John Greaves III's Blog, page 16

Home Gym Tips and Tricks: Act Now to Achieve Your Goals!

Act Now To Achieve Your Goals!

Zach Even Esh wants you to act now to achieve your goals! Even Esh is the founder of the Underground Strength Gyms in Manasquan and Edison, NJ. He’s also one of the strength coaches who I’ve followed for years because of his holistic approach to training. As you can see from the video, Zach doesn’t allow himself to be limited by anyone’s idea of the proper way to train and has built a successful business turning young athletes into beasts and ordinary people into gladiators ready for whatever comes. Check out why he says, “Setting goals is great but waiting for a certain date to start is WEAK!” Don’t forget to check out his online coaching program specifically for garage gym athletes.

Sleep More, Gain Muscle, Lose Fat Podcast Interview with Dr. Kirk Parsley

Everything? Everything! Dr. Kirk Parsley is a former Navy SEAL (BUD/s class 164) who spent his time in the Navy improving the operational efficiency of elite Special Warfare operators. He found that sleep deprivation was the number one thing holding back their performance. This is an excellent podcast that I’ve listened to multiple times. You can watch it on YouTube or go here to get the link to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

Chaos

Patrick “P. Diesel” Raquet is an Animal Pak sponsored strongman competitor who is known for his determination in the face of adversity. He’s defied injury multiple times to come back stronger than before. He challenges you to get in the gym early enough to wake the bugs and revel in the quiet chaos of iron vs flesh. Read more

The 100 Reps Challenge

100 reps a day? Our ancestors were in better general shape than us partially because every task took more effort twenty years ago than it does now. Their NEPA (Non Exercise Related Physical Activity) was higher than ours.  No need to start drawing water from your local stream for bathing though. Rannoch of Simple Strength has a simple way to increase our NEPA. Pick an activity and do 100 reps of it. Cardio doesn’t count. Yes, do that everyday ALONG WITH your current exercise program. Read more at simplestrength.com

Reduce Shoulder Pain When Lifting

Getting stronger is great but shoulder pain with heavy lifting sucks. Barngym owner and CrossFit/BeachBody coach Anna Woods of Shestrength.com has some simple ways to reduce your shoulder pain to let you lift more in the gym and enjoy life out of it!

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Neghar Fonooni 80lb Turkish Get Up

Neghar Fonooni weighs about 125lbs. That’s important because in this video, she does a Turkish Get Up with 36kg or 80lbs! That’s a big deal. Don’t believe me? You try getting off the floor while holding 65% of your body weight in the air!

Neghar is passionate about helping women transform their lives and become the highest expression of themselves.  She brings 13 years of training experience to worldwide workshops, numerous fitness publications and her exclusive ladies-only coaching program: Lean and Lovely. If you’re interested in her methods, follow her on Instagram or reach out to her on her blog.

Until next time, train hard until people want to post videos of you!

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Mentors (and Why You Need One) by Mike Parrott

Mentors (and Why You Need One)

Mentors are critical components of tangible growth for training and exercise.  It doesn’t matter if you do Bodybuilding, Physique, Strongman, CrossFit, Powerlifting, or “max interval training” right in your own living room.  Many of us workout at home because our time may be limited or the freedom and flexibility of achieving our fitness goals on our own schedule — or a combination of the two — are extremely important. But staying motivated when you exercise alone at home presents its own set of challenges. For example, even the most dedicated individuals eventually reach a plateau. If this happens, how are home athletes expected to keep the train moving on the path through progression? The answer is mentorship. In fact, we’ve all received guidance, direction, or a general sense of purpose from others since the day we were able to comprehend and digest the world around us

My Path to Finding  A Mentor
Mentorship is a critical component of tangible growth for training and exercise.

After I had been powerlifting for a few years I was searching for the solution to propel my powerlifting career to the next level. I was attending a National powerlifting meet in Pennsylvania when I met legendary powerlifter Steve Goggins; the man who is heralded as one of the greatest squatters and powerlifters ever. Steve’s experience culminates over 30 years in the sport and once held the All-time squat record of 1,032 pounds for 7 years prior to becoming the first man to squat 1,100 pounds. Therefore, I was delighted when he agreed to be my coach without any hesitation. I was certainly pleased by his eagerness to help a young powerlifter in need. Since then, I never turn down an opportunity to seek his opinion and guidance before venturing into an uncharted domain. I certainly call on him prior to conducting an Internet search regarding performance optimization as well as coping with setbacks. Additionally, I have direct access to Gene Bell, an 8-time World Powerlifting Champion, who lets me exploit any opportunity to pick his brain in order to drill as far into his expertise as possible; pushing my performance even further.

