After discussing this with the DVD producer and actually having to convince him this is the best idea for what I want to accomplish, he came around and agrees that it is, as well. I also spoke with my wife and after her initial “what the fuck are you thinking???” she understood and agreed that it was the best decision, too. I don’t need to consult with anyone else because this is my gig and between me, my DVD producer (as he will be doing just as much work, if not more, than I will on this project) and my wife.
The decision has been made and the details are worked out and everything is planned and rolling.
We are going to release the DVD – Longevity, for free but not on DVD or disc in the traditional sense. We are setting up a mini-site based off of the TEAMSKIP.net site that will be exclusive for the DVD. Please understand that we are not cutting any corners or giving up on quality or making ANY exceptions with this decision. It will be the DVD but it won’t be on disc, it will be on it’s own site for all to access for free. Why?? A few very good reasons.
First, I was not and am not doing this DVD to make a profit. Money is cool and all but my motivation for doing this DVD was for more exposure for my name and to get my thoughts out there to as many people as possible. It occurred to me that if I sell it, some won’t buy it and those “some” won’t see it. That isn’t what I want. I want as many people to have access to this information as possible so giving it away is the easiest way to do that.
Also, I have more clients outside of the US than I do inside the US so I am told that there are different formating issues with DVDs in some countries so selling a DVD to potential customers overseas may not work anywhere near as well as I would have wanted it to – limiting people from seeing it, yet again, even if they DID want to buy it.
Keep in mind that we were not going to make the price of the DVD very high, anyway, because I wasn’t too concerned with profiting from it. So, overseas shipping could potentially cost ME money to get it to so many people that would order it outside of the US. I don’t care about making money on this project but I damned sure don’t want to lose it, either. If any of you have ever sent something overseas, customs and the paper work can be a bitch to deal with, as well.
The end result was my decision to get this DVD to as many people as possible and this is the best way to do that – by having it distributed from the TEAMSKIP.net site, having a mini-site just for the DVD.
We are currently discussing the best way to release and distribute the chapters as I am very much wanting to release something like a big chapter every week or a couple smaller chapters a week, etc.. A lot of this decision will be based on what we project the traffic to be to the site, the bandwidth used, memory, etc., because there is going to be a LOT of video, obviously. We will be careful to make decisions that allow the information to be accessible without having any issues or problems with the site and the quality of the video, etc..
We still plan to launch the site and start posting chapters by the last day of August but stay tuned because even when things go well with projects like this, things happen and dates get pushed back a little bit. At this point, though, things are set to be on target for a release date of September 1st. If anything changes, I will update here in my blog.
I hope this information is exciting to you because I am pretty pumped about getting this released and I hope that everyone is excited about the DVD being free and so easily accessible.
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And the show has come and gone. The older you get and the more shows you do the more anti-climactic they become. Example: I am standing off stage waiting for the guy in front of me to finish his routine for the night show so that I can go on and I am talking with the expediter (friend of mine) about guns, his job, how we are going to work together for his off season, etc, and then I notice the MC is introducing me so I have to get out there.

