If I was in the WWF, this is the song I would use for my entrance music. BRUTAL AND AWESOME. Like me.

Well, I was supposed to lift Friday. I say supposed to, as I did some attempts IN THE WARMUP ROOM. My damn hip shit out to the point that I made it about 6 warmup reps in before deciding that it wasn’t going to happen. Hit 710, which was 170lbs under my opener, and the fact it nearly brought tears to my eyes kind of made the decision for me. Kind of sucks, but what can you do? Alva and some of the other dudes noticed i looked like shit and was favoring it heavily, so I decided that the 100 bucks I spent to weigh in and do some reps in the back was value enough for me. Hell with it.

After talking to some guys, it seems that this is an injury that is going to take a few months of no squatting to heal. Time to take a step back, look at some things, see what I can do, and get after it. Once I have the plan 100% figured out Ill post it up. Plan for now is simple, get healthy and get after it. Going to spend some time figuring out what I can and cant do and go from there. Planning on a trip to see my buddy Mike Robertson soon as well, as he is a genius with these things.

On the positive side, Claire had an awesome first meet. She totaled 660, which, after the abomination that Thursday into Friday morning was is impressive. Rather than go on a tirade about the “meet hotel” and the miscommunication about the weighins, Ill just say that we had a good weekend, and she was happy with her first meet.

Definitely had a good time seeing old friends and making new ones. Went to outback 49873 times over the weekend because Carroll is on Baller status. Got to hang out with him and Ria, Josh McMillan and all 485 of his training partners and their groupies, Caslow, ALL of OBB EXCEPT Jo Jordan, and others of our ilk. Met Kiefer too. Hes a smartass. Fits right in.

Want to say thanks to Alva for driving 3 hours and staying in a shit hole hotel to watch me do some warmups, LeighAn for some anti inflammatory type stuff, Claire for letting me run around like an idiot all weekend, and Dave and Jim for all of the help and support, as well as you guys reading this and giving me an outlet to make an ass of myself, talk some training, and bitch about how awful I am. I appreciate it more than you guys realize. Thank You.

This article by Bob Youngs was originally posted at EliteFTS.com Reposted with permission.

I have now been staring at my computer screen for 30 minutes. I know what I want to say, I just don’t know how to say it. I’m not very good at self promotion and I’m trying to write an article that promotes my book. I guess I should start at the beginning. Dave Tate encouraged me to write a book about my fight with leukemia. About half way through, I thought the book was terrible and wanted to just stop. Dave said to keep going and if nothing else I could just give it to my friends and family as a kind of thank you. So, I finished the book. I poured my heart and soul into it and I’m very proud of the finished product. But, I still wasn’t sure if it was any good. So, I figured I would send it to my close friends and family as Dave had originally proposed and see how it was received. I sent out this email along with the book after the second edit:

Dear Family and Friends,

I just got back from doing something I thought I would never do. I just walked 10 miles. I had set the goal for myself and went out and did it. I’m not going to lie, it flat out sucked, but I did it. I am going to attach an early copy of the book I have written. I looked back and on this date last year I was in a coma. Only three days earlier they had read me my Last Rights. What a difference a year can make.

I want you all to know that the letter to my family and friends at the end is about all of you. You have all touched my life in a way that has helped shape who I am. You are all a part of my family. I am here to write this today because you believed in me. So, please enjoy the book and let me know what you think. We still probably have another month or so before the final version is ready for sale.

As far as the update, life is good. No, life is great. As you will see from the book it took me a long time to get to a point where I was at peace with everything I went through. I am currently spending a lot of time getting into good physical shape. I should start taking my Six Sigma Black Belt Management class next month. Michele is doing well. She is working as the Vice President of Default Servicing at Bank United. She has been very busy with work, but I am very proud of how much responsibility she is taking on. Christopher is doing well. He made the Honor Roll to end the school year. He is currently going to Summer Camp at his Elementary School and loving it. He is very much his Father’s son and has the stubborn streak to prove it. But, he is a great kid and we are getting to spend a lot of time together.

I hope this finds all of you doing well. I look forward to the next time we get to see each other.

