You lift weights to get bigger, stronger and more explosive. That s it.

Not for fat loss or conditioning. There are far better, less detrimental ways to
achieve both of
those goals.
The problem is our entire society has been polluted with this bullshit movement.
Everyone
these days thinks that a strength training workout should be more grueling than
going five rounds
with GSP or Brock Lesnar.
That is not remotely true, my friends.
You should always leave the gym feeling better than when you walked in; not comp
letely wiped
out in a pool of your own blood and puke.
It s all gotten way too out of control. Every single workout does not need to be a
conditioning
fest.
That s not to say that building a small conditioning component into an effective s
trength
program is a bad thing. Bill Starr was a fan of doing this way back when he was
preparing the
Baltimore Colts for Super Bowl V.
But there is an enormous difference between doing heavy sets of five on a bench,
squat and
clean in a three exercise circuit with appropriate rest periods and a workout th
at includes
following up your five rep set of cleans with a 400 meter run, 20 kettlebell sna
tches, 35 box
jumps, 10 kipping chin ups and a set of burpees.
That s not strength training.
That s just fucking retarded.
Finishers and Off-Day Conditioning
What about the concept of finishers? Even a lot of the smart guys who haven t allo
wed their
strength training to turn into an aerobics class still feel compelled to always
do a finisher these
days. I m here to tell you that you can let go of the guilt and that it s okay if ev
ery single
workout doesn t include a finisher. Even if it s a well thought out finisher that wo
n t have a
negative effect on your joints or your training.
In the old days (hell, even 10-15 years ago) no one did finishers. You lifted we
ights to get jacked
and then you went home and ate. On off days you did some conditioning or played
a sport. Now I
have guys asking me 20 times a week what kind of bodyweight circuit they should
do on their off
days.
NONE! It s your OFF day! Go for a walk and take it easy on the joints. Or get a li
fe and play a
sport. Go surfing or hiking. Do anything other than more (low quality) strength
training.
But I have to do something! How about a circuit of kettlebell swings and snatches
?
Uh no.
How friggin conditioned do people need to be? Seriously? When and where do plan o
n using that
elite level of conditioning you are training for? Unless Dana White signed you f
or his next Pay Per
View main event I think you can tone it down a notch.
I honestly don t remember people thinking like this a decade or so ago.
When did everyone become such a manorexic, metrosexual pussy?
Playing yourself into shape is a far more honorable and manly pursuit than setti
ng up a sandbag
and kettlebell circuit in between two heavy strength training days.
When men were still men people moved big iron to gain size and strength and they
walked or ran
on off days to maintain their conditioning and bodyfat levels.
Nobody did four weekly 30 minute circuits of swings, burpees and snatches. You k
now
why? Because that shit makes you small and weak, pumps you full of cortisol, des
troys your
joints, and negatively affects your strength training.
The Man Maker Formula
There s a very simple formula for being awesome that people have followed with gre
at success
for many, many years:
Lift
Run (or walk)
Incorporate Flexibility/ Mobility/ Soft Tissue Work (Foam roll, ART, massage, et
c.)
That s the whole ballgame in a nutshell.
If you want to get lean you simply diet by cutting carbs and calories and you ad
d in a 30-45
minute walk 5-7 mornings a week on an empty stomach. And don t worry about what so
me
study quoting geek told you about it not being effective. Anyone who spews that
bullshit should
not be taken seriously when it comes to training advice.
Just about every bodybuilder in the history of the planet has walked to get ripp
ed. I ve used it
with numerous clients for almost two decades and it always works. That s why I ve be
en telling
you to do it for years and I keep repeating myself.
In fact, I now recommend it to all skinny-fat hardgainers who are trying to pack
on muscle.
Genetic misfits like that (myself included) usually gain as much fat as they do
muscle when
training and eating for size. Adding in the morning walks keeps the fat gain at
bay while they gain
size and it doesn t have any negative effect on their training whatsoever.
Your heart rate for these walks should be around 60-70% of max. Again, don t liste
n to dweebs
hopping around with their clipboards shouting that the fat burning zone doesn t exi
st and it s
HIIT time for everyone! Trust me, it aint. Do what Yates did and start hoofing it
.
If your primary goal is to gain as much size and strength as possible, then walk
ing is probably all
you will want to do for conditioning.
If you also want to be in shape and athletic then add in sprints (with a sled or
prowler, on a hill,
or on flat ground if you re an experienced sprinter) and/or jump rope a couple day
s a week.
