

Wheel locks. I still think I'm just going to have to stop hard. Didn't even realize I locked my wheel until I was over and sliding on the ground.

It was like a fucking slip and slide. It was awesome.

I got up. Apparently after the bike bucked me, it ran into this guy's van in front of me. He's up and out to help me right away. Another lady in her minivan with her kids in it comes over. I was wearing my slipper shoes, and picked up the first one because it was real close to me. I start to look for the others, and the lady tells me to sit down. I tell her it's going to be hard, because adrenaline is EVERYWHERE.

Another guy who lives across the street offers help and water. I try sitting, 20 seconds pass, then I remember I wanted to get my shoes. I ran over to my other one so that if traffic got to go around us my shoes wouldn't be run over.

I saw my bike. It looks ugly (see the pictures). The keys (and my Red Wings puffy hockey puck and blue light) are still in the bike. I shrug it off and go make sure my backpack is fine. Cops are there right away, one guy said he thinks he heard the bike hit the van, hahaha.

Give him my license, they get an ambulance there. They just make sure that I don't have any spine damage, especially up in the cervical area.

Basic stuff. I ended up getting in the ambulance and one of the guys thank me for not doing it during the Steelers game later. They heard my text message sound which is Arnold Schwarzenegger saying, "Stop being such a pussy!" We all got a kick out of that.

Plenty of crap goes on at the hospital. I was there forever. Thankfully most of my family left after a while because they were annoying. Kyle came in after school because it was a great reason to skip math.

Fun shit.

You

2008-09-25T16:44:00.002-04:00

I couldn't think of a good title for this without completely jacking the idea.

It's on YOU

The above link is the title to a Mike Robertson blog post.
I will admit I've stated paying more attention to him since I started training at his facility.

But I'm glad.

You see, it's gems like this that make all this incessant idol-worshiping/stalking worthwhile.

I'm happy to say that I've grown up knowing that I can control how I am. Try to be happy, and you will. That's why I'm a pretty laid back person, or a Type B personality if you're taking psychology.

I'm going to re-outline his bullets in case clicking the link is too much work:

What is going right in your life right now? What have you done to create this environment? Don't play around! Write this shit down - it could be with regards to your training, financial status, relationships, whatever. It all comes together, so whatever is really important to you write it down.
What is going wrong in your life right now? What have you done to create this environment? Write this down as well for future reference.

Ironically, Mike took this idea from another fitness professional: Leigh Peele.

I encourage you to follow the links and get your read on. It's worth it.

The Beginning

2008-09-09T15:57:00.005-04:00

I have discovered that "Headlights" was not a fluke, and The Classic Crime is actually just very good at album-closing songs. This new one is entitled "The Beginning (A Simple Seed)" off of their album The Silver Cord. Absolutely fascinating lyrics that roll very well through the rhythm of the song.

The Beginning (A Simple Seed) lyrics

Alwyn Cosgrove

2008-09-07T16:51:00.003-04:00

I have read a decent amount of Alwyn Cosgrove's work and I've definitely heard the cancer survivor's story, but I don't read a whole lot of his stuff anymore. He's generally a fat loss guy and I just don't need fat loss right now.

Since I get his newsletter, I decided to read the most recent one after suggestions that it would be a little more strength and size oriented.

As a side note, I would like to make it known that I'm not belittling the genius, I know he knows a lot about strength and size, but he doesn't write much about it.

Now he addressed the topic of steroids in his interview with Mike Mahler. What he had to say was remarkable and is a good way to think about performance-enhancing drugs.

MIKE MAHLER: In addition to tons of athletes using steroids, testosterone and GH are far more available legally to the masses. Do for see an increase in 'regular people' test- driving these substances?

ALWYN COSGROVE: I think so, but I think that there will be an increase in legal HRT use amongst those who are eligible. The system right now is screwed up. A 'normal' testosterone level is considered to be 200-900. Let's say that I am sitting at 700 all my life. Then I start getting negative effects - depression, lack of sex drive etc. I get a test and I'm at 350. That's half my normal levels. You'll feel like shit! But your test will come back within normal limits. And you won't get any help. I think we should all get tested at 21 or so and have that as your lifetime baseline. Any deviation from that and you can get a script. What's weird is that a 'transsexual' male, once approved psychologically can take feminizing drugs to make him into a woman. But a man can't take drugs to make him more of a man! What an ass backward world we live in.

People... bleh!

2008-09-04T15:12:00.004-04:00

Today's new T-Nation article is an interview with Dr. Clay Hyght. Dr. Clay finished his undergraduate studies with a degree in Exercise Science and then became a chiropractor. He's participated in many bodybuilding shows and has a lot of experience with being big and being lean.

He also had something to say on the science of women...

T-Nation: Okay, Doc. Let's change gears here and talk about women.

Hyght: My favorite subject. I was getting tired of talking about training.

T-Nation: I hear so many women say, "I don't like a guy who's too big." Your thoughts?

Hyght: I've found it to be true for me. The smaller I am, the more compliments I get from girls regarding my physique. If I really bulk up in the off-season, zero compliments. And when I lean back down, some will say, "You were too big before."

I've tried to figure out the psychology behind that, and I've come up with a couple things. Keep in mind I'm not a psychologist, nor do I play one on TV.

For one, I think we prefer what we're accustomed to. Most women don't grow up around really muscular guys, but those that do tend to prefer that.