I had a lot of people support me for this show and a lot of people asking about how it went so I figured this would be the easiest way to not only recap what I did this time, my focus and goals, but I am providing a video clip of prejudging instead of pics because the pics came out so bad.
First, I want to say that I was very pleased with the package that I presented. It was an incredibly easy prep – easier than any other prep I have ever done. As most of you know, I didn’t plan to do this show until after I got done filming the training footage for the DVD and figured that with my weight just under 210, I was in pretty good condition being only about 7 weeks from the show. I told myself that if it remained easy and fun I would continue getting leaner and leaner and do the state show here. Competing locally my kids get to come and be a part of the show and that is important to me. When traveling it is just too stressful and expensive to take all of the kids along.
This year I did very little cardio (5 days at 30 minute sessions) with the exception of 3 weeks where I added an extra 30 minute session on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I only did that for 3 weeks because I was getting lighter too quickly so I backed back off to only 5, 30 minute sessions. My diet was very simple and I actually kept carbs in this year for 2 of my meals, plus postworkout, even during the last week of prep. I did lower my fat intake by switching to only chicken and egg whites (half and half for each meal) for the last 4 weeks. However, I was still getting clean fats in the form of natural peanut butter and nuts with 3 meals a day. I think the only time I was ever hungry was the weekend before the show for about 3 days before the final load.
I loaded for 2 full days and I loaded until I was blue in the face. I have the progression pictures from the last week and will likely post them after getting them organized but for now I am only posting the video from prejudging. I went from an incredibly flat 197 to 210 over a two day load. I weighed in at 208 but that is a little misleading as I was still drinking water and that sort of thing on Friday night. Still, the point is that I was full and much bigger than I had ever been on stage and was a heavyweight for the first time, ever.
Now, I need to mention that being a heavyweight to ME is something I am very proud of and have been striving for, for a long time. In my mind, you just can’t be a small dude if you are a heavy. I don’t care if you are only a few pounds into the heavies – you have the heavyweight label and that means you are big, in my mind. So, it was something I was and am proud of after so many years to finally be able to move up a class to the heavies.
My condition? It wasn’t typical “Skip condition”. I wasn’t ripped to the bone at the expense of size and fullness. Last year, after I dipped into the lightheavies for the Jr USAs and then didn’t have enough time to fill out, I decided that I didn’t like that look – what with looking emaciated and being so lean that I was getting “old guy skin”. You know – when you get so fucking lean that your skin is so thin it looks like it loses elasticity? I didn’t like the look and I don’t think it looks healthy. Plus, it looks ….. well ….. old.
The plan this year was to come in full as shit and look BIG and, yes, I knew this might mean giving up some of my condition that I am known for. I figured if I give up 10% I am still going to be as ripped as anyone else up there and still likely leaner than almost everyone. After looking at some of the pics and video (it all isn’t in yet as of this blog only one day after the show) it appears that I likely gave up more like 20% with conditioning but I still don’t care because I think most anyone looking at the pics or video (or if you saw me on stage) will say that it was a fair trade – a bit of conditioning for fullness. I figured if I am going into the heavies I will be damned if I am going to get pummeled on size. Quite frankly, I think I held my own and the feedback that I have gotten (and from trusted sources) says the same thing.
Now, the placings could have been better but ….. as cliche as it sounds, I compete to win and I prepare to win but I don’t live and die by what a panel of judges says on a given day. At the end of the day I drug my 4th place open trophy and my 2nd place masters trophy home with my kids and my wife to my beautiful home driving in my big yellow tractor and I went out with friends that came out to support me instead of friends that want to hang out with me because I am some faux internet celebrity. The latter being another blog I will get to in the next week or two.
With the exception of the Jr USAs last year, this was my lowest placing ever at a state level show. At the same time, I couldn’t have been more proud to have brought a package that I have not ever brought to a weight class that I have never competed in until this weekend. I was so full that I watered over only 3 hours post show. lol I hadn’t even left the restaurant after the show before my ankles and calves started taking on water. How close is THAT??? And I also decided not to use a diuretic, at all.
I am sure I am going to get the guys that say “Skip showed up and wasn’t as tight as he usually is” but …. I can do that most any time as I have proven so many times before. What I HAVE NOT ever done until this last weekend is show up so fucking full that my skin was going to split (or at least it FELT like it). I enjoy pushing the envelope and seeing how far I can push my body to produce a look that I haven’t yet achieved. Will I go back to just showing up peeled? I don’t know. I have been to the point that I don’t know if I could get any leaner so …… where is the challenge in that?? Do I go in next time as a middle?? Whatever I do it will have to be a challenge or I won’t do it. I get bored easily and I learn nothing from doing the same thing over and over. I also did a LOT of different things with my Skiploading including increased fat intake and loading for 2 days like I mentioned previously. I don’t know where to go from here but ….. it has only been one day. In all honesty the only direction I DO know I will be going tomorrow is straight to CJs Chicago Dogs for some chili cheese dogs with my kids for lunch. If I show up with chili on my face for the seminar, don’t laugh. I’m a happy man.

The video was choppy the first time I viewed it – like it was loading the entire time. The 2nd time I viewed it, it was fine.

