Improving your squat and dead lift with a body weight exercise.
Sounds impossible right?
Once you’ve become strong in the squat and dead lift you’d think that all the body weight squats in the world aren’t going to help.
(well at least, that’s what I thought)
However, I did find one body weight exercise that seems to have really helped my dead lift starting strength, and my squat depth (which has always been an issue for me).
Now, normally when I’m in the mood to try some crazy body weight exercises I turn to Adam Steer at BodyWeightCoach.com for ideas. However, this nasty little exercise comes from a much different source…
Meet the Shiko.
Sometimes referred to as the ’sumo stomp’.
Flexibility + Strength + Balance = better dead lift starting strength and a deeper squat.
Now, for MOST of us (or maybe it’s just me) the flexibility and balance issues will make this an exercise you’ll want to [...]

Original post by Brad Pilon

I just finally got a pair of Vibram FiveFingers KSO Trek foot ware and man-o’ man are they comfortable.

I have done a couple boot camp fitness workouts here in Boise just to test them out and was pleasantly surprised at the way they preformed. I was concerned that they would make my feet to hot but they didn’t… as a matter of fact as my feet got hotter they seemed to get more comfortable.

Here are six reasons to wear Vibram FiveFingers straight for their website which you can click to here- Vibram Five Finger

6 Reasons to wear Vibram Five Fingers:

1. Strengthens Muscles in the Feet and Lower Legs – wearing FiveFingers will stimulate and strengthen muscles in the feet and lower legs, improving general foot health and reducing the risk of injury.

2. Improves Range of Motion in Ankles, Feet and Toes – no longer ‘cast’ in a shoe, the foot and toes move more naturally.

3. Stimulates Neural Function Important to Balance and Agility – when wearing Vibram FiveFingers, thousands of neurological receptors in the feet send valuable information to the brain, improving balance and agility.

4. Improves Proprioception and Body Awareness – those same neurological receptors heighten body awareness, sending messages about body mechanics, form, and movement.

5. Eliminates Heel Lift to Align the Spine and Improve Posture – By lowering the heel, our bodyweight becomes evenly distributed across the footbed, promoting proper posture and spine alignment.

6. Allows the Foot and Body to Move Naturally, Which Just FEELS GOOD.

As a fitness professional and personal trainer I highly recommend you get a pair… hey they you can wear them in fitness class here in Boise at Warrior Fit Body Solution Boot Camp’s…. Yeah!!!!

Live lean, Train hard and Love life,

Darrin Walton

Warrior Fit Body Solution

Next weekend copious amounts of meat will be thrown onto grills across the U.S. to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday and to that we say, save a seat at the picnic table for us! There’s no need to sweat the main course – just pick one of these easy meat marinades and you’ll be set – but keep in mind that picnicking on the 4th usually starts early in the day and by the time those fireworks are bursting in air your guests are likely to be a bit peckish again. It’s the perfect time to pull out a plate of Spicy Chicken and Bacon Poppers; just make sure you try one before putting the plate out because we guarantee this spicy bite-sized, protein-packed snack will go fast.

Each bite is a perfect combination of spicy pepper, juicy chicken and salty, crispy bacon. The MDA reader that submitted this recipe [...]

Original post by Worker Bee

The USDA recently released a report outlining dietary guidelines for 2010. While the new guide has not been finalized, one thing is for certain, the food pyramid is in need of an upgrade. The classic, 1992 food pyramid was scrapped five years ago. Apparently someone in the government figured out that 10 cups of grains a day was not solving the obesity epidemic. The 2005 food pyramid (shown right, click to enlarge) wasn’t much better, not so much a pyramid as a cacophony of clip art and food photos clustered under colorful disco rays. Seriously, the milk section includes transparent cheese. Is that a new Kraft product?
Fortunately, the USDA is currently accepting comments and opinions about their new health guideline. I am considering submitting my own pyramid for review. In preparation, the Worker Bees have collected other food pyramids submitted by various health professionals and concerned citizens. [...]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Modern life presents endless deviations from our primal beginnings. Some clearly have no place in the success of our species (e.g. Ding Dongs). Others may present unprecedented, welcome benefits (e.g. year round access to a veritable cornucopia of Primal goodies like macadamia nuts – my personal favorite). Finally, there are those “additions,” current customs really, that feel idiosyncratic but relatively innocuous. The contemporary obsession with hair might qualify for this eccentric but harmless category – or maybe not. What about the goop we slather on our noggins? Is it another case of sanitizing ourselves into an unhealthy existence? Will I become an eternal greaseball without my daily indulgence in froth and foam? There’s a movement afoot – “poo-less,” as it’s often called – that has something to say about it. Kicking the suds habit, poo-less advocates suggest, not only allows for less toxic, less expensive living but opens the door [...]

