John Greaves III's Blog, page 8

Tote Stopwatches and Chase Dreams with Rachel Flanagan

Rachel Flanagan Blogger/Stopwatch Enforcer

Rachel Flanagan says she’s “Just your average stopwatch-toting suburban mom, looking to make some locals sweat and curse my name”. That’s hilarious but accurate enough to make me a fan! Let’s get to know her!

Rachel, let’s start with the fact that you and I have a common passion for helping awesome people tell their stories.  Sometimes the hardest thing for me is convincing people that their story is worth telling. What’s the most challenging part about blogging for you?

I think it’s finding topics that will help people and not just be a narcissistic platform for me to go on my soap box. I like to think of my blog as a mix of online magazine and journal.

I think the online magazine format is the best; makes information accessible in a familiar format. Who was your favorite person to interview so far?

Oooh, so hard to choose. I love interviewing people – I think everyone has an interesting story to tell. But two of my favorite interviews are up on my old (pre-RFF) blog, www.everydayrudys.com, which I started a couple of years ago. One is an interview with an old friend from New York, who had always struggled with her weight until she found Weight Watchers, and then running. She’s now working for the New York Road Runners Club, managing their online training programs. She amazes me.

The other interview I loved was with Danielle Cemprola, who runs a popular blog called the T Rex Runner. I admire her a lot–she has had so many personal struggles (an eating disorder, a bad marriage and then divorce, back surgeries, and on and on) and yet her blog is funny, inspirational, and helpful. She was very open in her interview with me, and it’s always been one of my favorites.

Switching gears, you’re fairly awesome yourself. I know you have a pretty rich athletic background including rugby, skiing and gymnastics but how long have you been exercising? Were you exercising as a little girl?

Why, thank you! I’ve always been doing some sort of activity or sport for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I gravitated toward individual sports–gymnastics, running, skiing, etc–but then I found rugby in college and loved it. I’d never had that camaraderie before. It sounds cliche but it was life changing.

But in general, exercise has always been a big part of my life and has helped me through a lot of things. Running has always been a place for me to clear my head, and has been a good outlet for stress. But the gym, and learning how to lift heavy, has not only gotten me strong, but boosted my self esteem and self worth.

How has your exercise choice selection changed as you’ve gained experience?

It’s gotten a lot more specific to my goals, which tend to change a few times during the year, vacillating from pure strength, to hypertrophy, to a mix of both. When I was lifting on my own, I tended to overtrain and was always exhausted. But last year I met a fellow trainer, Jenna Damron of Devoted Fitness, through a mentoring group of women in fitness and ended up hiring her as my own trainer. She’s awesome.

You enjoy running, (in the rain no less!) is that your primary sport now?

I do love running, and it will always be a big part of my life. I’ve always been a runner for as long as I can remember, and then after my kids were born I started doing endurance races. I ran my first half marathon almost a year after my daughter was born, and then started full marathons. But once I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2013, I decided to back off the running a bit. That’s when I started lifting more. Now lifting is my primary focus, and I run a couple of times a week for fun.

What’s your fastest marathon time so far? Do you enjoy triathlons and obstacle course races?

My fastest was the New York Marathon, which I ran in 4:28 in 2014. It was insanely windy that day but the race was so amazing (especially as a former New Yorker) that it didn’t bother me.

But no triathlons or obstacle races. I’m a terra firma kinda gal – I’ve never been a big swimmer or biker. And I stay away from obstacle races because I’ve seen a lot of people get injured, which is the last thing I need. I’ve had three knee surgeries during my rugby years so I get worried about re-injuring them.

Let’s talk about your gym. Did you begin your fitness journey in a home gym?

I was a fitness junkie long before I built out the home gym. I used to belong to a big commercial gym, which I really enjoyed. My husband and I built out the garage gym so I could train clients there, and so we could work out when we wanted without having to worry about childcare.

What did you start your home gym with?

I had a set of TRX straps and a few dumbbells, and my husband had some old plates before we opened up the garage gym.

What was the first thing you added to the gym?

The power rack. I love that thing.

What do you have now?

Once we knew we wanted to outfit the garage, we sat down and did our wish list, and then went out and bought almost all of it at once at a place that sells used fitness equipment. We bought a treadmill (which we haven’t used that much), a big rack of dumbbells, a power rack with a nice barbell, a deadlift jack, a and a lot of resistance bands. Over the past year, I’ve added more resistance bands.

You recently discovered Crossfit which has its own ever changing programming requirements. What do you plan to purchase next as far as equipment?

I’d love to get a rower and definitely a second barbell.

You do one on one, small group and outdoor boot camps.  Obviously you’ve got equipment in your garage to handle training clients; do you have a “go bag” of fitness equipment for your boot camp sessions or do clients have to bring their own dumbbells and TRX suspension trainers?

I bring a LOT of dumbbells, my TRX straps, resistance bands, and cones over to a local park when I train my boot camp. Tuesdays and Thursdays are dumbbell training and Fridays are for sprints and stairs. But I always have my trusty tote bag, which has a few bands, my clipboard, dry erase boards and pens, and headlamp. I call myself the Mary Poppins of fitness.

Do you train mixed groups or only women?

My boot camp is only women, and I really like the all-women vibe for that group. But I do have two male clients who I train in my gym.

A lot of people are okay with meeting up at a park to train, but going to someone’s home requires a different level of trust. How do you weed out potential problem clients?

I’ll usually go back and forth in email a few times to get a sense of the person and then invite them over for coffee to see if we’re a good fit.

Were there any legal hurdles to establishing a business in your home?

No – just an increase in insurance.

What is the hardest part about being a home based/outdoor fitness professional and how have you overcome it?

The hardest part so far is the weather! My outdoor class group is not a fan of weather below 35 degrees, so it was tricky over the winter. The other hard part is the lack of daylight in the winter–I tend to move the group around based on where I can get the best light. The weather also affects my garage gym clients — I had to buy a space heater for the winter and a good air conditioner for the summer.

How would you describe your training style for yourself and how does it compare to how you train others? For example, are there any allowances you’ve made due to your knee injuries that you wouldn’t necessarily include in a typical small group session?

The way I train clients isn’t too different from how I do my own training. The main difference is that my own training sessions tend to be longer, since I’m doing a lot of big lifts that require time between sets. The main thing that I tell my clients–and always remind myself–that focus and intensity can be the difference between getting so so results and getting the results they really want.

What advice do you have for someone planning on starting their first home gym?

Sit down and write out your wish list and then set your budget. Buy the things you know you’ll use first, and then add things as you go along. Also, if you’re going to do it in your garage, ask your neighbor to tell you if the music is too loud. The last thing you need is the neighbors calling the cops.

Where can people connect with you to hire you for your services or just follow your fitness journey?

Lots of places! I have information on my services on my website, www.rachelflanaganfitness.com; they can email me at rachelflanaganfitness@gmail.com, or follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

Last question and this is the most important: how many Garage Gym Life shirts would it take to get you to start cross posting with garagegymlife.net?

