MUSCLE CHURCH: Our Father, the Iron

Mariusz Pudzianowski 5x World's Strongest Man Everyone jokes about carrying all the grocery bags in these days and yeah, a lot of people take it too seriously. Think of it a different way though...not trying to get a laugh, or be goofy or anything like that. You train all the time. You lift weights. You do cardio. You load up with protein and caffeine so you have fuel to perform as best you can. You stretch. You rehab. In short, you do everything you can to perform your absolute best! WHY DO YOU LEAVE IT ALL IN THE GYM??? Maybe carrying the groceries in isn't the greatest reason to train, but how often do you shirk away from exertion outside the gym? Flip the switch on that way of thinking right now. Do more. Carry stuff. Pick up awkward heavy things. Take the stairs. Park further away from the building. The gym is great but it's only a few hours a week, life happens 24/7 and the less you choose to do, the less prepared you'll be. Challenge yourself to perfor...

Those in the wrestling and meme communities know about Scott Steiner's infamous promo a few years ago in which he started calculating his chances of winning and gave a completely incomprehensible rant. This meme popped up and I look at it a lot when I need a laugh and I think that there is a universe out there somewhere in which Big Poppa Pump said this with a straight face. In improv they say "always commit." I've found that whether I was doing stand-up in front of a tiny crowd or wrestling in sub-par circumstances, keeping a straight face and never giving up on the scene always wins the day. Fans, whether they pay for a ticket or are cheering you in your personal life, deserve to see you give your best and for you to achieve anything, you have to give it your best. That means that when you are out there doing the work, making it happen, you keep a straight face, stand up big and strong and give it your all. Even if you start giving a wrestling promo that makes...

It's easy to get bogged down in the goal-setting, poundages and blood, sweat and tears on a blog about working out but funny things happen too. Maybe some of us old school blood and guts trainers don't always want to admit it but there is a lot of nonsense that goes on in the gym, and this is one such tale. For those that don't know me well, you will come to learn that I find myself in weird situations-often of my own doing! When I worked night shift I came to fall in love with overnight workouts. For about 4 solid years I was working a shift of something like 5pm-5am and on those rare nights off, I spent a few hours training. I am not a before-work trainer and sometimes after work on night shift was just too much for my brain to handle, so I always took advantage of my nights off to get a good long one in. My old gym, East Shore Athletic Club in Charleston, SC, had a 24 hour facility and it became my second home. I'd mop and take the trash out and clean up some n...