AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE
ISSUE 91 - 3/02/2006
1. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"A successful life is one that is lived through understanding and pursuing one's own path not chasing after the dreams or fulfilling the expectations of others."
- Chin-Ning Chu
We live in a world in which it is easy to stay on the carousel wheel of distractions indefinitely. Do not like your life? Watch a movie. When that is over watch TV, then read a magazine, then complain about your life to your friends, then watch some more TV, then surf the web for a few hours, listen to some music and go to sleep. Wake up the next day and start the distraction game all over again.
Of course entertainment is only one avenue of distraction. The most devastating distraction is the need to please others. It always amazes me that people spend so much time worrying about what other people think. Especially people that they do not even now. Being overly fixated on the opinions of others is a sure-fire way to lead a dull and unfulfilling life. It is also a great way to jack up your blood pressure and create unnecessary stress. Ironically the best way to get respect from others is to carve your own path and become successful. People do not admire followers or aspire to be a yes men.
Lets run through some examples to illustrate the negatives of worrying about what other people think. One of the main reasons why people never start their own business is that they are worried about what their peers will think. Not just the act of starting a business but the ridicule that may come if the business fails. They have the hard work, the vision and the drive. However, they do not have thick skin and without that failure is a guarantee. Next, many overweight people do not stick to a healthy nutrition plan due to their friends and family making fun of them. Moreover, some overweight people do not stick to a training and nutrition plan because of feedback from their peers that are also overweight. The last thing that losers (no pun intended) want to do is see others working on self improvement. It just reinforces their own lack of self worth and it is easier to take that out on someone else. Next, I had friends in college that picked majors based on what their parents thought was practical rather than choosing the majors that they really wanted. I even knew one guy that changed his major after some of his friends made fun of his initial pick. Even though his initial pick was something that he was very passionate about. Well passion is clearly not enough. You have to have thick skin as well.
Make no mistake about it, everything from the line of work that we get in to, to the people that we choose to have relationships with, to the way we look is often decided by other people. Often by people that we do not even know. Many people either choose to accept this because they feel that they are inadequate to make their own decisions or deny it and distract themselves and not even realize that other people have been pulling their strings for their entire lives.
At some point you have to do what guitar player Carlos Santana calls "putting your life on pause" and figure out what you want and what will make you happy and excited about life. No one else can do this for you. You have to be the executive decision maker in your life rather than just a public relations person. Taking the time to pause and block out all distractions is when you will have "moments of clarity." This is not possible when you constantly distract yourself and go from one delaying tactic to another. Yes, letting other people run your life is a delaying tactic. Nevertheless, there is an illusory sense of freedom that comes with it. By relinquishing your life over to someone else, you do not have to think about your life and can just follow orders. While this may be fun in the bedroom (not that I would know), it does not carry over well to other areas in life. Granted some people are complete knuckle heads and we are all better off with them being controlled by others. However, many people are not, but their irrational fears of what other people think restricts them from taking the time to pause and reflect, let alone break free.
While taking the time to pause is critical to pursuing your dreams, having thick skin is even more important. Once you begin the path, negativity will arrive in abundance and the ability to handle ridicule from others is what separates the few achievers from the many failures. Just ask yourself, why is the opinion of others so important to you? Why are you working so hard to please others at the expense of your own happiness? One thing that is for sure is that the pain of ridicule does even come close to the pleasure of living your own life.
This week's quote comes form Chin-Ning Chu's "Thick Face, Black Heart." Special thanks to Stephen Cooper for the recommendation.
Live Life Aggressively!
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:
- 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.
3. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING ARTICLE
Seven Common Training Mistakes
Mistake #1: Not Keeping A Training Journal
Imagine running a business without keeping any records. You just keep working and hope that you are making more than you are spending. You have no way of knowing for sure if you are even making a profit and no way of knowing for sure if you are improving each month. Without proper accounting, a business is doomed. Training is no different. When you keep a training journal you keep yourself accountable. You learn what works and what does not work. You learn how lack of sleep affects training and how stress in your life affects training. An honest training journal allows you to avoid having the illusion that you are making progress when you not making any progress at all. Do not just write down what you did at each workout. Write down other things that are going on in your life. If you had a great workout think about what happened to result in a great workout that day. Did you sleep well the night before? What did you eat before the session? Were you in a good mood that day? Did you take a new pre-workout supplement? The more you know, the more you are likely to repeat the same feeling at another workout. On the other hand, if you had a terrible workout, think about the factors that may have contributed to that and see if you can avoid them in the future.
