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As we prepare to get more stuff ordered for Christmas to update our stock, we are blowing out the price of our original shirts for 5$ each!  Also, every non-shirt purchase will include a free shirt!  Be sure to add your size as a comment when checking out.

At this price these are going to go fast so get two while you can!

Victory Shirt!

If you want results, it’s not going to come from the newest supplement – it’s going to come from these things below.  The supplements that can help you have been around forever and remember – they only supplement the other two.  Let’s get right to the meat of this whole discussion.

1. Eating

Getting enough calories in is usually the biggest hurdle in our busy lives, however it’s definitely the most critical.  I can’t stress enough how much you are sabotaging your progress by not eating every 2-3 hours.  I have always had an extremely hard time putting on weight, even at 250lbs I still have room to grow at 6’2″.  Whole milk has been huge in my diet as it boosts my calories and gives me some extra protein.  Tossing back 16oz of whole milk has never been a problem for me, so I do it.

If you want to grow big you need a calorie surplus, this may scare some people but for a beginner I am going to suggest your body weight times 20 as your daily caloric needs.  If you feel your getting a little chubby off that, feel free to back off a couple hundred calories.  Don’t be afraid of body fat – it typically happens when your in an anabolic state.  If you want to get jacked, eat like it – stop getting hung up on the chicken and brown rice, if your a skinny guy it’s about steak and milk.

Be sure to do some research on GOMAD, it works amazing for the new lifters.  Honestly nothing beats milk and squats – which leads me to my next subject.

2. Training

I see way too many people spinning their wheels in the gym.  Doing cardio when your already under a 160lbs and endless amounts of high rep benching and curling.  If you want to get jacked you gotta take your training up a serious notch.  First thing needs to be your program – find a solid program that focuses on strength to get things going.  My suggestions would be “Starting Strength” or some type of “5×5″ program.  Point is, you need to squat, bench and deadlift.  Stop shaping the muscles you don’t have with concentration curls.  Build a huge base – sculpting exercises have no place in your plan so stick to compound work.

When approaching your training you need to take it serious.  If you work out alone it’s a little easier to stay mentally focused however you need to take extra steps to ensure your safe (benching in a power rack w/ safety pins, etc).  If your training partner wants to talk about chicks the entire workout – get a new one.  If your going to go to the gym, make it count.  You need to walk out that weight room like you just came out of a war.  If you don’t need a shower and only a mild combing – your wasting your time.  You get in what you put in so give a 150% for your 45-60 minutes and you will have better results than the next guy.

3. Supplementing

I personally don’t think that supplementation will make or break you like the first two but it definitely has it’s place.  Everyone needs to be hitting a vitamin – In addition to this I regularly use Animal Flex and Omega.  I feel these products make a huge difference in the weight room.  Lifting heavy weights puts a good amount of stress on your joints and it’s smart to protect them and keep them ready for the next beating.

Aside from this – post workout whey is important to help jump start the rebuilding process.  I have also used gainers in the past and they can have their place but don’t go overboard.  Eating is where it’s at so make sure your getting your meals in.

Seems pretty simple right? Now you just have to put it all into action.  Plan your meals out, you can still eat something that tastes great and still get enough calories.  If your already putting in this much time into your training and eating – why not stick to the plan and make some real results happen by following these three simple steps.

Until next time, keep growing.

UPA Nationals- Sandwich, IL 4/17/11

We hit the road around 1pm Saturday, making our way to Sandwich IL, a nearly 3 hour drive from South Bend, IN to make weigh ins that evening. My training partner drove, I rode shotgun and helped with directions, and my brother was in back (he is our video guy). We made it there in good time, I weighed in at 272lbs.

That night, I got maybe 4-5 hrs sleep max. I never sleep well in hotels. It was a lot of fall asleep, wake up, lay there for an hour, fall asleep, wake up and pee, lay there etc.

The morning of the meet I was up at 6am, took a hot shower, ate a few zebra cakes and took a serving of Real Mass. I didn’t really have an appetite. My training partner and I went down to breakfast where I tried eating some eggs and a biscuit and gravy, but I felt like I was going to vomit so I didn’t eat much.

Fast forward to 9am. We had just finished the rules meeting, my partner is in the 2nd flight for squats, I am in the third, I felt like I was going to vomit again. I made my way to the bathroom and did this time…There went my breakfast. Thankfully though, being in the third flight, I had almost 2hrs before I would squat. After vomiting I began second guessing myself and if things were going to go my way today or if I’d even make it past squats. I took my time and slowly started eating again and sipping Gatorade. I was feeling better.