My tank top is enough! I love it!

DIY Bar Storage Rack

DIY Bar Storage Rack

If you are like me, you have more room than you know what to do with in your garage gym or home gym (sarcasm). I had bars laying up against every corner or worse yet left on the floor only to have to move them so I could do the next set of something.  So in order to maximize space and stay organized, I built this storage rack with some scrap boards and PVC pipe.  Here is how you can build your own DIY Bar Storage Rack today (for less than $10):

Materials needed

4 @ 1x4x12.5 wood board (length may vary depending on how many bars you will want to store)
1 @ 2” PVC pipe x 1½” per Olympic bar
1 @ 1” PVC pipe x 1½” per standard bar
8 @ #6×1¼” drywall screws for rack
1 @ #6×1¼” drywall screws per bar

 

The Process

Build a base. I used two layers of 1x4x12.5”.  You will want to determine the length you need based on the number of bars you have.  I have 2 @ 2” bars and 2 @ 1” bars.  Make sure you give yourself plenty of room between bars (consider the width of the collars).  Mine is a little tight.

Layout one of the boards and drill holes through using a paddle bit or hole saw (See Fig.1). Use a bit that is 1/8” larger than the bar diameter of the bar (i.e. 2 1/8” for 2” bar).  You will be mounting clips to a back board in a later step.  The thickness of the board you use for this will matter when laying out your base board.  I used 1×4 for the back board so I moved the center line of the holes out ¾” to compensate.
Place the second board on the bottom of the first board and screw them together using #6×1 1/4” drywall screws. One in each corner should be fine.  Note: screw length should be based on board thickness you used.  This will complete your base.
Since I have the base on the floor, I chose not to permanently affix it to anything so I can move it out of the way to clear out dirt and spiders (it is a garage after all).
Now you will want to build your clip system for holding the bars in place. PVC pipe works great for this.  If you have 1” bars, use 1” PVC and if you have 2” bars, use 2” PVC (see Fig. 2).
Cut the PVC pipe to the desired length (1 – 1 ½”) using a hacksaw (See Fig.3).
Cut a section of the PVC out which is wide enough that your bars will snap in but not too wide that they just fall out. I cut 7/8” section out of the 1” pipe and 1 ¾” section out of 2” pipe (See Fig. 4).  This is easier on 2” than 1” but not too difficult.

Drill and countersink a hole through your clip (See Figs. 5 and 6).

Determine the height to mount the clip based on the length of your bars. I have two 7’ bars and two short bars so I needed to have clips at two different heights.
Cut a backboard to which you will mount your clips. Again, I used 1×4 and cut them to the same length as my base boards or 12 ½”.
Screw or nail the back board(s) into the wall at the desired height (see Fig. 7). Make sure to hit a stud.
Screw your clip into the back board using a #6 drywall screw. Be careful not to screw down too tight or it could split your clip (see Fig. 8).
Put your bars in your new storage rack so you know where they are tomorrow when you throw that weight around!

Additional Cost Saving Idea

Just use scrap lumber and PVC for this project.  If you don’t have any, check with a local plumber or property management place that may have some scrap pieces.

My Name is Rob and I’m a Hofamaniac by Robert Brinkley

Are you a Hofamaniac? Take This Test and Find Out

You are in the shower. You turn on the water. You discover the switch from tub to shower has already been engaged. No time to turn it off, what do you do? The answer separates Hofamaniacs from the rest of the world.

I’ll tell you what I’ve done for the past 3 decades – jump back to get out of the spray range; and if the cool water grazed my toes, I’d let out a high pitched scream!

Hi, My Name is Rob and I’m a Hofamaniac

After that intro it is odd to say, I’ve been purposely taking cold showers for over 2 months now. It’s probably even more odd if you know what I do to convert my 80 degree Fahrenheit “cold water” to actual cold water. My wife says it’s quite the production.

So what changed? I met Wim Hof.

Wim Who?

If you are unfamiliar with Wim Hof, he has an impressive resume with over 20 Guinness World Records. His earned nickname is “The ICE MAN.” Some are: farthest swim under ice; longest ice bath; Fastest half marathon barefoot on ice/snow; running a full marathon above the Arctic circle wearing only a pair of shorts; reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in his shorts within two days; the list goes on and on. What may be more impressive, is that although he could rightfully brag on his super human accomplishments. He humbly declares that anyone can learn to do what he does.

Becoming Superhuman Day One

Wim was hosting a one day seminar and I mentioned to my wife that it’d be neat to listen to him in person. So for my birthday my father in law bought himself and I tickets to the seminar. The itinerary for the seminar was: lecture, breathing exercises, break, ice bath, Q & A. I’ll admit, I was rather intimidated by the ice bath. But I was curious to hear what he had to say. Plus his motto is, “Happy, Healthy, Strong.” That sound perfect to me!

My expectations for the seminar was to tryout/practice Wim’s style of breathing, listen for some nuggets of knowledge, try and snap a selfie with Wim, and not look like a sissy in front of my father in law in the ice bath. But we got more than we expected. After the breathing, both my father in law & I felt amazing. Even stranger, after the ice bath, we felt amazing! So amazing that when we got the offer for a bonus round in the ice -we took it! We even jumped in a 3rd time when there was extra room in the pool!

Time to Always Get Better, Stronger

After the seminar we both signed up for Wim’s 10 week online class. In the class you practice breathing, practice push-ups with your breath held, progressively build up your cold exposure (via cold showers leading up to ice baths), and there are other exercises/meditation sprinkled in.

I started the class, and enjoyed it, but knew I wasn’t getting the most out of it because where I live, I don’t have cold water. It literally comes out of the cold tap at 78-81 degrees Fahrenheit. Determined, I bought a camping shower and starting experimenting with different mixtures of ice, tap water, and refrigerated water.. Here’s a video of what I did:https://youtu.be/i6JxlgDBLLQ

The cooler solution worked well for the first 4 weeks. But in week 5, we jumped our shower time up to 10 minutes. That requires a lot more water. I had to upgrade my efforts.

So why do it?

You could do a quick Google search and find a laundry list of cold shower benefits. When we were at the seminar, we met some folks that said they do their breathing and cold showers to help them with things like: PTSD, inflammatory diseases, depression, boost immune system, etc. Those are all serious things and they told us the cold & breathing helped them a lot. For me, it just feels good, after. No always with the first blast of cold water.  There is often a little self talk prior to stepping in a 40 degree shower. And of course there are times, just when you are feeling great. Feeling like you have conquered the cold, and it will sucker-punch you in the kisser and you’ll think, why do I like this? But after the shower is over I feel great!  If you wanted to hear me pontificate, I like the primitiveness of it. I believe there will always be a trade off with comfort and convenience. A cold shower can be a little way to easily give your body back the ability to adjust/adapt/respond to environmental stimulus.

