Strength Training Archives · Agoge Fitness Systems

Mental Meat Heads – Cincinnati

By Dave Hall Agoge, Dan John, Diet, Fitness, Mental Meat Heads, Strength, Strength Training

Over the weekend of October 7th and 8th I was in Cincinnati, Ohio hosting yet another of our Mental Meat Heads workshops. I’ve been home almost two weeks now and I’m just beginning to process all that happened over this roller coaster of a weekend. We got off to a rough start. My partner in Mental Meat Heads, Chip Conrad, flew in to Birmingham Thursday night. Chip’s my boy. In the very short five or so years we have know each other Chip has become an industrial ally, a mentor, a co-conspirator, and a close friend. Our plan was to get … Read More »

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AFS Powerlifting Team

By Dave Hall Agoge, Powerlifting, Strength Training

The Agoge Fitness Systems’ Powerlifting team is now in its second week of training. At present there are nine of us on the team, five men and four women. We’re following a program laid out for us by Hugh Morgan and Bob McKee, two national level competitors who were lifting during the 70s and 80s. Hugh and Bob shared the platform with such lifting greats as Paul Anderson and Bill Kazmaier and, now in their 70s, are still able bodied and healthy enough to coach programming and demonstrate technique. We are very honored to count them as part of our … Read More »

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Mo’ Better Lifting

By Dave Hall Agoge, Chip Conrad, Dan John, Movement, Strength, Strength Training

Don’t look to set PRs in the gym, set them on the platform. That’s very much a competitor’s outlook on training but it holds merit for all trainees. A big mistake I see happening in the gym is seeking out big numbers – now. I get it. We all want progress. We all want to get stronger. Moving more weight evinces that progress, so why not lift the heaviest weights we can handle? The case is made here in an exploration of what we mean by “handle.” Most often “handle” is interpreted to mean complete the lift, i.e. move the … Read More »

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Charles Levine

By Dave Hall Agoge, Interviews, Martial Arts, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training

Meet Mental Meat Head Charles Levine. Charlie lives and works in Cincinnati, Ohio. Professionally he’s a group fitness instructor specializing in boot camp style fitness. Additionally he’s an aikido-ka with over 14 years of experience under his belt. Listen in as we discuss training, martial arts and how the two crossover and support each other. For audio, CLICK HERE. To watch the video, click below. [leadplayer_vid id=”5332E51E1B395″] Mental Meat Heads Interviews are talks with the cutting edge thinkers and doers of the health and fitness industry. For more about Charlie check him out at 513fit.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/513fit/157…037559?ref=br_tf. To our perfect … Read More »

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Guest Post: Julie Carlisle

By Dave Hall Agoge, Fitness, Movement, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training

Julie Carlisle is the latest addition to Agoge Fitness Systems. She teaches the evening Strength Class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 pm. Julie has an extensive fitness and training background and serves as a professor of anatomy at Jefferson State. I’m staring at the floor, 15 inches from my nose, accounting for every speck of dirt, pebble, dog hair, and other unrecognizable bits. As I breathe fully, I struggle to keep my core active and my hips in line with my spine. Squeezing my shoulder blades together and sliding them towards my spine results in more stability, but also … Read More »

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Andy McCloy

By Dave Hall Agoge, Fitness, Fitness Business, Interviews, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training

Meet Andy McCloy. Andy runs Body Creations, Inc. in Madison, Alabama. He specializes in athletic performance and functional fitness. Listen in as we discuss the nuts and bolts of his training, how he balances single fatherhood and running a business that competes in a highly competitive market, and what it’s like to be a transplant to the Deep South. CLICK HERE to access the interview. To download, right click and “Save As.” To learn more about Andy and his gym, check out the Facebook page HERE. To our perfect imperfection, Dave Read More »

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Charles Abouzied

By Dave Hall Agoge, Diet, Fitness, Happiness, Interviews, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Obesity, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training

Happy New Year! This year I’m kicking off Mental Meat Heads 2014 with a revisit with a man who is easily one of my favorite people on Planet Earth. Charles Abouzied has the soul of a Buddha and the heart of lion. As the leader of an eager group of fitness enthusiasts Charles runs Crossfit House of Pain in central New Jersey. Listen in as we discuss Crossfit, the Biggest Loser, body image and overcoming limitations, both internally and externally imposed. To listen CLICK HERE. To download, right click and “Save As.” To watch on YouTube, click below. For more on … Read More »

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January’s Elimination Diet Challenge!