I am going to do a trial run with something that I have been considering for a while, now. It may work and it may not. I may like it and I may not but I want to try it out and see how it goes.
I am going to offer what is essentially an economical TEAM SKIP package for a much lower fee than my usual consulting fees. As most of you know, I am not terribly inexpensive but you do get what you pay for. I teach my clients and answer questions not only with what they are currently doing but even hypotheticals that they may run into or have to deal with down the road. Due to this, when you are done working with me you end up being able to control your own diet, make your own decisions regarding adjustments and continue to progress on your own.
With the lower fee I would simply being offering the same results from the program but it wouldn’t be as involved as to be on a daily basis of consulting. I would set up your diet, supplements and cardio plan and the client would check in once a week and fill out my template and answer questions so that I can make changes for the following week, if need be. It would be more of a “do this for this week” type of set up vs. teaching and answering questions during the consult.
I am offering this primarily for 2 reasons: 1. I never go over X amount of clients at one time so that I can continue to provide my clients with what I feel is the best one-on-one attention from anyone that does what I do and if you ask my clients, they will say the same thing. Adding this program would allow me to work with slightly more people and yet not tap my time so much that anyone would not get the attention they need. 2. It would allow some people that otherwise can’t afford me to be able to work with me. Obviously, it wouldn’t be in the same capacity as a top paying client but it would still provide the results they were looking for and the results that I am known for.
This program is NOT for contest prep, though. It would only be for off season work to get lean or to add muscle mass while staying relatively lean.
My fees for the economy TEAM SKIP program would be less than half of my normal fees.
If you are interested, please contact me at: TEAMSKIP@IntenseMuscle.com and I will send you my information that details the fees and how I work with my clients. I anticipate that these spots are going to fill very quickly and right now I plan to only take on 4-5 clients in this capacity to see how it works out. I will take inquiries starting asap and lock down these spots but I won’t start working with these new clients under this program until July 19th due to a high level of commitments next week. I will not take on more than these 4-5 clients in this capacity until I can evaluate and see whether this is something that I want to continue or not.
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There have been some changes that have come around in regards to the DVD and it’s release. I am in the process of finalizing a few HUGE decisions about what is going to take place and I think that if things pan out the way I want them to, this week or into next week, my decisions are going to be a HUGE hit with anyone interested in the release of the information on my DVD, Longevity.
Yeah, it sounds like a teaser but it really isn’t. I am just being fair by letting everyone that is interested in the release of my DVD know that by next week there may be an announcement that will not only speed things up with the release (of what is looking like a double disc set) but make it incredibly cost effective, as well. In fact, it may well end up being free. You heard me right: FREE.
More details to come as these decisions still need to be made but I do believe that I am going to get my way …. because ….. I always do.
Stay tuned …..

