Gym PR? Competition PR?

So People bragging about gym PRs are getting a lot of heat these days from folks who say Competition PRs are the only PRs that matter. I want to dive into this and see if we can't at least start a conversation on the topic.

I think it really boils down to a question of perspective, purpose, and trolling. Let's start with trolling so we can get the haterade all drank up. Many pre-pubescent teenagers or 20 somethings who still have the mental state of one will hate on your gym PR simply because you are way stronger than them and jealous. They will scream or at least type in all caps that competition PRs are what matters and gym records are meaningless. Oh well, they hate us because they ain't us. Brush your shoulder off. No need to worry about these people. they are too busy whining to put in the years needed to become proficient at anything. Moving on.

Actual strength competitors will say that competition PRs are all that matter too. Some great competitors say this and it's tough to want to disagree with people like Blaine Sumner and Chad Wesley Smith, but being the tool I am, I'll give it a go. Here's how I see it. I have trained and thought both ways at various times throughout the years. It's all about the person training. Are you just lifting for fun and have no plans of competing? Although I feel you are missing the whole point of training if you don't compete, all you have are gym PRs. In this instance why shouldn't you celebrate them? If you are a competitor I can see there's some merit to saving your PRs for the platform. It reduces your chance of injury and since you haven't pushed a max in training for 12 weeks you are pretty much guaranteed some new personal bests at your meet. From a powerlifting point of view I think this has a lot of legs to stand on from the injury point of view. In weightlifting it may not apply as much as the weights you are cleaning and snatching are not maximal from a CNS standpoint. Also If you are going for a National or World record I think the injury justification is pretty important as you are handling weights that have a higher chance of injury. So that's maybe 100 competitors that can use this rationale?

Injury rate aside though I bet someone PRing in the gym mid cycle will still hit a better total at their meet 6 weeks out than they did at the previous meet. Maybe it will be a bit lower than the gym PR but who's to say whether or not the guys holding back would have PR'd bigger mid cycle than they did on the platform? Maybe Blaine would have hit a 1200lb squat during his training and still hit the 1100 at the Arnold. Who knows but it's possible especially if you aren't a world level lifter. So pretty much everyone.

Another aspect we need to check into is the motivation of PRing in the gym. If you are a serious competitor you are competing 4 or less times a year. That means your IG followers only get to see you smashing monster weights a few times a year unless you just keep reposting your competitions. No one want's to watch sets of 10 and if you are trying to build your online training clientele, like it or not, this is something you may need to consider. I'm not saying you should max out every day by any means but this could definitely be factor.

Hey let's not forget maxing out is fun and you can do it safely more than 4 times a year especially if you are a rookie. Finally some people need the feel of a grindy rep every now and then to build confidence under a maximal load.

In the end we are all big kids. It's up to you. Do what makes you happy. Lifting is a hobby not a life or death situation. Even if you are a competitor. Let me say that again.....LIFTING IS A HOBBY. Repeat after me "Lifting is a hobby." Very good. I'm proud of you.

Train hard but don't be dumb.
Talk soon,

Dan Mason

Strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro Powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. Dan is also an Elite lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Dan has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004. For other fun stuff check his Instagram @RoninStr

Follow Your Dreams as a Hobby or Career?

If you pop around Instagram, Facebook, Pintrest, or any other social media outlet. You will inevitably come across motivational quotes like: "Follow your dreams!" with a picture of a fit body or a Lambo.  Maybe you are in a job that you aren't a huge fan of. Maybe you love lifting and want to do that full time and hit the pinnacle of your sport. That's all fine and dandy but you need to think about what your dreams truly are and what it takes to get there without committing financial suicide or losing your marriage. I can speak to this from personal experience on both of the above. We are going to take my life as the example here where lifting and competing in powerlifting and strongman became my dream and life's focus. There's definitely a few good ways to do this and a few bad ways. Come along and let's break it down.

So I decided I love training and working out. I thought, "man if I could workout as my job that would be awesome!" So how do you pay the bills as a pro worker-outer? Being a pro athlete pays pretty well in the sports world but not in the barbell world. Even CrossFit pays out it's top people but that's like 4 people out of everyone competing. So what do most people with this mentality do? We either become personal trainers or we open a gym. I went the open a gym route. Disclaimer: There's nothing wrong with either of these paths but you need to understand a few things. First if you just want to train people and not have annoying adult responsibilities like business insurance and bookkeeping then get ready to make $12.00/hour for the rest of your life or until you can't do your job anymore because you are old and decrepit. So if you want to focus on lifting and are willing to live that Spartan minimalist lifestyle then go for it. You will train clients in the AM, workout in the early afternoon, and finish with clients in the evening. Eat up and lift your face off. Just don't try to add in a social life or a meaningful relationship.

If you are ok with the adult responsibilities associated with gym ownership and management positions then go for the business owner route. You will learn what working on 100% commission is like. Some people thrive on it, but now in order to pay bills you need to focus on your business as a primary and your lifting dreams as a secondary. It will be slow going at first and will take a while before you start actually making money. Welcome to a start up business.

Now let's go back. Your primary goal was to be the best lifter in the world right? I basically went both of these routes and realized that I didn't mind training some people, but hated training people who aren't willing to put in the work that it takes to improve. Further more I really enjoyed my own lifting and seeing my numbers go up the most since that was my actual goal and focus. That means that you are still doing a job you don't really love just to pay bills so you can keep getting those gainz. I wasn't a fan of the administrative stuff either so, but did it as a means to an end. Well geez, in following my "dream" of a fitness job I basically just ended up with a normal person job that doesn't pay as well as an actual standard 9-5 job. Only now my hours sucked to the point I had to neglect my social relationships. hmm...

