There are people out there, who take a lifetime to accomplish something meaningful and relevant. They hone their art, spend time in the trenches and eventually achieve mastery in their respective fields. The problem is, by the time they do, they’re old and gray and approaching their dying days.

No so with Lee Boyce. I’m not saying he’s the end-all-be-all, but for a guy who’s well under 30, he’s managed to become a regular writer at T-Nation, works for one of the nation’s most respected medical clinics, is CPTN certified, a regular fitness expert on a National TV morning show, has appeared in Mens Health, The Huffington Post and other major fitness journals… and so on and so forth. Basically, he knows a shit load about about all the things you can, and need to do in a gym. Ya dig?

So needless to say, this is one man you should listen to. What lies below is a wealth of knowledge for your mental absorption.

The Interview…

me: Hey dude

coachleeboyce: Hey man

me: Glad to see you managed to figure out Gchat. You’re smarter than you look, fo sho!

coachleeboyce: haha. Whats up for the rest of the day?

me: I got coaching in the evening. Power Tumbling… teaching people how to flip without landing on their face. Though, some inevitably do.

coachleeboyce: nice

me: Yeah, so lets start this shebang. Welcome you tall freak of nature and hard work, and mad props for doing this lil interview.

coachleeboyce: No problem

me: Let’s start at the beginning, give us a lil run down of how Lee Boyce came to be from where you started initially. From what I heard, a mutual friend of ours told me you were a bean pole once?

coachleeboyce: Hell yeah. I was a skinny sprinter. I was lean, but I hit 6’2″ by grade 11… at 168lbs there was nothing much to speak for. Of course, being a typical highschool athlete, I FELT big. I got to around 185lbs by my senior year and looked like a basketball player; tall, athletic built but still considerably skinny.

The fact that many of the other guys were even skinnier made the buck eighty five go straight to my head.

me: So how long did it take to get to your level today (240?) and how did you do it? A little help for the young lads that are looking to pack on the pounds.

coachleeboyce: Hmmm… where to begin.

me: how bout nutrition since that’s what most people DONT focus on.

coachleeboyce: Well to start, I’ve been 240 for about 2 years now. I’m 24 years old.

Nutrition is huge. for a skinny bastard like I was once (ESPECIALLY if you’re YOUNG and skinny), you can’t be afraid of carbs and fats. You can be taking in TONNES of carbohydrates because bar a few, your metabolism will be burning calories like a furnace – especially if you’re even moderately active.

Learning how to train right and eating like a horse are the keys to weight gain.

And weight gain is the key to not being skinny. We’ll get to muscle gain after. There’s no point to working out hard in the gym in any way, shape or form, in the pursuit of size, if you aren’t taking in more calories than you put out, through basal metabolism and through your workouts

me: Agreed. It’s funny when guys think they’ll get “fat” when they load on carbs. I’d like to slap these mofos with an oatmeal bag. For the average young male, what macro break down would you usually prescribe?

coachleeboyce: Macro breakdown… lol. Just try to take in 1.5x your weight (lbs) in protein and 2x your weight in carbs in terms of grams. These are good basic guidelines. As far as meals go, a staple of mine was good ole’ chicken breast and sweet potatoes.

me: Y U NO ANSWER QUESTION?!

I kid, and those are basic solid guidelines.

coachleeboyce: lol. People overthink this stuff. I’m in no way a nutrition guru. Far from it. But making muscles grow, and making weight come up and come down is easier than young people make it out to be.

me: It’s true, I constantly have to stop myself from over-thinking. I think the problem(?) is that there is so much good info out there, that you want to incorporate it all. Then we gota bring ourselves back down to Earth and be like “one thing at a time”.

coachleeboyce: Exactly! Only after a certain training age will anyone realize that there are thousands of schools of thought on methodologies.

People who are spending time scrutinizing coaches’ styles in search of “the best method” will stay skinny for LIFE.