Barriers to Mentorship

Due to being geographically separated from Steve, effective communication between he and I is vital for efficient mentorship. Even though I brought Steve into my world as my coach. I used this method as my impetus to get raw, unfiltered feedback regarding my performance and acquire expert alignment to my goals. However, you do not need to rush out and find the most available coach to satisfy the need for a mentor. Especially if you enjoy training alone; by your rules. That is the concept which your home gym is based on after all. A coach provides instruction in order to teach or train. Mentors are people with more experience or knowledge who can help to guide a less experienced person toward their goal. A coach can be a mentor. But a mentor is not always a coach.  I certainly make every attempt to use my mentors as often as possible. I avoid endless Internet queries which present results that could cause serious injury or worse — regression.

I never turn down an opportunity to seek Steve Goggins’ opinion and guidance
But I’ve Got The Internet. Isn’t That Enough?

There is an overabundance of information available via the Internet which forces most knowledge seekers to become dizzy from information overload at the trove of conflicting stories and advice from “experts” and opinionated persons around the web. Investing solely in what you read on the Internet could hinder performance and circumvent the invaluable, direct mentorship from someone who has the knowledge and experience to do so — whether in-person or otherwise.

It may seem ridiculous to worry about mentorship when things appear to be working so well for you; not to mention allocating time in your schedule to find this mentor. Identifying a good mentor is not as easy as I am making it out to be. Mentors are not hanging from a mentorship tree waiting to be picked by a lucky passerby. In fact, you may run across a few bad mentors before discovering the one who propels you to the next level. Everyone benefits from good mentoring and sometimes even the not-so-good stuff. A lesson learned the hard way is still a lesson learned. Garage athletes are no exception. Mentors come in all shapes and sizes. Identifying a mentor that compliments your garage gym lifestyle can be accomplished by joining a group on social media as well as reaching out to your favorite role model. Plenty of reputable websites and blogs exist on the web (including this one) where the owner or head contributor provides that valuable mentorship; all it takes is a simple email message with your question or concern.

Finding A Mentor

The quality of a mentor is dependent on you and you alone. As long as the mentor you identified does not direct you toward things that are illegal, unethical, or anything that would otherwise detract from what would be considered normal behavior, then who you choose should be good to go. How much of an emphasis you place on their qualifications is a personal preference. Should the mentor also train in a garage? Should they maintain the same (or similar) lifestyle as you? Should they hold a certification? All these qualifications and credentials are merely what you hold as being important. There is no hard rule as to how many mentors you should have at once. Just be cognizant of the fact that too many opinions can cause confusion and hinder growth. However, having multiple mentors at your disposal is much better than not having anyone to lean on.

If you happen to find yourself in a position to mentor someone you must do so with objectivity. There’s nothing worse than when an inexperienced person asks a question only to be laughed at instead of given decent advice. This hinders the relationship and the person’s  growth and advancement. Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian lyricist and novelist, once mentioned that “a Warrior is in this world in order to help his fellow man; not to condemn his neighbor.” Do not be so high on egotism that your humility gets lost on your way up your high horse. No one does this alone.

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Garage Gym Party of 1 with Robin Savala

Garage Gym Party of 1 is part of Robin Savala’s Instagram handle because this busy wife and mother is consistently getting it done by herself at an hour when most are just turning over in bed! Read on to find out more about her high energy routines and how she stayed on track over the holidays!

Robin you work in the medical field  as an x ray tech and you’re a wife and mother to three active kids. All of those make for very limited time. Plus you’re a spinning instructor. So what motivates you to train at home despite your many commitments in and out of the home?

Getting up early and working out in the comfort of my garage has changed my life! Having 3 busy kids with after school activities and homework, I used to have to rush to the gym after work and rush through my workout. Some days I would be so tired after work, I’d just skip my workout all together. Now I’m up early, I head out to my garage and I get my workout done.

Why a garage gym? Why not just train at the gym where you host your spin class?

I stopped teaching spin over a year ago. I LOVED it so much, it was such an adrenaline rush leading a class, blasting my playlist and hopefully giving people a great workout. I had been teaching spin for 19 years and I just got to a point where I wasn’t enjoying it anymore.

