Holiday Weaponry

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The power of Thor is in your hands

The size of our audience is broad on 70’s Big. There are guys who are admittedly 90’s Small, and another guy requested a 4XL shirt the other day. There’s also some good lookin’ females sprinkled in the mix. However, the majority of guys who are strength training are underweight. And I have good news for these fellas.

The Holiday Season is upon us.

Here’s the thing: if an average house wife accidentally gains 5 to 15 pounds during the holiday season, then I hope to god you little goobers can do a little better than that. Large holiday meals + succulent treats around the house + colder weather that keeps you indoors = tramping along the path to 70’s Big.

And here is your secret weapon in this venture:

egg_nog_tasting_lineup

Eggnog. Consider eggnog to be your Mjöllnir in these wintry months; smiting your enemy with terrible power. There is a whopping 210 calories in half of a cup. A half gallon of the stuff has 3360 calories and 80 grams of protein. That’s a thousand more calories than a gallon of milk with half of the volume, and there is more protein in eggnog compared with the same volume of milk. Don’t you see…THEY ARE GIVING CALORIES AWAY!

———-

I got an e-mail from Quint at Primal Fitness in Washington, D.C. They recently had a 70’s Big themed CrossFit Total meet (squat, press, conventional deadlift). Check out the pictures.

It’s difficult to look bad in our shirt

It’s difficult to look bad in our shirt



Quint (pictured above) squatted 300, pressed 165, and deadlifted 373 — all significant PR’s. And Quint is desperately working on filling out his shirt, so lay off of him. Nice work Quint, and nice work Primal Fitness for not only making lifting fun, but getting gals to wear some high socks.

qrandi-

42 thoughts on “Holiday Weaponry”

  1. Question:

    I”ve been wondering how I can reconcile Starting Strength with playing rugby. I”ve noticed a huge increase in strength, but my endurance has also definitely taken a hit. I guess what I”m asking is how much extra endurance/met-con/sprint work I can do on the side, plus practices, without adversely affecting my strength gains too much?

  4. Perfect timing. I picked up a carton of eggnog yesterday. I”m planning on having a 16oz glass of that and a nutella sandwich before bed every night (on top of what I have been normally eating). Such an easy way to cap the night with 1k+ cals.

  7. @samrobin:

    I think it”s a question of training goals. If your goal is tobe a better rugby player then your SS cycle must be timed so that your strength training will not be hindered by the other and vice versa. When season rolls around and endurance/agility is paramount – the strength training needs to take a backseat to more sport specific training.

    I”m thinking of playing soccer again in March 2010. Being 240 – 250 lbs (at 6-1 as a midfielder) won”t serve me very well … so, I”m going to lift heavy, eat meat, drink milk, and sleep until January and then start to tailor my training with more HIIT/Metcon/endurance.

    It”s all about goals. Aim at nothing, hit nothing.

  8. samrobin: What position do you play?

    Paul: Don”t eat too close to bed. It”s great for simply putting on pounds (Nate Newton used to say his “secret” was eating a large order of fries before bed), but it interferes with GH+test during early sleep. Give it a couple hours.

    Egg nog…I saw it on the shelves a couple weeks ago and got a smile on my face.

    Stuffing is another good option. I used to buy Stouffer”s in college and microwave me a big ass bowl. Throw in a couple chicken breasts, and you”re golden.

    Nice job, Quint. Good to see some CF affiliates embracing 70s Big. Tell the dude deadlifting with wristbands on his forearm to straighten his left arm. Mixed grip is fine, but you stress the hell out of the biceps tendon with arm bend, especially if you hitch at some point.

  9. Thanks Gant. By any chance to do you have a link to some more info on that? I am always looking to learn more about all apects of training outside of the weight room.

  11. “Nice work Quint, and nice work Primal Fitness for not only making lifting fun, but getting gals to wear some high socks.”

