From the desk of Victor Pride
Subj: “No energy put out = you get nothing back” -Jack LaLanne
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I don't know about you, boy, but I don't move so good unless I exercise.
All these years in a computer chair glued to a screen = a body that doesn't cooperate unless you exercise it.
So you know what I do?
I get the blood flowing. I get the heart going. I grease the bones.
Rather than just being stuck in a body that doesn't like to move, like damn near everybody I see, I just get up and make my body move every single day.
You know what I figured out?
When I'm fresh and warm in the gym, I move like a gazelle. When I'm on a computer chair I move like an anteater.
So I do what it takes to make the body work well.
A while ago I found myself in a spot where I wasn't “feeling so good.”
I thought the answer might be to cut out going to the gym so much.
You know what happened?
A big mistake happened.
Nothing got better and everything got worse. I got stiff like a damn board. Lower back pain got worse.
So I discontinued it. Instead of continuing to do something that didn't work, like a crazy person, I decided to get back into the gym hard and heavy.
I got back in the gym every single day, 7 days per week. When I do take a rest day, I make sure to get AT LEAST a minimum 30 minute walk outside.
Guess what happened?
Everything got better.
If your body isn't working as well as it used to, there's really only one thing you can do…
When your back is against the wall, there is only one place to go: BACK TO THE BASICS.
GET JACKED LIKE JACK LALANNE
When you want to get jacked, you have to go to the man “getting jacked” is named after, Jack LaLanne.
Jack LaLanne was a gym-rat before being a gym-rat was cool. He was basically the first man to promote lifting weights, eating healthy and exercising daily.
Jack was a big proponent of pride and discipline and every day he'd wake up at 4am to put himself through a hard 2 hour workout… even deep into his 90s.
“Pride and discipline is the key to everything.” -Jack LaLanne
Every year on his birthday, Jack LaLanne would accomplish some “impossible” physical feat.
At the age of 70, Jack LaLanne towed 7 tugboats filled with 7 people for a mile, swimming while handcuffed.
If Jack can do that at 70, you can get up off the computer and get to the gym 1-2 hours every day.
So many years ago, Jack LaLanne was one of the guys who got me into the gym in the first place.
He was the only guy who got me back into the gym after a mild layoff (I always trained, just not hard).
It was one thing Jack LaLanne said that really struck a chord with me and put my ass back into the gym in high gear.
Jack said…
YOUR BODY IS YOUR SLAVE. IT DOES WHAT YOU COMMAND IT TO DO.
From the second I heard that phrase, I put in 2 workouts every single day. Pushing myself to the brink of exhaustion and beyond.
When my heart is pounding and I cannot catch my breath and I want to quit, I simply repeat this to myself: YOUR BODY IS YOUR SLAVE.
Then I continue with the workout. I don't quit when I feel like quitting, I quit when I'm finished.
At the gym I will make it a point to do more than I feel comfortable doing. For example, when I'm dead tired and ready to leave I'll do 3 extra sets of a hard exercise that makes me want to quit.
Each time the devil on my shoulder says “yeah, that's good enough, just leave now”, the angel chimes in and says “to hell with that, finish what you start!” and I'll do the last exercises and I'll do them hard.
I found that training through the pain gives me two things:
- It gives me great energy for the day and
- It gives me pride of accomplishment first thing in the morning
There is no better feeling in the world than going past your comfort zone and getting that great feeling of accomplishment, every single day in the gym. I tell you boy, do it and your face will start glowing.
When you want to quit, don't, do more and do it hard as hell.
Wanting to quit is a mental weakness not a physical weakness.
The body is the slave of the mind and if your body does not obey your mind it is because your mind is allowing weakness.
Your body will do anything your mind commands it to do, but you have to have the pride and discipline to follow through with that you say you're going to do.
Not only do you develop pride and discipline by working hard in the gym, you also feel damn good for the rest of the day.
I told you, your face will start glowing and I meant it.
There is nothing better for the brain than hard physical exercise, it is the best medicine on planet earth.
Like Jack LaLanne said…
“Your moral obligation is to take care of your most prized possession on this earth: your body.”
The only true way you can hurt your body is by not using it.
So use it, because if you don't use it, you will lose it.
Since the day I started using my body every single day, I feel better than I've ever felt in my whole life.
Try it for yourself and see.
What have you got to lose?
Until next time.
Your man,
-Victor Pride
I love it Vic when you write about working out….thats how I found you…keep up the great work….
mind leads, body obeys.
