HOW TO STAY IN SHAPE WHEN ITS FREEZING

Today  here in Massachusetts  it is freezing right now.. literally!!!!  The weather report said it was like 15 or something but felt like 1 degree with wind chill.  This is the time of the year when hibernation is on the mind and we are still saying “When am I going to get my christmas shopping done, I haven’t bought anything yet”  With all the chaos of the holiday season as well as cold ass weather depending on where you live, things can get away from you.

A great strength and fat burning exercise can be the cure to your sickness though, I am talking about complexes.  Don’t know what a complex is?  Pick 4-5 exercises that will cover the whole body with a weight that can be handled with good form throughout the entire set try shooting for about 8-12 reps each exercise.  And all you do is perform them all in 1 set with no rest, may sound easy but believe me you will be humbled.

Below is a video of me doing them with a sandbag, there is no excuse why you can’t do these.  They are affordable and take up very little space.  What I am using in the video is just a 50lb sand bag wrapped in 2 contractor bags duct taped shut.  The sand bag was less than 3 bucks, contractor bags were about 10 but you get like 20 of them so sounds like a good deal to me and who does not have duct tape kicking around the house.  Duct tape is king.

This should eliminate any excuses for not exercising when it comes to the cold long winter months.   

Complexes can also be done with many other things as well, maybe all you can handle is your own body weight that will work for a while.  If you need more of a challenge find a heavy stone outside or anything taking up space in the garage/basement you have to have something in there that has some weight to it.  Rip it off the floor, press it over head use it to squat it does not matter what you use for weight as long as it can be done safely.

So check me out in action and come up with some cool ideas of your own.

Stay Stong,

Let me know what you come up with

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Whats Up Guys,

Busy, Busy , Busy, who isn’t busy I know I am, right now I am working to start my own training business I am still working my 9-5 and I have 2 boys one is almost 3 and the other is 2 months.  Busy is an understatement, for instance it is football season right now and people ask questions or talk football and sometimes I have no idea what or who they are talking about.  A couple years ago this was not the case, I still watch on Sunday and know who won games but I am not as consumed.  I cannot be.

But that is alright because this means I am doing something, but there are always things that cannot be neglected the same way football stats can.  I am talking about my physical condition and health.  Basically anything from March of this year on training wise has been a train wreck, I hurt my shoulder, and my wife was pregnant and other useless excuses came into play.

And none of them were valid, no excuse ever is and you know it every time one pops into your head.  Bottom line I have been pissed at myself for falling into this rut.  So my shoulder was hurting but my legs were fine, I could squat, run, jump etc…. but I didn’t.  So my wife had a tough pregnancy I still have arms and legs, what else do you need to train?  Put your hands in the ground and do some and do some damn pushups that would have kept me strong and those can be done ANYWHERE.

Well it is time for that to end, I am going to take you with me on my comeback.  This way you can see how I get back in the swing of things and you will also see how I train with little time and sometimes minimal equipment.  Hopefully you can learn some things here because that is my goal. 

I never thought I would end up in this rut but I did and it is time to climb out, these things can happen we just have to make sure we catch ourselves before it gets too tough. 

Below is an example of some of the things I do with little time, the video is real chopped up to keep the length down but you will get the picture.

That was a recovery/cardio work out for me I got the blood flowing, muscles stretched and I was able to play with my son.  Stay tuned for more.

LAUGH, THINK AND CRY

What’s up Guys,

I saw something on TV today I had to share with you, now this was not my first time seeing this and it may not be yours either.  But, it has been years since I have seen it in full and this time around it really hit me.

What I am talking about is the Jimmy V speech at the 1993 Espy awards where he received the Arthur Ash Courage and Humanitarian Award, this is where he announced the formation of the Jimmy V Foundation which I am sure we have all heard about.

There is no doubt that the most popular quote out of this speech is "Don't Give Up... DON'T EVER GIVE UP".  But what stuck with me this time is when he mentioned the 3 things we should all do every day which are Laugh, Think and Cry.

After watching this I realized that I did all three during the speech, I did not burst out in tears but I came as close as I have in a long time.  That is a very powerful thing to be able to do to someone.

Jimmy died within 2 months after this speech, but besides the assistance he needed to get up and down the stairs you would not be able to tell how sick he was.  Not only were his words powerful to me but his action was even more powerful. 

