How I Got Jacked, and How You Can Too Part 1 12/84

I wanted to write a post about my background in this field and what I've done so that I can look and perform the way I do today. This post is not meant for me to try and brag, and I almost didn't write it because I didn't want it to come off that way. But I think it would be good for you guys to see that I am a product on my own methodologies and I put what I preach into practice every day. I also don't just want to talk about what I currently do, but what I've done for the past few years to get where I am. This first half is more along those lines, what I did before to get me to where I am now because that is where most people are going to need to start. You can't jump right into what I'm doing and expect the same results. It has been years of hard work to allow me to what I do now.

First and foremost, the biggest factor that got me to my current frame of 6'4" and 245 pounds is my parents. I pretty much owe everything to them because I ended up with some pretty good genetics. So shout out to my Mom and Dad for that one. BUT, I also picked up a barbell for the first time when I was 13, which means at the time of writing this post I've been lifting for 13 years. Granted, the first few years were probably a huge waste of time but still, the point is that I've been working out for a while and all of that potentially wasted time still compounds.

High school was when I got into lifting for real for volleyball and soccer and also when I got my first gym membership. I took to bodybuilding initially because that was all I knew and, let's be serious, getting huge is all any high school kid in the weight room wants to do. I also focused a lot getting my vertical up for volleyball which meant lots of squats, jumping and trying to get my core really strong.

By the time I got to college and started my Exercise Science Degree I was about 200 pounds which was already heavier than the average volleyball player. At Ball State I went 100% into the health and fitness lifestyle. To be totally honest, I went crazy for a while there. We had mandatory weights for volleyball and I was so hooked that most days I would hit up the rec center at night and lift again. So in the A.M. we did squats, snatches, RDLs, presses and regular athlete training programs. Then, at night I would go and work on the areas that I wanted to like chest and biceps. Keep in mind I also had 2 hours practices most days of the week as well. I taught myself how to track calories in a notebook and started recording everything I ate. I got my body fat down to 5%, which was my goal because I told myself that the lower I could get, the less weight I would have to move around to play volleyball. The only problem was that I wasn't eating enough food and I could barely make it through a practice. Eventually, that thought clicked over in my brain and started eating more and, of course, started playing better. My weight went up from there and I ended school around 215-220 pounds and still lean as hell.

Once I graduated, I took that next step and went even further. For the first time in 4 years I was able to program my own workouts and didn't have to worry about 7:00am practices. I started Intermittent Fasting and took up Weightlifting and basic CrossFit workouts. I also started reading tons of information from guys like Jason Ferruggia and Dan John and learned how they programmed for athletes to get them jacked and strong. From doing IF and focusing on getting strong I started to gain muscle and stay shredded. I was lean and mean and started getting way stronger. At that point, my #1 goal was to squat over 400 pounds since I finished college with a PR of 385. Even after The Arsenal opened up and I was doing CrossFit full time, I was still doing the Smolov squat program 4 times a week (side note, people love to mess with Smolov but don't do it. It's not meant for you, it's meant for dudes taking lots of PEDs who already squat a ton. I had no business doing it either). That program blasted me up to a 430 squat, my first 5 plate deadlift and I packed on a ton of mass on my legs and back. CrossFit on off-days helped my keep my upper body in balance as well. At his point my weight was up to probably 230 and still single digit body fat.  I continued CrossFit and Olympic lifting for about 3 years but I was never going as hard into CF as a lot of my friends. Although I did it every day, I was always more focused on strength and size than a lot of the people I trained with. I believed that getting bigger and stronger was more important than my engine and needed more focus.

So let's look at what a training program like that would look like. CrossFit is all about functional movements, so we did squats, deadlifts, presses, and pulling as well as cardio like running and rowing. We did  gymnastics exercises like muscle up and climbing ropes. I also took a second session every day just for Olympic Lifting work. Sometimes that stuff was meant to increase strength, and sometimes it was meant as conditioning. Although I don't do quite as much conditioning anymore, that is still the foundation of how I train and how I train people. We focus on getting strong and building muscle in the gym and losing fat with food. That's the big takeaway of Part 1. Start with the basics like I did in high school. Learn how to squat to parallel, learn how to keep your back flat on a deadlift, get your core super strong. Don't worry as much about the sick pump and just get strong. Even if you're trying to lose weight, the fat will fall off from focusing on those basic things. Once you have the basics down, KEEP DOING THEM. Like forever. That's why they're the basics. Change things up from time to time with different goals but there are certain things that every program should include.

This post was a little different but hopefully you got something from it. Part 2 will be more on what I do now and how I came to decide to train that way. Don't forget, if you want to be the first to hear about new posts, new programs, and get discounts on paid services, make sure to leave your email in the space above and join my Newsletter list! The list is growing rapidly so don't miss out!

See you tomorrow!

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