Another thing is that females assume that if a guy is pretty big and lean then he must be vain, spending hours upon hours in the gym with no time or attention left for her. Unfortunately, some guys fulfill that stereotype, so it perpetuates itself. This actually makes dating tough for me.

I've also seen that many women prefer not to date a guy that she thinks is better-looking or has a better physique than she does. It just magnifies her insecurities, I guess. But for us guys, we're like, "Bring on the hotties!" If you think I wouldn't date Jessica Simpson because she's better-looking than I am, you're crazy. Put me in that game, Coach! I'm ready!

With Dr. Clay having shed some light on the subject, I'd like to point out that my friend Kyle has told me one of the wisest ideas I've ever heard. He suggests that every woman should have to take the Philosophy class he is in right now because it's a logic class, and that's something most women are not born with. If you've ever been in a tough relationship, you know exactly what I mean.

Dr. Clay also had something to say about guys...

T-Nation: What do you think about guys who say, "I don't want to get too big?" That's a problem I'd love to have.

Hyght: Yeah, I'd like to have that problem, too. Then I could just lose muscle. Heck, that's a cinch! Many of the guys who say that are simply rationalizing a lowered goal so they don't risk failure. Sure, most guys really don't want to look like Jay Cutler, but when they say they don't want to be as big as someone like me, then I think they're rationalizing.

I'm 5-11 and usually weigh about 210. That's not very big. However, I've worked with guys who actually want to look like an Abercrombie model, so to each his own.

We should all take an honest look at ourselves and see where we settle or compromise in life. No one should compromise their goals just because they may not seem attainable. We're capable of achieving far more than we think. The guy that says he doesn't want to be rich because of all the taxes he'll have to pay is simply trying to justify not going for it. As my dad always told me, "Son, you can do or be anything you want, if you want it bad enough." That's how I live my life.

T-Nation: Wise words. Thanks very much, Dr. Clay.

I met Bill Hartman yesterday at I-FAST and he, interestingly enough, had something to say on this subject as well. He was telling me that guys want to be big like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Brad Pitt in Fight Club was about 150 pounds. That is actually the very opposite of big.

On the bright side of this ranting, I would like to say that I got some cheap ass gear in from Elite Fitness Systems yesterday and while I was composing this Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson's Building the Efficient Athlete set came in. I can not wait to watch that!

Fascinating stuff

2008-08-28T01:02:00.003-04:00

I would like to note that competitive weightlifters are amazing.

This is obviously brought about by the recent 2008 Olympic games held in Beijing.

When I see a guy in the 123 pound class lifting 253 pounds for a snatch, I'm impressed.
I am not horrible at the Olympic lifts, but that's a shit ton more weight than I could lift... and he has the mass of a little girl!

...speaking of which, those little girls are amazing as well.

They're fascinating to watch.

Lance Goyke's Blog

Lat recruitment during deadlifts

"How Can I Tell if I'm Engaging My Lats?"

Benefits of Engaging the Lats

"How Can I Recruit My Lats?"

Go Pick Up that Bar!

A quick update

Daniel Tosh's workout to get ready for a show

Don't get thrown ON THE GROUND!

Clothing company is LIVE!

A Little Coaching... The Return of Neutral Spine

The Karnes Shake Challenge!

Karnes Shake #1

Karnes Shake #2

It's nice to see kids getting active when the street is ice.

Which came first?

Rethinking the origin and insertion points

Let us begin.

PRI FTW YAY!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Keep It Simple

BENCH TIME!

Why don't you do cardio?

The Health of a Nation

The information algorithm

And so it begins...

God, I HATE this band

Precision Nutrition at it again

This is wrong with everybody

Abdominal Training, Ground Zero

Reading for the Summer

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Petition

This petition could save our country

COOK YOUR FOOD!And please sign the petition and pass this along to EVERYONE you know.

Want to Remember Everything?

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Breathing vs. Anxiety

Double Kettlebell Swing

Quote of the Week

Ezekiel bread

New Year's Goals 2010

Conditioning for Strength and Power Athletes

Mind Over Matter

Meet Video Documentation

Happy Thanksgiving!

Motorcycle tips

Assess and Correct: The Weekend Recap

Post-Fogo de Chao with Bill TJ Mike and Eric.

A Different Fat Loss Perspective

We've officially got a dog now. Shih Tzu. Nine weeks old.

I'm starting to eat. Oh how I've missed food. Carrots and spaghetti sauce.

I-FAST Testimonial

Perform Better Chicago recap

12 eggs 5 sls. turkey bacon 10 oz snap peas 2 sls bread big tomato milk.

GTD Wallpaper

Quinoa with apples oranges hazelnuts and green onion with steamed tilapia

Black kidney pinto beans. Corn brown rice chicken sausage and vegetables.

Salmon crimson grapes and green bell peppers.

ABC News Goes Intelligent... Sort Of

"Soft drinks don't play any role in the obesity epidemic. Soft drinks are just another fun beverage along with a lot of other beverages and foods that we like to eat or drink."

Getting Things Done

Twenty four hours later...

Video Documentation

An Explanation of Blue Balls

Experience is key

Check out today's breakfast courtesy of the Hell's Kitchen guy.

Food time!

A change of pace?

Checking In

The Tavern in the Square!

Grub time!

MBSC Winter Seminar Presenters

Mike Boyle 3rd Annual Winter Seminar

Advancing even further on!

Great stuff is everywhere

Kettlebells!

Changing somebody

Pantyhose is manly?

Higher Education

You can't fix everyone

COOK YOUR FOOD!

And please sign the petition and pass this along to EVERYONE you know.