Another reason to keep a training journal is that there is a natural human drive to want to improve. If you know what the number is, you will want to beat it at the next workout. If you have no idea what you are doing at each workout, how will you know if you are moving forward or not.
You cannot just rely in how you feel. You could feel great after a workout and think that you re stronger and then look at your training journal and realize that you are weaker than your last workout or that you showed no improvement at all. Lets use the example of teaching a training seminar to illustrate this point. Lets say that you made $2000 profit at a seminar in NYC and generated $5000.00 revenue at another seminar. On paper it looks like the second seminar was more profitable. However, lets say that the expenses that went along with the second seminar amounted to $3000.00. Thus, your profit is $2000.00 again which means that there is no improvement in profit between the seminars. If you did not keep track of expenses you would not know this valuable information. Training is the same. Run your workouts like a business and you will stay on track and increase the likelihood of making progress.
Mistake #2: Training For The Stimulus Rather For Results
Go to any gym and you will see trainees that have been doing the same workout for many years. They are doing the same exercises; same weights; same workout order, and enjoy the same lack of results. As the saying says expecting different results from the same actions is a form of insanity. Many trainees become process oriented in which they just go through the motions at each workout. Now, do not get me wrong, going through the motions is better than not doing anything at all (Unless you are doing Richard Simmon’s “Sweating To The Oldies”). Moreover, training for the stimulus is not necessarily a negative thing. If the stimulus of training makes you feel better then your time is not wasted completely at the workout. However, if you want to make progress, you have to be results oriented rather than process oriented or attached to the stimulus. Your discipline will be rewarded with progress in training rather than stagnation in training.
To use an analogy from business, you want to be focused on making money rather than acquiring praise. Of course, acquiring praise and feeling good about what you do are important and nice perks. However, if your business is not making any money, then the latter perks do not really matter. Whether you like it or not, money is a measurement that allows you to know if your business is improving or not improving. Getting more reps in a workout, using more weight, getting more done in less time, are all forms of progress measurement.
In addition to being focused on the results, you want to be focused on the most efficient path to the result. If you can achieve a goal in three weeks with three workouts per week rather than six, why do six? Why do more, if you are not going to get improved results? Sure, the extra work is worth applying for an improved outcome, but not for the same outcome or worse yet an inferior outcome. If you just focus on being process oriented when you run a business, you will have the illusion that you are improving but will not necessarily have the results for it. Focus on achieving results and measuring your work and you will have no doubt that you are moving forward.
Mistake #3: Lack Of Focus
Ever get excited about one thing, and then two minutes later, forget about it and get excited about something else? Sure, all of us probably have at some point. Regardless, to get good at something you have to put in some time. People that get bored easily are most likely people that fail often. Staying on course takes focus and discipline and the ability to manage boredom. I think that failing at everything is more boring then getting good at a few things.
Now when it comes to training programs, there are a lot of options and it can be difficult to pick one. Regardless, it is critical that you do exactly that and stick with one program for at least three weeks. Just make sure that you have a clear idea of what the program that you pick entails. If you are going to start a high volume-training regimen, make sure that you do it at a time in your life in which you are sleeping well, have time to eat well, and have time to train consistently. If you have a lot of stress in your life and an erratic schedule, pick a program that is more appropriate for that situation. Once you get started, stick with the program for a while. Pick one goal, accomplish it and then move on. You should know exactly what you are going to do at 90% of your workouts and what the end result is. Going to a job and punching in hours might work for nine to fivers, but will not work for training. Do not start a workout without knowing what you are trying to accomplish. Do not start a set, without knowing how many reps you are going for. Just remember that lack of focus and lack of discipline will equal lack of results. Imagine opening a bike shop and then closing it the next day and deciding to sell lampshades instead. Then a week later, you decide that you want to be a personal trainer. Chances are high that you will fail at everything that you try, as you do not have the focus and discipline to finish what you start. If you change your mind every two minutes in business, you inevitably go under. It will not be a question of if, but a question of when. Training is not any different. Now the target and go after it until it is achieved. Then switch gears. Remember that it is easy to start a project and much harder to finish what you start.
