AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE

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ISSUE 84 - 12/14/2005

1. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get him to talk about it; for the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else."
- Carlyle

As the old sayings state "talk is cheap" and "actions speak louder than words." It is far too easy to get excited about ideas and the prospect of taking action, but much harder to actually take action. Why? Because taking action is often a lonely place with a lot of responsibility. While talking to others about ideas and goals is like going to a party. You are getting excited your friends are getting excited etc. However, eventually you have to leave that warm place and enter the cold world of action. The possibility of failure is strong and it is much easier to avoid action to avoid the possibility of failure even though not taking action ensures failure. Also, once you get started, there is no turning back. You either have what it takes to see the plan through, or you cave at the first sign of trouble. Either way, you may discover things about yourself that you do not care for and it is easier to avoid taking action to avoid learning more about yourself. However, once again, failure to take action tells you a lot about yourself.

Next if you are someone who has to tell everyone about your ideas and plans, then you are more than likely looking to get approval from others before taking action. This means that you really do not believe in your goals. If you did, you would be taking action and making things happen rather than seeking approval from others. There is a responsibility with any goal and it is all on you. Sure, you can have various coaches help you and offer some advice. However, they cannot do the work for you. You have to carve the path and accept the consequences of your actions. If you fail, it is your fault and you have to take responsibility for the failure and persevere to achieve the success that is around the corner.

Another reason why action is hard is that it requires sacrificing. While others are watching four hour of TV every night, you will need to put in some extra hours to get some work done. While others are kicking back watching football and eating hot dogs on Sunday afternoon, you have to stay home and get some work done. Guess who you are with when you are working? Often no one. Many people cannot stand the isolation as we are an entertainment drive society and need stimulation all day long. Regardless, without spending a lot of alone time, you will not be very productive. This does not mean that you have to go live alone in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere for six months (although that is not a bad idea if you are working on a book). However, it does mean that you will have to sacrifice some of the fun activities that you are accustomed to in order to attain the larger rewards.

Now lets talk about getting into action. Start by writing down your goals and only discuss the goals with people that can offer meaningful advice. For example, if you want to get stronger, talk to a strength coach rather than your out of shape friends. Avoid telling your goals to people that are negative and put everything you do down. Talk to people that give you honest constructive advice and avoid negative people that want to prevent you from taking action so that they can feel better about their own inadequacies. Once you have achieved the goal or at least have gotten the wheels in motion. feel free to tell others. However, ask yourself why you need to tell others. Is it because you doubt yourself and need motivation? Is it because you want a pat on the back? Is it because you want to feel important and draw attention to yourself? Or is it because you have hit a roadblock and need advice from someone that can provide meaningful feedback? If you need people to tell you how great you are, then you have a very poor self esteem and that is holding you back from realizing your full potential regardless of the endeavor. Fishing for compliments is a waste of time and not a trait of successful people. At least not when they are starting out.

Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in receiving praise for a job well done. However, that should not be the goal of your actions but merely a side effect of doing great work and achieving noteworthy goals.

Pick meaningful goals and take full responsibility for making them happen. Decide when you are going to start, when you are going to finish, and what you are prepared to do to make things happen. The person that you become from taking on challenges and persevering through hardships is the reward and no amount of praise form others can top that.

Live Life Aggressively!

Mike Mahler

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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.

