One of our long-time and loyal CTS athletes, Kyle B, working up to a new PR Deadlift of 420 lbs @ 152 lbs body weight. Very impressive feat of relative body strength!! (Strength in relation to his own body weight, that’s just around 2.75 times his weight!)

We don’t max out on deadlifts very often, but when we do, we let our athletes (who can pull with good enough technique and have a decent background with training) go for it!!

Train hard,

- John Cortese

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Tags: deadlifts, Firefighter

A little compilation/highlight video of a few of our athletes working one of our core lifts and its’ variation, the Deadlift! Not much to say about it that already has been mentioned, but it pretty much kicks major a*s!! Do these with proper technique with consistency and you will build full body strength that no competitor can touch!

Train hard,

- John Cortese

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Tags: Deadlifts, Power, Strength

We know that testosterone is the male hormone and estrogen is the female hormone. But have you ever heard of xenoestrogens? Probably not, so that's what we're going to discuss. We'll talk about what they are, why you should avoid them, and most importantly-how you can avoid them.

"Xeno" is a prefix based on the Greek word "Xenos", meaning stranger. Estrogen of course refers to the female hormone. So put the two together and you literally have "stranger estrogen," which in reality, isn't far from the truth. Xenoestrogens are in fact, novel, industrially made compounds that in the body, have effects similar to those of estrogen. In men, testosterone is of course the dominant hormone but we actually have estrogen in our bodies as well. In women, it's just the opposite-they are dominant in estrogen but have testosterone as well.

In men, high levels of estrogen can cause reduced levels of testosterone, fatigue, loss of muscle tone, increased body fat, loss of libido and sexual function and an enlarged prostate. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to grasp that high levels of estrogen in a man are not a good thing. And if you think about the literal meaning of the word "xeno" (stranger), combined with the fact that they're "industrially made," then a guy could logically make the assumption that xenoestrogens are not going to be something you want in your body.

In our bodies, naturally-produced estrogens interact with larger molecules known as receptors. This interaction between the two effectively "switching on" the hormone associated with the receptor molecule. Basically, "hormone A" is cruising along in the body not doing much of anything at all. But once it encounters estrogen, the function (whatever that may be) of "hormone a" is turned on, becoming active. When the estrogen is natural and in balance, this is a good thing because that's the way things are supposed to happen and functions that we want-the ones that lower our risk of prostate cancer or osteoporosis-are activated and we live our lives happy and healthy.

In contrast, when xenoestrogens enter the body, because they look and act just like estrogen, they interact with the same larger receptor molecules, activating the same functions as natural estrogen. But the xenoestrogens don't stop there. They often times activate other receptors and are thought to work synergistically, effectively making the impact of the xenoestrogen far more profound than that of naturally-produced estrogen. And this of course can lead to all sorts of troubles.

In fact, xenoestrogens have been implicated in a range of medical problems and conditions. Unfortunately, little research has been done to actually measure the risk-at least in humans. There have been a number of studies done that document changes that have occurred in wildlife resulting from their exposure to xenoestrogens from sources such as runoff.

There have been a number of studies done on animals in places where levels of xenoestrogens are thought to be high. Among the animals they have studied, they've found: emasculated males, decreasing sperm counts, very low levels of testosterone and high levels of estrogens in both sexes. There have also been reports of sexually-related birth defects such as unusually small or non-functioning gonads and in some cases, total reproductive failure.

You can see very clearly that xenoestrogens are something to avoid. Below is just a partial list of some of the places you're most likely to encounter them and run the risk of ingesting them in one form or another:

Organ chlorines, which are used to manufacture pesticides, in dry cleaning, the bleaching of feminine-hygiene products and in manufacturing plastic;BHS A (butylated hydroxyanisole), a preservative used in processed foods;Parabens, phenoxyethanol and stearal konium chloride, all of which are found in many skin creams and lotions as well as in some soaps and shampoos;Bisphenol-A, a breakdown of polycarbonate, is used in many plastic bottles. It's found in the lining of many food cans and juice containers;Benzophenone-3, homosalate, 4-methyl-benzylidene camphor, octal-methoxycinnamate, octal-dimethyl-PABA, which can be found in many sunscreen lotions; andJust about any pesticide, herbicide or fungicide.