By Dave Hall Agoge, Diet, Eric Hulse, Fitness, Happiness, Motivation, Movement, Paleo, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training

If you’re local you’ve probably heard me mention at some point that we’re doing an Elimination Diet Challenge for the month of January. The purpose of such a diet is really quite simple. There are several foods within what we could term the Typical Western Diet that most of us actually have a hard time with. We don’t digest them as well as we might think and it’s possible that our bodies response to these irritants actually impairs our overall digestion and ability to assimilate nutrition. So why isn’t this obvious? Like the protagonist in a Dostoevsky novel, it turns … Read More »

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Rannoch Donald

By Dave Hall Agoge, Fitness, Interviews, Martial Arts, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training, Tai Chi Chuan

Meet Rannoch Donald. Besides going into the pool for possessing one of the coolest names of all time, Rannoch is a Renaissance man, a generalist in the finest sense of the word. He’s a martial artist, a blogger, and overall movement enthusiast. A former band promoter, he’s now turned his talents to the fitness industry. Rannoch hosts fitness workshops in the south of Spain, drawing in names like Steve Cotter, Mike Mahler and Erwan La Corre. Listen in as we discuss fitness, martial arts, diet, eating habits, and what it takes to be a better man. To check out … Read More »

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Cliff Dyer

By Dave Hall Agoge, Chip Conrad, Fitness, Interviews, Jason C. Brown, Martial Arts, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Nick Horton, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting

Meet Mental Meat Head Cliff Dyer. Cliff is a fitness enthusiast I met at Mental Meat Heads 2. He’s an aikidoka, an Oly weightlifter, a swing dancer and a computer programmer. Listen in as we discuss the connection between martial arts and dance, a more practical approach to training, and a grand epiphany about “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain” is revealed. To listen in on our conversation, CLICK HERE! To download, right click and “Save As.” To watch on YouTube, click below. To our perfect imperfection, Dave Read More »

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Kirsty Grosart

By Dave Hall Agoge, Fitness, Happiness, Interviews, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Strength, Strength Training

Hey there. Meet Kirsty Grosart. Kirsty is a gymnast and strength enthusiast from Toronto, Canada. We first met at the 2nd Mental Meat Heads Symposium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kirsty is originally from Scotland where she spent her childhood as a self described “sporty kid,” of which gymnastics was a major component. She now lives in Toronto and works as an actuarial programmer. She teaches gymnastics on the side and runs her own blog “Garage Gym Girl.” Listen in as we discuss gymnastics, teaching kids, blogging, astrophysics, actuarial programming and what it’s like to be able to do amazing stunts and … Read More »

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Kyle Winchell

By Dave Hall Agoge, Bodytribe, Chip Conrad, Empowerment, Fitness, Fitness Business, Happiness, Interviews, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training

Meet Kyle Winchell. Kyle is one of the Merry Pranksters of Fitness from the Bodytribe in Sacramento, California. Kyle, in particular, is responsible for bringing his own flavor of play based training to Bodytribe with the addition of Hot Lava Tag. Originally, Hot Lava Tag was just a way for the trainers to blow off steam after work. Soon locals passing by would see them at play and ask to join the game. Now it’s a regular phenomenon drawing in new participants every week. Kyle’s even in the process of “formalizing” it into a league. Listen in as we … Read More »

Mon – Thu:	6:00am – 6:00pm
Fri:	6:00am – 5:00pm
Sat:	8:00am – 1:00pm