Why? because they’ll never find it.

me: You speak wisely, tall man. It’s true, I sometimes get emails saying “is your method the BEST method? If not I don’t want to train. I want to train using the BEST method”. I’m like its the best if you give me solid data and follow the fucking thing… Otherwise it’s shit

coachleeboyce: Your response is more than what mine would be. I’d log out. Drives me bananas.

me: Indeed. So while were on the topic of training, here’s quickie: The average Joe (or Juliette) is looking to make themselves a decent, not horrible program on strength. Three tips on decent program design?

coachleeboyce: The skinny average joe?

me: Sure.

coachleeboyce: Okay, my first tip would be to think of movement planes rather than muscles. Strength is created due to a sum of forces working against a resistance. Focusing on high volume biceps and triceps when you’re weak as a house of cards won’t get you any stronger.

Focusing on pulling and pushing muscles, however, can do alot for you. Make it directional: vertical pushing and pulling, versus horizontal pushing and pulling. It makes it easy to train the total body, release a lot of hormones, and perform many large functional movements.

2ndly I’d say to start from the ground up. I just did a segment for the morning show I’m on earlier this week about chronic pain, and I mentioned that things like the lack of tissue quality and structural balance are direct antecedents to joint discomfort. Long story short, if a skinny bastard expects to squat 300lbs in 6 weeks, he’s gonna have to make sure muscles like his VMO, Adductors, Glute Medius, and Psoas are all firing properly. Take the time to work on foundation movements in order to maximize strength, otherwise you could be exacerbating muscle imbalances. The aftermath is never fun.

3rd, Foundation aside, nothing beats standard, old school barbell training.

This is fact. My advice? Forget instability, and use Unilateral work sparingly when starting out. You cannot produce maximal force against an unstable surface, meaning you can’t train your strength to improve as effectively if you’re using these methods. This is where most kids go wrong. Training beginning strength is different than training strength of an intermediate, and both are different than training for hypertrophy. It is very important to make this distinction.

me: I think that 3rd tip will go a long way towards people not looking like complete morons. Awesome. Speaking of media, I saw you were on the CityTV, CTV and the likes. How’d that go? And what did you talk about?

coachleeboyce: Oh I’ve done several segments for all of them. One of my old clients was the late great Mark Dailey – anchor for cityNews. We got a couple of segments in together during the 2 1/2 years we worked with each other. Currently you can actually catch me talking training on First Look morning show on SunTV.

Generally I talk about a variety of training related topics – normally related to fat loss and the like, since our fat country is so fatly fat.

me: Tell me about it. Big market share for us, I say. It’ll take plenty of life-times to eliminate fatness from this world. Ain’t gona stop me from trying. And on a side note, it’s pretty awesome that you worked with Mark Dailey… know as “the voice of CityTv”. R.I.P

coachleeboyce: Oh yeah, he was a good guy. A friend, actually. Sad to see him battle the Cancer. And true, regarding market share.

me: Now I know you’re a TNation… or, TMuscle writer (whatever it is they call themselves these days). What I wanted to know was, do you have any tips for aspiring writers on how they can write for bigger publications (besides having to know their shit)? Give us a lil break down on how you ended up there.

coachleeboyce: To be honest, I’d start by picking a magazine that you’re interested in and getting into it waist-deep. There’s no point in making a mass proposal to publication after publication because editors will see that you don’t have too much knowledge of any one magazine – theirs in particular. To get into TNation, I had already been reading their material for a long period of time, which then led me to pursue the next steps in getting my thoughts in front of the editors.

My next tip would be to remember that persistence pays off. Pitches will get denied. People will not like everything you have to say. It happens, but how you act in response is what matters.

me: Right on. Yeah you’re one of the few authors on that site who’s content I’ll actually read. Now let’s discuss plateaus when it comes to strength and fat loss. How would you handle each respectively?

coachleeboyce: If it’s not a weak link that’s the issue, often time’s it’s some kind of physiological process that isn’t going the way it should. Strength plateaus, for example are usually due to CNS overload from, well… too much strength training. De-loading weeks are key.

