You might not know this, but I named one of my daughters “Emerson”.  After Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I have personally found more strength in the musings of Emerson than in any other book or ideas presented in my life.  So, I have decided to share some of his words here with you.

Over the next few days I’ll be posting parts from a new book that I am writing called “The Laws Of Rugged Self Reliance” in hope that these words will bring motivation, inspiration and strength to your life as well.

If you enjoy these quotes, along with my commentary on them, please leave a comment and insights of your own below.

Enjoy

“Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path
and leave a trail.” -Emerson

Paths have been beaten down by the footsteps of others.

Hundred of thousands of people have navigated it for generations.  Therefore, it’s easy to pass through.

There are no obstacles in the way, they have all been removed by the people before you.

Following the path is quick, easy and painless.

Neither your muscle nor your mind will need be harassed when traversing the trodden path.  There is no need for exercise or exhaustion.  You can relax and simply walk.

Consider that before this path was trodden there was a single man who saw it’s value and decided to traverse it.

Consider what type of man this was!

He saw that this particular route may be of value to follow, but no one else had navigated it… there were no guarantees!

This courageous man, who first traveled the road you now so easily walk upon, may have seen large and ominous dangers before him.  He may have been told by others that it would be easier if he were to simply take another path that had already been carved out.

But he still went.

He was so compelled by the promise of taking this uncharted path that he ignored all “intellect” and proceeded.

He left this trail for you.

Consider that he may have faced terrible opposition and challenge along the way.  He may have been hurt, discouraged, damaged and down trodden on his journey.

But he made it.

He completed the journey.

Consider what type of man he had THEN become!

If he was strong in character before the journey, imagine what strength he now exhibited!

There are dangerous, untrodden paths EVERYWHERE… even as we speak there are paths that many have considered but have shrunk away from.

Do you see any paths that that compel you, beyond all common reason, to carve out?

What type of man do you need to BE to embark upon that journey?

What “tools” will you need to gather?

Courage?

Compassion?

Discipline?

Persistence?

What type of man will you BECOME once you’ve carved out the new path?

For whom will you make the path easier to traverse?

WHEN will you begin?

If you’ve been following our blog for a while now you’re well aware that Elliott and I do not think that Bulking and Cutting is the best way to add lean muscle mass. Nutritionist Kyle Leon shares our same point of view but brings up a few interesting points in the video below. You’ll want to pay special attention to the part where he mentions fat cell hyperplasia. According to Kyle these are fat cells that NEVER go away. Just click play button to learn more about the bulking and cutting approach to building muscle.

Kyle seems to think bulking can lead to Puffy Moon Face. We disagree, we think it can lead to Puffy Muscle Syndrome or Male PMS

With all this excitement about our new Hard-Core Hybrid Strongman workouts I was going through some of my YouTube videos and found these I thought you might like.

You know what’s interesting, Video 2 below has the most views on my entire Critical Bench Youtube Channel. People just love seeing Elliott go Berzerk on the weights. Plus you can see the actual show Elliott competed in to win his Pro Card giving him Professional Status as a strongman competitor. Way to BE Coach E!

A 4-Week Strongman Training Template for Sports & Fitness. It combines strongman training with elements of power lifting, bodybuilding and conditioning. Kill it for three weeks followed by a week off. Or you can pick one of the workouts and add one full body strongman training day per week in addition to your current routine.

You’ll also get the exact same 6 Week Strongman Show Prep routine that I used to win my Pro Card. Once you complete our program above you might just get addicted and decide to compete like I did. That’s when this 6-week show prep routine will come into play.

Plus Three Action Packed High Definition Videos on Strongman/Odd Object Training, Assistance Exercises and a how to video on Accessory Exercises.

Deep within the roots of “Orthodox” Hybrid Strength Training you will find a wild, primal and HARDCORE existence.

The contemporary expression of Hybrid Training evolved from the dark, dirty and aggressive lineage of odd object and Strongman Warrior Based workouts. Strongman is the root of Hybrid Training.

Unfortunately the idea of training with odd objects, in a warehouse free from grandmas and pencil necked posers that use the only squat rack for bicep curls was nothing more than a dream for most men. Specialty equipment and hardcore gyms can be very hard to come by so most had no choice but to suffer in silence while they made due with limited space and crappy equipment in typical “chrome and carpet” fitness centers.

Thus we created Lean Hybrid Muscle RELOADED to serve our non-odd object lifting friends. RELOADED offered the same results as the odd object and strongman training of LHM Original, but without the use of hard to get equipment.

Then, a few months later, something amazing happened. We became increasingly approached by long time customers who voiced their rage and frustration with our decision to abandon our hardcore roots in order to serve a greater number of clients.

The fact is that at the center of Hybrid Muscle Training resides a Hard Core WARRIOR… and it’s about time that we release that screaming beast called, HARDCORE: Hybrid Strongman Training!

http://leanhybridmuscle.com/go/hardcore-hybrid-strongman/

If you are reading this, then you and I may be from the same tribe of Hard Core Strength Warriors!

We are men who are in a constant, desperate search for new training challenges that push the limits of our physical, mental and emotional potential.