So here's my two recommended solutions:

1. As soon as you are done with your schooling and before you are married with kids get a part time job doing whatever it takes to afford a crappy but super cheap living situation and spend the rest of your money on food. Live that Spartan life and hit as many athletic goals as you can. Heck you never have to stop doing this. Just keep life super simple and work for what your goals are. The issue is that most people want more out of life than a shanty. They want a life with stuff and people in it. If that's you then check out #2.

2. Get the best paying full time job you can. Hit the gym really hard 1-2 hours 4 days a week. Stay single or find someone who is willing to put up with your gym crap long term. (Mine did for 10 years). Get a real adult person dress shirt and tie sort of job. In the gym ownership path you would have to do the not fun stuff anyway so you might as well get paid better for it. Nothing says you can't train a few online clients on the side. That's what I do. The best part about this approach is that if you get a client that sucks you can just fire them since you aren't counting on the income from this part of your life. You will also see that you will get more out of your workouts since you are not at the gym 10 hours a day training people.

Now just remember this is only one man's opinion. I know people out there killing it on the gym owner and personal trainer side. That just wasn't me though. I'd rather grind and crush a work day unrelated to my kick ass hobby as an aspiring Pro-Strongman. This doesn't mean I gave up on my lifting goals. I will be at World's again this year and will absolutely molest USS Nationals in June, but now I will be able to afford to go the competition, have a roof over my head, and even eat food!

Train hard but don't be dumb.
Talk soon,

Dan Mason

Strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro Powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. Dan is also an Elite lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Dan has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004. For other fun stuff check his Instagram @RoninStr

How to Grind When It Matters

If you have ever done CrossFit or a set of as many reps as possible like in Wendler's 531 then you know what I'm talking about. So how do you get into the mindset to keep moving when your body is screaming for you to stop?


Here are some tricks that have helped me in the past. For all you CrossFittians out there it seemed to be about pacing for me. At least on the longer WODs. If you go out of the gate like a cannon you will be burned out so fast. Now if you say "screw pacing" like I always did then there are a few methods that work out nicely.

1. On something like Helen, which is 3 Rounds of 400m run, 21 Kettlebell Swings and 12 Pull Ups, I would always count up to the half way point so up to 6  Pull Ups then count down to 0. Not sure whey this helps but it always did for me. On the Kettlebell Swings i'd go to 11 then down from 10-0. Now if you are just a dude in the gym trying to find a 15 rep max squat this strategy works pretty awesome as well.

2. Once you hit that run on Helen it's a bit different. On the cardio grind, focus on your breathing when you can make it rhythmic you tend to be distracted enough to not realize your body hates you as much. Also it makes sure you are getting a full lung of air. People tend to breathe more shallow when they are mid WOD for some reason.

3. Another tool that's been useful is a mantra. Two that work for me are: "Just keep moving" and "just one more rep (you damn pussy)." the last part gets added if it's a bad training day. These are awesome because you can always fall down into that burpee and can always get back up. Just keep moving! If you do that you will hit more reps than your sissy ass was going to before you started talking to yourself. The one more rep mentality helps because usually you can press one more time out of sheer will. Who needs muscle?

So whether you are CrossFittin' like Froning or CrossFattin' like me and Chad Wesley Smith you can benefit from these mental distractions. Finish that run and finish that set! One more Rep you Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggins! (Bonus points if you can name the movie that's from.)

Train hard
Talk soon,

Dan Mason

Strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004. For other fun stuff check his Instagram @RoninStr

2 Asses 1 Horse

I apologize but this will come across as a bit ranty but stick with me as I will actually have some helpful advice regarding this pitfall by the end. Anyone who has ever been out of shape and anyone who has ever been a trainer will be able to relate to this. Joe is fat, out of shape, and weak. He reaches out to the Googles and searches for ways to not only lose weight it also get super jacked at the same time. All the supplement websites he is pointed to say "WE CAN HELP!" Tiny disclaimer: results vary. You need to eat right and exercise while on this supplement. Etc. So as a reasonably not dumb person Joe reaches out to fitness experts and hears options from: he needs to focus on one first and get the other secondly all the way over to both can happen at the same time....at least at first. (Yay Beginner GAINZ!)

Here's the problem you have 1 ass and are trying to ride two horses. The bigger issue is they aren't going in the same direction! It doesn't work and for ideal results you need to focus on one. "Joe!" I say as I smack him across the face. "You took 20 years to become a fat slob! Is it too much to ask to take 6 months to lean out and then 6 months to focus on building?" 

"Yes." Joe says rubbing his reddening cheek.

I try to shake the thick-headedness out of him but it doesn't work. 

If you are like Joe this next part is for you. Here are some rules and facts that can help guide you on your double horse one assness thing. First let's at least get the horses going the same direction. Realize that this will be less efficient in general than focusing on one goal. Also understand that if you are new to training or it's been years since you were in good shape everything will work amazingly well for both goals but after a while you will find it harder to do both. That's where this framework comes in.

Rule 1: you need a slight calorie deficit to lose fat. If you want to keep muscle though, try not to reduce intake by much. Maybe only a 250-500 calorie reduction per day. Focus on eating your protein first then eat your carbs. This will ensure you are getting enough to keep muscle mass. I know it's sad to not eat all of your bread but hey you wanted to ride this pony so own it.

Rule 2: Lift weights. Got to build those muscles. What do you think toning is? You can't tone a muscle that's non existent. Stick to 12 or less reps so you can build muscle and strength.

