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

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.

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

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

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

Why Supplements Suck

 

So let's get this out of the way right off the bat. You are not fat because you haven't found the best fat burner. And you...skinny guy over there! You are not skinny because you don't buy enough mass gainer. The secret sauce? The magic trick? Food.

There are so many reasons why food is awesome compared to supps and here's just a few.

-Food is cheaper! Tuna and rice with ranch and Buffalo sauce is less than 2 bucks for 50g of protein and 70g of carbs. And if you are going dirty, a large Little Caesar's pepperoni pizza is 150g of protein and 250g of carbs for $5.00. Whole milk is dirt cheap too. Stack that up to your mass gainer and see what's a bigger bang for your buck and what actually tastes better.

-The second big bonus to food is that it has a more complete hormone profile. Now I am just a dirty meathead so I don't know the specifics of why that's a good thing but I heard a smart sciencey guy say it once so we will just go with that. Feel free to Google if you really care to find out specifics. I am a cheap bastard so the cost effectiveness is all I needed to hear.

This isn't to say that supplements don't help, but for crying out loud. They are called "SUPPLEMENTS" not "MAINS!" The real issue isn't supplements it's lazy people who spent 100% of their efforts unintentionally trying to get fat or unintentionally trying to stay skinny, in the hard gainer's case, for the past 20 years wanting a quick fix that takes as close to zero effort as possible. You may have to put that kind of dedication toward your goals on purpose to change your body. But time and time again I will see people piss and moan about changing 10% or 20% of their habits. 20% of eating poorly and being lazy didn't make you 5'4" and 300lbs. It was 110% (which is impossible. I hate that term.) dedication to not moving much and eating doughnut holes by the handful while you empty a bag of Doritos down your gullet as a chaser which had that effect.

So the  title was kind of appropriate, but really it should have been "No Magic Bullet" or "Why are People so Dumb?" All harshness aside. If you want to change your body, career, or anything else you are going to need to put some serious work in. The magic doesn't happen by accident or over night. Change is a series of choices made every moment of every day for months or years that result in where you are at now or where you will be the future.

Don't be a slacker. Get to work.


-Dan

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

Annihilate Weaknesses

 

So I have been working out at a big commercial gym a lot for the past few years. It's a mixed blessing for sure. On one hand I get instant cred for being one of the stronger guys there, which is a nice ego boost. On the other hand it makes it hard to push yourself when you are the metaphorical big fish in a small pond. But one of the biggest things I notice at a commercial gym is how the vast majority of people will avoid their weaknesses. It seems to be so much more about looking cool and talking a big game than performing well. There are exceptions of course, but people seem to fear failure, strain, and hard work even if it's those very things that would catapult them to the next level. 

Now that I've picked on the Bros let's take a look at powerlifting. Yes I am newer to this strength sport but I see very similar behavior. Unless you are breaking some sort of lift record or you have an injury preventing you from doing one of the lifts, why in the heck are you doing bench only or push pull? Brandon Lilly blew both of his knees and his first meet back hit a 135lb squat and was ok with it. A guy that squats over 800lbs being fine with sub 200lbs while recovering is awesome. Some candy-ass afraid to look weak on stage is ridiculous. How about you squat or deadlift your butt off in training so you can actually put up respectable numbers? Avoiding your pathetic lifts won't get them better and there's only so much bench pressing your 75 Instagram followers care to watch. If you consistently do bench only meets you are not a powerlifter you are a bench presser. NBA players don't just play knockout or shoot free throws. They play the whole game. Nut up!

Now let me step off my soap box for a second. If you just want to curl or bench or squat or whatever that's fine but don't talk and act like you are hardcore and pushing for greatness with your shirts that have the "f" word on them unless you actually are that person. If you are that person you will attack your weaknesses because that's how you achieve greatness.

So what is your biggest weak spot and how are you addressing it.

Comment Below!