We are obsessed with getting stronger, becoming more athletic and dominating every challenge we’re offered.
“Getting fit” is not good enough for us.

You and I NEED to test our will, throw caution to the wind and hold achievement, not safety as our ultimate goal in fitness and in life!

WE ARE HARDCORE WARRIORS.

In this report let us explore how some of this planet’s all-time greatest elite warriors of the past developed some physiques that have become legendary! If you feel like you’re close to becoming a desk jockey or you want to feel like you did in college, revive your energy, build lean muscle mass while burning fat as fast as possible all while making yourself as uncomfortable as possible than download this free PDF right now.

Hey guys I have to share a really cool email I received recently from some US Marines in Afghanistan. For security reasons I was asked not to use names but posted the email and pictures below for you!

Today is Memorial Day and we would like to honor and remember the brave men and women who have died in our nation’s service. Freedom isn’t free, and we want to thank the US Military for all that they do to protect and serve us. While you’re grilling today or hanging out with your friends at a pool party take a moment to say a prayer for our troops. God Bless the USA!

Now check out this bad-ass Hybrid Gym the Marines have built! I’m impressed. This gym is off the hook! We do have a few suggestions though for the Marines and for all you other guys out there that think it’s really cool to create your own home gym or warehouse gym for pennies on the dollar. Stay tuned for that info coming tomorrow. Leave a comment at the bottom of the post and let them know what you think of the gym!

======

Mike,

Name Omitted
US MARINES

In my experience, the absolute best way to build physical and mental toughness… WHILE getting stronger, more conditioned and much, much leaner at the same time is with STRONGMAN DENSITY TRAINING.

I was first introduced to the idea of “escalating density” while training with my friend and former strongman coach Tom M.

When I would show up at Tom’s house on Saturday mornings to execute some strongman training I’d ask him, “so, what are going to train today?”

Being an ex college football player with a strength, conditioning, power lifting, bodybuilding background I expected him to say something like, “We’re gonna do legs today.” or “Let’s hit the chest and triceps”.

But the answer was NEVER that simple.

Tom would say, “How bout’ some STONES?”

When Tom said “How bout’ some ______ ?”– it basically meant that we’d spend the next 60-120 minutes training with THAT SINGLE IMPLEMENT ALONE!

My strongman coach was of the mindset that if you wanted to get stronger in a particular “event” or exercise… then just do THAT exercise.

To the exclusion of everything else!

(Taken From My Old Training Journal)

Now that may lead you to ask,  wouldn’t this philosophy lead to training plateaus, burnout or boredom?

NO.

Not with the WAY he would make us train, for 2 hours, on that single implement.

If we were gonna train “Stones” for the day, that meant that Tom was going to choose a particular number of reps that we would have to execute in the time that he allowed it.

Basically, he would point to one of the HUGE concrete stones sitting on his front lawn and say… “load that stone for 50 reps, and get it done before two o’clock.”

The he would walk away and do something else.

There I would stand, alone, staring at a 252 pound atlas stone that was so beaten up there were jagged edges and pits covering its surface.

With the scabs on my forearms still healing from the SAME workout performed last week, I would take a deep breath and begin the journey towards 50 reps.

THIS is what made this particular workout far more challenging than the one performed last week, and thus making me stronger and tougher…

THIS week Tom asked me to complete the 50 reps, with the 252 pound stone (same as last week) but instead of demanding I complete all 50 reps by 2:15, he told me to git er done by 2:00!!

He ROBBED me of 15 minutes!

What Tom expected, was that I had improved my “conditioning” since the prior week, so I shouldn’t need as much time to get the same amount of reps.

What I discovered later was that this was called “Escalating Density Training” or EDT.

If you’ve ever followed CrossFit workouts, you have experienced a similar type of training… basically “get X done in Y time, NOW go do it again… but faster!”

Without going into all of the boring science and jargon to describe how incredibly powerful this method of training is… I simply invite you to try it out.

First, if you have any “odd objects” or strongman equipment use it for this experiment. (I find that odd object training and strongman implements work really well here since you don’t want to be thinking about “form” and just want to attack the exercise)

Then, give yourself 20 minutes to complete as many reps of the movement as you can with a weight that you can easily perform about 10 reps with.

Finally, after about 5 – 7 days.. go back and repeat the exercise in the allotted time, but get MORE REPS.

OR get the same amount of reps that you did the week before… just cut about 5 minutes off of your allotted time.

Here’s a program that utilizes strongman density training!

GOOD LUCK and share your experience with us below

One of the most helpful analogies that I’ve EVER been taught about personalized program design was that some of your clients will be CATS and others, CHAMELEONS.

My teacher was using these animals to describe the neurological efficiency and kinesthetic awareness that either type of clients may exhibit.

You’ll have some clients or athletes who, like Chameleons, are very limited in their kinesthetic awareness, but tend to grow very efficient in a handful of particular movements.

These are the folks who take three weeks to learn to do “walking lunges”, then once mastered they never want to do anything else.  They’re very content with what they have learned and would be perfectly fine if they never did anything else… they like their exercise programs to “blend in” with their lifestyle and comfort levels.