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Busy, busy, busy …..
I wanted to check in and let everyone know how things are going with ….. well …. everything.
First, training with Jimmy is winding down this next week. We finish training on Friday and he flies home for a couple days and then straight to camp in Minnesota. Camp actually starts this week, Tuesday, but he will be reporting a week from tomorrow. The time always goes by so fast – I hate to see it come to an end. However, this year I will be going out there for some games and he is coming back for a bit over the summer late June or so just to hang out.
We were going to be in Arizona for the weekend but we both just had too much to do and felt guilty going. It would have interfered with the last training session on Friday being filmed, too, and I didn’t want that to be an issue, obviously.
Which brings me to the filming: Everything is going well and we will finish filming the training footage this Friday, as well. It is a BITCH – a ton of work and trying, at times, to get everything the way we want it. Example: Chest, shoulders and tris took just over 3 hours last Monday. Um, that is a long session. When the training footage is done then I can start on what I think is going to be FAR more fun and that is the casual, fun footage and the other chapters where I do more talking and instruction, etc.. I actually got a jump on that today as it was a beautiful day and we were meeting some friends for a refeed day of food. It was a lot of fun.
Training is going well but I am long overdue for a deload week. I was to deload 3 weeks ago but I don’t do that when Jimmy s in town – just the way it is. We have training to tend to and so I deload the week before he gets here and the second he leaves but nothing in between. This one will have stretched for 8 weeks with the last 2 being filming weeks, as well. I am incredibly beat up going into the last week. I am going to have to be careful, for sure. My condition is decent at a baseline before the refeed today of 207. Not sure if I want to go any lower as I feel great at this weight and I have been playing with different refeed/loads, etc.. It is resembling more of a shitload the last few weeks and has been working well. I had to change up the low fat due to having ongoing hyperglycemic issues on refeed days and a complete lack of appetite only on these days and I am convinced the two were related. Since making this change, that I will likely go into more detail in the video, things are going much better.
Otherwise, I am looking forward to getting back to normal after this week and plan to be back in the groove for some more blog work.
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This is kind of a spin off of a topic that came up on my board, IntenseMuscle.com, earlier today and I thought it would be a good idea to touch on here.
If you have spent any time in the gym you have almost certainly encountered the Jersey Shore guys that don’t know what the fuck they are doing. They might be benching or curling or super-setting both, but they are hardly going to be training legs or doing deads. I think it is an unwritten rule that after seeing this, most of us feel compelled to get together and make fun of them by pointing out the stupid shit they were doing and how they have their heads up their asses, etc.. After a lengthy conversation amongst our super-knowledgeable friends that NEVER have been in that situation before, we just kind of laugh it off and shake our heads – as if they are such sillies. They must envy the rest of us because we obviously have all of the answers about how to train, get big, get ripped, etc..
Some of the things that they need to be picked on for are things like curling in the squat rack and doing too many cable movements while avoiding the heavy basics. Doing countless sets of bench press and curls but only training legs with a couple sets of leg curls and leg extensions warrants being berated, as well.
And God forbid they ask you a question about training or diet. I mean, who in THE FUCK do THEY think THEY are talking to, ANYWAY???? BITCH, I AM TRYING TO TRAIN HERE!!! I AM AN ANIMAL AND ANIMALS DON’T FUCKING TALK WHILE THEY TRAIN!!! Of course, these comments are never actually spoken but rather these are the responses that are retold over and over when the story is repeated for their brends (bro friends) later in the day. Yes, I combined two words into one trying to be funny and it didn’t work. Hey, they can’t all be gems, alright? My point is that rarely does anyone tell someone else to fuck off when they get asked a question in a nice way no matter how hardcore that person pretends to be so keep your stupid stories to yourself. Not impressed.
Here is the bitch of the irony here people: You are laughing at the Jersey Shore guys and shaking your heads but …. let’s be real here: They are likely nowhere near as dysfunctional as you are, laughing at them. See, they don’t live for the gym and they don’t stress over the exact exercise to do and the exact rep range and follow it up with a stretch while counting breaths, etc.. They don’t race through traffic to be on time for a meal and they aren’t going to pass on fucking their girlfriend for fear they might “go catabolic” from the added cardio. And please, please read this one as it is pretty important: They are likely pulling far more ass than you are. Now, this is where you kind of laugh and deny this but I say it is true most of the time. Those kids have fun in the gym and even though they don’t know what they are doing, they don’t care to. If they did, they would research it, talk to people, get a plan and do it in the very OCD way that the rest of us do it and you would give the meathead nod to them as you pass – still not speaking any words because that isn’t hardcore. No, they are going to get a little pump in the chest and bis and when they go out with their girl for dinner they aren’t going to count calories and they aren’t going to have to hold back a vicious fart while having sex, either. They are NORMAL people. Normal people don’t do what we do so picking on them doesn’t make any sense.
So, my advice to anyone that wants to pick on others in the gym? Ask yourself why you aren’t paying more attention to your own training, first. Second, remind yourself that you are half fucking nuts to live this lifestyle, anyway, and that not everyone cares to be like you no matter how much you think so. And third, if you are asked a question by someone that wants your advice take it as a compliment. No one started out in this game knowing it all. I damned sure didn’t. I stumbled through the gym doing stupid shit – putting myself in harms way and asking every question I could ask of anyone that I thought was big and had something to offer me in the way of wisdom. Lucky for me I wasn’t shot down very often as people back then seemed to want to help so much more than they do today. Not sure where the attitudes changed, either, because in the gym I train in you can get someone’s advice all the time and I don’t train in just any gym, I train at Armbrust Gym in Denver which is arguably the mecca of the midwest. Phil Heath will talk to you for 30 minutes if you get him going and that is DURING his training. I always answer any question that is posed to me unless I am wrapped and getting under the squat bar or something. Otherwise, I will always help when I can because people did that for me when I was starting out.
If you are that douchebag that thinks you are too hardcore to talk to someone while training then I am laughing at you. You are likely kidding yourself and only trying to convince you, and everyone around you, how “hardcore” you are. Bitch is, I think you are the only one that believes it.

