I remember reading an old article in Iron Mind — maybe it was by John McCallum, but it could have been Ken Leistner — about being young, training hard, and eating big. The author talked about how they would work during the day, train in the evening, then head over to a local diner to eat cheese burgers and milk shakes. He also discussed how they made weight gaining shakes with milk, cream, chocolate syrup, and protein supplements. It’s such a glorious concept; eating what society calls junk food and getting big and strong.

But lettuce be real tea, this won’t last forever. Either you won’t stay 19 forever or you’ll end up chubby. If you think that being marginally stronger and plenty more fat is worth it, that’s fine, but let’s get serious. The percentage of professional athletes and world contendors (who might sacrifice body weight for performance) I know is pretty low; everyone else owes it to themselves to not be sloppy-fat for pride and health reasons. “But what about guys like Paul Anderson?” If you were Paul Anderson (or any other strong-fat guy) you would have fucking known it by now. It’s okay to say, “I want to look good/better/great and still be strong.” Really, it isn’t a big deal. Anyone making a big deal about it inherently doesn’t care about what you want out of your training.

The other day someone asked what their numbers needed to be in order to “dial in” their diet. Much like there is no strength requirement to advance, there is no absolute number to get to before making better food choices. Just becuase food quality increases doesn’t mean the macros or calories have to decrease. Eating high caloric food is easy because it’s readily available. As Johnny Pain’s e-book SWOLE points out, it takes effort to eat better and still make good mass gains.

I’m not a zealot about anything nor am I a diet groupie. Different types of people will require different things, yet it will typically funnel into some basic concepts. If I had to say my ‘nutrition methodology’ revolves around an existing diet, it would side loosely with the Paleolithic Diet. The food choices in a Paleo set up are of the highest quality, meat is aplenty, fat intake is high, and carbs aren’t superfluous. I see it as the end goal for most people to shift into to age with; it just makes sense that eating the most nutrient dense food sources and eliminating synthetic chemicals would yield optimal health. However, I don’t hardline the rules like a zealot and am okay with having leeway. I don’t support whining about feeling sick after eating some ice cream or making a group of people change their dinner plans because you’re frightened over the potential gluten exposure. And when training hard, you’ll sometimes need something more than what a caveman scrounged up for his hairy wife.

But what’s more important than the end product are the steps that are taken to get there. In all the time I’ve been training people, eating seems to be the hardest habit to change, and the fatter the person, the worse it is. People who can make heaps of changes all at once are rare, and instead I recommend that most go through phases. These phases should be followed until their contents become habit. As always, it’s variable based on the person, but I tried organizing it logically. Don’t fucking spend a lot of time worrying and analyzing the order of everything; look at the general trend over time from simple to more complex.

Continue reading →

There’s been plenty of discussion lately. Now let’s just view things. I promise you won’t be disappointed in this post.

Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist who painted awesome pieces. Frazetta’s interpretation of Conan launched his career and subsequently changed how artists portrayed fantasy/sci-fi forever. Here is a good piece I found on Frazetta’s ability. Both Rippetoe and Kilgore are big fans of Frazetta, and I first saw my favorite piece of Frazetta’s hanging up in Rip’s house:

Sharpwriter is an American deviant artist that I just found recently (thanks to Justin’s*** link). When you look at his pictures, make sure and click them to increase the size because has incredible detail. He seems to enjoy combining different concepts into one image (like a cyborg viking) as well as doing his rendition of popular characters (like The Joker, Bepop, and Rocksteady). I more so want to point out these patriotic pieces:

There are some other presidential images here, including this one of FDR that made me laugh. You can view more of Sharpwriter’s images at his gallery; there are some really good ones, including this one titled “Welcome to Valhalla“.

Lastly, if you’ve ever been irritated with me, then should enjoy this video of Tom and I getting mauled by trained attack dogs.


Which picture is your favorite? I think Frazetta’s images are much more 70’s Big than Sharpwriter’s (I think Dr. Kilgore told me Frazetta studied anatomy so that he’d improve on his ability to paint musculature), but Sharpwriter’s detail is amazing. What other fantasy/sci-fi artists compare to these guys?

