AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE

ISSUE 100 - 6/12/2006

1. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Those that go looking for trouble are no match for those that are prepared for it. I suppose it has always been that way."
- From the movie "Roadhouse"

Your eyes do not deceive you. This week's quote is from the greatest "guilty pleasure" movie of the 90s "Roadhouse." There is no reason why this movie should be good. After all it is a Patrick Swayze movie. Swayze took the men's rights movement back several years after starring in the greatest estrogen movie of all time "Dirty Dancing." If you know any man that wants a sex change tell him to watch "Dirty Dancing" three times in a row and it is an absolute certainty that a sex change will occur. Regardless Swayze did rekindle some "testosterone" with the entertaining slugfest "Roadhouse" which contains tons of great fight scenes, a few attractive women with bad haircuts, and enough cheesy one-liners to have you rolling with laughter. Seriously, if you are looking for a good laugh, check it out tonight. Now that I have gotten that off my chest, lets move into this week's theme.

Over reliance on positive thinking can be a serious delaying tactic. In other words, it can be used as an excuse for failing to take action. I do not feel good right now so I am going to hold off and wait until I am enthusiastic again. What if you never feel like taking action? Think about all of the things you do each day regardless of your attitude. Do you need a positive attitude to go to the grocery store and get food for your family? Do you need a positive attitude to fight traffic every day to get to work? Do you need a positive attitude to take the trash out? Take your dog for a walk? I could go on and on. As author Richard Marcinko states, "you do not have to like it you just have to do it." Just as you do not need a positive attitude to do the groceries, take out the trash, or walk your dog, you do not need a positive attitude to get a training session in or start a business. You just have to do it. A negative person that takes the right actions will be ahead of a positive person that simply thinks good thoughts. As the Bhagavad Gita states, you have a right to your labor but not the fruit of your labor. Act without attachment and you will be amazed at what you can get done. Just make sure you act.

I have done over sixty kettlebell workshops in the last four years. Many of my best workshops where done after being sleep deprived, burned out, and not wanting to do the workshop. You go from amateur to professional when you can do a great job under less than ideal circumstances. If everything has to be perfect in order for you to do a great job then you are still an amateur. It is easy to be great when everything goes right. However, what about when everything goes wrong?

A few years ago I had an NYC workshop planned with a well known strength coach. Just about everything that could have gone wrong with this workshop did go wrong. First, a person that was supposed to get a facility for the workshop did not come through. Then the next location that was picked for the workshop fell through. Then the third location that was picked for the workshop fell through. Finally with the assistance of one of the workshop attendees, the fourth location was a lock. However, by this point many of the students were irritated as they had already reserved hotels near the previous locations. I apologized for their trouble and assured them that the workshop would make up for any hassles. Then one week before the workshop, the other strength coach that was supposed to be there, bailed out with no explanation. I was left holding the bag and had to deal with everyone's complaints. By this point the registrants were justifiably pissed off to say the least. Many of the students wanted refunds which I gladly took care off. However, many of the other students already had flight and hotel reservations so requesting a refund was not an option even though that was exactly what they wanted to do. They were pissed off and were only attending because they could not change their plans.

At this point I had two options. I could give everyone a refund and deal with the flack and the possible negative repercussions or I could step up and do the best workshop possible. I recruited my friend Dylan Thomas to teach the workshop with me and we gave it our best effort. I gave away free DVD's to all of the students as an apology for the hassle. Everyone loved the workshop and left home happy. Many people told me that they appreciated the effort that I put in to make the workshop happen and that it was by far the best workshop that they had ever been to. It went from a negative situation that could have gotten even more negative to a very positive outcome. It was not a positive attitude that saved the day, but preparation. I was very frustrated during the entire process and was negative. However, when game time arrived, I went into full throttle and was prepared to teach the best workshop of my career. More importantly I was prepared to deal with the situation and understood the importance of a commitment and finishing what you start. Without preparation and experience, this workshop would have been a disaster.

