Analyzing Eric Cressey's Blog

The Greatest in the Industry

I still urge everyone to check out Eric Cressey's blog, and I can not stress how important it is to see his stuff.   He is not only extremely intelligent, but he can back up his knowledge with incredible feats of strength also.  A link to his blog is shown here.  His blog is absolutely amazing and I have learned more for his stuff on his website than I have anywhere else.  He has complete knowledge of anything strength, fitness, or diet related.  If you would like to see even more than what his website has to offer, he also writes informative books on an array of subjects.  Click here. 

I have personally purchased his book "Maximum Strength," and I only have good things to say about it.  One of the things that Eric Cressey does that most other fitness professionals don't do, is that he emphasizes the important of mobility and proper warm ups.  He has a big selection of different warm ups that he talks about on his blogs.  He also goes in and talks about ways to move better, improve 

posture, and improve the quality of life through fitness.

Eric Cressey often posts multiple times a week and he not only posts blogs himself, but he also promotes others in blogs, which gives a wide range of knowledge across many fitness professionals.  I believe that this is one of the greatest blogs you can read.  The information on it is backed up by science, unlike a lot of blogs which may be just personal opinions from people.  One of the things that separates his blog from the rest is that he has personally gone through many of the things he talks about.  Some bloggers may only know about the information, but they may not be athletes themselves.  Eric Cressey has been there and he has been an elite powerlifter.  If you want to take your strength to the next level, his blogs can be a great resource. 

Promotion of GymTalk's Blog "Less Is More"

A Blog Everyone Should Read

Today I will be talking about a blog post that I urge everyone to read.  This blog is about going back to the basics and it is kind of what  I touched on in my last post.  My train of thought is that most people try to do too much.  They may be on a program for a month, then they will get tired of it and switch to a completely new program.  The blog I read today was titled "Less Is More," and it goes through and talks about exactly that. His blog is humorous and insightful, and I suggest you read it.

The first step that this article talked about was to unfollow every fitness coach from social media except one.  The idea in this is that there is just too much information out there and the variety is not needed.  All you have to do is follow one fitness coach and you will have more than enough information on what to do.

The next step is to figure out what we can actually do.  This gives you a good idea of your base of strength and it will allow you to capitalize on it.  This is all about building a base before you move on to more advanced exercises.

He also talks about going back to a basic 3 meals a day.  You don't have to get fancy with your meals.  All you need is something basic that is going to give you your core nutrients necessary.  Many people will mess with different diets and fads, only to give up on them and go back to where they started.

Finally, he talks about incorporating a fully body workout three days a week.  People are too focused on specializing on a certain muscle group (think of the people that go to the gym and just do bicep curls).  The idea is to hit all of the areas of your body and to create a balanced physique.  Focusing too much on certain areas will cause imbalances and they can cause problems in posture.

Top 3 Exercises To Perform for Strength

These Exercises Are A MUST!

In this post I will be talking about the most crucial exercises to perform in order to obtain strength gains.  If these exercises are done consistently and with proper form, you will be able to see noticeable gains in strength in as little as one month.  The key is to do these on a weekly basis and to work on perfecting your form.  Each week you should be adding 5-10 pounds, depending on the exercise.  Once these strength gains come to a stop, and you start to plateau, it is reasonable to try to add 2.5 pounds every week or every other week.

1. The Squat

The squat is the most important exercise that anyone can perform.  All people have different bone structures, femur lengths, torso lengths, proportions, etc., so the weighted back squat may not be for everyone.  This should not stop you from squatting though.  There are many variations of the squat that can be completed safely.  Some different variations include the box squat, the front squat, the back squat, and a body weight squat.  Some other variations could even be with single leg work, such as doing lunges.  The squat is the most important exercise because it is a complete full body movement.  Just about every muscle is used in this movement, not just your legs. The squat can be done a few times a week, and it will not necessarily tax your central nervous system like the deadlift... which brings me to my next exercise.


2. The Deadlift

Many Consider the squat the king of all exercises, which often times leaves the deadlift as the next best exercise.  The deadlift is also a complete full body exercise.  It mainly ends up working your hamstrings, quads, forearms, and upper back.  When done properly it can leave you completely drained.  The reason I put this below the squat is because it can not be performed quite as often as the squat.  Since you will be lifting more weight in the deadlift than in a squat, it will more easily tire out your central nervous system, making recovery time longer.


3.  The Bench press


The final lift that I will be going over is the bench press.  I included the bench press in the final most important strength exercise that you can do because it completely targets the upper body.  Whereas the squat and the deadlift target the entire body, the bench press will solely be targeting your triceps and chest.  The squat will target your core, hamstrings, quads, glutes, and back, while the deadlift will target your hamstrings, quads, core, forearms, and upper back, which just leaves the chest.  The bench press allows you to lift a very large amount of weight, which is why it is considered a compound movement.  Doing compound movements increase strength quicker than doing something in isolation.  The key is to involve as many body parts in a movement, and your strength will go through the roof.

