The kettlebell swing has always intrigued me. Probably because I don’t have kettlebells (aside from my girlfriend’s 10 and 15 pounder) and can’t “legitimately” do them.

I used  to string a towel through 25 pound plates to use as my “kettlebell” for makeshift swings. Oh I’m sure kettlbell purists would crucify me for this. Whatever.

I’m at the point in my training life where I’m eliminating rather than accumulating. I’m not sure I’d use kettlebells even if they were delivered to my doorstep. (I say that now, but I’m sure my curious conscious would tell me otherwise.) Nevertheless, I don’t think a truck-o-kettlebells will make the stop anytime soon, but I still realize the power of the swing.

The swing is a great metabolic exercise and it also is the purest standing hip hinge exercise you can get. The kettlebell doesn’t get in the way so the torso has more freedom to enable to full hinge.

But my interest in the swing has always been on the metabolic side rather than the hinge side. I know how to hinge just fine thanks my knee pain woes. The winter months make it tough for low intensity metabolic. Training is a cold garage is enough for me, and you definitely won’t find me running around when the snow is falling. No worries. I make due with my athletic-aesthetic aerobic circuits and have mucho fun in the process.

But I know not everyone wants to have near death experiences in their garage  roll around like I do. (Even though they probably should. Seriously.) And I’ve caught myself saying that the swing is the perfect exercise for anyone that trains at home that wants to boost their heart rate.

Alas…

No kettlebell, no swing.

Until now.

This “barbell swing”  exercise is a fine alternative to the swing from a strict heart rate standpoint. There are a few downsides though:

• The upper body takes the majority of the stress, not the glutes.
• You kinda have to conform your body to the barbell in order for it to land in the “sweet spot” to make this lift effective. The sweet spot is the crease of the hip. When the barbell sits there, the hips can hinge back as far as they want — just as they would in a swing.
• If you aren’t strong enough, you won’t be able to do this exercise for the metabolic hit.

Keep in mind that this isn’t supposed to be a snatch or any kind of Olympic lift substitute. You want the barbell to travel in an arc. Not a straight line.

It’s not a squat either. The knees don’t bend. It’s all hips moving back and forth.

So it’s not a power exercise. It’s just something to do if you have limited space and want to get the heart rate kicking with a swing-like exercise.

To be honest, I don’t really use it. I’m content with my AAA circuits. But its great for people that want to get some aerobic training in with different methods. And especially good for those without kettlebells or confined spaces. A lot of people in the beta group for The Skinny-Fat Solution were looking for some indoor alternatives to aerobic work, so it’s something to consider.

I guess it would work for HIIT too…if you’re into that sort of thing. (Unlike me. Sign-up for my newsletter to get The Myth of HIIT and find out why.)

So take it for what it’s worth.

Whatever it’s worth.

“Well, I have a 2, 5, and 10 pound dumbbell to use. Is that enough?”

I don’t know why I hear that exact sentence so many times from those interested in personal coaching. I’m beginning to think there’s some genius marketer that sells those three sized dumbbells together, advertising them to “blast fat,” or something. (Who can resist the “blast fat” offer?)

“Probably not. You’re better off diving into body weight skills; handstands, handstand push-ups, pistols, one-armed push-ups, and similar things need to be your salvation — especially if you don’t plan on hanging around barbells.”

As you guessed, that’s generally my response.

Now, doing a one arm-armed push-ups pistol squats, and handstand push-ups may seem like impossibilities at this point, but you have to set high expectations with body weight skills, otherwise you won’t get far.

Here’s why.

WHAT FLIES, WASPS, AND BEARS TEACH US ABOUT STRESS

In order for your body to mobilize (adapt, take action, make any kind of change), the motivator has to be strong enough.

A fly buzzing around your face won’t make you shriek in terror. The only thing mobilizing in light of its annoyance is your arm (swiping the air aimlessly) and your mouth (delivering derogatory comments).

There’s simply not enough danger. What’s a fly gonna’ do?

Now, swap that fly for a wasp. You might be a little more elusive. You might move, duck, or cover. And if you’re allergic, you’re probably out of there so fast you’re challenging Usain Bolt for the 100m record.

There’s some danger with a wasp. No one wants to get stung by a wasp. It kinda’ hurts — especially if you’re allergic.

Now, swap that fly for a black bear. You’ll soil yourself, most likely. If the adventurous type, you might try running. You might as well say “Yeehaw!” as you break for a clearing if for no other reason to have you last words be “Yeehaw!” (Black bears can run like 30mph. You’re crazy if you think you’re escaping that.)