Warmups- Squats

I began warming up with lots of time to spare. There was no rush so i did 135/225 for several sets over the course of a half hour or so. My warm up progression went something like 135x8,8/225x5,5/315x3/405x1/435x1. I was feeling not so good about the 405 and 435. I was in back warming up with Chris Hickson (Bigleanman on another forum you may know of) and he assured me my squats were good and I’d be fine of the platform. I thank him for the confidence boost. I did this meet with belt/sleeves like usual.

Attempt 1- 501.5lbs/227.5kg Good lift

This was easy. After the unrack I felt great. Everything went well with this attempt.

Attempt 2- 534.5lbs/242.5kg Good lift

My previous best was 525, I figured a 10lb jump would be a sufficient move. And it proved to be a great choice, 10lb pr in the bag.

Attempt 3- 545.5lbs/247.5kg Good lift

Made another 10lb jump for my 3rd attempt. If I hit this it would have meant I hit my 6 month goal of 545 squat in competition. While on deck, my training partner began getting me in the zone. This is what I came here to do he said, I couldn’t give up. All I remember is descending, coming out of the hole, and sticking. I was just stuck there. I knew right away I needed to drive my head back into the bar and I could hear the rear spotter yelling at me. I was not giving up. This was my weight. The grinder from hell got me 3 white lights. 20lb meet pr.

Warmups- Bench

I was concerned all week with my shoulder. I still dont know what I did to it but thankfully it didnt bother me on bench at all. Warmed up to 275x1 paused.

Attempt 1-314.1lbs/142.5kg Good lift

Felt good, no problems

Attempt 2- 341.7lbs/155kg Good lift

This would give me a 6lb pr. No giving up on this. Solid lift

Attempt 3- 352.7lbs/160kg Good lift

After the way 341 went I knew i had my goal of 350+ in the bag. Again, a solid lift. Everything went great on bench. 17lb meet pr

Warmups-Deadlift

Warmups for the deadlift went well. At this point in the meet I was drained. I had been there nearly 8-9 hrs, each time I was in the 3rd flight so there was lots of waiting. I warmed up to 455 for a single.

Attempt 1- 507lbs/230kg Good lift

Easy opener. Felt great

Attempt 2- 545.6lbs/247.5kg Good lift

This is a 5lb meet pr.

Attempt 3- 567.6lbs/257.5kg Good lift

I knew for this attempt I needed to keep my hips down if I were to get this lift. When I get tired they tend to raise up and put me in a weak position. I did just what i planned to do and kept them nice and low and got good leg drive off the floor. 27lb meet pr.

I ended the day going 9/9 with 65.9lbs in meet pr’s since my last full meet in Jan and a 1465.9lb total. I took 2nd in the Jr 275 class. Great meet, my thanks go out to the promoters, spotters and loaders that made it possible.

My partner went 501/314/551 and 9/9 as well.

Within the next year my goal is to break the 1500lb mark in the 275′s remaining drug free.

I also met Eric Lilliebridge. Nice guy. Very helpful and willing to talk to anyone. Nothing bad to say about him.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR5evWYE_bU

Ok so you’ve been a member at a gym for a long time.  Your so ate up with working out, nutrition, getting stronger and all around fitness that your friends have called you a freak. You spend an hour a day reading articles and surfing bodybuilding forums and you eat around the clock.  You also spend an hour or two in the gym lifting every day to meet strength or physique goals that you have set for yourself for no other reason than the fact that you hold yourself to a higher standard than most people.  You do it not because you’re a pro or even amateur body builder, not because you’re a power lifter, or even an athlete of any sport and you probably get paid for working a desk job 8-5 Mon-Fri.  Why do you do these things then?  Because you like it! Your asking yourself “how the hell does this guy know so much about me?”.  Well…I am one of you.   The problem with being this way is that after several years of doing this you can catch yourself getting a little bored.  Worse yet you can stop progressing…and this is where I was at a couple years ago.

Now I had heard allot of bodybuilders trash Crossfit saying, it’s not focused enough on any one certain aspect of fitness so it doesn’t make you REALLY good or stand out in any one specific area.  I didn’t care about this, because like I said above I am not a body builder, power lifter or even an athlete of any sport.  I had heard that it can strip muscle off a trainee and their strength may also dip.  Will someone tell this to Jason Khalipa?  This guy is one of the Nation’s best Crossfiters and he is a 220LBS muscle bound freak and he needs to quit this Crossfit stuff cause he’s making us look bad.  I’m pretty sure he still has a good dead lift too.