Again, this is just a partial list of products that contain xenoestrogens. In this day and age it's difficult to avoid them entirely, but there are plenty of steps you can take to minimize your exposure. Steer clear of industrial chemicals, solutions, preservatives and artificial ingredients as much as possible. Avoid processed foods, vegetables treated with pesticides and meat from hormone-enhanced animals.

Has anyone noticed effects like these in themselves or in someone you know? Leave your comment below please.

Get my free report entitled, The Warrior Physique - Building The Super Hybrid Muscle. Click to learn how you can rapidly build muscle and burn fat at the same time.

Mike Westerdal is the founder of Critical Bench, Inc. A free online weight training magazine.

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Tags: Avoid, Xenoestrogens

At some point or another just about every bodybuilder and athlete on the planet is bound injure himself. Luckily, for most of us they're usually minor and don't result in anything more than a slight inconvenience for a few days. Sometimes though-especially if you're a powerlifter, strongman or competitive athlete-they can stretch on for weeks or months and even bring your training to halt. Some strength athletes though, have found lasting relief for formerly debilitating injuries through a technique known as Active Release Techniques (ART).

ART is a soft-tissue chiropractic technique that specifically targets the injured area. Feedback on ART has so far been very positive. Because of the way it's administered some people might say that ART therapy is a "massage," but make no mistake-it's not. ART therapy is a movement-based technique that is actually patented. It was developed in the early- to mid-nineties by a Colorado Chiropractor P. Michael Leahy, DC, CCSP. He developed the technique after observing that his patients' symptoms were apparently related to changes in the soft tissue that he could actually feel with his hand.

Based on that observation he began tracking how the soft tissues (muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves) responded to different types of treatments (soft tissue work). From there he developed the ART program-which is made up of more than 500 different specific moves to treat problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves, back pain, shoulder pain, sciatica, knee problems, tennis elbow and more. Nearly all of these are pains that can be common among strength athletes like strongmen, powerlifters and other competitive athletes.

A lot of these problems are caused by soft tissue injuries that usually occur in one of two ways: acute conditions (pulls, tears, strains, etc.); or accumulation of small tears caused by doing the same movement over and over (micro-trauma). When these things happen, they can cause the body to produce dense scar tissue in the areas affected. The scar tissue builds up and as it does, the impact it has becomes more widespread. As a result, we suffer from a reduced range of motion, a loss of strength and of course, pain.

When these kinds of injuries occur in a strength athlete-especially one who is competing-it can be devastating because our tendency is to "work through the pain." But what happens then is we overcompensate because of the pain and wind up not only exacerbating the original injury but often times, we end up with more than we had in the beginning.

So in these kinds of circumstances, ART therapy can be ideal for the strength athlete. It starts with a comprehensive evaluation by a certified therapist. The evaluation takes about an hour. Its purpose is to pinpoint the injury, determine its severity and then establish the proper therapeutic regimen. ART therapy works by treating the abnormal tissues (scar tissue) by combining precisely-directed tension combined with very specific movements from the patient. The big benefit here is that the treatments can generally alleviate the problem after just a few visits. That means no lengthy down times.

I've read about all kinds of strength athletes-powerlifters and strongmen included, that have had tremendous success alleviating persistent, chronic pains with ART therapy. And in the majority of cases that I've seen, the treatment time has been relatively short-from two to six weeks. After that, they've jumped right back into competition-pain free.

There have been several scientific studies conducted to determine how effective ART therapy actually is in treating injuries relating to the overuse of muscles. Nearly all of the studies show that ART therapy can be very effective in treating these types of injuries. One study conducted at the University of California (San Diego) showed a 71% success rate. Other studies obtained similar results with rates of success ranging from 70% to more than 90%. In these studies, most participants said that the problem was eliminated after 3 to 7 sessions.

Now obviously, a therapy like this is not going to be 100% successful for every person who tries it. Some injuries are more severe than others, are related to other problems or issues, or for some other reason it just doesn't work. But, with research showing that in more than 70% of the cases studied, ART therapy effectively eliminated the problem and enabled these athletes to get back to training, I'd say that this is one technique that is definitely worth investigating if you've got an injury that is holding you back.

