It’s something that has stuck with me for years  and tonight when I found myself saying “I’ll do later” because tonight I was “Too Busy” to train….

I caught myself doing it.  

I created an “Excuse”.

I don’t like excuses, they are bull sh*t, we are only fooling ourselves ALWAYS.

Then out of nowhere it pops into my head.

The Kaizen Principle.

Maybe’s it’s Coach Poliquin using a new mind trick to make me stronger, either way thank’s Charles.

The Kaizen Principle is simply this  =

The Kaizen Principle | Continuous Personal Improvement by Taking Small Steps at a Time.

I also remember reading it as “The 1% Principle”.  

The Kaizen principle is simply just IMPROVING a little bit better every day.  

Not a lot, just a little, but every day, always trying to do a a little better.

             Kaizen

Kaizen Principle In The Gym

Small steady gains for a consistent period of time is a better way to train.

Forget trying to be a hero.

Train Smart.

Slow & Steady wins the race.

Check out Charles Poliquin’s article on “Plate weights“. 

Better to make a 2 lb. strength increase for 50 weeks, than trying to do all the work in shorter period of time.

Less Injuries, Less Setbacks = Better Progress.

Kaizen Principle In Nutrition

Make the right choices daily and slowly improve on them.

Don’t try to “Diet” all out from day 1,

Don’t be that person that diets for 2 days every week and acts like it’s a huge deal.

Just eat clean daily and try to improve things every day.

Constant & Never ending Improvement In Nutrition.

I hate to cook, but when I train hard for a goal I know Nutrition is the #1 thing to get leaner, stronger and feel better in the gym.

Nutrition matters more than anything.  

Bad Nutrition is why people you see in the gym stay the way they are even though they are training all the time.

Constant & Never Ending Improvoement on a cheat from your diet.

So what, it’s done, put it behind you, go train and move forward.  

Don’t lose 3 days to 1 mistake.

Kaizen Principle in the Kitchen.

Spend as much time in the Kitchen prepping your meals as much as you do creeping on Facebook everyday.

I guarantee anyone that trains that if you spent 1 hour a day cooking your meals and food you would be in pretty damn good shape.

Just think, the average user a day spends 4 hours a day on Facebook (Click HERE to read it).

You can find time to cook good meals.

Kaizen Principle In Life 

A simple question to ask every time you go to bed every night.

“Did I do my best today?”

What could you have done a little bit better today to improve my life?

Could you have gotten up a bit earlier to get my cardio in?

Could you have read a book instead of watch “Reality TV”.

Could you take the time to help someone with something?

Could you do a little more tomorrow to make your life better (and someone else’s).

Think about it…. Just 1 small thing every day.

Could you do a little bit more tomorrow to make your life/day better?

Take 20 min to read a book.

Take your dog for a walk.

Find 5 – 10 minutes tomorrow from being “Too Busy”, to doing something that’s making your life, or someone you know better today.

Give a compliment it doesn’t take much energy.

Just find that 1% every day for yourself and for someone else.

The Kaizen Principle – Constant & Never Ending Improvement. 

Disconnect From Facebook.

Do some prowler training.

Run Some Hill Sprints.

Find that 1% every day.

Never Stop Improving.  A little every single day adds up to a lot.

I met Travis Stoetzel or “Travis The Tank” as I like to refer to him, at a fitness seminar a few months back.  The guy had the build I like to emulate, athletic, muscular, strong, but not a bloated block like most bodybuilders.

So I started talking to “The Tank”, we hit it off and I said I wanted to hit him up with some info to share with my readers, so you should appreciate this NO B. S. approach to getting a jacked body and being strong as hell.

Travis Stoetzel my man thanks for doing this interview man, after seeing you at one of our Fitness meetings i was like “this dude’s a tank I gotta find out his deal lol”maybe you can give us some background on you and your training.

Well I grew up always being around athletics playing everything from soccer, basketball, track, football, baseball, and wrestling.  When I got older in high school I narrowed it down to just wrestling, football, and baseball.  Then, finally when I got into college, I stuck with football and finished out playing pro ball in some arena leagues as well as playing overseas in Brazil.