Rule 3: focus on food intake not cardio. If you feel like you need to do cardio to appease your lack of understanding go for it but do short intervals with relatively long rest periods. Stuff like 1 minute on and 2 minutes off work well and don't go longer than 20-30 minutes. Long jogs for an hour and a half every day will make you crazy hungry and possibly eat away at that muscle you've been trying to build, but mainly the food splurge is the derailer here.

There you go. So do this for a year and get worse results than if you focused on one for 6 months then the other.

"But hey, what do I know Joe? You are definitely the expert here right?"

At least with these rules you will have some kind of progress and not waste as much time as most people do.

Talk Soon,

Dan Mason

Strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004. For other fun stuff check his Instagram @RoninStr

New Years Resolutioners

So I'm going to throw everyone off here. This isn't a blog about my distain for the people who buy a gym membership and quit after a month or two. I know lots of people get frustrated with all the crowds in the first quarter. Take a second to not be a total douche bag though. At some point you were likely one of these people. I'm sure you felt the glare of the regulars as you sat on a machine backwards not realizing it until it's too late. Lots of people have been there. Realize these people are trying. That's way more than the rest of the world that's just given up and made peace with their physical shortcomings even though those very things are fully under their control to change. That chubby 44 year old guy just wants to be able to keep up with his teenager. That older lady wants to be around to see her grand kids get married. That out of shape soccer mom has shown more courage than the vast majority of my female clients by even walking in those doors full of judgement (at least that's how they perceive it). So if someone is doing something totally weird or wrong and they are a new face then there's a great chance that they legitimately don't know any better. Instead of sneering go talk to them. Maybe you will make a friend. At the very least you will help them realize that not every regular gym-goer is a tool. Maybe by doing that you will be the reason they don't quit after 3 weeks. This year be a positive presence at the gym in January. Don't be a dick. Unless they are curling in the squat rack with less than 135lbs. Then get all passive aggressive like this:

There. That'll teach 'em

Happy New Year!

Talk Soon,

Dan Mason

Strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

Thankful for the Barbell

Well folks it's thanksgiving time again and that means time for reflection. Instead of the family and health rout although I am very thankful for them, I'm going with: I'm thankful for the barbell. 

It has forged me into the man I am today. Not sure if that's good or bad but I think I'm pretty cool so I'll take it. It has taught me both success and failure. It has taught me how to throw a tantrum then get back up and try again. It has taught me how to build people in both body and mind. It has been there to take the frustrations of life out on. It's always there ready to do battle. To be battered and to wrestle back. It has taught me that effort, consistency, and patience are the keys to achieving anything you want in this world. It's made me a better role model and father. It gives me purpose and a sense of accomplishment. It provides me with comradeship, friends, and big ass muscles. 

Thank you barbell from the bottom of my heart. I'll be there to whoop your ass on Saturday. That's right. You'd better be scared.

Dan Mason

Strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

Mistakes to Avoid in Competition

This article is based off of my most recent competition at USPA World’s so will have a bit of a bias towards that meet specifically. There will be nuggets regardless of your barbell sport though. So off to the races!

For me a big hurdle at this meet in particular was a few injuries I had coming into the meet. I tweaked my back a couple of weeks prior and the month before banged my shoulder up pretty bad. If this is a similar situation that you find yourself in then you need to check your ego. My goals were a 625lb squat, 500lb bench and 705lb pull at the beginning of the cycle. If I was still wanting those numbers I likely would have bombed out by the time I got to bench press. So Tip 1 is to be realistic when evaluating your attempts, and always open light. For powerlifting I wouldn't open higher than 90% of what you want for your third attempt. No one cares that you attempted an 800lb deadlift if you don’t get it off the ground. Remember this is specific to Powerlifting. In strongman where we see rep fest situations, be smart with how many reps are realistic. Don’t get hurt for a local meet. In Weightlifting I have no idea what you should be thinking for attempt selection. Maybe a bit higher than 90% but remember you need to get something on the board so be smart and don’t go too ham too quickly.

A second issue that surfaced for me was judging. Our meet in particular was held on Sunday. The judges have been at it since Thursday. They are only human and you can’t expect perfection after three eight hour days of non-stop judging. A bad call or at least close call is going to happen. Really the best way to avoid this is to go to a meet that happens on only one day or be in a lighter weight class. Us big fellas always go on a later day. If you get called on depth of your squat but it was close then you need to work on leaving no doubt. If it could go either way then be ready for the call to go against you. Get your butt down and don’t be a sore loser.

Listen to the calls! If you have to wait for down command on a jerk, log press, or deadlift then you need to get your head right and LISTEN! I was guilty of this on my second squat attempt. I started my squat just before the command and it cost me a podium finish. That’s a dumb thing to lose a meet on. Don’t be stupid. Pay attention!

A final thing that gave me a bit of a mind-screw was my first deadlift attempt. It was supposed to be around 620lbs but they loaded it to 606lbs. I lifted it anyway then checked in at the desk to double check. It was loaded wrong and I should have checked before I lifted as it changed what I did for my second attempt and may have played a part in my 3^rd attempt miss. But hey, I didn’t call them on it so that’s my fault not theirs. Always check your equipment and make sure everything is set up exactly how you want it to be. You are there to perform at your best and you need to make sure all variables are set

to give you the best chance at success. So in Powerlifting make sure everything is chalked like you need it to be and double check the weights. The same is true for Weightlifting. In strongman you have more to mess with. Make sure your kegs and sandbags are set up how you want them to be. Make sure the log handles are facing the right way, and for the love of God, pre-tacky your stones!

I hope at least one of these tips helps you out in some way or at least gets you thinking about how you compete. As always feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want to chat about training.