Most fat issues are hormonal. So much of it is diet. The rest is stress. Keeping 2 hormones at bay (cortisol and insulin) will do wonders for getting lean and busting a plateau. luckily those two hormones are probably the most controllable ones in our body.

me: How about exercises that you see guys/gals do in the gym which are a complete waste of time?

coachleeboyce: lol, I see countless

me: Haha true. Top 5 then. So people don’t hate you and go cry in a corner

coachleeboyce: Hmmmm… its usually the “combos” that drive me nuts

me: Ah the mish-mashes

coachleeboyce: Like a stiff-arm pull down converted into a triceps press down at the end. Row – kickback combo. I once saw someone doing hang cleans on the BOSU ball… like… why? Kipping pullups. is that 5?

me: (in kipping’s defense, it’s needed in gymnastics for bar skills… but only if you’re in gymnastics)

coachleeboyce: yeah, and we know Crossfit junkies aren’t going to attack the pummel horse on their off days anytime soon.

me: Indeed. Actually, the correct term is “CultFit”

coachleeboyce: lol

me: Did you see this by the way? I thought it was an April fools… till I realized it wasn’t April: http://www.livestrong.com/video/3953-do-squat-bicep-shoulder-press/

coachleeboyce: OMG. I closed the window.

me: Haha. No one I know has gotten through the entire thing. It has almost become a DARE.

coachleeboyce: That can’t be serious. I don’t even know where to start, so I won’t.

me: She’s been a “certified” trainer since 1995. I didn’t know such stupidity existed back then…but I guess it did.

coachleeboyce: It’s a snowball effect as to where you get your start… regardless if you did university study, or just got a weekend certification, NEITHER of these have much carryover into real training scenarios.

It’s reading material and being coached that makes you into the trainer you become.

If you start by learning flashy stupidity that takes people further away from their goals, then you’ll get caught up if you don’t take a step back. When i started out I was 19 years old.. you should have seen the crap I put some clients through. Luckily I was able to turn things around, for their sake and mine.

me: Interesting theory, I think the snowball effect is a legit phenomenon if the mindset is whack. Those that get their certification in say, CultFit have such major blind spots towards anything else, that they reject it. And like you, in my early days I did some stupid shit… but one thing I never had was an ego. I searched for the truth. Speaking of which, who were your early influencers?

coachleeboyce: Well shortly after I turned 20, I hired a trainer myself at the local gym at which I worked. He taught me a lot of the basics on strength and hypertrophy training. I had ego. It was bad combination. Came from my skinny highschool syndrome I’m sure. Other early Influencers came from things I read. Eric Cressey, Chad Waterbury and Nate Green were definitely 3 notable names to me.

Nowadays I’m a fan of both Poliquin and Rippetoe (though their styles clash often), Gentilcore is great too.

me: I’m a huge Poliquin and Cressey fan myself. Seeing Cressey’s monster 600lbs pulls is what drove me to achieve 3x body weight pulls myself. Getting close. I’m like if THAT guy can pull such enormous load, sure, I’ll read his shit.

coachleeboyce: lol

me: So, if you could snap your fingers and change 1 thing about the fitness industry in an instant, what would it be and why?

coachleeboyce: The ease at which people can be deemed “professionals” in the industry. I get that people will all suck when they first start out, but there shouldn’t be any variables as to why they’re certified to train clients’ bodies. it scares me… basically there needs to be tighter standards to pass a training school. Perhaps even to enter training schooling.

me: But there are guys that slip through the cracks and do well, so I think there are pros to it as well. I hear what you’re saying though. When you train someone, their shit is in your hands. I think Dan John said it best when he explained his first rule of being a strength coach: “do no harm”.

coachleeboyce: True enough

me: Alright man, so let’s end off this interview with a Rapid Fire round. I’ll ask you 10 questions, you answer them as fast as you can in 1 sentence or less. Ready?

coachleeboyce: Lol sounds good. what’s less than 1 sentence though? haha.

me: Hmm, don’t worry it’ll be like the Oscars… I’ll cut you off when the time’s right.

me: 1. Three things people should start doing right now to be more awesome.

coachleeboyce: Stop limiting themselves. Stop making conclusions based on insufficient information.
Start exercising regularly.

me: 2. Current favorite supplement?

coachleeboyce: Fish oils

me: 3. One quick tip to attain monster strength

coachleeboyce: Gain weight

me: Nice

coachleeboyce: With size comes strength.

me: …and toilet clogging abilities. Now stop giving people an excuse to be fat!

me: 4. Three fitness books everyone should read

coachleeboyce: Starting Strength – Mark Rippetoe. Strong Enough? – Mark Rippetoe. Assess and Correct – Eric Cressey

me: 5. Personally, do you prefer to press or pull?