But it would make for a good news headline at least. “Man killed by black bear, yells ‘Yeehaw!’ before death.”

Anyways, the black bear is pretty threatening. It’s going to mobilize you in some way. It’s dangerous.

THE REAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTENSITY, VOLUME, AND FITNESS

Light Weight + High Reps = Toned Muscles.

…right?

Those 2, 5, and 10 pound dumbbells you have — those help you tone…

…right?

First, muscles don’t “tone,” they either shrink or grow. Same goes for the fat underneath skin that surrounds the muscle.

“Tone,” the way everyone conceptualizes it, comes from a big(ger) muscle and a low(er) body fat.

So when you’re talking about lifting weight to build muscle, the relationship between stress and adaptation is key.

• Light weights are flies. They don’t do anything. They don’t threaten you. There’s no danger. No matter how many reps you do, the body has no reason to do anything because it’s health — it’s survival — isn’t in question.
• The wasp is the middle of the road — a “medium intensity” of sorts. There’s some potential for adaptation because there’s some danger. Who want’s to get stung by a wasp? But when it’s all said and done, it’s just a wasp. One sting won’t send you to your grave. Perhaps the best training strategy for this middle ground is frequent exposure — intensity isn’t increased by the magnitude of the stress, but rather how often it occurs. (High frequency, high volume.) (Hint: “Wasps” may or may not be most traditional body weight exercises.)
• The bear is most weighted barbell exercises. It provides widespread change, widespread mobilization. It gets shit done.

TEETER WITH SURVIVAL TO SEE GAINS?

Here’s a secret passage from the Skinny-Fat Resource I’ve been working on.

The body won’t do something unless it has a damn good reason to do it. Energy is a precious commodity and the building blocks of muscle aren’t exactly “easy” to come by. To best produce muscle, you have to do the exercises that are quite literally the most “dangerous” to the body. And I don’t mean “dangerous” in an injurious sense, I mean dangerous in a way that has the body signaling “this threatens my survival” because this forces the body to adapt

In an organism that only cares about survival, the fastest way to get “something” to happen is to threaten its survival.

(If you want to be kept in the loop about the release of the Skinny-Fat Resource, sign your life away by throwing your info the form below. You get a whole bunch of other cool stuff too. Members of the Brohirrim always get premium content and news about products [and their sales] first.)

(Just kidding about that “sign your life away” part. It’s always easy to opt-out. I respect your privacy and all that jazz.)

Anywho –

So how do you threaten survival?

• Do things that put the entire body under a load — squats, deadlifts, farmers walks, Olympic lifts, overhead presses, etc…
• Use a load that’s threatening in itself. (For your particular strength level.)
• Do something medium intensity for a high volume/frequency.

And then you can even think about this on a muscular level:

• What exercises most threaten an individual muscle? (Hint: There’s a reason concentration curls can build big biceps.)

BUT REMEMBER…

If you threaten your survival to maximum capacity, you need time to regenerate. Too many bear run-ins and you’re going to be overwhelmed.

You don’t want to make your training unbearable…

…

…

lol.

Photo Credit: dumbbell

In addition to writing a few books, I still write for other places…sometimes.

Enjoy~

1. Seven Life Saving Tips for Skinny-Fat Ectomorphs

2. 5 Old School Methods for New Muscle

3. Hero Training: Fulfill Your Fate of Fitness

4. How to Retrain Your Body to Get the Results You Want

I have something new to say about fitness, health, and athleticism.

It’s the sum of my experiences thus far in a fitness journey that isn’t exactly easily explicable.

It’s not the stuff you’re apt to find in the latest research paper. It’s not necessarily ground breaking either. Or fancy. Or even complex for that matter.

I simply synthesized all of my experiences and motivations into a new method. My method.

This method fits into a system I now like to call Beast Mode Fitness Systems. So welcome. Let me show you around.

THE BEGINNING OF THE BEAST

Since 2001, I’ve been a trickster. Not only does this mean I trained barefoot before the barefoot training boom (I’m gangster like that), but it also means I know a thing or two about athleticism, movement, and kinesthetic awareness that I think a lot of other people simply can’t fathom.

I bathed in this advantage until  January 2011, when I broke my foot in five places. I thought my tricking career was over.

After recovering, I resumed basic barbell training. Squats, deadlifts, and the likes. But there’s an athletic motive behind my training that I can’t ignore, and it was beginning to itch.