Talk soon,

Dan Mason

Strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has 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

Your Body Lies! (At least at first)

If you listen to your body you will never get better. At least at first. This is a bit of complex issue and is very dependent on how long you have been training and how big of a pussy you are. So let's examine the various stages starting with someone just entering the barbell life. So you've hit the weights hard for a few days. The next day is an off day then you are supposed to get back at it. You wake up and your body feels like it aged about 3 decades. You make an old person noise as you struggle to get out of bed and you can't even get on or off the toilet without a serious "heave ho" kind of effort. Should you take another day off and wait until you feel fully recovered? This is a common experience for my newer clients. If you listen to your body you will be wasting days that could be filled with progress and accomplishment. If you get yourself into the gym then you will hit a few warm up sets and be totally fine. At first your body doesn't like change and it will punish you for making it put in work it is not used to. If you give it a month though you will feel way better going into that workout after a rest day. Part of it is that you body is getting used to the strain and getting stronger in response. The other part is you now have experience and know that you will be fine and that feeling is kind of normal. So Experience Level: low Pussy Level: high makes for a rough month. Experience Level: low Pussy Level: low makes for a painful but amazing month of progress toward your goals. So do that one. Things change with experience though.

You will become an intermediate lifter after a year or so. As an ever progressing barbell aficionado you are way past that wuss out because you are sore stage. Your body now will complain a lot less further you are starting to have a mind made of the same iron that barbell is. If you are sore but it's a work out day you go and train. That's a good thing on most days. It's at this stage that you need to listen a little harder though. No longer does your body complain about muscle soreness but it will let you know about tendinitis and tendons and ligements that are angry due to a year of less than perfect form. These are the cues you need to pay attention to. This is the stage of training where you need to start hitting some kind of prehab so you don't need rehab. This can be stretching, mobility work, and/or warming up a bit more intentionally. Gone are the days where you can just start in on your working sets cold. You are hitting better lifts now so you need to make sure you don't screw everything up. Do yourself a favor and do some walking lunges before that squat or deadlift workout. Do some push ups or dips before you bench. Your shoulders, knees and hips will thank me. Experience Level: medium Pussy Level: Lower than it probably should be.

Last we hit that advanced lifter that we all aspire to be. When you bench all the bros look. Putting your deadlift down makes the gym rumble and the children run in fear. When you squat the guys refuse to take the rack next to you for fear of looking weak. (There's a whole other article on that one I'm sure.) This is the goal. It is also tough to stay at this level due to the amount of dedication it takes to keep hitting it as hard as you need to and the chance of injury from many years of lifting and the toll it takes on your body regardless of form. Here is when listening to your body is absolutely one of the most important things you can do. This is where your shit breaks if you aren't paying attention. This is also where you tend to have the biggest goals and are pursueing them most aggressively. You are no longer lifting for health you are lifting to trade in your health for numbers. That's fine and don't let you friends and family convince you otherwise. They likely just don't understand since they have never really lifted or they are jealous of where you are at. (I'm looking at you 22 year old college dork on IG that ways a buck thirty five and is giving me lifting advice on back and knee injuries). That being said you will know when somethings not right and it's ok to pack it in for the day if you feel that you can't get into a good position. Do some bodyweight stuff get the blood flowing and stretch a bit. While it's totally fine to die on the platform, getting hurt in the gym is dumb. Experience Level: High Pussy Level: Non existent but needs to be higher.

So if you paid attention through my tangents the main point is if you are knew suck it up. The more advance you are the more you are allowed to puss out.

Train Hard. Be Safe. Talk soon,

Dan Mason

Strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has 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

What Injuries Can Teach Us.

Well if you hang around the Iron Game long enough you will pull, tweak, or otherwise screw something up on your body. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when. About a week ago I tweaked my back pretty bad. Which isn't a huge deal except I am 2 weeks out from IPL World's with my plane tickets and hotel room already paid for. A few days after it happened I was wondering if I should still even go, and if I went maybe I should just do bench only or just squat and pull like 100 lbs. I was pretty down. It sucks to be working toward something for a year and have the rug pulled out from you so close to the realization of a goal. There is a silver lining to this whole situation though. I have learned so much about recovery and prioritizing your life to achieve said goals. I even learned how to take a second and breath in the world around me.

No. 1: Figure out what's going to help you achieve your goal and prioritize your life accordingly. This is true in everything not just lifting. For the last 3 months I have been burning the candle at both ends pretty hard. It wasn't leaving a lot of time to eat properly or sleep much. That was probably the biggest cause of the injury. Rushed for time I just went to the gym to get in and get out. Which is fine except when in that rush you compromise form.

No. 2: Sleep enough and eat enough. No excuses. If you want to perform in a physical competition this is a no brainer but It will also help you in your career and other life goals. If you are short on sleep it's hard to focus. You need to have focus to do a job well regardless of what it is.

No. 3: Warm Up/Prehab work needs to be done. If I took some time to get the blood flowing and the hips warmed up maybe I would have had an easier time getting into a good position for that deadlift. It's a "maybe" but it wouldn't have hurt to try to get things moving a bit more before hitting my working sets. It's not fun but most of the guys who have survived the Iron Game for decades tend to warm up and take care of their soft tissue.

No. 4: live in the world around you a bit. Come up for air. Hang out with your kids an extra day. Go watch a movie. Take your time off due to injury to work on something unrelated for a second. The barbell, Work, or whatever else you have been obsessing over will always be there when you return.

Here's what changes I made. I quit my part time job as a bouncer and hung out with my kids an extra day this week. I ate more. I slept more. I did planks and other core stuff to try to rebuild some stability, started taking Epsom Salt baths again, and I even warmed up today when I lifted.

