What’s more important in terms of getting results from your workout program, technique or intensity? In other words, what matters more, working as hard as possible or performing the exercises as perfectly as possible? If you ask 100 trainers and/or exercise enthusiasts, I have no doubt in my mind they would answer that intensity is […]
Strength Training
Just ONE More Rep.
We know that training can be uncomfortable. We know “the burn” hurts like hell and makes us want to quit. We also know that a high degree of effort is required to reap the maximal benefit from any exercise modality we choose; this is especially true for strength training. But how do we do it? […]
A Woman Not Quite Doing One Arm Pullups.
Found an interesting video of a fitness model doing some half-assed one-handed chinups. While they’re not quite one arm chinups (nor are they really complete chinups either), it is impressive to see a woman who can actually come close to the upper body strength of a Lillian Leitzel (who was alleged to be able to […]
Fun Presidential Fitness Facts.
Thought I’d ring in the country’s birthday with some interesting anecdotes about the physical conditioning of our past Commanders-in-Chief. -George Washington had incredible grip strength. It was said he could crack a walnut shell with one hand. (Note: This is much harder than it sounds. Try it.) -John Quincy Adams took a daily swim in […]
The Father of Personal Training. And Milo.
There’s nothing new under the sun, as they say. Exercise has probably been around as long as the human race has been, albeit not in the systematized, efficient, psuedoscientific manner it exists in today. One no doubt has heard of the now legendary Milo of Croton, the Greek wrestler who “invented” progressive strength training sometime […]
Pat Robertson Leg Presses 2000 lbs (Sort of).
When the New York Times reported that GNC stopped selling Pat Robertson’s protein shake, I thought to myself, “Pat Robertson has a protein shake?” So let’s do some fact-checking on the article: 1) Here’s a link to the YouTube video referenced in the article: Pat Robertson Leg Pressing 1000 lbs. Those “leg presses” are atrocious. […]
Babies = Barbells.
Now, at some point, if you’ve reared a child or two, you must have wondered about the health benefits of toting your baby around. If you were so inclined, you may even have thought to yourself, “Well, I’m certainly strengthening my arms carrying this baby of mine around!” But I’m fairly certain you’d never made […]
Ultimate Muscle Size Potential.
I recently picked up a copy of the new John Little book – “High-Intensity Training: The Mike Mentzer Way” – and wholeheartedly suggest it to any Mentzer fans looking to add a tome to their collections (Bill?). At the beginning of the second chapter (aptly titled: “Individual Potential”), there is a picture of a young […]
"Go ahead, you can laugh all you want/I got my philosophy"
From the ETF Wellness Homepage: My Exercise Philosophy (in a Nutshell): I was once a hater. Of all trainers and exercise protocols that I thought to be inferior methods of producing results, whether through inefficiency, or unsafe methods, or haphazard loading, etc. But I’ve since reformed. I have my preferences, to be sure. I believe […]
Tire Flipping Regains Prominence as Exercise Modality.
Ever since I got my CSCS, I’ve been much more tolerant of so-called “functional training”. Being a HIT/SS guy, I have to admit that there is utility in functional/sports-specific training, but the vast majority of it remains, in my eyes, a complete waste of time (I’ll touch upon this some more in later posts, since […]