Inspirational and insightful article. Excercise is a habit to build and develop. Regards
Aha! Hit the gym 14x a week plus 7x in the sac, 3 workouts daily cheers Vic ;)
7+ that is.. hahahahaha AAAOOOOOWWWWWWWW.
You just punched me hard in the face again Victor! I agree with you! Keep on killing it with these kick ass articles!
So true. I work in an office. Back was hurting. I starting working out and moving more =back problem gone.
However, I noticed my mind got weaker from sitting all the time (subway,office, several dates)it always wants to quit.
Let me explain:
Just yesterday the other day my goal was to do 5 min planks. I wanted to quit at the 2 min mark. I literally have to shout at myself “Don’t give up you lil B*.
Soon as I shouted at myself… I was able to reach 5 min.
Thank You Vic!
Every so often I hear people say working out twice a day is beneficial.
Other people say you need to get more rest.
Your message of being more active definitely rings true.
All the best,
– D
I laugh when people say exercise is “hard” and “dangerous.”
Do you know what’s hard?
Living a life of regrets because you were too afraid to put in the work.
Do you know what’s dangerous?
Sitting on your ass 24/7 and allowing your body and mind to fall to pieces.
The average nine-to-fivers wake up…
Sit in traffic for 1-2 hours.
Sit at work for 8-10 hours.
Sit in traffic again for 1-2 hours.
Sit for 2-3 hours a day to eat.
Sit in front of the TV or computer to “veg out” for another 3-5 hours at home.
Lay down to sleep (on shitty mattresses) for hopefully another 7 hours.
And then they wonder why they’re in pain…
What’s happening?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There is no motion. There is no momentum.
Only decay and death awaits in their future.
Get off your ass, and start moving.
Get off your ass, and start training like your life depends on it… because it does.
We are predators, not sloths. Act like it!
The average nine-to-fivers wake up…
Sit in traffic for 1-2 hours.
Sit at work for 8-10 hours.
Sit in traffic again for 1-2 hours.
Sit for 2-3 hours a day to eat.
Sit in front of the TV or computer to “veg out” for another 3-5 hours at home.
Lay down to sleep (on shitty mattresses) for hopefully another 7 hours.
Perfectly put Nick.
Hard work? I don’t think so…
It would be hard work if there was a purpose for it. If there was some meaningful end to be reached. But there isn’t. It’s a rat race. And the reward is a comfortable retirement one day when your life is nearing its twilight and the youth and vitality have been sucked out of you.
Excellent work Victor. Your articles are groundbreaking.
Hey Victor,
I’ve been reading your site for awhile now. This is my first time commenting.
I was wondering if at some point, you could write about insecurities in men.
More specifically, for example, when I’m walking with this girl I’m dating, I notice her looking at other men, and usually fixes her hair when she sees an attractive guy. I don’t know why it makes me feel so insecure when that happens. It had happened a lot in the past with an ex, and it’s something that always seems to bother me for some reason.
I know the obvious answer is something like “don’t be such a pussy. Grow some balls and don’t give a shit.” I’ve tried that many times over the years, but I always seem to fall into the same feelings.
I know that this is a weird request, and I’m not really expecting anything from it. I just needed to get it off my chest somehow. Posting a comment on here actually just made me feel a little bit better by putting my feelings into words.
Thanks!
Hey Rob … Don’t know what Victor will tell you but maybe I can give you some in sight. First let me give you background about myself. I’m 36, wrestled in highschool all state and won a folkstyle national,Navy vet, etc… I use to be a drunk pot head,and bar brawler ,but could pull women left and right yet when I had a gf I had the same problem as you.
First make sure your the most badass you can be. Put yourself and time first. Workouts,making money, time, relationships with friends and family.
Second realize as long as your doing what I said above and respecting yourself first then these girls that don’t respect you don’t deserve your time or respect.
Third only be with girls that have the goal of being the best they can be. Depending on your age it’s different. For me it’s a respectable stay at home wife, that wants to be like her grandmother who put her man first, keeps food cooked, house clean, baby taken care of.
Fourth don’t ever make a woman your top priority not even a wife.
Fifth there are always more girls.
Sixth and probably the most important….Set your standards….if her or anyone else in any part of your life doesn’t meet them then can them life is too short…But remember before you can impose standards on anyone else you must live up to your own that you set for yourself.
You can do this.