How long are your work days?

I’m pretty lucky, I work 3 days a week. I enjoy the balance of part time work and mom stuff.

That means you probably get called on a lot to do volunteer stuff because everyone assumes that because you’re not at work you’re available.  Sometimes you end up working harder at the volunteer stuff than at your normal job;

Yeah sometimes, I mean as the kids get a little bit older the classrooms don’t need as much help but like field trips and stuff I’m always there.

Yeah, I get that. My wife and I once worked a total of twenty-four hours over the course of a weekend at a youth wrestling tournament to help out our sons’ high school wrestling program. 

Yeah, that’s a lot of dedication.

Do you find that you have to simply say no, just for sanity’s sake and if you notice it’s impacting your health?

Yeah, I kind of backed off this year with a lot of the school things because it was just getting to be too much. I just felt like I needed to like I said, kind of back off. I needed a little more time for myself, just for my sanity!

And that’s tough for moms especially because they feel guilty! I honestly, am pragmatic about it like, “Hey, I can’t do it!” But my wife feels guilty because she’s like, “I don’t want the kids to feel that I’m not supporting them,” you know?

I know. That’s exactly how I feel. As a mom or parent, you can let yourself feel guilty pretty easily. But I just kind of had to scale back. But just recently, like you said, I was in the classroom, all of the field trips, all of the outside activities. All of that stuff.

So when you’re doing all of that, it cuts into your workout time especially when you feel, “It’s selfish for me to go workout when I could be doing this thing to help them. But I find and my wife finds that when she makes the time to work out it’s kind of like a stress relief valve.  No matter what you do! Even if you just stretch; you do something for yourself and you kind of just get that time to just breathe and let it all out.

I feel like a better mom when I workout

It’s so true, I feel like I’m a better mom after I get my workout in because I did get that time to myself and that’s why I started working out early before anybody’s even up. Because then I don’t get… because I’m still in the house, they can still find me! They can still come out to the garage, “Mom! Mom I need…!” So they’re asleep and I just have that time.

A former CrossFit box owner told me that he heard a statistic that says only 3% of people are able to train at home. I’d guess that’s because there’s a huge temptation to procrastinate when you know all you have to do is walk downstairs or into the next room. How do you defeat the urge to sit on the couch instead of train?

Nordic Track Classic Skier

It’s honestly not even an option for me to not workout unless it’s a rest day. It’s part of my daily routine. I grew up with very active parents! My dad was the OG garage gym athlete! He had an old school and a weight bench out in our den and he worked out early every morning before work. You know what I’m talking about, it’s like a ski—

Yeah, I know what a NordicTrack is! So he had that and bench? That’s cool!

That’s not saying I just hop out of bed every morning raring to go! Some days I can think of a million excuses why I don’t really need to work out today, hit snooze a few more times than I should but the feeling of completing a work out is more powerful than my excuses.

Oh and my music. I LOVE music! All kinds of music, that’s what fuels my workouts. All of the songs I add to my videos are songs on my workout playlist! Although lately IG has banned any music I try to post which is really frustrating.

Do your parents still train?

Um, they ride their bikes and they walk. And they belong to the gym so they still do workouts at the gym.

So who inherited the NordicTrack and the weight bench? Did you get all of that stuff?

Ha, ha! I wish! They got rid of them a long time ago. I wish they would have kept the bench ‘cause I had to buy my own.

It’s holiday season and the biggest temptation for many people is an abundance of bad food choices. How do you avoid losing your way during the holidays especially without offending anyone?

The holidays are tricky as far as temptation goes but everything in moderation. That’s true all year long. EAT THE COOKIE, indulge. Don’t deprive yourself, find that balance and enjoy. Enjoying good food is a wonderful part of life. I recently read a book explaining macros and how they’re   calculated and I used the formulas to find my own daily macros. I love stuff like that! I want to know what I need to eat daily to fuel my body and it really keeps me accountable. I use the My Macros app.

How long have you been exercising? 

I’ve been pretty active all my life starting with softball at a young age. I joined a gym at 16 and never stopped working out. Took a few weight training classes in college, participated in a few fun runs and became a spin instructor.

Really? How did you become a spin instructor?

