I’m sure some people who hear this are mortified. I remember having a debate with one of the football coaches last year regarding this subject. The conversation ranged from Creatine being unsafe to it being down right tainted. Each subject that was presented to me I debated with evidence. I have a host of reasons why I encourage my son to take Creatine. The most important being that I am 100% confident that the use of Creatine is safe for him [1].
Muscle Group Specialization Cycles: Why and How – Part 1
We’re fortunate to live in an era where folks like Dr Brad Schoenfeld and other researchers are consistently working on practical research to answer specific questions that lifters want to know. We’re also fortunate that folks like Greg Nuckols and James Krieger are doing analyses outside of the peer reviewed research to keep the community on the cutting edge of data-informed training. [Read more…]
We Interrupt This Blog Post (Dear Online Coaches)
It’s been crazy to watch the change from “brick and mortar” shopping, to WiFi and mouse clicks. I purchased stock in Amazon a few years back, and what an excellent decision that was. But this goes beyond buying things online. Our industry, the fitness industry, has gone electronic as well. From the way we dispense information, to all the discount codes flashing across your screen. Oh, and Flex magazine is no longer around? When did that happen?
[Read more…]
Don’t Lose Your Head
Many of the e-mails and social media private messages that we get are regarding time off from training. Even many of our competition prep athletes write us during some level of panic, asking us what they should do for their training during a vacation, family emergency, injury, medical restricted period, hardship etc. etc. It’s as if the end of the world is coming and even so much as a hiccup in their training schedule will de-rail their gains, and they are only a week or two away from turning into terrible bodybuilder/athlete, or fat slobs with no muscle. It almost seems like they believe they will never be training or lifting weights again.
Fly On the Wall – Coach’s Feedback Ep. 3
We are really transparent when it comes to our weekly 3DMJ podcast,where as a group we discuss many bodybuilding topics. With that said, I started this blog series back in February where I thought it might be cool and interesting for you to be a “fly on the wall” while I give coaching feedback to my weekly rostered athletes. In this third episode below, I share three more snippets from this past week’s athlete check-in responses that involve three of my current contest prep athletes. I hope you find it interesting and enlightening!
Beginners Don’t Lose Your Mind, Veterans Don’t Lose Your Edge
Now that I’ve been lifting with serious intent for 14 years, and training other people for 13, I’ve noticed a consistent pattern that occurs during the “lifespan” of a serious lifter.
Initially, (especially for those who start reasonably young, say in their teens or twenties) enthusiasm and passion combined with a lack of understanding of what it truly means to commit to a lifetime of lifting, and a lack of knowledge and experience regarding the “diminishing returns nature” of gains over a career, results in some poor decision making among novices. [Read more…]
Blood Flow Restriction Training
My current opinion on blood flow restriction training is as follows in the year 2018. I feel that it’s such a valuable tool that all strength athletes should be at least somewhat well versed on how to, and when to apply it. I can’t imagine many ambitious athletes who will not at some point find a reason to pull the BFR card. [Read more…]
Transparency in Bodybuilding
I just finished a Skype posing session with one of my athletes, who is deep into his contest prep and is finding it tough not to compare himself to others on the IG (Instagram). This is important, especially when many of the people he follows have a feed that looks like an ESPN highlight reel of their life, and everything appears to be super spectacular. Progress for my athlete at times has been quite challenging and in comparing himself to those who appear to make it look easy, he is left questioning his own abilities. [Read more…]
Is Overtraining a Myth?
What follows is an excerpt from my contribution to a roundtable on overtraining in the most recent issue of Alan Aragon’s Research Review, which by the way, is an amazing body of work that spans a decade of issues. I’ve had the privilege of contributing to the AARR twelve times over the years and I can’t recommend it highly enough for those who want to see how the master engages with the literature: https://alanaragon.com/about-aarr/ [Read more…]
My 6 Favorite “Hacks” in the Gym
This fall will be my 20thyear in the Iron Game. In that 20 years I have tried at least 100 different “Hacks” in an effort to get my training completed when I didn’t have the ideal set up or machine. I remember in 1998 when the local gym, which ironically I ended up buying, had a brand new Smith Machine. At the time, I was newly diagnosed with my spondylolisthesis and was instructed by my neurologist not to squat until I had my CT Scan done and my results back. So I came up with the idea of using the Smith Bar as a leg press. I did so by laying on the floor, on my back, below the smith bar and putting my feet up on the bar. [Read more…]
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