coachleeboyce: Pull

me: 6. You favorite pull exercise of all time?

coachleeboyce: The Clean

me: 7. Beer or the hard stuff?

coachleeboyce: Beer – but i don’t drink at all. Probably had 6 beer this year.

me: Then it’s settled, time to get you wasted. Wonder how many shots it takes to drop a 240lbs 6 foot + lurch

coachleeboyce: Bahaha

me: Haha

8. Top guilty pleasure?

coachleeboyce: McDonalds!!! Bigtime

me: Ew

coachleeboyce: Dude. EVERYTHING on that menu is gold. Minus the fillet o’ fish.

me: Yeah you shit gold bricks too.

coachleeboyce: Lol

me: (Tho I agree with the filet o fish… who the fuck eats that shit?)

9. Favorite movie of all time?

coachleeboyce: You’re probably expecting a “scarface”, “rainman”, “color purple”. Hard to say, but Remember The Titans is up there…

At this point, my stupid DSL WiFi modem decides to give up all hope and dies. Showing me more red lights than a busy downtown street. After a furious reboot, we continue with the awesomeness…

me: I’m back. Technology can really blow sometimes. Wifi died.

coachleeboyce: Ahaha

me: So favorite movie, what was it before my Bell modem decided to be French.

coachleeboyce: Haha, Remember The Titans, the memory of highschool football.

me: And finally…

10. Favorite bodypart you like to check out on a female?

coachleeboyce: Hmmm… the face and the hourglass shape in general. Girl’s gotta have hips.

me: Ah you’re a hip man. Means you’re subconsciously looking for someone to have babies with.

coachleeboyce: Bahaha

me: I myself am an ass man… which means I subconsciously want to have unlimited amounts of hot sex. And I have to say, it’s very true.

coachleeboyce: lol OR you’re gay. Subconsciously of course

me: Of course. I’ll give respect to a man with a great behind. But I’ll never touch.

coachleeboyce: Haha, oh jeez.

me: If you think I’m gay, I don’t know what you think of Bret Contreras… he backs up his ass fascination with SCIENCE!

coachleeboyce: Hahaha. A masters in Gluteology.

me: Seriously, it’s scary how much he knows about glutes. You have to be obsessed with the ass to do so. Anyways, this has been a solid talk my man. Appreciate you spending some time in Jerk Land.

coachleeboyce: No problem. it was a good one!

me: For sure. Just before we go, let the folks know where they can reach you.

coachleeboyce: You can hit up my website www.leeboycetraining.com, and also find me on Twitter and Facebook. Plus, you can catch me on TNation as a regular Contributing Author.

me: Good stuff. Take it easy

coachleeboyce: Later man

———–
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Let me ask you something, have you ever visited PubMed or an equally nerdy site in an effort to look up promising research only to find that the language used flew way past over your head? Well, you’re not alone. Just reading some of the abstracts on fitness studies will leave you clueless, helpless and no smarter than before.

Luckily for you, I had a chat with my man Mark Young who created a product called How To Read Fitness Research. Basically, he deciphers all the crazy lingo when it comes to reading and understanding research so you can actually absorb what the hell is being said and put it to good use. After going through it, nerd talk has never been so comprehensible!

Look, there is no substitute for good, solid evidence and if you’re the least bit interested in improving the way you look, feel or perform than reading research should become a common activity at some point in your week. And now, it couldn’t be easier. So get with the program, grab a beer and enjoy the interview. It’s quite jam packed!

The Interview

me: So Mark first up, big ups for doing this. I know you’re a new daddy and got a brand new pooper er… I mean, “baby” running around recently.

Mark: Thanks man. Things definitely change when you’ve got a little one, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

me: They say fatherhood changes you. And makes you less sexy. But you’ve managed to keep the sexy (minus the dressing like a retarded monkey bit). So give me a little breakdown of how you manage to keep the sexy while handling fatherly duties and publishing nerdalicious research.

Mark: Unlike the old days when I could train whenever I wanted, these days I’m up at 5AM at least 3 days per week to lift some heavy shiznit and hit up some cardio. Any additional stuff I get in during the week is a bonus.

