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Environment Beats Personality.
by- Josh Bryant In 1969, Stanford psychologist Philip Zimbardo ran a $13 experiment that still explains most human behavior better than a thousand self-help books. Two identical cars. Same model. Same condition. Night white 1959 Oldsmobiles with no plates, hoods popped and left open. One was parked in wealthy Palo Alto near Stanford. The other…
When Training More Stops Working: Why frequency rewards discipline and punishes ego
by- Josh Bryant Orlando Maximus Green: Deadlift style and mindset don’t need frequent exposure. Ten to twelve years ago, #SquatEveryDay was everywhere. It was the cool kid at the lunch table. Now the hashtag is gone, and so are a lot of the people who pushed it the hardest. Some lifters absolutely got results from…
You’ve Never Been Hit Till You’ve Been Hit by The Ranch
by- Josh Bryant El Rancho High School CIF Championship Game 1966 I grew up on weight-room folklore. Ever since I started sneaking into the YMCA at five years old, the old heads fed me legends. High school stars. Guys who went north to Canada. A few who touched college or the pros. Most of it…
Pick Your Poison: When Loud Training Works (Part II)
by- Josh Bryant Brian Dobson and Mark Hanlon Always Came With Purpose Now let’s say the part most people are afraid to say out loud. Some people like training like every day is a fight, like a fight in the Allsup’s parking lot. That’s their poison. And it works! A lot of people say the…
Pick Your Poison: Practice or Psych-Up (Part 1)
by- Josh Bryant The Soviets thrived with the TF Max “The hardest hits you see on the football field are in alumni games and the first practice in pads,” said JUCO legend Barney Eames. “When players are freshest, they’re the most excited. They want to hit someone.” That line sticks for a reason. Fresh body.…
You Are Training a Chemical Addiction Either Way
by- Josh Bryant Most people think their biggest obstacle is discipline. Or genetics. Or not having the perfect plan. That is surface-level thinking! The real issue runs deeper. Most people are not in command of their own subconscious. And the subconscious never sits idle. If you do not give it direction, it takes orders from…
The Strongest You Is Locked Behind a Governor
by- Josh Bryant Tom Haviland defeating the internal governor by “electing” farmer’s walks. Remember that trip to Ciudad Juarez, senoritas, margaritas, and a night in jail that would make a priest blush? You had a few drinks and nothing in your brain was telling you no. You are walking down Avenida Juarez when a wild…
Stop Snoozing, Start Adapting
by- Josh Bryant Johnnie Jackson smoking 832 under Josh’s tutelage. Specificity is king and accommodation is queen. When they work together synergistically, you build a strength kingdom. I hammer specificity because it drives real progress, but there are times in the gym when you gotta change the stimulus. Do it correctly and that is phase…
Mass and Mastery: Muscle. Skill. Power.
by- Josh Bryant Strongest bodybuilder of all-time, Joe Mackey, 910 deadlift. Think of your body like a factory. Muscle is the workforce. More muscle equals a bigger labor pool. More strength equals higher production. Simple math. But size alone doesn’t get the job done. If those workers don’t know what the hell they’re doing, you’ve…
Strap Up or Shut Up
Self-appointed strength messiahs preach “no straps” like it’s scripture. Meanwhile they’d get dragged across a parking lot by a Golden Retriever on a Dollar Store leash. Same energy as those college business professors lecturing about permits while the real builders are greasing politicians and paying off the mob to keep the job moving. Zip it,…