You know, I’m seeing sort of a weird trend in the land of intrawebz fitness gurus.  Or at least some of the up-and-coming, kinda sorta self-proclaimed ‘gurus’.  Or whatever they call themselves.

And that trend is to throw the baby out with the bath water.  (As the old saying goes.)

Lemme explain.  In fact, I’ll use an example.

There’s a guy I see doing a bit of writing in the strength & conditioning community – especially with regards to athletes – now.  This dude is a younger guy – probably mid-20s or so.  His main claim to (or is that ’15 Minutes Of’?) fame has been some of the weight room accomplishments he’s been able to achieve.  As an athlete, he trained under a pretty big name and ultra-successful strength and sports performance coach.

The guy himself was an athlete, eventually playing sports at a semi-pro level.  But pro athletics never really worked out for him (hey – not everybody was destined to play ball on TV…no slight there), so he’s turned his eye to training and preparing athletes.

Like anybody that take what they do seriously, he got a formal education in physical training, and has not only busted his own ass training, but has obviously done a lot of reading and interacted with other pro trainers in the industry, trying to glean anything he could in the effort to make himself more knowledgeable.

Ok, so right about now, I’m sure you’re asking – “Wiggy – dude…what’s wrong with all this?  Why are you busting the guy’s balls?  Sounds like he’s going about it the right way.”

And you’d be right – I think it’s totally cool the way he’s immersed himself in the culture and with information for the sake of being the best he can be.  But he didn’t take long to jump the shark with the whole deal.

As of late (recent weeks/months), this dude has done a bunch of writing about guys he’s communicating with and studying under.  He’s obviously impressed with these guys, and feels everybody in the game (especially those looking to break into the S&C racket) should read, study, and hang on every word these guys write or say.  But now is when you’ll really start to scratch your head…

See, this guy’s newfound gurus train in a manner that’s pretty much the total opposite of everything he’s done, or how he was originally trained as an athlete.  And that’s cool – as the saying goes, there’s ‘more than one way to skin a cat’.  This is especially true in S&C.  If you wanted to get stronger, I could give you 6 different programs that would all be totally different, but still all work.

Besides, this guy’s original coach and his new idols really train athletes in TOTALLY different surroundings, with different circumstances, and in totally different timeframes.  So it stands to reason that their programming/methodology would look radically different.  No big deal there.

The thing that boggles MY mind, though, is that this guy seems to be ready to totally abandon and dismiss virtually everything his original coach ever taught him.  I mean, he doesn’t come out and say it in so many words, but the implication is there – his old coach is dead wrong, and the way he does things isn’t the way they should be done.

But…wait…back when you were a competitive athlete…and got the notoriety on the intrawebz for the stuff you were able to accomplish in the weight room…didn’t you develop those abilities because of how your old coach trained you?  Yet now, you’re saying it’s the wrong way to train?

*is completely confused*

THAT is the trend I’m seeing that I just don’t get.  With the internet (and especially the proliferation of social media in recent years), information is READILY available.  And that’s great – we live in a day and age that you can educate yourself with damn near limitless amounts of information.  And we should all be striving to consistently be learning new things – in all areas of our life.

But just because you learn something new DOES NOT mean that everything else you ever learned or did is all of a sudden somehow invalid or useless!  The point of educating yourself shouldn’t be to go from being one kinda groupie to the next – it should be getting new information, keeping what works for what you’re doing, and discarding the rest.

Not discarding everything and starting over.

I’ve been studying and training for…jeez…around 20 years now.  In that time, I’ve read about, done, experimented with, and seen damn near everything – pyramid training, HIT, bodybuilding, whole-body workouts, split-bodypart routines, sandbags, kettlebells, conjugate periodization, linear periodization, bands, long slow distance roadwork, HIIT, complex training, 5×5, 5/3/1, Crossfit, high-rep bodyweight training, MFD roadwork, hill sprints, odd object training, DB only workouts, density training, Singles & Doubles, grease the groove, medicine ball training, isometrics…I could go on for a while.

And there’s never been ANYTHING that as I went along, said “This sucks, I’m never doing it again.  It was stupid and now I’m onto something different.”  Well…maybe Crossfit.  But that’s a whole other argument.

