Life Isn’t Fair, But Bodybuilding Is Pretty Close…

Life in general is not fair, not even close. It took me a while to realize it, but this simple fact is something important that you need to eventually understand.

If you are unable to ever acknowledge it, it will start to slowly eating away at you.

There is always going to be someone smarter than you, richer than you, and definitely better looking than you. (You, not me)

And that is why I love sports so much. Effort is important.

In my opinion, bodybuilding is one of the most “fair” sports in the world.

I’m not gonna plead ignorance and say that genetics are not important, but without heavy and consistent weight lifting, cardio and a proper diet; you will never get anywhere.

There is nothing I enjoy more than standing on the beach in the summer and showing off my hard work.

I might be able to beat Arnold, except in abs, but I can still get in better shape than 95% of the population.

Check out my 3 books on amazon.com! Or other books I support!

Running 2.0 The End Of Long-Distance Running: Including The Top Ten Spint Workouts To Remove Bodyfat

Finally, Some Good News

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If You Are Gonna Take A Shot At The King, You Better Not Miss…

I am not trying to brag, but when I get my ass into great shape, I really start to look good.

What it really comes down to for me is, what kind of mindset am I in?

• Am I willing to starve myself?
• Will I do repeat sprints in the blazing heat outside?
• Will I try to deadlift 600 lbs?

If the answer to all of these are “no”, then I will not look like a freak.

I need to be firing on all cylendars to look my best.

So far this year, I am feeling “pretty good”.

My mindset is in the right place, I’ve been injury free and my numbers have been impressive.

My workout last week were as follows:

Monday: Bench press 245 x 7, biceps, etc

Tuesday: 275 x 5 squats (ass to the floor), calve raises, etc

PM Session 3 miles in 20:40 treadmile

Wendsday: Rest

Thursday: Chest# 2. dumbbells, fly’s, etc.

Friday: Deadlift 345 x 10, 110 lb dumbbell bend over rows, 2 sets of 10 chins

Pm session: 2 miles in 13 minutes (Treadmile)

Saturday: 2 miles in 13:55 outside.  6 x 40 meter sprints.

Overall, that is a tough week of exercise, along with going to work everday and eating like a bird.

I am “finally” starting to look a little bit slimmer and my times are starting to improve.

My game plan from here out? 5-6 days a week of exercise with multiple “double” sessions.

My typical goal is to hit 3 miles in 21 minutes outside and it looks like I “should” hit that pretty easily.  On a really good year, I will even go under 20 minutes.

But I am also looking pretty solid this season.  My winter training was strong with 550 lb deadlifts, 315 lb bench presses and 355 lb squats.

I tell people all the time, if you werent lifing heavy in the winter you will have trouble trying to get ripped in the Spring and Summer.

Overall, I am feeling really good and that is bad news for all you other guys out there.

Remember, if you take a shot at the king, you better not miss.

And I am still alive.

-John Andre

Check out my 3 books on amazon.com! Or other books I support!

Running 2.0 The End Of Long-Distance Running: Including The Top Ten Spint Workouts To Remove Bodyfat

Finally, Some Good News

To Look Freaky, You Need To Train And Eat Freaky…

As of today, the best shape I have ever looked was when I was 29 years old.

Ripped abs

Since then, I have gotten pretty close to my “peak” shape and I always get relatively ripped during the summer.

But to be honest, it’s going to be difficult to beat my 29-year old physique, although there are some advantages of being older.

Older bodybuilders have the advantage of having really solid muscle.  There is just no way to cheat or replicate years of heavy powerlifting.

That is why some College Football players will still look massive even years after they stopped competing.

But, I also think about what type of crazy training I was doing back then.

First of all, my diet was STRICT.  I was living with two roommates at the time and without the distraction of a wife/kids, all I did was eat cleanly.  Very low carb and also very low calorie.

Secondly, I was lifting heavy.  I was just coming off my best powerlifting year, where I was benching 350 and deadlifting over 560.