    Girls + High socks = Awesomness

  16. Options to put in eggnog include:
    Protein supplements, olive oil, Bacon (yes, Paul is quite right), Butter (my personal favorite). Nobody here consumes any beverages of the adult nature. Of course, Guinness is baby”s milk to my family.

  21. Thanks Paul; gonna convince the wife to get me and my daughter one of these and an Ironsport Gym shirt. Ironsport Rocks. The new shirt says “google that S*it” on the back.

    All the best,
    Arden

  23. Hi guys, registered to say you also have Dutch visitors!

    I started as a fit, but skinny soccer player in september. 1.89 meters (that””s 6””3”””” I think?) and 73 kilos when I started and now, after 2,5 months of training, I weigh 77 kilos.

    I know it could be better, but I also have 2 calories-eating heavy soccer trainings and one match per week too ;) Oh, and also one boxing training.

    Current schedule:
    Monday: chest, triceps and shoulders
    Tuesday: soccer training
    Wednesday: back and biceps
    Thursday: legs and soccer training
    Friday: Boxing
    Saturday: rest
    Sunday: soccer match

    Soccer is very heavy for your hamstrings, so I only squat once per week, so they can have enough rest. I””m afraid I will overtrain my hams otherwise.

    My goal for this summer: 90s small. Next summer: 70s big!

    Greetings from Rotterdam, and keep the site going! Me and my friends enjoy your articles very much!

    Nick

    Hey Nick, welcome to the site!

    Part of the reason you have the bodyweight, performance, and perceived training limitations is that you have a bodypart split as opposed to training the body as a system. If what I just said does not make sense, shoot me an e-mail (Justin@70sbig.com).

    In any case, you can do a better job of eating more, because that is going to be directly correlated with your recovery (meaning you are more than likely capable of squatting twice a week while playing soccer if you are eating appropriately).

    –Justin

  24. @sgsolberg

    you forgot about coffee. Also, if you have trouble getting the milk down, put some nog in it. The sweetness really makes it easy to drink.

    It”s also a lot easier to make yourself sick.

  25. @samrobin

    I play loosehead prop. I”ve been training hard all through this rugby season, and my stamina and agility have actually improved despite gaining about 20lbs. Admittedly, the requirements of our positions are very different, but I am pretty active in open play for a prop. I think you should look to your fitness work at practice as opposed to your strength program. We have been doing a program of interval sprints and specific plyometrics that has worked very well. Adding extra sprint work would be a bad idea if you are already doing alot in practice.

    So, I guess my advice is to eat enough for recovery, stretch and foam-roll, and don”t skimp on your fitness work even if you happen to be a bit sore.

  27. Thanks for the post, Justin. Of course, now everyone can see how minuscule I am. A work in progress – on my way to Five Guys right now.

    By the way, this is quite possibly the greatest website ever conceived.

  28. In my quest to not be a pussy, I”m contemplating embarking on GOMAD again.

    Last time I did so – I got fat. Seriously. As in I went from 165 @ 15% to 205 @ 30% (Verified with hydrostatic testing). I attribute this to absolutely poor diet surrounding the GOMAD and being a pussy when it came to training.

    Needless to say I”m slightly apprehensive of going at it again. But this time I”d like to think I”m not an idiot.

    I”m currently 19 years old 175 @ 19% bodyfat. I”m trying to maintain or lower that bodyfat percent (Gymnastics do not favor the fat). Justin and all you guys – What are your thoughts? GOMAD and train fucking hard for 3 weeks and adjust there? 1/2 GOMAD and adjust?