My point is, when you learn something new, don’t go forgetting or dismissing everything else you’ve ever done just because you think you’ve now found ‘all you need to know’.  Because in the S&C game, as I said, there are a lot of different ways to accomplish the same goals.  Nobody is totally ‘right’.

But at the same time, nobody is totally ‘wrong’, either.

Have a kickass weekend.

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins
Muscle Building Workouts | Cardio Workout | MMA Workout | MMA Workouts

Ok, I’m not quite sure how I feel about this.

Everybody and their brother is always running around, waiting for the end of the world. I don’t care if it’s Y2K or 2012, there is always gonna be folks running around like Chicken Little screaming about how the sky is falling.

There’s a ton of that in the strength, fitness, health, and nutrition industries, too.

Remember not that many years ago, when everybody said that you were only supposed to drink bottled water, b/c tap water was unsafe? And now, you’re not supposed to drink bottled water because the plastic bottles aren’t good for you? But you’re still not supposed to drink tap water, because the fluoride they’re putting in it is dangerous.

(And if you believe some conspiracy theorists, “Big Brother” is also spiking the tap water w/anti-psychotic drugs to keep us all laid back and calm.)

*rolls eyes*

Now listen, I’m not saying there isn’t some merit to some of this stuff, but c’mon now – when does it stop?

Case in point – Mike Geary (the TruthAboutAbs guy) has recently put up a new article about how cell phones can lower your testosterone levels and harm a dude’s (as he called ‘em in the article) “swimmers”.

The article is actually pretty interesting – he quotes a lot of stuff Tim Ferriss wrote in his new “4-Hour Body” book.

Go read the article – lemme know what you think:

http://tinyurl.com/4fx6msp

I don’t know that I completely buy it…but I don’t know that I completely don’t, either.

Got thoughts? Comment below.

http://tinyurl.com/4fx6msp

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins
Muscle Building Workouts | Cardio Workout | MMA Workout | MMA Workouts

Every workout needs to have goals. And usually, the more specific goals, the better. Nothing is worse than just haphazard training – just doing “some of this” or “some of that” – and hoping that one day, you end up accomplishing something.

I don’t care if you train hard and even use sound principles. This kinda training is no better than the guy who hits the gym with a glazed look in his eye, hits a few sets of bench, some curls, then just sorta wanders around the gym, doing a few sets on this machine, a few sets on that machine.

It’s all stupid training.

So your workout needs to have a specific destination – a place where you’re trying to get. You want to get “there”. You’re currently “here”. Your workout program is what’s going to put you on the path between the two.

But what should your “there” be?

Well, it depends on you, really. Why are you training? Are you a fighter? An athlete? Maybe military or law enforcement? Do you compete in powerlifting? How about triathlons? Or you might just want to be in good overall shape.

Like I said in my last blog post, I get many guys email me because they wanna be “ass kickers”. Or in other words, they want it “all” when it comes to strength and fitness…almost like the Swiss Army Knife of working out. They wanna be strong. They wanna be fast. They wanna have great cardio. They wanna look good. They wanna move a lot of weight in the gym. They wanna be able to jump over high stuff. They wanna be able to run. They want people to know they work out when they see them in a t-shirt…and for girls to swoon and drool when their shirts are off.

(Ok, maybe I went a little far on the last point…or maybe not.

That said – if your workout is supposed to have a goal, but your goal is “everything”, then how do you train?

I mean, do you get good at one thing, then move onto something else? Do you do a little of everything? Or maybe you get good at a few things, while letting other stuff slide, then cycle that stuff around – always having some stuff on ‘focus’ mode while everything else is on ‘maintenance’ mode?

There are several ways to do it – none of them ‘wrong’, per se.

Personally, if this is what you wanna accomplish, then I think the goal of your workouts should be one thing:

Work Capacity.

Work Capacity is (put simply) how much work you can do. Now, while others put more scientific definitions to it, I look at it like this – work capacity is kinda like a gas tank. The bigger the tank, the more it can hold. So the more work capacity you can do, the more work you can do.

But we don’t wanna just be able to do a bunch of work. We wanna be able to do a bunch of intense work. Think of it like this – say you’re a runner. Now, you could be a jogger, and be able to jog a marathon. That’s cool…I mean, not many people can do it. And it’s a helluva capacity. But you better hope you never have to run fast or do anything intense – because your body probably isn’t gonna be ready for it.