He was on a whole other level with what he was trying to accomplish and the way he looked at life.  He knew he did not have much time left but nothing stopped his determination and passion.  He will live on forever because of this, and that is highly motivational. 

I am not saying I want to live on forever but, I want to make a positive impact where ever I can.

I do not know what it is about speeches and quotes that mean so much more to me now than in the past.  Is it because I am a Father now, is it because I am getting wiser with age or maybe because of the new path I am taking in life.  Whatever the reason I am glad that Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer ended when it did and I had a chance to revisit this amazing speech.

I knew as soon as I finished watching it I had to share it with you.  Whether you have seen this or not set aside the 11 minutes it will take to watch this video.  I am guarantee it will not be a waste of your time.

EARN YOUR GRAVY

Left Overs

Whats up guys,

Thanksgiving was this past Thursday and Uncle Paulie and I woke up and banged out a nice little training session that morning.  We have some video to show you how we get down at the "Strength Shack".

Unfortunately I lost the video of my awesome introduction and battling tires.  I will get another version of battling tires up for you next go around.

Training hard on holidays like this is an awesome thing to do if you can make it happen.  Not only do you start the festivities in a calorie deficit which will not last long, but you will be feeding your muscles all day long.  It may not be the best food for you but to not indulge on Thanksgiving is un American.

Exercise 1

Dynamic Jumps over a bench 8 sets x 2 reps

The only rest was waiting for Uncle Paulie to finish his last rep than I was right on the bench for my set.

If you know of a movement more explosive than jumping please let me know because these do the trick.  These also really get the blood flowing and CNS primed for some heavier activities.

Exercise 2

Sand Bag Clean & Press 1 set x 5 reps 2 sets x 4reps

We took about 2 minutes between sets on this one

This is an awesome full body movement and the awkwardness of the sand bag makes it even tougher.  If you do not train with sand bags give it a try you can put them together for about 30 bucks, and the possiblities are only limited to your imagination.

Exercis 3

Battling Tires

3 sets 10 pushes back and forth followed by 6 flips back and forth.

I really messed up bad here with the video camera, somehow I figured out how to only tape our rest.  So I will show you one of Uncle Paulie bent over exhausted.

To perform these we stood the tire upright and push as hard as you can back and forth for 10 reps than we let the tire hit the ground and flipped it back and forth for 6 reps.  You can see how it went by the looks of Paul during our rest period.

Exercis 4

Tire Flips to Somersault to Short Sprint

4 rounds total

I got this idea in a post from Joe Defranco on football conditioning, we added the somersault in for a little more flavor.  These movements simulate an average football play very well.  Do a few rounds of these with a heavy tire and tell me how you feel.

That was the first time we did those so in the future look for some cool additions to the movements.

So there you have it, that is what we did to earn our gravy this year.  And it tasted damn good.

The Diesel Underground Combat Seminar DVD is Here!!!!!

Whats up guys,



Here is the link for the Diesel Underground Combat Seminar DVD, check it out.  And stay tuned I have some cool videos in the works for you guys.

Stay Strong
Mike

Into Combat Sports? Wanna be In Sick Shape? You have to check this out.

Are you ready for some hand to hand

I gotta tell you guys about an awesome product that is about to be available. 

If you play a combat sport such as Football, Wrestling, MMA or Rugby get ready to take your game to the next level.

Even if you do not play sports this will help you get your ass in shape fast.  This is what your body wants why deny it.

Zach Even-Esh The Underground Strength Coach and Jim Smith from the Diesel Crew go into great detail on how they train their combat athletes in the Diesel Underground Combat Seminar DVD.

If you do not know who these guys are do yourself a favor and check them out, I have learned a TON from these guys and you will too.

Let me tell you why I can stand by this product so confidently.  Because I was there for the taping of this DVD during The Diesel Underground Combat Seminar.  I received hands on hands training in their techniques.  The seminar was awesome sweat was pouring, weights were banging and everyone was busting their ass.


I want to be clear that I  receive no financial gain with the sale of this DVD, I just wanted to pass on what I know to be a great product.

Check me out below in action hitting some explosive jumps and deadlifts.  If you do not know who I am yet I am wearing the black shirt and maroon shorts.  And if you do not know me this will change stay tuned for many more videos in the future.

