Positive Mind Positive Life

One of the things I love most about the barbell is that the same habits and mentalities that bring you success in the gym will give you success in life. When approaching a PR attempt if you are messed up in your own head and not confident then there's a damn good chance you will miss the lift. When you doubt yourself there is no doubt. (Put that on a shirt!) Think about how this applies to something as basic as asking a pretty girl out for coffee. It isn't always about if you are good looking enough it's so much more about how confident and comfortable in your own skin. This is why you see some really ugly dudes with some inexplicably hot ladies.

In the gym when you do miss a lift or have a bad work out it's huge to be able to realize you still had a training day where you hit some numbers that will help you get stronger in the long run. You don't have to PR every day. Heck PRing every day will eventually break something off your body which is less than ideal. This mentality will help a ton with your career and business goals as well. Realizing that you aren't going to set the world on fire with sales and profits every single day or that if you make a mistake and totally screw the pooch on a project is extremely helpful. Know that it wasn't your best day but that you learned something from your mistakes. It all goes in the sweat bank.

So take a moment and think of what other ways gym philosophy applies to life. I know there are a ton more.

In the end it comes down to: Positive Mind Positive Life. Negative Mind Negative Life.

You get to choose your mindset.

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes and a powerlifter in the 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and nutrition advice and tips email roninstr@gmail.com and stay tuned here.

Cutting Weight for Meets

So if you are in a strength sport then you are going to be dealing with this issue quite a bit as you progress in your lifting career. I have been on all sides of the weight cutting game from MMA where I fought in as a middle, light heavy, heavy, and even super heavyweight. These days it's still a part of my process when approaching a competition in strength sports. There is a huge difference in how appropriate it is depending on your sporting activity. I would say when done properly in MMA or combat sports it is almost always to your advantage to cut weight. These sports have a huge skill/athleticism component to them primarily and the strength component though present is a secondary attribute.

 

Now if you are competing in a barbell sport I advise against cutting with a few exceptions. First if you are trying to qualify for a national or world meet or competition then yeah, you are at a level where you need to probably think about what weight you would be most competitive at in regards to that meet specifically. Second if you are trying to break records then absolutely cut to where you have to. We are talking about making history here. At least temporarily.

 

So why do I think cutting needs to happen at a higher frequency in combat sports but not the strength game? A key point here is the differences in the sports, not just from a strength vs skill standpoint. In MMA if you are a rookie amateur fighter weighing 175lbs fighting in the 171-185lb class you need to understand there is a guy that walks around at 195lbs who cut 10lbs to kick your 175lb ass. Ideally you were matched well and are at similar skill levels so really you are fighting you but a 20lb heavier version. Cutting weight is a survival skill. Also the goal is to win fights not to get as strong as possible. So you could conceivably stay a middleweight forever and continue to improve.

 

Alternatively, in powerlifting it is about building the physique that can withstand bigger and bigger weights. The focus is completely different. If you are a 6' 2" guy in a class under 200lbs it is in your best interest to keep growing and not cut to the 198s. This may mean you don't win a meet for a while but it will let you fill out your frame to ultimately kick some tail as a 275 or 308lber. That philosophy in combat sports will get your ass kicked an awful lot. Barbells don't punch you in the face. Further the fatigue from cutting weight will affect your strength much more than you movement patterns. This is minimized a bit if you get a 24 hour weigh in with USPA or NAS strongman. It'll hurt you big time in USAW or USAPL as you only get 2 hours to recoup. So in general, I think you should weigh what you weigh and don't stress about what class you are in unless you are qualifying. Enjoy the journey, hit some PRs, and only cut weight when you have to.

 

A final thought to bear in mind. We are participating in sports that are fringe and no one outside of these sports cares what our numbers are or how we placed at worlds. If you are world record holder in the squat that is awesome, but the Normies don't really comprehend what an 1100lb squat feels like and most of them don't even know what a kilo is. Heck last week a random guy came up to me in McDonald's and told me he has a buddy named Bruce who squats 1800lbs. I said that Bruce has the world record by like 600lbs and he goes "Yeah I know!" The guy may not have been dumb but the truth is most people have no concept of what weights are heavy. I don't care what the world record is for skipping 500m is but I am sure there are folks out there that do. Lifting is an awesome recreational activity. Treat it as such or don't, but realize most folks don't care either way so if you are cutting weight to win a local meet and say you are the Carmel, Indiana LA Fitness powerlifting champion of the world then you probably needed a mom who was nicer to you growing up. Powerlifting can't fix that bud.