To me, looking athletic isn’t enough. I need to be athletic. It’s in my blood ever since I started tricking, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve never followed a traditional body building split.

And so last year I created a training method to fill the tricking void and acrobatic background created as a result of my mangled foot. I wrote about this a little bit last year in Beast Mode Training. To quote the article:

As I bear crawled up and down my garage, I told myself that I felt like some kind of animal beast stalking prey. Lo and behold, “beast mode training,” was born.

Beast Mode Training was created with a certain athletic archetype I had in mind.

• Strong, solid, explosive, and powerful lower body.
• Jacked, X Physique lookin’ upper body.
• The two tie together to form graceful, athletic movement and capacity.

HOW BEAST MODE EVOLVED

Beast Mode Training has evolved since its inception. I’m back tricking again, for instance. I’ve developed a more solid nutrition standpoint too.

Just the other day I was practicing aerials on my non-dominant side. This brought me back to my original tricking days when I was skinny-fat and held an unorthodox love for Dragonball Z. And after this flash back, I acknowledged a sense of pride for the first time in everything I’ve done thus far – especially with how far Beast Mode Training has come and with the results it has delivered. So I knew that it was time to bring light to the Beast Mode structure.

Beast Mode Fitness is a representation of my journey. It’s devoted to the slaying of skinny-fatness and the increasing of aesthetics and athleticism through Beast Mode Training. After all, it’s what I know best. So why not?

And thus, Beast Mode Fitness Systems is such:

Through the symbolic nature of having a “beast mode,” Beast Mode Fitness Systems represents a journey to exploit the fitness animal within by living a lifestyle of athletic fitness.

Beast Mode Fitness Systems is dedicated to slaying skinny-fatness and increasing both aesthetics and athleticism through Beast Mode Training, which is a mixture of bodyweight skills, basic barbell exercises, gymnastics, tumbling, acrobatics (specifically martial arts tricking) and other training designed for the isolated obsessed athlete that wants to better or maintain their youthful exuberance.

5 RITUALS FOR THE BEAST MODE HOPEFUL

As for whether or not this place is for you, I’ll let you decide. But to help your decision, here are five cornerstone to Beast Mode Training.

1. The path should always be to simplicity.

I’m reminded by my sister’s friend. After giving a compliment to my website, she followed with,” But it’s just a little too deep for me. Just tell me how to lose weight! That’s all I wanna’ know!”

I smiled and agreed. I do get a little “deep,” after all. But I couldn’t help but think that she intuitively knew how to lose weight. And if I would have asked her how, she would have said, “Eat a little less, eat a little better, and exercise a little more.”

She’s probably never tried those three simple things either. They’re so simple that they can’t work. Right? They seem too remedial—so easy a caveman could do it.

Dr. Seuss once said, “Sometimes the questions are complicating and the answers are simple.” This is especially true in fitness. 80% of your problems are from thinking yourself out of things. Most everything needed for your success is somewhere out there. Hell, it’s probably on this website.

The problem is that the solution is probably simple, easy, and free. Combine those three, and you’re likely to undervalue what’s in front of you.

Now, that’s not to say that more complex things don’t work, or that they don’t work better. But the first step should start simple. Why make it more complex if it doesn’t have to be? If eating less, eating more wholesome foods, and exercising a bit doesn’t work, then search for a better answer. But don’t do it beforehand.

2. Eat chaotically.

The more I experiment and learn, the more I believe that eating should be chaotic. In fact, I think the worst nutrition plans are those that advocate eating the same type of food and the same amount of food at the same time everyday.

There should be periods without food and periods with excess food. This means Beast Mode has a “Feast Mode.” It also means 24-hour fasts once or twice every week are awesome.

All in all, “paleo” is good foundation for any successful diet, regardless of the specifics. Rarely is eating more processed, less natural foods “better.”

But we aren’t cavemen. Eating to support our inner beast and our very neolithic training addiction means acknowledging the reality that there’s more than survival on the line. Nutrition should address our training demands and the type of adaptation we expect training to produce. Paleo is the base, not the entire answer.

Nate Miyaki usually calls this, “paleo-meets-sports nutrition,” and the more I talk to Nate, the more I fall in love with his ideas. He’s a fellow skinny-fat brethren and my current nutritional go-to. He used to train capoeira too, so we’re kind of brothers from different mothers. (Hint: Nate will be dropping nutrition knowledge for my Skinny-Fat Resource. Yes, you should be excited.)