So random! I was working behind the desk at my gym part time while going to college, checking people in, folding towels, selling power bars and pouring beer. Yes, pouring beer! And I was good at it too! Our gym served beer on tap, Bud Light and Sierra Nevada! I love a good IPA . . . anyway, one evening the normal spin instructor called in sick, the manager was in a pinch and asked if I could sub. What? Who, me? No way!  But I did it! I was so scared but I loved it. Got certified a few months later and started instructing. I taught through all 3 of my pregnancies, until the bike seat just got too unbearable!

You and your husband, Nick, have been together since you were 16 years old. I saw a picture of the two of you from 1994! That’s an awesome achievement first of all!

Thank you!! We met in high school and after Nick graduated, he joined the Army for 3 years and was stationed in Georgia. He was already into working out but got a lot more involved while in the military.

Does he train with you?

My husband and I don’t train together. We tried years ago and it just wasn’t for us, we have

My husband and I have different workout styles but we keep each other accountable

different styles.

How does he view your commitment to fitness?

I think Nick may have doubted my garage fit commitment at first just because I’ve always gone to the gym but he recently helped me pick out my squat rack and he put it together which I really appreciated!

A lot of your training appears to be fairly high intensity, short breaks etc. Are you always in fat burning mode or do you set target goals and do maintenance programs in between as a sort of break?

I usually rotate spin, weight training and HIIT with each workout. I get bored easy so I’m constantly changing things up and thinking of new combinations as I go. I try to put together my IG videos using HIIT and the least amount of equipment. I want everyone to know they can get a great workout at home without having a ton of expensive equipment.

What was the first thing you purchased for your garage gym? Do you still have it?

I started out with 2 sets of dumbbells and a stability ball! Seriously, that’s it. I had to get pretty creative! But my first real piece of equipment was my spin bike.

Your Instagram profile calls you a busy wife and mom trying to get it done

Proof that you don’t need a lot of space to make it work!

with minimal equipment, what do you have in your fitness equipment arsenal? I’ve seen a pair of squat stands and a bench. What else do you have?

I have come a long way from a couple sets of dumbbells. Yes, I have the squat rack, bench, medicine ball, resistance bands, a TRX, a kettle bell and my old stability ball.

What’s the goal of your Instagram profile?

My goal is to help not only busy moms but anyone struggling to find time to workout. I hope the workouts I put together are versatile enough to be done at home, while traveling or at the gym.

Do you have a network of people to keep you accountable?

My husband keeps me accountable and I do the same for him.

What’s next on your wishlist for gym purchases?

I’d love a treadmill but our garage has run out of room! I also want to try out the B-Force resistance bands, the ones that have ankle straps for donkey kicks and a ton of other exercises. They look really versatile.

Your kids enjoy biking with mom, do they train with you also or is that just Mommy time?

My 13 year old is really figuring things out like good foods vs. bad foods and he’s getting curious about weight training. My 11 year old is the runner of the family and my baby girl is into softball and gymnastics. They’re all welcome in the gym but I do enjoy my alone time there!

I know it’s tough with young kids, especially when they’re involved in sports themselves but do you compete in a fitness related sport, like cycling, or do you intend to compete in the future?

No competitions for me. I admire competitors so much! I love how they transform their bodies and the physical and mental strength and dedication it takes. For me, I just want to continue to build lean muscle, be strong, stay active and healthy and feel good in my skin.

What advice would you give to busy parents who think they don’t have time to exercise? Or to the person just starting their fitness journey, maybe they’re a new mom who’s not sure if she’ll ever get her pre baby figure back. What would you say to her?

Keep it short and simple! Starting a workout regimen can be overwhelming. Do your research, watch videos, pick a few different exercises each day and rotate through them. Don’t get frustrated when the results don’t happen right away, keep with it and the changes will come. Once the changes start happening, that’s when the motivation really kicks in.

How can someone get in touch with you if they want to ask advice or they just want to follow your training?

I don’t post a lot on Facebook; I was just kind of, nervous. I was nervous about putting myself out there on Instagram! Because I know some people that get thousands and thousands of likes and there are some people who can be brutal, leaving these comments and I was like, “Oh my gosh! If someone left that comment on my post I would cry!” So I didn’t advertise on my Facebook that I’m doing this and I do have a regular Instagram page. I didn’t even, I just kind of put it out there and I was just like I’m going to see how this goes.

And I love, Garage Gym Life, that community, they’re always so positive! I love that because I feel like, I’m not so nervous about posting something because I feel like I’m not going to get any crazy comments. Everyone’s pretty supportive.

Well, for one thing, I police it. That’s one reason why I haven’t turned it over to one of those companies that manage Instagram accounts. I mean it is getting overwhelming—

I bet!

