In part one, I described the growing obsession many people have with eating only the purest, healthiest foods, aka “clean eating.” You’d think that nothing but good would come from that, but some experts today dislike the concept of clean foods because it implies a dichotomy where other foods, by default, are “dirty” or forbidden - as in, you can never, ever eat them again (imagine life without chocolate, or pizza… or beer! you guys).

Clean eating has no official definition, but it’s usually described as avoiding processed foods, chemicals, preservatives and artificial ingredients. Instead, clean eaters choose natural foods, the way they came out of the ground or as close to their natural form as possible. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, 100% whole grains, egg whites, fish, and chicken breast are clean eating staples...

I’ll admit that I’m NOT the most “politically correct” member at my local gym. No, I don’t spit in the water fountain or hang out in the doorway of the ladies’ yoga class drooling. I don’t sweat all over the bench and leave behind a puddle of toxic waste for the next member to swim in. I bathe regularly, use deodorant, brush my teeth before heading to the gym and don’t reek of stale beer while I’m on the treadmill. But when it comes to waiting in line for a piece of equipment…I’m a barracuda!...

I used to think the average lifter was confused. Now that I've been working with football players for years, I know they are beyond confused…they are downright misled. Most football strength training programs I see are a joke. They have no focus....

Today you are gonna learn the top 5 training principles that you MUST implement in order to make your physique and performance goals… a reality. But, before I open the info-floodgates, there is something you've got to understand. EVERYONE should recognize that we are athletes and our training programs must reflect this...

It never ceases to amaze me how many people have fallen victim to the lie of "isolated results." Essentially, the idea that fitness, success and life results are created in a vacuum… completely detached and isolated incidences...

Animals in nature don't go to the gym. They don't lift weights, they don't do cardio, they don't read about the latest hot training routine and they don't go on diets. Yet despite the fact that they don't do any of these things, wolf cubs, lion cubs and others grow up to be skilled hunters with lean but incredibly strong bodies. Why?...

Let’s be honest, sometimes you need tricks to help you get by. Sometimes you need more than just that inner will power to help get you through. Most days you are going to have that “screw it” attitude until it clicks. Until that point comes here are 5 things to put on your fridge to help...

Despite all the medical advances available today, the most effective and the most practical advice for us to live a long and healthy life can be found in the father's who came before us. Here are The Top 20 time-tested healthy habits to living longer that have survived for centuries...

One of the most troublesome areas for guys looking to develop a lean, muscular body is their CHEST! Some struggle with adding ANY mass to their pecs while others find certain areas of their chest are "underdeveloped" more than others. In some cases, this is a matter of GENETICS... In other cases, it could be that you're simply not training with the correct EXERCISES to "micro-target" these lagging sections of your chest...

We all know that trans fats are horrible for your health right? But what if I told you that there is a specific type of trans fat that's natural (not man-made) and actually helps you to lose fat faster and build lean muscle? Also, be sure to read about the 3 specific vegetables that can actually help you get leaner as well!...

Recently I wrote an article entitled "Terms, Terms, Terms, An Inside look to buying supplements" which can be found on the Gurus and Guests section of my private forum. The article covered many of the misleading marketing terms buyers have to deal with in an attempt to make informed decisions on the supplements they spend their hard earned money on. Some of the more potentially misleading commonly used marketing terms I covered were...

Even with today's technology, everything is still not completely understood on what causes muscle growth. There are actually a whole series of biological processes that are triggered after hard, heavy weight training...

Everyone knows about the Big Six lifts - squat, deadlift, bench press, row, overhead press and pullup - but your options for training are more varied than that. You can take these lifts and ramp them to a new level simply by limiting the distance you move the weight. I'm going to talk about partials today...

Does this sound like you when it comes to training and/or diet? Still not convinced? Then I offer the following three scenarios that should clear up any doubts...

Funny how the football training pendulum swings. A decade ago, only the top College Football schools used the Olympic lifts in their programs. Then, if filtered down to the point where just about every high school football player in the country was at least doing Power Cleans. However, over the last few years there's been a backlash against using the Olympic Lifts in football weight training programs...

If you’re serious about building muscle and getting stronger there are three very critical mistakes that you absolutely can’t afford to make. I can’t tell you how many times I see guys in the gym committing these cardinal sins and how badly I wish I could help them all. Unfortunately I can’t save everyone but I’ll always do my best to give my loyal readers an unfair advantage over everyone else.

Been stuck at 185 on your bench press for what seems like DECADES and looking to FINALLY crack 200? Well, no promises......but these 4 powerful little mental "tricks" COULD help you add an IMMEDIATE 20% more to your bench press and break a new personal record!

We received permission to post Chapter 2 of Michael's "Reactive Training System Manual" so you can 1) get an idea of Mike's writing style, 2) get a solid understanding of some of the fundamental concepts of RTS, and 3) so you can see what you're missing if you haven't read the RTS Manual! Enjoy!

I remember it like it was yesterday...Squatting down to pick up my books out of my high school gym locker and screaming in agony because my legs were so damn sore from my very FIRST squat workout! But pain soon turned to laughs as I also heard my best friend and training partner at the time scream out profanities as he tried to bend down at his locker just down the hall.

I have no doubt that a scientist somewhere just read the title of this article and said out loud, “YES! Venuto is right! That little thing in your head – the hypothalamus – it IS the thing that is keeping you fat! By George, that Venuto guy isn’t a dumb bodybuilder after all – he’s been doing his research!” ...

Question: If someone’s trying to build muscle, is there any benefit to including sets of 50-100 reps, either with lighter weights as a “burnout” set, or with moderately-heavier weights done to failure and then continued in a rest-pause fashion?

