Home Gym Quarterly Winter 2020

FREE

HOME GYM WINTER 2020

QUARTERLY

Getting Started in STRONGMAN Offseason Highland Games Training

NEVER SATED WITH

BRIAN ALSRUHE Winter MASS Building Workout Plan DIY Chalk Bucket 1

HOME GYM

QUARTERLY

TABLE OF CONTENTS ON THE COVER

22 FEATURED

Highland Games Off-Season Dos and Don’ts

On Location...

By: John Greaves III - pg 38 Busy Dad Meal Prep By: Derrick Clark, Sr. - pg 41

By Kylie Frazier

Making A DIY Chalk Bucket

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By Joe Gray

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Editorial Advisory Board Randall Strossen, Founder, IronMind Enterprises Diana Young, Financial & Media Consultant Nick Nilsson, BASc Mad Scientist of Muscle Graphic Editor/Director: Kellie Kilgore Graphics, LLC

Pack On Quality Mass This Winter!

By Rob Brinkley Jr.

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Getting Started in Strongman

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By Tom Meehan with Brian Alsruhe

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Semper Gumby means “Always Flexible”. I first heard the phrase while serving in the United States Marine Corps, as it was a play on the Marine Corps motto, Semper Fidelis which means “Always Faithful”.

The basic idea is that you shouldn’t become so locked into your plan that you’re not able to adapt to the realities of the current situation. It’s ironic that Marines, who are known for discipline, are also encouraged to think outside the box, to come up with creative, effective solutions for new problems. Those Marines who excel at this are promoted. Those who don’t, serve out their enlistments and get out.

I’ve found multiple occasions to remember this principle since learning it in 2000, and it’s definitely come into play already this year! For example, last year, we made the decision to publish this magazine on the first of every other month. That worked until the Spring issue when I found myself staying up into the wee hours, after a full day of covering the Arnold Fitness Expo including our exclusive live broadcasts of the Arnold Armlifting Championships to approve proofs from our designer so we could publish on time the day we got back from the Arnold! Not an ideal situation at all but hey, Semper Gumby, right?

So, this year, rather than stick rigidly to my previous plan, I’ve decided to publish instead on the twentieth of every other month to give us breathing room and allow more flexibility with the broadcast side of Garage Gym Life Media. Again, Semper Gumby.

Ultimately, it’s about giving you the best product possible as we seek to inform and inspire you to reach your fitness goals at home.

My utmost for His highest,

John Greaves III Publisher/Editor-in-chief

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CONTRIBUTOR BIOS KYLIE FRAZIER Kylie Frazier is a Hoosier at heart who currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband and five daughters. Though raised in a family of athletes, Kylie didn’t find her love of competition until after the birth of her fourth daughter when she discovered Crossfit.

After three years of finding a love for fitness in Crossfit, she happened upon the Scottish Highland Games and found her competitive home.

Much of her time is spent homeschooling her girls, writing as a freelance journalist and of course, training for the Highland Games

ROB BRINKLEY Rob Brinkley will celebrate his 10th year as a personal trainer this year. He began his fitness quest in a Mid-West basement circa 1993, starting with calisthenics, then moving to bodybuilding, powerlifting and more recently, he has adopted kettlebell training. Although Rob has done bodybuilding competitions, five half marathons, and a strict curl competition – mostly, he prefers to keep fitness simple. Rob helps busy people simplify their fitness in person in Fort Worth, Texas and at www. simplify.fitness with online personalized training.

TOM MEEHAN CFL-2, HKC, CES, CFT, SET Tom Meehan has over a decade of experience in the fitness industry. His clients include homemakers, MMA fighters and Spec Ops professionals. He holds numerous certifications from Crossfit, Dragon Door Kettlebells and the International Sports Sciences Association.

Tom is a combat veteran of the United States Air Force with deployments as a TACP/JTAC. Currently Tom lives in Navarre, FL and works as a military contractor. He spends his off time working out in his garage gym, hanging out at the gym and playing with his dog, Ruger.

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CONTRIBUTOR BIOS DERRICK CLARK, SR. NASM-CPT Derrick Clark, Sr. is a Philadelphia based personal trainer who trains primarily in his basement laundry room. Derrick is the host of Busy Dad Meal Prep on the Garage Gym Life Media IGTV Channel. He also regularly contributes videos to Technique Tuesday for Garage Gym Life Media on IGTV. You can follow him on Instagram @mr.clark_sr.

JOE GRAY Joe Gray is the founder of Gray Matter Lifting, a blog and YouTube channel where he reviews home gym equipment, posts DIY projects and his training diary. Joe is also a mod on r/HomeGym on Reddit, an online forum where home gym owners can post questions about equipment, see home gym builds and read monthly AMAs which feature professionals from industries that serve the home gym community.

Follow him on Instagram @gray_matter_lifting and subscribe to him on YouTube at Joe Gray.

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Highland Games Off-Season Dos and Don’ts

By Kylie Frazier

For most of the United States, the Highland Games season comes to an end at the start of winter.

By the end of all the games, traveling, and practicing, it’s often a breath of fresh air to take a step back and focus solely on a training routine. This is in part because humans crave routine and normalcy, but also because a laser focus on training leads to the promise of improvement in the following season.

Ironically, ‘normal’ is unique to the individual.

Each athlete has different goals, different bodies, and different nutritional needs. Some athletes train traditionally through the whole season, others train in blocks that set them up to peak at a certain time of year. Some seek out a coach, others train solo.

Regardless of the method, there are certain aspects to training that should almost always be included.

Take a look at this list of do’s and don’ts for a

successful Highland off-season:

DO start a strength cycle. While everyone’s strengths and weaknesses vary, it’s solid advice to set out to improve several, if not all, of the major lifts (squat, bench press, deadlift, shoulder press).

There are numerous amounts of free strength cycle templates and phone apps that make it incredibly easy to start and keep track of building these lifts.

A couple of well-known programs include Matt Vincent’s Throwing Lab and Strength Lab, both of which are free in the Amazon Kindle store.

There are also many athletes who offer programs for a relatively small fee. One inexpensive option in a Highland Games specific program is Daniel McKim’s Behemoth/Throw Heavy bundle. You can also purchase either of those individually at believethrower.com. (For a breakdown from Dan 7

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about the difference between Behemoth and Throw Heavy, see the Summer 2019 Home Gym Quarterly. ed.) Pick an athlete that is trusted and admirable and give it a go.

DON’T live or die by a template. Every person is constructed uniquely, and there is too much access to safe and effective alternatives for anyone to have an excuse to ignore their body’s needs and end up injured. Templates are guidelines, not laws. Templates do not have any knowledge of injury history, body composition, or mobility issues.

Templates do not care. It is the sole responsibility of the athlete to have body awareness. Even when utilizing a coach, hiding pain or discomfort for the sake of completing the programming as prescribed is just plain arrogant. A good coach worth anyone’s time and resources will find excellent substitutions.

But they are not mind readers. Physical responsibility belongs first and foremost to the athlete.

