Just Listen

It will change your life.

Weight training that is.

And a decent diet

And some cardio

I am writing this because I just saw a women jogging down the road, and I have seen the same women jogging down the same road for years, like 5 years. She looks no different than when she began jogging. And I mean, she gets after it. She waddles along, busting her ass, man. She works and she works and she is wasting her time. She has not changed at all. She runs in the snow, icy streets, all day, she's killing it. Mile after mile. Year after year.

I want to pull over and throttle her. Not really. Not throttle in a real sense.  I want to shout at her. From the bed of my 4 wheel drive Rock Warrior I want to shout, "STOP JOGGING! "  "Lady!" " Just do what I say, just do what I say...just do it".

Just do the following things: Lift weights 3 times a week. Squat, Deadlift, Press, Row, Pushups. Maybe some dumbbells.

Cardio- walk or ride a bike 6x a week for 45 minutes.  You can also box or Muay Thai. Yes, you can jog, I am not against it at all, but you must lift weights and change your diet.

Diet- eat fibrous carbs and protein and tons of veggies. Eat 4-6 times a day. Eat what you want a few meals a week.

I know that it works.

I have ladies(40 to 60 years old) that I train who have literally changed their lives with doing exactly what I said, and exactly what I wrote about above. Why? Because they are tough and they accept the fact that its uncomfortable to squat and deadlift. But they give it a chance and VOILA! They feel it, the strength and the confidence comes.

LISTEN, PLEASE LISTEN!

You don't have to dance around, or waste your time with classes or some guy stretching you out for an hour and then making you do some hideous band suspension on a  huge ball that makes you look and feel stupid.

I wanna put everything in caps.

They just want your money

They don't know a damn thing.

Its easy. Well, not easy. It is simple, thats it, simple. Do what I say and your life will change.

My Labs

 I went down to my friend Steve's farm in Maryland the other day to train Labs to hunt. That is what Steve does, and he is good at it.

I brought Storm and Bas. Storm is 10 weeks old, Bas will turn 9 years in August. Oh man, puppies are a pain.  Labradors especially. They pick up everything and they get into everything and they are constantly hungry. Storm could eat the southbound end of a northbound skunk. Hungry.

But let me tell you, hunting Labradors are sweet as hell also. And also smart and eager to learn.

 Steve trains Labs like a mad man and I sit back and learn from him.  I watch, I shut my mouth and I learn. The Labs he trains quiver with excitement as they prepare to retrieve. It is awesome. They are so much better than people. Never questioning, they just GO! Elite athletes all of them, and no bravado, or silliness...just work and work and love of work.

And the old man, Bas, did around an 80 yard mark through the pond and brought it back in a straight line. Now, seriously, and this is a stone cold fact, Bas and I have a special thing going on, He reads me man, he knows everything that I want. He goes, he does things that I don't even have to express....of course, his dad was a marking fool, a famous dog whose frozen sperm alone was worth 1200 dollars a shot . And think about it: I have worked with Bas pretty much everyday for his whole life. He should know me by now.

                                 Dignified Bas, Crazy Storm and James' finger in the left hand corner.

And then we did socializing with Storm...basically introducing her to gun shots and calls and whistles and small creeks and other dogs. You have to do it. She is like a sponge, everything that you do is a learning experience, every minute is making her better...and if you don't know what you are doing, could be making her worse. But you ease into it all. She is nervous and scared as she crosses the creek and you don't force her. She tries and she succeeds because she doesn't want to leave you, to have you get too far away.

And Bas just goes. He moves on, he is searching for game. All business. Bas has never cared for much affection. Maybe late at night when he is feeling like being petted and slightly lonely. Mostly, he has a work , work, work philosophy.When I reach to pet him, he pulls away. Throw Dad, I want to retrieve. Screw all of that affection, man.
But he was walking deep in the woods, and then when he got too far, I tell him, "Too far", and he circles back, and Storm sees this and learns it as she watches her big brother. It speeds up the training process and is very cool to see.