As soon as this goes up for sale I will put up a quick post with the link.

Until next time

Stay Strong



Teddy Helps To Keep Me Motivated

Recently I have found that a good quote really inspires me.  They keep me motivated and focused on the task at hand and even give me a mental kick in the ass when I need it.  So from time to time I will be posting quotes that I find to be motivational in hopes that they will do the same for you.  If you know of any great quotes that keep you motivated please post them in the comments section.  I will not put any dialogue with these so you can think about them from your own perspective and figure out why or if they are important to you.

Here is the first:

“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.” Theodore Roosevelt

Time Travel Part II

A more modern time travel machine

Glad to see that you have come back for more, I will now continue on to Part II of my Time Traveling fantasy.  In part I we went over 3 very important factors for training success but please note this is not a count down and each aspect is equally as important as the next.  These are especially important when you are starting out but even the more experienced lifters need to be reminded of some of the basic fundamentals every once in a while.  And guess what I am one of those guys at times as well.  I think it is a good practice to look yourself in the mirror from time to time and ask yourself a few questions and reflect on what you are doing, there should be no lying or BS in that conversation. Please enjoy.

4.      Work on flexibility and mobility.  If you are muscle bound and stiff like most body builders you may look great but you will not be able to move well, and there is no sport beside bodybuilding where appearance matters.  People call this all show and no go.  Plain and simple strength + flexibility = speed, and that is what can separate the good from the great and a win from a loss. 

Speed is determined by how much force you can put into the ground, and as I am sure you have heard for every action there is a reaction.  So the stronger the force of the action the faster the reaction will be.  And the more flexible and mobile we are the more efficient we are at using our strength to produce speed.  Just look at any high level sprinter and you will see strong legs that move gracefully, and let’s not forget to mention they are usually a blur.

Doesn't look like muscle is slowing him down

Adding greater range of motion will also allow your body to get into better positions when doing such things as avoiding defenders or something as simple as staying in the athletic position.  Think about when your leg or arm gets bent in a funny position during a play if your leg can move a couple more inches in that direction naturally you can avoid a pull or strain and can continue to compete.

Greater speed and agility along with injury prevention what more do I have to say?

5.      Eat healthy and eat often.  No matter what your age nutrition dictates how our bodies operate and look.  This is very obvious by looking at all of the obese children in our country today. 

Eating healthy should not be a hard thing to figure out, but here are some very simple rules to help.  Eat a lot of lean protein (Chicken, steak, eggs etc..), eat a majority of your carbs (sweet potatoes, rice, oatmeal etc...) before and after your train, cut out sweets and sugars as much as possible.  And with every meal eat some good fats (nuts, olive oil, fish oil pills etc...).  But most importantly eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible have one of each with every meal.  But do not be afraid to combine, a veggie omelet with a side of your favorite fruit is a great way to start the day.

Eating this way alone without any rules attached to it will help you shed some fat and stay healthy.  Another thing to consider is the quality of food you are buying; organic is the way to go.  Although it is more expensive in my opinion if there is one thing it is ok to splurge on it is your health.  I really do not like the thought of splurging on medical bills later because organic eggs cost a buck or two more.

Eating every 2-3 hours or 5-8 meals per day is important to keep your body building muscle and recovering from your tough session the day before.  This will also keep your metabolism revved up which will keep you from gaining excess body weight.  Do not forget that you must eat the proper foods for this approach to work. 

The reason this is so important is that good healthy food is what makes us strong and the more you feed your muscles the more they will grow.  This is more powerful than any legal supplement out on the market, so stop wasting your money on them.  If you really need to save some dough cut out some of the over hyped and overpriced supplements that are full of empty promises.

Eating healthy is a performance enhancer and with the lack of care most people have for this it could be just what you need to get that extra advantage on the field and in the gym.  And let’s not forget to mention all the added health benefits, that is a win win in my book.

6.      Going all out all the time is not always good or needed.  If you play or have played a sport especially like football which I did for 16 seasons you get a certain mindset about competition and how you approach the game.  For any half way decent athlete it is the mindset of giving it your all, playing with injuries and having no regard for bodily harm.  Now these are absolutely 100% necessary when you are on the field, court or whatever it may be but when it comes to training for these sports that is not always the case.