So my first workout in a week to test things out after taking the above steps: Bench was still on point as was expected but the squat and deadlifts went way better than I thought they would. I hit 405 very easy on both. It was a great mental boost and I definitely needed that head win. So goals for Worlds are tentatively on point. Squat over 600 bench 470+ and pull over 700lbs. I'll report back on results when they come.

My biggest take away from this injury is to dial back my life a bit. Take a second to look at the world around you. And in the words of the great Ferris Beuller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it."

Talk soon,

Dan is a top 10 ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has 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

The Bully

No matter how hard I lift the bully always crashes down with the dampened thud of rubber or the metal clash of iron. You miss and it drops. You make and it still plummets to the floor. The bully always triumphs. Sometimes I feel like am a weak boy lifting in a man's sport. I make progress only to realize how far away the records seem. I make progress only to have the bully beat me down with injury or failure. There is always struggle though. The weak will always be nipping at the strong in the hopes that one day they can usurp the title and become the champion. Even then you will still be beaten by that barbell bully. There is no hope for victory only the hope of progress. The notion that a heavier bully is needed to defeat you. We strive and fail. We strive and succeed only to add weight and fail again. The iron game is a ruthless mistress. It will always beat you down and you will inexplicably come back every time like a battered woman returning to her abuser. I am a member of a sick and twisted community and I wouldn't have it any other way. Come join me, my brothers, and sisters in the dark struggle. It will be cold, it will be hard, and you will never win.

Talk soon,

Dan is a top 10 ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has 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

To Hype or Not to Hype

It doesn't matter what sport you look at but there are two distinct kinds of people: Those who get super amped up and the calm/focused looking guys. So which is better? Is there one that improves performance over the other? There are a some things to consider regardless of which style you like. Powerlifting for example probably has the highest amount of pre lift hype going on and there's a good reason for it. The lifts are less technical and there's a lot of nose torque sniffing going on. Since the power lifts aren't as fancy and magical as the Olympic lifts you can get more excited and fired up while still maintaining solid form. Compare that to a clean and jerk or snatch. It's a brave man that snorts some ammonia, screams a battle cry, then smokes a huge lift. Usually the competitors who go a bit crazy will save it for after they stand up with the bar or after they slam it down. In strongman it's very dependent on what event is happening since it's basically an FMF (fat man friendly) CrossFit competition there is no set group of events at any given comp. So if the show is full of 1 Rep Maxes like 18" deadlift for max or max log press you will see more hyping up. If on the other hand it's a rep fest you tend to see the yelling a lot less.

On to performance factors. Honestly it depends on the lifter and the competition. Flipping your shit will get you an adrenaline dump which is great from a strength standpoint on 1 Rep Maxes that could mean hitting a lift you may have not been able to get otherwise. Some Powerlifters to check out who get crazy amped up are Blaine Sumner and Pete Rubish. They hit huge numbers and are probably a few of the best guys out there. On the Weightlifting side you have to Youtube Jon North. Honestly I LOVE watch all of these guys lift. It's a high risk high reward style and, in my opinion, is super entertaining. They make me care about sports that are super boring to watch. The downside is that as you are super pumped you are more likely to screw up your technique and miss the lift. This is especially true in the bench press and to a lesser extent the squat. It's a huge factor in both of the Olympic lifts. In strongman there are a few places it could break down for you. First would be on pressing movements, especially the log press since the bar path is so tricky already adding a bit too much adrenaline and the resulting lack of focus it causes could result in missing a lift you may have otherwise made. A final factor on this would be that there's only so many times your body will get jacked up over the course of a meet. If you get super jacked on every squat and bench attempt you will be exhausted for deadlifts.

On the other side we have the serious, focused, and seemingly chilled out athletes. It's a bit of a misnomer here from my experience. I tend to be more this way and I promise that the adrenaline is pumping but to a lesser degree. The upside being that you can think when you are lifting and can feel positions better. The downside is less pump factor resulting in potentially a lower max lift. That being said if you are stronger but have no control you will miss as well. Some guys that exemplify this would be Chad Wesley Smith in Powerlifting or Big Z in Strongman. In MMA just look up Fedor walk out and you will see the perfect example of this.

On paper in an ideal world the person who can get super jacked up and still keep form will have the best results. Assuming they can get hyped up while not crashing hard afterward. For me personally I want to be the fired up guy but am naturally more of the calm technician guy. My current plan is to get used to getting hyped up like an ass for my last heavy set and see if I can harness the rage like Blaine and Jon. In the end you will have a natural bent toward one method or the other. Don't fight it unless you just want to be the other way. There are plenty of top level guys that do both. My mantra is "if it helps then do it." So try it and see.

This is just one man's opinion. What do you think? Comment below.

Talk soon,

Dan is a top 10 ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has 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

Negativity: The Good The Bad and How to use it.

Negativity is usually thought of as, well, negative. A lot of the time this is definitely the case. We miss a lift that used to be easy before an injury and we get down on ourselves. You don't get along with a coworker and all you do is bitch about it. The list is endless, but if we put our thinking caps on I bet we can figure out how to leverage this destructive mindset. 

Let's take the first example. You were squatting four slabs of beef but hurt your back and had to take a few months off. Now you are stuck at 225lbs. That sucks compared to where you were without a doubt but what if you used how pissed you are about your situation to drive progress? Instead of saying, "Geez! I'm a weak sack of crap!" And stopping there, you could follow this thought up with, "I am going to work my tail off and crush my former PRs!" The first thought is short term wallowing. We need to realize that if you were off for months it may take months or more to get back to where you were. That's okay. What's a few months or even a year in the grand scheme of things?