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3. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING ARTICLE

Maintenance Mode Training

Training progress is not always linear. In other words you are not going to simply make progress at every workout. You will have some periods in which you feel like you are unstoppable and getting stronger and in better shape at each workout. Then you will have phases in which it seems like you are working hard to maintain. Training is like the stock market. It goes up and it goes down. Sometimes it goes way up and sometimes it plummets. You will experience both with your workouts if you train long enough. Many people get discouraged when they are not making progress and give up. This is a big mistake as it could be a period, in which your body and central nervous system are simply adjusting to the stimulus. Once the adjustment occurs, training progress will resume. Of course this is assuming that you are on a solid program, getting enough rest, and have an effective nutrition and restoration plan. Getting back to the stock market analogy, investors that play the game long enough always come ahead eventually as long as they have a smart strategy and the patience to see things though. Strength training is the same. Effective training is not getting in on the ground floor and working hard for a few years and then kicking back and doing nothing. Effective training requires a smart game plan, modifications over time, and a long run vision. The same goes for effective nutrition plans. There are many plans that will work such as "The Zone", "Low Carb" etc, but you have to stick with them long enough to reap the rewards. One or two weeks is not enough. You have to make it a life style rather than a fad.

Now when you are going through periods in your life in which you do not have as much time to train or have more stress in your life, that is a good time to go into maintenance mode. For example, when I am not doing a lot of seminars, I like to train with the 105lb kettlebell and the 88s. However, when I am doing a lot of seminars and traveling a lot, I give the 105lb bell a rest and focus on more workouts with the 70s and the 88s. I usually lose some strength and conditioning but not a lot. Basically, I am staying in the ball park of my peak strength so that I do not lose too much. While losing a little bit of strength and conditioning may sound negative, it gives my body a break and ensures that I am fresh at each seminar rather than fatigued from intense training. Once I get through a phase in the year in which I am not traveling as much, I can ramp things up and enjoy another growth phase. Thus, I will end up going into each maintenance phase stronger than the last one. For example, I am stronger in my maintenance phase now than I was at my peak two years ago.

Maintenance training is easy for people to execute who have been training for many years as such people have "training wisdom." Newbies and people that are addicted to the stimulus of training, freak out when they are not at their peak. If you are at your peak all year around, then your peak is probably not very impressive. It takes confidence and wisdom to go through periods in which you purposely get temporarily weaker in order to bounce back stronger than ever. Regardless it is a necessity and easy to work in. We all go through periods in which we either do not have the time to train as much or simply do not have the desire to train hard. Use such periods as opportunities to engage in maintenance mode training. One your motivation comes back and you have more time, ramp things up and enjoy the growth phase.

I just wrapped up my last seminar for 2005 and will be ramping up training now all the way until March of next year. I am excited and ready to go. Plus being a little bit weaker than normal is a strong motivator to fire things up. Here is a maintenance mode workout that I like to use:

GTG (Greasing the Groove)

Monday-Friday

• Double Military Press with 2 70lb bells 5x5 (1x5 several times per day)
• Double Front Squat with 2 88s 5x5-9 (1x5-9 several times per day)

Workouts

Monday

• Double Bent Over Row with 88lb bells 2x5
• One-arm Windmill with 1 88lb bell 2x5 each side
• Double Swing with 2 88lb bells 2x6-10

Wednesday

• Renegade Row with 2 88s 2x5
• Turkish Get-up with 1 88lb bell 2x3 each side
• Double Snatch with 2 70s 2x5-10

Friday

• Alternating Bent Over Row with 2 88s 2x5
• Double Windmill with 2 88s 2x5 each side
• One-arm Snatch with 1 88lb bell 2x10 l,r

On Tuesday and Thursday I may do some Clubbell work or some light KB work or nothing. This is a simple program that keeps everything up to par for my seminars and keeps me close to my peak to avoid losing too much strength and far enough to avoid getting burned out while traveling and doing a lot of seminars. What do I do when I have time to ramp things up? You will have to wait and see ;-)

Want a personalized program? Click here.

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4. GET THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH DVD COMBO PACK TODAY

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6. NEW AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS

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7. THE AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH SOLUTION FOR THE ROAD WARRIOR

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8. KETTLEBELL TRAINING INFORMATION PAGE (NEW)

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

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9. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH MAGAZINE ARCHIVES

http://www.mikemahler.com/newsletter

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10. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH ARTICLES

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

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11. AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING JOURNAL

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

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12. 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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