3. Train matterfully.

I’m nearly finished with the nutrition book that’s accompanying my upcoming Skinny-Fat and Beast Mode resources. Inside, there’s a disclaimer about training matterfully. No, matterfully isn’t a word and Microsoft Word always autocorrects it to masterfully, which is beginning to piss me off.

But, to me, matterful training includes two things: lifting heavy iron things, and suspending yourself from things only to push and pull yourself out of various positions. Translation: squats, presses, pulls, chins, dips, and the likes done with a progressive intent. Bonus points if you have the cojones to seizure (err, train) on gymnastics rings.

This is the base of matterful training.

4. Move in different ways.

Training matterfully is important, but it isn’t enough.  Jump, leap, bound, crawl, twist, and sprint in some capacity. Don’t overlook that last one, either. Sprint.

If I had to throw money down on who would see better results when comparing two people on two different training programs, I’d bet on the one that included the most sprinting. It tends to make people bigger, faster, stronger, explosive, and sexy. Bonus points for a bubble butt, too.

5. Play.

Playing doesn’t count as “training.” It counts as fun. It’s for the soul.

In Beast Mode Fitness Systems, we play through tricking. Not only will tricking boost your confidence, it also touches on some of those different forms of movement above in jumping, leaping, bounding, and twisting. As a bonus, it helps your strength by improving your power, coordination, and kinesthetic sense. So there’s no such thing as “separate” mobility, flexibility, or power training in Beast Mode Fitness Systems. There’s only tricking training.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW

There are many more facets to Beast Mode Fitness Systems, all which will be released in due time. If Beast Mode Training is something you’re interested in, make sure you’re a part of the Beast Brohirrim. Free goodies will be given to those on the inside. As a sign of good will, I’m giving away this virtual Swagger Suitcase that has an awesome five day learning course and a free eBook inside. So sign-up now. Seriously. You won’t regret it.

I’m also revising most articles in the archive and even deleting some to further refine the Beast Mode philosophy. One thing I despite about blogs is the haphazard organization system, so I created a more user friendly archive. You can now look back on all of my old posts based upon their category.

But this is the new AnthonyMychal.com. I want to create a website I would have liked to stumble upon when I was young, skinny-fat, and interested in fitness. A place filled with copious Dragonball Z references (considering Saiyans have a “beast mode” of their own, it’s only fitting) and worthwhile information about bridging the gap between athletics and aesthetics.

So I encourage you to grab the Suitcase. Comment on posts. Make yourself comfortable in the new home.

+++++

photo credit: VinothChandar

photo credit: ecstaticist

Bloggers hate posting on Sunday. People are relaxing, praying, golfing, watching football when applicable, and just not hanging around the internet. To further prove this, you’re almost absolutely reading this on Monday. (I do psychic readings, inquire within.) Maybe everyone has a hangover from Saturday night? Whatever. I don’t understand it. Maybe it’s a chicken and egg thing. People don’t visit blogs on Sunday because the bloggers themselves don’t post. Fancy that. We’re the ones playing golf. (This is true for me, actually. My game needs work though. Last year, my driver’s head fell off. But that’s another story for another day.)

There are, however, some people that step away from life’s obligations to indulge in the wonderful fitness community on Sunday. And for those of you that do, you’re in luck. Grab your morning coffee, ditch the newspaper, and claim AnthonyMychal.com your new Sunday morning home.

As a blogger, I get torn between being posting “srs busnss” and “lolzers.” So I’m devoting every Sunday to off the wall randomosity to tie up loose ends, shamelessly plug things, and deliver cool content all around. Sunday Funday is a mix of: things that interest me around the web, books I’m reading, tricking videos that make me slobber, cream-worthy website designs, good reads, and other goodness. There’s no way to describe it, so just be here every Sunday. Coffee in hand. Or you can save it to brighten up your Monday. Either way. Let the Sunday Funday begin.

1. Sketchnotes

Throughout school, I was a doodler. I doodled on my notes. I doodled on my folders. I doodled on my tests. In fact, I wanted to be an artist nearly my entire life. In 2005, however, I stopped drawing. “Real world” stuff got in the way, I guess. But I’m back to doodling now, mainly as a form of notetaking. Pioneered by Mike Rohde, this is called sketchnoting. Fantastic stuff. Superhuman note taking, perhaps?

