The Art of Health

In this episode I discuss how the shoulder girdle must be trained as a unit, and how the majority of rotator cuff injuries are never solved not because the body is incapable of healing itself, because proper heavy lifting rehab is never done

Listen and learn people

In this episode, you’ll learn the history of the bench press, the incline press, the early iron game, and why the Incline Bench was given second tier status despite being a superior lift to flat bench

In this episode, I engage in a dialectical conversation of what functional muscles means, the specificity of strength, and why athletes need to be more specific in their training than a regular gym bro lifter

I’ve been my asked my thoughts on what is happening, and in this very rambling and unfocused podcast, I describe the various factors that led the USA reaching its current breakpoint in social order

In this episode I describe the 4 tactical virtues as defined by jack Donovan, and why I believe this is the best practical model of how to be a man that can be taught and used as a foundation for masculine development

In this episode I talk about the front squat, the overhead press, and the dead lift as the best lifts for overall strength and athleticism

Life has changed dramatically over the past 2 years. In this episode I update you all with where I’m living, how my mindset has evolved, and questions to ask yourself in determining your own destiny

In this podcast with Dr. Taylor Burrowes, we discuss the modern dating marketplace, the mistakes women make, leading with sex, and how to develop better systems for intimacy and vetting

Deconstructing Writers Block by Alexander Cortes

In this podcast, I discuss in depth the Duality of Discipline

-The Discipline of Action, what you do
-The Discipline of Negation, what you do not do

This podcast is my exploration of the Discipline of Negation, how implementing discipline must account for 1st, 2nd, 3rd order effect, and how Discipline of Negation helps you find your passion, identity, and reveals how to live a good life.

i also list the top 10 most important "Anti-Habits" to have

The Masculine psyche is comprised of four everlasting qualities that establish a Man's relationship with the world and determine the quality of his life

Leadership
Strength
Mind
Gratitude

In the podcast, I refer to the book, King Warrior Magician Lover, and how these archetypes can be examined on different levels

Pragmatic Truth time

-How much you workout doesn't matter,

-How long you worked out for doesn't matter,

-How hard your workout was doesn't matter,

What matters is the resulting OUTCOMES from the above.

This podcast covers the foundational principle of Progressive Overload, and how if you are not following it, you are wasting your time in the gym

What is a System?

A simple question, but one that is readily overcomplicated. Understanding what systems are is straightforward, applying them to your life is the harder part. I define systems pragmatically, give examples, and provide a framework to ask the right questions to create your own systems in your life

Disicpline is the freedom to do what you WANT to do, and the freedom NOT to do what you do not want to do.

In this podcast, I reframe discipline as energy and time management that creates free time and down time for you.

Whereas most of the society views discipline as requiring extreme work and effort, the reality is that disciplining your life enables you to have maximum time to do what you want, including being lazy

In the past year, I have taken an email list of zero subscribers, and grown it to over 5,000 people. In this podcast, I explain my philosophy behind this, why I started with an audience first before a product, and the practical strategies I use every day to constantly add people

I've been asked my opinion on crossfit many many times over, and I finally share it here. Unlike many in the fitness industry, I am neutral on pursuing crossfit as an endeavor. Its a personal choice of personality, and I encourage people to seek out qualifed coaching who do elect to do it.

Is is possible to be lean year around?

This is a common desire of people, but the realities of it are not so nice. In this podcast, I lay out the nittygritty of whether this is a viable goal or not to have

Optimal Program operates off the following 6 principles

1. Intention/Goal
2. Adherence
3. volume/intensity/frequency
4. Progression
5. Exercise Selection
6. rest period
7. tempo

Credit to Eric Helms for his pyramid concept

"Does fruit make you fat?"

The demonization of fruit has personally aggravated the living hell out of me the past few years. Because carbohydrates have been so lambasted, fruit has been lumped in, and declared unfit to be eat because it has FRUCTOSE in it, or some other alarmist statement

Truth of the matter is that fruit is healthy, and NEVER has it happened that anyone's obesity was because of eating too much fruit. Its a bullshit argument that works on paper, but has never proven itself in the real world

This podcast is ROUGH. I make the edgy point that if you are skinnyfat, you NEED to be bodybuilding, period. There is no handholding on this one

The New Skinny Fat program is being released soon, and in this podcast I give you an in depth preview of the 20 principles to put into practice if you are a Skinny Fat Individual. These are all strategies to optimize your training, diet, and lifestyle to improve your genetics and create the body you want.

Cardio is often considered the automatic solution for fat loss, but it does NOT work, for many reasons. Falling for this myth can cost you your effort, health, and a lot of wasted time.