Always have the long game in mind while taking the steps now that will let you hit your smaller goals now in the near future. It's the same in all of life's circumstances. Take your negativity and strangle it to death while achieving your goals. Use it to motivate you. Don't let it be a crutch or an obstacle. No excuses. Just incremental progress until you have achieved what you were shooting for then find a bigger better goal to pursue. Do some research and you will find that the most successful people typically had big set backs and short comings. The difference between them and the people who are still failures is hitting the grind again harder than ever and time.  Dedication and time breed success.

Talk soon,

Dan is a top 10 ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has 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

Benching Like a Bauss!

So I have a decent bench. Currently my PR is 468lbs in competition and I will hit over 480lbs in August. So you can imagine that I get a ton of questions on how to get a bigger bench. Honestly for me I have always been a decent presser even with my longer than normal arms. I used to never know what to tell people. I actually hate benching. It always hurts and feels wrong. I don't even really have an arch to speak of when pressing, but after I've been asked so many times I figured I should do some soul searching and figure out why I'm not horrible at it so I can help people who are struggling.

So a brief history of me and pressing movements. I started off in martial arts and specifically kickboxing. As a result I did a ton of heavy bag work punching and kicking my life away. I am not sure on the science of it, but to me punching a heavy bag is similar to depth jumps for pressing. Also due to the positioning of a punch there isn't a ton of pec work but a lot of shoulders and tricep action. From there I went to CrossFit and later Strongman. Both have a lot of overhead pressing work thus continuing my tricep and shoulder dominance. I didn't bench all that often when doing strongman in the standard sense but I did a lot of close grip benching and slingshot and block work just to hit the triceps for locking out my log and axle presses. My best bench while I was doing strongman was 385lbs. I know it could have been better if I had hit more chest work but that's not what Strongman tests. Once I switched to powerlifting training and started bringing rep ranges down and my grip out a bit the poundages flew up. 385lbs-470lbs in less than a year. So let's address what happened throughout my training history.

First of all I have been hitting heavy bags since I was 12 years old. I am 33 now. So that means I have been, at least to some degree training my pressing muscles for 21 years. That's a pretty big base. So if you are benching 225lbs, you have been training for 6 months, and you don't know why you aren't pressing in the mid 3's then you need to stop reading now and just keep eating and hitting the weights for another few years. Rule 1 for Bauss Benching: Get some years under your belt.

Training age aside think of how many reps were spent with relatively heavy weights (for me) while training strongman. Ignore the overhead pressing and realize I was hitting close grips, sling shots, or board presses for sets of 6-10 for 4 years straight. That's in addition to the heavy overhead pressing. This is a pretty big hypertrophy base for once I started benching at higher percentages. Rule 2: Hypertrophy phases lay the groundwork for massive presses.

The next step for my bench was actually benching heavy and with a decent frequency. I was hitting more traditional bench presses 2-3 days per week. They were structured with 1 heavy day and 1-2 rep days depending on how I was feeling. Rule 3 for a big bench: Bench heavy once or twice per week.

The last thing that helped me is equal parts mental and physical and that's variety. Don't just flat bench every day. Mix it up a little. Use some chains or bands. Hit some incline bench or dumbbells. If you are hitting your chest, shoulders, and tri's you will be hitting the muscles that need to get stronger to hit bigger numbers. Also hitting those variations will allow you to address any weak spots you may have and prevent you from overuse injuries. For me the biggest part of this concept is that I don't get bored. I did come from CrossFit after all. Variety will keep you engaged with your training. Rule 4: Variety will keep you coming back and progressing.

So out of those are all well and good but I would say rules 2 and 3 have the biggest impact. It's the basic stuff that will always work. Make your muscles bigger with hypertrophy work. Make those muscles stronger with heavier weights. Peak for a month then repeat the process.

Happy benching. Now go get freaking strong!

Talk soon,

Dan is a top 10 ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr and @RoninStrApparel
For training and nutrition advice and tips email roni

What will help your Deathlift?

Most lifts improve through the same methods. Build muscle, train weak points, eat more food. There’s no real short cut on any of them. Most people don’t have a ton of trouble building their squats or presses up, but many find that the deadlift is that one movement that seems to stagnate the longest. So let’s help you smash through some plateaus and build a sick pull.

The thing that makes the deathlift (as I like to call it) tough is that you have to be smart with how you get extra volume in. 10 rep maxes on squats and benches will put on slabs of muscle and help build those lifts. Squatting every day is a popular program that works wonders for squats, especially for people with intermediate level squats. The deadlift is different though. You can’t really deadlift everyday heavy enough to build it and stay injury free, and I promise you don’t want to do 10 rep maxes. So here’s some great accessories to help make the most out of your deadlift days.

First you need to find your weak spot in your pull. Typically there are 2 spots where people are bad: Off the floor or at lockout. If you are rough off the floor or if you get stuck at the knee there are a few exercises that have served me well in the past. Deficit pulls, hamstring work, and pauses just below the knee all have a ton of carryover to your issue. When doing deficit pulls I would advise no more than a 3” deficit and not working heavy doubles or singles. Realize we are treating this movement as an accessory to your deadlift training. We want to build the erectors not tear them off of your spine. Leg curls, Glute Ham Raises, and even lunges will do a lot to help with issues off the floor due to lack of hamstring activation and strength. Paused deadlifts actually fix darn near everything. If your hammies are weak they stay under tension longer. If your erectors are week they are put in a position where they have to work their tail off. The only thing that doesn't get hit really hard is the upper back, which brings us to the next section.