My training background really started from the first time I picked up a weight back in 7th grade when I was around the age of 13.  I got hooked early because I knew if I was stronger than my opponent, I had a better chance of winning.  PLus I wanted to build more muscle to look like Arnold in the movie Predator

As I got older I started to become obsessed with training as I would buy every book, DVD, and program I could find.  I was always on the internet reading different websites and watching videos to find out more information.  I never missed training sessions as I was the lifter of the year in both high school and college when I was a junior and senior.  I was always in the weight room it seemed or out on the track running sprints, working on my speed and explosiveness.  I would get crap from my friends a lot of the time because I was always ditching them to go train or run.  I thought about it all the time.

When I got out of college, I got my first job as a trainer at a large corporate gym.  I was there for about two years before I knew it was time to get out of there and start my own gym.  The things I wanted to do in the corporate gym really didn’t fit in too well.  Training with tires, sleds, chains, kettlebells, ropes, as well as other “hardcore” training tools just weren’t accepted in the corp “family fitness” arena so I broke away and started my own gym, The Forged Athlete.

Now everything is done “my way” on my terms.  My way consists of training very unconventionally with kettlebells, sandbags, ropes, chains, tired, sleds, and tons of different bodyweight movemetns to name a few.  Anything that I can use to produce functional results, I use.  I do what I know keeps a person athletic, builds strength, conditioning, and power.  I base all of my training programs around performance.  No matter what your goal may be, I have found that when training for performance, one can accomplish a lot in time.

The style of training I currently use is based around blending different types of effective training modalities together.  So, using modalities like kettlebells, sandbags, bodyweight/ gymnastics, Crossfit, strongman, powerlifting, and Olympic lifting pieced together in different ways has proven to get tons of results fast!

I’m a NO EXCUSES type of guy and with anything I do, I always no matter what, want to find a to win.  Training is like war and to get the results you want, you have to treat every session as if it were a all out battle.

Check Out Travis’s “Hardcore 100 Videos They Are Awesome!”

Travis Stoetzel can you give me some insight into your gym and the programs you offer.

Well, my gym is real basic and to the point – work your butt off and get things done.  It’s real bare bones with just the essentials needed to get strong, athletic, and ripped.

The members I have range form 12 year old athletes up to professional MMA atheltes as well as a few wrestlers looking to make it happen in the next Olympics.  I also have lots of “weekend warrior” type guys and gals that train.  The bottom line is in order to train at my gym, you’ve got to have some guts and commitment to work hard and stick to it.  Any body that has a negative mindset is forbidden through my gym doors.  Everything is based around high levels of energy and positive thinking.  Being around and training with peoeple like this helps build a strong character and tough mindset overtime.

I take a highly athletic approach to all the different programs we do as with everything we do in my gym is geared towards improving one’s performance no matter if it’s a professional level athlete or just regular adult looking to lose weight. If you improve performance, you’ll improve as a whole.

I love it when new potential members come into the gym for the first time and just look around in awe.  They notice there are no treadmills, ellipticals, or pieces of new and shiny machinery around but rather old tires, beat up weights, sleds, kettlebells, dumbbells, sandbags, barbells, and even stones.  These are the real tools needed for results!

Most of the programs I design, as discussed above, are mixtures of different modalities blended together.  What I tend to focus on are 3-4 week mini cycles in which you have 3-4 different workouts you focus on using and progressing with.  After a 3-4 week period of the same workouts, typically your body is pretty beaten downs and ready to recover. So, after 3-4 weeks, I have planned “deload / recovery” weeks that consists on light conditioning / bodyweight work that allows the body to heal up.

Personally for myself, and a few of my serious wrestlers, I may just train solely based off of feel and mood.  I’ll do the different things I feel I and my athletes need to work on and just really get after my sessions hard.  Sometimes these more “chaotic” type of workout days and weeks improve my overall results better than my actual programmed and planned mini cycles do.  But, in the end, I feel this type of training is only needed every once in a while.  You should be following some sort of programmed / periodized plan most of the year.

Travis why do you think Wrestlers have such insane muscle and strength.  We see so many bodybuilders that look muscular but are useless when it comes to cardio and functional strength.  What do you guys do differently?