Having a positive attitude is great if you have the necessary preparation to back it up. Sure, positive people are much more fun to be around than negative people that bitch all day long. However, preparation and action are the critical components of success. A positive attitude is nice but similar to ring girls at a fight, they do not have to be around for a great fight to occur. Go ahead and have a positive attitude if it fits your personality. Just do not kid yourself into thinking that it is a critical component of acquiring your goals. Also realize that you can be a miserable person and still achieve all of your goals with the right actions. Well maybe not if your goal is to be a positive person ;-)

Live Life Aggressively!

Mike Mahler

Mike Mahler

2. HELP THE KATRINA VICTIMS

My friend and top body worker Dianna Linden recently sent me a list of non-profit organizations for helping out the Katrina Victims. Here is the list:

I encourage you to take a look at the above organizations and make a donation to the one that sits well with you. Also if you want to help out animals, make a donation to http://www.bestfriends.org.

3. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING ARTICLE

54321 Shut Up And Start Training

I believe firmly that you do not need training variety in order to make incredible progress. Stick with a steady diet of the basics and you are all set. Get really good at the skill of a few exercises and you will be way ahead of a trainee that is mediocre at a variety of drills. Truth be told, the only time when trainees get bored with the basics is when they are not making progress. I have never heard anyone say, "Man I am sick of getting stronger at every workout. Every time I hit the bench press, I am putting up more weight and reps. I am sick of getting stronger! I need some variety" I have never heard anyone say, "I am sick of losing fat every week and having more energy than I know what to do with. Screw progress, I need some variety." Maybe such scenes would occur on fantasy island where "little people" like to shout out, "The plane, the plane" but not in the world that you and I live in. Nine times out of ten, people want training variety because they are not making progress. One of the problems with training variety is it can give the illusion that you are making progress. Pick an exercise that you have never done before and you will not be very good at it. After a few sessions, your CNS will be firing more effectively and you will be get better at the exercise. However, did you get stronger? If you go back to an exercise that you had a plateau with and are stronger the answer is yes. If not the answer is no. Most likely the answer will be no.

People that need variety at every workout are never going to be people that are exceptional at the skill of strength. Do football players play baseball for variety? Do basketball players, go bowling for several months for variety? Of course not. Why not? they would be all over the place and would never get good at the actual skill. Professional athletes stick to the basics and work on refining everything over and over again. This is what makes them professionals.

Realizing that the world is not perfect and that many trainees need variety, the "54321" program is just the ticket for a combination of sticking to the basics and applying enough variety to keep things interesting. While the "54321" program focuses on the basic exercises that provide the most bang for the buck (the 20% club as discussed in the last newsletter) the program changes every week which allows stimulus addicted trainees enough variety to stay the course. This is a great strength training program or a great size and strength program if you consume enough calories.

Here is how the program breaks down over ten weeks:

The program starts off with a strength and size focus (assuming you are eating enough) and scales down to a strength only focus and then ramps back up to a strength and size focus again. Add five pounds every week. As the reps go down the weights go up. When you get to week 6, start with five pounds more than at the 5x5 workout in week one. Here is a sample program:

Monday

Take 90 second breaks in between each set. Do a set of A-1, wait 90 seconds and do a set of A-2. Wait another 90 seconds and do A-1 again. Continue until you have completed five sets per exercise.

Take 90 second breaks in between each set. Do a set of B-1, wait 90 seconds and do a set of A-2. Wait another 90 seconds and do B-2 again. Continue until you have completed five sets per exercise.

Wednesday

Take 90 second breaks in between each set. Do a set of A-1, wait 90 seconds and do a set of A-2. Wait another 90 seconds and do A-1 again. Continue until you have completed five sets per exercise.

Friday

Take 90 second breaks in between each set. Do a set of A-1, wait 90 seconds and do a set of A-2. Wait another 90 seconds and do A-1 again. Continue until you have completed five sets per exercise.

Take 90 second breaks in between each set. Do a set of B-1, wait 90 seconds and do a set of B-2. Wait another 90 seconds and do B-1 again. Continue until you have completed five sets per exercise.

Rules Of the Game

Need help with program design for your specific goals? Click here.

4. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH BONUS TRAINING TIP OF THE WEEK

How to Bench Press 500 Easy

By Louie Simmons

Everyone strives for a goal, one of which may be a 500 bench. The problem is how do you achieve it? For me it was a mystery until I discovered a method of training known as the conjugate method. This is done along with the dynamic method with submaximal weights on a second day, 72 hours later. Today we have 29 people who have done at least 500, four who have done over 600, and the youngest person ever to bench 700. Here's how.

On Sunday we use the dynamic method. The weight is 55% of a contest max with a shirt. If for some reason you compete without a shirt, 60% is used. We do 8-10 sets of 3 reps. It's best to use three or more grips in a workout. Most of the sets are done with a grip inside the power rings on the bar, that is, with the little finger inside the ring. Using grips inside the rings will aid greatly in triceps and anterior delt development. The reps must be very explosive. Lower the bar quickly, but under control. Lowering contributes to raising, or concentric, strength. Lowering a bar slowly will build muscle mass but not strength. Please, I beg you, stop reading bodybuilding magazines. They have contributed greatly to ruining strength training in the United States. After all, plyometrics is the energy gained by the body dropping and then responding to that dropping with reversal, or explosive, strength. The bar should be pushed back up in a straight line, not back over the face. This requires strong triceps. This path is a shorter distance and requires no shoulder rotation, which is also much safer. The barbell will always seek the strongest muscle group; that's why most push the bar over the face. Their delts are stronger than their triceps. But it should be the reverse. One sees a lot of shoulder and pec injuries, but seldom do you see a triceps injury. Why? The triceps have never been pushed to their maximum potential.

We do approximately 20 reps out of 200 above our training weight. We may add only 30-50 pounds to the bar, mainly to check that bar speed remains high. If your bar speed, or reversal strength slows, you have a problem. After all, this would still be a very submaximal weight if you bench press 500 and train with 275, or 55%. You could also do a few singles, but not with more than 90% and not very often. We found this interferes with the max effort day three days later.

After bench pressing, go first to triceps work. Basically 60 total reps are done with dumbbells, broken down into 5 sets of 10 reps or possibly 7 sets of 8 reps. the palms should be facing inward, toward the body, when dumbbells are used for extensions. When a barbell is used, 40 reps should be done, bringing the bar to the forehead, chin or throat. Paul Dicks presses with a regular bar or a Safety Squat Bar can be done. We do a lot of J.M. presses, named after J. M. Blakely: with a close grip, lower the bar to 4-5 inches off the chest above the nipples, hold for a split second, and press back up. This is a very effective exercise.

After triceps, do front raises with a bar, plate, or dumbbells. Heavy weights used. Also do side delts with dumbbells or a cable, rear delts, 4 or 5 sets of lats, a few hammer curls. Do delt and lat work by feel, but continuously do more and heavier weight. This workout is done on Sunday and should last no longer than 1 hour and 10 minutes.

On Wednesday, the workout is called the maximum effort method day. When using a barbell, do singles. Naturally, work up slowly, but always try a new max. We do many exercises on this day that resemble the bench press but are not regular bench presses. This is known as conjugate training. After doing an exercise with weights over 90% for 5 or 6 weeks, your strength will regress. We train at 100%+ all year long by changing a barbell exercise every 2 or 3 weeks.

The major barbell exercises that we perform are as follows:

Floor Presses

Lower the bar until the triceps are completely on the floor and relaxed before pressing the bar up. By relaxing the arms you break up the eccentric/concentric chain. This will build explosive strength as well as the bottom part of the bench press.

Board Press

Board presses will build the middle part of the bench press. Lay two or three 2 x 6's on your chest, bring the bar down to the boards, and press back up. This is much different from a rack press because the weight is transferred into the chest, shoulders, and arms. When using three boards, use a close grip, with the index finger just touching the smooth part of the bar. With two boards, place your little fingers on the power rings.

Rack Lock-Outs

We use six pin positions, all at the top. The bar will move 4-5 inches on the top pin and 10-12 inches on the lowest pin. Always use a close grip. Never lower the weight. Instead, press the bar off pins concentrically.

Steep Incline with a Close Grip

Here we will do a max single and then drop down to a 5-rep record. This is only done on the incline.

