AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE

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ISSUE 67 - 6/09/2005

1. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"We all tend to seek out information that confirms our beliefs, values, and actions, and ignore or discredit everything else."
- Randall Strossen, PH.D.

Having a provincial mindset will often prevent you from seeing the truth. It will cause you to focus on what you want to see that and cause you to ignore the brutal reality that is all too apparent to others. For example, lets look at starting a business. You go to the store, get a filing cabinet to keep track of your clients, purchase a fax machine, and have one-thousand business card made. You go home and are content with the productive day that you just had. You really feel like things are moving along. However, how many clients did you pick up that day? How many leads did you generate? How many clients do you have period? Do you have anyone to hand your business cards to? I am not saying that you do not need certain things for a business. Just do not have the illusion that you are building your business. If you are not getting the word out on your services and picking up new clients, you are not building your business. Of course, infrastructure activities are a necessity, but not as necessary as getting more clients and generating revenue. Without clients and profit, nothing else really matters in building a business.

Lets look at public speaking as another example. You have been doing some public speaking for a while and you think that you are really good. However, when you watch a recording of one of your most recent lectures, you realize that you say "umm" and "uhhh" a lot and that you tend to ramble on and look down more than your realized. You are shocked as in your mind, you felt that you were very articulate and charismatic and the reality is that you are not. No need to get depressed or beat yourself up. You have acquired some valuable information and can use that information to improve dramatically. Or you can just pretend that do not have any room for improvement and stay at your current level. Surprisingly, many if not most people take the latter option.

This is one of the things that I do not like about the positive affirmation philosophy. The philosophy encourages one to look at the positives of every situation. Here is an example. It takes you ninety minutes to get to work and you do no enjoy your job at all. Someone that follows the positive affirmation philosophy will say that you should enjoy the ninety minutes that you have alone in your car. You can listen to music you enjoy or books on CD. Moreover, they might tell you to go to work with a smile, even if you hate the job and you will feel better about it. Maybe these positive affirmation steps will help make the pill easier to swallow. However, wouldn't it be more productive to avoid swallowing the pill all together? How about looking at getting a job closer to home and finding something that you enjoy doing instead of trying to kid yourself? Someone else may tell you that you are lucky to have a car, a job, and that your problems are just luxury problems compared to other people in the world. That is probably true. However, that is not an excuse to pretend to enjoy something that you do not. In fact, that is more reason to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to you.

Giving yourself is an honest appraisal is not easy. Getting some feedback from family and friends might help. However, they have their own biases and may do more harm then good. Your good friends might feel bad saying anything negative about you and just tell you what you want to hear. On the other hand, they may be jealous of you and tell you things that are not true to steal your thunder. Thus, feel free to talk to friends and family, but keep their comments in perspective. Another option to take advantage of is to take a FREE online test that my client Barbara McDuffie has on her excellent website. Just click on "InteractiveSpot" on the left lower corner at BlindSpots.com. The test will take a few minutes and I was impressed with how accurate it is.

Live Life Aggressively!

Mike Mahler

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2. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING ARTICLE

Stick To The Basics And Add Variety

I am a strong believer to sticking the basic exercises that give you the most bang for your buck. Exercises such as Pull-ups, Deadlifts, Squats, Presses, Rows, and Pull-ups are hard to beat. Regardless, to avoid overuse injuries, boredom, and stalled progress, pet lifts (exercises that you elevate over others such as the bench press etc) some variety is a good thing. Lets look at a standard full-body routine and go over some options to spice it up:

Standard Strength Routine

Day 1:

• Barbell Military Press (Variety Options: Dumbbell/kettlebell See-saw press, alternating press, clean and press, one-arm press, Push Press, Side Press, Sandbag Press)
• Pull-up (Variety Options: Towel pull-up, rings pull-up, weighted vest pull-up, pull-up with a four second hold at the top)
• Barbell Squat (Variety Options: Kettlebell Front Squat, One-legged squat, Bottom Position Squat, Box Squat)

Day 2:

• Barbell Bench Press (Variety Options: bottom position bench press, one-arm dumbbell bench press, weighted dips, alternating dumbbell floor press)
• Barbell Bent Over Row (Variety Options: Dumbbell Renegade Row, T-bar Row, alternating dumbbell row, Sandbag Row)
• Deadlift (Variety Options: Double Kettlebell Swing, Barbell Power Clean, Suitcase Deadlift, Sandbag Clean, Glute/ham raise)

Using the above 2x a week training program, pick a "variety exercise" for each workout and rotate the exercise every two weeks. Test yourself on the basic exercises that you want to improve once a month. The reps and sets that you use are contingent on what your goals are. If you want to get bigger and stronger do lots of sets of 5-6 reps. If strength is your number one priority, pick reps in the 1-4 range. Not sure if you can put it together? No problem, sign up for my personalized program design services and we will work together to help you achieve your goals. Click Here for More Info.

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3. GET THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH DVD COMBO PACK TODAY

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- Chris Pontius of MTV's Wildboyz and Jackass

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5. 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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6. THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH SOLUTION FOR THE ROAD WARRIOR

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7. 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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9. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH ARTICLES

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

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10. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING JOURNAL

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

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11. 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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