It’s a good problem to have, getting more followers, but I’m still running it myself because I don’t want to turn it over to just any company that’s not going to care about it like I do. I like being able to go through there so I still see when somebody posts something negative. I’ll just be honest with you, at least once a week I have to go delete something. Some company spamming posts to get you to become a “sponsored rep” for them; I don’t just delete those, I report them and I think it’s important for people to do that. Don’t just ignore it. Click the report button. But then other people, if they say something negative, I’ll just delete their comment. I haven’t blocked anyone yet, but if I have to I will. But I police it because I want you guys to understand that it’s a safe place.

I’m really only on IG with my fitness routines.  @savalamama_garagefit I’m always ready to help or answer a question.

 

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Home Gym Tips and Tricks: Pete Rubish Helps You Master Deadlifts

Pete Rubish Takes You Beyond The Basics in Deadlift

John Meadows Breaks Down Training In the Underground Strength Session

John Meadows has been training bodybuilding champions for a seriously long time. He’s got a no nonsense style and has made a lot of industry noise with his Mountain Dog Diet and Training System. You need to watch this stuff! You can find all of these videos on EliteFTS CEO Dave Tate’s YouTube channel but I’ve put all the links together right here for you.

part 1

part 2

part 3

Training At Fifty and Beyond

Vince McConnell says training when you get older is about understanding some basic foundational principles and how to apply them. In other words, it’s time to start applying technique and wisdom now that we’re running out of youth and motivation. Read more at On Target Publications . . .

His Home Gym Is Better Than The One At EliteFTS

Matt Goodwin has access to all of the latest toys as Director of Sales for EliteFTS.com.  More than that he could also train on a daily basis with many of the world’s best strength athletes at the employees only S4 Compound on the property. But he trains at home. Find out why . . .

Warm Up Your Scapula Before Lifting

Bay Area martial artist and strength & conditioning coach, @mma_yog2.0 wants you to know how to properly activate your scapula before any upper body work. Here’s a one minute video that shows you how!

Ten Ways To Climb A Rope

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#Relationship Goals with Jacked and Jill

Jacked and Jill

Jacked and Jill (@jacked_and_jill) is the joint Instagram account for Mike and Lex Sawtelle. These two immediately make people post #relationshipgoals on their posts. That’s because they combine an intense love for each other with a passion for fitness. Five years into their marriage and with a new baby on the way, this couple motivate thousands of people every day with their videos and even got profiled in the Huffington Post!

You Are Not Alone

I know that training in the garage by yourself is tough. You usually don’t have the camaraderie of other gym members to help push you.  That’s why I combed the web to find videos like this one that will help motivate you to keep striving to be your best.  Remember that there are hundreds of thousands of people around the world like jacked and jill. All training at home like you and my mission is to connect each and everyone of us. Welcome to the movement.

Follow Mike and Lex on Instagram both on their individual pages and on their joint account. Until next week, stay motivated and keep training hard until people want to post videos of you!

 

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Powerlifting Champion Kimberly Walford Takes Us Off The Grid

Who Is Kimberly Walford?

York Barbell Hall of Famer, Steve Goggins, calls her “courageous”. Maliek Derstine, who has the third highest squat and the highest bench of any 198lb class lifter in the world, calls her “awesome”. Drug free lifter Perry Ellis Jr. who has the #2 ranked squat in the world, says she’s “Tenacious”. High praise from a powerlifting legend and two powerlifting legends in the making. That’s because Kimberly Walford is one of the most accomplished strength athletes alive. She’s ranked among the top lifters in the world both drug tested and non drug tested  and has a 391lb squat, 242lb bench press and 556.1lb deadlift. All done drug free under the strict rules of the International Powerlifting Federation.  Kimberly and I met at the 2015 Arnold Classic and then again backstage at USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals when we finally agreed to have a work related conversation. Kimberly recently started a basement gym in her townhome she calls Off The Grid Powerlifting  so she could train according to her schedule and with her friends. I called Kimberly on Halloween Night 2016 to talk powerlifting and in between interruptions from trick or treaters, we had a great conversation about Feng Shui when setting up a garage training facility for multiple lifters, developing a  powerlifting mindset in people you coach and creating a productive training environment. Let’s go Off The Grid with Kimberly Walford—

Kimberly! What’s up? It took a lot of prayer to do this interview because you deadlifted 556.1lbs the night after I had just pulled a personal record 555lb deadlift. And we had just met the morning before! I mean, come on! That was hurtful! After this interview you need to sit and think about how you’ve behaved.