DO film as much as possible. Working out in the garage or alone in a field often leaves athletes without a partner to tell them when their form is off. Since body awareness is an important part of improving as an athlete, it’s important to analyze and understand individual body movements and patterns.

Taking it a step further, compare videos of lifts or throws to videos of professionals. This will help the missing pieces come together within an athlete’s brain, which will then translate into the way the brain communicates with the body when executing the movements.

DO try Olympic lifting. The snatch, clean, and jerk are excellent tools for learning power. Often, power and strength are treated as synonyms, but there is a distinction. An athlete may have strength, but power is the ability to move the weight as quickly and efficiently as possible. Olympic lifting is a great

example of the difference. An athlete may be able to snatch 300 pounds due to the power behind the technique but wouldn’t necessarily have the strength to simply pick up the same weight and lift it over his head. In the same way, Highland Games athletes are more than strong enough to pick up a 56lb weight and throw it. However, without the power and technique used through the hips, the throw isn’t going to go nearly as far as it could. Highland throws and Olympic lifts share common bonds in the necessity of hip power and quick footwork. They can also both be very frustrating. But incorporating Olympic lifting into an off-season routine will teach the body to move weight with speed, and this will ultimately translate into throwing.

DON’T neglect technique work specific to throwing. Some athletes argue for minimal-to-no throwing in the off-season, and that’s really at the discretion of the individual. Regardless of taking breaks from full practices—or even if practice is on the table but the weather has other ideas—technique work can be done anywhere. The off-season is not the time to try and hit PRs, it’s time to take the flaws noticed during the season and start fixing them. It’s the opportunity to polish the seemingly small details that will lead to the PR throws when the season comes back around. Footwork such as line drills, one-turns, and full turns sans release are all made 9

possible with kettlebells and wrist wraps. Braemar and open stone are both easy to set up by using a small medicine ball, or going weightless and simply focusing on movement patterns. All of these can be done in a garage, in a hallway, in a living room— there’s really no excuse for skipping technique work.

DON’T get comfortable. Most athletes take a break when the season is over, whether it be a couple of days, weeks, or even months. Do what is necessary to get the mind and body the rest it needs, but when it’s time to train, it’s time to push. Often, athletes will jump into the next training cycle while burnt out or not truly focused, and this is going to result in a half-hearted effort which is not going to produce the desired outcome of increased strength and power. Do not coast through the off-season. When the commitment has been made to start off-season training, it needs to be coupled with the commitment to feel the burn, pour the sweat, and embrace the suck. Otherwise, pre-season will come in the blink of an eye with little progress and inevitable panic.

DO be proactive about health. Explore what nutrition the body needs to be properly fueled and enabled to not only get stronger but also recover better. It’s ideal to figure this out on the off-season rather than be struggling through the demands of multiple games per month once the season starts. Of equal importance, be mindful of joint and ligament health. The Highland Games comes with a unique 10

demand on the hips, knees, and shoulders. Try doing prehab exercises three times a week for at least ten minutes. Band exercises and a variety of holds (plank hold, overhead holds, hollow holds on the pull-up bar, etc.) are great options for strengthening the stabilizing muscles of the shoulders, hips, and knees.

Incorporating rotational movements is also great core stabilization that directly correlates to the turns and twists necessary for throwing. These types of exercise are everybody’s favorite exercises to put off, but are crucial in preventing injury and result in a higher chance of longevity in the sport.

Finally, DO seek help. Check out the YouTube channels of Highland professionals such as John Odden, Adriane Wilson, Matt Vincent, Kerry Overfelt, and Dan McKim, to name a few. Many offer in-depth technique advice and drills that are useful specifically for Highland athletes. Beyond that, reach out to athletes or athlete groups and send videos asking for a critique. Most Highland Games athletes are friendly and eager to see the competition grow. Even well-seasoned athletes will readily admit to asking advice from athletes they trust. Ego has no helpful role in improving skill—there is always something to improve, and often the best way to see it is to use someone else’s eyes.

Off-season training is not one-size-fits-all. It takes some amount of trial-and-error, and a large amount of dedication and perseverance. No matter how it’s done, keep the work fun, tough, and smart.

Come season time, those throws will soar!

You can follow Kylie’s training and competitions on Instagram @kalaise

Making A DIY Chalk Bucket

By Joe Gray

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So, I made a DIY chalk bucket. I do very few DIY solutions in my gym and it is really only when the commercial products either are outrageously expensive or simply do not meet my needs. A chalk bowl, or in this case chalk bucket, happens to check both of those boxes as chalk bowls often cost upwards of $100 and typically are built for the commercial gym owner. (note: Rogue Fitness does sell a large Chalk Bag for $60 -ed.)

I never liked the bowl concept as I often run two large fans in my gym during the summer months.

Fans will toss chalk EVERYWHERE and I’m not about to sweep that up every time I lift. An open container (like most bowls) will have to deal with the fact that I live in Northern California and get a ton of rain (and moisture) in the winter, and 100+ temps in the summer. Not great for the longevity and consistency of my chalk. A bowl is also commonly pretty shallow, meaning more chalk falls on the ground, less stays in the bowl. I also wanted something I could move, as I wanted it out of the way for 90% of my lifts, but able to be used inside or outside depending on what I was doing.

needs. I believe my pipe is ¾ inch.

Pipe Flanges I used two of these, one to attach to the wood base, one to attach to the bucket. Just make sure whatever pipe you buy, that the flanges fit the pipe.

Screws x 4 – You need screws that will be long enough to hold the pipe flange, but short enough that they don’t break through the bottom of your wood base. The thicker your base, the longer your screws can be. If they break through even a little, the tips will be on your floor and likely make the base wobbly.

But too short and they will snap with any movement.

Lean towards short and supplement with glue as needed.

Nuts, Bolts, Washers You will need 4 bolts, 4 washers, and 4 nuts. These will be used to connect the bucket to the pipe flange.

The bolts should fit through the pipe flange, with as little wiggle room as possible, and extend into the bucket far enough for the washer and nuts to clamp down. If they are a little long, no worries. You won’t see it anyway. Nuts just need to fit the bolts. Washers

Enter – The DIY Chalk Bucket Items we need: Bucket Literally any bucket will work as long as it matches your needs and has a lid.

Scrap Wood If you don’t have any wood, you need something about 6 inches by 6 inches. Maybe ½ inch thick. Just enough to give us a solid base that won’t tip over, but won’t take up a ton of floor space either. Remember, we aren’t exactly tackling the chalk stand every time we use it, but the last thing you want is to dump your load of chalk and defeat the purpose of having a stand and container entirely.

Pipe This depends on how tall you want your stand, but mine is about 4 feet tall. Adjust accordingly for your 12

need to “fill the gaps” between nut, bolt, and bucket.

Caulking Because the bucket will flex a little, it’s a good idea to caulk the inside of the bucket where you used the bolts and nuts, to make sure you aren’t leaking chalk everywhere.