Mike Westerdal is the founder of Critical Bench, Inc. A free online weight lifting magazine. It hosts the Internet's largest FREE exercise database and is the home of many workout routines including the Critical Bench Program to help you increase your bench press.

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Tags: Active, Athletes, Release, Strength, Techniques, Therapy

We've all heard of menopause, right? It's when a woman goes through the "change of life," meaning that she's leaving her reproductive years behind. It's a transition period where her body produces less hormones, causing all sorts of physical changes. When going through menopause, most women experience emotional changes as well. Mood swings are common. As men, we've always stood on the sidelines watching our women go through this change, feeling bad for them of course but secretly thinking, "glad it's not me!" Not so fast, because there's a growing body of evidence that shows that women aren't the only ones to go through a change of life as they get older-it seems that men do too, but instead of menopause, it's called andropause.

In men though, the change is significantly different in that our reproductive systems don't totally shut down (whew!). What does happen though is that like women, our bodies produce lower levels of hormones-in our case testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone. Testosterone is of course the principal male hormone. It's produced in the testes and is the anabolic steroid that makes us men. It's also a primary driver in making us strong and building muscle mass. Dehydroepiandrosterone is also a steroid, but this one is produced by the adrenal glands. This is actually the most abundant steroid in the body, but it's effects on the body are somewhat different than testosterone. Dehydroepiandrosterone is also synthesized in the brain so it seems to impact neurological functions as well.

Although as men pass through andropause their reproductive systems don't totally shut down like they do in women, their bodies can go through significant changes that are driven by the drop in testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone levels. Studies have found that after about age 30, testosterone levels may decline an average of 2% a year in men. Once the drop in hormone levels reaches a certain point, guys start to feel the symptoms of andropause. The first medical study on male andropause was actually conducted in the mid-1940s and published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association." Interestingly though, it's only recently that the U.S. medical community has taken notice of this condition.

The effects of andropause include:

decrease in lean muscle mass and less strength;
an increase in overall body fat, particularly around the waist and pectoral areas;
a decrease in bone mass;
decreased sex drive and difficulty in achieving and maintaining an erection;
loss of stamina and drive;
mood swings, irritability and loss of a feeling of "well-being";
and a decline in cognitive skills and/or loss of memory.

These are some, but not all of the symptoms that men often experience as a result of going through "male menopause."

For most guys, one of the first outward signs of andropause will be an increase in body fat around the middle and in the pectoral area (man boobs). The other outward sign of the decline in hormone production is going to the loss of lean muscle mass and a reduction in strength. Lower testosterone levels can be directly correlated with decreased synthesis of muscle proteins, which results in less strength and less mass. The third sign of the onset of andropause is reduced sexual functioning and loss of sexual desire. These physical symptoms combined with the emotional ones can make andropause a very difficult time in a man's life.

All is not lost though and you don't have to resign yourself to going through "the change" and becoming less of a man than what you want to be. First, there are a number of things you can do right now to significantly reduce the potential impact that andropause might have on your life. One of the most important things you can do is exercise regularly and make sure that your training routine includes weight lifting. This is actually one of the most important things you can do to stimulate the body's natural testosterone factories. A lean, muscular, active body produces far more testosterone than a lazy flabby one.

Also, watch your diet, sticking with whole grains, lean proteins and complex carbohydrates. Through in a small handful in nuts every couple days too. Avoid eating processed foods and stay away from sugar, excessive caffeine and don't go out boozing it up every night. Be sure to get lots of rest and a good night's sleep. It's very important to give your body plenty of time to recover between training sessions. And here's something else you can do and I know you'll like this one-have sex, especially in the morning. Having sex stimulates testosterone production but you'll pump up production even more by having sex in the morning, according to a German study. For some guys, hormone replacement therapy might be the answer. In any case, knowing the facts and being proactive are the best things you can do.

However I wouldn't recommend that. It's probably a better idea to try a natural testosterone boosting supplement like Jacked Up by AS Research.