And if you’re an astute cookie, you noticed some hand drawn things here lately, like in Become Superhuman, The World of RedBull, Essense, and Emotional Blogging Advice. Instead of scouring the web for irrelevant images to splice into my blog, potentially violating copyright laws, the plan is to hand draw a feature image for every post and release it a day or two early on Facebook and Twitter to “hint” at the content. I’m not too good. But I enjoy it.

2. Comment Crusaders – Danavir and Bennett

While I love every comment, no matter the medium, Danavir Sarria and Bennett crushed it on my blog. If I ever met them in person, I’d give them a big hug.

Both drop (or dropped) huge responses on at least one of my blog posts. I’m talking 800ish word bombs that probably took thirty minutes to craft. That’s a huge chunk of time out of their day to passionately respond to thoughts I created. And I’m humbled and grateful to be in that mix.

3. Ben Bruno

Ben Bruno regularly links to the articles I write in his weekly Good Fitness Reads piece. He never asks for anything in return, either. From what I can tell, he’s an awesome guy. And by writing this, I’m reminded that I need to reach out and chat with him.

But I have some bad news. I think Ben is on performance enhancing substances. Performance enhancing substances for writing, that is. Seriously, he pumps out articles for his blog, T-Nation, and even the likes of Men’s Fitness seemingly daily.

4. Weekly Trick Fix

Nothing too crazy here. Just tricking on concrete. No big deal. Mogwai is, and always has been, one of my favorites. Go HD on the video.

Such a beautiful and peaceful sampler. Must fly out and meet these guys some day. I still have my old New Age Ninja’s shirt.

5. My Face, Different Places

Recent articles I wrote for other websites:

• Are Mobility Drills Helping or Hurting?
• Mastering Practice and Simplicity for Solid Gains
• Behind the Scenes at the 2012 Arnold Sports Festival
• Ankle Exercises That Can Help Prevent Sprains

6. I Will Teach You to Be Rich

Ramit Sethi’s book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich, was $2.50 or something silly on Kindle, so I bought it. My thoughts after reading it: Buy it. Now.

I’m lazy yet cautious with my finances. Mistake. Here are a few goals for myself over the next few weeks:

• Transfer most of my money into a higher interest savings account
• Contemplate banking completely online
• Opening up a sweet credit card with rewards or cash back deals
• Negotiating with the credit card company to get perks and whatnot
• Opening up a Roth IRA
• Look into minor investing

Now, I’m lost in the shuffle. There are a ton of banks and a ton of credit cards to choose from. So I’m thinking of  documenting my experience and writing about the whole ordeal. I imagine it would help other lazy and lost souls like myself.

7. Best Read

Instead of recommending every article under the sun (even though I really want to because everything is so damn good out there), I’m going to narrow it down to one article or blog post per week. Tough cookies, but I’ll manage.

• Five Not-So-Obvious Things Fit People Should Know by Sean Hyson

I chose this because I invented protein pudding. Really, I’m that cool. (Ok, so I didn’t invent it, but I’ve been making it for a long time yet never wrote about it because I’m stupid.) But, more importantly, the second point with the heart rate monitor is huge. Heart rate and aerobic training is on the rise and there may or may not be a Superhuman Conditioning eBook in the works. Just saying.

8. My Crawl Back Into Tricking

And here we are, at the end of all things. Have a great week.

This past weekend, I was at the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio. In years past, I turned down the chance to go because it didn’t quite seem “my style.” Waiting in line and being shoulder to shoulder with thousands of people to snag free supplements? Nah. I’ll pass.

This year, however, there was no passing. And it was quite the experience. I knew what to expect, but I didn’t expect what I expected. Shoulder to shoulder was more like chest to chest. Walks were waddles. People were nearly naked. And while I could keep on about the zoo-like atmosphere of the event’s expo, more things happened than frolicking in a fitness fantasy land. Here are my learning experiences and highlights of the 2012 Arnold Classic.

Fitness is huge. Really. Huge. The expo was packed. The other events were packed. The lobby was packed. And that’s only a small representation of the fitness world.

We need to thank Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was (and is) more than a bodybuilder. He is damn near the catalyst of the fitness
revolution. Best of all, he continues to push the industry forward and, as a result, all other related industries.

John Romaniello is one of the most genuinely awesome guys I’ve ever met. Seriously. Awesome.

I probably should be a competitive eater. The Thurman Cafe is a hot spot destination for Arnold Classic goers. Since I love food, I waited fifty minutes for a table prior to my departure from the lovely state of Ohio. After downing seven whole wings, I dove into the Thurminator — described on their website as: bottom bun, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle, banana peppers, 12 ounce burger, bacon, cheddar, another 12 oz burger, sautéed mushrooms & onions, ham, mozzarella & American cheese, top bun served with fries — and finished with enough room to clean up my girlfriend’s leftovers. (And I could eat more given the opportunity.) Yes, I’m fasting today (the day after).