Chalk If you don’t already have chalk, it’s cheap on Amazon

in a huge bulk buy that will likely last you a lifetime.

Tools Drill with drill bits I’m a big fan of pilot holes, so just make sure

pipe. It does provide some possibilities like adding a few pipe pieces and hanging collars, straps, etc. from the bucket. But totally optional.

Side note on items:

whatever screws and bolts you are using, you have drill bits that match.

Saw If you are cutting a board for the base, you’ll need something to cut it with.

Protection Always wear eye protection, mask, gloves, etc. as needed for your jobs. It’ll be really difficult to set a new PR when blind and missing 3 fingers.

Optional items: Paint If you want your stuff to match, or simply want that extra finishing touch, grab a can of spray paint and paint the pipe, base, etc. The bucket likely won’t hold paint well (plastic that flexes tends to not) so I’d recommend finding a bucket that matches your paint preferences.

Instructions 1. Cut your base board to size (sand sides for a smooth surface if necessary) 2. Drill pilot holes in the base board for the first pipe flange.

3. Place pipe flange on base board, and attach with

Sandpaper If you are cutting a base board and typically make rough cuts, think about getting some sandpaper to help smooth it out.

Additional Pipe My stand is actually built from two pieces of shorter pipe connected with a T. This is ONLY because I had these already and didn’t want to buy a new long 13

screws. (see fig 1)

completely submerged in chalk.

4. Screw pipe into pipe flange on the base.

9. Let the caulking dry (I’d wait double the recommended time if not more to avoid any issues with chalk adhering) and then fill the bucket with your chalk.

5. Screw pipe flange onto pipe at the top.

a. If you are painting, go ahead and paint here before the bucket is attached. Let the paint dry for the time required, then proceed.

6. Drill pilot holes into bottom of bucket for the second pipe flange.

7. Attach pipe flange to bucket, with the washers and nut on the INSIDE of the bucket, pipe flange on the outside. (see fig 2) 8. Use your caulking gun to get a nice layer around each nut and washer on the inside of the bucket.

Again, this will keep it from leaking at all. Don’t worry about it looking too clean, this will be

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10. Use chalk bucket for new PRs! 11. Anyone with a base level of DIY skills and tools, a few minutes, and some spare cash or spare scrap items, can likely make this happen. It’s not quite a Rogue Chalk Bowl in terms of sexiness, but it certainly meets my needs and was a better use of my funds. Any questions, as always, let me know!

You can reach out to Joe Gray @gray_matter_lifting on Instagram.

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Pack On Quality Mass This Winter! –by Rob Brinkley Jr., NASM P.E.S., SFG 1 16

I want to set you up for success to build some mass.

First, we’ll go over 3 critical elements.

Then you’ll get: 1.

2.

3.

4.

your workout your weekly routine followed by general program notes and finally, specific exercise notes.

The 3 Critical Elements 1. SLEEP (aim for eight hours per night, and if possible, add a nap during the day) You need sleep to recover. You know sleep is important. I won’t bore you with statistics. But on the topic of gaining muslce & performance, Stan Efferding says, “Sleep is, the single most important thing.” Aim for eight hours. That’s eight hours of sleep. It doesn’t count the time you lie in bed thinking about sleep.

If you can manage it, also add a nap. In his book, When The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Daniel Pink tells us the best nap is about 7 hours after waking, and is about 10 to 20 minutes long.

Beyond quantity of sleep, you also want to optimize your sleep quality. Don’t just try to go to bed early.

To optimize you need to have a plan. Set a bedtime routine. You want your room to be cool, dark, and free of push notifications. If you cannot darken your room, get a sleeping mask. Limit screen exposure, dim the lights – add whatever helps you relax (reading, music, light stretching).

Ultimately, do whatever you need to telegraph to your brain, we are winding down – Slumber is coming!

2. EAT (Quality vs Buffet; choose wisely) To gain mass you have to eat. Keep in mind, the better quality food, will fuel a bettter quality you.

Yo-yo dieting can be fun when you are gaining. But from experience, it sucks when it is time to cut down.

An overly simplistic idea that has stuck with me is, the amount of calories you eat will determine how much you weigh; the quality of those calories will determine your bodyfat. Of course there are other

factors, but I love the message.

I’m not as concerened about which phillosphy on nutrition you choose (which diet/nutritional group you follow/agree with), just have a plan & follow it.

At the end of each week, evaluate your progress and modify as needed.

3. Relax (Learn how to) Unhealthy stress can wreak havoc on your potential.

A quick google search could yield you endless amounts of imformation and statistics on stress and what it does to your bodily systems, hormones, etc.

Don’t be reactive; be proactive. Have a strategy to get you mind right. You could try: meditation, lite yoga, get a sports massage, breathing practice, etc.

Of course practicing your choice of relaxing technique can be helpful anytime you need it.

Specifically to our conversation, it can be helpful before you go to bed, and on your off-workout days.

Your Weekly Routine MONDAY Prepare your weekly feed. Take Monday to get all your food ready. Plan, shop, cook, pack your meals for the week. Always know where your next meal is coming from. If you cannot get a meal in, some sort of shake is better than skipping a meal – but real food will fuel real gains.

TUESDAY Front Squat

4 sets of 5 Standing Overhead Press 3 sets of 8 Reverse drag

5 sets of 20

seconds drag / 60 second rest WEDNESDAY Deadlift

Bent over rows Standing Bicep Curls RDL drag

1 set of 2, 1 set of 3, 4 sets of 5 3 sets of 7 2 sets of 12 5 sets of 20 second drag / 60 second rest

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THURSDAY Standing Overhead Press Front Squats

Tricep Push downs Suitcase Walk

4 sets of 5 2 sets of 10 2 sets of 12 4 sets of 20 second walk / 60 second rest

FRIDAY Relax – watch a movie, read a book, get a massage, take an extra nap.

7. Video of the 3 movement preps = https://youtu. be/j4iPKlmBTSo Then 8. Before the deadlift, if you feel comfortable, load working set weight and perform reps as called out in your Weekly plan (keep weight the same weight for all sets)

The 2 and 3 reps sets are designed to get you ready for your deadlifts without dragging out your workout SATURDAY with a lighter set that, lets be honest, might be too Deadlift

1 set of 2, 1 sets of 3, light for you to “get into” – you shouldn’t be picking

2 set of 5 a weight you consider extremely heavy (more on Bent over rows

3 sets of 8 weight selection below). However, if you feel your RDL

3 sets of 8 body needs more of a warm up, add 1 or 2 sets at Farmers walk

5 sets of 20 second 50% working weight for the Deadlift

walk / 60 second rest

• for the bent over rows perform 1 set at 50% of the SUNDAY working weight you will use for your sets (same reps Gentle stretching, lite yoga, motorized scooter ride… as called out for working set) prior to performing If you feel a little lower back stiffness or sore glutes your working set try this: https://youtu.be/gaS3ZuOKIPQ *If you feel you need more of a warm-up, do what Your Warm-up: you need to be ready.