Get my free report entitled, The Warrior Physique - Building The Super Hybrid Muscle. Click to learn how you can rapidly build muscle and burn fat at the same time.

Mike Westerdal is the founder of Critical Bench, Inc. A free online weight training magazine.

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Tags: Andropause, Suffering

Boris Sheiko is a Russian bodybuilding coach and renowned powerlifting expert. Several of his trainees have won national and international competitions. Along the path to prominence in the powerlifting world he developed his own training regimen, which came to be known as Sheiko Training.

Boris' training philosophy flies in the face of what most training regimens where you train each muscle group once each week. In contrast to this, Boris believes that frequency and volume performed at low intensities can drive progression and gains. In Sheiko Training, you repeat lifts several times a week, which both improves your form and drives growth. The key though is that the weight must be kept relatively low in order to allow your body sufficient time to recover.

I'll tell you straight up that the program is complex and if you're not into keeping a journal then this is not the plan for you. Measured progress is the underlying principle of Sheiko Training. In Boris' program, frequency refers to the number of days you train a muscle group each week, volume refers to the number of reps you for each muscle group and intensity refers to the weight-specifically, the percentage of your max weight that you're lifting. With so many things to track, you'll need to log your training sessions each week so you can see your improvements.

For the beginner, Sheiko Training can be confusing-especially since it has not been that long since it was first translated from Russian and most of them have been literal translations such as, "Trainings of arresters in the preparatory period." As a result, some of the terms and phrases can be difficult to understand for the layman. Also because its translation to English is relatively recent, it can be a bit tough to find detailed explanations of the program and its philosophies.

Sheiko Training uses percentages to manage your lifting volume. You start low and work your way up, increasing the percentage as you go along. For the beginner, the first bench press set might be 50% of max lift, then 60%, 70% and the finally 75%. Remember that although the weight may be lower than what you're used to doing, you'll be doing more reps (volume) than in a normal workout. In fact, with Sheiko training you may be going anywhere between 850 - 1000 reps each month, sometimes more.

In addition, there are three periods in Sheiko Training: the preparatory period where the foundation is established, the emulative period, which is more advanced and the transitive period, which prepares you to renew the cycle again. During the preparatory period volume is higher and intensity lower. Conversely, during the emulative period, intensity is higher but volume lower. And finally, during the transitive period, volume, intensity and the number of weekly workouts are all reduced in order to give the body time to recuperate.

There are a lot of different Sheiko Training templates to choose from depending on your level of familiarity with the program. Most Sheiko experts recommend that beginners start with training routine #29. This is a three day a week program that will help you get accustomed to Sheiko. This routine has you doing about 964 lifts (reps) per month.

As you progress through the templates things get tougher. For instance, in Sheiko Training template #37, the total number of reps for the month is 1093. Gains are also achieved by increasing the weight (percentage of max lift) lifted in the templates. Because of the complexity of the routines-keeping track of all those percentages and lifts can be a real chore, some guys have taken the time to make spreadsheets that automatically calculate the appropriate percentages for you, based on the one-rep max you enter.

Opinions on Sheiko training run to extremes. Some guys swear that they've made incredible gains following Boris' training templates with others saying that it's just too complicated and that any gains they made are negligible. Keep in mind though that because Sheiko Training is relatively unknown here in the United States, there really isn't enough information out there to say that the program isn't really effective.

Also, remember that the Russians have long been known for their expertise and success in developing some of the world's most powerful lifters and if you take the time to read the science behind Boris' training philosophy you'll see that he knows what he's talking about. So given that, I definitely believe that we'll be seeing and hearing more about Sheiko Training in the future.

ATTENTION! FOR "SKINNY GUYS WHO CAN'T GAIN WEIGHT" : Are you following the so called "experts" advice and still not gaining the muscle weight you want?" At Last... Mike Westerdal Has Unlocked The Secrets of Gaining Weight Fast. Learn Exactly How To Overcome Your SKINNY-GENES and how to gain muscle weight fast.