Nutritionally, I just do pretty much as I’ve done before…although I usually end up finishing off my daughter’s breakfast as well.

me: Putting her in a caloric deficit already. Bad Mark.

Mark: She actually never really eats much at breakfast. Not sure why. I think she’s on some intermittent fasting plan or something.

me: Yeah, Brad Pilon is also a Canadian. Wouldn’t be surprised if she read Eat-Stop-Eat already.

Mark: He actually lives pretty close to me, but he’s yet to invite me over for one of those delicious steaks he’s always talking about on Facebook. Bastard.

me: I say we raid his house. I’ve got air guns and boxing gloves. That’s more equipment than the RCMP.

Mark: Hah, I’m down. I think we need to catch him at then end of a fasting day when he’s weakest.

me: Agreed. He’ll be mixing his BCAA’s or some shit. I’ll snipe, you barge.

Mark: Sounds like a plan Stan. Although running this interview publicly in advance may make this plan less effective.

me: It’s ok, my shit is too scandalous for him to read, hah. Now speaking of your little one, how soon are you going to introduce her into the world of lifting heavy awesomeness? Because one question I get all the time, from who I presume to be hot MILFS, is “how soon should my son or daughter start lifting weights”?

Mark: Well…she’s 20 months now so it’ll probably be a while. The goal for her youth is to keep her active and athletic. I’d have to refresh with CSEP position stand on resistance training for youth, but I think you could start pretty young with bodyweight resistance if she’s interested. Strength at that age mostly comes from neural improvements versus muscular changes anyway. The key for us as parents is to model the behaviours we eventually want her to follow. So eventually I’m guessing she’ll become an iron addict.

me: So there’s no specific age you would wait for before recommending the iron? Because my standard response is to throw them into gymnastics, where the emphasis on bodyweight training is prime. I also coach this sport and have been in it for many years so I know the benefits it provides physically. Then when they reach teen years, start lifting.

And I fully agree with the role modelling. Blaming kids for being fat is retarded.

Mark: Based on the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology position stand (which is based on research) there is no minimum age for resistance training in children. Bodyweight takes the emphasis, then progressing up as high as 4 weighted sets of 8-15 reps for as many as 8-12 exercises. Even Olympic lifts are seen as okay.

me: That’s interesting, good to know. Now how about a short Mark Young history lesson. Who are you, where’d you come from, how did you start etc?

Mark: Basically, I finished my undergrad in kinesiology in 2000. Took a year off to travel and ended up working at a gym until the following September when I entered a Masters program in Biomechanics which I eventually changed to Exercise Physiology. Somewhere in there, I launched my own training business and the rest is history. I’ve now been training peeps for about 11 years and have had the opportunity to do research in one of the world’s leading muscle protein metabolism research labs.

me: You’re probably the coolest nerd I’ve met.

Mark: I am an exceptional nerd…except I don’t watch Harry Potter. I don’t get that shit.

me: Yeah me neither, but hot nerd chicks like it so it’s an easy date option. Plus later she can get intoxicated and play with my wand. It’s very magical. If you have any single friends, they can thank me later for such an epic pick up line.

Mark: I hear chicks dig miniature wands.

me: They like growers not showers; that’s part of the magic yo! Actually that came out like “shower” but that can be fun too. Ok so your extreme nerdiness inspired you to create a product called “How To Read Fitness Research” – I’ve gone through 80% of it and must say, that’s a brilliant niche you’ve found. How did you get the idea for this?

Mark: Frankly, I used to read a lot of blogs and fitness articles on the internet and I finally came to the conclusion that 95% of everything I was reading was complete BS. And while a lot of that stuff “works” it is largely not based on science.

For example, the old dogma that suggested we HAD to eat 6 times per day worked for fat loss, but this was ultimately because it doesn’t matter whether you eat 2 times per day or 6 as long as you are in a caloric deficit. It took a few smart people to look a research, figure this out, and then the industry was changed in a heartbeat.

me: Very true. Now I have a philosophy that science follows nature, not the other way around. Which means there are techniques and methods out there that WORK, but haven’t been backed by peer reviewed research… yet. Do you have any examples of such training methods you personally use or do you just not bother with things until they are proven?