What should you do for your warm up?

I try to keep warm ups short and sweet.

General Program Notes: Proper weight selection For Tuesday & Thursday I’d have you do: You aren’t maxing out. Your form should never 1. Crocodile Breathing (20-30 breaths) x 2 sets break down. Your final rep should look and feel 2. Floor Rocking (20-30 rocks) x 2 sets as good as your first. It may take some trial and 3. Head nods (20 nods) x 2 sets experiment. The weight you use needs to be heavy 4. Watch this video of the three movement preps at enough that you have to respect it, and take it https://youtu.be/qkcYzow-HXw seriously. You should not be able to tell your friends what you did last weeked during your set. But you Then: also don’t want to have to stimulate your fight or 1. before front squats, practice 1 set at 50% of the flight response for every set. You may be able to use working weight for the Front Squat 60-65% of your 1RM (one rep max); you may have 2. before overhead press, practice 1 set at 50% of to drop down closer to 55% of your 1RM. Don’t let your working weight for the overhead press (keep your ego restrict your gains. If you have no clue of reps the same as called out for working set) your 1RM, no worries – start lighter than you think 3. For Wednesday & Saturday: and add weight each workout until you find your 4. Crocodile Breathing (20-30 breaths) x 2 sets “just right” weight. Always pick your weight up with 5. Floor Bridges (10) x 2 sets a purpose, brace your mid-section and get your set 6. Dying Bug legs (10) x 2 sets done.

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What is brace your mid-section?

Creating intra-abdominal pressure and “bracing for impact”. Not only will it protect your spine, but it will make you stronger. It is a skill. It takes practice.

your sets. In the beginning, using your brace during the lift may make the lift feel more difficult. But as you practice you will get better at bracing and you will get stronger.

Here’s how to practice: • Four inches on each side of your belly button, jam your thumbs into your belly.

When should I increase the weight?

As needed. A newer lifter could probably increase a little each week. An experienced lifter may wish to make bigger weight jumps every couple of weeks.

• Now with your stomach muscles, push your thumbs out.

I don’t have a sled A little creativity can get you exactly what you need.

• Practice what it feels like to push your thumbs out.

This is “your mid-section brace”. It’s best if you can hold your brace and still breathe. After that starts to make sense, jam your thumbs into your sides; with the same “brace” push your thumbs out again.

Practice generating and keeping this tension during

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Check this link for a few DIY sled ideas: https://www.youtube.com/

AirGym.com Workout at a Verified Home or Commercial Gym

Fueled By:

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Never Sated with Brian Alsruhe

by Tom Meehan

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Brian Alsruhe is the current Maryland’s Strongest Man title holder and the founder of NEVERsate Performance, a private Strongman, Powerlifting and Sports Conditioning facility located in a barn in Northern Maryland. Brian is a martial artist, strongman and former military servicemember who wakes up each day determined to “Die Empty”. Our correspondent, Tom Meehan, caught up to Brian to find out more about his training, his NEVERsate philosophy and of course, that awesome barn gym we see on his YouTube channel!

Tom Meehan: Okay cool. All right man. So,once again I appreciate you taking time out. I know you’re busy as hell. So— Brian Alsruhe: I appreciate you having me Tom. Tom Meehan: So why did you decide to remain in more of a home gym type of setting instead of trying to go bigger commercial with what you’re doing?

Brian Alsruhe: Dude, that was such a pain going from, because, uh, I don’t own the land that my gym’s on. My Strongman sponsor at the time, had this land that wasn’t doing anything and we built a pole barn on it, built my gym on it. And it was, uh, zoned for farming. Rural. Or whatever, right? To get that thing switched over to commercial was such a battle. Like, it was such a headache especially because they needed disability access. Right? Like, wheelchair access and things like that, but we had the, the, uh, adaptive number two world champion and the national champion both currently working out at my gym in wheelchairs and they wouldn’t allow them to do it, because we didn’t have disability access.

I was, like, “Look, we have the strongest disabled people in the world here.” But, it was just such red tape.

Tom Meehan: That’s crazy.

Brian Alsruhe: Well, you’ve known me for many 24

years. I have a very close circle of friends and I’m very loyal and very tight with them. However, once it gets past that, I definitely I’m more of an introvert and so when I thought about the idea of having a thousand gym members walking through my door it was very overwhelming, very fast to someone like me because I can’t even go to a busy club! My anxiety starts rising I’m looking for exits—

And so, I started out with the idea that I would have enough gym members to support and sustain life. But very few gyms can actually pull that off unless they’re part of a franchise. So, I just basically decided that I would keep it as a team. And now we have tryouts. You can say, “Hey I want to join the gym.”

I say, “Cool man, you come try out and if you’re accepted then we’ll take you.” But it’s about keeping in a small community in a small environment and keeping bad negative things out of that environment because that becomes cancer. But I found that I liked that. So, I had to find out another way to make money, which is why YouTube started.

Tom Meehan: Got you yeah and it’s crazy, man.

Most people wouldn’t believe me either, that I tend to be much more introverted than they might be. I used to train in Virginia at an MMA gym and CrossFit and all that. The end of the day Dude, I was crawling up the stairs, I was exhausted, I was drained. I was just completely gone. I had nothing left.

Brian Alsruhe: People don’t understand that, for an introverted person, having a one-on-one personal training session is excruciatingly exhausting because every moment you’re going, “I need things to some to say, I don’t know”— it’s exhausting. Right? So, I get done a seminar or something and I love you guys it’s awesome. However, I’m going to need to rest for like two days from this, but you could put me to work; physical work for 20 hours and I’m like, “Let’s keep going I’m good to go no problem. I can keep my mouth shut and drive on,” but if you have me actually have emotional exchange with the people, what it takes for me is so drastic.

It’s easy for me to speak to a camera because the camera don’t take anything from me. You know what I mean? It’s a one-sided conversation, but you need to learn what sustains you and being honest with yourself to be like I just I can’t handle a lot of contact with individual people. I can’t, it’s just not how I was made. So, I couldn’t run my gym like that.

Tom Meehan: All right, so in building your gym and online presence, what’s turned out to be the most educational mistake that you’ve made?

Brian Alsruhe: To be completely honest, when I started my gym I thought it was just going to attract a trove of big, strong dudes who thought of lifting seriously and whatever. And it didn’t because as well as you know there’s a lot of people who talk and a lot of people who say they’re going to do things and then it never really happens. Right? So, my entire business kind of shifted more towards soccer moms to doctors to whoever, except they were people who had learned how to be, I guess, elite in something.

And, typically, if someone can learn how to become elite in one thing, they can kind of do it across the board because you just apply the same principles, right? So, we just now look for people who are just really good at what they do and have a hard work ethic and for the most part it’s been us taking people who’ve never done any [Strongman] at all and turn them into state champions, national champions, world champions just by applying the same stuff that they already know.

Tom Meehan: What’s the biggest mistake you see people making with their training and then how do you go about trying to help them with it?