Also a short word on the breathing.

The breathing practice is a big part of Wim Hof’s Method. It can be easy to discount the breathing. But practicing it, it feels good too. You practice cycles of breathing and then holding your breath.  At the end of your

Final Stretch . . . get it?

daily practice you do some push-ups holding your breath.  It’s fun to watch the progress of: the retention time, and doing push-ups while holding your breath. Beyond feeling revitalized, I think it helps my have greater patience. Which is critical with a 2 year old.

Final Stretch

I am not done with the online course. I am currently in the beginning of week seven of ten. I’m a little sad it is almost over, but excited to see how the last few weeks shape up.

Robert Brinkley says he is Humble Teacher & Student of Strength . Rob is certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, Strongfirst, Original Strength and TRX. He’s a former powerlifter who began exploring alternative ways to increase his strength and athleticism in his relentless quest to always get better, always get stronger. You can follow his training on Instagram @alwaysgetbetterstronger, contact him to learn more about his online coaching services at alwaysgetbetterstronger.com and check out his YouTube channel for innovative ways to improve your training at home including some low tech alternatives to expensive gym equipment.

DIY Landmine by Dallas Martin

DIY  Landmine

A DIY Landmine is an awesome way to add a powerful tool to your garage gym toolbox. So, if landmine exercises are not in your arsenal, they should be.  And if you have searched the Internet for these fixtures, you will soon find out that fitness companies or equipment manufacturers are making a lot of money on this stuff.  You only have to be a little bit mechanical to build this equipment and, truth be told, you will end up with something far superior and more versatile.  Here is how you can build your own DIY Landmine today (for less than $30):

Materials Needed

Get a swivel caster. For mine, I got an 8” caster but after putting it together, I am sure that 6” would be just fine and a little stronger.  Make sure the width is 2 ½”.
Disassemble your caster (see Fig. 1). Keep the bolt, nut and spacer (circled in red below) to be used later.
Get a steel tube. Make sure the I.D (inner dimension) is slightly larger than 2” and the O.D. (outer dimension) is less than 2 ½”.  I used 2 1/8”ID and 2 3/8”OD.  2” Schedule 40 would be great.

The Build

Drill a ¾” hole through both sides 1 ½” in from one end. It will be important to be very careful on this step because if your holesare not aligned, it will be near impossible to put a bolt through them.  Use a drill press if you can.  Note: The hole dimension you use will need to be the same size as the spacer that came with your caster (see Fig. 2).
Insert the spacer that came with the caster into the drilled hole (see Fig. 3).
Next, align the holes in the tube with the holes in the caster fork and insert the bolt. Tighten the nut making sure that at least two threads of the bolt are showing on the outside of the nut but not so tight that the tube does not rotate on the bolt easily.
Now mount your landmine for stability. I chose to anchor mine to the floor using 3/8” concrete anchors (see Fig. 4).  If you are not familiar with directions for using concrete anchors, you can find them online.  Other options for mounting would be to mount them to a board or plate with mechanical fasteners or welding that you could push into the corner of a room.
Insert your Olympic barbell into the tube (see Fig. 5) and begin landmine thrusters wearing your Garage Gym Life shirt (see Fig. 6) or other landmine exercises.

Additional Cost Saving Idea

Call a local manufacturing company for supplies.  Many times factories or other companies will move material on carts with these types of casters.  When the wheels are bad they usually just replace the entire caster throwing the part that you will want in the trash.  Factories will also buy tube in long linear lengths and 10-12” piece will more than likely end up in their scrap hoppers.  You can get this for pennies on the dollar or free.

About Dallas Martin

I’ve been on a journey since October (encouraged by my mom, Peggy Benson Kessler, through her amazing accomplishments). I started with running, then moved to a metabolic shredding program, and now I’m doing Body Beast. I’m not an expert but I’ve learned a ton about exercise and diet (not just eating the right foods but eating right for your goals) and I want to continue to learn. Connect with me on Instagram @dmart_bestrong_fitness  or check out our private Facebook group #bestrong fitness.

DIY Landmine

DIY  Landmine

A DIY Landmine is an awesome way to add a powerful tool to your garage gym toolbox. So, if landmine exercises are not in your arsenal, they should be.  And if you have searched the Internet for these fixtures, you will soon find out that fitness companies or equipment manufacturers are making a lot of money on this stuff.  You only have to be a little bit mechanical to build this equipment and, truth be told, you will end up with something far superior and more versatile.  Here is how you can build your own DIY Landmine today (for less than $30):

Materials Needed

Get a swivel caster. For mine, I got an 8” caster but after putting it together, I am sure that 6” would be just fine and a little stronger.  Make sure the width is 2 ½”.
Disassemble your caster (see Fig. 1). Keep the bolt, nut and spacer (circled in red below) to be used later.
Get a steel tube. Make sure the I.D (inner dimension) is slightly larger than 2” and the O.D. (outer dimension) is less than 2 ½”.  I used 2 1/8”ID and 2 3/8”OD.  2” Schedule 40 would be great.

The Build

Drill a ¾” hole through both sides 1 ½” in from one end. It will be important to be very careful on this step because if your holesare not aligned, it will be near impossible to put a bolt through them.  Use a drill press if you can.  Note: The hole dimension you use will need to be the same size as the spacer that came with your caster (see Fig. 2).
Insert the spacer that came with the caster into the drilled hole (see Fig. 3).
Next, align the holes in the tube with the holes in the caster fork and insert the bolt. Tighten the nut making sure that at least two threads of the bolt are showing on the outside of the nut but not so tight that the tube does not rotate on the bolt easily.
Now mount your landmine for stability. I chose to anchor mine to the floor using 3/8” concrete anchors (see Fig. 4).  If you are not familiar with directions for using concrete anchors, you can find them online.  Other options for mounting would be to mount them to a board or plate with mechanical fasteners or welding that you could push into the corner of a room.
Insert your Olympic barbell into the tube (see Fig. 5) and begin landmine thrusters wearing your Garage Gym Life shirt (see Fig. 6) or other landmine exercises.

Additional Cost Saving Idea

Call a local manufacturing company for supplies.  Many times factories or other companies will move material on carts with these types of casters.  When the wheels are bad they usually just replace the entire caster throwing the part that you will want in the trash.  Factories will also buy tube in long linear lengths and 10-12” piece will more than likely end up in their scrap hoppers.  You can get this for pennies on the dollar or free.

Meditation by Marisol Swords

Meditation Confession

As much as I’d like to say I have a dedicated space to meditate, I don’t. I used to have a time and space specific to my practice that was non-negotiable; but as I am constantly reminding my kids: everything changes.

If It’s a Cup Become a Cup

Now my meditation looks like this: Impromptu because I need it; positioned in front of my laundry basket and my favorite film playing in the background in between life’s major moments. I have taught people to create their own practice when and where they can because I’ve lived a life of constant change. And my practice has always adapted. Back hurts? Meditate in child’s pose. Hot? Meditate naked. Knees hurt? Put a pillow under them.