Mark: The first point to understand is that nothing can technically be proven. In research, we test a theory (or method). If that method is better than another then it stands as the most accepted theory for that time, but that does not mean that it cannot later be disproven. In fact, the whole purpose of research is to TEST not to prove.

That said, I tend to limit myself to stuff that has some experimental evidence behind it OR a scientifically valid reason why it MIGHT work. Generally speaking though… I won’t trust some internet author who tells me his methods are scientifically valid unless he provides such reasoning. Most people on the internet don’t know what on earth an ANOVA is so I’m not going to trust them to provide me with any scientific input. If I’m interested in what they’re saying, I’ll look it up myself.

me: Hmm, I remember going through that part of the course yesterday. And I think that’s the biggest “a-ha” most people will have; that research is meant to test not prove. Is this how most “cherry picking” happens?

Mark: Abso-friggin-lutely! A lot of people (*cough* Mercola *cough*) write an article and have a pet theory about a specific topic. Then when they hit the research (assuming they can read it properly in the first place) look only for studies that validate what they say.

To me, the purpose of research is to take what you think you know and test it.

If it stands against the rigorous controls of science then you know it is a valid method and worth implementing in the real world.

I think of it like a multi level screening. If I hear something I’m interested in, I look it up to see of there is any research backing it. This is my first level filter to weed out a lot of BS. If the method proves valid I’ll test it in the real world which is what I consider my second level filter. By doing this, I can prevent trying stuff that is a total waste of time and/or money (with possible negative health consequences).

me: Wise words for all. And I can see that this 2 step screening process guarantees that Type 1 errors won’t fuck you over. To those that don’t know these errors can you give a brief sentence or two on type 1 and 2 errors.

Mark: Sure. A type 1 error is basically what we call a false positive. It means that the statistics we used for our research find that a method (or supplement) works when it really doesn’t. According to the filters above, this would mean that you’d find support for this method, test it in the real world (your second filter) and it wouldn’t work. So you’d scrap it.

A type 2 error is what is called a false negative. This means that the statistics we used for our research find that a method or supplement does NOT work when it actually does. In this case, my first level filter would say not to try this method until evidence was strong enough to support its use. So I probably wouldn’t try this in the real world and I might miss out on stuff like this.

Then again, any study with a small number of subjects is at risk of errors which is why larger studies are of more value and you have to take this into consideration when looking at research. In studies where a type 2 error was present you’d usually see a trend towards statistical significance (meaning that it was shown to be “almost useful”) so it might indicate it is worth trying anyway.

…Dammit. I so don’t know how to write short sentences.

me: No worries, I like peeps who have a lot to say. And that fact right there had me re-reading studies I’ve read in the past. Just to give me new fun things to try. Now you recently were an author on this study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21755358 which I thought was pretty interesting. For those that get confused reading abstracts, can you give us a gist of what you basically found.

Mark: Sure man. The gist of it is that training with pure eccentrics (a.k.a negatives) has long been thought to result in greater strength gains than training with exclusively concentric (lifting) actions. Unfortunately, since eccentric contractions allow us to lift up to 40% more we thought that this difference really didn’t have anything to do with the type of action (lowering vs lifting), but just the amount of total work that was done.

In our study we trained one arm with purely negatives (lengthening contractions) and the other arm with purely positives (shortening contractions) but we matched the total amount of work using a fancy machine called a Biodex. Basically, the concentric arm did extra reps to match the work done with the eccentric arm. In the end, we found that the strength gains and muscle gains were the same between both groups. So negatives aren’t really better for strength or size.

me: Bam. This is the type of study I was looking forward to for a while. I was and still am a huge fan of eccentrics, but it was obvious that they produced stellar results due to the greater stimulus you could pound your muscles with. Now here’s what people most likely want to know – based on what you found, do you think trainers/trainees should change a few things around in their program protocol?