My friend Shawn wrote this little tidbit for the site because he thought it was interesting. I agree and it’s a good look at daily cost of eating well when training hard.

Money Wasted Looking Great
by The Law Dragon

Last night I was doing some budgeting — because my life isn’t a fucking game — and I broke down what it cost me to be a Greek statute incarnate. What I discovered nearly rocked my face off.

Several months ago, I stumbled on a website selling naturally produced, organic meats to bodybuilders (www.eattogrow.com). I immediately mocked the site and wannabe bodybuilders who bought into this shit solely because some slack-jawed faggot like Jay Cutler endorsed it. But then I realized the benefits – namely the cost efficiency and quality of the products – and ultimately decided I would spring for ordering a months supply of chicken breast*. After ordering the chicken, I ordered my protein powder for the month. After shopping around – I spent as little as I could – and here is what I spent:


$2.08/chicken breast ~ 30g
$1.03/whey shake ~ 50g
$0.10/egg ~ 6g

When I first started working out (not training) with Justin, I ate 6 whole eggs every morning for breakfast. I did this for an entire school year. Now, I fucking hate eggs. You couldn’t pay me to eat 6 in a sitting, but if I did – I would spend about .60 total on protein for that meal – and that would yield 36g of protein.

Assuming that I drink three shakes a day, I would be spending $3.09 on the powder alone – assuming it was with water – and it would yield 150g of protein (note: I bought the 10lb bag). Assuming I eat two chicken breasts in a day, I would spend $4.16 and it would yield about 70g of protein.

In order to ingest 256g of protein in a day (Shawn weighs around 230), I would need to spend around $7.85 a day. This is before any other costs. This is as basic as it comes. This is fucking no frills protein. This doesn’t factor in milk for a shake, cooking costs, or any delicious sauce for your chicken breast for those of you who can’t handle eating unseasoned meat (Shawn regularly eats meat plain because he’s stupid).

For a month’s supply of this most basic protein, you’re going to spend about $235. For your convenience, that’s $2,820 in protein per year. That is of course, not including eating out – no steaks at Outback (Tom), no smoothies at the gym, and no fucking double-meat burritos at Chipotle (which cost $10/burrito).

Now, I know none of you will follow this. Most guys eat out every once in a while. And we all eat at restaurants occasionally too (see what I did there). The point is you’re either (a) not paying for your daily protein consumption, (b) you’re paying a significant amount more than I just outlined above – because you’re eating something more expensive – i.e. steak, fish, lamb, or (c) you aren’t getting enough protein.

In the event you spend less and manage to get higher quality protein, maybe its time to stock being Scrooge with your protein source and share that shit with the rest of us. My point in all of this is that it is one thing to say – ‘I need more than a gram of protein per pound of body weight each day’ and think ‘I can do that y’all!’ But it is something entirely different to say ‘I will spend about $3,000 per year doing this.’ It isn’t that $3,000 is a lot to me, its just that it isn’t being spent on rent, utilities, a cell phone bill, gas, or saved or invested – it’s being spent on something I’m likely not even going to enjoy ingesting unless I spend more. If you’re financially conscious then use this to think twice next time some chick asks you to go out for ice cream or to get a cup of coffee at Starbucks – you can afford it, but do you really want to waste your hard earned money?

*Although you pay less up front in the store for Perdue/Tyson – you actually get less product. The Perdue I use to purchase was 12-20% broth/stock. Thus, if I bought chicken (normally for $5 on average) I am paying $1 on shit that cooks out. If I get 3 breasts per pack – that’s .33/per breast that is wasted. As I’ve stated, this isn’t a fucking joke – next time you sit down to a chicken breast imagine throwing $0.33 across the room and shouting out, ‘I don’t need it!’ because that’s basically what you’re doing. If you want to be a tough guy and shop at Costco/Sam’s – congratulations, you typically get chicken with more than 20% broth/stock.

The protein choices here are pretty lean (especially cause he doesn’t eat a lot of eggs), which may or may not be good for you. Typically more red meat is necessary when you’re trying to gain mass. Let’s ignore his particular choices and instead share what your protein sources are each day. If you know the cost, especially the cost per serving/meal/day/month/year, then share that as well. I’m sure we’ll see some interesting tidbits.