And finally, I was also running pretty good.  I had my 3 mile time down to 20 minutes flat and I was running the mile in around 5:20 on the track.

So overall, I was bench pressing over 315 lbs, while running a mile in 5:20 and eating like a bird.

That combination is tough to beat.

I was also hanging out all night, especially on the weekends, until 4 in the morning and burning a ton of extra calories.

One thing I am starting to notice is that although I always get cut, I am starting to look the same every year.

For me to make any “freaky” changes, I am going to have to start getting freaky in my routine.

That means super fast cardio, more super sets in the gym and also a ton of “fasting”.

If I don’t change it up, I will look the same as last year.

Time to make a change…

-John Andre

Check out my 3 books on amazon.com! Or other books I support!

Running 2.0 The End Of Long-Distance Running: Including The Top Ten Spint Workouts To Remove Bodyfat

Finally, Some Good News

March 1st Is the Last Day To Start Cardio Or You Will Be Fat This Summer…

I am sorry to inform all of my competition out there, but if you did not start your cardio routine recently, you better start it now.

March 1st is the last day to start your cardio routine and still get ripped for the summer.

How do I know this? From YEARS of experience.  If you start too early you might end up “skinny fat”, if you start to late, you wont get your body fat low enough.

The “sweet spot” to start doing cardio is between Feb 14th and the first week of March.

The other question is, “what type of cardio I should be doing”? That is also important, because if you are doing your cardio incorrectly, you can also ruin your summer.

In my latest book, I tell you exactly what you need to do.

Running 2.0 The End Of Long-Distance Running: Including The Top Ten Spint Workouts To Remove Bodyfat

For me personally, my Spring training is just starting to get revved up.  I lost around 5 lbs so far and I’ve completed about 10-12 cardio sessions.

Another week or two and I will start to add my sprinting routine into the mix and then I should start to get pretty cut.

And if you do it correctly, you should end up looking like this.

Ripped abs

-John Andre

Do You Bring A Pen And A Pad To The GYM? Use The Force Luke…(Star Wars)

Today was a bad day in the gym.  I had a long day at work and I had to travel all throughout the city before 1 pm, so by the time I got to the gym, I was exhausted.

My plan was to do my second chest workout of the week, followed by a hard 2-3 miles on the treadmile.

I got changed in the locker room around 1:30 and immediately ran over to the incline benches.  As usual it was packed, but this time it was packed with two guys doing multiple sets and writing each set down on a pad.

I am not sure why, but bringing a pen and a pad to the gym bothers me.

You are messing with nature.

Working out and especially lifting weights, is extremely mental.  If you are just going to go through your sets without much effort, feel free to bring a pen and a pad.

But If you are lifting “balls the wall”, leave the pad at home.

Just like you wouldn’t bring a pen and a pad to the local bar, your high school prom or in a rock n roll jam session; it is the same with working out.

Go with nature.

When you feel good, take that pad, throw it in the garbage after spitting on it and lift the heaviest weight that your crazy mind will let you.

Use the force.

Whether you are Pablo Picasso, Jimi Hendrix or a big-wave surfer.  Weight lifting is an art form that comes from within.

From your animal spirit.  Not from an internet forum or a magazine.

Let if flow grasshopper.

Amen

-John Andre

And check out my books on amazon.com!

Running 2.0 The End Of Long-Distance Running: Including The Top Ten Spint Workouts To Remove Bodyfat

You Want To Feel Like 21 Again? I Can Show You The Way…

Its weird, but if/when you ever have a child, it starts to bring up stuff in your past that you have forgotten for the longest time.

Schools you went to, vacations, relatives alive and dead, etc.  It’s just opens up a part of your mind that was dormant for some time.

This weekend I was at my parents beach house in Cape May, NJ and it really started to bring back memories from when I was younger.

On of the first things I remembered, is how much running around I did.  I was definitely a high energy child and I think my son ran around for about 18 hours straight this Saturday.

It definitely runs in the family.

But, it also got me thinking about summer and how I get ripped every year.