Mark: Well this is where reading research carefully really comes into play. Those who read the study will notice that one group did pure eccentrics (no lifting portion) and the other group did pure concentrics (no lowering portion). In real lifting this pretty much never happens as we have to both lift and lower a weight. So, in essence, this is a study investigating the mechanisms of what causes strength and growth which furthers our scientific understanding of how muscle grows. It is NOT really a good study to translate into practice except to say that if you’re overloading yourself with max eccentrics that there are alternatives that may be less taxing on the CNS.

me: Indeed. Shows you can’t get “everything” from the abstract, which is also something you harp on quite a bit in your product. Alright Mark, let’s end this nerd-tastic session with a rapid fire round. I’ll ask a bunch of questions and you answer them as fast as you can. Single sentence or less. Ready?

Mark: Let’s do it.

me: 1. Top 3 journals anyone who wants to be strong should be subscribed to

Mark: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Strength and Conditioning Journal, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

me: 2. Your current favourite supplement?

Mark: Fish oil.

me: 3. One quick effective tip people can use to lean down for the beaches?

Mark: Eat less calories than you burn. Not rocket science. Anyone who tells you differently is probably selling something.

me: 4. Three books anyone interested in fitness should read.

Mark: Muscles: Testing and Function with Posture and Pain by Kendall. Movement by Gray Cook. Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto.

me: 5. Would you rather press or pull?

Mark: Tricky. Would rather press (ego), but I opt for pull (necessary).

me: 6. Vodka, Rum or Scotch?

Mark: Vodka for sure.

me: 7. Top guilty pleasure?

Mark: Diet Pepsi. That’s about the worst I’ve got these days. Damn I’m getting old.

me: ew.. 8. Favourite movie of all time?

Mark: Fight Club or Scent of a Woman. Too tough to call. Pacino is priceless in this one.

me: 9. We already know what makes you awesome, what are 3 things people can start doing TODAY to make themselves more awesome?

Mark: Set goals. Stop eating crap. Treat other people as you want to be treated.

me: Nice. This is why I spank hotties all the time. Good advice. Mark, wanted to say thanks for doing this interview, this has been educational and sexy all at the same time. If people want to reach you, where can they do so?

Mark: Thanks for thinking of me man. People can check me out at my blog (www.markyoungtrainingsystems.com). Or if they’re interested in becoming an uber fitness nerd capable of dismantling BS with a single wave of their pocket protector they can check out my product How to Read Fitness Research.

me: Solid sauce. I don’t recommend things often, but that is a solid product you’ve put together. I’ll be going through it again. And that raid on Brad’s house, give me a shout sometime in the future.

Mark: Will do brother. I’ll keep it on the down low.

me: fo sho. later buddy.

Mark: Later.

The End

If you got a lot out of this interview (and I don’t see how you couldn’t have) then be sure to give Mark’s site a visit. If you’ve got questions, post them in the comments below. Or if you want to stay quiet, at least show the man some love by giving the interview some shareable love VIA Twitter/Facebook etc.

Cheers.

———–
© 2011, By FitJerk. FitJerk.com is a division of Flawless Fitness Media – All Rights Reserved – No part of this post is to be republished without author consent under any forms of media (including print, internet, video or audio transcription). Doing so is a violation against copyright law and should be punishable by a punch to the face. All images are copyright of their respective owners.

Tired Of Looking Ordinary? Click Here And Get FJ To Design A Fitness Plan Just For You! FREE Initial Consultation.

One thing that sucks about the fitness industry is that most trainers, or “preachers” lack a sense of humour and literally bore me to tears. If you read their stupid blogs and websites, you almost get this sense that if you asked them to have fun… they’d give you a confused look. “Hmm… ‘fun’, I think I might have to Google that.”

However, I have found a man who’s core philosophy revolves around fun. He ditches the usual, dull and boring ways that are known to be oh so ubiquitous throughout the fitness community and instead, brings almost a stand-up-comedy level of hilarity to our world of barbells and dumbbells. It’s a rare gift, and I had a chance to interview him. Below is a completely uncensored chat log of what went on when FJ met Roger Lawson. I shouldn’t even call this an interview since I left nothing out. You get the entire conversation from beginning to end.

What Was Discussed?

We talk about women, fitness, life, sexification, Serina William’s ass, sex, BROtein, being a Mcdonald’s whore, and much, much more. So grab something to drink and settle in, because this may just be the funniest shit you’ll read all year… nay, in your lifetime.