 

Talk Soon

Dan Mason

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

 

 

 

Ode to the Erectors

Ah the juxtaposition that is the lower back and all of its glorious muscles and connective tissues. You stabilize my core until I break you. You lift monstrous weights until they bend you. You work and you toil. You hurt and you boil with the rage and pain my lack of glute work causes you. Thank you for picking up the slack. Thank you for teaching me the hard lesson that hamstrings matter. Maybe if you wouldn't let me lift such big weights it would be easy to fix my technique but you are always there for a heavy triple. Ah but never for a ten rep max. Singles are your joy and reps are your death. Strongman is my enemy and powerlifting my king. But alas I must slay may enemy and give the finger to my king. I will have no ruler but my enemies will rival the stars. Fix the movement or rely on pressing and fast feet....maybe a bit of both. Cheers to you my loyal and bellicose back. May you stay strong and stable and may I not end you.

Talk Soon

Dan Mason

 Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes. 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.

RoninSTR@gmail.com
Periscope: @RoninStr

Instagram: @RoninStr
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVA3x_kvPOFMsxouGjhYRnQ

You Are Not A Snowflake!

“You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We're all part of the same compost heap. We are the all singing, all dancing crap of the world.” This is a quote from Fight Club. It's a bit dire. It doesn't make us feel warm fuzzies. We have been told for so long that we are unique in personality and natural gift. This may be true in those aspects of life, but when it comes to starting a workout plan when you are a beginner or intermediate you just aren't a damn snowflake. You don't need to pay someone $100 a month to program something specific for you. Go spend $19.99 and buy an ebook like 531, Strength Lab, 5x5 Stronglifts, The Cube Method, or any of the other multitudes of options out there. If you have only been lifting seriously for a few years you can follow any program (and actually follow it for 6 months) and get great results. For the casual lifter or the inexperienced one it's that easy. Once you are an advanced lifter you can start to become a unique snowflake of specialness, but not in the way you think. The uniqueness comes in the form of where your weaknesses are and how crappy your technique is. Even at this point your uniqueness is more about coaching movement patterns than about getting a whole special program out for you. At most you will get a corrective exercise or two to add in. Don't over think your program. If it has big compound movements in it as the main chunk then you are probably on the right track. If you are wanting to compete in a muscle or strength sport then having a coach is going to matter more. Scour the internet for what world record lifters trained like the first decade of serious lifting is pretty much like this: Lift weights, eat food, and lift heavier weights as time progresses, and more food. There's no crazy trick. It's just dedication and consistency. Oh crap .... I forgot I do online coaching and programming.....ignore this post. 

When to pay for online coaching/programming:

1. You want to compete.

2. You want accountability and have no friends.

3. You want to sound important by saying you have a personal coach doing things for you.

4. You want someone to blame other than yourself if you decide to not follow the plan and get poor results.

5. You want shout outs on social media (once again because you have no friends)

Talk Soon

Dan Mason

 Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes. 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.

RoninSTR@gmail.com
Periscope: @RoninStr

Instagram: @RoninStr
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVA3x_kvPOFMsxouGjhYRnQ

The Crush Life List

We all are familiar with "To Do Lists" or "The Honey Do List." What are your initial feelings when you think about these. Are you excited to accomplish these tasks? Do they feel like a burden? Does the list just get so long that you never finish so you just top making them? Today let me introduce you to the concept of the "Crush Life List" or "Kill the Day List." Use whichever you prefer. How different would your motivation be by just changing the title? This simple change does a few important things, at least for me. First, it makes me feel like more of a bad ass even if "do the laundry" is on there. Also this title lets me know that accomplishing these tasks won't just knock a task out it will help get me somewhere in life. Third it makes what gets put on the list more selective. For example laundry probably wouldn't make the list in most cases, but if you have no clothes to wear and you don't want to wear smelly dirty gym clothes tomorrow it should probably be task number 1.

This all sounds fine and dandy but there are a few rules we should follow that have served me well. First there are definitely things that should not make the list. These include anything that you do every day or things that you do automatically. So if you are like me and train hard 4 or 5 days a week and have been for a number of years then "go the the gym and workout" won't be on the list. If you are trying to establish that as a habit then it definitely should be. Everything on the list should be an activity that is not happening every day and gets you closer to reaching  your personal goals. Lastly try not to go crazy. 4 or 5 things on this list per day will be about perfect. You probably can knock them all out in a few hours. So buckle down and get them done. It's great how streamlined your day becomes when you have clear goals and expectation. The distractions go down and productivity goes up. Think of where your life could be if you nailed 4 things this productive every day for a year. That list of 4 little goals turns into 1460 accomplishments in that time. 