Brian Alsruhe: I’d say the number one mistake is always their mindset. No one really takes their training serious enough. Not only for the physical aspects. I mean once you get stronger to a certain level the times that I’ve hurt myself, like really hurt myself. It wasn’t with a 700lb squat, it wasn’t with an 800lb deadlift, it was doing a mid level thing where my mind wasn’t checked in. I was just kind

of like, “This is my third set. On my way up before I start my working sets or whatever”. Mindlessly go at it and then I pull something and then I’m hurt for months. You know what I mean? And I think a lot of people don’t take it seriously enough for that reason. But number two, for the people who are training for bigger biceps or a better PR or a certain Murph time or whatever they’re doing it for, every single one of us is going to get old and your last PR is coming. Your last best run is coming. And if you’re not building something every single day, that doesn’t have to do with just strictly the physical, then you’re building a sinking ship. And the past two years I went through a really scary health thing where I almost died and was throwing up fifty times a day. And so all the things that I had built up from the time that you knew me until now as this strong capable— MMA, lifting, all these things, they got taken away and I no longer was that guy and I had an existential crisis where I was like, “Man! I’ve always said that this is what I believe”, right? I had shirts made for my gym that say, “Suffer Beautifully” because of everything that I preach and everything I say. And then it all got thrown at me and it was like, “Hey, let’s see how you’re going to leave this”.

And that was so humbling and it made me learn that all of that I’m doing, all that I train, all the hard stuff that I do is great for the physical and that’s awesome for building a better body, a stronger whatever you want to do. However, when the times were tough and I was completely stripped down, finding those mental reserves that I built in the gym, that I built in fighting, that I built in other places is what brought me through that.

If it weren’t for that, I honestly don’t know that I would’ve made it. It was so bleak and so dark at times. I don’t think people really understand that you can truly use this physical vehicle as an emotional and mental change. It can bleed over into how you do your job, how you are a parent, how you are as a husband, how you are as a wife. Like all of that can go 100% down to these small choices because if you walk past a piece of trash in the road and you look at it and you go, “Not my problem”, well then you’re not going to be trusted with much in your life. You’re 25

just not. The universe literally is looking at you going, “Oh, that’s kind of person you are”.

And I just, I really think that there’s not enough people with that mindset going into their stuff because if you’re like, “Well, I didn’t think I could make it through that set of 20 squats”, but somehow you got it done. And that is a benchmark.

It’s a milestone in your life that you can look back on and be like, “Yeah, this is tough, and I don’t think I can go on, but I didn’t think I could do that either”.

Tom Meehan: And that’s usually why one of the first questions I’ll ask someone if they want to be trained is, all right, tell me your goals.

Because if you’re not setting really attainable goals for yourself, I already know you’re going to be gone in two months because you have no focus as to where you want to go.

Brian Alsruhe: Yep. I think for your audience— if there’s one thing I can encourage those guys to do, it would be to try to get some like-minded individuals to your place and work out. Even if it’s one time a week on Saturday mornings you guys get together and that’s your squat day or your bench day or whatever day it is. And just so that you know that you’re going to be held accountable to somebody.

There are so many opportunities that you can have and the hard part in that is finding the right people. Like when you ask somebody when they’re like, “Hey man can I come work out?” It’s like well what are you currently training for? Even if they’re like I’m just trying to get in shape or whatever, you’re like no, I’m going to need it a little bit more than that.

We train here with purpose, so you need to move with a purpose and if you don’t have a big enough “WHY” you’re going to stop showing up and then that’s going to hurt our training. We’re going to invest in you and you’re going to invest in us.

And also, equipment gets expensive fast right? But if there’s six dudes who are like “Hey you know what? Billy has room in his garage and all of us can throw X amount of money towards it, now we can have belt squat machine that we’ll work on Saturdays”.

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Tom Meehan: You guys have a number of adaptive athletes— Brian Alsruhe: Yes, we do. I have some, some exarmy vets who lost their legs and guys who have lost their arms. Some people with cerebral palsy, stuff like that . . .

Tom Meehan: So, aside from just regulations, how did you create that atmosphere where those type of lifters and people with— Brian Alsruhe: People who just have to work harder at, at doing things? I’ve always had a heart to help people who needed help. I don’t have much of a heart for people who are able bodied and can’t find the motivation to help themselves. I have a real problem with that. But when people are like, “Hey man, I lost my arm in an accident and I don’t know what to do about it.” I’m like, “Brother, come here.

Let’s figure this out. I don’t know what I’m doing.

You don’t know what you’re doing. But we’ll figure it out together, right?”

And, uh, it’s not like I’ve had any formal training in this whatsoever. I have none. Um, and I never planned on working with that population. Just, one day this guy Zabi showed up. Zabi does not have part of his arm and his other hand. He basically doesn’t have, uh, much of the fingers. He can’t grip with it. And so, he shows up at my gym one Saturday morning as a visitor and I did not know this about him before he showed up. He did not let me know.

So, I turned I go to shake his hand and I realize, I don’t have a full hand. I look at his other arm and I realize there’s not a full arm and I’m like, “I don’t what I’m gonna do here, but try to play it cool.”

Brian Alsruhe: So, I tell those guys, I’m like, “Hey guys, I gotta do some paperwork. Go get warmed up.

I’ll be over with you guys in a second.” I turn around and my mind’s just spinning, you know?

I’m going like, “I don’t know how to, I don’t know what I’m doing. I have no idea. I’ve never dealt with that. I don’t know what to do.”

My buddy Nick who works at the gym with

me goes, “Hey Brian, check it out.” I turn and look and Zabi is doing muscle-ups with essentially his nub and his hand that he can’t hold onto a bar with. He’s doing muscle-ups!

Zabi taught me so much about that population. Number one, they don’t want to be treated any differently. They want to be pushed just as hard. Zabi taught me that and Zabi taught me, like, “Do not treat me special. Like, if I’m screwing up, yell at me.”

And so, I learned that very quickly. The guy whose number two in the world right now, for adaptive Strongman, showed up to my gym with this other guy who was the national champ at the time.

I was getting ready to do a very heavy squat and I was kinda in a different mindset, getting ready to go, right? So, I look over and I see two guys and I look at them and I’m, like, “What’s up guys?” And I just go [into my squat].

At most gyms, those guys walk into a gym and everyone stops and everyone’s like, “We’re sorry, blah-blah whatever.” Like, “They’re struggling with their wheelchair trying to get through the door and I’m, like, “Bro, I’m gonna go squat. I’ll help you in a second.” I hit the squat, I come back and it was a really good squat, (which was good because I impressed them).

Tom Meehan: Ha ha!

Brian Alsruhe: And, I’m like, “Hey, I wasn’t being mean, I just want you to know, like, you’re not special here. I’m gonna treat you like every other athlete. If any other athlete walked through the door when I was getting ready to go for that squat, I would not have stopped. So, I’m letting you know right now, just ‘cause you have something going on, I have a lot going on too. My dad’s old, that lady’s too weak, that guy’s too fat, he’s too short, she’s too this, he’s too that. You’ve got problems, we all have problems.

