Where have all the beasts gone? Having started weight training in the early 2000’s I have seen juggernauts like Coleman and Levrone dominate the scene in bodybuilding, at the same time Mariusz Pudzianowski was tearing up the strongman podium. What all these athletes had in common was fearlessness to push heavy shit and have fun whilst doing it too! So what has happened since the time of Coleman to the current regime issued in the fitness world?

Firstly a skill is learnt through continued practice, once the central nervous system has been exposed to that stimulus for a given period of time then guess what you become ‘stronger’ in that given skill, but how does this correlate to the amount of weight you can shift and the subsequent amount of muscle you can grow? Truth is getting stronger entails basic elements of exposure, in order to gain strength you simply need to follow these guidelines:

1. Stick to a program: not for a week or month but for a year or even at least half a year. How can your body or your brain get stronger if you do not expose both to a given consistent stimulus i.e. if you want to squat more you need to squat. Yes sure remedial exercise is great in opening up restricted angles but at the end of the day they are just that, remedial, not central in focus to getting your muscle to grow! So stop fussing on the extras and remember the central points of consideration.
2. Lift like its your last session ever in a gym. Show passion, determination and above all guts for what you came to do. If you’re looking for a social setting then don’t come to the gym to get stronger rather see your excursion as just what it is a social gathering of friends breaking a mild sweat together.
3. Get in and get out! If your hanging around in a gym doing a 10-15min warm-up before training a set movement either: 1. You have not fully recovered from the previous session or, 2. You are procrastinating what needs to get done i.e. lifting some heavy shit. The maximum time you can seriously annihilate your tissue is 43min after that cortisol just ramps up too high! And for those assisted yup sure you can train for longer but to the detriment of your connective tissue (especially once you come off the juice). Why waist more time on an investment, after all isn’t time money? The worst body brokers in the world are those who spend countless hours in the gym to still look like a bag of poo poo whilst emulating the strength of a slug.
4. Eat, Eat and F**king EAT!!! No you’re not going to get fat sweetheart, now, here is a training bra to make you feel more comfortable; if your body is hungry after exercise it is a sign of increased metabolism due to EPOC (exercise post oxygen consumption). Not feeding an engine that has revs hitting 9000 will not only blow out your bearings but will also leave your potential to mobilise fat as a fuel source dead in the water.
5. Follow your programme. Training legs everyday is not a sign of being an alpha lifter, on the contrary overtraining a muscle only proves one thing: you’re a masochist and need psychological help. If you train your tissue to a point where they adapt to become stronger then you will need at least 72 hours before touching that tissue again.
6. Sleep, recover and chill. The strongest people I have met in my life are the most relaxed people too, in order to fully appreciate strength you need to show confidence in the process. Waking up in anticipation of a training session is great, but dreading movement in a fear of not progressing is not. Dude just chill, listen to Marley have a tall protein shake and kick your feet up. Go-getters get shit the first time never having to go back and forth on their decisions.