My Meditation is my Medication

My meditation is my medication, it keeps me from killing motherf___s in this world. Trust me when I say, it’s an active and daily decision to choose  kindness first. I am just as human as the next yogi, and I’ve got as many demons as any other thug; the balance of the two comprises my duality and my actions and efforts are chosen to be rooted in kindness no matter what the storm inside might be like.

Marisol is a powerlifter, Crossfitter, yogi and martial artist

This is Me

No guilt for my feelings. No shame in my practice. I am.

No more. No less.

DIY Chain Collars by Thomas Stone

Why DIY Chain Collars?

DIY chain collars will let you add a little variety and challenge to your training. If you have thought about trying chains and bands this project will get you using both in no time. Remember most public gyms have the space and finances to go out and get all of the equipment they need. Home gym owners don’t have the luxury of membership dues so we need to use our ingenuity along with our creativity to construct what we may need.

With this article series I’m hoping I can use my ingenuity to help you reach your goals without having to reach deep in your pockets.  I’ve even made a few DIY chain collars for Lance’s Gym in Chicago. They work well, are easy to make and will save you money. So lets get started!

 Materials needed

1  piece of 2″ X 2′ PVC pipe
2  PVC 4″ X 2″  Flush bushings
PVC glue
2  3/8″ X 2-1/2″  I bolts
2  3/8″ Nyloc nuts
2  3″ spring links

Tools

Hack saw
3/8″ drill bit
Drill
(2)  9/16″ wrenches

 Getting started





 Drill a 3/8″ hole in the center of your 4X2″ bushings. (Mine were 2″ wide so I drilled at 1″) Make sure you drill in the center area where you see the opening. Just eyeball it; it does not need to be precise.
Place your nyloc nut in the opening above the 3/8″ hole and insert the I-bolt, after getting the nut started on the bolt tighten until snug, then turn I-bolt until it is in a line with the bushing.
Cut 2 – 3 inch pieces from your PVC pipe.
Use any sandpaper to scuff up the ends.
Apply the PVC glue to the end of your 3″ pipes and your bushings. Then insert your pipe into the bushings twisting as you push down. Make sure you press them together until the pipe is flush with the end of the bushing.
Throw it on your bar add some chains and hammer out some sets.





Note ( I use PVC for this because its strong and wont cut into the sleeve of the bar like a metal version would)

“Necessity is the Mother of invention”
Follow Tom on Instagram @stoney2

Easy Ways to Protect Outdoor Gym Equipment

Keeping the Rust off your Outdoor Gym Equipment

You just dropped a sizeable chunk of cash on that outdoor rig complete with anchors for your backyard and you want to keep the rust off. How to do it?  Pick equipment designed for outdoor use, protect it with regular maintenance, repaint when necessary, show the equipment some love frequently.

The Right Tools for the Job

Alec Candiotes from South Africa based outdoor gym equipment supplier Cactic Fitness says, “Choose equipment that has been made for outdoor use. The manufacturer would have thought of issues such as rust and moving parts seizing up.” Sounds simple enough. Rogue Fitness is probably the most well known provider of outdoor gym equipment but brands like Cactic are stepping into the fray to serve this growing market. Shop around and buy what you need, not just what’s on sale.

Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance

Just did another application of CRC Heavy Duty Silicone on outdoor bench.
As you can see in the picture, the metal is not rusting and the upholstery is not fading or cracking

Marine Silicone Spray

Steve Jones of the U.K. based custom strength equipment manufacturer, Full Metal Industries says, “Benches will always be tricky. The foam gets damp and mouldy and it’s very difficult to prevent that from happening.” That’s why bench presser Dedrick Henry is a huge fan of CRC spray for his backyard gym equipment. He did two applications a month apart and posted the results in the Garage Gym Life VIP Hangout on Facebook. According to Ded Serious, applying the CRC was “As simple as spraying cooking spray in a pan to be honest. Flow came out real easy and applied evenly.” His product was put to the test soon after in a month of heavy Georgia summer rainstorms.

” After heavy storms and rain yesterday and application of CRC, the water that did make it through the cover, just beaded up and did not soak through,” Ded reported.

After heavy storms and rain yesterday and application of CRC, the water that did make it through the cover, just beaded up and did not soak through

A month later we got an update. “Just did another application of CRC Heavy Duty Silicone on outdoor bench. Second application since June 14th. It’s been raining like crazy the last month, but as you can see in the picture, the metal is not rusting and the upholstery is not fading or cracking. I got this bench used. I don’t make any compensation for this product, just want to let those know who have outdoor gyms or gyms in moisture prone areas, this product is definitely worth it!”

Jones adds, “When the bench pad needs replacing, treat the plywood of the pad with a wood preserver, get the most mold resistant foam and cover with marine grade vinyl fabric.”

Repaint

Most metal gym equipment will come painted but after a few sessions, that paint is liable to chip, increasing the chances of rust.  While manufacturers like Rogue don’t necessarily endorse spray painting their products, Jones points out, “If the equipment is really going to be exposed to harsh conditions the key is to keep the air and moisture out as best as possible.”  Candiotes agrees. “Make sure you maintain your equipment by repainting or touching up places where paint has come off,” he says.

Show Your Outdoor Gym Some Love

Just as you should wipe down your benches with disinfectant and mop your mats with disinfectant at least once a week (barefoot lifters take heed to this advice!) Outdoor gyms need frequent love. Here are some final ways to show you care:

Give the bars some love with a light coat of bar oil from time to time.
Clean it once a week. Candiotes says that in addition to yearly repainting of your equipment, it’s also a good idea to clean it. “Dust, leaves etc. can really make your outdoor equipment look ugly,” Candiotes says.
If you’re re-purposing a piece of indoor equipment like a power rack, drill drain holes in the bottom and put caps on top of the posts to keep water out and swap out your bolts for galvanized steel if possible.

Nick Nilsson the Mad Scientist of Muscle

Nick Nilsson, aka the Mad Scientist of Muscle has been on my radar since respected strength and conditioning coach Charles Staley endorsed his methods way back in the long ago. Nick has over twenty years of scientific research and in the trenches experience under his belt and is a frequent contributor to Iron Man Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Men’s Fitness, Maxim and Reps! So I was incredibly excited to have the chance to pick his brain about training and business. Open your mind and dive in!

The Origin of Nick Nilsson

You’ve got over 20 years of training and coaching under your belt. Your stuff is kind of unorthodox so how did you convince your first client to hire you? It’s hard enough for trainers following conventionally accepted methods to do it. What was your breakthrough moment?

