Strength Training Archives · Page 3 of 14

New Direction

By Dave Hall Agoge, Chip Conrad, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Personal Development, Personal Training, Powerlifting, Strength Training, Weightlifting, Zen

Sometimes I really drop the ball. This summer has been a case in point. I got so consumed with one aspect of my goal set that I lost perspective and began to deviate from the overall master plan. When I started training, at the ripe age of 35, I had one goal in mind — longevity. I wanted to be the old man in the gym. I wanted to still be vital and active well past the point where most of us will have forsaken such strenuous activities as say — walking or better yet, going to the bathroom solo. … Read More »

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James Smith

By Dave Hall Agoge, Diet, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Interviews, Martial Arts, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Self Help, Strength, Strength Training, Uncategorized

This week’s interview is James Smith. James, formerly of Virginia, lives and works in Hawaii, with his wife and two boys. A work from home dad, James homeschools both the boys and maintains an active schedule of training and online activism about training. He maintains his own group on Facebook, Animal Ability, and is active in many other groups including Mental Meat Heads. James’ takes a very natural, holisitc approach to training combining, gymnastics, Olympic lifting, flow movements and martial arts. Listen in as we discuss his training, fitness past 50, Paleo eating, martial arts and raising a family in the natural paradise … Read More »

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Devin Gage

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

Meet Devin Gage. Simply put, Devin is one of my heroes. He’s young, just two years out of college, but he’s a single dad, with shared custody of his daughter, AND an entrepreneur. Devin owns his own gym and online coaching service Gage Strength Training. Devin is a man of spirit, passion and commitment. Last January during Mental Meat Heads 1 Devin’s flight from Philly was cancelled due to a snowstorm. Undaunted Devin caught a flight to Atlanta early the next morning, rented a car and drove the remainder of the way from Atlanta, arriving just in time to make the … Read More »

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Mental Meat Heads 2: Why?

By Dave Hall Agoge, Chip Conrad, Fitness, Fitness Business, Jason C. Brown, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training

Over the past few years I have traveled extensively. In fact I’ve seen more of the country in the last two years than I have in the preceding 39. Aside from a break out trip my junior year in high school when I traveled all the way to the then Soviet Union, I really didn’t get out much. I’d go to Middle Tennessee to visit family, Atlanta to party and the Gulf to vacation. Rarely did I venture more than 200 miles beyond the border of my state. It’s not that I’m excessively reclusive, I just happened to be content … Read More »

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Rob Hudson

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

Hello Everybody! We’re back. I apologize for the break in postings. I had not anticipated the house we were renting at the beach for our family vacation had no Internet. That proved both a blessing and a curse, but now rested, tanned and ready I’m back on course and bringing you this week’s interview. Meet Rob Hudson. Rob owns Fitness by Design in Indianapolis, Indiana, the home of this year’s Mental Meat Heads 2 Symposium. Rob is a thirty year veteran of the fitness industry having started his personal training business back in the early 80’s. He now owns his … Read More »

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Influence, Both Early and Late

By Dave Hall Agoge, Empowerment, Fitness, Jason C. Brown, Kettlebell, Martial Arts, Mental Meat Heads, Movement, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training

When I began my career as a trainer and a coach I quickly became enamored with the kettlebell. It was a simple tool that lent itself to a tremendous amount of versatility and creativity. In the end it was this basic need to break out of the confines of machine based training that led me to create my own space, which then became my own gym and ultimately led to the Mental Meat Heads movement. One of my earliest influences was Jason C. Brown. Jason was an early adopter of the power of YouTube and used this medium to great … Read More »

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Summer Strength Fest

By Dave Hall Agoge, Crossfit, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Motivation, Movement, Personal Development, Personal Training, Powerlifting, Strength, Strength Training, Strengthology, Underground Strength Coach

This past weekend I had the esteemed honor of attending the Summer Strength Fest in Sarasota, Florida at Crossfit Gulf Coast (AKA “The Cave”) as a guest of its owner, Frank Dimeo. Frank and I met a year or so back at Elliott Hulse’s Strengthology IV workshop, and I like to think that we hit it off right away. If I’m waxing poetic I might refer to Frank as the elder statesman of our rather ragtag confederacy of passionate warehouse gyms dedicated to all things related to strength and badassery, but I like to think of Frank as Ol’ Gunney. … Read More »

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Flashback! Jason C. Brown

By Dave Hall Agoge, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Jason C. Brown, Martial Arts, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training

To celebrate the launch of ticket sales for Mental Meat Heads 2 we’ve dug back into the archives and brought out our original interview with Mental Meat Head Jason C. Brown. Jason, alongside Chip Conrad, will be presenting for two days at Fitness by Design in Indianapolis, Indiana, September 21st and 22nd, 2013. Jason was a favored speaker at Mental Meat Heads 1 here in Birmingham last January and we’re very excited to have him presenting again. Attendees can expect a deeper exploration of the concept of Blissipline and all sorts of ways to incorporate both bodyweight and the kettlebell into this … Read More »

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Dru Patrick

By Dave Hall Agoge, Empowerment, Fitness, Interviews, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Powerlifting, Strength, Strength Training

Meet Dru Patrick. Dru is a five time World’s Raw Bench Press record holder. He’s a Strongman competitor, a Powerlifter and a steady coaching presence at Frank Dimeo’s Crossfit Gulf Coast in Sarasota, Florida. With two instructional videos, Bench Press Secrets and 8 Day a Week Program, and a published video training diary, Dru is committed to sharing his knowledge and experience with as many as are willing to hear. On July 27th he’ll be at Crossfit Gulf Coast teaching a Powerlifting seminar, Summer Strength Fest. Listen in as we discuss training, the importance of mental training, the state of powerlifting today and gain some … Read More »

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Be Like Water, My Friend

By Dave Hall Agoge, Empowerment, Eric Hulse, Fitness, Happiness, Martial Arts, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting

138/79 That’s my blood pressure this morning. That’s substantially lower than it was two weeks ago. And it’s steadily going down. That’s pretty good news and in the grand scheme of things a sure sign of success. The downside, where I seem to have been focused lately, is that other things have changed as well. My energy levels are down, my workouts aren’t quite what they’ve been and now I’m revisited by an old injury around my left hip flexor. That’s limited my Oly practice, as it flares up even working with the bar, and my squat practice, which means … Read More »

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The Walking Dead

By Dave Hall Agoge, Bodytribe, Chip Conrad, Diet, Empowerment, Eric Hulse, Fitness, Happiness, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Strength, Strength Training

Today is day 12 of the 90 day diet Eric Hulse prescribed for me to combat an elevated blood pressure and a handful of minor issues I consider less than seemly for someone who seeks to position himself as a leader in the fitness industry. Despite the title of this post I am still alive and feeling much better thank you. That god awful “kill all the things” attitude that took over my psyche weekend before last has passed. I’m no longer surly and bitchy, I’m just tired. I spent the better part of the weekend on the couch catching … Read More »

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85 days…and counting

By Dave Hall Agoge, Diet, Elliott Hulse, Empowerment, Eric Hulse, Fitness, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Strength, Strength Training, Strengthology

So, by my count I have 85 days left in this diet Eric Hulse has prescribed for me. I have never wanted a summer to pass so quickly before. At present I feel like shit. My muscles feel flat, my energy is low and every little ache and pain is glaringly apparent. Oh yeah, and my attitude and general demeanor are shitty, too. If you can’t tell I’m an absolute joy to be around and here we are just five days in. The first part of the week wasn’t so bad but I totally bottomed out on Friday. I don’t … Read More »

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