I decided to make up my own mind about this Crossfit stuff and actually try it.  No I did not abandon my normal weight routine, but I did take an extra day or two out of the week for it and gave it a shot.  Here’s what I can say about Crossfit from my own experience.  The shit is HARD, it might make you puke the first time….and the second…and if you do this a couple times a week in conjunction with what your already doing in the weight room you are going to like the changes in the mirror.  It also improves your cardio system like nothing I have ever done.  I also noticed that I felt better, my shoulders where stronger, I could run longer, bicycle faster and had more energy than before.  It might be time for you to make up your own mind about this Crossfit stuff, in fact.  I dare you to try it.

I started with this beginner routine I found on www.crossfit.com it was one of their “WOD’s”  (Workout of the day).  You see, once you get into it there are hundreds of routines to chose from and you could literally spend every day of the week doing a different routine and not do the same work out twice in months.  I started out with the “Filthy 50”.  I have no idea why it is called Filthy.  I think the words sweaty, dead ass tired, vomit or cardiac arrest would be more fitting and to think this was a beginner routine.

The timed work out goes like this:

50 box jumps
50 *hanging knees to elbows
50 **push presses with 45LBS bar
50 lunges
50 kettle bell swings with 45LBS (sub a dumbbell if you have to)
50 ***wall balls with a 25LBS ball (if your ceiling is too low use a 45LBS plate and just give it a little air at the top)
50 Hyper extensions
50 jumping pull ups
50 burpees
50 double unders with a jump rope (if you can’t double under yet sub in 100 skips on a rope)

I’ll be the first one to admit, the first time I tried this I puked and thought it was the toughest thing I had done since wrestling in high school.  My time was just under 45min., but in just a couple months I was under 30min and my very best time is 22min. I think that’s chump change compared to what I know some of you can put up with some effort.  So get out there and form your OWN opinion of Crossfit, at the very least you’ll have a much better appreciation or respect for the individuals that do it daily.

CCS77

*

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf3rVYJq49w

**

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m6nTX7cWx0

***

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFIzwxz9EZU

Xccellence is proud to announce a new contest open to all users of the forum.   The submission must be a video filmed and edited by the user of the user or user and training partners.   Videos will be judged by the X team for individuality, intensity and style.  Have fun with this contest!  The winner will receive the following prizes shipped free of charge!

* Universal Nutrition Animal Pak
* Universal Nutrition Animal Pump
* X Victory Logo Tee of your size

Please upload your video to YouTube and then embed it into the thread below.

Best of luck to everyone who participates, videos must be submitted by April 24th to qualify!

http://www.xccellence.com/forum/showthread.php?13490-X-Contest-User-Training-Videos

Team Iron Horde is currently four weeks out from meet, tonight was a fun night moving some big weight.   Some were split off doing suspended good mornings and others were doing squats in gear.   I was filming and taking pictures being 4 days out currently.

Josh Turney @ 715lbs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k3LmWZUBt8

Justin Randal @ 965 w/ reverse monster minis (Justin was not happy with depth, but still a big training squat)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp9zY9zTJfc

Gorilla Pit was the creation of two strength athletes who were sick of the commercial gym environment where cardio equipment outnumbered serious training equipment. Where people sat on the single bench for an hour talking, curled in the squat rack and where pulling a big dead lift was frowned upon. After breaking one too many smith machines, bending the cheap barbells and searching everywhere for a non hex head dumbbell that weighed over 80 pounds, the owners of Gorilla Pit had had enough.

Raising some money and some blood pressure, they created the ultimate strength athlete environment, where loud music, big weights and big PR’s could all be thrown around! Chalk buckets, stone tacky, 1000lb tires and the best equipment on the market await those serious about making a dent in the world of strength sports. Weakness is a sickness of body and mind, and we at Gorilla Pit have the perfect medicine for you!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJpQTWAnDDg

Now that you have a kick ass program to run for a while, it’s time to talk about fueling the best you’re going to turn into. While Hollywood and your favorite fitness guru’s are telling you to eat 6 small meals a day, no carbs, no fat, moderate protein, and drink 8 glasses of water a day we’re going to throw up a nice middle finger to all of that. A 5 yr. old girl may be able to get big on that type of diet (actually no, not even her) you are going to need a lot more than some tofu 6 times a day to get the size and strength you are after. So allow me to introduce you to Part 2; Nutrition.