Okay, so you’ve met a girl who is no longer skeptical and is willing to train, but now you need to give her quality advice as she starts a new program. Teaching and coaching are dependent on taking complex concepts and whittle them down to easy-to-implement points of emphasis. I have a few topics that we’ll cover in following “70’s Big Women” posts on Monday. Today’s focuses on setting up the new trainee on a quality program.

I’m not so egotistical that people need to do my exact program, nor am I even going to require that all girls primarily strength train. My only requests are:
– squat twice a week
– bench and press once a week each
– do a horizontal and vertical pulling movement once a week each
– do RDL’s twice a week OR RDL and deadlift once a week each
– cardio (low or high intensity) should be kept to training days or Saturday

I’m not really concerned with deadlifts, especially in the first few months of training. The RDL is a movement that works similar musculature as the deadlift, yet is easier to do and will really help develop the hamstrings. I see so many people doing deadlifts incorrectly — male or female — that having a few months of the lumbar holding its position while the hamstrings do work is going to set them up for success if/when they do start deadlifting. Not to mention the hamstrings will develop a wonderful back side on a girl who hasn’t trained before.

I’m also not concerned with what type of squat she does. Let’s face it, not every girl who is training has access to even a decent coach. Then, the low bar back squat is pretty technical compared to the high bar, so this means there are fewer coaches available to teach this movement well. If she’s shoving her knees out and going down all the way, this is a victory. Making it an easier movement (so she isn’t frustrated) is even better. Besides, the RDL’s compliment high bar squats very well.

The inclusion of benching and pressing is obvious — they help develop strength in the upper body. However, extra care should be taken to not allow the new female trainee to internally rotate and flair the elbows. An “elbows to boobs” cue works very well in both of these cases as it will help keep the elbows in, which is an externally rotated position in the shoulder. See this video for a more detailed discussion.


The vertical pulling movement implies pull-ups, chin-ups, or some variation of them. Getting girls, especially taller ones, to do a pull-up can be quite a process. Most girls reflect that ‘greasing the groove’ over time is what helps them best. Chicks who are adamant about developing a pull-up can get a doorway pull-up bar and work on it over time by doing partial reps or negatives (controlling from top to bottom). They can aim for a small amount each day, and increase the reps per day each week. The horizontal rowing movement would imply barbell, dumbbell or machine rows. Most girls — especially those who haven’t trained before — will not have developed musculature in their upper back. This lack of strength and musculature can make it difficult to externally rotate and maintain positioning on the presses, keep the chest up on the squat or deadlift, and become a long-term muscle imbalance over time if not addressed. The sooner the upper back musculature gets developed, the less of a limiting factor it will be.

If the girl is intimidated by or too weak for barbells, she could use machines for the two presses and two rowing movements. However, squatting needs to be done with a bar — hopefully her ‘sponsor’ can articulate how her ass won’t be sweet if she is leg pressing. RDL’s can be done easily enough with the fixed barbells located in most globo gyms, but they can also be picked up from the hooks on the outside of a rack. After a month or so of machine work, our new trainee could transition into using barbells.

This kind of set up could have her training two or three times a week, but preferably three. It’s best to have complete rest days to allow the body to recover and adapt to this new stress.This concept is lost on a lot of new trainees (and folks who come from a conditioning-only background), but hopefully the sponsor can explain how the structures and hormones need this day to undergo cellular change and adaptation. If nobody knows what the hell that means (sponsor or trainee), it at least sounds good and is true. This means that non-strength work (like cardio or any derivative of endurance work) should occur on existing training days so that it doesn’t interfere with recovery.

Next Monday we’ll talk about “cardio” and how it applies to the new trainee. For more information on progressions, templates, and programming, be sure to check out FIT.

UPDATE: I forgot it was PR Friday — post training records and updates to the comments. Chime in if you don’t have any; it’s good to hear from you guys. And if you’ve never posted before, don’t be scared. Nobody will bite you…hard.

Dmitry Klokov is my favorite weightlifter. Is it because he is my Facebook friend? Is it because he is my Russian speedo bro? Is it because in his reply to my message he put a smiley face emoticon? No, it’s because he’s intense as fuck AND is jacked. I’ve always had a fascination with strength and musculature, and I appreciate when both are represented seamlessly. This is why Doug Young and Anatoly Pisranko are the co-captains of 70’s Big instead of Paul Anderson.