Original post by Mark Sisson

It is with great pleasure and excitement that I am announcing the official launch of the ultimate Primal Essentials Kit – and with it a very special limited-time offer. But more on the special offer in a moment. (Click here if you can’t wait.)
The founding of my company nearly 15 years ago, the launch of Mark’s Daily Apple nearly 4 years ago and the release of The Primal Blueprint last year were all done with a singular goal in mind: to arm people with simple lifestyle hacks and elegant tools that make lifelong health and wellness effortless.
The Primal Essentials Kit is my latest attempt at fulfilling this mission.
I’ve listened to the requests of Mark’s Daily Apple readers and Primal Blueprinters to put together a package that I can wholeheartedly recommend as part of the Primal Blueprint lifestyle. These are the supplements that I take daily and suggest other modern Groks [...]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Alright, let’s cut right to the chase.
Do you NEED to eat big to build muscle size?
The obvious answer is YES.
After all, if you eat big you’ll put on weight. And, when you put on weight those first 5, 6, 7 pounds, well they don’t REALLY look
like fat….
But are they muscle?
AND, let’s be completely honest…if you’re a personal trainer, or an on-line expert…”Eat Big” is the SAFE bet.
After all, there’s really no reason to suspect that Eating Big will HINDER muscle growth…so other than getting fat for no reason, the risk is low.
But is it the RIGHT bet?
A couple questions to ponder:
1 – How many calories does it take to build a pound of muscle?

Is it 100, 500, 1,000?

2 – How quickly can you actually build a pound of TRUE skeletal muscle mass?

Can it be done in a day, a week, for sure a year?

3- Since both protein synthesis and protein [...]

Original post by Brad Pilon

People often talk about rep tempo and lifting speed when it comes to gaining strength or adding muscle. What about fat loss when it comes to lifting speed? About 10 years ago I started using lower reps to increase muscle definition. I also slowed down the speed of each lift to really focus hard on increasing the tension in the lifts. This type of lifting quickly made a difference to my physique. I reached the best shape of my life lifting with sets of 5 reps at a slow pace. I didn't realize this at the time, but the slow lifting speed I was using may have contributed to reaching a low body fat percentage as well.

[No need to use a timer or stopwatch to time the speed of lifting and lowering your weights during a set. The "1 Mississippi...2 Mississippi" or "1 Alligator...2 Alligator" methods are just as accurate. [...]

Original post by admin

If you’ve been reading recently you know I’ve been on a hormone kick recently. That sexy looking molecule to the right and the hormone du jour: testosterone. Testosterone is the principal anabolic and sex hormone in humans, responsible for sexual desire and function, muscular hypertrophy, densification of bones, and hair growth. Compared to females, males famously produce about ten times the amount of testosterone, but females are far more sensitive to its effects. Though testosterone is largely responsible for those traits and characteristics that are considered “masculine” – physical strength, body hair, dominance, and virility – both sexes require it for proper sexual and physical development. In mammals, males secrete it primarily from the testicles (about 95% of the total amount, in fact) and women secrete it from the ovaries. A modicum is produced in the adrenal glands in both sexes.

Testosterone plays an important role throughout every stage of a [...]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Check out this kid! This is Chance Church, a 9 year-old boxing natural. He fights out of Staunton, VA and was training at the best gym on the Outer Banks this past week!

Almost looks like Matt's about to take one on the chin!

Everyone’s favorite kickboxing instructor, Matt Costa, spent some time in the ring with him and says that Church is really talented. When Matt was wearing the pads, Chance knew where to hit without it being called. Matt moved the pad, and Chance hit it.  He also says to stay away from his left. As you can see in the video, Chance is pretty fast!
In 2009, Chance won the East Coast 60 lb. tournament. He also won the VA State 65lb. Silver Gloves Championship the same year. This year, he has already won the State 65 lb. Junior Olympic Championship. At this point he has had 8 fights in [...]

Original post by knuckleup