The interesting thing with that is when I first started to train people the clients were given to me essentially. When I started doing actual personal training I worked on a cruise ship. So the people who come on the ship; they come in the gym and ask for a personal trainer and I was one of the trainers. Ironically enough I’m actually capable of toning it down, ha ha! So I would run these people through very conventional routines. As I kind of progressed further in my knowledge and got off the cruise ship I started working with people who kind of wanted the unconventional training ideas. A lot of what I do isn’t necessarily unconventional but it takes normal stuff and makes it better. So I can actually do a program to cable rows and dumbbell bench press but the way the training is and the cues that I use are different than what some other trainers use and are very effective. That’s what they were actually seeking out so it was very easy to convince people to do these kinds of things.

Well this is a social media world so people want to be able to say they did something and put it on Instagram or YouTube. Did you do any coaching when you were focused on endurance training?

No that was basically in high school. I never got into the coaching of that aspect of it. Once I got into college I went completely in another direction, I went straight into weight training. I was doing two a day, six day a week workouts; eating 8,000 calories a day. So I went from 145lbs ripped to the bone endurance athlete to like 220. I gained like 75-80lbs in about eight months!

So high school Nick Nilsson was cracking the boiled eggs in the house and all of that. Did you do the squats and milk program?

No I was doing the Bulgarian Burst thing. Serious Growth it was like a high frequency, overtraining and back off and literally I was eating cafeteria food so I was eating a ton of food every day. I calculated it one day and my biggest day was like 8.5, 9,000 calories!

On the Shoulders of Giants

You named Charles Poliquin and I know you worked with renowned strength coach Charles Staley. You mention the great sprinting coach Charlie Francis in your book, Mad Scientist

I was an endurance athlete in high school

Muscle. Some of your techniques are similar to those of the late Vince Gironda specifically your use of high volume sets to force muscle growth. Was he one of your influences as well?

Oh definitely! One of the things I liked about him is he didn’t rely always on what the science looking backwards, but he would kind of look forwards from the science. So he would kind of see where the science was going and get ahead of it. Then in subsequent years, the science would catch up with what he was doing. So that’s kind of the approach I like to take. I’ll read the science and I’ll base my theories on that but I’ll go beyond what’s provable and take it a step further. A few years later I’ll see that everybody’s doing the same thing that I was going after like ten years ago. For example, lactic acid training is a big one right now. I started really focused doing that probably in 1998.

Change is Good

I was going to mention that next. C.T. Fletcher played a huge role in making that popular. He’s obviously got a big personality and he’s got a compelling story—coming back from a heart attack and clinical death. The thing is when people start doing this ultra-high rep training they don’t realize that even though they’re not lifting really heavy for them, they can still fall prey to injuries from pattern overload. Is that why you’re a fan of rotating training modalities?

What I find is if you stick to something too long, your body gets used to it very quickly and the more advanced you are the faster this happens. There are times when I’ll stick to a very simple hypertrophy schedule and I’ll do the same four or five exercises for like six to eight weeks and I get to the point where I literally plateau and I have to change things up! Sometimes it’s from injury because I get overuse injuries from doing the same thing repetitively and sometimes it’s your body just needs to switch and it’s time to change things up. When you’re building strength you do need consistency but you can keep consistency through movement patterns like for example programming back squats, front squats, Zercher squats—all variations of the same kind of movement pattern but hitting the body slightly differently. So there’s definitely a lot of reasons to use those different movement patterns and to keep your body guessing. Not muscle confusion which I actually find to be kind of annoying because you’re confusing your body sure which is good for some things but you do need to show your body what it needs to adapt to at some level or else nothing much is going to happen.

I competed in kickboxing several years ago and I’ve also more recently competed in powerlifting. In both disciplines, one important concept is developing skill in the sport. So how do you advocate balancing the need to switch so you don’t plateau, with the fact that your body needs to be good at a movement you’re going to be judged on?

I haven’t competed in powerlifting or Olympic lifting or anything like that; a lot of what I do is not really geared towards a sport. What I do can get you generally stronger and can improve your technique but I don’t specifically program for powerlifting so I really can’t claim to be an expert in developing the three big lifts. I definitely can’t claim to be an expert in Olympic lifting, I’ve done some basic stuff but I think one of the biggest things is to develop a base of strength. You really do need some level of consistency in those big movements and that jives with powerlifting.

What I do can get you generally stronger

Greasing the Groove

One of my favorite things that I’ve come up with is you take one of the big three lifts and in the course of the second week of the program you actually do about two hundred to three hundred sets of that big lift. You’re probably familiar with the Greasing the Groove concept where you just hammer that one exercise and your nervous system just gets so efficient at it that you can get massive nervous system adaptation to it and you build strength incredibly quickly. Over the course of five days you’d think you’d decrease in strength but the way the program is structured you actually increase in strength even though you’re burying yourself with training volume.

Is that because of the nervous system adaptation?

It’s taking one exercise and laser focusing everything onto that one exercise. You’re getting nervous system adaptation but—it’s almost like a carb load where you’re doing one week of low carb eating, really low calories so you’re setting yourself up for a rebound. Then the second week you overload calories, you overload training volume. Just one big exercise and you just hammer it. So your body knows it has nothing else to adapt to so it adapts incredibly well and incredibly fast to that one exercise. I had one guy who told me he gained 120lbs on his max deadlift over the course of a week!

Wow! I’ve done Greasing the Groove with deadlift when I was trying to get it to 500lbs. I just set up a loaded barbell and every time I passed it I just did three reps and I ended up getting there. There’s limited carryover to other movements because you’re getting skilled at just one lift. So after you program a period of that do you kind of put it to the side and maintain it and then try to bring everything else back up?

That’s pretty much the focus of the next couple of weeks. After that you’re focusing more on everything else. You’re really leaving the deadlift completely alone for a couple of weeks after that because your nervous system is pretty well shot. You actually end up doing a lot of isolation stuff. So  you’re focusing on sarcoplasmic hypertrophy stuff. You’re working on muscle tension and stretch reflex and stretch based movements.  So it’s a very unique program in that respect where every single week is different and you’re targeting different aspects of growth and strength.

Is that in your Mad Scientist Muscle book or one of the more recent ones?

It’s actually in Muscle Explosion.

Another “controversial” technique you advocate is fascial stretching. John Parillo talked a lot about them but some people disputed its effectiveness. There’s no doubt though that the way Arnold did flyes and the way most people do them today is completely different. He also had a lot better chest development than most people, even if you look at today’s bodybuilders.

For a long time I was a big believer in the fascial stretching concept and I’ve actually changed my thinking on that. Whereas I think the actual idea of stretching and loaded stretching is fantastic! But not for the reason that  a lot of people think it is. I think the problem with fascial stretching is fascia is so incredibly tough, so incredibly hard to change. The analogy I like to use is you’ve got a tarp stretched very tightly over four posts and you set a rock on top of that tarp. Think of fascial stretching that you’re doing every once in a while as like setting that big rock on there for two or three minutes.  Take the rock off. You haven’t even made dent in that tarp. However when you do loaded stretching you create such a tremendous anabolic response inside your body that your muscle grows inside the fascia and stretches the fascia continuously from the inside out. So that growth process forces the fascia to stretch over a long period of time rather than during thirty seconds of stretching. So it’s like setting a lighter rock over that tarp but leaving it over a period of years.  It’s going to make a dent in that tarp. I think it does happen; it’s happened to me.  That stretch is setting up a hypertrophy and possibly a hyperplasia response inside your body.