I feel sorry for people who don't hunt, or know the joy of a dog. I wouldn't trade any of the moments with them, good or bad, for much of anything else.

Thoughts

I got nothin.

oh yes I do.

Squats with short rest, very short rests, are a great way to get your training sessions to be more intense.

Take around 70% of your max and you and your partner set a time limit to perform, like 7 sets of 7.

I did it with Tracy the other day in 6:04.  6 minutes and it was done. And you grow from stuff like that, and its like running sprints, you are drenched in sweat and your heart is racing and legs are quivering slightly. But just right quivering. You do a set and then your partner does a set, back and forth, like that. You go, they go.

What else does it do? When training has grown stale or you are done training for something and you just want to change stuff up, its a good way to do it. Its definitely not boring.

You can do it with any exercise, I reckon. Deadlifts would work. As would presses, db benches, bench presses. Squats are most fun, though. Probably because they demand the most from your body.


I have been getting a few questions about warmups and how much are necessary before training. The answer? Probably just enough to get your body ready for the task that's next.

So if you are squatting, lets say, 405 for the day, you could probably just do 135x5 225x2 315x2 365x1 and then go to 405. But listen , if you don't feel that its enough, go crazy. Jumping jacks, bike, cleans, whatever you think that you need to be warm. To me, its boring.  When I am training teams, it is different. A warmup for them is actually a mobility session, and a small conditioning session. But for powerlifting and bodybuilding? A few sets should suffice.


What else? I have to advertise and stuff more, do seminars and sell more books, but I don't like doing it. I hate it, seems like self promotion bragging bullcrap.

And there are so many "experts" that don't know a damn thing who are seen as coaches or something. Coaches? Hmm...Anyway, I do Facebook and I write articles, but the truth, the absolute truth is that I write this blog to help someone, anyone out there who needs help with training, and I write some other stuff that is off the training topic because I enjoy writing. That is it. If I sell a few books because somebody like this stuff, great.

Read Blood and Grits by Harry Crews.

Thoughts

Emphasis

Deciding what you WANT from a training cycle is vital to success

Having 10 different goals at once doesn't usually work.

But I do know this-you can't serve too many masters and try to really excel at all of them.


Want to get strong as hell and compete in a powerlifing meet? Lift, eat, rest, repeat. Walk, don't run.

Bodybuilding for a show? Being strong may have to be put on the back burner as you cut rest periods and calories.

Running for distance? 2 days of lifting, low reps, explosive movements, squats.

Football? Periodize your training, always stay strong, but conditioning close to the season is huge and speed should always be worked on. Consequently, as you emphasize conditioning, your squat may not be as strong. So what? And really, that goes for many sports. Emphasize, deemphasize. And put your ego away if you cant squat 600 as the season approaches.


Who Cares?

I have touched on this before, but man, this subculture of training, lifting, powerlifting, bodybuilding is so damn judgemental of what others are doing.

You wanna wear canvas and compete? Great.

Raw, but with wraps? Raw with sleeves? Belt? No Belt? Buck ass naked? Nice.

You wanna do Crossfit? Super.

Olympic weightlifting? Have at it.

Body build? Go for it.

Stand on a Bosu Ball and stabilize yourself while pressing a Llama? Your choice.

Low carb, high carb, Zone? Bran Muffin diet? Kill it.

Id rather read a good book and play with my dogs than judge if the lifting is PURE....

Who cares?

Storm

And speaking of dogs, I have a new Lab, Storm. She is a cool little thing, out of some crazy hunting stock. She is retrieving everything at 10 weeks.Well, she is carrying everything. Head held high, tail straight up. Her food bowl, the hose, shoes, pacifiers, coffee mugs. Her prey drive is awesome. Bas is getting used to her, he had to show her who was BOSS a few times, but he's cool. Now she is pure. She is sitting and bringing the bumper back to me reluctantly. She cant figure out that its a game yet, but she will.