Antoine Valliant is also a cool dude. I only met him briefly, but his face lit up when I introduced myself and it was awesome that he recognized me from some sporadic e-mail exchanges. Every time I went back to see him, he wasn’t there. Looking back, I wish I would have made more rounds to “The Cage” to see him. Long time Trickster love.

Bodybuilders and Powerlifters are huge. That is all.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is too cool for school. While I didn’t meet him, I saw a question and answer session with him (thanks Roman). He was down to earth, funny, and intelligent. Very motivational and inspirational.

People like free stuff. Not that I don’t, but I mean they are just t-shirts and one day trial supplements. Come on guys.

There are some delicious protein bars on the market. I don’t know which brands, and I don’t really care. But I went on a ten minute binge and could swear I was eating candy bars.

My fitness fate has been a winding road. I never imagined being where I was this past weekend. Not physically, but emotionally, mentally, and life-wise, having written for T-Nation, STACK, and EliteFTS and whatnot. A humbling time.

Catching a cab in Columbus is difficult. Apparently they get pulled over or something? I don’t know. Anyone want to explain this to me?

Olympic Weightlifting is majestic. I love watching it.

–

What about you? Have you been to the Arnold? What did you think? I’d love to hear your experiences.

ARNOLD CLASSIC INFORMATION 

Just to let everyone know, my girlfriend (she loves driving, I hate driving) is escorting me to the Arnold Classic on Friday and Saturday. If you want to meet, let me know and we will work on it. Get at me on any of my one billion social networks. (Top right hand corner of screen). Hell, I’ve even on Pinterest. Or just e-mail me through the contact page.

NEW COACHING MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

“Thanks for everything, but I need to go it alone now.”

Those are the words I want every protégé saying as they walk away from me. I don’t expect you to need me forever. I don’t expect you to want me create your programs forever. I don’t want you to pay me forever. In fact, it’s my job to get you to stop paying me. It’s my job to put you in a position to go it alone. To make the future brighter. To create a human to human relationship, not a professional to client relationship. To make you see this field from a different eye. And to do this, we have to kill personal training. Together, we can make things better. Here’s how.

TAO OF A TRAINER

Claire hires Ben because Claire wants Ben to teach her fitness. What Claire knows about fitness is wrong. That’s why she’s hiring a trainer. Ben, seeing that Claire is a reliable client, wants to keep her around. So to keep the steady paycheck, Ben allows Claire to influence his philosophy and programming strategies to encourage long term adherence and dependency. He might throw in some muscle confusion tactics. He might use the latest gidgets and gadgets. He wants to keep Claire on her toes. A drab routine, no matter how effective, won’t motivate Claire to continue paying month in and month out. He wants to keep her happy and dependent on his services. He becomes an amoeba. But once this happens, Ben might as well not exist.

Customers and clients don’t know what they want. Steve Jobs knew that long ago. The majority of people that pay someone for programming don’t really want the program. There’s thousands of programs available on the internet for free. What they want is the experience of learning, being taught new things, and comfort of knowing they are in good hands. They want a mentor.

Psychological and philosophical coherency is king for long term success. “Program design” ignores both and adds complexity without explanation. More information is never better when learning. Math is taught with simplicity. Calculus isn’t used to teach algebra. Yet complex programs are the norm because paying someone to be told to squat, deadlift, and press isn’t flashy or gratifying.

Do you want to know how to succeed? Here, I’ll give it to you the answer right now:

• Base Training = Squats, Presses, Pulls
• Finishing Touches = Isolation Work
• Explosive Work = Sprints, Jumps, Med Ball Throws
• Energy System Work = Tempo Runs
• Important Others = Basic Gymnastics and Tumbling Skills

You don’t need a program. You don’t need complexity. You don’t need coaching, consulting, or programming. You need someone that teaches you the fitness game. Most importantly, someone that sets you up in a position to go it alone. So I don’t want clients. I want protégés. Protégés that don’t want to be strung along forever. Protégés that want to know programming, not be programmed for.