On the flip side, say you were a short distance sprinter, and only ever trained the 100m. You were powerful, explosive, and fast as hell…for 100m. Because you never trained to go further than that (at least not at any kind of intense speed), then you peter out pretty quickly after that 100m. That’s no good, either.

Now think about a 400m or 800m runner. That is a crazy mix of running super intense, fast, and being explosive. It’s got a certain distance element to it. It’s also a more cranial type of distance (i.e. – you gotta think more) because you can’t just go balls to the wall right away – you gotta know how fast of a pace you can keep up, for how long, and when to really turn it on.

It’s an awesome mix of everything.

THAT is the kinda workouts I like to be able to do.

I’m not as concerned with putting insane amounts of weight over my head anymore (like I used to be). At the same time, I could care less if I could put a 35 lbs. KB overhead a zillion times. But, if I can snap an 80-100 lbs. DB overhead with one hand a whole bunch of times in fairly short order (and not tire out too much nor be sore as crap the next day), then I know I’ve got a great mix of strength, power, and endurance.

Kinda like the 400m-800m runner we were just talking about. (And in case anybody doubts me about those guys, have you ever done 400m sprints? Oh jeez…sheer torture…)

Apply that same principle to all your goals…and you see how I like to do my workouts. Don’t worry about being elite at any one thing – but be really good at almost everything.

It’s that line of thinking that leads me in designing my own workouts – and what’s led to my putting together the “4-Week Ass Kicking Blast”…which is totally designed (with just a tweak or two) based off the program I personally use right now.

You can read all about it BY CLICKING HERE RIGHT NOW.

Or, you can just go ahead and pick up a copy for yourself (that’s the option I’d pick if I were you):

(**REMEMBER – click on the “Return to Merchant” button after the transaction completes to get your downloads!**)

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins
Muscle Building Workouts | Cardio Workout | MMA Workout | MMA Workouts

One of the questions I get the most (which kinda does surprise me in a way) goes along the lines of:

“How can I be an ass kicker?”

(Because who doesn’t wanna beat people up?)

LOL – it’s not like all that…I’m not talking about turning yourself into a fighter or street thug. (Though I *do* get questions on that, too…hmmmmm

Instead, people – esp you dudes – just wanna be physical badasses. You wanna be:

• strong, fast, and athletic
• lean, muscular, and “look good nekkid”
• have great cardio and endurance
• the guy that’s always in shape, no matter where you’re at or what you’re doing
• able to literally run circles around people, whether you’re on the court, field, or mat, helping a buddy move a couch, or just doing basic chores
• NEVER get tired

But at the same time, most of y’all are just plain BUSY. Many of y’all work full-time jobs or are in school. Others have families. Some have stuff outside of your workouts (MMA, BJJ, mountain biking, etc) that you do.

So that means workouts can’t take forever. And if they could be done with little equipment, well, that’d be even better.

Well what if I told you that you could do all that…and more…with my new “4-Week Ass Kicking Blast”?

The concept is pretty simple, really. See, I want to do all those things, too – and that’s exactly how I design my own programs.

And the past few months, I’ve been putting the tweaks to a program that’s been doing some pretty awesome things in my own training, so I figured “What the hell – why don’t I make it available to you guys!”

=>CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Now, you can’t just jump right into my current workout. Hell, *I* didn’t just jump right into my current workout! LOL. It took quite a while of experimentation and messing with things to hit upon a right combination that worked. And along the way, I was building up a work capacity to deal with these workouts.

(In fact, my workout today had me doing nearly 450 pushups and rowing over 7000 lbs total. And that was just the first section…)

So what I did was back-off and put together a build-up of progression so that you can get to “full blast” mode yourself. Then I tell you how you can either keep on going with it (being a “4-Week Blast” or not – you could do this workout for the next six months if you follow my directions) or finish off the 4 weeks with maximum effectiveness.

=>CLICK HERE NOW TO GET TO WORK

Listen – most of you by now know the kinda programs I put out. So if I say this is one of the best I’ve done…well…you can be assured that it’s pretty darn good.