Deadlift for Stronger Abs!

http://spartascience.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-deadlift-for-stronger-abs.html#links

Thoughts

                                            "how do you like your blue eyed boy , Mr. Death?
                                                                        ee  cummins
                                                            
                                                                       Harry Crews

I  have been in a deep funk lately.
In times like these, I think of just how fragile life is, of the meaninglessness of most of what we as a society deem as important. It comes and goes, but it is hard with me lately.
 Yes, I have still trained. Without training, I  would go truly crazy. But it hits me as soon as I put the bar back on the rack.

 This life, and the craziness of life and what comes and goes so fast and what means something and what doesn't mean anything.

 Damn, life can get you down.

 After all, all of my favorite authors have died. I am reading Harry Crews, and I am crying, laughing, smiling at his passages, at his words, the delightful words that he puts forward onto a page that are magic, man, pure magic and genius. And then that's it, once I get done with his books, that is it, no more Harry Crews, he is gone.... The Boston Bombings, the shit everyday about parents killing their kids, the crap, the endless crap about what is right and what is wrong and don't say this and don't say that, and its guns, no its not guns and and the boys at Walter Reed with no arms and legs and medical bills out the ass, cameras on the highway, cameras at redlights,  hungry people in Ohio and West Virginia who you never hear about,  death everywhere, addiction everywhere and then WHAT?  What is next? Where does this crazy life/world go from here?

What is really important?

Its not whether Crossfit is worth a damn or not.  Or if 3 sets of 5 is better than 5 sets of 5.  Or if front squats are better than back squats....WHO CARES? Do what you want!  Do 5,000 snatches in a row, great. Tear your back all to shreds. After all, it's your back. All yours. People say to me, I bet you hate that stuff, right?I say, I don't really care, I don't care at all. Hah, none of that stuff effects me one bit, why should it? I just do my thing, do what I think is right.

It doesn't matter.  None of it matters. If you love it , or have strong feelings about it, great. I don't.


 I was trying to make a point the other day to someone about lying on your death bed and looking back and remembering. What is it that will stick out?

it wont be if you had a good parking spot at work
or if The Cowboys shoulda drafted some son of a gun from Alabama
or if Slayer stayed metal
or if Lance Armstrong cheated
or if this was fair or that was fair. Hell, you know life is not fair. Or you will know it then.
or what an asshole that one boss was to everyone.

It will probably be about your parents or kids or your family or your wife or husband or best friend.  Or the great pets that you had. Memories of them.

It will probably be something about how they loved you and you loved them and the great times that you had or maybe

the regrets of letting some of them go out of your life. Or holding grudges that seemed so stupid. I can hold a grudge with the best of 'em for sure.

Maybe the answer is to just be so passionate and joyous and angry and active and loving and intense that you never leave anything behind. To have few regrets, if any.

A friend of mine once wrote to me some great stuff. He said, "Rip it up! Rip it all up. Rip it apart.  Burn out and burn bright because it is coming for you. Leave nothing to chance or nothing that you wish that you had done. Never be afraid of anything! Take the step onstage, make the speech, reach out and kiss it all. Embrace it all and enjoy it all."

Did You Cheat?

by Tracy Zimmer

So many people claim to be on a “diet”—a term used very loosely these days.  Many dieters confess to “cheating.”  Some cheat on the weekends as a reward for a good week of eating, others don’t make it to the weekend, and are lured in by non-diet food mid-week.  I have done the weekend cheats and had great success, but would be lying if I said I resisted mid-weak temptations now and again. 

I love to eat.  I constantly think about food—if it’s not the food I’m eating, I’m very aware of what others are eating around me.  In the past I have dieted strictly for months, and I’ve eaten like a savage for weeks.  I have felt great adhering to my diet, and guilty about eating shitty food.  I can’t seem to find the middle area: where people wake up and decide what to eat throughout the day, grazing on snacks to hold them over till lunch, or dinner, or whatever.  I want to know what meals I’m going to eat as part of my diet, or I want to eat something that will give me instant gratification—usually ice cream, peanut butter, donuts, cakes, etc. 