Cover of the new book from Bob Youngs

It didn’t take long for me to start getting responses back. I knew everyone would probably tell me it was good. Who among your friends and family would tell you a book about fighting leukemia and winning sucks? But, the responses I received blew me away. I received very lengthy emails about how the book had caused them to look hard at their own lives and re-think what really is important to them. I thought the book might actually be okay at this point. Here are some of the messages I received. I’ll leave them as anonymous quotes:

* “Very powerful mate! This will help a lot of people.”
* “I just finished reading your book and I must tell you I don’t think I have ever read anything like it in my life. I really respect the way you let it all out and have such respect for yourself and your feelings for others.”
* “Your book made me realize that I can’t change people and that I need to change my perspective on things. We spend so much time wasting quality time on dumb shit that before you know it time is up.”
* “I had tears in my eyes during 3/4 of your book.”
* “The book was extremely thought provoking. Not just because it was you, but because it was a man like me. It brought many messages home, made me think.”

But, I still wasn’t sure if the book would have an appeal to people who didn’t really know me. So, I had to go out on a limb and have some people who were not close to me read it. I sent it to some people who had written books of their own and asked for their opinion. Here is some of the response I received:

* “I am very blessed to have been sent a copy of your book. I devoured it in one (long) sitting last night.”
* “Wow. Incredible. I’ve never met you and I’ve never spoken with you. But now I feel like I know you and your incredible fiancée: to open your hearts and souls and spill those innermost thoughts is a hell of a helpful thing for the rest of us. Thanks for the kick in the gut about acting upon the important things in life – friends, family and making a difference.”
* “Your book really opened my eyes to what is important in life!”
* “I had to keep reminding myself that you live in the end. What an incredible story.”

So, I thought I might actually have a book that people would enjoy. More importantly I was discovering that the book was really causing people to look at their own lives. I was then asked to play in a company poker game by a friend of mine who owns a Military supply company (www.buysourceone.com). The majority of the employees are either former military or law enforcement personnel. We got on the subject of my book and many of them wanted to read the book. I figured it would be another good chance to get some feedback. Here are some of the responses I received:

* “I very quickly developed a lump in my throat. My God what resolve!!”
* “Your strength and attitude are incredible.”
* “It’s very rare that a book moves me like yours did. Job well done!”
* “Once I got started, I just couldn’t put the book down.”

Now comes the hard part for me. The book will be available as an e-book on EFS. I’m still not sure how it will be received. I think there is something in there for everyone. I was very lucky to get some of my good friends to help me with the project. Alwyn Cosgrove and Dave Tate both wrote Forwards for the book. They stood next to me during the whole time I was fighting leukemia and never wavered in their support of me. To say their Forwards are moving is an understatement. I have also included three Appendices at the end that cover a lot of powerlifting and training info. I hope you enjoy the book as much as those who have read it so far.

Get Bob’s book at EliteFTS.com

Photo by phillipmak

Barefoot Jump Rope
75 jumps

Lax Ball work
Focusing on QL injury site

Flat DB Presses
30×8
40×8
50x3x8

Cable crossover
40x3x12

Pullups
30 total reps

DD Handle pullups
30 total reps

DB Shrugs
45×20
100x2x12
115x3x8

Fat Gripz bodyweight hangs from Chinup bar
4×10 second holds

Sand bucket
2×10 reps each hand

Done. back is still feeling good and jacked up, but not in a bad way at all. I think I’m going to keep doing a bunch of chins and pullups until I get to the point i can do 100 in a workout, or get bored of them. Whichever is first. Shrugs will stay unti I get some traps. May be a while. hahaha I really had fun with todays workout though, and hope that the oher workouts, this week and next, are as effective. I can feel my back starting to get sore now, so hopefully that is a good sign!

Sorry guys for the total lack of updates from me. I trained last week, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You’ve already seen Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was, quite possibly, my worst day in the gym I can remember. i did manage to set 2 PRs however. Injuries.

Started with the standard warmup as far as jumprope, soft tissue mobilization, and stretching, and proceeded to box jumps. Was jumping on a 37″ box. On what was literally the last jump, I missed it, and fell off, landing on my shit arm. My elbow still feels like shit, and my shoulder makes a grinding noise that wasn’t there before. It hurts too. Injury number one.

After a few minutes to get the feeling back in my arm/hand, went ahead and continued on to deadlifts. Started at 135, and worked up to 705. Was going to try to pull it for a couple of reps. About knee high on the first rep, my grip went, and something in my back popped. Injury number 2. At this point, I just quit for the day.

