AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE

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ISSUE 104 - 7/26/2006

1. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"There are two types of people: Those that talk the talk and those that walk the walk. People who walk the walk, they sometimes talk the talk. But most of the time, they don't talk at all, because they walking. Now, people who talk the talk, when it comes time for them to walk, they talk people like me into walking for them."
- From The Movie "Hustle & Flow"

In addition to talkers that look for walkers to walk for them, there are talkers that love stealing ideas from walkers to give the illusion to others that they are walkers. Lots of walkers and talkers in that last sentence so go back and read it again to make sure you got it.

This almost happened to me at an internet company that I worked for many years ago. I came up with an effective plan for customer acquisition and proved its value beyond a shadow of a doubt in the marketplace. One of the higher ups told me to stop the operation. However, he requested that I send him the details on how the program works so that he can share it with his superiors. My manager warned me not to do so stating that the higher up had a history of taking ideas from others and making them his own. Thus, I kept the operation to myself and got a nice reward of walking papers soon after. Oh well, at least I got recruited into a better position.

I have also seen many walkers that also like to talk. Yes it is possible to be a walker and a talker. However, talking too much can get you in trouble. I have a friend that has been working hard to break into the entertainment industry. Nope, not the adult entertainment industry in case you are wondering, the one that you see on TV and at the movies. You know those lame TV shows that are on all day and horrible movies that are written by executives that result in loss of brain cells and depression. Anyway, my friend made the mistake of being generous with the wrong person. One time he almost had a role in a major movie. He was super excited about it and made the mistake of telling one of his friends who is also an aspiring actor. Moreover, he made the mistake of introducing his friend to his contact. Long story shot, my friend lost the deal and his "friend" got it. Turns out his "friend" convinced the movie people that he was a better fit for the part. Ouch, talk about learning a lesson the hard way! Fortunately, this story has a happy ending as my friend learned his lesson and went on to get some great parts in TV and will be in some upcoming movies as well.

I am sure that most of us have had similar experiences to the one above to varying degrees. Some people just cannot walk on their own and either sit around and get nothing done or they try to get others to walk for them. You want to avoid these people like the plague. The people that have no goals and aspirations will drain your energy. Hang around enough people too often and you will become a loser as well. Not a possibility, it is a certainty. Then there are the people that have goals and aspirations. However, they do not have a work ethic. Hang out with these people and before you know it, you are doing all of their work. These are the same people that are very social and work on having lots of friends to acquire a network of people to use. Lets call these people "walker manipulators." Walker manipulators are people that are always looking for angles. If you happen to have a skill they need, they will take your time as far as they can. The more generous you are the more trouble you are in. Yes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Offering generosity to people that have not earned it is not being compassionate. It is being moronic and is bad for you and the recipient of the unwarranted generosity.

Unfortunately, having a generous nature is a great way to get targeted by the walker manipulators. These shady people are always on the lookout for new suckers. My brother Roger realized this first hand when he moved out to Los Angeles a few years ago. The first incident occurred at an apartment complex that Roger was checking out as a possible place to move into. He talked to one of the residents for a few minutes about the place. Then to his surprise she asked him to help her move her stuff to another apartment. Later on in the day Roger spoke to a lady about BMW's at a grocery store. Roger can fix just about any car problem and once this lady realized this she asked Roger to give her a call to work on her car. She stated that she may even pay him for his work! Welcome to Los Angeles Roger! LA wins the prize on the most manipulative city of all time. Generosity is often interpreted as being a chump. Develop a reputation as a chump and every walker manipulator in town will be after you.

The only place that has more walker manipulators than LA is the online world. I get emails from people daily that want something for nothing. I even had one guy email me and ask me to buy a list of training books for him. He said he was short on cash and needed my help. Imagine a stranger walking up to you in a bookstore asking you to purchase some books for him. Not likely to happen. However, due to the anonymity factor of the internet, it brings out the inner scumbag in people. The internet is definitely the wrong place to be a sucker. How do you know if you are a sucker? Have you sent your bank information to a desperate family in Nigeria that needs your help? I hope not.

Once you show to the world that you are a walker, the walker manipulators will be coming out in abundance in an attempt to ride the wave of your hard work. It is much easier to ride off of someone else's hard work, then it is to make things happen on your own. Once you show that you are a walker, other walkers will want to help you out. Moreover, you get a chance to be generous with other walkers and that is always rewarding. However, forget about being generous with talkers. In addition to not being rewarding it is completely draining. Ever left a conversation completely drained? Well, you were sucked dry by a talker. Generosity that is harmful to you is not generosity. Letting people take advantage of you is not acceptable. Your time is valuable, your life is valuable, and no one has the right to take advantage of either. This is assuming that you are a walker. If you are a walker manipulator then you are scum and your time is not valuable and neither are you.