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Well, we will just call that a little “hiatus”. Figured I have so much on my brain and so much on my plate that I at least better get in here and update a bunch of things for the people that actually do read my drivel. No, I don’t have anything profound to post this time but things are finally slowing down enough to the point that I will be back in here on a regular basis to give my unsolicited opinions and advice. Thank me later.
First, anyone that owns a legitimate business in this industry knows how tough this time of the year can be. I say “legitimate” because most just pretend to own one – make up a stupid name and then proceed to pretend it is a real business entity. Taxes are very time consuming so to finally get them out of the way for this year is a blessing. Tax note: Obama isn’t big on capitalism. That is all I will say at least publicly.
Second, Jimmy Kennedy arrived last Sunday to train here in Denver with me for 8 weeks. After destroying a Snooze breakfast and moving into his apartment with the company Sissy works for, we are off and running and things are going well aside from the gay waiter singing to him when he served us our pancakes. Jimmy says he didn’t look the waiter in the eye but Jimmy was blushing so …. you make the call. There is nothing more precious than a 110 pound gay man, gayly singing a pancake song to a 6′5″, 330 pound defensive tackle that gets paid to rip your fucking head off and then dance about it. He was a good sport and admittedly, we laughed long and hard (ouch, that didn’t didn’t sound right). I should also note that when the line to be seated at Snooze is around the building it is a really good thing to be an NFL player. It took us about 3 minutes to be seated and the look on the faces of the others that were waiting was not one saying “can I have your autograph”. Secretly, I admit that I was hoping they couldn’t figure out which black guy was the important one.
Third, the DVD is moving along well with test footage out of the way and training footage will start filming in about 5 weeks. We plan to film the training footage for all workouts over a 2 week period. I was holding off and waiting for Jimmy to get to town because most of the training footage will be training with him at Armbrust Gym here in Wheat Ridge, a suburb of Denver. For those that haven’t heard I will be putting out a training and nutrition DVD that will focus on the theme of longevity in this sport. How to train well into your 40s and compete while remaining as injury free as possible, how to work through or around injuries, nutrition and supplementation, advances that I have been working on with skiploading and shitloading as I have gone back to using both instead of just skiploading, etc.. We will be filming the training footage over the last 2 weeks that Jimmy will be here in Denver because he doesn’t want to look like a fat pig in the DVD. I am paraphrasing but you get my point and I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention that little “fat pig” comment if you see him. Remind yourself of your loyalties, here.
Lastly, a “small world” story that I have to throw in here for your entertainment/pleasure: My youngest daughter needed to go to the ER with a pretty bad cut on her thigh last Monday. It was a pretty rough situation and after declining the ambulance I drove her to the hospital, myself. After getting a quick check in we were taken back to a room and the Doctor came in a few minutes later. Nice guy and I told my daughter, Reese, that he looked like he worked out too. The Doctor kind of scoffed, playfully, and said that he “lifted a little”. While he was sewing her leg up we got to chit chatting and he asked what I did and I told him. He looked up kind of quick and said that he had a bunch of certs and yet felt that handing his nutrition and training over to someone else was a Godsend and he asked me if I knew Layne. I said “Layne Norton?” and he said yes. I told him who I was and that I owned IntenseMuscle.com and we both got a laugh out of it. I went on to tell him how much of a steroid and nubain user Layne was but he didn’t seem to care. I even told him he was gay but that didn’t seem to affect him, either. Loyalty can be a bitch, sometimes. My point? Shit, I don’t know. I guess that it is a small world. Either that or I am just REALLY famous – yeah, that must be it.
Lastly, I will be heading to the Colorado Season opener: The Northern Colorado, this Saturday with Jimmy to check that out. Always a good show and he wants to see what a show entails so it should be fun. I always like to see the good peole of the sport but, of course, with the good come the douches. I am sure that I will have to bite my tongue on more than one occasion this weekend. If you are in Boulder this weekend for the show and you see a big, good looking, black man…. it’s me. Jimmy should be close behind, though.
Ahhhh… It’s good to be back…..