Chameleons are very good at finding a program and sticking with it.  They may follow the same program, with positive progressive results, for several years!

They tend to gravitate towards consistent repetitive types of training that require little “thinking”, just shutting off the brain and DOING.  Sports and activities such as machine based bodybuilding routines, long distance running, and watching grass grow are best suited for your chameleon types.

Chameleons gravitate towards careers such as librarian or mail carrier.

They are more competent in the completion of activities, than the initiation of action.

Rapid change and anything overly dynamic or explosive makes them uncomfortable.

Then you’ll have other, Cat-Like people, who learn how to execute very complex exercises movements that require tremendous focus and concentration during their initial phase… SUPER FAST!

These clients or athletes can be taught how to perform Olympic lifts in less than 20 minutes, then they’re ready to do something else.  They want to be challenged EVERY single workout and like their exercise programs to make them uncomfortable.

Cats get bored with their training program if it doesn’t offer a challenge and actually benefit by changing exercises and programs every one to four weeks.  It’s not that these guys have “training ADD”, its that their highly adaptive nervous system needs a constant stream of challenges to foster growth… their strength, performance and muscle gaining results come to a grinding halt and they become stale very quickly.

They tend to gravitate towards training and sports that require a high level of awareness and focus, many of which tend to be fast moving or with high intensity.  Sports such as wrestling, sprinting, Olympic lifting and strongman are best suited for cat types.

Cats gravitate towards careers such as firemen, salesmen or Wall Street stockbroker.

They are more interested in achievement as opposed to safety.

Rapid change, danger and explosiveness gets them excited and fired up.

When designing training programs for yourself or your athletes you’ve got to consider what type of person you are dealing with, otherwise you’re going to end up very frustrated with your lack of results.

WHICH TYPE ARE YOU? 

 

Chameleons don’t want to flip tires, do “battling ropes” or box jumps.

They want to do leg presses, “Hammer” machines and jog for long distances… and they get their BEST results by following a program for very extended periods of time.

Cats don’t want to sit down… EVER, they hate machines and jogging.

They want to load Atlas Stones, press odd objects and throw things around the gym… and they get their BEST results by following a program for a few short weeks and then either change the exercises done, or parameters followed.

Here’s a program that utilizes strongman density training!

Words can’t describe how awesome I feel when I get totally unsolicited comments on my Youtube Channel or Facebook wall from dudes who have used Lean Hybrid Muscle Reloaded AND have gotten kick-ass results.

Check out this one that one of your fellow “Hybrid Musclemen” left over on my YouTube Channel last week.

Our good friend, who lost almost 30 pounds of fat, comment got me thinking about how many dedicated men over 40 are using our system and getting extraordinary results too!

Hey, did you know that about 50% of LHM users are between the ages of 40-55? (based on a survey we did back in February)

Now, I can’t vouch for every man over 40 and claim that they are ALL getting results like this… in fact I would bet that less than 20% are actually even following the system as it was designed.

That’s not to say that guys over 40 can’t do it… It’s just that the cross section of EVERY population tends to evolve to support the age-old 80/20 Rule.  (Only 20% of the people who commit to anything actually see it through… and I would bet that the percentage is even close to 10%)

Well, if you ARE a 40+ dude and you haven’t begun implementing the Lean Hybrid Muscle Reloaded system and need a little motivation…. I’ve decided to post a few pictures a guy over 40 that inspires me and may perhaps give you the kick-in-the-ass to get going with your personal evolution as well.

Neil Orkin, 43 (Strength Camp member, has been training “hybrid” with me for about 4 years):

When Neil first walked into my gym… I was WAY prejudiced of him.

I though to myself, “this fat bastard won’t last a week!”

Boy, did he prove me wrong!

Not only did Neil last more than a week (going on 4 years now), but he has had the most impressive physical transformation of anyone that busts their ass at my gym.  I gotta tell you the truth though… Neil didn’t make this transformation happen by simply following a 90 day workout plan.

Neil had become OBSESSED with training!

And in my opinion, nothing significant EVER happens unless you become somewhat obsessed with MAKING it happen.

Neil was not happy with the way he looked, he joined my gym (where we follow Hybrid Muscle Training in its many forms, right now we’re focused on relative body weight strength and conditioning) and then held onto his committement like a mad man until he got what he wanted.

Neil experienced several ups-and-downs along the way, but he kept his eyes on the prize!

So, what do ya think?

[+] If you made the type of die hard commitment to your strength and fitness goals could you get even 1/2 the results that Neil experienced?

[+] Are you willing to “become obsessed” with becoming The Best Version Of Yourself?

[+] What excuses / rationalizations are you telling yourself that is holding you back from becoming leaner, healthier and more vital?

Not enough time? – BULLSHIT, Neil runs several business and has three children under the age of 10!

Not sure where to start? – BULLSHIT, Neil follows the exact types of workouts I share with you in LHM Reloaded

Too Old? — Well, I bet you know what my answer to that would be!

If you are over 40… then I am talking to you!

I want to hear about your successes, challenges and what your most important fitness goals are.

Post your comments below… I’m looking forward to supporting you to become the best and strongest YOU that you have ever been… no matter what age you are.