‘Ray, my friend and I followed the exact same routine, but he got better results than me. What’s up with that?’
I’m going to start charging a dollar every time I hear that…
First, routines aren’t like spandex; one size does not fit all…
There are a lot of factors you need to take into account…
Present conditioning and [...]

I used to train in a commercial gym a little while back…
It had a great vibe with a tight knit cast of characters…
Unfortunately, some poor business decisions were made, and the place had to be shut down.
Now, there’s a lot of distracting things going on in most gyms.
You got your jabber mouths. They always seem [...]

I was a bit of an oddball when I started training…
Instead of doing routines filled with bench presses, pec dec, curls and lat pull downs, I was over at the dusty squat rack…
I focused on squats and deadlifts and basically ignored pressing movements. Unfortunately, that included the overhead press.
It wasn’t until I came across Brooks [...]

Last Thursday’s tip on ‘Getting Started’ had a few readers nodding their heads…
Seems like I’m not the only one who thinks Montreal is a great city…
The response included a bunch of adjectives, like ‘beautiful,’ ’clean,’ ‘fun,’ and ‘sexy.’…it sure is…
There also still seems to be some questions regarding getting started. In particular, a few guys [...]

Continuing the theme from my last training safety tip, this one could actually save your life…
If there’s one exercise that deserves a warning, it’s the bench press.
It’s linked to killing enough people that it deserves to have a warning label attached to it….
But don’t think that I’m blaming the exercise.
Oh no… The bench press doesn’t [...]

My recent grip tips have led to quite a few questions on how to increase grip strength
After going through them, there seems to be some confusion regarding grippers and how to use them…
Here’s some more info to help clear things up…
Heavy duty grippers are fun little monsters, they’re addictive, too…
Once you find a gripper you [...]

A few days back, I brought up the importance of a Burning Desire…
If you don’t want your goals bad enough, your odds of achieving them are slim to none…
This is a universal truth that’s equally applicable in or out of the gym. And the bigger your goals, usually the greater your desire needs to be…
This [...]

Training ‘systems’ are like rabbits…
In the beginning, there were a few, and now we have umpteen million of them.
I love variety and options, but they’re a double edged sword.
Here’s a little story to illustrate my point…
A few years back, some friends and I went on a road trip to Montreal. Now, if you haven’t been [...]

Yesterday I shared what, in my opinion, is a ‘Russian Secret weapon’ for developing the mental toughness of a champion…
I’m talking about the kettlebell and high rep sets….
Before I started using kettlebells, I was used to traditional strength training and bodybuilding routines and cardio.
That meant I rarely did more than 12 reps in a set. [...]

If there’s one thing Russian athletes and soldiers are known for, it’s their mental toughness…
Psychological strength seems to be a specialty of our ushanka wearing comrades…
But I don’t think they have an innate advantage over the rest of us.
What I do think they have is a ‘Russian Secret Weapon’ (and no, I don’t think it’s [...]