Hey, what's up? Glad to see you again! Come check out the new stuff and don't forget to leave a comment with your opinion!
This weekend I had the good fortune to get together with some buddies and have a brewing party for this coming year’s Oktoberfest beer. I don’t know if you’ve ever actually brewed beer before but it’s a fair little undertaking, especially for the home brewer trying to do about 30 gallons at a time. Given that we also tend towards “seat of our pants” operations, it goes without saying that the whole beer brewing adventure was a string of minor emergencies from start to finish. And, like all good disaster situations, there were some things to be learned if you kept your eyes open.
One of the first steps in the process is grinding about 50 pounds of grain so that it can be used in the as the base. With an old school hand grinder, this turned out to be a much more substantial undertaking than we’d envisioned. There were some sad faces as realization started to set in that it was looking like it could be a very long morning of delay and sore elbows for everyone until my client Lee channeled his inner Marine: Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome
Read more on Make It Happen Monday – Improvise, Adapt, Overcome…
One of the great and at the same time frustrating things about starting a site like this from scratch is that unless you’re already very well-known then you spend a fair amount of time writing to very little traffic (thanks for reading, Mom!). Eventually, assuming that you’re good and/or entertaining, your work will pick up steam and you’ll develop a solid readership base. That’s always gratifying and it’s why you started publishing in the first place, right? I mean, if I were writing all of this stuff just to get it off my chest or merely as a therapeutic expression of my inner self (I’m not nearly so pretentious) then I’d never publish.
However, that’s not the case. This is both my voice and a business for me, and so I put it out there. I’m pretty stoked that anyone reads it at all, honestly. The frustrating thing about blogging is that there’s a while where you’re writing what needs to be good content (to attract people) but nobody’s reading because you’re unknown. And since most people don’t have time to dig through tons and tons of blog posts (I sure don’t) your new readers tend to pick up where they land. This is all well and good, but it means that they’ve missed out on a lot of good stuff.
So in light of that, and because there’s been a lot of new readers ’round these parts lately combined with the fact that I just passed my 100th post, I’ve decided that it might be a good time to catch up on some classic articles that you guys might have missed.
So I cranked up the Way Back Machine (kudos to you if you get that reference) and pulled out a handful of articles that I thought deserved a second read. Cheers.
Read more on Buried Treasure – 5 Articles You Shouldn’t Have Missed…
Everyone hits the gym with different goals and priorities, but when you boil things down to the most basic, why-are-you-here level the truth is thatmost dudes are in the gym because they want to build muscle and lose fat. Sure, you may have certain number goals, health ideals, or even use the iron as your stress relief, but the bottom line is that probably you want to be lean and jacked as a result of all of that hard work.
Given that I have the luxury of the bird’s eye view on a large sample population’s attempts at achieving the aforementioned “Lean and Jacked” state, I have a few insights into some common screw-ups in the quest for Jacked-hood.
In no particular order, here’s three basic things that you can do to be bigger and leaner, faster.
Read more on Three Tips to Build Muscle and Lose Fat…
The strength and fitness game is full of all kinds of arguments and controversy. Olympic lifting versus Powerlifting. Running versus Strength Training. High-carbs versus Atkins. Vegans versus Everyone Else.
So much controversy.
There is, however, one thing that pretty much everyone can agree on:
If you want to reach your physique goals, you’d better be eating like it’s your job.
Since I love to cook (that’s right, ladies… all of my amazing qualities and I cook) and try out new meals I was on the prowl for something that would be manly and yet would satisfy my weekend hunger.
The problem?
Read more on Cooking for Men – The Meatza!…
Hey all, sorry I’ve been a little slack with the communications lately. I’ve been working on some big projects, both in the online business and especially in the local business, that have been sucking a bunch of time lately. That being said, when they’re done they’re going to be, as my mentor Paul Reddick so eloquently puts it, “The Tits”.
Enough about that. I’ve got some stuff in the tank for the rest of the week, but today I wanted to highlight an article and an interview that you might have missed.
Read more on Passion, Distractions, and a Little Sip from the Hate Tank…
First of all, I’d like to wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving if you’re from the ‘States. If you’re not, then you’re missing out and I recommend that you celebrate it anyway. Here’s the down-low: In America we get together on the last Thursday in November to celebrate family, friends, and the other things we’re thankful for. This is punctuated by a harvest feast involving turkey, vegetables, and pie. We also layer on an outstanding helping of football on because we’re Americans and nothing says “thankful” like watching one one of the world’s greatest sports. Like I said, you’re missing out and I’d jump on the bandwagon if I were you.
So in honor of that, I’m thankful for the blessings I’ve received in my life. I’ve been given opportunity, great friends and family, good health, an outstanding sense of humor, and a desire to help others… in my own special way. Honestly, that makes me rich beyond belief already.
In the spirit of what all trainers do on Thanksgiving, I’m going to clue you in to one of my best Turkey Day Survival Tips.
Read more on Build Muscle, Get Lean, WHILE Crushing Thanksgiving…
While I’m obviously a big fan of making major changes to create massive success, sometimes it’s the little things that smooth the path for the major changes and get the ball rolling.
Let’s say you’re looking to drop some body fat. Now this could be a simple spare tire tune up of just shedding a few pounds or it could be the kickstart of a major fat loss diet. Regardless of the scale of what you’re trying to accomplish, here’s a few simple things you can start doing today to lose fat fast.
Read more on 3 Simple Ways Un-Fat Yourself…
The facility that I primarily run my business out of has just had some of its members finish their first three months. All of the dedicated members who show up regularly and throw down have made progress. Some have made far better progress than others, which is normal given that they all showed up at various states of fitness. That’s not the end of the story, though.
While I celebrate those who’ve made great changes to their physique and athleticism what’s really interesting to see is the ones that haven’t. By and large everyone has become stronger, faster, and more mobile. This is a result of their training. Many have gained a little muscle mass (the program run there isn’t known for large amounts of hypertrophy), but dropped a ton of fat. This is good. However, there are some who haven’t really seen any appreciable change in their physique over the past three months.
Read more on How To Un-F Your Diet…
I hope you had a good weekend, I know I did. The college football season has started, and this past Saturday saw wins by Michigan, Nebraska, and ‘Bama, so I’ve been pretty well residing in my Happy Place since then…
Read more on Get Wet, Stay Strong – Proper Hydration…
Yesterday I met up with my father and brother to consolidate vehicles on a trip down for a family birthday celebration in southern Maine. The most convenient and central place to do this is in a to-not-be-named fast food parking lot (think clown, not king) in Newport, ME. Now that I think about it, that’s probably not the best place to leave my truck, but such is life.
Anyway, my father and brother don’t have my distaste for all things fast food and it seemed that they’d skipped breakfast, so into the spot we trekked so they could grab a bite. Since I wasn’t eating I thought I might as well sit down and take in the show, and I have to say I was pretty shocked at the spectacle that was strewn in front of me. Admittedly it had been a while since I’d been in one of these restaurants so my memories aren’t the sharpest, but the people watching was much more horrible than I’d imagined it would be.
Read more on A Trip Down the Rabbit Hole…