Seated Press

We do these off pins set at chin level up to 2-3 inches above the head. Again, do singles. Grip width can vary. This exercise is done after one of the other exercises, about 7 out of 10 workouts, for instance, after board or floor press.

The following exercises are done for higher reps, for a rep record. When dumbbells are used for incline, decline, floor, seated, or regular presses, after a warm-up, go to a heavy weight, for example, 110's, and try a rep record. The rep range should be 15-20. This is known as the repetition method. You must go to failure.

Do one core (above) exercise per week, followed by four or five special exercises, total, for the triceps, delts, upper back, and lats. Always push up your special exercises.

Key Notes: It is not necessary to do a max bench press to develop absolute strength. All that is required is to place the muscles in a situation that involves strong contraction for a period of time that duplicates the time in which a max bench press is performed. This works best through maximizing a certain portion of the lift (bottom, midway, or top) using the maximum effort method.

Fast lowering, or the eccentric phase, of a bench press will produce momentum that is converted into kinetic energy that aids in raising the bar back to arms length.

Floor presses, like box squatting, will build explosive strength by overcoming a static position through active, or dynamic, work.

Don't pause the bench press in training; this builds mainly static strength. The stretch reflex lasts up to 2 full seconds, much longer than a legal pause. However, do pause when doing floor presses and board presses.

When doing rack presses, remember to press off a prescribed pin setting. This requires you to overcome inertia.

As your triceps get stronger, add chains to the bar for bench pressing. Use 5/8 chains that are 5 feet long, looped through a 1/2 chain that is fixed around the Olympic bar sleeve. Half of the 5/8 chain should be resting on the floor to start. When the bar is on the chest, all the chain should be on the floor. At this position, you have your original 55-60% of your 1 rep max on the bar, which is critical.

This program works. Six years ago, I did 530 at 242 by training with 365 for 8 sets of 3 reps. That was 70%. After a comeback from a serious injury, at age 49, I recently did 535 at 242 by training at 285 for 8 sets of 3 reps. That's 55% with 30 pounds of chain at the top. That's progress through sports science.

About the Author

Louie Simmons is one of the most sought out powerlifting and strength coaches around. Make sure you check out his website at Westside-Barbell.com.

5. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH EXTRA BONUS TRAINING TIP OF THE WEEK

You Have To Make It A Priority

By Sara Cheatham

When people ask me what I “do” and I tell them that I am a personal trainer, they automatically start spewing excuses as to why they are out of shape and unhappy with their bodies. I don’t have to ask a thing. I am suddenly a shrink. Personal facts surface quickly and without reserve. Mind you, all I have said is that I am a personal trainer. Suddenly I’m their life long best friend. “I don’t have time… I have kids… I go to school… my job wears me out… I just have no energy… I used to workout…” I’ve heard every excuse in the book.

One day I was talking with my neighbor, and like many conversations that seem to find me, she starts to go on and on about how she is overweight, out of shape, unhappy, etcetera, etcetera. After about ten minutes of attempting to justify her lifestyle, I simply say, “You have to make it a priority.” Something clicked. She was silent, (which is rare for this woman). We have lived next door to each other for about a year now. Not even two hours after I said those words, she was making her first of many appointments with me.

She made it a priority. Like taking care of her children, her husband, her job…Finally, she made her health a priority. She didn’t just make a time to workout, she was suddenly empowered. Her voice automatically had more confidence. She made a healthy lifestyle choice for herself, and it’s like the world was completely different, just like that.

After one month of dedication, her body fat dropped 7%, her strength significantly increased, and her energy skyrocketed. She had more to contribute to life; more energy and strength to play with her children, more confidence in anything she attempted, she controlled stress better, and her husband even told her she looked skinny. She made it a priority, and the payoff was more than she bargained for.

Her program was inspired by Pavel Tsatouline’s book, From Russia with Tough Love, Kettlebell Workout for the Femme Fatale. She met with me three times a week for a program based on two basics of lifts: squats and dead lifts. All additional lifts introduced into her program were based on the mechanics of these fundamental drills. My client was new to this hard-style of training, so we focused on total body tension and moving the weight safely from start to finish. This is personally important to me, because as a trainer I want the reassurance that my client can safely and effectively workout by themselves.