Hey thanks Nick!
I didn’t think anyone would ever reply to this post. So thanks for taking the time to write this. It came at a very useful time as it’s something that has been on my mind a lot over the past several days.
In the past I made the mistake of telling the girl about my insecurity thinking she would show empathy and change. It only seemed to make things worse and made her resentful that I would even say anything to her about it. I realized that it made me look incredibly needy and insecure.
Thanks for the great advice! I will definitely start to apply it, and remind myself of it!
Your welcome Rob. It’s a hard lesson to learn.
The lesson is to never ever tell your insecurities to a woman not your mother,gf or wife. And I mean ever….It’s actually what women are suppose to do to us and depending on the subject of the insecurity they have we either reassure them either by actions or words….And that’s if she’s worth it. So it is a turn off for them since that’s what they do. And if she’s say what’s wrong don’t tell no matter how much she tries to get it out of you.
Focus on getting skills for health,wealth, and wisdom..And take action.
Find men that are good to be friends with and learn from them.
Focus on you and the rest will fall into place…Don’t worry what others will say.
Glad I could help.
When people ask you “why do you workout everyday”?
You can answer them…. “well we all take shit daily, brush our teeth daily, and shower daily to take care of our body… so shouldn’t working out everyday be default as well”?
I was low on sleep, felt like shit… than at my gym workout I used “MY body is my slave…I COMMAND you to GROWWW!”
I had 5 personal bests today!!!
Crazy AS FUCK!!!
B&D Magic.
Hi Victor
I would be interested in your current measurments, height, weight, and how are you currently doing supplementation and how your weight, measurments have changed on red PCT and red GROWTH?
What do you do when your body breaks, Victor?
When you push yourself so hard for 40+ years and it says NO to being your slave ie. a heart attack etc.
I’m guessing you are still a young man.
Good point to break your body limitations, but do not mistake good training and busting your ass every single day with effective workout. That’s counterproductive and may raise your cortisol levels really high. And you know what this amount of stress do to your body. You go to the gym to break muscle, you’re in catabolic state. When you rest you’re in anabolic state in that state you build muscle. You must recover or you just dont give it time to grow. You minimize any opportunity for growth you tear muscle fibers down. Of course, you can train hard every other day but your nutrition, sleep, has to be on point. You have to recover fast that doesn’t happen as quickly as you think maybe if you’re on cycle you can but naturally you need more time.
I remember how you used to write about Jack LaLanne years ago, and how he used to tow boats. That was super motivational.
Changing my morning routine to jump rope 5-10 minutes. Kettlebell swings each side 30 , kb farmer’s walks 100yards each side, over head carry 100 yards,push-ups AMAP, squats50, pullup AMAP, 4 50 yard sprint, heavy bag blitz as long as possible….. Before heavy bag blitz I’ll practice a few jabs, crosses, body shots, elbows, knees, then I’ll do the blitz. I treat the blitz as if I’m getting jumped and it’s a life a death situation.
I’ve layed off heavy lifting at night for a few months due to the birth of my daughter and wanting to spend every moment I can with her she is five months old and I already have huge plans for her. Being 36 I got to be as badass as I can be. So I’ve been programming a simplified but badass workout.
Push day one….Warm-up 5 minutes jump rope and/or heavy bag.
-Superset landmine rows with bench 75 % or more 3×7
-Bench 1 set 135 lbs as fast as possible ,failure, as perfect as possible.
– Squats 240 lbs 1×20 as to grass.
– DB standing shoulder press 4×7.
-squats 225 1×20
-Dips 2x failure
-Decline skull crusher’s 3×7
-Hanging leg raises 2xfail hold last
-Flutter kicks 100
– Cool down neck bridges, Superman’s, slow heavy bag work
Pull day one
– Deadlifts technique 135 1×15… Resetting after each rep.
-Dead lifts 5 sets starting at 225 for five, adding weight to each set until I get only one rep or fail
-farmers walk DB 100lbs+ x failure
-kroc rows 3x as heavy as possible as many as possible.
– kettlebell power clean 2×15 side.
-Neck machine 3×10 all sides
Abs and cool down remain the same.
Pull and push day 2 super set all big movements and do alot more secondary work. Pull day has alot more power cleans. Every day has rows and neck bridges.
I did this workout for four months before her birth and went from 167 to 198 at 5’9″. I train with the intent that one day I’ll have to rip people apart and beat them with there own limbs to protect my family.