  29. Keep working hard Quint! Good stuff, man.
    I”ve been on the GOMAD plus bigger meals for the past 3 weeks now and I have gained 20 pounds. (185-205, don”t know what that is in kilos and don”t care either) Anyway, I was also worried about how this would effect me (getting fat, slowing down, etc…) because I am in the Army and we have height/weight standards we have to adhere to. It”s worked pretty good so far. Yes, I admit that I have grown some around the waistline but I have also put on muscular body weight too. I get comments all the time (I swear, not lying) like, “Hey man, you been working out…What kind of supplements do you take, etc..)” I just tell them about the SS program and to drink a GOMAD and eat a lot and sleep plenty. I only train MON, WED, and FRI, as per the SS program. They always try to talk me out of the gallon/day. Like all of a sudden now they are nutritionists and strength coaches. HA!
    Now I know that I am nowhere near 70”s Big, but I am on my way. It”s like taking a trip across the country starting in Miami ending in Seattle. Right now, I”m still in Dade county. (metaphorically speaking, of course)
    As far as my run time, I think it has dropped from 13:30 2 miles to about 14 minutes. Not too bad of a decline. I can live with that.
    I guess I”m writing all of this for all of the Army dudes out there that may be hesitant about getting 70”s Big. In my opinion, it”s worth it and it will be beneficial when you and me deploy to combat zones. If strength is in fact the most important physical aspect you can have; then wouldn”t you want to be as strong as possible when you”re fighting the bad guys? I would.

    Keep on keepin” on!

  31. @JAB77, I can vouch for the strength being the most important thing on deployment. The little skinny 150 pound guys who could smoke the Army PT test didn”t fare too well with 100 pounds of gear in Iraq. The big strong guys could make it through while I watched a lot of 90”s small guys get evac”ed with heat stroke trying to haul their gear around. The Army”s idea of fitness, the APFT, doesn”t hold water in combat. Get strong!

  34. Quote from Gant:
    “Don”t eat too close to bed. It’s great for simply putting on pounds… it interferes with GH+test during early sleep. Give it a couple hours.”

    This was actually the first time I”ve ever heard a gh/test explanation in regards to nutritional timing and sleep. I”ve always heard and thought the exact opposite for my entire lifting career… that eating something like cottage cheese, casein-type protein, or (what I do usually) and drink a glass or two of milk right before bed was beneficial to muscle recovery and all else 70”s Big endeavors. From what I could read from googling it looks like the insulin response from eating would interfere with GH output… Maybe this is the answer to my own question, but could you expound anymore on this? If that”s the case then wouldn”t that destroy the purpose of eating something or drinking a shake post-workout (or would that be an entirely different case)?

    I know in terms of the big picture it”s probably more of a micro-issue, but I”m just curious. Thanks.

  35. I”ve been doing GOMAD for about 4 weeks pretty steady. I”ve seen some serious strength gains especially in my squat, deadlift, and bench. And then my wife called me chubby / on the verge of fat yesterday. Crap.

  36. @SamRobin- you are a hopeless pussy and should probably leave flanker to Kyle and Yusef. even Colin. sorry :(

    jk You were born a hooker, you should be a hooker with your squatness. scrumhalf is for little rubber people. btw it”s Kyle if you can”t tell. love you sweets.

  37. I dont know this Kyle guy, but I bet if he ever showed up to practice instead of whining about health insurance I could stomp his ass. Both of our flankers at practice tonight weighed a combined 160 pounds. Get your ass out there you puss.

  38. I”m going to actually go for GOENAD. I”ve drunk 1.5 liters in an hour, I figure I can do 4 liters in a whole day.

    May take a video or pictures if I make it happen.

  39. Guys, I”m in trial. I”ll get to the rugby and GH/test stuff in the next day or two.

    Note: Don”t assume your favorite trial shirt will fit once you go down the path of 70s Big. I don”t know if muffin tops can apply to one”s neck, but that gives you an idea.

  40. My office-mate is from Croatia. She told me that in Croatia, it”s common for mothers to mix a little sugar in with a raw beaten egg and serve it to children. So, I gave it a try and, dare I say, it was better than egg-nog. If this is the kind of food that produces Croatian giants like Goran Ivenisavic, then it has to be good for producing 70”s big guys as well.

  41. My buddy Steve and I have declared December 1 as Gallon of Egg Nog day. Please join us in embracing the awesomeness of a gallon of eggnog….and getting BIG.

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