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Tags: Routine, Sheiko, Training

Nutrition and training expert John Parrillo is an innovator who has been on the cutting edge of bodybuilding for more than two decades. His ideas go against conventional wisdom and have been hailed as revolutionary by some and dismissed by others. Some people think he's an exercise and nutrition genius who knows more about maximizing muscle growth and losing body fat than just about anyone else around, while others think he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. In any case, John was among the first to embrace the idea of Super Hybrid Muscle. In fact, he was really the first one to develop the first hybrid training system.

More than 15 years ago he caught on to the idea of Super Hybrid Muscle and began having his bodybuilders doing really high intensity cardio. John realized that by doing this, his guys were actually altering the composition of their muscle fibers. He called this form a resistance training the "100 rep extended set," saying that it helped the body to construct more mitochondria-the muscles' "cellular blast furnaces," while also increasing muscular growth by developing the circulatory pathways that provide nourishment to the muscles. As the cellular blast furnaces, mitochondria are extremely important to muscle because they're the energy-supplying systems of the muscle cells.

Every muscle has a certain number of mitochondria-the more mitochondria in the muscle, the greater its potential for growth. So by forcing the body into creating more mitochondria, you're setting the stage for big increases muscle strength, stamina and endurance. Ordinary muscle fibers are either built for strength or endurance-not really for both. By forcing the body to increase the number of mitochondria in the muscle cells, you're also causing a metamorphosis that converts ordinary muscle fiber into Super Hybrid Muscle fiber. And not only that, but a human body loaded with mitochondria is far less likely to accumulate body fat than a body with fewer mitochondria.

While researching ways in which to reconfigure the composition of muscle fiber, John realized that the answer could be found in the past. Looking back, he realized that prolonged, intense physical effort causes a working muscle to build additional mitochondria, resulting in big gains in muscle strength and stamina. Part of this realization came from looking at railroad workers from the 1860s. These guys would lay track all day long using a 4-pound sledgehammer developing powerful arms, forearms and shoulders loaded with mitochondria, strength and endurance. But because their legs weren't being exercised as intensely, they stayed the same.

So basically, John's 100 Rep Giant Set training routine recreates this kind of super intense, prolonged workout.

Here's how it works. You start by picking a single muscle group, doing 20 reps of an exercise, then launch right into 20 reps of the next exercise. Immediately after that, you do 20 reps of another exercise, followed by 2 more sets of 20 reps each of two different exercises. There is no rest allowed between the 20-rep sets. At the end of all this, you've done a total of 100 reps, almost sequentially. Now you can rest for no more than 1 minute before starting the whole cycle again, repeating it at least 2-3 times total.

That is one hell of a tough workout - especially when you realize that you've just done 200-300 reps for a single muscle. In a normal workout, even on a high rep day, most guys aren't going to even hit 100 for a single muscle. The important thing to remember here is that the workout needs to be intense. You don't want to be screwing around wasting time by not making it challenging. At the same time though, you don't want to start out with a weight that's too heavy because once you start, you need to commit to finishing with the same weight. No drop sets here.

You can do 100 Rep Giant Sets for any body part-you're not limited to just certain muscle groups. You can also do it whether you use machines or free weights but you'll always get the best results from free weights because they force each limb to carry its fair share of the total weight, requiring each muscle to perform equally, making free weights far better muscle-building tools than machines. You should do the 100 Rep Giant Sets once or twice a week, rotating body parts for about eight weeks.

If you tell most bodybuilders that you're going to be doing 100-rep sets to build strength, stamina and size, they're likely to ask if you've gone out of your flipping mind. Most hardcore bodybuilders reject this philosophy entirely because it runs directly contrary to the all-known logic - fewer repeats, bigger weights - equals bigger muscle growth.

Even though the path to getting there is a bit different, the underlying principle and ultimate goals of 100 Rep Giant Sets and Lean Hybrid Muscle training are the same. Both rely on grueling workouts that combine resistance training and cardio activities to force the body to increase the number of mitochondria to build Super Hybrid Muscle.

Get my free report entitled, The Warrior Physique - Building The Super Hybrid Muscle. Click to learn how you can rapidly build muscle and burn fat at the same time.

Mike Westerdal is the founder of Critical Bench, Inc. A free online weight training magazine.

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Tags: Giant, Training