Sloppy Shoulders and Bad Rows

Or How to Get a Funcked up Rotator Cuff. Or The Approximation Monologues. Or Just Keep Your Damn Shoulders in the Joint....Damn it. Shoulders are really very complex. The shoulder joint isn't actually one "shoulder" joint. It's 3: Sternoclavicular: Where the sternum and clavicle come together Acromioclavicular: Where the acromion and clavicle come together Glenohumeral: Where the humerus fits/articulates into the glenoid fossa.  Because of this the shoulder joint has a lot of movement, as in The shoulder joint is the most mobile joint on the human body.  This means it's also a lot like Charlie Sheen on drugs, not just awesome, but … [Read more...]

This Getting in Shape Thing, It’s Not Easy and Never Will Be

I really hate it when people go, "It's easy for you to workout and eat right, you work in a gym." Or, my favorite "it's easy for you to be in shape, you get paid to work out all day." WTF is that, yeah, I work out all day..... The truth about this whole working out and being "in shape" thing: It Sure as Hell isn't Easy. If it was everyone would do it and most are not. Fact is: MOST people in the United States are overweight. (the number is somewhere around 60-70%). That's Fu#king Atrocious. I'm not going to be one of those "You're fat cause you're stupid and lazy" guys. Cause, you're not stupid.....you know what you should do AND you're not … [Read more...]

On Weight Belts and How Not to Blow out Your Back

Weight Belts, they're Totally Misunderstood. Some research says: Weight Belts Don't Work. <----but this is mostly in occupational settings and has, for reasons I can't understand been extrapolated to the athletic performance arena.  Some, most, research says: Yes, They Do. Here's a really nice research review, kinda old, but still pretty good.  And that dude at the gym, the guy with the jorts and sweet rat-tail, he's always wearing one. But he's a total tool, The HUGE guy who deadlifts 5 plates for reps, he uses one too. And he's the strongest guy there.... So what's the deal? The deal is: [Tweet "Weight Belts are Used Wrong 99% of the … [Read more...]

10 Random Thoughts on the Deadlift

#1: No, The Deadlift Doesn't Blow Out Backs: People are generally really scared of this lift and it's because this is, "deadlifts destroy your back" mind virus has permeated the culture for, since forever. It needs to stop. That sh@t YOU did, that blew out your back, it wasn't even a deadlift to begin with. [Tweet "Don't blame an exercise for your sh@tty technique."] #2: When I started this whole creating disciples to one day take over the world Training People Thing, no one Except me Deadlifted. I'm dead serious about this. <-----see what I did there? In college at (The) Towson University the ONLY people I ever saw deadlifting were with me or in the … [Read more...]

On Gym Etiquette and not Being “That Guy”.

You're Gonna Do It This Year. You're going to stop spending 25% of your day ingesting worthless, no low value infotainment at he the price of your health and wellbeing. [Tweet "It's ok, Kim, Khloe and Kourtney won't even know you're gone and they can keep up with themselves."] Hell, you made a New Years Resolution. Like that means anything.  But sarcasm aside, this is what you're dealing with: It gets rough. Mostly cause it's like 10lbs of sh@t in a 5lbs bag, but partly cause there are lots of total A-holes out there. Here's your, New to the Whole Fitness Thing, survival guide. Lets start things off with the basics: Don't curl in the squat rack. This … [Read more...]

The Meatheads Holiday Gift Guide

I Pick Things up I Put Things Down http://youtu.be/q7gzmoqmL7g That's what meatheads do, we lift sh@t. So if you're going to buy us stuff, it needs fit the template. Here's the template for the uninitiated: Fat Gripzz: Fatbars are nice change of pace, work the hell out of your grip and really take the stress of the shoulders and elbows for some (they actually add to my shoulder stress, weird, I know) But if you don't have your own gym or a gym equipped with one, you're screwed. Granted you could spring for one if you train at home, but that's about $200 bucks later and you need to store it. That's why Fat Gripzz are awesome. They're a whole … [Read more...]

Yeah, But He’s Not Certified in That….

When does Human Anatomy and Basic Biomechanics not Matter Anymore? When the certifying agency says so... First off, I love the TRX. I think it's a great product and the educational back-end support on their site is really first class. They mostly get it right, especially for the non-"fitness professional" user. Point of Contention: People shouldn't do pushups like this. From Mens Health, not TRX, but that's kinda sorta how they show it in the manual. It just ain't right. The head of your humerus is all up in your acromion process and stuff. As my Freak Beast of a friend, THE Alex Goldberg recently said in regards to TRX pushups: <---on my … [Read more...]

“Ohhh, She Takes Care of Herself” on Maytrdom and False Sacrifice

Recent Facebook Conversation: Friend: "Hey my kids just started at a new school and really feel like the fat kid. I need to start working out." Me:  "That would be a good thing.  Let me know what you need help with." Friend:  "You can Tell All the Moms Here Take Care of Themselves" "Don't know how they do it" "I just don't have the time".  When I hear this it strikes me as: Weird Sad Shouldn't we all Take Care of Ourselves? Isn't that really important? Since when did "Taking Care of Yourself" become something that is out of the ordinary? Shouldn't that be the default? Especially in a society that has the time to consume 8 hours of … [Read more...]