Besides being ripped, I noticed how young I look when I lose weight.  Most people don’t realize how fat a face they have and when you lose weight and start getting cut, it really makes you look a lot younger.

When I am ripped and in great shape in July and August, I look young and I also feel young.

So, how can we achieve this?

A) You need to lose weight.  I plan on losing about 30 lbs.  That is a mandatory.

B) Eat less and eat better.  The holidays are over.  Besides Easter, there is no reason to eat any cake.

C) Cardio.  The weather is starting to improve, its time to get outside and hit the pavement.  Some 3 mile tempo runs and a ton of sprints.

Overall, if you can lose weight, run hard and continue to lift, you should end up looking really good.

And if you stay away from the drugs, steroids and too much booze, you will look young.

I turn 40 soon, check me out.

And check out my books on amazon.com!

Running 2.0 The End Of Long-Distance Running: Including The Top Ten Spint Workouts To Remove Bodyfat

Get Ripped For St. Patrick’s Day….Spring Is Here.

I love St. Patrick’s Day.

Although I am not Irish (my son is), I love St. Patrick’s Day so much that I have traveled to Boston, NYC (hometown), Key West, Scottsdale and Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day.

What do I love about St. Patrick’s Day?

You get to go out and eat good food, drink beer and it’s also my official start of Spring.

When It comes to the Spring, I like to be in some type of decent shape as soon as it starts.  That means I am lifting heavy and consistent in the gym, starting to get fast in my cardio workouts and I am also losing some weight.

Right now I have just started my cardio and diet, although I have only lost about 2 lbs.  But starting next week, I believe it is time to turn up the dial and start running and dieting hard.

For St. Patrick’s Day, I want to start looking leaner.

I would love to get my 3 mile time under 22 minutes and also cut over 10 lbs from my winter peak of (180).  Losing 10 lbs is easy, but I want to do it the correct way and not burn off too much muscle.

Anyone can stop eating and lose 10 lbs, the trick is to cut down without burning muscle.

If everything goes well, I should start looking decent on St. Patrick’s Day.

After the holiday, I will be in full Spring training mode.  Sprinting outside, cutting more and more weight and lifting in the gym consistently.

And most importantly, I will officially launch my 3rd book!

It is on amazon now, but as of now I am not heavily advertising.

Good luck!

-John Andre

Check out my 3 books on amazon.com!

Running 2.0 The End Of Long-Distance Running: Including The Top Ten Spint Workouts To Remove Bodyfat

My Review Of “Shoe Dog” By Phil Knight (Nike) A+

Over the winter break I actually had time to read some books and one of them was Phil Knight’s book “Shoe Dog” about how he started Nike.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Overall, this was a damn good book.  “A+”.  One of the best books on business I have ever read.

Maybe it was because I ran track and field for so many years, but I couldn’t put this book down.

Just to give some background information, Phil Knight ran track at Oregon under the world-famous Bill Bowerman.  He was only a marginal runner during College, but after graduation he tried to jump into the shoe business by importing cheaper Japanese running shoes.

This was only 20 years after WWII and Japan was emerging as a cheap manufacturing base, similar to China today.

Phil had a couple of things going for him.

A) His family was moderately wealthy. He tries to downplay it, but after College he had a couple years without any real employment and he also spent time traveling around the world

B) He was close with coach Bowerman.  This is big. This would be like starting your own football sneaker and your best friend is Belichick.  It is serious name recognition and Bowerman also assisted in designing the shoes.

Eventually Phil started working some financial jobs during the day and then working on his sneaker side-business at night.  He would hire some sales reps and they would import sneakers from Japan and sell them at track meets and sneaker stores.

Sales would start to grow and after some disagreements and backstabbing from their production team in Japan, Phil decided to start his own brand and formed “Nike”.

What’s amazing is how close Phil came to going bankrupt.  There was numerous lawsuits, employees quitting, production problems in Japan etc.  It really took over a decade to finally have a good production team in place before sales started to roll in.