You’re not special, I’m not gonna treat you special.”

That set a precedent at our gym that was different than anywhere else they had really been and now they don’t leave.

And it’s simply because when they walked

through the door, they know that they’re gonna be pushed just as hard.

At the end of the day, they’re athletes and if I was gonna send someone to the Olympics, I’d be pretty darn rough on that person. I’d give them a lot of praise, but I would expect to be trying to raise them to a different level than they could get to on their own.

Tom Meehan: Yeah, that’s awesome. Now, for your adaptive guys and girls, it doesn’t sound like there’s any lack of motivation. What about the opposite case where they’re too excited or they’re trying to push things a little bit too far too fast and not focusing on the long road. Is a fear, like “Hey I’ve gotta slow this dude down. I don’t want him getting hurt. He’s already a little bit injured. Like, I gotta make sure we don’t aggravate something or create something new?”

Brian Alsruhe: Honestly, there’s very few times in my career that I pulled the reins on people in, like, a strong fashion. If someone’s like, “No, I want to do it. No, I want to do it,” like, I’m like “You’re a grown man. I”m telling you most likely you’re gonna hurt yourself and be off for six months. You make the decision right now what you want to do.” And most times if I lay something out like that, they go, “Well, he wouldn’t have warned me like that. He doesn’t normally do that.”

But then there are times when in a gym full of egos and alpha males for lack of a better term, someone needs to be the boss, right? And at the end of the day at my place, I’m the boss. I’m not the strongest, I’m not the toughest, I’m not the meanest.

I have people who play all those roles for me, but at the end of the day, every single person whether in competition or not, every single athlete I’ve ever heard has always said when they get that auditory explosion in the middle of competition, the one voice they always hear is mine. Right? It’s because every single report, I’m there. Every single set, I’m there saying something. They know my voice. They know that cue. And sometimes you just need to be the guy who’s like, “No.” And they say, “Why?” 27

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And you say, “Because I said so. Because I said so.

Because I’m the coach and you’re the athlete. When you become the coach, you can make the decision.

Until you are, you listen to me.” Right?

And you’re gonna get a lot of pushback and it sounds bad to say it, but adaptive athletes are used to getting their way because everyone wants to help them. Right? But if you’re gonna be a really good coach to that person, you can’t always be the cheerleader. Now, it takes a really long time to be able to look at someone and know where that line is for them and you need to see them pull some ugly reps and do some stupid things before I know where that line is for people. However, that said, when I walk up to somebody and they’re, like, really grinding on a deadlift, I will say, “Hey. You have a lot coming up Wednesday that I want to see you do well on. If you keep doing that, you’re gonna suck on Wednesday.

This doesn’t matter as much as Wednesday does. Save it.” And most people are like, “Oh yeah, well that makes a lot of sense.”

Tom Meehan: Yeah, that’s funny. Sometimes you have to let someone push too far and almost hurt themselves— Brian Alsruhe: Hundred percent.

Tom Meehan: ... “Hey, remember last time I backed off and I let you do that extra set of 500, you know, whatever? And then you were wrecked for a few weeks? Well that’s where you’re headed, Dude. So, you already know what you’re setting yourself up for. It’s up to you.”

Brian Alsruhe: But I still do have some athletes who are like, “No, I will finish every rep of every set.”

Like, there’s certain people that mentally need to do too much. And I refuse to take that from them, ‘cause mentally they’ll go fill that with something else and I’d rather them fill it with more box squats than whatever they’d fill that with, you know what I mean?

There are a lot of truths in coaching that are ugly.

Like, the difference between a micro tear that’s gonna get them, like, gains, and a macro tear that’s gonna 30

have them off for six months is very small.” Like other coaches are like, “No. I would never stick my athlete in a place of...” Bro, I stick people in jeopardy all of the time. Constantly. Because, especially in Strongman, that line between too far and losing is very, very thin. And in Strongman, people are hurt constantly. There’s not one person that I know that’s like, “I’m 100%.”

Tom Meehan: Ha ha!

Brian Alsruhe: Not one. No one goes into a competition 100%. Same with CrossFit athletes and with powerlifting athletes. Like people who do what we do, don’t do it for health. Right? You don’t do a 600-pound deadlift for health. That’s not healthy. You’ve passed it. There’s no reason in, in our current life that you need to do a 600-pound deadlift.

Right? What we do is for something else. And, uh, that’s needs to be understood. You know, and that mentality to say, I mean, every single workout, there’s the decision in my head where I’m like, “I shouldn’t do this. I know Ha ha! like, like this is pushing that line.”

Tom Meehan: A lot of people don’t know about your background, as an accomplished martial artist. When I met you in college you were doing mixed martial arts, owned a martial arts school.

So which Strongman events or movements have had the biggest, like, carry over into Jiu-jitsu, stand up . . .?

Brian Alsruhe: So, I’d say, without trying to, like, just blow over the question, so much of it covers it because of the posterior chain strength which is a huge weakness in athletes. Especially something like Jiu-jitsu we talk about, like crush strength. Like, basically, like you’re squeezing somebody. You know what I mean? Like everyone has a squeeze whether it be in rear naked choke with your legs, what, whatever the case may be. And in Strongman that’s all you’re doing. You’re picking up a sandbag and you’re squeezing it and carrying it while it’s in front loaded position almost like a person with a variable weight

because the sand’s shifting. Or you have a keg that’s filled with water or an unbalanced object that you’re trying to press above your head.

So, the idea of, like, picking someone up and slamming them in a Jiu-jitsu match is a joke because you’re dealing with weights. Like a 200-pound guy is carrying a 300-pound sandbag, or a 300, 400-pound Atlas stone out in front of them that they need to use crush strength to actually hold to— it doesn’t have handles, right? Well people kind of have handles, but, it’s the same type of thing. You need to be able to squeeze; you need to be able to breath be smooth, move under load. Those types of things. It’s all the exact same applicable things that come from Strongman.

Tom Meehan: Yeah and that’s something that I know, uh, Dan John is really big on, I think he refers to it as Anaconda Strength. So, we’ll see him on some of his books, he’s dragging a sled and bear hugging this huge duffel bag.

Brian Alsruhe: A hundred percent. That’s something we do at my gym all the time. I am a huge Dan John fan. Like the stuff that he said twenty years ago is still true and the stuff that he’s saying now is still gonna be true in twenty years. You know, people are into the next big thing that’s going to gain them twenty pounds on their, whatever fast. Dan John was like, “No. You front squat, you carry things, you hinge, you deadlift. Like, these are things that you do, like, every workout, like, these are things.”

https://www.garagegymlifemagazine For Athletes Who Train At Home

Model: Wes Jenkins Powerlifter Garage Gym Owner Charlestown, West Virginia

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And, those are things that made me switch from the bodybuilder splits to full body workouts and giant sets and things like that, which took me from really struggling trying to gain muscle and strength as a college kid doing 5 x 5’s and stuff, to just completely changing the game for me, man.