On my part, every effort is made to work my way out of every protégé’s immediate needs. It’s a painful process. But don’t worry, we can get through it together. (With a little Novocaine.)  We dismiss dogma. We discuss common training theories. We devour personal goals. We even delve into personal motivation and why you want to embark on the journey. We lay the mental ground work necessary for long term success. We discuss adaptation and how it intertwines with training and the “simplicity is bliss” philosophy. We go over programming to make sure you can create your own, never paying for one ever again. Lastly, we answer your questions, proving a smooth transition into freedom.

Now, everyone has different wants and desires, so there are different tiers and learning courses to pick from. Because of the mentor - protégé relationship, I have to talk to you. So these courses are based on one hour Skype conversations. We can e-mail, sure. But the bulk has to be done on Skype (USTREAM at the least) so that I can target the discussion in a way that is best suited to your current level of knowledge and future ambitions. Details are coming soon on the Coaching Page of the website.

 CONCLUSION

At the end of Chris Guillebeau’s book, The Art of Non-Conformity, he writes about one of his newsletter subscribers:

Someone once unsubscribed from my blog and left a note that said, “Thanks for everything, but I need to go it alone now.” I don’t like losing readers, but I instinctively understood what that person meant.

If you enjoy what I write and my ideas, I’d love to be apart of your life and teach you things. But I want there to be a time when you can come back and teach me things. And that’s what this is about: setting you up in a position to go it alone.

There are some changes and big events floating about. (Most of which are remaining secret, because I’m 007 like that.) But here’s the as-far-as-I-can-spill update. By the way, I hope to see you on USTREAM soon.

1. Update to An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain

When I released An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain  in January, half of its sequel book – Increasing Strength and Explosiveness Through Barbell Exercises, Leaps, and Bounds — sat latent on my desktop. Oddly, there was a sunny day here in Pittsburgh, which allowed me to shoot videos and complete the book.

I planned to sell it as a second book. But I’m a terrible businessman, seller, marketer — whatever you want to call it — and I just gave it away for free to those that bought the first book. And now, if you purchase the An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain here, you get both for the original price. So instead of the initial 90 page book, it’s 180 pages and two-books-in-one. Much more holistic.

The book’s home page got a makeover because of the updated comprehensiveness.An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain is truly more of an athletic enhancement program as it teaches movement in a way few people conceptualize. So while it does wonders for chronic knee pain, it also affects how your body synchronizes to accomplish athletic tasks. Check it out here.

If you already bought the book and haven’t received the updgrade e-mail, e-mail me: anthony.mychal@gmail.com.

Lastly, I created a newsletter list for chronic knee pain — specifically for those that bought An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain — so that I could drop tips as I came across them. Initially, the list was private. But I’m extending the invitation to everyone. Yeah, yeah, I know. You want to subscribe to another newsletter like you want a third nipple. But it is free. I already have content bookmarked that I can’t wait to send. (Like a supposed instant fix for tendonitis.)

Conquer Chronic Knee Pain 

Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy

I hate spam more than you, so you’re in good hands.

2. USTREAM

Two weeks ago, I advertised holding Google+ chats with an experimental disclaimer. But the “experimental” overtone took heed. Corralling people and having multiple voices going on at once makes delegating questions difficult. So for practicality, I’m switching to USTREAM. (And kicking it up a notch.)

My vision for this places changes a lot. Ultimately, my goal is to become more available. A lot of coaches out there have their own gigs and jobs in gyms and schools, and their website is a side venture. But I want to flip that ratio, spending most of my time on the folks online. So I’m opening up a daily USTREAM feed, which is superior to Google+ in that its easy for me to moderate, and users have anonymity.

I understand that it’s impossible for commitments in today’s world, so I’m simply going to “be there.” To accommodate for viewers around the world, I’m broadcasting at different times. During the week, times will be announced earlier the day of on Twitter and Facebook and will go for an hour starting anywhere from 3PM-10PM Eastern Standard time. On the weekends, it will likely be 7AM. Grab a coffee and stop by. So hang around me on  Twitter and Facebook and watch for broadcasting updates.

3. Sporadic Posting Schedules

One year ago, I committed to posting on this blog twice every week. One Monday. One Thursday. Last week, I broke this schedule and felt empty inside. But I’m moving in that direction for two reasons. First, I feel free. Second, the product ends up higher quality. As a writer, I obsess over details even though errors slip here and there. Snagging all of your own spelling errors is impossible unless you’re the creature that pops out of the stomach of the guy sitting at the diner in the movie Spaceballs.

Eventually, when this place gets a fancy new design (any web developers that want to exchange services, send me love) I’ll distinguish between “blogs” and “articles.” Yes, I’m a little anal retentive about design and unstructured things.