HIT training is based on an effective principle, but it also excludes many other factors that affect training apaptations. In this podcast, I discuss the guiding principle, what you can extract from it, and whether its worth using

The Modern environment is one which negatively affects people's mental health, but to an extent few realize. Depression and anxiety have been on the rise for decades, and the reasons why are very clear. In this podcast, I into a thought experiment by how I could engineer depression in someone purely through physiological changes

Are there shortcuts to a healthy lifestyle, or results from exercise? Absolutely there are! But they take more work than most people are willing to do

How do you determine what a full ROM is? Should you ever use partial ROM in training? Why do some people's form look so different from others?

This podcast covers the practical definition of ROM, the difference between partial reps and cheat reps, and how to use both in your training

Many people sabotage their dieting efforts by undereating protein and worsening their metabolic health. Maintaining protein intake is critical for dietary sustainment and fat loss

How do you get your grip stronger? What are the most effective exercises to improve grip strength? How essential is grip strength for health?

This podcast thoroughly answers the most common questions and gives you strategies to immediately implement into your training

Anterior Pelvic Tilt, commonly called APT, is a common condition that many men and women unknowingly have. It presents movement issues due to it disrupting the ideal and efficient relationship between the skeleton and gravity

In this podcast, I present an overview of the functional anatomy, the muscles involved, and the series of steps to take to begin remedying this issue

Are the barbell squat and deadlift mandatory movements in training? Probably not, and relative to your training goals, you must ask the question of whether you truly need to do them,

If you are determined to squat and deadlift though, but are not physically prepared to do so, then you should adopt a muscle first approach to build your body up to the level of being able to do these movements pain free

How do you learn to keep your back straight?

Poor posture is a common problem that negatively affects movement mechanics for almost all exercises. Trying to improve posture and technique can be difficult. In this podcast, I discuss common issues, what exercises to address them with, and how to start from zero if you have no capacity for athletic movements

I refer to the book "Intervention", by Dan John=http://amzn.to/2trwPw6

which is an excellent guide how to learn how to move if you are truly movement limited.

Deadlifting is confounding for many people, and it tends to cause pain more than it builds strength. I discuss HOW your weaknesses are likely holding back your deadlift, why your deadlift setup is critical, and explain why it such a demanding lift

Building strength, muscle, and power is a combination of different stimulus that altogether facilitate long-term "gains".

In this podcast,

-I discuss the simple system I use for progression in beginners and intermediates
-Why different rep ranges have different effects
-Why a mixed approach is best for training

HIT training and Volume training are often presented in opposition to each other, and the question is posed that one must be superior to the other

In this podcast, I talk about why this presentation is fallacious, how the "truth" of exercises and studies is often misguided, and why BOTH approaches are necessary for results

Books Mentioned:

Purposeful Primitive, by Marty Gallagher
Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding-Arnold Schwarzenegger
Body for Life (HIT Training)-Doug Mcguff

Bulking and toning are two of the most pervasive myths of the fitness industry, used to sell billions of dollars in products and hook people into false paradigms.

Understand why these two things are fundamentally flawed will break you out the cycle of inertia with your own training

There is no such thing as the perfect workout. There is no such thing as the perfect exercise. There is no such thing as the perfect diet, or meal plan, or program.

Health is a varied concept that requires learning, whether you are healthy or not comes down to time spent on your health, and the momentum that time creates

Suggested reading

Good to Great, By Jim Collins-http://amzn.to/2qhXTvX

The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy-http://amzn.to/2qGWJvh

Can you build muscle with bodyweight training? Yes

Is it optimal? No

It is mutually exlusive from lifting? Definitely not

I debunk common thinking fallacies with bodyweight training, and share my preferred resources.

The resources I would suggest

Mass Training-http://amzn.to/2qe4cPo

Overall Guide-http://amzn.to/2raFlfC

An anatomy guide to BW training-http://amzn.to/2pHfmeg

This podcast was one of my most favorite to record. I answer the question of what makes someone "elite", whether the criteria is worth defining, and the pragmatic reality of what anyone NEEDS to do to do anything at a high level

How Should You warmup before you exercise?

There is no one size fits all answer, as warming up is dependent upon multiple factors

-Your own needs with mobility and flexibility
-the exercises you will be doing
-the type of workout you are performing

The perfect warmup is the one you customize to yourself

In this podcast, I discuss a wide variety of lifting gear, covering

-wrist straps
-wrist wraps
-elbow sleeves
-bowties
-belts
-knee wraps

there are no hard and fast rules over and when and how you can use these things, and it is best to experiment, and see what works for your yourself based on application in training

Using straps in training is a contentious issue. Some argue that it makes your grip weaker, while others use them all the time.

The truth is straps do NOT "weaken" grip, and can, in fact, make your grip stronger. They also allow you to train your back muscles far more effectively, and can be used by any level of trainee.

Straps I recommended

Iron Rebel-http://amzn.to/2pS4H3I

Spud Inc 2 Inch Straps-http://amzn.to/2qNiK8z

I mistakenly said 1.5 inch in the podcast, but I realized the ones I use are the 2-inch version. Very heavy duty

Elitefts-https://www.elitefts.com/eliteftstm-old-school-orange-wrist-straps.html