Tom Meehan: Yeah, he’s an amazing dude and I just finished his new book, “40 Years With a Whistle”.

I’ve spoken to him just a couple times, but nicest guy ever, you know?

Brian Alsruhe: I’ve never spoken to him. I need to do a collaboration with him.

Tom Meehan: Yeah. Actually, so, the issue of the magazine that came out October 1st he was the cover story for that issue. And then for the same issue, I interviewed David Weck.

Brian Alsruhe: That’s awesome. That’s good, legit people, man.

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Tom Meehan: So what’s the next thing for you?

Brian Alsruhe: Well, opportunities come to me all the time. And some come to fruition and some don’t.

So I don’t know, man, to be honest, every single day I wake up, I work extremely hard, extremely long hours and try to put out my best product, be my best self, do my best workout, do my best whatever.

Whatever the next thing is, I’m just gonna try to help as many people as I possibly can as genuinely as I can, as long as people will think I’m cool enough to allow me. You know what I mean? ‘Cause the whole social media thing, like, once you’re not cool, you’re done. So, right now it’s about making money, saving money and trying to do as much with the influence that I can as positively as I can while I have it.

Tom Meehan: So, for people who want to follow this journey, where can they find you?

Brian Alsruhe: If you search NEVERSATE, like, never satiated or never satisfied, you’ll find me on most social media platforms. Um, it’s a made-up word, that’s why it’s beautiful. But if you do want to search Brian Alsruhe, there’s, like, five Alsruhes in the entire world.

Tom Meehan: Ha ha!

Follow Tom Meehan @tjm275 on Instagram.

Follow Brian Alsruhe @neversate on Instagram, Brian Alsruhe on YouTube and Facebook.

If you’re interested in training with Brian, you can check out his gym’s website at neversate. com or email him at NEVERsate@gmail.com to arrange a visit.

Brian Alsruhe: I have a decent sized YouTube channel. I have a modestly sized Instagram following.

The YouTube stuff covers a lot of stuff that we talked about— mindset and lifting and lifting tips to gym ownership to all kinds of stuff like that. So, if people want to check it out, that’d be awesome.

Hopefully it helps you out. If not, I apologize.

Tom Meehan: Hey, no worries, man. So, dude, appreciate the time as always.

Brian Alsruhe: Absolutely.

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Getting Started in Strongman

by Tom Meehan with Brian Alsruhe 35

We Asked, He Answered...

Tom Meehan: For people who are interested in incorporating Strongman movements into their workouts, where should they begin?

Brian Alsruhe: If people want to get involved with Strongman, the number one thing that I tell them they can do is start doing carries and see if it’s even something that you want to do.

So, at the end of your workout, go with the top of every minute for 10 minutes, pick up the heaviest dumbbells that you can find, carry them 50 feet, turn around, carry them back, and put them down and take the remainder of the minute to rest, and do that for 10 minutes, right? Something simple like that is a very Strongman-based thing where you’re using not only strength. Now, ideally in Strongman you would never have anything less than your body weight in each hand. Never ever. Right?

So, you’re not going to have 220 -pound dumbbells in your gym most likely. So you grab as heavy as you can that you carry and you go.

You’re testing your grip while you’re testing your lungs, you’re moving under load and all these things are part of Strongman that aren’t part of other sports.

Something like Strongman might be as many reps as possible in 60 seconds. So you take like 80, 85% of your one rep maximum deadlift and you try to move that 12 times in a minute as ugly, as hitched, as whatever you could possibly do to get that weight up and that’s an average Strongman event. And you’ll do five of those in a day. So, you start doing things like that and you find out there’s a different level of capacity of work that you have to have that is 36

different than just aerobic.

So, like, everyone can benefit from it, it’s just, uh, it’s very painful. You do a lot of throwing up and your body is just wrecked. It definitely causes more injuries than any other strength sport, but it’s okay.

It’s fun for me right now you know.

Tom Meehan: What are the essential pieces of equipment that every home gym owner should have?

Brian Alsruhe: Safety Squat Bar: Outside of the basic stuff that everyone should have for a home gym, what I use absolutely most would be a safety squat bar. Number one because I’m approaching 40.

My shoulders and my body have been through a lot.

I did 10 years counter terrorism before this. I did MMA fighting before that and now I do Strongman.

I am a broken man. So, an SSB keeps my shoulders safer. Plus, having a separate bar is always nice.

Yoke: You need something to load sandbags over. You need something to carry. You can use it for throwing things over. You can use it as a sled. It also is a second rack. So, if you get involved in some sort of giant set things, sometimes it’s nice to be able to set up to two different racks and, the yoke is something you can strip the crossmember off and just stack it in the corner and it doesn’t take up any room.

Strongman has its own set of implements and they’re all ridiculously expensive for hunks of metal, right? The hard part is if you actually want to be competitive in Strongman and then you need to get a hold of those implements because using an Atlas

stone is a completely different feeling than a tightly packed sandbag or a set of of plates stacked together or anything like that.

However, if you don’t have anything, there’s stuff that you can mimic. You need to think about the movement patterns. Right? Strongman is so posterior chain and deadlift focused. No matter whether you’re doing an Atlas stone, a sandbag, a keg, a car deadlift, you are always picking things up from the ground and it’s typically from a great deficit.

So, you need to think about the things that are gonna build that. Like front squats, Zercher squats a lot of people use. Of course, conventional deadlifts, because you’re not allowed to do sumo deadlifts in Strongman. Something like a Circus Dumbbell, you can stick a fat grip on a dumbbell and kind of get the movement.

Go out buy a duffel bag or a sandbag if you don’t want to spend the money and get that thing as tightly packed as possible because then you could do keg carry, Húsafell stone carry, sandbag carry, Atlas stone carry. Those patterns are very similar and you

build up those muscles and you’re okay.

I have videos on my channel that very well describe different things you can do.

Tom Meehan: What’s the one piece of equipment that was the biggest waste of money looking back on it?

Brian Alsruhe: I built from the, from the down up, so I really haven’t wasted much money. I built slowly.

Like, there are some companies that are very good and there are some companies that stuff breaks. You know what I mean? There’s another big company out there, who people can buy cheaper Strongman equipment from that’s called Titan, that I have a lot of friends that have been underneath a loaded yoke and it broke. Under 800 pounds. And, uh, you’re talking life ending, paralyzing injuries. And so, whenever people are like, “Well I, I bought a Titan thing,” and “I’m not saying don’t buy them, I’m saying be careful.”

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Shop now at https://www.barrelstrengthsystems.com 37

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USPA Military Nationals and American Open

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...On Location USPA Dirty South Powerlifting Championship

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Busy Dad Meal Prep by Derrick Clark, Sr.