Thursday, the back literally kicked my ass, from the time I woke up. It didn’t feel bad, when i woke up. Got up to piss and get a dip, and as soon as I stood up out of bed, it locked up and literally put me on the floor. Awesome. NOT. Gimped around in pain all day until about 330 that afternoon. Went over to IFAST, where a buddy of mine, Mike Robertson works. For those of you who aren’t aware of Mike, you should be. He is a rehab/corrective guy, and his stuff is AMAZING. He and his partner Bill Hartman were a HUGE help to me when my hips were so jacked up I coudlnt squat to parallel with less than 405lbs, and I figured that perhaps he could help with my back. He did. After about 20 minutes of talking, “ghetto” ART (his term), and some lacrosse ball work, I went from being able to bend over to where I could touch my knees with my finger tips (about 6″ ROM) to being able to touch my toes with minimal discomfort. He also told me that I have injured something in my QL, and should be better in about 2 weeks. So that’s what I have been dealing with here, injury and training wise. Good times.

Monster Milk by Cytosport

This is the first of what hopefully becomes a list of reviews. There are two reasons that I do this. The first one is for my personal training clients. I have a lot of younger athletes that come in, and, unfortunately, kids are seriously swayed by the advertising they see. They ask me all the time my thoughts and input on a HUGE range of supplements. Huge! It also happens that the same kids that I am training are also asking about a product they saw in a magazine. The second part of this is purely selfish. For whatever reason, as long as I have been lifting weights, I have had an almost obscene obsession with supplements. My views on them have changed quite a bit, but I am still really interested in the industry. Sometimes they pan out, sometime they dont.

I bought this Monster Milk – Monster Muscle Formula – Cookies n’ Creme at the GNC in the mall here in town. But wait, Jason, you hate GNC! You’re right, I do. I was in a pinch, and didn’t have the days to wait for some shipping. Also had some stuff coming from another company already. The Monster Milk was “On Sale” for 35 bucks for 2 pounds. This was the cheapest that they had in the store. And now, I know why. At least I think I do. It was kind of surprising, as I remember being a fan of the original Muscle Milk.

Individual product specs aside, there were some things that I HATED about this, and the reason I give it the review that I am. First, and for nearly everyone, was the taste. While the label promised it would “taste like a REAL milkshake” I fund the opposite to be true, unless you are into gasoline flavored milkshakes. okay, i did use a bit of exaggeration here, its not quirte gasonline, but it is chemical. I don’t know specifically WHAT caused this taste, I think it was the MCTs in it, but it was an overpowering chemical taste. Absolutely awful. Wondering if it was just my palate, I mixed it a few different ways. I used milk, and I used water. Used a lot and a little od both of them. I used more powder, and I used less. Every time, the same result. Sweet flavor dominated by a nasty chemical taste.

Mixability was also a big issue with Monster Milk. Monster Milk was actually able to defeat my Blender Bottle with Shaker Ball
. This is a first, ever, and I have had these blender bottles for almost 4 years. I seriously think that these could blend raw meat. They’re awesome. That being said, Monster Milk showed them who was boss. I tried using room temp water, hoping that would improve its ability to mix up. Nope. No change. I even sat and shook one shaker cup full of the stuff for literally 3 minutes. STILL had clumps. In this day and age of instantized proteins, this is ridiculous. I thought maybe it was due to the product being compressed inside the scoop, so I just limp wristed a scoopful. Same thing. CLUMPS.

The nutrient profile was the one redeeming factor in my eyes. 25 grams of good protein a scoop, and only 2 grams of sugar. Actually has fiber in it too, which was nice. That’s about it though. I eat well enough and with enough variety I dont worry about the vitamin or mineral content of the product. It also has aminogen in it, which is an enzyme that helps digest protein. This is always nice, especially if you are eating TONS of protein. Muscle Milk also contains Creatine in the form of Kre Alkalyn. The amount per serving is only a gram though, so I dont think it would really make a noticable difference.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed in this supplement, and the purchase in general. I know that it was only 35 bucks, but still. This product just didnt do anything for me, outside of having an impressive label. All told, however, I wouldnt recommend this to anyone. The taste and mixability were bad, and I just cant justify dropping another 35-60 bucks to find out if i just got “a bad can.” Sorry Cytosport. Only going to get me once.

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know there are a lot of things going on here. Be patient with me, as I really have no idea about programming and stuff on the backend of the site here. I’m sure that you will run into things that don’t work, and might not look right. Fear not, I’m working on it!

Jason