The Dwight Freeney Workout

September 3rd, 2010 Posted in Conditioning, Sports No Comments »

I found this great slideshow on Men’s Health yesterday depicting a 175 lbs Men’s Health editor working in with NFL football star Dwight Freeney during one of Freeney’s offseason workouts. It is hilarious, fun, interesting, and educational all at the same time.

You will get an idea of how NFL players train in the offseason, which you can then use to add some conditioning drills to your own workout routine. The modified MH workout routine at the end of the slideshow leaves something to be desired, but the slidehow itself is worth your time.

Who is Dwight Freeney?

Dwight Freeney is a 6’1″ 270-pound, Pro Bowl defensive end and all-time sack leader for the Indianapolis Colts. He is powerful, explosive, fast, and generally pretty intimidating. Peep the slidehow:

The Dwight Freeney Workout

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Tags: Conditioning, football, nfl

What is the Best Post Workout Nutrition?

September 2nd, 2010 Posted in Fitness Tips 1 Comment »

Recently at Project Swole there has been some discussion of post-workout nutrition. I typically recommend Biotest Surge but several people in the last 6 months or so have suggested chocolate milk. The reality is that chocolate milk really might be the best and cheapest drink you can use post-workout.

This is an update from an article I wrote back in March 2010, but since this is a hot Project Swole topic, I figured I’d repost it.

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Tags: Biotest, Diet, nutrition, post-workout, protein powder, protein shake, Surge, whey protein

2010 NFL Quarterback Rankings

August 31st, 2010 Posted in Sports No Comments »

Peyton “The Man”-ning

I have fun watching football each season, and I’m sure some of you do too. Just wanted to point out that ESPN has a 2010 Quarterback Rankings article up. At the end of the article you can rank the quarterbacks yourself.

For those who feel inclined, go ahead an comment on the ESPN post and let me know who you think the best quarterbacks are. Here, I’ll post my completely unresearched full rankings from what I can remember about last year and the 2010 preseason off the top of my head.

The Project Swole 2010 NFL Quarterback Rankings

Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
I’m a Patriots fan but I can’t dispute that Peyton is probably the best NFL quarterback to ever play the game. I’m sure he’ll win at least one or two more Superbowls before he’s done. This year his team is even better than last year, if that’s possible. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t toss 40+ touchdowns and win nearly every game in 2010.
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Tags: football, nfl, quarterbacks, rankings, Sports

Black Rice, Omega 3 Margarine, and The Mediterranean Diet

August 30th, 2010 Posted in Diet, Healthy Lifestyle, News of the Day 4 Comments »

Today I would like to show you some current news articles about healthy topics like Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids, the high antioxidant concentration of Black Rice, and a fun little slideshow about the Mediterranean Diet.

We just can’t take old news for granted, because studies are confirming and rejecting some of what we think we know. Myths are created and dispelled on a daily basis. Check it out.

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Tags: Diet, dieting, health, healthy food, Healthy Lifestyle, nutrition, omega 3

Breakfast: The Critical Meal

August 24th, 2010 Posted in Nutrition Tip 8 Comments »

John Berardi

Since the late 1990′s Dr. John Berardi has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.

His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.

Today’s Topic – You Gotta Eat Breakfast

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Tags: breakfast, Diet, dieting, healthy food, john berardi, nutrion, Nutrition Tip, precision nutrition

NFL Football Player Brandon Jacobs Hits You With 4000 Lbs of Force

August 23rd, 2010 Posted in Sports No Comments »

Brandon Jacobs is a monster.

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Tags: brandon jacobs, football, force, nfl, power

10 Reasons Not to Train Like a Professional Bodybuilder

August 17th, 2010 Posted in Diet, Healthy Lifestyle, Supplements, Workout Routines 20 Comments »

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when attempting to gain muscle is to imitate your favorite professional bodybuilder.

Do you really want to look like a pro bodybuilder?