Let the talkers do what they do best and leave them alone. Just start walking and do not stop and you will meet other walkers on they way. Walkers are always much more fun to be around than talkers.

Live Life Aggressively!

Mike Mahler

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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:

• Operation USA http://www.opusa.org
• Mercy Corps http://www.mercycorps.org
• Oxfam America http://www.oxfamamerica.org
• America's Second Harvest http://www.secondharvest.org

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.

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3. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING ARTICLE

The Five Pillars Of Kettlebell Training

By Mike Mahler

Many trainees often forget that kettlebells are weights and the rules of effective weight training apply to kettlebell training. Similar to traditional weight training, effective kettlebell training requires a balanced approach and an emphasis on the basic compound drill that provide the most bang for the buck. For most trainees, following a regimen with a strong emphasis on a few basic exercises is the way to go. However, putting all of your efforts into one or two exercises long-term is not the way to go. There are five areas that are worth focusing on for balanced development. Lets get going.

The Five Pillars:

• Press
• Pull
• Squat
• Lower body pull
• Core

Whatever form of weight training you engage in, you want the five above areas covered. Now lets cover each area with kettlebells as the focus:

Press:

KB Military Press or KB Floor Press. This includes all of the variations such as the Sots Press, Double Clean and Press, Alternating Floor press, See-saw Press.

Pull:

Renegade Row, Alternating Bent-over Row, Double Bent-over Row, One-arm Row, Pull-ups with a kettlebell

Squat:

Double Front Squat, Hack Squat, overhead squat, one-legged squat

Lower body pull:

Double Swing, Double Snatch, One-arm Swing, One-arm Snatch, Double Clean, One legged Deadlift

Core:

Windmill, Turkish Get-up, Bent Press, Side Press

Covering the above five areas ensures that you build a strong and balanced physique. Many people tend to focus on what they enjoy and neglect what they do not care for. For example, people that like to press tend to spend a great deal of time on Military Presses and not enough time on pulling motions such as rows. When I first started training with kettlebells, I made the mistake of doing too much pressing work and pretty much no pulling work. Sure enough imbalances starting popping up followed by shoulder pain. Once I balanced the training with pulling motions, my shoulders felt better and more stable and my strength went up dramatically. If you feel that covering five areas is too complicated for you, then do not bother getting off the couch. Better yet, do not go out the door or drive on the road. You are a danger to anyone you come across.

Lets cover a few balanced kettlebell programs for different levels:

Beginner:

Here is a good program for a trainee that only has one kettlebell:

Monday-Wednesday-Friday

• One-arm Clean and Military Press 2x5 l,r (two sets of five left and right)
• One-arm Bent-over Row 2x6 l,r
• One-arm Windmill 1x3 l,r
• One-arm Front Squat 2x6 l,r
• One-arm Swing 2x10 l,r

Take one to two minute breaks in between each exercise and work on technique.

Intermediate:

Monday-Wednesday-Friday

• Double Clean and Military Press 2x6
• Double Bent-over Row 2x6
• Turkish Get-up 2x3 l,r
• Double Front Squat 2x8
• Double Swing 2x6

Take 90 second breaks in between each set.

Advanced:

Monday-Wednesday-Friday

• Sot Press 2x5 l,r
• Alternating Renegade Row 2x5 l,r
• Double Windmill 2x5 l,r
• Double Front Squat 2x6 (2 second pause at the bottom)
• Double Snatch 2x6

Take 90 second breaks in between each set.

The possibility of combinations, volume, intensity, and workouts splits is endless. All of this really depends on what your skill level is, your conditioning level is, and what your goals are. Whatever you do, make sure you cover the basics. Imbalanced programs are fine for more advanced trainees. If you are someone that has a high level of pushing strength and a low level of pulling strength, you can place pressing on maintenance mode and focus on pulling. The same can be applied to any imbalance. Regardless, you are far less likely to create imbalances if you focus on a balanced approach to training.

If you have any questions about my program design services, click here for more information.

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4. GET THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH DVD COMBO PACK TODAY

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6. 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.

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7. THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH SOLUTION FOR THE ROAD WARRIOR

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8. KETTLEBELL TRAINING INFORMATION PAGE (NEW)

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

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8. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE ARCHIVES

http://www.mikemahler.com/newsletter

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10. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH ARTICLES

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

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11. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING JOURNAL

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

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12. RECOMMENDED READING LIST

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

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Until next time.

Live Life Aggressively!

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

Mike Mahler

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