Let's take me for an example. Here's today's kill list:

1. come up with 2 awesome shirt concepts and draw them up

2. Finalize dates for upcoming strength seminars

3. Dry run the lectures of the seminars to figure out a timeline

4. Outline a loose marketing strategy for upcoming challenge groups

5. Write a blog post

I knocked this list out in 2 and a half hours. If I nail 4 points like that every day. By next year I should be making a good chunk of change on my side gig here and will be helping tons of other people just like me reach their personal goals! How cool is that?

I want to challenge you guys to make a Crush List and get it done. Do it for a month and let me know how it goes. What were the struggles? What were the rewards? Comment below or email me. I really am interested in seeing what building this practice does for you guys. I know it has laid some amazing groundwork for me.

Talk Soon

Dan Mason

 Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes. 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.

RoninSTR@gmail.com

Instagram: @RoninSTR
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVA3x_kvPOFMsxouGjhYRnQ

Why the Heck are You Wearing Flip Flops When You Train!?

Let me start by saying, if you aren't following me on Instagram this isn't going to make sense to you initially. So get your phone out and go follow @RoninStr right now....it's okay. I'll wait. So you checked out some of my training videos and got super inspired by my awesome quotes. If you didn't get motivated just say you did and make me feel better. Anyway, you may have noticed I do a lot of training in my flip flops at LA Fitness. There are a bunch of reasons for this so here goes.

1. I am lazy: I hate taking the time and effort it takes to put on socks and tie my shoes. There is also the hidden cost of the time it takes to wash your socks and fold them into those little balls.

2, I hate jail: I worked at one for 3 years so I can legitimately say I am not a fan from experience. Shoes are the inconspicuous little prisons you put on your feet. Just let them be free!

3. I am an attention whore: Everyone gives you crap when you walk out in flip flops but if you put up some semi-respectable weight while wearing them everyone wants to be your best buddy.

Alright now for some serious reasons that may actually give you some principles to kick ass in the gym, competition, and life.

4. It is harder to squat in flip flops. I used to squat in Weightlifting shoes. The raised heel improved my squat depth immediately due to the decreased range of motion needed in the ankles to reach proper depth. Add to that that flip flops offer no ankle stability unlike normal shoes or high top Chucks. Squatting in toe thongs has improved my squat in competition immeasurably.

5. It's harder to bench and log press. On bench the heel lift of an Weightlifting shoe will let you tuck your feet under further while still having heel contact on the floor. This results in a tighter body position, better leg drive, and a better arch. On log presses you have to stay way tighter through your mid-line to load your heals for the dip and drive/push press action.

6. Flip flops make your mental game stronger. You know that every lift is harder in them with exception of the deadlift. If you can squat 405lbs in flip flops with no belt what could you do in a belt and oly shoes?

I used to be a minimalist when I first started lifting. I never wore a belt, gloves or wrist wraps. It was just chalk and balls. As I got into lifting I started buying all kinds of fun gear: Knee sleeves, elbow sleeves, belts wraps. You name it and I had it or wanted it. I noticed my numbers were getting better but if I wasn't wearing my gear I was horrible. So I started dialing the gear back until I am where I am now, On a typical gym day I wear a shirt, gym shorts, and flip flops. I will put wrist wraps on when I bench and it starts to get over about 335lbs but that's pretty much it. This has forced me to go a bit lighter on lifts in general which in turn has made me improve my form in order to get more weight to move. Also when you are forced into correcting form and using lower weights the rate of injury goes way down. I am definitely better for going minimalist when training.

That being said when I compete I use every piece of gear that is allowed as it does make a huge difference. I will start incorporating whatever gear I will be using in competition about 3 weeks prior to the show. This way I get 2 weeks to get a feel for it and then a whole week of rest.

So give it a try. Just take one piece of equipment off that you are used to using for a month and see what happens. I promise your technique will get better and you will feel like more of a hard ass than you have in a while. All you need is chalk and balls.

Talk Soon

Dan Mason

 Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes. 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.

RoninSTR@gmail.com

Instagram: @RoninSTR
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVA3x_kvPOFMsxouGjhYRnQ