Do not forget to relax and recover

I used to try to get as many exercises in a workout as possible while staying in the gym for well over an hour and if I was not going all out on one day I told myself I was not trying hard enough.  The fact of the matter is your body needs some recovery time from the damage you put it through during tough training sessions.  While I was real proud of the work I was putting in, my results were less than stellar and I actually felt horrible.  This brings me back to point #2, I did not catch on to this until I went looking for help.  On a side note no matter what the subject always try to find out what the successful people are doing or have done to get where they are.

Now back to the topic at hand I am by no means saying you do not need to work hard in the gym to get the results you are looking for.  There is absolutely no way around achieving superior strength and condition without hard work.   

When you are in the moment of training you are not actually building muscle but damaging it and you need the healing process to go through its stages in order for muscle to be built.  This can be assisted by rest, lower intensity work outs the day after and the biggest factor of all GOOD NUTRITION.  The healing process needs to run its full course for the gains to occur, if you rush back into some intense training day after day the gains will come to a grinding halt and your will actually be going in reverse.

In my own training I have made great gains while hitting the gym 3 day per week, sometimes less is more when it comes to the iron game.

Time Travel Part I

Only in the movies

What’s up guys let me tell you something, I did a lot of stupid stuff when I was a teenager.  And the phrase “if I only knew then what I know now” has been discussed between my friends and I many times.  These conversations range from girls, wishing you actually doing your homework and every other thing under the sun that we either neglected or did not think about.

Since we cannot time travel yet, and even if we could I am sure it would cause more harm than good.  I want to pass on some of the things onto you that I would have whispered in my own ear if I had a hot tub or DeLorean to time travel with.  I am going to focus on sports performance since that is one of the topics this blog is intended for; you can use your imagination about the girls and so on.

1.      Hit the damn weights.  Now, I would lift from time to time back then and I actually enjoyed it when I did.  I even had one of those old weight sets that had cement encased in plastic for plates and would mess around with it as far back as middle school.  In fact, one of the exercises in the book was some weird behind that back deadlift I did that for a few weeks and the work showed off one day.   I was at the field in town where we played football hanging out by the field house with my buddy.  I than looked up at the overhang jumped and touched it.  My buddy looked at me in shock and grabbed one of our coaches and said look at this, so I did it again with the same result. 

Looks so good I could eat it.

Now I do not know how high it was or if my buddy was making a lot out of nothing, but I do know I tried it before and I was not even that close.  Looking back at this now I know that lifting the weights gave me the strength to jump that high.  Unfortunately for me I did not make the connection back then and never stuck with a weight program long enough to maintain these results.

Also, we never adapt to training as well as we do when we are in our teens and early 20’s.  We recover quicker, grow faster and have more energy than ever.  So why not hit it hard and enjoy the benefits of being a strong young stud, who would not want that? 

2.      Find someone that could teach me how to lift properly.  Some of the things that I would try when I did lift weights back then were downright idiotic, and I am lucky I did not hurt myself badly.  The fact of the matter is I did not know what I was doing, and there was no one around to straighten me out. 

Ronnies gun routine is not for you

One of the worst things you can do is follow a workout from a bodybuilding magazine; these are highly advanced and usually performed by men with at the very least a decade of experience and/or on steroids.  It can be very easy at a young age to be mystified by these freaks of nature and want to copy everything they do, but they all started from scratch learning how to lift the right way.  Believe me when I say that if you do not learn how to lift properly your career will be a short one.

I did not find the benefit of this until after college when I hired a personal trainer to help me prepare for a football combine I was going to attend.  I was on the way to crippling myself before I made this decision, pretty much everything I was doing was setting me up for failure.  The time I spent under his supervision made me enjoy training again and showed me the way to lift safely until the day I day.

3.      Do not chase numbers.  The last thing you want to do when starting to lift weights is worry about how much weight is on the bar.  The main focus should be using weights that allow you to complete your set with good form; if you do this consistently the numbers will follow.  Weight training cannot be rushed, hard work and determination is required.

Marty the meathead may be able to squat 315 for a few reps.  But is he going down far enough?  Is his back hunched over?  Is he crooked? etc….  If so an injury is inevitable.  And even though he thinks he looks like a badass with 3 plates on each side no one looks cool on the side line unable to perform.