This lack of schedule doesn’t mean less posting. It just means better, yet unpredictable, posting.

4. Education of Millionaires

Here and there I mention my hatred for modern education. I’m apart of the Occupy Student Debt group and I wrote a review for them of Michael Ellsberg’s book, Education of Millionaires. Check it out here.

 5. Su6pec Spoof

To finish things off, enjoy this video. The guy I’m always talking about — Jon Call / Jujimufu — is a fantastic video editor. And yeah, that’s him in the video with Antoine Valliant.

On January 12, 2009, a fellow by the name of Clarence Kennedy posted a YouTube video that showcased some decent tricks and a rugged looking 90kg clean. But that rugged 90kg — in just two years — transformed into a swift and powerful 150kg. In three years? 182kg. And his tricks, even though he doesn’t practice them regularly, aren’t too shabby either.

Coming across someone with baffling athleticism, grace, speed, strength and coordination is rare. Since I had some ties with Clarence, I had to get him in here for an interview. Enjoy.

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Q: I was introduced to you through tricking and, originally had no idea you lifted weights. Can you give us a background of where you came from and how you got involved with Olympic Weightlifting? How long you’ve been doing it? 

A: I got into Olympic Weightlifting through tricking. I wanted to increase my vertical jump and heard that Weightlifters had good verticals and sprint times so I gave it a go. And, well, I loved it so I kept doing it. Eventually, I found myself pulling away from tricking to focus on it. I’ve been doing it for three years now.

Q: Tricking isn’t exactly the most mainstream of activities, how did you find it?

A: Through Parkour and Freerunning.

Q: What made you want to trick?

A: Both Parkour and Freerunning are limited by space and environment. Tricking can be done almost anywhere without special shoes (or without any shoes), gym memberships, and lessons. It’s 100% free. And no one is going to care about making money from it. Everyone just does it for fun. It’s nice being a part of a community with that mentality. Weightlifting, unfortunately, is different.

Q: You say that you’re an Olympic Weightlifter first and foremost, yet you’re still a skilled trickster. How do you walk the line between the two, as most tricksters have trouble doing this? 

A: I don’t. I only do Olympic Weightlifting now. It’s almost impossible to be great at two sports. I wasn’t progressing much when I did both.

Q: You’re strong. Very strong. Can you tell us how you train now?

A: I train at least once per day, every day. My main focus is back squatting. I find it the easiest exercise to do, and it increases my other lifts without even doing them. Usually I’ll do the classical lifts five times per week along with power variations, always shooting for a 1RM. This varies as I like to try different ways of training if I’m stagnant. But I almost always squat daily.

Q: Are you as crazy with your nutrition as you are training? Follow any special principles or do you just eat “normal?”

A: I eat a high protein diet with lots of different meat and fish. I drink at least two liters of milk every day. Lots of eggs too. And some supplements. I cheat sometimes but I never drink, smoke, party, or get involved with that stuff. So it’s not “normal,” but being normal is the biggest disease in the world.

Q: Do you think tricking has somehow helped your Olympic Weightlifting, or vice versa? I talk about how tricking, tumbling, and gymnastics develops spatial awareness. Does this help when you’re freefalling under the bar?

A: Tricking has definitely helped with Olympic Weightlifting in terms of flexibility and, yes, spatial awareness. Tricking taught me that you don’t learn anything without trying it hundreds of times. It’s the same with most things in life.

Q: Olympic Weightlifters cream over shoes. What are your favorites? And what do you think of the New Adipower’s and Romaleos’s in light of the upcoming Olympics?

A: Well, I’ve only worn two pairs in the Adistars and Ironwork. But in my opinion, Adidas makes the best shoes.

Q: Do you do all weight room work in your Weightlifting shoes? Deadlifts even?

A: All including deadlifts.

Q: Think Olympic Weightlifting has helped your vertical jump and overall athleticism?

A: Yes, but if I just practiced jumping I would be much better at it. This goes the same for most everything.

Q: Any favorite athlete in the Olympics? Favorite Olympic Weightlifter?

A: I would love to see how Lu Xiaojun does. He’s capable of breaking the snatch, jerk, and total world records on a good day. I’d say he’s my current favorite. Of all time though: Akakios Kakhiasvilis, Taner Sagir, and Liao Hui.

Thanks for your time Clarence. I look forward to catching up with you in the future. If you want to check out more of Clarence’s videos, visit his YouTube Channel.