Did I mention it’s cheap? I went to the movies w/my family yesterday (saw “The Mechanic” – can’t beat a good Statham action flick!). I spent more on drinks & popcorn for my kids than you will on this program.

What will you get? A lot:

• the workouts (overview format)
• printable workout logs
• video resources for every exercise used
• 30+ mins video FAQ
• .mp3 of the video

Listen, you’re not gonna find a better deal than this, so just click on the link below, and start kicking your *own* ass!

=>CLICK HERE TO BE AN ASS KICKER

(**REMEMBER – click on the “Return to Merchant” button after the transaction completes to get your downloads!**)

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins
Muscle Building Workouts | Cardio Workout | MMA Workout | MMA Workouts

Ok gang – it’s been a little while since I’ve done this, but I gotta rant some. And it ain’t gonna be pretty.

So come back and read this later if you’re at work, put the kiddies to bed, put on your earmuffs (*insert “Old School” reference here*) and if you’re too sensitive…aka – a puss…then just go away and don’t come back.

If you’re still here, then get your eyebrows raised and your asshole puckered, because I’m about to go off.

I don’t know if I’m becoming intolerant in my old age (is 34 old?), if it’s something in the stars and I’ve just been over-exposed to it lately, or maybe it really is the growing problem it seems to be, but I’m getting sick and tired of people who when push comes to shove, are simply spineless wimps.

Nothing in this life is free people – I don’t give a shit if you’re talking about being strong, powerful, and muscular. Maybe you wanna be lean, trim, and athletic. Or maybe it’s something else in nature – like achieving that personal work or business goal. Or how about getting that massive home project done. And don’t even get me started on personal relationships.

Something that’s cool…something that’s special…something that’s desirable…something that’s WORTH HAVING…is worth fucking working for.

But you know what? In today’s society, nobody thinks they have – or should be expected – to work anymore.

Not strong enough or big enough? Take steroids, growth hormone, or get testosterone therapy! Too fat? Take pills or some sorta thyroid cocktail! Don’t have the job you deserve? It must be some kinda profiling, discrimination, or “big brother” conspiracy! Can’t get anything accomplished! It’s somebody else’s fault – after all, you don’t have the tools that your neighbor has! Can’t make a personal relationship work? Then ditch it – you don’t have to stick around!  Got somebody you’re committed to at home, but still wanna bang that hot piece of ass you see at the gym?  Go ahead – just make sure your girlfriend doesn’t find out!

BULL. FUCKING. SHIT.

Ever think maybe you just don’t put in enough time with the weights? Or don’t know when to quit shoving food in your pie hole? Or don’t put in enough effort in your job? Or you’re lazy?  Or you only give a shit about yourself?

Or maybe you’re just not committed to the things or people like you like to tell people you are?

OF COURSE NOT! That’s now how people operate!

I’ll say it again – BULL. FUCKING. SHIT.

Yeah, there are some people out there that got a lot, and got it easy. Maybe they were born into money, or just have awesome natural genetics, or whatever. But for the overwhelming majority, you know what – ANYBODY who’s ever accomplished ANYTHING of any real importance (and it could be anything from winning a national championship or running a million dollar company to just hitting a new squat PR to teaching your kid how to be good at fractions) has had to put some real fucking effort in. And more than likely, they weren’t successful on the first try, either.

Remember that old saying from when you were a kid? “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again?” Well now, it seems to be “if at first you don’t succeed, give the fuck up when it gets tough”.

I hate it.

Take a look in the mirror people (and I’m talking to myself, because though I don’t wanna be, I know I’m guilty of this myself at times…trust me – I’m not preaching here). Is there something you haven’t accomplished that you really want to? Well, why haven’t you? Is it because you’re on your way and just haven’t got there yet? If so, then good for you. But if it’s because you’ve spent more time making excuses than you have actually putting the effort in, then maybe you should re-evaluate how much effort you’re putting into your goal…as well as just how important it really is to you.

If you’re like me, more than likely you’ll find that you have to take advice from old Tallahassee in Zombieland:

“Time to nut up or shut up!”

I know what I’m gonna do. What are you gonna do?

Because in the end, if you give up on something, you just didn’t fucking want it bad enough.

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins
Muscle Building Workouts | Cardio Workout | MMA Workout | MMA Workouts