Just Do It
The inevitable next questions to follow my sprint often recommendations are always
:
How many sprints?
What distance?
What s the work to rest ratio?
The honest answer is I have no clue. I don t know what kind of shape you re in. I do
n t know how
much grass you have in your neighborhood, how long your hill is, how much experi
ence you have
running, how much you weigh, etc.
If you re training for football or the 100 meter then we can get more specific. Bu
t if you re just
training to be an in shape, athletic, badass then heed Nike s advice and just do i
t. Get outside
and start sprinting. Always do a thorough warm up and start slow and easy. I wou
ldn t run more
than 30-40 yards your first time out. Over time you can add distance to each spr
int if you want.
Or you can add more reps. Or both. You can also decrease the rest time. There ar
e a million
options. The point is to just get it done.
Two 15-30 minute sessions per week will do the job for most people. How you set
up the
distances and rest times within that 15-30 minute time frame is up to you.
Sprinting is something that everyone should be able to do with at least a decent
level of
proficiency. It s a basic, fundamental human skill.
Swinging a kettlebell for 200 reps is not.
Running up a hill for 15 minutes on an off day will not have a great detrimental
effect on your
strength training. Swinging a kettlebell for the same 15 minutes probably will.
The swing will
induce soreness in the posterior chain and is just providing more repetitive str
ess to the joints.
You CAN run up a hill or jump rope and deadlift the next day. You CAN T do ten min
utes of
kettlebell swings and deadlift the next day. At least not without some type of n
egative impact
on your strength.
Jumping rope is another skill that I believe all able bodied human beings should
possess. I d
rather see you do that any day of the week instead of some crazy bodyweight circ
uit that s just
stressing your joints and delaying your recovery from the workouts that really m
atter.
Putting it All Together
You lift weights (and do real bodyweight strength training, meaning hard sets of
5-10 reps, not 50
rep nonsense) to get bigger, stronger and faster. If your goal is fat loss the t
raining doesn t
change. The only thing you might do is cut down the volume a bit or add more res
t.
This is the complete opposite of what most people would think but it s what you ne
ed to do if
you want to maintain size and strength while dieting strictly.
Walk in the mornings and run sprints twice per week. Or just walk. It s up to you
and your goals.
Since everyone wants to do it these days I will also allow a finisher to be incl
uded in couple of
workouts per week for fun (fun being the key word). Hell, I do them myself from
time to time
more as a challenge than anything else. I understand the desire to do something
fun and
challenging and different. So I m not saying never to swing a kettlebell or mess a
round with the
battling ropes.
The most important thing to remember is to ensure that whatever you choose has v
ery little
impact on your strength training and isn t adding a ton of unnecessary reps to you
r joints. This
means you have to be careful with kettlebell exercises, barbell complexes and bo
dyweight
circuits.
The best conditioning methods will always be running, jumping rope and pushing t
he Prowler.
If you choose to do a finisher then you have to adjust the rest of your week acc
ordingly. You
can t do a finisher at 3-4 workouts and then add in another hard 3-4 conditioning
workouts on top
of that.
Remember that your joints only have so much mileage in them. When they re gone the
y re
gone. So use them wisely.
A finisher doesn t need to be more than 5-10 minutes and can include any of the ex
ercises that I
have poked fun at in this article. Just don t overdo it, and never do strength tra
ining disguised
as conditioning of on off days.
Train for Strength, No Matter What Your Goal
Strength training is quantifiable and produces measurable results. Fat loss or meta
bolic
conditioning workouts? Not so much. After 12-16 weeks very few people get any lea
ner, and
it s sometimes hard to tell if your conditioning is improving. But you can always
get stronger and
see your numbers going up.
So train for strength no matter what your goal.
Dieting is responsible for 90% of your fat loss. I ve seen fat asses train their b
alls off and never
lose an ounce because their diet sucked. I can name a couple dozen of them off t
he top of my
head right now. You simply can t out train a bad diet.
Think about what type of training is going to have the biggest positive impact a
nd focus your
efforts on that. It s Pareto s 80/20 Law. Believe me when I tell you that real, old
school strength
training will make a bigger difference than anything else, no matter what your g
oal.
Not circuits of kettlebells or battling ropes or burpees or whatever other met-co
n bullshit you
can come up with.
Keep it old school and always remember
It aint strength training unless you re gettin strong.
n response to the constantly repeated questions in this forum, I have taken it u
pon myself to
write a FAQ to remedy this situation, and aide all those seeking knowledge.