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I was speaking with a client earlier today and the topic of genetics came up, yet again. I say “yet again” because the topic has permeated so many conversations, lately, that I figured I might as well hit it again here in my blog. I realize that I have discussed this before but I think that it begs to be discussed again and again so that people get it. I think that most times that genetics are discussed in bodybuilding or weight lifting, it gets shrugged off for whatever reason. Maybe it is simply denial. I don’t really know but it gets frustrating when I try to give someone advice and time after time, when it has to do with genetics, it is discarded with little to no attention paid to it.
I am going to approach it from a different angle….
First and foremost, your genetic potential is predetermined. I don’t care if you want to believe it or not, I am telling you that it is a matter of fact. You will not somehow take some magical supplement or train some new way and surpass your genetic potential. Taking extra things like steroids or other hormones or training efficiently and mastering your nutrition will simply get you to your genetic potential quicker. That being said, as with all things in life, we are all dealt cards that we must play.
If you are familiar with Texas Hold Em you know that everyone is dealt 2 cards, to start. You take a look at those 2 cards and decide if you want to stay in or bail. Sometimes your 2 cards can be obvious to you that it is a great hand and other times you have to take a look at those cards and then take into consideration other factors like how your cards might stack up based on position on the table, what you have to bet, etc.. So, the guy sitting next to you could have a pair of Kings and you have suited connectors. You aren’t beaten by the Kings even though the Kings are a pretty big advantage. You must keep in mind that THERE ARE MORE CARDS STILL TO BE DEALT. You see where I am going here? You should and if you don’t you are one dumb mother fucker.
We all start out on this journey of getting huge, competing, etc, by essentially being dealt 2 cards. I have always considered my starting hand to be about a pair of sixes. In the game of Hold Em, that is only a good hand if you are playing someone straight up. When there are a lot of people at the table, say something like 10 million in gyms all over the country, that pair of sixes ain’t terribly impressive. I say I had a pair of sixes because I did start out young in the gym and came from a sports background so coordination wasn’t too hard to come by in learning how to train and I seemed to grow pretty well from the start but nothing that was going to give me big, purple stretch marks. I was known as the “workout guy” in school. Not too bad but not heading to the Olympia just yet, either.
On the other hand, I think most can relate to the guys that are seen in the gyms that are dealt an A/K suited or even top pair. They don’t have to work too hard and they don’t have to train for long before most people that see them in the gym wish they looked like they do. Bitch is, in the game of Hold Em just as in the game of bodybuilding, you can get your ass handed to you after being dealt top pair by someone that came out of nowhere to put together a hand with 5 more cards.
After you get a chance to look at your 2 cards and decide whether to stay in the game or go home, you get dealt 3 cards all at once called “the flop”. This gives you a MUCH better idea of what your hand is going to be by the end of this game even though the game is far from finished at this point. You now can take the 2 cards you were dealt and then add the other 3 cards to form your 5 card hand.
If the first 2 cards that are dealt are considered your starting hand in this game, then the flop is metaphorically something like the next 5 years in this game or sport we call bodybuilding. The first 5 years of this sport are going to give you a damned good perspective on what your finished hand is going to look like. It isn’t going to tell you EXACTLY what it will look like but it will give you a very good idea of whether you want to stay in, maybe hedge a few bets (most will put this one together) and take a chance on winning it all or simply bow out. Remember, there is also recreational poker to be had. It doesn’t have to always be a huge payout tournament that you play in.
After the flop you will get another card to add to your hand and this is called the Turn Card. How very appropriately this card is named. If you don’t see your position in this game by the turn card, you are holding on for what most consider a chance shot at luck that the last card, the River Card, is going to save your game. It can happen but it doesn’t happen often and is considered relatively rare and lucky. Not many people bet big that the River Card is going to change the game around for them.
In the end, you still have the guys that were dealt the best hands from the start, most likely still in the game with a statistically better chance than everyone else of winning. The numbers don’t lie. However, a well played hand can still win and will quite often. It just depends on how well that person plays that hand, what the flop looks like and whether that person decides to “put it all on the the line” to try to beat the guy with the great starting hand. It is funny, too, because the flop, turn and river cards are all considered “community cards” in Hold Em and that applies to bodybuilding, as well. Everyone has a chance to see what the first 5 years does to their physique and whether continuing is even worth it or logical. Hell, some stay in the game just out of curiosity to see if they can pull it off even when the odds are against them. The difference, here, is that people react differently to the outcome. Some will be pissed that they got beat and didn’t end up with the best hand and others will smile and be content with the fact that they played their hand the very best they could and enjoyed the game. I mean, it isn’t all about winning and losing, is it? Sometimes, people just enjoy playing the game, right?
I was dealt a pair of sixes and I am glad I stayed in the game. I expected 3 more sixes on the flop because I was a dumbass, disillusioned teenager and I was pissed when I saw that the flop was not at all what I expected it to be. In complete honesty, I actually did benefit from the turn card as I got serious only after I saw that Mr Muscleguy in high school wasn’t going to be turning pro training like a giant douche and eating like a kid with a bulging stomach and flies on his eyes waiting for rice to fall from a plane in the sky. (Oh, shut up. It’s my blog and I can be offensive if I want to). My point is that I felt that I had to stay ripped all the time and so my flop turned out shitty. By the time I figured it out my turn card was much more impressive and, arguably, my River Card, as well. Of course, I would like to think I still haven’t been dealt my River Card but … that would just be me denying that I turn 40 in 3 weeks. The River Card has been dealt whether I want to admit it or not.
My advice? Pay attention to the flop and be true to yourself and honest with yourself. You don’t have to have the best hand but you DO have to know the hand you are playing so that you can play it the very best that you can.