Enter “SWOLE“, an e-book by my friend Johnny Pain. This book has been out for at least a month, but I wanted to give it my full attention before I reviewed it as I anticipated how much it would help 70’s Big readers. And it doesn’t disappoint.



The theme of this e-book is gaining lean, hard (earmuffs) mass without putting on unnecessary levels of fat (which JP refers to as “getting fat-fucked”). While an excess of calories is needed in order to increase lean body mass, this doesn’t mean it’s necessary to eat pizza and ice cream to do it. It’s never been my intention to get fat nor has it been my recommendation that anyone get fat, yet the early stages of this website put a premium on junk food as a method of accumulating calories to grow (with the secondary message implying that if you get fat, you should modify your diet). Yes, that’s certainly one way of doing it; the easy way. However, it’s possible to steadily but surely increase both strength and musculature without excessive body fat gains to achieve maximum jackage, but it’s the hard way.

“The most common reason that people are unhappy with their body composition, whether in the context of trying to add mass, lose body fat, or attempting to do both at the same time, is that they often lack the kind of accountability for their diet that is necessary to make the changes that they are after. If you want your body to change for the better, you need to be keeping score.”

JP spends the obligatory amount of time explaining how getting bigger without ending up like a doughy mess is not only possible, but regularly done in the bodybuilding world. Did you cringe at the end of that last sentence? It’s because fat guys who lift weights and the functional fitness community would lead you to believe the bodybuilding community is narcissistic, gay, stupid, weird, and so on (failing to point out that any community that is large enough is going to include these types of people). In any case, JP does what I do — applies information from other sources into his method of implementation and programming.

The first few chapters discuss the general concepts of the discipline needed to have a good physique developed from a proper diet with quality food (I particularly like the concept of “single-ingredient food choices” AKA real food). In order to gain muscle without looking like a pile of shit, there needs to be a baseline amount of macronutrients that account for the energy your body will normally consume plus some additional amounts to induce growth. Then, when mass gain slows, you add on predetermined “layers” of calories to garner progress.

“It’s time to get some good information on nutrition and how to build up the body the right way. Be accountable, take responsibility and above all educate yourself about safe sex, because you will be having a lot more of it.”

Then the book shifts into implementation by defining what those layers are and how they can be added or removed. I won’t divulge what constitutes the layers (you’ll have to buy the damn thing), but the real genius in JP’s method is creating a really fucking simple way to gauge amounts of food instead of counting grams and measuring out amounts. Then, each additional layer is an equally simple method of increasing the caloric content…by a small amount.

“If you haven’t gathered by now, the idea of adding things in small increments is one of the most vitally important principles to adding mass without significant body fat accumulation.”

And therein lies the “magic”. Instead of “eat more to recover, pussy,” there is a carefully created system that will allow a trainee to titrate his food up or down based on his results. It really is an impressive way to eradicate all of the problems associated with eating properly when trying to get swole.

Lastly, JP discusses some very basic ways to gauge progress over time; instead of waiting until there’s a giant belly button and love handles, trainees will collect some simple data points to see if the diet is too much, too little, or just right. The easiest and most profound method is to use regular photos of the body to gauge fat increase — the pics don’t lie.

You’ll notice I’ve used words like “basic”, “simple”, and “easy” throughout this review; JP simplifies the concepts to a manageable diet that even the laziest of guys can implement seamlessly. As with most things that are worth a fuck, the concept is very simple, yet having the discipline to do it is hard. I’ve never met anyone that said, “I want to be really strong and a fat piece of shit!” If you’re worried about the latter, then purchase the book and take control of your body weight.

JP is also always available for contact on the forums at StrengthVillain.com.

Having a Herculean physique (or Apollonian for you bodybuilding history terminology nerds) is something that the overwhelming majority of the earth’s population will never experience. It is truly an extraordinary accomplishment, and therefore requires extraordinary measures. If sucking it up and drinking a gallon of milk a day was all that was nutritionally required in order to add loads of muscle, don’t you think there would be a lot more god-like physiques out there walking around?