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat? The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

Most people who read my articles and e-books know me as a science guy who likes to quote studies and apply research to everyday problems such as weight loss, bodybuilding, and other health/fitness related topics. However, sometimes you have to step back from the science and look at the big picture to help bring people back into focus, so they can see the forest for the trees, so to speak.

If you are heading out for a nice meal with your family this Father's Day be sure to check out these 5 tips so you can be the fittest dad on the block this summer...because an extra 10lbs of belly bursting fat is a gift you definitely don't want to have when Father's Day rolls around next year.

Escalating Density Training is the newest and perhaps one of the most effective weight training regimes the resistance-training world has ever seen. The fitness industry is one where marketing hype and gimmicky ideas are the norm and dominate every corner of the market...

Learn 10 of the reasons why what you may be doing at the gym could be putting a stop on your fat loss! Fix any of these and watch your results take off.

If your pecs are a weak body part, or, if you’ve simply hit a progress plateau in your chest development, then this high intensity chest training program will pack slabs of muscle mass on your chest after just 3-4 workouts - and I guarantee it. This is a high intensity bodybuilding workout for advanced trainers only. (Beginners don’t even think about it...)

These 3 Hardgainer Tactics have been excerpted directly from Jeff Andersons "Hardgainer Project X" program. In these 3 tactics, you'll get one that focuses on nutrition, one that addresses training and one that talks about supplementation. These 3 tactics on their own can produce powerful results!

From my very introduction to the Iron Game over 20 years ago, (geez, that makes me sound old!) all of the literature, books, and courses I've read or followed advocated "pyramiding" your weights on the basic exercises...

The idea of these workout tips came to me while watching one of the classic episodes of Seinfeld, "The Bizarro Jerry" episode. The concept behind this episode was of having a world made up of everyone's total opposite, which is based on the Bizarro World stories featured in the Superman comic books...

Back in the dark ages (up to the 1990's), weight training for sports was dominated by a bodybuilding mentality. While there were certainly innovators out there pushing heavy, hard exercises, the majority of coaches were having their athletes train like a pro-bodybuilder: tons of reps, western-style periodization, and plenty of machines.

I am a huge fan of keeping things simple. People are constantly asking what the best workout for someone new to training is and, with all the information out there (some good and some bad), it is easy to get confused.

One of my first online training clients, Charlene, had spent years doing long slow cardio workouts and struggling through hundreds of crunches each workout. She even went to "ab classes" on non-workout days (when she could have been at home resting or out with her man) because those ab classes didn't do her any good...

Among my usual exercises, when I first enter the gym, is a series of what I call "the Cred," one arm dumbbell snatches.

Now this may seem a strange initiation to a weightlifting workout, but I believe by the end of this short article, you may be inspired not only to try it, but to regularly work it into your schedule. The benefits are nothing short of amazing, and nothing compares for gaining confidence and motivation in the typical gym...

Old habits are hard to break. But if you keep doing these 5 old school exercises you will be breaking more than old habits...

If you are looking to improve your physical conditioning, sprint training is one of the best ways to go about doing so.

Many individuals prefer sprint training because it takes a lot less time than traditional forms of cardio that have you going for thirty to sixty minutes at a time and there are a great number of benefits that will be seen when you do this more intense form of sprint training workout.

Athletes are confused. Just as the general population is constantly hit with contradictory advice on how to lose fat; athletes are bombarded with lame and ineffective training programs by the bodybuilding mags.

If you play a sport, especially a contact sport like football or wrestling, where your physical well-being is dependant on your ability to perform, you need to find the correct way to train...

You might disagree, but hear me out on this… as an ex-college football player and currently as a strength coach, I have found the utilization and teaching of Olympic lifts to be tedious, inefficient and downright boring.

As a college athlete I hardly found the patience to learn the correct lifting technique for the power clean...

If you haven't read part 1, just know that I'm a cheater. In the first article we discussed the general concept of maximizing your lifts by shortening your ROM, and then moved on to direct things you could implement on the deadlift. In this second installment we will move onto the squat and bench press.

I'm a cheater. If you don't believe me, just go to any of my videos on youtube and read the comments. I cheat on pretty much all my lifts. When I bench I use one of those cheating arches. When I deadlift I cheat by using a wide stance and a narrow grip and when I squat I cheat by putting the bar low on my back...

At some point or another just about every bodybuilder and athlete on the planet is bound injure himself. Some strength athletes though, have found lasting relief for formerly debilitating injuries through a technique known as Active Release Techniques (ART)...

Question: I have a question about how to build big calves. Mine are like string beans and can’t get them to grow. Got any good suggestions?

When the U.S. armed forces set out to develop a fitness program that would hone a lean, “fit-to-fight” physique, they didn’t have the option of waiting around for the next “fad diet”...

The process of building muscle is pretty simple. It's so simple actually; that people have a hard time believing how they can train less and grow more. Find out the secret to building maximum muscle in minimum time...

If you've read more than two articles I've written then you should know that I favor unconventional training methodologies that push and challenge both body and mind. I firmly believe that this is the only way to get really big and hit your goals. From that perspective DoggCrapp Training (a.k.a. DC Training) definitely fits the bill...

Remember when exercise used to be fun; when you used to get endless hours of physical activity each week without ever dreading the thought of it?

Remember when you used to be able to break out into a full sprint without the fear of pulling a hamstring? How about when you could stand up from your chair without your lower back hurting?

You might not recognize the name, but you may be familiar with the effects of Central Nervous System (CNS) Fatigue. The symptoms of CNS Fatigue can include lack of motivation, poor mood, impaired cognitive ability and abnormally high perceptions in regards to the force of exertion-that is, we think we're working out a lot harder than we actually are.