 I’ve begun to experiment with stretching as part of my workout and I like it a lot! Our mutual acquaintance, IAWA champion James Fuller, once pointed out that it makes a lot more sense to stretch a muscle while making it stronger to offset the weakness that comes with increasing your ROM.  I interviewed my chiropractor and she said the reason most people think chiropractic makes you weaker is you need to train at that new ROM to make yourself strong there.

I would agree with that. I’ve experimented with stretch based exercises and protocols and there’s nothing attacks your muscle fibers more and gets your strength up over an entire range of motion as far as using loaded stretching and stretch exercises that work your muscle over the entire range. One of my favorite movements is an incline dumbbell curl which obviously a huge stretch. The method I like to use for it gets an even deeper stretch on the muscle and it builds strength faster over the full range from there. Instead of sitting on the seat of the bench you actually put your feet on the seat and you slide your body up so your upper back is over the top end of the bench.  You lean back and over and you get a really good arch in your back and this stretches the biceps at the shoulder joint as well in addition to at the elbows.  When you do the exercise you get much more muscle activation and you build strength much more efficiently.

You’ve never competed in powerlifting but what a lot of beginner to intermediate powerlifters (I include myself in this group) need is more muscle. I think that a lot of our gains in the

About 60 – 70% of my training is normal; I just take assistance work to another level

beginning come from neural adaptation and then we start gaining weight to get a leverage advantage, cut weight to make our weight class and try to carb back up to regain the leverage advantage. Actually gaining muscle is what separates the Elite from the beginners and intermediates. So your technique might be well suited for the accessory portion of a training program. For example, you do your main lift and then every exercise after your main lift would be something that would be within your program. Do you think that would work?

Absolutely! I think that would be a fantastic way to do it. In fact I do like to focus on the big lifts a lot. As crazy, unique and varied as the stuff I like to do is. About 60-75% of my training is relatively normal from the outside looking in. I use a lot of back squats, I use front squats. I use a lot of normal exercises. It’s just that the assistance stuff I take things to a different place. So a lot of what I do is very complementary to what powerlifters would do; it’s just that the accessory stuff is more effective in terms of targeting those muscles.

That’s huge especially if say somebody is three months out from a meet. They want to put on some muscle to get stronger but stay in the same weight class. It just seems to me that your methods are a good way to add muscle, burn fat without destroying yourself with so much cardio that you lose your strength base.

Even though I used to be an endurance athlete I’ve flipped the switch in a way. I don’t do a lot of endurance stuff these days other than long distance loaded carries. I’ll never be a long distance runner ever again. One of my goals when I’m trying to lose fat is to keep my strength. That’s very much in line with what a powerlifter is trying to do as far as put on muscle, lose fat while keeping if not increasing that strength.

Getting Less Fluffy

One of the things I like about your training is how actionable it is. For example, I’m a big fan of your near max interval training.  I’m a combination of a meathead who’s always disliked cardio and a former Marine with two bad knees that get angry after more than three miles of running.   I don’t have that problem with your version of treadmill sprints. Talk about how you came up with that and how you figured out the percentages you needed to use. I’d never thought to use percentage based training on the treadmill before!

The secret sauce that I used to come up with that is I put the treadmill at ten—

Ha ha! Okay, today on the Nick Nilsson show, we’re going to see if we die kids!

Yeah and I wanted to see—the thought process was something I’d been through in college. I’d been through a test where you would have to do progressively higher stair stepping over the course of twenty minutes. It was sort of like a stress test where at the beginning of the test the bottom of the step was relatively low. Then the next minute was like an inch higher. So at the end of twenty minutes the difference between the first step and the twentieth step was pretty significant. There were two variations of the test. In one, you wouldn’t take your pulse. You’d just go straight through for as long as you could until you couldn’t keep up the pace. The second variation was you’d stop and take your pulse for ten seconds so it was giving you a little bit of rest after each time. Even weighing 220lbs I maxed out the test and got all of the way to twenty minutes but when I did the original version of the test I got up to about 14 minutes. So a little bell clicked in my head. What if I could do very fast training but add a little bit of rest time in there. I could get a much higher intensity and a much higher training volume just by taking these little short rest periods. Kind of like Tabata training but you’re not killing yourself in four minutes.

That’s like wind sprints or hill sprints. My brother prefers those. He’ll sprint to the top of the hill and then walk back down. His rest period is the walk back.

This version kind of flips the rest periods with the work periods. So you’re getting say 25 seconds of fast work and then five seconds of rest. So you’re basically giving your body just enough rest to keep going. When I first started doing this I could do essentially twenty minutes of running at ten on the treadmill by taking five or ten second rest periods. It just ripped the fat right off me and it was intense and it felt like I was doing something rather than just walking on the treadmill bored out of my mind.

Speaking of time, you use timed intervals a lot in your training; whether for rest periods or to time the set. Do you have a type of timer that you recommend or can people just get by with a kitchen timer or an app on their phone?

The app on the phone is fine. I’ve used that before. What I actually have in my basement gym is a little $3 made in China kitchen timer that has a magnet on the back that I just stick on whatever piece of equipment I’m working with. It has three buttons, a minute and a seconds and a start/stop and that’s it. I bought it three years ago and it’s still working fine.

The thing that strikes me as a danger of the phone app is first thing you’re messing with your phone. So there’s always the potential distraction from social media or a text or phone call. Then let’s say I’m hitting the bag, the app I use shuts off if I get a call even though I might have turned the ringer off. That’s happened to me more than once, I’m supposedly doing five minute rounds and the round ends up at like six or seven minutes because I don’t realize that a phone call shut off the app! Which screws up the work I’m doing in between rounds too.

Yeah, get a watch or get a kitchen timer. Nothing fancy because the fancier you get the more distracted you’re going to be. I think a kitchen timer with big numbers on it is perfect. It’s magnetic, you can stick it on any piece of equipment—a power rack it’s perfect for that. It’s a loud noise so it’s perfect for that. What I used to do when I trained in a regular commercial gym is I had a digital watch and instead of wearing it on my wrist which would either cut off the blood supply or be too loose and distracting I actually would tie it onto my shoelaces. So I was walking around with a watch tied onto my shoe for probably like five years! Ha ha!

Okay that plus the kind of exercises you like to do would have had the front desk and the “trainers” like “Oh no it’s him again!” So then another way that you use timed rest periods is to superset two disparate body parts like abs and calves. But if someone is training with a partner do you recommend they use two timers or just do “I go, you go style?