Man! Ha, ha! I can’t believe you, you’re silly!

 

Anyway, tell me about the name Off The Grid Powerlifting. What’s the significance of that? Are you all out in the sticks or something?

Ha! Yeah, when we say off the grid, it’s definitely out of the way for sure. I mean it’s off of 78 but you’d have to know where it is to come and find it. It’s in our house so from the outside you wouldn’t be able to tell that there’s actually a pretty cool gym in there. And the name actually came from Lexx it was her idea, she wanted to call it that and I liked the sound of it so I said, “Okay”. Don’t get me wrong, I still miss some of my training crews but they’re not here. So we just created a new family and what’s great about a home gym is my buddies that I’ve built this extended family with can come and train at my house.

You’ve got on the door to the gym, “Do it because they said you couldn’t”. You’re very approachable but you’re also a serious person. So I can’t imagine anybody meeting you and coming away with an impression of weakness. So who on earth said that Kimberly Walford of all people couldn’t do something?

Haters and naysayers. Comments that have been made behind my back; never to my face but behind my back. Comments left on social media.

Ah haters! Got to love them. Well, you’re very strong willed. How did playing a lot of different sports growing up develop you as an athlete?

Mental focus, discipline, being able to focus on a goal and knowing that there’s a process to getting it done. Knowing that there’s not always a straight to getting the goal; understanding that there’s going to be bumps in the road but realizing that you have to stay focused on what you want to achieve and doing everything that you can to get you there. If anything else the biggest benefit is the actual being healthy. If you’re training correctly, it should enhance your life overall not just physically but mentally. So I tend to feel like people who are athletes, we don’t retire; I tend to think that we just move on to other sports. And it stays with us throughout our lives.

Training Environment

I’m a big believer in Feng Shui. Don’t tell anybody, but I did take one semester of Interior Design in college and I believe that how you set up a room affects your mood, your productivity, everything. You’ve been lifting weights since you were 13, and you’ve been competing in powerlifting for  15 years at a high level. So when you go to set up a gym space, your thought process is different than somebody who’s just looking to put an ab roller in the corner.  So what were some things you thought about as a lifter with many years behind you?

Well, believe it or not, the first thing that I did was I went online and I Googled floor plans for gym space. And I took measurements downstairs and figured out exactly how much usable space we had and then I started putting in equipment that I thought I would need for us to be able to have a functional gym. We even took it down to putting in the stall mats. Like, sizing them to see how many we needed to take up the floor space. And then from there, realizing what do we really need? Because we compete and based on our federation’s standards so I needed to find equipment that would work for that. So I looked for a competition combo rack, squat rack/bench set. I also looked for a regular rack. And the reason why is we use the combo rack when you want to get close to the competition and you want to have that feel of being in a competition style environment and that’s why we have that. And then we have the regular rack for those days when you necessarily may not have everyone over and you need to go heavy, it adds a little bit more protection. Having that heavier equipment, plus also having the pegs for doing band work as well as for pullups above. So those were the two main things. And then we were thinking we’ve got to have dumbbells but do we really have enough space to have sets from 5s to whatever, over 100? And we were like no, so we looked online and we found Bowflex. Bowflex made the adjustable ones so they went 0-90 and then I just bought an extra set of regular dumbbbells for over 100, so if you’re going over 100, we know that’s the set you only use for going over 100lbs. Everything we were doing was about creating space. Bought cubicles, stands, we bought cable attachments, we even got plyo boxes and of course old school bodybuilding and powerlifting equipment, we made sure to get a reverse hyper. Every gym I’ve ever seen, the real deal gyms have had one so I’m like we should have one!

as many as 8 lifters can train at Off The Grid Powerlifting

And then of course we went a little new wave and got a foam roller; a mirror, even though you rarely look in it, for those rare times when you want to do dumbbell work and need to see yourself we put it in there right across from the deadlift platform. Initially we started it one way but because it’s limited space, we didn’t want it to feel like you were cramped when you were training, so we started out with one layout design where the combo rack was across from the regular rack then realized we could space it out a little bit more. It was like trial and error even though we had a set plan we realized after a few months that we could make one more change and make it even more of an open space.

I looked at pictures and it’s kind of tight but you have room for five people training at the same time?