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes and a powerlifter in the 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and diet plans email roninstr@gmail.com

Wendler Wisdom

So we may be about to have another Google moment here. If you don't know who Jim Wendler is than go figure it out and come back. Don't worry. I'll wait.

So now you know Jim was a 1000lb squatter and wrote probably the best selling fitness ebook of all time 531. What I love about him though is his no BS attitude toward training and life. Here's a fun little tid bit we will discuss

Whiney Loser: "If I didn't have a job and lifting was my job I'd be that strong too."

Jim Wendler: "No you wouldn't. You'd be playing Xbox all day, engrossed in reality TV and sleeping until noon. You are weak because you are weak."

BOOM! Drop the damn mic! This is as true in real life as it is in training. There are two kinds of people who aren't where they want to be in life. People who want to blame their own personal misfortunes and situations on outside influences. Then there are people who see where they want to be, see where they are, and take steps to achieve their goals. There's no coincidence that the whiners tend to stay weak or poor and the positive people with a goals and plans tend to reach their goals or at the very least end up closer to them.

If you are weak and want to be strong train and eat lots of food.
"But I eat all the time and I can't gain weight. I guess I have bad genetics."
If you aren't gaining weight then keep eating until the scale moves. It isn't rocket science.

If you are not where you want to be financially why are you sitting on the couch reading this blog. Start writing your own or get a part time job. Make something and sell it at a craft show.

There's always something you can be doing to improve you station in life, relationships, and the gym.

Where you are is your fault and yours alone. A phrase I like to use whenever I accomplish something awesome or fail miserably is:

"I Built Me."

It's easy to fall into the trap of blaming an outside source for where you are at. When you turn it around like this you will be empowered to change your station in the gym or finances.

So be happy. It's your fault so it's your power.

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes and a powerlifter in the 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and diet plans email roninstr@gmail.com

Posting Lifts: Vain, Useful, or Both?

So if you are a lift you are most likely guilty of posting your lifts and workouts online. If  you don't work out then, first off, why the heck are you reading this? Second you are probably super annoyed with your "meathead" friends who fill up your Facebook and Instagram with their stupid videos.

So lets start off with the negatives. There is definitely a pretty big vanity issue here. That's just speaking from my personal experience as a selfish glory-seeking douchebag of a man. I like it when people like my posts and comment on how strong I am and how they want to get to those numbers some day. Now let me just say I am not dumb enough to say that I have great numbers. I am realistically about 200lbs shy on my squat and deadlift to be making such claims, but it's still nice to be appreciated. Another annoying thing about it is that every 20 year old 150lb dude with abs talks about how awesome they are and offers online coaching even though they have no experience coaching anyone nor have the vast majority every accomplished anything of note in their personal strength and physique careers. As a side note I offer online training and diet plans. Unfortunately I am currently abless. A final thing that gets tiresome is the guys who are too new to boast decent numbers (not that they can't get there eventually) calling depth and missed lock outs on people like the Lillibridges or Brandon Lilly coming off knee surgery and only hitting near depth with over 600lbs. (If you don't know who the aforementioned guys are stop reading right now and go Google that crap!) Typically these guys are like 17 years old with private accounts and can't bench 2 plates or squat 2 plates for that matter. Hatorade at it's finest. It's almost more sad than irritating because if they took that energy and spent it eating and lifting they would be getting closer to being the ones hated on instead of where they currently find themselves. This actually leads right into one of the positives.

One of the great things about posting online is that people will call you out for depth. They may be right, they may be wrong, but you will find yourself trying to squat deep enough that no one can say anything. Scratch that...if you go too deep people will tell you it's bad for your knees. Also you can actually get feedback from big names in the sport. Try tagging some bigger named guys on your videos and every now and then you will get a coaching tip or too from them. That also will help with your vanity needs! Screen shot that and send it to all your friends! I know I do! Another cool thing is that with all kinds of folks posting you can study different forms of technique and even analyze top lifters to see what they do and if it can be applied to you. It requires a bit of critical thinking but it's still a great tool. Lastly with so many people posting it brings awareness to the Altar of Iron we all have come to love and respect. Maybe one day we won't be looked at as freaks because enough people will be out there moving some serious weight or eating out of Tupperware for it to be considered odd. So post away, let the haters hate, and reach out to some big names for advice. The great thing about the gym life is that the most famous people out there will actually respond to you.

So comment below and tell me what you think. Any I missed?

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes and a powerlifter in the 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and diet plans email roninstr@gmail.com