If you’ve seen the magazines: Flex, Iron Man, Muscular Development, etc…, you’ve seen the pro bodybuilding routines. These guys train one body part a day, 10 exercises for each muscle group, 6 sets per exercise, 12-20 reps per set, and they put together brutal 6 days per week workout routines, sometimes with 2-a-days.

What they don’t tell you, is that routines written by professional bodybuilders are not going to work for you if you are not either a pro bodybuilder yourself, or an unemployed, juiced up, genetic freak. If you follow these routines, you will overtrain faster than Arnold shows his bare ass in a Terminator movie. At least you will learn how NOT to train, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

My Experience Training Like a Pro

I wish someone told me all these things before I started on some ridiculous pro routine when I was 16. This guy had me using ramps, training 6 days a week, once a day for two weeks then twice a day for four weeks, and focusing completely on machines, cables, and leg presses instead of squats.

What a complete waste of 6 months that was. When I finally confronted a personal trainer about my sore body and lack of progress, he ripped up my routine and set me straight. Thanks Ted!

Here are 10 reasons why you should not train like a professional bodybuilder:

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How to Increase Productivity: Stop Working, Go to the Gym

August 11th, 2010 Posted in Business, Healthy Lifestyle, Research No Comments »

Exercise your body to exercise your brain.

How to Increase Productivity

I know some of you out there work 60, 70, 80 hour weeks. I know some of you also work 14,16,18 hour days. Hell, I’ve put in 36 hours straight writing computer code day and night to meet a deadline before. We all do it: we work too much!

Experts are finding out now that the best way to increase productivity, is to work less. That’s right, people who work 35-40 hours a week get the most out of their time. After the first 40 hours efficiency, speed, and quality all begin to deteriorate.

Companies that limit their employees’ working hours to 35 a week, typically have to employ less Quality Assurance (QA) testers, because their employees make far fewer mistakes. That is a multi-directional savings plan – save your employees health and save money by getting rid of half your QA staff (or just don’t hire them to begin with).

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Tags: brain, exercise, fitness, health, Healthy Lifestyle

Overhead Pressing Strategy – How to Build Massive Shoulders

August 10th, 2010 Posted in Conditioning, Weight Training, Workout Routines 5 Comments »

Overhead Pressing Strategy

Update: here’s another blast from the past. Dating back to November 2, 2007, this was one of my first posts on overhead presses and it still rings true.

The four most important exercises for any serious weight lifter to obsess about are the squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press. Today, I am going to discuss how to properly perform a standing overhead press (aka shoulder press or military press), and a push press. Both motions are obviously used to push objects overhead. Clearly, overhead pressing is not only extremely functional but is fundamental in helping to build a firm athletic base regardless of your fitness goals.

I am going to be using a barbell in this explanation, but it can be performed with any reasonable object. First of all, load a bar appropriately and bring the weight to the front your shoulders. You can either clean the weight from the floor like an Olympic weightlifter or you can load the bar at the desired height in a squat rack.
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Tags: pressing, shoulders, weightlifting

How to Increase Your Squat

August 9th, 2010 Posted in Weight Training, Workout Routines 47 Comments »

How to Increase Your Squat By 100 Pounds in 10 Weeks

Update: Here is an old post I found about increasing your squat strength. I’m not sure that anyone ever really gave me much positive feedback on it, so I’m posting it again in case anyone wants to take a stab at putting 100 pounds on their squat in 10 weeks.

Arnold Squats

The squat is arguably the best exercise that any athlete can perform. Overhead press, bench press, and deadlifts rank right up there too, but I digress… No one wants to have a weak squat. To be considered ‘really strong’ you should be able to squat 2x your bodyweight.

Back in college I was regularly squatting 450 or so at a fluctuating bodyweight of 190-210 lbs. I have no genetic gifts when it comes to muscle size and strength. If I can lift 450 anyone can, so man up and put in some effort.

The goals of this workout plan are:

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