The most we’ve had was seven or eight.

Everybody that I know who trains in home gyms in the New York, New Jersey area, is always talking about how they actually have to put their gyms in the basement as opposed to the garage because the winters are brutal. I just talked to a guy from Syracuse a couple of weeks ago and he said that he started out in his garage and ended up having to move it to the basement. So is that where your gym is in the basement or is it in the garage?

It’s actually street level, so the garage is in front and then behind the garage it leads to I guess, that would have been the man cave area? But we just decided, “Why do we need a large living room? I’d rather have a large gym. So we have a smaller living room upstairs and we just turned that into the gym.

You’ve met my 12 year old son, so you know I’ve got some younger kids who train with me, and sometimes if they’re going to a competition they get nervous. So I might have their friends come over and watch them lift. Because I want them to have to lift in front of people. I watched a movie, Bending Steel, about performing strongman Chris Schoenke and he had stage fright, so he drew people, complete with different facial expressions on a piece of cardboard and put it on the wall of this little closet he trains out of so he’s always looking at a crowd. For your lifters, what have you done to optimize the training environment for them?

Deadlifting with Muhammad Ali is always going to motivate you

If they seem nervous, what we usually like to do is love to have music, motivational stuff, high intensity stuff, there are however lifters who like slower genres of music, a particular song that gets them going we’ll play it. We usually crack jokes about it afterwards but we’ll play it. I love to put on motivational sports related videos in the background on the TV. I also love to throw on powerlifting meets, powerlifting documentaries anything to create an environment that’s all about powerlifting. If all else fails and I feel like they’re still nervous, I remind them of why they’re there and, you’re going to have to do this regardless of who’s around you. I just, I hate to say this, but I kind of tell them, suck it up! You’re here to compete right? But I can definitely say that we haven’t had an issue with too much nervousness other than lifters come by and they tell me that there’s something weird about lifting around me but I don’t look at it like that. I feel like if I’ve invited you to my house, we’re friends; I’m not looking at it like I’m any different than you; we’re friends and we’re training together.

How does Kimberly Walford maintain psychological intensity in a garage gym?

The intensity in a home gym, I think the best way is to equate it to your own personal platform. When you compete you’re by yourself. You don’t see anything; you don’t hear anything but the platform, so I’m just using the home gym as a medium to allow me to do what I need to do. And how I’m able to create the intensity is I remind myself of why I’m down there training. I remind myself for the goals I’ve set for the next meet, the goals I may have set for the next year or Hell! The goals I’ve set for my whole career! Remind myself of the people who support me and the messages you get from people telling you that you inspire them. I put things around me that cause inspiration. Anything that’s going to get me in that zone. And finally I tell myself that if I don’t do it I tell myself that I make it that much easier for someone to come after me and beat me.

“If you’re training correctly, it should enhance your life overall not just physically but mentally” Kimberly Walford

You spoke on My Strength book about creating psychological intensity. How do you avoid emotional burnout after 15 years of psyching up to train and compete?

Just knowing that each cycle has a purpose and you have to set yourself up to do a certain amount of things, and do what’s necessary to get those goals accomplished. But the funny thing that happens is that what happens at the end of a cycle is we normally compete. So from competition you always come away with lessons. Whether positive or negative or both. And I usually feel, not only for me because I hear it from others; you feel inspired with new goals! Because you’re like well I may have Let’s say you accomplished all of your goals for that meet, but you know, wait a minute there’s something else I wanted to do. So that means you have to train for another cycle and start all over again. And I think what it is to avoid burnout you have to keep your goals realistic, do what’s necessary to accomplish them, keep the right people around you so when you have those crappy days you have people to help put you back in the right space mentally. Keeping the negative people away from you because everyone seems to have an opinion about how you should do things. But it’s funny because some of those same people don’t have the experience or know you enough to be able to tell you what you need to hear. It’s those things that help me avoid burnout. Plus I tell myself that as long as God, my mind, my body and my family allow I’m going to keep pushing so I don’t have a reason to stop unless one of those things is compromised in the wake of me going after these goals.

You’ve got a home gym but even Batman leaves the Batcave. So when you travel and you travel a lot, before you even leave the state do you look for a gym?