Nike was not an overnight success by any means.

When he really started to hit his stride is when they started sponsoring athletes.  First it was Nastase the tennis player and then they picked up Steve Prefontaine.

If you aren’t familiar with Prefontaine, he is probably the most famous American distance runner in history.  He had a rock star quality about him and set many American records before he died in a car crash prematurely.

At this point, Nike was doing millions of dollars in sales and they eventually went public, making Phil worth over $100 million almost immediately.

Overall, this is a really good book.  Phil describes in detail the difficulty in taking a small company, increasing sales and then going public.

I also like how Phil bended the rules.  Whether it was stealing secret plans from a Japanese business man’s brief case or lying to the banks about having an east coast production team.

Business is war and Phil proves it.

This book is an A+

-John Andre

 

Stay Motivated, Stay Hungry, Get Rich and Ripped…

I have to be honest, the last several months I haven’t had my usual “killer instinct”.

2018 was a bad year.  I guess it wasn’t necessarily horrible, but I really didn’t make any progress.

Besides saving a decent amount of money, nothing else went great.

I didn’t find a new job, I only added several new clients to my side-business and my third book wasn’t published.

I went to too many funerals, my vacations were not fun and my wife didn’t get pregnant with baby #2.

Thankfully, 2019 has been off to a good start.

In the last several weeks, it seems like my luck is starting to change.

I hit some heavy numbers in my last weeks of winter bulkup, I started my early Spring training cardio and I am also feeling motivated again.

It’s hard to stay motivated all the time.

When it comes to the gym, I honestly like going.  There will be weeks where I might be more motivated than others, but I am consistent in showing up.

For running, it takes a little more internal motivation to get it going.  Some years I will really be in the mood and run some fast times, other years, I will just go through the motions and just use some cardio to get cut.

When it comes to my career and starting businesses, I am really hit or miss.

Sometimes I will get super motivated, work on my side business and/or go on interviews, other times I will not be into it mentally and I do almost nothing.

Recently I feel like I have been in a “rut”, but I am slowly starting to come out.

Time to work out hard in the gym, fast running outside and side-businesses to start.

Any month where I am not making progress is wasted time.

I have wasted enough.

-John

Check out my books on amazon.com!

Lift Heavy/Run Fast

A Little Bit Of Cardio Makes A Big Difference…Bodybuilding And Powerlifting

I am a firm believer that you need some type of cardio in your system.

I don’t care if it is running, tennis, basketball or skiing; just as long as it can improve your cardiovascular system, it is important to add it your routine.

Many bodybuilders don’t do any type of cardio and I think they are insane.

They always say the same response “my workout is my cardio’ but of course we all know that is nonsense, they just stick a needle in their backside.

It’s strange, but I have gotten pretty damn strong while doing cardio and powerlifting at the same time.  You would think it would be a major hinderance, but for me, it’s quite the opposite.

For example, this bulk up season I basically did two 10-minute elliptical sessions a week, that’s it.  And I always did them immediately after squats and deads, just to loosen up my legs.

From that small amount of cardio, not only did I stay injury free, but I squatted and deadlifted heavier than last year.  But more importantly, I lifted heavier at a lighter bodyweight.

I just started slowly getting back into cardio and I am in complete shock by how fast I am already.  Those 2 sessions a week of light cardio preserved a lot of my endurance from last season.

Just this Saturday I almost ran 2 miles in 14 minutes.  That is a time that took me months to accomplish last year.  Usually my spring goal is 3-miles in 21 minutes, and I should reach that really early If I keep at it.

Going forward, next year I might keep the same routine and maybe throw in a 3rd day of light cardio.  Only change is that I am not running during my bulk up, only doing bike, stairs or elliptical.

For some reason running hurts my knees too much and kills my squats, but If I want to get really ripped, I need to add some running to my routine.  And for that, I only run in the Spring, Summer and very early Fall.

Good luck!

Check out my books on amazon.com!

Lift Heavy/Run Fast