AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE
ISSUE 39 - 9/30/2004
1. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Life’s this game of inches. Like football the margin of error is so small. Inches we need are everywhere around us.”
- Al Pacino in the movie “Any Given Sunday.”
Often when people go after goals, they get discouraged when progress does not come quickly. This discouragement and lack of patience causes most people to quit very early in the game. While I do not think that success should take forever to occur and that the longer it takes for some progress to be made, the less likely you are to succeed, the bottom line is that things take time. You cannot start a business and expect to be a huge success the following week. You cannot come up with a great idea, do nothing with it and wonder why the money is not falling out of the sky. You cannot go to the gym for a week or two and wonder why you have not made a full transformation. It is the people that are in it for the long run that understand that life is a game of small successes that add up to big successes. Losing a measly two pounds a month adds up to a whopping twenty-four pounds in twelve months. Adding five pounds to your deadlift per month adds up to a sixty-pound increase in twelve months. Making an extra $500.00 per month in your business take your yearly income up $6000.00 by the end of the year. Having big goals is essential so you know where you are trying to go. Just do not forget to have small goals to get you there. Keep nailing those small goals and you will reach the big goal.
Live Life Aggressively!
Mike Mahler
2. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING ARTICLE
This week’s training tip comes from super strongman Bud Jeffries. Bud has some must have products, so make sure that you visit his site at StrongerMan.com.
A great way to increase your strength very quickly is odd object lifting or what some call strongman training. We all know somebody who impressed us tremendously as a child with his or her strength. Generally it was a grandfather, or someone in that area who had worked long and hard at heavy manual labor and could wring the necks off of jars, tighten bolts no one else could move, or carry things around that we couldn't lift like they were toys.
Well we've gotten away from that era in because of advances in technology and society. Almost no one has to lift really awkward things to live or work. But this is one of the fastest ways to increase your strength. When you lift something that wasn't meant to be lifted, such as a stone or barrel or log, etc., you force the strength that you've already built in your training to come to bear a real world situation. You force the body to work together as a unit. You teach the body to use what you've built in all the time you spent training. If you want your strength to count when you really need it, not just in the gym under controlled, balanced conditions, then go out and find yourself something heavy to lift. I'm a drug-free world powerlifting champion and when I started lifting odd objects my strength hit a whole other level.
It doesn't have to be complicated. In fact that's one of the great things about odd object lifting. Other than using smart biomechanics, and safety ideas (use good lifting position, keep your abdominals tight and your breath in control, don't drop it on your foot), there are very few rules. Find yourself a rock or two. A log or barrel will do just as good. Now, deadlift it a few times to warm-up. Now, row it a few times. Now pick it up and squat with it a few times. Now, bring it to your shoulder a few times. Now press it overhead if you can. Now pick it up and walk or run with it. If you want to get super adventurous, super set it with kettlebells or bodyweight exercises.
What will this regression into the mighty days of leopard skin-wearing strongmen do for you? Well, it will develop strength that can be downright frightening to others. Strength that you can't get in a gym. Especially not doing cable deltoid laterals and sipping Evian. Strength that you can use in your daily life. Especially in grappling and or self-defense. It will rocket your grip strength into orbit, because these things don't come with nicely balanced handles. Your hands have to work hard. It will crank your conditioning up because wrestling with an unruly barrel is much harder than lifting a nice easy dumbbell. You'll use muscles you never thought of before in a connected way to the rest of your body and you'll breath very hard. It will quickly tell your weaknesses. If your hands, arms, shoulders, back, abdominals, legs or conditioning is weak, you'll know immediately. It'll test you balance. Just about anything you can think of physically can be built here. Why do you think many of the old time strongmen were so big on this? Why do you think stone training has been part of hard-core martial arts and warrior training since the beginning of recorded history? Because these people knew about building real strength in a practical way and they wouldn't tolerate anything less.
By the way, like Mike said in the tip in his last newsletter about "finishers,” You want to tie in all that training you've done? Gain size, strength, endurance and mental and physical toughness? Use some odd objects as your finisher. After your next leg workout grab your objects and take it for a walking squat. Lift and hold your object, squat with it 5 times. Now walk/sprint 10 yards, and then five more reps. Keep going until they call 911. You can use the same drill with deadlifting or pressing, depending on what you want to "finish." If you want to learn more about how to put odd objects in your program, you can check out our course, "Twisted Conditioning, How To Combine Barbell, Strongman and Bodyweight exercises," or specific techniques on how to lift them and how versatile they can be, then check out our odd object lifting series. Four videos; a barbell prepatory strength video and a video on logs, another on barrels and another on rocks. Each with 30 exercises for anything you can think of, plus real, heavy lifting. 300lb Barrels, 400lb Logs, and 500lb Rocks. Whether you want to lift that heavy or not, these will teach you anything you want to know about odd object lifting.
Bud Jeffries
3. GET THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH DVD COMBO PACK TODAY
"Kettlebell Solutions for Speed and Explosive Strength is incredible! All of the exercises are explained and displayed perfectly and leave you with no questions. There is absolutely no filler and it gives so many options to add to your arsenal. Watching it gets me so amped up to train! One of the best things is the Free DVD User guide to set you on the right track. I love all of the exercises and together with Tke Kettlebell Solution For Size and Strength, I will never get bored of training!"
- 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.
4. 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!
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.
6. 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
7. KETTLEBELL TRAINING INFORMATION PAGE (NEW)
http://www.mikemahler.com/kettlebell_info.html
8. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE ARCHIVES
http://www.mikemahler.com/newsletter
9. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH ARTICLES
http://www.mikemahler.com/articles.html
10. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING JOURNAL
http://www.mikemahler.com/journal.html
11. 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