Ha ha! You already know Brother! If I am training, I am calling ahead and looking on Facebook and Instagram seeing which one of my buddies are in the area, saying where do you guys train? I need a place to train! Then based on what they tell me I end up looking and checking it out to make sure it’s a place I can train. I need to make sure. You don’t have to have calibrated kilo plates; that’s just a blessing if you happen to have them. I just need to make sure that you have the bars that I need; you’ve got plates and a decent floor so I can pull off of the platform. But what I tend to do now is unless it’s a day that I really need to train, I try to turn it into a mini deload or just I’ll change my training schedule for that week so I can have some time to relax. We have to remember sometimes to relax. It just depends on where I am in the cycle.

I’m kind of a snob because if I go somewhere and they use spring collars, and the collars slide right off of the bar, I just leave.

Oh I bring my own collars!

Well, I use the collars as a test. Because look at how cheap a spring collar is! If you can’t take the time to keep good ones around, how do I know that something else isn’t shady? I’m just out. Anyway, how can people contact you if they want coaching or have a question?

Instagram: @trackfu

Facebook: Kimberly C. Walford

If you’re a female interested in getting stronger check out Kimberly at an Iron Sisters USA training camp in 2017. The camps are a huge success with the attendees so you don’t want to miss this one! Sign up at ironsistersusa.com or check out footage from a previous camp here.

 

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Home Gym Tip: Charles Poliquin “Beats Up” Mark Bell

Cold Weather, Hot Body?

Did I just say cold weather, hot body? I wrote this in front of the computer in a fleece pullover, thick socks and a nice, warm beanie that my lovely wife crocheted for me. But according to T Nation, you can increase synthesis of brown fat, the production of fat-burning hormones, and even increase muscle mass if you’re willing to do one thing. Get cold. Read more . . .

 8 Animal Movements To Help You Feel Young Again!

Crawling or just getting on the ground and getting back up are great ways to reconnect your body with lost movement capacity and build abs in the process. Stop complaining! You haven’t even tried these yet!

 

For Older Guys Doing Martial Arts: 3 Rules and a Workout Plan

Getting older doesn’t have to end your martial arts career if you’re smart. Learn Andrew Read’s rules plus a workout plan to help you keep up with the youngsters.  Read more . . .

Dave Tate teaches you a simple method for programming in accessory/assistance movements

Want to improve your Squat, Bench and Deadlift? Practice and do appropriate assistance work. Former world record holder and CEO of EliteFTS, Dave Tate explains how in this excellent video presentation. Watch the video . . .

Charles Poliquin Beats Up Mark “Smelly” Bell

Charles Poliquin was the man among meatheads back when T-Nation first started! I still remember meeting him once in the days of yesteryear, when I convinced my then employer, the City of Chattanooga Parks & Recreation, that I needed to attend the Perform Better seminar. He was actually the person who told me about T-Nation which was then called testosterone.net. Enough reminiscing! I’ve tried acupuncture but didn’t feel that it was working for me; especially because I didn’t like having needles stuck in my earlobes. But in this video, Poliquin demonstrates on Mark “Smelly” Bell why my acupuncturist kept insisting on applying pain to my earlobes to fix my severely inflexible shoulders. He also explains how acupressure works in conjunction with standard mobility work. After watching this, I might have to give this another look. This one’s a little under 13 minutes long, but it’s definitely worth watching if you’re curious about the value of acupressure or acupuncture.

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Weekly Motivation with Roxanne Moreau

Roxanne Moreau is a twenty year fitness veteran, both as an instructor an an athlete. She’s been running for fifteen years and completed fifty half marathons, five full marathons and two ultra marathons. Roxanne is an advocate of not letting weather conditions or injuries stop her from training.

I took this video from her Instagram account of her doing a burpee challenge in the snow! This is no one time thing, as you can find video and pics of her running and doing snow angels in a snow bank! You can follow her on Instagram @RunFoxxiRun and Twitter @FoxxiFoxxi12.

 

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Ross Enamait Combining Rollouts and Pushups

Ross Enamait is probably the garage athlete who gets posted the most often on here.  That’s because this hard training athlete is constantly putting out motivating clips and great info; quite frankly, I’m hoping that if you don’t already follow him on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram or his own blog, that one of these clips will get you to give him a shot.

Ab Wheel Rollouts and Pushups?

Most of us are familiar with ab wheel rollouts. That deceptively hard to use gadget from Wal-Mart has become pretty popular in the last few years.  Naturally, Coach Enamait is not satisfied with being able to do standing ab wheel rollouts.  Nope.   Now he’s combining them with pushups.

Check it out and train hard until people start posting videos of you!

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