It depends on the type of training you’re doing. I like to time my own training say I have a set block of time 15 minutes for example, similar to what Charles Staley did with his Escalating Density Training, only in my version it specifies what reps you have to use and what rest period you have to use. If you’re using partner training you can do this kind of training very easily and use the back and forth because the actual sets taking you only ten seconds to do which is equivalent to about the same amount of rest that your partner is going to get. So you can go back and forth very easily as long as you’re using the same amount of weight.

That works well with curls I think. I do one, you do one, I do two, you do two . . .

That’s effective but once you get into the higher rep ranges, you can lose the internal back and forth. If somebody has better endurance then somebody is getting more rest or a shorter rest period. I’ll be honest with you; I’ve hardly ever trained with training partners. I actually prefer to train alone most of the time rather than with training partners. Just because of that rest period situation or you get distracted by either helping somebody else or talking to somebody else. I’d rather not be distracted. That’s why I love training in my basement! There’s no distractions there!

While there’s strong scientific evidence for your methods, you freely admit that a lot of it is based on your own experimentation. Do you feel more freedom to experiment, even today now that you’ve established yourself because you train alone at home? At a commercial gym there’s always the genius who just got certified, and I used to be him, who’ll come over to tell you how dangerous whatever you’re doing is. Or you need three pieces of equipment at different parts of the gym and somebody doesn’t realize (or doesn’t care) that you’re using all three.

You hit it right on the money. I’ve experienced all of those things when I used to train in commercial gyms. I’ve had somebody tell that they’ve been an instructor for a year; I’d been at it for seven years already and they came to tell me how dangerous I am and I should be banned from the profession.  I was like, “Wow! You haven’t even seen the crazy stuff yet!” When I started training in the basement gym the gloves came off! I have to be careful with it because I have so much freedom in my basement gym, I can set up five exercises ahead of time if I wanted to. Nobody can do that in a commercial so I have to be practical for readers to use in a commercial gym.  To have somebody use the bench press and the squat rack, there’s no way that’s going to happen in a busy gym, you’re going to get kicked out and I understand that. So I try to minimize the amount of different equipment I use too. I try to double task some specific pieces. Especially if I’m doing circuit training. One of the things I like to challenge myself with is, “Okay here’s a 135lb barbell. I’m going to hit everything with it in one continuous circuit, like a barbell complex but maybe using the power rack and maybe throwing a bench in there too, but nothing that requires you to take over four pieces of equipment.

Have you ever had an experiment that ended up surprising you with its results?

Oh all of the time. Today in fact! I was doing something that I call The Crippler because of how effective it is. I was thinking the last couple of days, I haven’t done squats in a long time. It’s been a week or so. I need to do a squat workout. What can I do to ramp things up? It’s an up and down the rack squat session. I started with 135lbs on the bar. Thirty, forty, fifty reps on that. I lost track somewhere around thirty. Anyway, do as many as you can and then take whatever rest it takes you to add five pounds to either side of the bar and then you go again. And then you keep going, kind of like a down the rack dumbbell lateral thing which a lot of people have done but this is starting at a very light weight and progressively increasing the weight until you get to the point where you’re “maxing out”. I’m on a low carb cycle so my endurance and strength are not peaked out but I hit up to 265lbs on the one rep and then I immediately worked back down to 135lbs, dropping ten pounds at a time. The only rest you get is changing the weight so by the time I got back down to 135, I was absolutely miserable! I got maybe 8-10 reps with that but I could feel every muscle fiber in my quads, hamstrings, glutes—even in my calves firing. Using this load and it felt like I had a mountain on my back with 135lbs on there. As you’re working your way up through the different rep ranges you can function at you’re hitting every muscle fiber and every energy system on the way up and on the way down you’re hitting them all again. It just absolutely trashed my legs in a really good way. You’re covering every muscle fiber type, every nervous system activation, every motor unit in about twenty minutes.

YouTube Channel  vs Instagram

Your YouTube channel is much more successful in terms of number of followers than your Instagram feed. Is this because you focus more on YouTube than Instagram or because it’s harder to explain the “why” behind exercises?

A lot of it is because I haven’t focused on Instagram much at all. I started on YouTube quite a while ago and like you said, you can put a lot more on there. You can explain more, go a little bit in depth. You don’t want to go too in depth because then you lose people but there is more opportunity for education on YouTube. A lot of the time with stuff that’s unique like mine, you need to explain why it works and why it’s effective. Whereas on Instagram, you get more rewarded for the flashy stuff. You put a 600-700lb deadlift, that gets more likes than if you post how to do a specific exercise and how to tweak it.  Even though somebody’s going to get more out of my explanation than they would watching somebody deadlift 700 or 800lbs. So I focus more on YouTube. I like to post random stuff on Instagram but I don’t focus on it too much.

How long do you test your ideas before posting the video on social media? And do you post on social media and gather feedback from others before putting an idea into a book?

A lot of times some of the videos I’ve posted on YouTube are the first time I’ve ever done that exercise. Like some of those times I have an idea and I’ll film it and it turns out so good that I know that I’ve got to get it out there. There’s a lot of things that end up in the dustbin to be honest. I’ve deleted a lot of things like, “Okay I did it, it was crap and I’m not posting that!” Like you said, I’ve been training 28 years so I can tell pretty quick if something’s good or not.  There’s some stuff early when I was doing online training that I probably should have given a little more time before I posted it ha ha! There are a few things that I would take back based on experience and looking back but these days I have a much better handle on what is not only going to be effective but useful for people.

So do you ever completely throw away movements or do you just file them away in case you think of a way to make them usable?

I do that all of the time. The phase I’m on right now I’m doing a lot of experimentation. I’m playing around with a lot of different movements. Just last week I did a one arm pushup combined with a dumbbell row at the same time. I had done a few different variations of that and the one I settled on was by far the best but there were a few throwaways where like I could see kind of a progression where I can see where this would be most useful. And the end result was a fantastic exercise that hit my deep core kind of in the lower abdominal area like nothing I’ve ever felt before. And having done this over the last 20 years that’s saying a lot! It only literally requires a dumbbell and a bench. You’re pushing in a one arm push up and doing a one arm dumbbell row with the other arm so all of that torque goes through your lower abdominal area. It’s phenomenal!

When you have a reputation as a mad scientist, people tend to expect your ideas to be outlandish. Do you feel pressure to constantly put out unusual methods to keep viewers coming back?

The funny thing is I can see where you’re coming from with that question but I don’t feel any pressure. This is the stuff I’d be doing anyways even if I wasn’t posting it. Literally I’m at the point where I can’t stop myself from doing it; it’s all coming out anyway. This is my idea of fun!  I probably have 100-150 videos that are not even processed right now. That if I choose to release them, I have stuff right now that if I stop doing new stuff I have videos for like two or three years. There’s that drive, that creativity to come up with something and have that moment when I’m like I don’t think anybody’s ever done this before; then usually somebody says, “Oh yeah, I think that was popular in the Fifties” Ha ha! So I have to watch what I claim as mine.