The second part people struggle with on the deadlift is lock out. Now, barring an actually technical issue like not relaxing your shoulders at the finish, this difficulty comes from your upper back being a little too weak. My personal favorite exercises for this issue are Snatch grip deadlifts, front squats, rows of all kinds, and my favorite (more for IG posts than anything) Zercher Squats. So let’s run down this list. Snatch grip deads force your upper and middle back to stay tighter since your back has to stay super set into place throughout the pull to hold on to the bar. Front squats are great too because if you don’t want to dump the weight you have to stay upright once again having to keep your upper back tight. Tighter upper back for longer equals more time under tension and more hypertrophy. Rows are an easy choice. They develop the mid and upper back. My favorite variation of these are chest supported rows either with dumbbells or on the plate loaded thingy. Usually I will do them after my deadlifts so it’s nice to not have to stabilize any more. Lastly the infamous Zercher Squat! If you compete in Strongman I would definitely include these as it puts you into a really bad body position then demands you figure out how to stay tight and lift which is basically the whole sport of Strongman. These have all the benefits of front squats since the weight is fighting to pull you forward out of position but to a greater degree than front squats. Also when you post a video doing these you will get either a ton of love, a ton of hate, and likely both, so that’s fun! Disclaimer: be sure to have either an axle bar to do these with, some fat grips, or the pussy pad, gym maxi, or whatever else you call that foam thing you put on the squat bar to keep your fragile traps from hurting.

A final caveat would be that if you are only deadlifting one time per week to a heavy triple, double, or single the main issue is going to be volume. Put your big girl panties on and do some sets with higher reps. 5x5’s work great and 3x6-10 work well too. Start with more reps and creep down as you approach your competition. I know they hurt and are hard but if you looked at the amount of lbs moved per week on your presses or squats I bet you would see that you definitely get more volume in on your squats and you may even be getting close on benching. I’m not saying you need to deadlift every other day but if your squat volume is three times more than your deadlift volume then I bet I have a good guess as to why your squat is going up but your deadlift is stagnant. As a buddy of mine would say: There’s no room for BitchAssNess.

Talk soon,

Dan is a top 10 ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

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

Sponsorships and You

In this crazy day and age of Social Media. It seems like everyone is a star, wants to be a star, or thinks they are one. Delusions of grandeur abound. Maybe it's just because I am in the iron game, but this seems to be on another level when it comes to lifters. I'm Not saying that I haven't been guilty of this as well. Heck I likely will be in the future. That being said, "Hi I'm Dan. I have 19k followers. You should give me free stuff and/or pay me to post your product. etc...." Probably isn't how you should approach a potential sponsor even if you have 100k followers. So I am going to come at you straight. There's a good chance (like damn near 100%) that if you are asking for sponsorships then you aren't in a place to get one anyway.

We are a want it now society. Immediate gratification is all there is. That's why people look at you weird when you tell them if they want an 800 lb squat they need to train for 10-15 years, have great genetics, eat to build strength, and probably take some drugs. That kind commitment of time and effort just isn't palatable in most people's minds let alone in reality. That's why there aren't 1000's of 800 lb squatters out there. So let's touch on a few pitfalls you don't have to fall victim to and some actual constructive steps to getting a sponsorship.

1. Build your following: This is the last thing the quick fixers want to hear, but if you are saying you are a powerlifter and you are approaching brands that have pro powerlifters and other strength and physique athletes then you better be on their level both in ability and outreach potential. If not then get ready to grind. Don't bother messaging companies when your time could be spent improving yourself. It's just a waste of your time and theirs. There's an exception to this, but you are probably not going to like it.

2. Show the company what you can do for them. As with most things in life, IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU! This flies in the face of how we operate today, but look at it from the business' stand point. You are asking for free product, money, or possibly both. Regardless of the company's mission statement it's main job is to turn a profit. How does giving stuff away to you help their bottom line? So instead of DMing them asking for a hand out like a pan handler in the city how about you approach them with an offer of what you want to do for them? "Hey guys. I'm xxxx I love your company and would love to help you grow. I have xx followers on IG and rep you guys all the time. Can I write a blog or throw a discount to my people on IG?" Notice I am not asking them to hook me up and then I will help. I am asking to add value to them in the form of content and more sales. I know I know....you're asking what's in it for me? Getting noticed. That's what's in it for you. You are building trust and rapport. If the article you write is solid and gets a great response from readers they will probably reach out again. If not you can always follow up. After all they gave you a chance once. As for the discount code. They will be able to see who used your code and can see if you will actually be helping them or if they are just throwing money away. Hit the grind. Tell your friends about the code. Make sure this company sees you as a benefit. If it goes well then you get a chance to negotiate from a strong position. You just made them money!

3. Pay attention to what you post. Have a theme running. If you are wanting to be a fitness person then post fitness type things. Motivational quotes, fitness memes, workout pics and videos are all good. Avoid whining about your life and inappropriate pictures (depending on the company). If you want HTFU to sponsor you it's probably ok to drop a few F Bombs. Be mindful of your posts. Don't just take a picture with your shirt off with the caption of "am I hot ladies." Actually just saw this one yesterday on an account that was trying to get a sponsorship out of me. Once again IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU. Be thoughtful, educational, and inspirational. No one cared how cool you thought you were in high school and no one cares now.

4. Don't pretend. There's a few things I want to touch on here. First don't lie. All it takes is a Google search to figure out you have a pretend apparel company and you sponsored yourself. Worse yet you were too lazy to do even that and you are just straight up lying. Along those same lines, although not really lying, are the supplement companies that will let you be a "sponsored athlete" in that you get product at 50% off with your special team code and then you get a percentage of profits if people use your other code to purchase. Some companies do this right and refer to you as an ambassador but others play on your vanity and refer to you as a sponsored athlete. If you are really sponsored then you are going to be getting things not paying half price for them. On the flip side this is a genius business model and if I had a supplement company that's exactly how I would grow my brand.