In addition to basic drills, I would throw in a modified Department of Energy “Man-Maker,” every now and then for a good “cardio session.” The DOE Man-Maker consists of a series of Kettlebell snatches alternated with running. I modified the snatches to swings and the run to either rowing or some type of walk with the bells. The Kettlebell walks included anything from farmer’s walks to double overhead walks.

This client, like many, wanted more “ab work.” So, we worked on things like get up sit-ups, circle sit-ups, and power breathing crunches at both the beginning and end of our sessions. If a lift is a priority, it should be done first in the series. To further drive home the fact that I acknowledge her requests, we added the ab drills to the end of her workouts, as well. (Needless to say, she has not made any more personal requests.)

In the end, it was the client’s dedication to, and commitment at each session that improved her overall quality of life. She made her health a priority, and it ultimately paid off in all other aspects of her life. If it’s important to you, you have to make it a priority. It’s your choice.

About The Author

Sara Cheatham, M.S., is the only active certified Kettlebell instructor based on Nellis AFB, in Las Vegas, NV. Sara is available for workshops, consultations, military PT, and personal training. Contact her at saracheatham@hotmail.com

6. GET THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH DVD COMBO PACK TODAY

"Kettlebell Solutions for Speed and Explosive Strength is incredible! All of the exercises are explained and displayed perfectly and leave you with no questions. There is absolutely no filler and it gives so many options to add to your arsenal. Watching it gets me so amped up to train! One of the best things is the Free DVD User guide to set you on the right track. I love all of the exercises and together with Tke Kettlebell Solution For Size and Strength, I will never get bored of training!"
- Chris Pontius of MTV's Wildboyz and Jackass

Kettlebell Solution for Size and Strength

Kettlebell Solution for Size and Strength

If you enjoy lifting light kettlebells and have no desire to be strong with a powerful physique, then this DVD is not for you. However, if you are ready for a new challenge with kettlebells and desire to maximize the benefits of kettlebell training, get this DVD today.

The Kettlebell Solution For Size And Strength will show how to get much stronger with kettlebells and build a muscular physique as well. This detailed DVD is for all levels and covers the basics enough for beginners and offers new challenges for experienced kettlebell lifters.

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Kettlebell Solution for Speed and Explosive Power

Kettlebell Solutions for Speed and Explosive Strength

Super comprehensive kettlebell training DVD that goes over how to build speed and explosive power in four different categories: Full body explosive power, Upper body explosive power, Lower body explosive power, and Rotational explosive power. Translation? You will be one explosive hombre after you practice the exercises on this DVD and follow the programs in the Free Kettlebell Training DVD E-book. I did not leave anything out on this DVD. Even if you do not care about getting faster and more explosive, you will love the wide variety of exercises that this kettlebell training DVD contains.

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7. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH PERSONALIZED PROGRAM DESIGN SERVICES

"Lost 10 lbs and went down from a size 12 to a size 8 in jeans – that was something I expected not to happen for another 10-15 more lbs! So thanks for your guidelines – they really have helped a lot."
- Michele Milevoi

Tired of trial and error? Want a training program that actually works? Click here for more info!

8. NEW AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS

I have just added some great new products to my website including: medicine balls, the ultimate portable gym, and some pull-up straps that allow you to do a pull-ups anywhere! Click here.

9. THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH SOLUTION FOR THE ROAD WARRIOR

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10. KETTLEBELL TRAINING INFORMATION PAGE (NEW)

http://www.mikemahler.com/kettlebell_info.html

11. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE ARCHIVES

http://www.mikemahler.com/newsletter

12. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH ARTICLES

http://www.mikemahler.com/articles.html

13. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING JOURNAL

http://www.mikemahler.com/journal.html

14. RECOMMENDED READING LIST

http://www.mikemahler.com/reading.html

Until next time.

Live Life Aggressively!

Mike Mahler

Feel free to email me with your comments and feedback at mahler25@yahoo.com

Mike Mahler