Over the past couple of years, I can think of many hilarious/shameful situations as a result of my cheating.  Most involve family, Cristi, or Steel since I’m around them most.  Here are some examples:

Hilarious: I can’t remember what diet I was following when Cristi started working at Penn but I was very consistent during the week and had a cheat meal on Fridays.  After I cheat it is very noticeable the next day—I hold tons of water because I tend to gorge myself on sugary treats, and my face gets puffy.  I remember deviating one week, and when Cristi and I were benching, she looked at me and asked, “Are you ok?  Looks like you were crying or something.”  I answered, “No, I just ate a bunch of food last night so my eyes are puffy.”  I knew exactly what she was talking about, and we both laughed about it—the day after cheating effects were new for Cristi!

Shameful: Unlike Cristi just noticing the puffy-post-cheating look, Steel knows the look and always calls me on it.  Since I typically ask him for diet suggestions, the weekly regimen is cut and dry, but I’ve deviated quite a few times.  In fact, I cheated about 10 weeks out from competing and I remember Steel was pissed.  I gave him every reason to doubt me and asked if he thought I could stick it out.  He answered, “Well…given your track record…” So when I see him after unplanned-cheating (that’s more like a feeding frenzy), rather then say, “Hi” I’m usually greeted with the question, “Did you cheat?!”  I’m never really prepared to answer, “Yes,” but the truth always comes out.  I remember once Steel asked about 7 times before finally I admitted to it, which is just awful!

I know I can stick to a diet.  I also know I can eat copious amounts of food in one sitting without recognizing any satiety till I actually feel sick.  We’ve all indulged at some point.  Whether your vice is sweet, savory or of the bottled variety, I’m always fascinated when others say they can eat “A LOT”—whatever your definition of a lot is, I don’t believe you. 

When I cheat, it’s either all or none.  I’m the ultimate enabler when I want to be.  Food is definitely a drug, and sometimes I just can’t get enough….

Ice Cream-my FAVORITE food-I don’t like mint chocolate chip, but anything else…bring it on!  Ben & Jerry’s pints are single servings as far as I’m concerned.  Breyers and Edy’s have some great flavors.  And yes, I’ve eaten an entire container of these in one sitting.  All ice cream is better with whipped cream!

 

Peanut Butter-Skippy's is the best!  For such a dense food/spread, I tend to ignore the recommended serving.  Come on—2 tablespoons?  That’s nothing!  When I’m committed to my diet, I don’t eat it at all.  Otherwise, I tend to enjoy heaping spoonfuls, and once in a while, the entire container. 

Baked Goods- I can’t decide if it’s the texture of cakes, the frosting on top, or the crunch of certain candy toppings, but I LOVE pastries.  I’m not talking about the boxed grocery store items or stopping in Dunkin Donuts.  When I’m in the mood for treats, I will typically go out of my way to get—what I consider—the BEST!  Here are a few great places:

• Crumbs Bake Shop in Rittenhouse Philadelphia (best cupcakes)
• Fritz’s Bakery in Langhorne, PA (best sticky buns with whipped cream cheese icing)
• Termini Brother's in South Philly (best cannolis)
• McMillan’s Bakery in Haddon, NJ (best cream puff éclair)
• Riehl’s Bakery in the Newtown, PA Farmers Market: This place is a gold mine for donuts, Danish, whoopie pies, cookies, cakes, and breads!  Love this place! 
  

I recognize my nonsensical cheat meals could be problematic.  I’m not proud of eating tons.  It’s definitely not normal, and I get mad at myself for a few days, but looking back I don’t care.  When I do it again, I will care at the time, but I know I can stay on track.  If I didn’t have physique goals, and didn’t love lifting and competing in sports/activities that require weigh-ins, I can’t imagine what I would be like.  Lost that’s for sure!  Dieting, and cheating, is all a matter of choice.  You control what you put in your mouth. 

Tracy is an Assistant Strength Coach at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds the USAPL PA State squat record in the 148lb class with a lift of 402 lbs, and recently finished second in bodybuilding at the Steve Stone Metropolitan Competition in New York.  She can be contacted at tracydzimmer@gmail.com