5. If you are smaller in your following then approach smaller companies. Find an apparel or supplement company that has more than 1000 followers but less than 10,000. This company is new and gaining a bit of traction but still needs help getting the word out. You get an actual sponsor and they get some exposure. Also they may be too new to realize your 2000 followers and 30 likes are probably not worth the 4 shirts they will send. It'll be a good learning experience all around.

6. A final thing to consider is whether or not you want to help build someone else's kingdom when you could be building your own. As you can see in points 1. and 2. it's a decent amount of work to actually get a sponsorship that matters. If you are trying to hit up an apparel or supplement company and you are willing to do that much work why not just put in a bit more work and start your own? It's  nice. You get to keep all the money and get to see the other side of the world. After the first 10 or so beggars you will probably be shaking your head at your past self. I know I did.

Assess yourself honestly. Get someone other than you to evaluate your IG or Facebook. Be okay with constructive criticism. Most importantly create value for others before worrying about what's in it for you.

PS. Alternative steps for success.
1. Start and IG
2. Say you are going to start working out
3. Put "Fit" or "Physique" somewhere in your username
4. Workout for 2 months
5. Compete in the bikini division
6. Offer "expert" online coaching
7. DM Nike for a sponsorship

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

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

No Surrender!

So this is going to be a combo meet recap/motivational post. I competed this past weekend in an RPS meet over in Eaton Ohio. I want to start off by saying thanks to everyone that helped the meet run so well and for Eaton Barbell for the use of their awesome facility. If you ever get to go to one run by the Iron Mafia guys I hope you partake. They do a great job.

My goal this meet was to total over 1700 which would get me pro status for RPS and get me over a number that's been in my head for a while now. Everything started off well enough. I smashed my opening squat at 530ish and got 2 whites on my second at 562.5 which was a meet PR. Next I had planned for a shot at 590 for a 5 lb all time PR but decided I felt great and the 2nd attempt was easy so I went for 600. It felt solid, definitely was a tough rep for me, but thought I hit all standards. When I looked up I saw 2 reds for depth. After watching the video it was definitely close, but hey, if there's a doubt, there's no doubt.

So now I had put myself into a tough spot. I hadn't benched well at all the past 12 weeks due to some elbow Tendonitis. I hit 460 at the previous meet but missed 455 every time since then in training. I really needed at least a 465 to even have a shot at that 1700 total. During warm ups I worked to 405 and my elbow was screaming on that. My opener was set for 430 and I didn't know if I was going to have it in me. Luckily everything held together and the 1st attempt felt great. I knew it was only a matter of time before it flared up again though. I had planned on 455 and 470 for my final attempts but decided to split the difference and go for 468.5 in the hopes that I hit it and didn't take a third lift knowing that I would be in a good but not great position for deadlifts. The set up felt good, the lift off was solid, but as soon as I descended I could feel my arm screaming. I got the barbell about 2 inches off my chest and then the spotters had to take it. So now I am sitting at a 992 total. If I didn't hit this third attempt I would need a 708+ Deadlift to hit 1700. My best dead to date was 655 and it was a grind. In the past this is where I would put on a happy face and start joking around and acting like this is just a fun day and at least I tried my best. You know, the bull we tell ourselves to feel better about being a loser. I wrote about it in a previous article here. This is when you need to figure out if you are just competing for fun or actually trying to achieve something meaningful. I hate missing lifts in competitions. I got so pissed off in my head. I sat and stewed by myself with one of those "talk to me and I will cut you" kind of looks. My dad ,who was kind enough to watch and film the comp, came over and tried to be all positive and happy (apparently not catching my vibe). God love him, he has always been my greatest supporter in every way possible and he was absolutely trying to help. I just was in no mood to hear it. I was fuming. I decided just because your elbow hurts like a mother f***er doesn't give you the right to bitch out. Your arm will hurt but it will still produce force as long as you can push through the pain. This isn't training! We're here to win medals and crush goals! Destroy the opposition! Hurt some feelings! Sorry it got away from me there for a second. My third attempt on bench was my last chance to have any hope of accomplishing what I set out to do. I am moving across country away from my family to pursue powerlifting. I am not leaving my home for a 430 bench and total less than 1700. Long story slightly shorter, I set up and I took that weight. I'd like to say I then proceeded to absolutely destroy it, but the truth is it hurt every fraction of every second and I had to grind the Hell out of that rep every fraction of every inch. And I did.

Now I was in a much better position. I would still need a 670ish pull to do it, but 6 plates in warm up absolutely flew off the floor. I then proceeded to absolutely molest my opener at 634 lbs. I knew I would need to PR by 15 lbs to make it but the last lift moved so well I went up to 677 to put the nail in that 1700 coffin. I figured if I missed I would just roll like the bench press and make it happen. The lift was a bit of a grind but I got it with 2 white lights. Having already hit my goal I was coaxed by a buddy to go for 700 lbs. Got it about knee high and dropped, but hey, I've never even pulled on 700 before and I ended getting 2nd place in the open division finishing with over 1700 as a total, meet PRs on everything, and all time PRs on Bench and Dead.

Enough about me. Here's the nugget for you guys. It is paramount for you to decide what kind of competitor you are going to be. Are you there to just have fun? If so, great. If you are there to win or hit specific goals then you need to operate like that's what you are trying to do. Don't be satisfied with failure. Heck don't be satisfied with success. Keep pushing. Every achieved goal today means the start of day one and new goals tomorrow.

Get after it!

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

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