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I am going to commit to keeping my blog updated on a regular basis for the next few months even though I have a ton of stuff on my plate from a business standpoint.
Spoke with Jimmy a few days ago and he is slated to be out here to train with me in Denver around the 26th of March and he will plan to be here at least through the end of the first week of May. Obviously, that time can be cut short due to his free agency and where he may travel if other teams are interested, etc.. However, he is pushing to stay in Minnesota and feels he will be playing there again next year. I am looking forward to getting after it again and he is resting and recovering from his broken thumb suffered in the game before the NFC Championship game against the Saints.

I am also excited to report that we are approaching the start date for the filming of the training DVD. This is a huge undertaking for me so to see it start to come together is very exciting. If all goes according to plan we will start filming by the end of March and, of course, get training footage while Jimmy is here (some but not all training footage), probably shooting some of the training footage the last couple weeks of April. All training footage will be shot at Armbrust Pro Gym here in Denver.

Sissy is going to be competing this year so I am excited about that, as well. Due to back/spine issues last year she trained very little in 2009 until getting the ok from her Doctor to start training again late in December. It is good timing, too, because I can’t have a fatty in my training video. She should be in hot-bitch mode by the time we start filming.

Speaking of fatties, I am sitting at about 223 or so, right now, and plan to be about 208-210 when filming starts. I am relatively injury free right now with only minor pings here and there. I am being very cautious and cruising often to make sure that I stay safe and yet still train hard as hell. So far, so good.

If you are on facebook, please visit the TEAM SKIP page and become a fan. It is the fastest way to impress your friends and become really, really cool.

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I have a friend. When we were younger we played baseball together. Now, I should probably define the word “together” as meaning I would play and he would sit on the bench and do nothing. However, we wore the same uniform and so we were on the same team so we played “together”. He was a nice kid and was at every practice and every game but he rarely played more than a few innings here and there and was not ever going to have someone watch him play and say or think, “Damn, that kid is going to be a damned good ball player one day”. From game to game and year to year he really didn’t improve much…. but he kept playing. For whatever reason he loved the sport. You might say he was passionate about it.

I, on the other hand, had a genuine love for baseball when it wasn’t basketball or football season but wasn’t going to work too hard on the drills or working the fundamentals on a repetitive basis. I figured it was just a bit too damned boring. Plus, I was pretty damned good. In fact, as arrogant as it sounds, I was actually pretty good at most everything that I did that was athletic. Even if I found something I wasn’t terribly good at, I would pick it up pretty quick and GET good at it. In baseball, I was told when I was young (or would overhear coaches talking about me) that I was so good that I might go somewhere with it later in my life. Hearing things like that doesn’t typically make a 10 or 12 year old work much harder if they are already not working very hard and hearing they can play big league ball one day. Oh, I was sure that the only thing I had to do was pick what team I wanted to play for. Getting there was almost a formality to me. Again, it may sound arrogant but remember that I was being told this quite a bit by adults around me and “in the know” when I was very young.

So, we have my friend that pretty much sucks at baseball and then you have me who it comes incredibly easy to. I was a catcher and I remember the first ball I caught behind the plate and the first pop up that I caught after diving for, near the 1st base bench. I remember it like it was yesterday. I had a strong bat with a propensity to hit on 0-2 and 1-2 counts for probably 90% of my hits over the years. Defensively behind the plate, I was a standout, as well. The only thing I would have had to really work on was my arm. I was accurate and had a quick release but the arm power wasn’t there. This would be something that if I was going to go a long way in the sport I needed to work on but it was more than doable.

My friend would come over to our house and we would play everything from hot-box (pickle to some) or mock games or just whatever we wanted to do. I lived 7 houses from a massive baseball park so sometimes we would go down and pick out a ball diamond and just hit for the fun of it. We played quite a bit but nothing very structured where you practice over and over to make a weakness stronger. We just played and had fun.