To be a great wrestler you must have a great balance between relative bodyweight strength, power, agility, flexibility, and mobility.
Wrestling is a bodyweight based sport that’s dependent upon not only great levels of strength and power but also endurance.  Being strong and explosive is useless if you lose it after on a few mins of a match.  I’ve seen it happen to many wrestlers and in order to be great, you have to be able to be both strong and explosive for a long period of time by being highly overall conditioned.

I remember back when I was wrestling in high school the level of conditioning I had was way out of control!  I was never in better shape than I would be during wrestling season because my overall endurance, not just my strength was far more greater because it would determine my overall success.   There was no other type of “in shape” than wrestling shape was.

The big difference between a bodybuilder and wrestler comes down to performance.  When all you do is lift with weights to grow your muscles, overtime, you’ll lose your overall conditioning and overall athleticism (mobility, flexibility, ect).  Another major difference with wrestler and bodybuilders is the different types of movements used in training.  Things like jumping, sprinting, and other explosive type movements keep wrestlers highly athletic and properly conditioned.  Also, the fact that wrestlers much move around like animals adds to their overall athleticism too.  Most bodybuilder skip out on the sprints, jumps, and other explosive type stuff simply because they do not need it.

The facts is that wrestlers just got to be strong all around.  No excuses on this.  A complete battle ready combat athlete needs to have it all.  LEAN and MEAN is the way to be.  You can see this is true by looking at the top wrestlers at the college ranks as well as the top MMA athletes of today.  You’ll notice they’ve got very little no zero fat, are strong, explosive, and highly athletic.  Bodybuilders are mostly just big and ripped.    Who would you want to meet down a deserted and dark alley??

How can the average person start adding hardcore strength training and conditioning into their program? I think most people are scared sh*tless to try it, how would say someone who lifts 4-5 times a week add in some cool training?

One of the easiest ways to start adding in “hardcore” types of strength training into their routines is by first, adding in more complex types of bodyweight training.  This should be done before ANY other types of serious training is added for the simple fact that one must first master the control of their own bodyweight in order to progress into more serious types of resistance training.

So adding in different types of jumps, hops, skips, and other plyometric movements will help create a more hardcore type of training regime.  I would recommend these be added into the workout first, when a person is fresh so they can focus in on being explosive while keeping good form and technique.

Another good way of adding in hardcore training techniques is by adding in animal movements with things like bear crawls, seal walks, crab walks, ect which will help in increasing the seriousness and difficulty of the program.  These types of movements can be added at the end of a training workout to aid in improving overall conditioning.

The way a gym SHOULD LOOK!

Now, after a person has improved with bodyweight, some other types of ways people can add in hardcore styles of training into their program would be through odd object lifting with sandbags, kegs, rocks, and even kettlebells.   Kettlebells can be fairly odd to those that haven’t used them before.

If a person is relatively new to these type of odd movements with kegs, sandbags, ect, they can expect some good levels of strength to be gained simply through the uniqueness of the resistance being placed on the body through the odd objects.

Personally, I love sandbag training mainly because of this fact and also because you can do a ton of different movements with a sandbag.  Probably the best way to learn different odd / hardcore movements is through the use of sandbags by doing explosive exercises like cleans, shouldering, push presses, and throws.

Overall, If I was looking for new ways to add “hardcore” training into my program, I would start with bodyweight then move into adding sandbags for sure.

Dude I really appreciate all the info!  Any chance you can hook my readers a discount on your program?  Hook a brother up!

For sure Rob!  I wanted to thank you ad let you know I appreciate you doing this interview with me.  I love sharing what I know about training as I hope people will take bits and pieces of what I do and apply it to their own training programs.

For people out there wanting more guidance and coaching that really have a desire to build up a more rugged physique that not only looks ripped and shredded but is also highly athletic and conditioned, I have a full SYSTEM that I have created that one can follow that shows specifically how I’ve blended together the use of bodyweight, kettlebells, and sandbags to help build more muscle, strength, power, and extremely high levels of conditioning.

I wanted to personally thank you Rob and all of your badass readers with a special discount on my system people can take advantage of HERE. I will be straight up and let everyone out there know that this is NOT for the weak minded!  My program is for people who are ready to let loose and get after it with a “NO EXCUSES” type of mindset.  Rob and I know that in order to get the absolute BEST results possible, you will have to dig in and work hard!  There are no magic bullets out there!  Just highly effective and proven systems that IF followed correctly, will get you results faster and quicker.