I was going to ask you about that. Because you’re a member of the Strongman Archaeology Facebook group that James Fuller started like I am. There are so many cool moves there, like they say, there’s nothing new under the sun, have you ever seen stuff in there and decided to give it a shot?

Oh definitely! I’m a fan of the Zercher squats and the Jefferson Deadlifts especially. I actually at one point thought I’d invented the Jefferson Deadlifts then I posted it and somebody commented, “Yeah I love doing Jefferson Deadlifts!” and I was like, “What? It’s got a name?” Ha ha!

That’s hilarious.

Yeah, there’s a lot of stuff I used to put my name on early in my career and then found out that somebody else had come up with it so I don’t really put my name on stuff anymore unless I do a ton of research on it and I cannot find any instance of someone doing it and even then there’s probably somebody who’s like, “Yeah I’ve tried that when I was messing around in the gym.” But that drive to create is just endless.

What’s cool to me is that you’re actually continuing a legacy even if you didn’t intend to do it, of the oldetime strongmen. They called it “working out” because they were working out how to get strong enough to do this or that; or working out different ways to top a feat they’d previously done. And you’re doing the same thing, figuring out stuff in the lab.

Setting up the Lab

Fitness professionals tend to set up their home gyms differently than us average Joes and Janes. Tell me your thoughts when you began setting up your training lab at home? (Sorry

I do most of my cardio outside as loaded carries

Matt Vincent, don’t sue me for using the term. I loved your book!)

My first priority was adjustable dumbbells. Next was a power rack and a decent barbell set. Because I know that there’s so many things you can do with just a power rack and barbells. You can use a rack in so many different ways than just doing squats. So the primary consideration when I’m getting stuff for my gym is, ”How many things can I do with it?” Barbells, dumbbells, free weights, kettlebells. I do have a cable crossover set up and that’s good for doing a number of things as well. The funny thing is over the years I had accumulated a few more pieces that I’ve actually sold off or given away. Because they were  limited in what I could do with them and they were getting in the way of the other experiments I was playing around with. The biggest example of that is I bought a $3,000 multi station home gym, it had the bench press, the leg press—it had a lot of stuff on it. But I found myself hardly ever using it because it was machines and it was very limiting to me. I ended up just giving it away. I said, “I’m not even going to sell it to you; it’s in my basement and whoever can take it apart and carry it away can have it! It was a great investment in time for me because it took me three days to put it together and now I didn’t have to worry about taking it apart again. I got rid of a big treadmill I wasn’t using. I do most of my cardio outside doing loaded carries so I wasn’t using a treadmill.

That does make sense because you are ultimately designing programs for everybody to be able to do without having to buy a bunch of stuff to replicate your set up. But it does seem that you’d need at least two barbells for what you do and program right?

Ideally yes. There’s a lot of stuff that I recommend having at least two bars with. It’s not 100% necessary—

Well, I remember you demonstrating a movement where you’d hold the sleeves of two barbells for shrugs that way you could get thick bar training at the same time that you were working your traps. Do you know what I’m talking about?

It’s kind of like a modified landmine set up where you have the weight on one end of the bar and you’re standing on the outside of the power rack doing shrugs. That’s fantastic for grip too!

I know you don’t compete but what are some of your PRs?

Squat 565lbs, I weighed about 220 at the time.
Straight bar deadlift 525
Trap bar deadlift 600lbs
Bench press 350lbs
315 x 40 reps.

I’ll be honest that 315 for 40 was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I had to work up to it. I was doing a routine based on what Tom Platz used to do and you know the quads on that guy. My warm up was actually 225lbs x 50 for that. And I blew through 225 x 50 like it wasn’t even there. So I decided to see what I could do with 315 so I took a nice long rest, about ten minutes, put 315 on there and the first twenty reps were like nothing. The next five or six were starting to get hard. Once I got to thirty, I started seeing stars. And then the last ten, I honestly don’t remember doing. I kind of went inside myself; all I remember was the numbers counting in my head. When I got to forty I racked the bar and I couldn’t move for ten minutes.

Nick if you want to kill yourself there are much less complicated ways to do it and they wouldn’t even take that long!

Yeah, I know, I wish I’d gotten that one on video.

Stirring the Pot with Nick Nilsson

About 60 – 70% of my training is normal; I just take assistance work to another level

Most of us in the West are not balanced. We spend too much time sitting and too much time on our phones. But if you develop yourself so that you’re balanced muscularly do you need to stretch?

I would say no. I’ll be honest with you I don’t stretch at all in terms of what normal people consider stretching. I do a lot of what we were talking about earlier incorporating a lot of stretch based resistance exercises into my training. My goal is not to become hypermobile, I want enough mobility to do the exercises and things I want to do and not be in pain, not be hunched over all of the time. I’m at that point so what I do actually maintains the level I’m at and I’m happy with it. Plus I find regular stretching kind of boring.

But to get to that point did you stretch?

Some basic stuff. To be honest it did affect how I did the exercises I was doing until I got to the point where I realized that I needed to incorporate a lot more stretch exercises and resistance movement training and then that removed the need for me to stretch.

Can ordinary people out train a bad diet or is Michael Phelps living proof the X gene is a thing?

You can out train a decent diet. Unless you have really top notch genetics where you can get away with that. And it depends on your goals. You can out train a bad diet to a certain degree if your goal is not to compete in a physique contest. If your goal is to just look pretty good. If your goal is to progress your physique to a certain level or your strength, your squat, bench and deadlift numbers then you really can’t.

I’ve heard it said that mastery is largely the ability to strip away nonessentials.  As a sneaky throwback to an article I wrote called the Gilligan’s Island Workout, if a plane crash stranded you in a remote location with no weights, and no way to escape, how long would it take for you to come up with a non-bodyweight workout program?

About five seconds!

Really? Remember, you can’t do any pushups, you have to create it with just what’s laying around.

Oh yeah, there’s all kinds of heavy stuff laying around. There’s rocks, there’s trees, there’s garbage. You find a box floating and you fill it up with stuff. You find plastic bags and sand, fill it up now you’re doing sandbag training. You’ve got clothes, tie a pair of pants at the ankles, fill them up with sand, tie the other end up and now you’ve got a nice sandbag with two handles on it. I’d take a log and grab it by the branches and pull it backwards down the beach. Or work it like a snow plow where it’s pushing the sand up in front of it. Or lifting the log, pressing the log and hanging from tree limbs.

I asked that on purpose because one of the things that holds us back is we’re very rules based. Not saying we don’t need rules, but as a reformed offender, I can say that a lot of what holds us back is we tend to say we can’t do X or Y because we don’t have this or that piece of equipment. As opposed to figuring out a way to get it done regardless. Nick this was an awesome interview and I really appreciate the chance to pick your brain.  Give me some links that people can use to follow your training or purchase your books.

I enjoy doing this kind of stuff. You had some good questions!

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Here’s a link to a catalog of all of my books.

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