Q: How do I get stronger for grappling, boxing, etc?
A: There's no such thing as strength for one activity. Strength is universal. Yo
u get stronger by
lifting heavy and hard. Period.
Q: Why does Smith bash me for training like a bodybuilder or suggesting others d
o?
A: Bodybuilding has nothing to do with athletic ability. Creating unnecessary hy
pertrophy is in
fact counterproductive to fulfilling one's potential as a Martial Artist. When m
any people strive
to fit into a specific weight class, why would anyone want to carry around addit
ional mass that is
not necessarily strong? There are plenty of sites on the net to discuss how to g
et that sweet
peak on your bicep or the latest ab blaster workout, so do it there.
Q: Why aren't isn't there an "Arms Day" or many isolation exercises in the routi
nes listed below?
A: Because the smaller muscles like biceps and triceps are already worked very h
ard if all the
compound exercises are done. Having a separate day to specifically isolate those
muscles often
leads to overtraining and in fact, does not train them as well as a compound mot
ion does in the
first place. Smaller muscles will take a beating all week long during your train
ing, you don't need
a separate day for them. However, if you feel the need to do some curls at the e
nd of your
Deadlift/Pull day, go for it. You'll see how tired they are already once you do.
..
Q: Why shouldn't I lift on a machine?
A: Machines force an individual into an unnatural path of motion and require no
stabilisation of
the weight. Machines can often lead to injuries for these reasons. Do machines h
ave their uses?
Yes, but normally only for light rehabilitation purposes and in very, very rare
cases, to correct a
muscular imbalance.

Q: Will lifting heavy make me slower and more inflexible?

A: I'd like to crucify every person who has ever stated or asked this. No, lifti
ng heavy objects will
not make you slower or inflexible. Weight training will actually make you faster
and if coupled
with proper stretching, more flexible. For instance, many Olympic lifters are qu
icker for the first
20 yards of a sprint than Olympic Sprinters, without training for sprinting. Sim
ply put, they have
developed a high level of explosive power that has carried over into another mov
ement.
Q: Why does Smith hate me for doing high reps?
A: Doing high reps does not get you stronger. High reps turns an aerobic exercis
e into an
anaerobic exercise and will only work muscular endurace. This is not how you tra
in to get
stronger. Go lift something heavy.
Now, on to what kind of routine someone should start on... Note that it is best
to not weight
train two days in a row when starting for the best results. In regards to the fo
llowing programs
which are based around the five by five method, one should know that you will no
t always get
five sets of five reps. If you do, you will need to move up in weight five to te
n pounds the
following week. If you get 5,5,4,3,3 that is fine. Stay at that weight and conti
nue trying to
conquer that weight next week. The other method for a five by five is to decreas
e the weight
after each set by a certain percentage. Bill Starr outlines this in his plan (hi
s plan linked at the
end).
Here's a basic routine I suggest to people:
Day 1: Deadlift/Pull Day
Deadlift 5 x 5
Pull-Ups 4 x ____ (If you can do more than 10 start adding weight by using a Cha
in Belt)
Bent Over Rows or Dumbbell Rows 4 x 5-8
Weighted Sit-Ups 4 x 10
Day 2: Bench/Press Day
Flat Bench 5 x 5
Standing Overhead Press 4 x 5
Some sort of tricep exercise here. 4 x 5-8
Day 3: Squat
Back Squat 5 x5
Front Squat 4 x 3-5
Good Mornings 4 x 10

Pounds
Press - Adult Men
Body Weight
Un-trained
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite
114
53
72
90
107
129
123
57
78
98
116
141
132
61
84
105
125
151
148
69
94
119
140
169
165
75
102
129
153
186
181
81
110
138
164
218
Pounds
Deadlift - Adult Men
Body Weight
Un-trained
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite
114
97
179
204
299
387
123
105
194
222
320
414
132
113
209
239
342
438
148
126
234
269
380
482
165
137
254
293
411
518
181
148
274
315
438
548
Pounds
Squat - Adult Men
Body Weight
Un-trained
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite
114
78
144
174
240
320
123
84
155
190
259
346
132
91
168
205
278
369
148
101
188
230
313
410
165
110
204
250
342
445
181
119
220
269
367
479
Pounds
Bench Press - Adult Men
Body Weight
Un-trained
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite
114
84
107
130
179
222
123
91
116
142
194
242
132
98
125
153
208
260
148
109
140
172
234
291
165
119
152
187
255
319
181
128
164
201
275
343