Mistake #4: Assuming Training Has To Be Complicated To Be Effective
Strength training is not rocket science. Your program does not have to involve what is the equivalent of a calculus equation to be effective. In fact, the more complicated a program is, the more likely it is to fail.
Develop a strong foundation in the basics and focus on exercises that will give you the most bang for your buck. Forget about tons of exercises for your arms when you can only bench press 185 and squat 155. Forget about bicep specialization programs when you cannot even do a pull-up. I often get emails from trainees that are beginners that train six days per week in which they designate a day for each body part. Such programs may be fine for experienced trainees that have a solid foundation. However, for beginners it is far from the best path to take. Full body workouts with a focus on compound exercises such as the: Deadlift, Barbell Squat, Bench Press, Military Press, Bent-over Row, and Pull-up is a great place to start. Get your bench press up to 300lbs, Military Press up to 200lbs and Deadlift up to 400lbs before you think about complicated routines.
Mistake #5: Training With Maximum Intensity Too Often
No doubt that productive weight training takes lots of hard work. Regardless with the exception of money and sex, too much of anything is not always the most productive path to take. Training with maximum intensity too frequently will fry your central nervous system. Once that happens you will become sluggish mentally and your body will follow accordingly. In other words, everything will feel heavy in the gym and you will feel out of sync. The harder you train the less frequently you can train. However, training infrequently is not ideal either. Training is a skill and like playing the piano or learning a new language, it is something that has to be practiced often. The more you do something without burning out the better you will get and the more efficient you will become. If you are on a program in which you do the Military Press once every two weeks and are not doing any exercises that are similar to the Military press in between each session, each time you execute the Military Press it will feel like you are doing it for the first time. Take some advice from top strength coach Pavel Tsatsouline and treat the majority of your workouts as practices. Every once in a while do a maximum effort such as every 10-14 days to see how you are progressing and to keep you excited about training.
Mistake #6: Being Overly Focused With How You Feel
I have had days in which I cannot wait to train and have terrible workouts and days in which I have no desire to train and have incredible workouts. What is the take home message? Your attitude about the workout is irrelevant. You do not have to be positive to have a good workout. If you wait until you feel perfect, then you will never get a workout in. Often in life, we have to work when we do not feel like it, run errands when we do not feel like it, and yes even train when we do not feel like it. No question that visualization techniques can improve workouts and it does not hurt to feel excited about a workout. Of course you are less likely to miss a session if your enthusiasm is high. However, we cannot think in terms of ideals. We have to take reality into account and the reality is that you are not going to feel excited about every workout and cannot use that as a basis for whether you train or do not train.
Mistake #7: Not Having A Life Outside Of Training
Real strength goes far beyond what you can do physically. If someone can bench press 500lbs but is weak mentally and morally, then that person does not have complete strength. One of the greatest benefits of physical training is that the confidence and strength that you build in that arena can be carried over to other areas of your life. The confidence that you build with productive strength training should be carried over to other areas of your life. If the gym is the only place in which you feel comfortable and confident, then you have missed out on the major benefits of training
Make sure you do 2006 right and take advantage of my personalized program design services. Click here for a personalized program.
4. GET THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH DVD COMBO PACK TODAY
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- Chris Pontius of MTV's Wildboyz and Jackass
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.
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.
5. 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!
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.
7. THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH SOLUTION FOR THE ROAD WARRIOR
Tired of terrible hotel gyms and getting out of shape on the road? Tired of doing bodyweight only routines in your hotel room because there are no other options? You need Lifeline's resistance cable products. Not only are they light and portable but they provide enough resistance to humble the strongest athletes around. Click here for more info
8. KETTLEBELL TRAINING INFORMATION PAGE (NEW)
http://www.mikemahler.com/kettlebell_info.html
9. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE ARCHIVES
http://www.mikemahler.com/newsletter
10. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH ARTICLES
http://www.mikemahler.com/articles.html
11. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING JOURNAL
http://www.mikemahler.com/journal.html
12. RECOMMENDED READING LIST
http://www.mikemahler.com/reading.html
Until next time.
Live Life Aggressively!
Feel free to email me with your comments and feedback at mahler25@yahoo.com
Mike Mahler