Not where I want to be, YOU?

Being able to move heavy weights is what you want to shoot for but quality reps should never be sacrificed just to add more weight so you can impress the cheerleaders stretching in the corner.  It is important to realize that heavy does not mean benching 405 because that is considered a milestone of strength.  Heavy is relative you and you only, what is heavy for you is heavy even if it is not impressive yet.  So stick to your heavy and do not worry about what anyone else thinks.  Believe me there is always someone stronger, just realize the real competition is between you and the weights.

Finally do not underestimate the power of body weight movements, especially when you are starting out and need to build a solid foundation to move heavy weights in the big lifts such as bench, squat, military press and deadlifts which always seem to work for me.

Stay tuned for Time Travel Part II coming soon…..

A Little Bit About Myself

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you find this blog to be informative as well as entertaining.  I am an enthusiast of all things related to strength, physical lifestyle and athletic performance.   Right now I am working to open my own gym to train athletes and people who want to break away from the lazy and weak mold our society is conforming to.  Here I will share training information as well as things in my life that I feel will be valuable to you.



Below are some of my main values/beliefs that are important to me.  I wanted to put these out there so you can know a little bit about me and if I am the type of guy you want to follow or train with.  While this may not be a complete list this is what really sets my priorities.



All the motivation I need



1.      Family First.  I am married with 2 young boys and this means more to me every single day that goes by.  I have always loved my immediate family very much, but once I started to build one of my own the big picture became crystal clear.  My motivation in everything I do stems from them, without them I would be a far lesser man.

2.      Hard Working Blue Collar Mentality = Success.  I will never claim to be the smartest person around, but I know that nothing is more important than rolling up the sleeves and giving it your all.  My father is a huge influence on me in this regard, and one of my biggest goals is to be as a great provider as he was. 

3.      Everyone should be strong.  Physically and mentally strong, to me they are of the same importance.  When you are exercising both consistently you will be reaching your full potential.  This is something that is very important to me and I am trying to bring it to a balance in my life right now. 

16 years strong in the NBA

4.      Always have an open mind.  This is something that I am lucky to have naturally, I am pretty sure I have my mother to thank for this one.  If you are not open to new things how will you ever learn and evolve as a person.  I have changed my mind on certain points of views and will several more times before my life is over.  Bottom line is there is no best way, everything has its place.  To finish with a quote from Bruce Lee "Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own"

5.      The Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated.  In my opinion this should be at the top of everyone’s list.  It has been around forever and should be around forever.

Now that you know that about me I also want to tell you a where I get my motivation to help athletes reach their full potential.  On a side not before I begin, although I am going to talk about athletes here I also want to let you know that even if you’re playing days are through it does not mean the training should stop.  If you don’t take care of your body it is not going to take care of you, besides that we need to be role models for the youth.  Now I need to save some of this for another post, but if I can get a few slouches to turn into a strong man or woman I feel that is a great accomplishment.

The reason I want to help athletes reach their full potential is simple; I never reached my full potential in my playing days.  This used to be a big regret for me the few years after my college football career was over.  But regrets are nothing but a waste of time and I am starting to really understand that at this point of my life.  So instead of thinking of this as regret I use it as motivation to prevent this from happening to someone else.

Not easy but neccessary

Earlier I said I did not reach my potential in my playing days.  I say this because after graduating I went to a few combines and try outs and in this time I was able to reach the best physical condition in my life, I was stronger and faster than ever and even more confident.  I was able to make my best gains by working with an excellent trainer in one of the best gyms in the country, and these experiences were priceless to me for what I want to do now. 

Now nothing ever came of these try outs in terms of making any teams, I guess my 40 yard dash time was not fast enough, I did not hit enough reps in bench press test or because I came out of a small school.  Whatever the reason may be the biggest factor was I started taking training seriously too late.  I was always good throughout high school and college but not great.  After my first try out I decided to play a year of semi pro to keep myself from getting rusty.  During this season I never felt so good playing and I knew if I had been working this hard all along I would have been a much better player in my earlier years.

It is my goal to prevent people from missing out on what they can be and to pass on what I have learned because it is my duty, as others have passed onto me.

Thank you for taking time to read this and please begin follow.

Sincerely,

Michael Peshler