Again, as a token of my extreme appreciation for all of Rob’s friends and followers,

I wanted to hook everyone up with a special discounted offer on my Training System – Bags, Bells, and Bodyweight.

Top 7 Supplements For Strength/Endurance/Power, Not Available For Sale

Take advantage of that for a limited time HERE!

As a bonus, Rob has threw in a special report that specifically tailored for hardcore athletes.  Check it out!

Thanks again Rob!

Thank you for the interview Travis Stoetzel, this is awesome!

So I am here in  Las Vegas for some fitness seminars and I was lucky enough yesterday to train at Xtreme Couture MMA Gym here yesterday (Blog Post coming on this later).

Our workout got a LOT better when Randy Couture came in to train!  I got my picture with him (which essential made my trip in itself).

But what was cool was I got to watch Randy & his MMA Fighters Train!

What was even COOLER was that Randy was in training with his younger fighters but what hit me this guy is like 46 years old and he is in training with his fighters just like any other guy working out.  At that moment he wasn’t “Randy Couture” he was just a fighter training like everyone else!

This guy is 46 years old, world champion, successful business owner, coach, father, philantropist but ya know what, he is just an average guy with above average focus & determination!

I was watching Randy train and all i could think of was all the reasons that I skip workouts, or don’t eat clean, or say I am too busy with work and here is RANDY COUTURE training just like a normal guy!  Just like you and me!  He doesn’t make excuses!  He just gets SH!T DONE!

What makes Randy Couture  is his determination and mindset!  He is nick named “Captain America” for a reason!

It was amazing to see his focus when he trained as he was ALL BUSINESS!

The next time I think of skipping a workout because I’m too busy, or because of some other reason (Excuse) I am going to think of Randy Couture training with his fight team getting a workout just like you and me do every day!

Randy Couture Is Now My Hero!

Who is Yours & Why?

Team Bushido BJJ Competitors

Well this weekend I attained 3 of my goals that I had set for this year.

1. To get my bodyweight down to under 180 lb. (at the weigh in i was 179.5)
2. To Compete At The First Bushido Open (I got 3rd in my division which I was happy with)
3. To NOT Get injured LOL (Fire dept is hiring and I don’t want to mess that up)

But this isn’t about me, this is about all the people who competed this weekend!  It’s about everyone who has trained their butts off and came out to compete on a crappy miserable, rain stormy day!

Cory Avery - Todd Hodder Best Spirit Award Winner

It shows the drive and passion they have for Jiu Jitsu, for Competion, and for being a part of their TEAM!

See a lot of people who have never tried Jiu Jitsu have NO IDEA just how damn hard and technical the sport is!

They just see 2 guys rolling around (which some guys just cant handle anyways).  They dont see it as a “Real Man’s Sport” like say Boxing.  Well let me tell you it is one hell of a hard sport and one of the best ways you could exercise!  It may look easy but you can’t imagine how hard physically this is.

I can take anyone who is in good shape and after 5 minutes rolling they will want to die.  It’s a demanding sport that requires intense cardio, strength, flexibility, balance, and a lot of thinking!

It’s like a game of Submission Ches.  You make a move to see what the other person is going to do, but those moves involve getting choked out and arm barred!

Anyways I just wanted to give a big thanks to everyone that competed and of course to ALL the members & volunteers of Team Bushido!  Thank you all for coming out and competing.

I am very lucky to have such great friends and team mates to train with.

The 1st Bushido Open pulled in close to 60 Competitors and I think it was one of, if not, the BIGGEST Jiu Jitsu tournament EVER in Newfoundland!  I think that is pretty damn awesome!

If you aren’t familiar with Bushido or Jiu Jitsu I am offering you a FREE WEEKS MEMBERSHIP!  Come in and try it out.  I can PROMISE YOU that it is the the most fun workout you will have!  Not only do you learn some self defence, you get a great workout, meet some awesome people and best of all get a crazy workout!

IF you were at the Bushido Open Please Post Some FEEDBACK!! I would LOVE to hear from YOU!