Chocolate Banana Overnight Oatmeal

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Works well as: Breakfast/Pre-workout/Late night snack Prep time 24 hours Meal prep doesn’t have to be complicated. With a little time and effort, you can have delicious alternatives to high calorie comfort foods so you can stay on track without being miserable! Overnight oatmeal is great for breakfast as well as a snack if you have a sweet tooth and if you add some chocolate protein powder you get even more of protein packed punch to your breakfast!

Add water Add sweetener Stir until the mixture is thoroughly blended Chop up a banana and add it to the mixture Add sugar free syrup on top Cover with Cling wrap or put the top back on the mason jar and place in refrigerator overnight to enjoy in the morning!

Watch me prepare this on IGTV!

Ingredients: Oatmeal 40 grams of oatmeal 1 serving 150 calories 27 carb 2.5 fat Protein powder 5g Sugar free chocolate syrup 1 serving 10 calories 6 carb Hershey Special Dark Cocoa Powder 5 grams 10 calories 3 carb 1 protein .5 fat

SPICE UP YOUR MEAL PREP

Banana 100 g 90 calories 23 carb 1 protein Your favorite sweetener. I like Stevia or MyProtein flavor drops (you can also just use cinnamon) 8 oz of water Mason jar or any container with a cover Total Macros 260 calories 61 carbs 6.5 protein 3 fat Directions: Add oatmeal in microwave safe bowl Add cocoa powder 42

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBSITE:

Liberianfriedpepper.com Taken from a family recipe handed down from generation to generation, we are thrilled to bring you a hot sauce like no other. Olga's Liberian Fried Pepper combines a blend of all natural, savory ingredients and exquisite seasonings to tantalize and satisfy. A harmonic blend of fresh habanero peppers, ripe tomatoes, crushed onions and deliciously fragrant spices brings an authentic and unique taste to your dishes.

Busy Dad Meal Prep

Bunless Turkey Burgers Works well as: Lunch This is a great low carb and lower calorie alternative to your typical burger and it’s perfect for those with gluten sensitivities.

Ingredients: 93% Lean Premade Turkey Burgers 113 grams Romaine Lettuce 26 grams Chopped Tomatoes 60 grams Fat free or low-fat cheese 1 slice Salt & pepper to taste Sugar free ketchup (optional) Mustard (optional) Toothpicks Non-stick cooking spray Total Macros: 220 calories 26 protein 8 fat 10 carb Quest chips macros for one bag 140 calories 21 grams of protein

5 carbs 4.5 fat Directions: Pre heat pan on medium heat While pan is heating wash and chop veggies Chop tomatoes into thin slices And make sure the Romaine lettuce is big enough to wrap burger Place burger into pan add salt and pepper Cook burger until the middle is no longer pink Once done turn the heat on the stove to low and place cheese on burger Until cheese is melted Once done take lettuce and wrap burger Place toothpick down the middle to hold it together.

Let burger cool for 5 minutes before serving. Add mustard and ketchup (optional).

Pro Tip: I like to combine this with Quest Nutrition’s BBQ flavor chips for more protein and a lunch that will have everyone looking!

Watch me prepare this on IGTV!

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Busy Dad Meal Prep

Greek Yogurt & Fruit Works well as: Breakfast/Post-workout/Bedtime snack Prep time 10 minutes Greek yogurt with fruit is great for breakfast or post workout because the fruit adds sweetness and the carbs give me energy after a workout to be a busy dad throughout the day!

Greek yogurt has casein, a slow digesting protein.

That means this snack can help keep you full throughout the day and I also use it before bed to prevent some of those late-night cravings.

Ingredients: Nonfat Vanilla flavor Greek yogurt (or plain as long as it’s nonfat) 1 serving 170 grams 90 calories 16 protein 6 carbs 0 fat Banana 100 grams 90 calories 23 carbs 1 protein 44

Strawberry 100 grams 33 calories 8 carbs Sweetener of choice (Splenda, cinnamon, etc.)

Total macros 213 calories 0 fat 30 carbs 17 grams of protein Directions: Place Greek yogurt in Bowl Add sweetener and stir Chop banana and strawberry Add in bowl And done!

Busy Dad Meal Prep

Macro Friendly PB&J Sandwich Works well as: Lunch/Pre-workout/Late night snack Prep time 5 minutes This is a lower calorie option to a classic sandwich that people don’t really know about!

Meal prep doesn’t have to be complicated. This macro-friendly peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a quick grab and go lunch, a great pre-workout or post-workout snack. For people who are ravenous after a training session, the fiber in the bread will keep you full until your next scheduled meal! You can even take it to work in a brown paper bag so to really make it an official classic lunch!

Ingredients: Sugar Free Jelly 1 teaspoon 15 grams 10 calories 5 carbs 0 protein 0 fat Schmidt Carb Smart 647 Low Calorie Bread 2 slices 80 calories 28 carbs 2 fat 4 protein

Unsweetened powder peanut butter 70 calories 4 carbs 2 fat 8 protein Cinnamon or any zero-calorie sweetener as well as a splash of unsweetened almond milk (optional) around 5 grams

Total Macros 160 calories 12 protein 31 carbs 4 fat Directions: Add unsweetened peanut butter powder to a bowl Add sweetener Add small amounts of water until unsweetened peanut butter has a thick paste-like consistency Spread on one piece of bread Add sugar free jelly to the other Pro Tip: Combine and enjoy as is or you can toast the bread to take this sandwich to the next level!

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One of the all-time classic strength feats is to lift a 45lb plate by the hub. This was definitely a test of strength in the “olden days” and there’s no reason why you can’t learn how to do it too. Let’s look at what the feat entails and outline a program that can help you get there.

First things first To begin your quest to lift the 45lb plate by the hub, you need to assess where you are. By that I mean you need to first start with a 25lb plate and see if you can lift that. If you’re successful with the twenty-five then you need to graduate to the 35lb plate. If you conquered the 35lb plate, you should be feeling pretty good about yourself at that time.

If you have done a 25lb and 35lb, by all means, have a go at the 45lb plate! It may budge, it may stay welded to the floor. Whatever the case may be, let’s look at different ways to train to help you conquer this feat. And make sure to train each hand!

How to get it done It is imperative that you have the plate well chalked and also that you have chalk that works well for you. There are many different brands of chalk and everyone seems to have a different preference of chalk. I like Hand Armor chalk. Experiment with different types of chalk yourself and see what you like. I would train the hub two times per week. One day I would use a plate loaded hub system like the Ironmind hub or the Barrel Strength Systems Dub Hub. The other day of hub training I would practice lifting only plates. Using the idea of a twelve week system, I would first start off with finding your max on the plate loaded hub system that you’re using be ii the Ironmind hub or the Barrel Strength Systems hub. Once you know your max on that hub and you know what kind of plate you can lift, that makes the job a lot easier and figuring out the weights that you would use. The table below outlines a program that may help you lift plates by the hub using a loadable hub trainer and a series of plates that you can hub.

Remember, if the plate is too easy by itself, microload the plate with a series of small plates around the edges of the plate that you are picking up.

Where do you get plates to lift by the hub?

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