Getting Started
To get yourself to the level you want, you’re going to need to ditch almost everything you’ve heard about nutrition. To get the size and strength you want you need to eat and eat a lot. A good rule of thumb is to gain size and weight eat more food less often, and of course snack, and to lose weight and trim some of that lovely beer gut eat less food more often. Since many of the new guys are looking for size gains, we’re going to cover the former first.

Get Big=Eat Big
Okay so you’re ready to make some serious gains as fast as possible. You’re willing to shovel down 6 bags of fast food a day and drink 10 gallons of water to get there. But you’re not going to be doing either, sorry to disappoint. To get bigger all you need to do is eat more calories than you are using during the day. This is very simple and yet very hard to accomplish. The rule of thumb is to add 500 calories over your maintenance level to start gaining weight. So to get started, do just that. Now you can do that by picking up a large sweet tea everyday from McDonalds, or you can do it in a way that will actually help you; eating more carbs and protein. This is actually one of the easier ways to start initially gaining weight. Simply throw in some extra oatmeal and milk during your day and BOOM! Protein and carbs everywhere. By doing this instead of picking up that sweet tea, you are getting in some quality protein and carbs and saving yourself from serious sugar highs.

Not Gaining weight
Guess what, 500 calories over maintenance is not a lot, so it’s not going to last forever. In fact, 500 is more than likely way too little. You see, when you are a couch potato who barely walks during the day, maintenance is going to keep you at the same weight. You should also factor in the fact that you probably don’t even get your maintenance calories in. So now that you are, what about the extra activity from training? 500 extra calories is nothing when you are burning anywhere between 1000-1500 every training session. So to counteract this, you are going to eat MORE. Now is where you get to have a bit of fun, because now you’re looking to get at least 1000 calories over maintenance. To do this we’re going to stick to eating more carbs and protein. Now don’t go crazy and start eating 500 grams of protein everyday when you weigh a buck 50, but getting a good 1-1.5 grams of protein per lbs. of lean body weight is the standard and it works. Next is carbs, anywhere from 2-3 grams per pound of Lean body weight is going to be just enough to get you on the gaining track.

Fat
Fat is not the devil. In fact you need fat to survive. But bad fats are the devil (not really) and good fats are your friend. Now you’re not going to really need to watch fat when trying to gain weight, but 200 grams of it is bad and not going help you. Make a majority of your fat consumption come from good fats. Some good sources of good fats are nuts of all sorts, peanut butter, and different oils. Try to minimize the fat you eat with meat, preferably by eating lean chicken and red meat, and of course some fish. But since you are after size having a nice fat ribeye or some mayo on your sandwiches isn’t going to hurt you, it may even help with the extra calories. To throw a number on it, at 225 lbs. I try to keep fat consumption under 125 at the most.

Water
Drink it. A lot of it. At least a gallon a day. 8 glasses of water a day, or 64 oz. is not what you need. 1 gallon. Learn to love it.

I’m getting fat

Sorry Justin Beiber, but if you want to gain serious size and strength you’re going to have to get over the fact that your sorry excuse of a six pack is going to make a disappearing act for a while. But if you are finding yourself to be over the 18% body fat range or so, it may be time to cut down the extra calorie sources like that weekly trip to taco bell that turned into a 4 times a week trip. Or you could throw in some extra cardio, because when you are desperately trying to gain weight you probably threw it out the window. 2-3 times a week, 15-20 mintues at a low-moderate intensity should do the trick. Regular athletes most likely will not have this problem (football players, baseball, soccer, etc.). But don’t go crazy with the cardio. Too much can not only make you lose too much weight too fast, but it can also hinder your strength levels. Sticking in the 12-15% body fat range is a good place to be in my opinion, that way if you’re lucky you may get to see an ab or two every so often so you don’t burst into tears on a regular basis (at least not from your lack of a six pack).

In conclusion
Eat more than you do now, eat good fats, carbs, and protein, drink a lot of water, and don’t try to get all of your calories from “skinny” foods. Don’t be afraid to eat a burger every so often, maybe even a soda from time to time. Just don’t go crazy on either side of the spectrum and you will do fine.
Stay Strong and stay safe.

January 18th marks the day that I installed a piece of software called vbulletin that was graciously bank rolled by a few of our outstanding members.  We have come a long way since the days of AA but I feel that we have made changes for the better, while maintaining our individuality and desire to share and help others in their pursuit.   I want to thank everyone that has been here for the long haul and has really shaped the personality of this website, you are the ones who makes this place what it is.

For the rest of the month of January, I would like to say happy birthday to XCCELLENCE and it’s members by sharing 10% off everything available.

Please use the coupon code HBDAYX10