Feel free to read more of this from an article provided by Bodybuilding.com

Beginning the Journey

Beginning the Journey


I think the most important thing that anyone can do in fitness is to start small.  Too many people work too hard in the beginning and they become demotivated.  I see beginners going to the gym all of the time and they push themselves to the breaking point and they don't understand that it is not necessary.  It isn't necessary to wake up at 5 am, run 5 miles, then eat salad all day, in order to become fit.

My best piece of advice is to start your fitness journey by taking a 30-60 minute walk outside everyday at the same time.  For example, you may come off of work and begin your walk at 6 pm and finish it by 7 pm.  After a week or two, this will start to become more routine and you will look forward to these walks.  It's a time to relax and erase your mind of all of the stress you have had during the day.  After you have finally eased into it, you can finally get to the gym.  Walking everyday for 30 minutes is important because it isn't something that you are going to dread and at the same time it is something that you can make a routine.  The problem that most people have is that they fall out of a routine.  You may have motivation to start your routine, but once that motivation fades, it is important to keep going out of habit.  All you have to do is replace your time at the gym with the time you used to spend walking.  Therefore, you will have already built the foundation of your schedule with your walks.

If you try to start your fitness journey too aggressively, you are going to burn out.  Fitness isn't a race, rather, it's a marathon.  It is important to set goals, but I think that people often times get too caught up in the short term goals.  Of course, you need short term goals to stay on track for your final fitness goals, but they have to be realistic goals.  Becoming stronger takes a lot of time and it isn't something that will happen overnight, and it may not even happen after a year.  That is why it is so important to make it a routine.  It is a complete lifestyle change and you are going to have to look forward to going to the gym. This can be accomplished if you ease into it and make every step enjoyable.

Everyday Fitness Preview

Introduction

In this post I will be introducing you to the type of content that I will be covering in my blog posts.  My goal is to educate you on the strength training, ways to become stronger, and I want to help you understand the many benefits of lifting weights, among other things. I will dedicate this post to the person whom got me into strength training in the first place, and his name is Eric Cressey.  Eric Cressey is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and he offers some of the best content on the internet on an array of fitness related subjects.  His blog post, which features many posts about fitness, diet, and his own personal stories, can be found here.

Not only is Eric Cressey incredibly smart, but he can also back up his knowledge with his amazing feats of strength.  Cressey is not just a coach and a writer, but he was also once a competitive power lifter.  Basically, power lifting consists of three particular lifts.  These lifts include the bench press (lowering a weighted barbell to your chest and pressing it back up), the squat (squatting with a weighted barbell on your back until your thighs are parallel with the ground, and standing back up), and the deadlift (picking a weighted barbell off of the ground, locking it out, and then lowering it back to the ground).  In a competition, you are to choose the most weight you can do for these three lifts and you have to try lift the most weight you can.  Each lift allows for three attempts at.  For example, you may start with a bench press of 315 pounds, then the next lift you may try 320 pounds, and then finally you may try 325 pounds, and your highest lift will be counted towards your total.  Eric Cressey's best competition included a 540 lb squat, a 402 bench press, and a 650 lb deadlift.  His total was 1532 at a body weight of 165 lbs, which is impressive to say the least.

I played baseball in high school and this is how I originally came across Eric Cressey.  I wasn't very big in high school. I only weighed about 160 pounds and I wanted to find something that would help me get bigger and stronger, so I could throw harder. This is when I found Eric Cressey and the work that he had done with a guy named Tim Collins.  Tim Collins is a 5-5 professional pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, and with the help of Eric Cressey he was able to go from throwing in the low 80's to throwing in the low/mid 90's.  From then on, I knew that Eric Cressey was the real deal and he knew what he was talking about.  I decided to buy a book from him called "Maximum Strength," and the book was a great starting point for me into the world of weight training.

About Me

For my blogs, I will be using my pseudonym Jeff Fit.  The purpose of my blog is to offer fitness content that you can use in your everyday life and to show you that fitness can be fun.  Not everyone likes to workout, but if you ease into it, you might just end up enjoying it.  The key is to start small and gradually build upon your initial foundation.  As for me personally,  I have always loved fitness and being active.  I was always involved in a lot of sports when I was younger, eventually I put most of my focus into baseball.  I played baseball from the time I was 6, until I graduated high school at 18.  After I finished high school, I wanted to find a way to continue to be active.  I began by researching different workout programs, diets, supplements, and I watched countless videos of people like Eric Cressey (powerlifter who specializes in baseball), and I was able to develop a passion for fitness. I always wanted to play a professional sport, but unfortunately I was just never good enough.  Originally, I started lifting weights to get stronger for baseball, but I finally figured that I would never be a professional baseball player, but along the way I found a new passion in lifting weights.  I think everyone can benefit from becoming more fit and incorporating strength training into their lives.  You do not have to do anything crazy, just a few hours of lifting weights a week.  After a while you will stop dreading your workouts and eventually you will begin to look forward to them.  Again, I will be going by the pseudonym Jeff Fit and if you want to contact me, you can visit my contact page.