I actually didn’t know the difference between a raw bench press and a shirted bench press up until this year. I just never thought about doing anything but a regular bench. It turns out that raw bench press is just a traditional bench press, unassisted. The alternatives are many, but primarily a non-raw bench press consists of lifting with a “shirt”. The shirt is designed to help bench pressers lift very heavy weight.
Shirts are so tight that they actually require a tremendous amount of force to even bring your arms down. When you’re lifting the …read more

If you’re still having trouble getting past your plateaus, whether they be weight loss or weight lifting, try bringing in your competitive spirit into the equation.  When you against you isn’t enough, challenging a friend or family member can increase your feelings of accountability and provide the extra motivation to get you in the gym and in shape.
The only way a competition works is if you’re very specific about the parameters and measurements.  Loose goals with no clear cut winner will only lead you back to where you were before.  Instead, write down what it takes to win including weight …read more

I’m thinking about getting into the YouTube dumbell curls circuit. There aren’t too many people – steroids or not – that can out curl me when I’m on top of my form (65×8 standing regular dumbells). I was looking around the videos today to see what my competition was. One guy stood out as really impressive – especially with his barbell curls (155×5).
Unlike sooo many other videos, this guy has solid form with very little rock. He’s not perfectly straight but it’s damn near impossible to stay completely rigid when you start getting into the really …read more

Does this make you uncomfortable?

I was planning on writing this post as diplomatically and professionally as possible, but after hours of research , you know what?
Eff that.
Hate and judgment make me sick. I find it disgusting how hateful, malicious and callous people can be.
If you are unaware of the Fat Acceptance movement, please head here or here to read up on it a bit.
I have spent the past week reading fat acceptance blogs, (my favorite of which is Big Fat Deal)  and the debate seems to be this:
“Please do not judge me based on my appearance, and do not be …read more