Over the years I drifted away from baseball in favor of the much more lucrative sport of bodybuilding. I mean, once you are told how great you are and how far you will go, it seems almost anticlimactic to actually continue on that road, right? My buddy? He stuck with it but I didn’t know at that time. I moved away and he moved away and years later I heard someone say what he was doing for living. I actually laughed out loud when I heard it said that he was playing baseball for the White Sox farm team. I thought to myself: How in the fuck did this guy get to the point of wearing a White Sox uniform? Are they stupid? Don’t they know this kid sucks at baseball? Apparently, he was quite good I later found out. He played for 7 seasons though he never made it to the major leagues. I haven’t given it much thought but the other day I got to thinking about genetics and potential and all of those cliche words that get thrown around so much in the sport of bodybuilding. It occurred to me that genetics obviously were not only a part of bodybuilding but a part of baseball, among other sports, as well.

My friend, Greg, sucked as a kid because he likely wasn’t born with a gift of great hand-eye coordination as he really didn’t excel at any sports that I recall yet he played basketball and football, too. We have all seen the young kids that just make it look so easy and effortless and have what we call a gift. That was me. I think the gift is simply a genetic predisposition at being very good at something. If someone can throw a ball faster than anyone else they may have tighter or shorter tendons in their wrists and forearms allowing a different or quicker or more powerful flick of their wrist. I am obviously stronger than a lot of pitchers or catchers out there in the majors and yet I can’t possibly throw as fast as they do. This is a genetic component. I remember not having to EVER watch the ball into the bat or watch a ball into my glove and I rarely ever missed gloving a ball. Again, another genetic component.

Now, some would argue that Greg went off to college and mastered the art of hitting (he would end up being a designated hitter for many of those years) which is one of the most difficult things to do in sport today. Practice can damned sure make you better at something. Just like someone that does workout after workout over weeks and months and years to get bigger and stronger, the baseball player would do essentially the same thing by practicing his stance, timing, follow through, bat speed, etc.. Over the years Greg obviously got better the more he practiced because he damned sure wasn’t born with what anyone would consider a gift. He worked hard, no doubt, on getting better and better and I am sure that after being taught proper form and technique that this helped him to excel, as well. However, in the end, he didn’t get to the majors because of …. his genetic limitations. It wasn’t that he didn’t work hard enough. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have the best teachers in the sport – he damned sure did. He worked his ass off and still came up short of making the majors. He was PAID to practice and yet still couldn’t do it. Sound familiar (minus the getting paid part)??

All too many people think that hard work will get you to whatever your goal is. No, it won’t. If you think so you are not at all being realistic. Will hard work get you MUCH farther than not working hard? Duh. Will it take hard work to master anything or be better than anyone else at the same task? Bet your ass. But don’t think for a second that hard work trumps genetic potential because it doesn’t and it never will. No baseball player or bodybuilder has EVER overcome his genetic potential from sheer hard work and/or determination. Just like in bodybuilding you can’t change the shape of a muscle or your structure. You aren’t going to all of a sudden practice yourself into a hitting champion in the majors, either, if you don’t have the genetic potential to do so. You can train until you are blue in the face, liver falling out from too much drug use, wife leaving you for someone that is “normal” and your kids hating you for eating fruity pebbles in front of them after your workout and making them eat the “healthy” cheerios and you still won’t be a pro if that is not coded into your genetic blueprint.

Now, there will be plenty that will argue this. Some will take my words and twist them and say that I said that hard work means nothing, blah, blah, blah. Say what you want and the loudest ones running their mouths will be the ones that don’t have the genetic potential and yet don’t want to admit it. Oh, they know it but they don’t dare admit it. These are the people that are convinced that if they work hard enough, they will get there even though everyone around them knows better. To them I say: go for it. You won’t know until you give it all of what you have but just take this advice, please: Be smart enough to know when you have given your all and see the writing on the wall for what it is. If your goal is to be competitive and win some shows, no one would ever hold that against you. However, I will hold it against you, personally, if you see you aren’t going to be a pro and yet still continue to chase that warped dream at the expense of other things in your life and other people in your life.

Greg was smart. Along the way he walked away with a college education and the work ethic of someone that will always do the very best no matter what he takes on in life. He also doesn’t bitch, piss and moan about not making the majors. He is good with the effort that he gave to his dream and he knows he went as far as he could go with baseball – maybe even further than he ever thought he could go. I have a lot of respect for Greg and not because he played ball for the White Sox but because he worked his ass off, followed his dream and when he couldn’t work any harder, he knew when to call it a day.

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