Warning: If you’re easily offended, don’t have a sense of humour or you look like straight-edge nerd that doesn’t appreciate entertainment value beautifully mixed with great content, then this interview isn’t for you.

The Pre Interview

me: Roger, what up dude

Roger: Yo man.

Just getting home from picking up my lady from work

Sitting here like a sloth in all this heat

me: Ah, now you know what it’s like to stand next to me

Roger: That explains the random boner! I thought it was from me eating that yohimbe tree or something

me: you mean, BROner?

Roger: Hahaha, bro just fits into any word naturally. BROgina

me: That’s a tranny

Roger: BROlosopher

me: BROcologist

Roger: BROtein

me: Oh, I had some a few hours ago. It had time and slow release technology…

Roger: I hear they shrink midgets and put them into the protein to slow down digestion

Because we all know that midgets are fat, and fat slows it all down!

me: Hah, It was steak wrapped in bacon.

Roger: God damn you, that’s my only mortal weakness… Steak wrapped in bacon

The only thing greater is steak wrapped bacon woman. Preferably one with some color on her

me: I have yet to wrap my woman in bacon… she seems highly contempt with sausage at the moment

Roger: HIYOOOOOOO!

me: HIYOO!! *BROFIST*

Roger: Bwahahaha! *BROFIST*

If you’re free, do you wanna rock this interview an hour early?

me: For sure, as soon as you’re done with your woman chauffeur duties, send me a msg on Gchat. In the mean time, I’m going to grab a glass of fine scotch and prep some probing questions while you melt.

Roger: Awwww hell yeah. I’m ready when you are, I got back about 20min ago and am all settled in now

I’ll give you a few moments of BROtime though

me: You are one kind, dark man. You can be my shadow any day of the week.

Roger: Hahahaha. Best thing I’ve heard all day

me: Alright let me grab my glass of golden deliciousness (not pee) and i’ll be back in a few…

The Beginning Of Awesome

me: So first of all, thanks for not being a complete stiff bag… too many “fitness gurus” sound like anally retarded textbooks. They have no personality to them, but yours shines through your writing. I’m assuming because you’re outgoing in person?

Roger: Thank you kindly, homie. That honestly is one of the best compliments that someone could ever give me. I’d definitely say that I’m pretty outgoing in person – I get my energy from people. If one of the requirements for being a fitness professional was that I had to be supremely technical, dull sounding and void of all personality and fun, then I’d rather drink toilet water

me: Agreed. Though personally I’d rather be a lawyer… at least I get to bank some cash. And maybe some feisty female inmates. (BTW, I’ll be combing through this interview and give it a good edit, so don’t worry about spelling and other inferior aspects of writing. I’ll understand your ramblings. My readers will too.)

Roger: Good, because my native language is Chinese and I can’t spell for shit

me: Yeah I could tell by your light complexion and squinty eyes.

Roger: And large penis. DO NOT forget that.

me: HAHA, how could I? The motherfucker nudged me while I was 5 feet away, trying to get my latté

Roger: You know, I actually like the idea of possibly encountering a woman that can squat my max as a warm up in jail. I’m sure her vagina would do my penis’ taxes hahaha

me: Haha yeah, something kinky about it right? I duno, real men understand. Hipsters wont

Roger: Wurd! But yeah man, I just love people. Starting this blog has allowed me to meet so many cool people that I otherwise would’ve never met

me: Yeah I was going to ask you, you’ve been blogging for a while now, so for those that are thinking about starting a fitness blog, what are the 3-5 most important things you could tell them to do?

Roger: I started in September 09, blogged kinda-sorta frequently in the beginning. Then fell off hard in January/Feb . I had no idea what I was doing and felt that my voice was just blending in to the already saturated blogosphere, and I didn’t like that AT ALL

So I really stopped blogging at that point to figure out what I really wanted to do, what my prime objective was, and then I came back with a vengeance in September 2010 and haven’t looked back since

me: I like it. And what was your prime objective?

Roger: To deliver top notch fitness info in an informative and humorous way. If I can’t make you smile or girly giggle at some point during what I right, I don’t want to write it.

And trust me, Even the manliest man has girly giggled at my content. No penis jokes please.

me: Shut up, I’ll never admit such things. I think that’s the difference between you and I – you can actually write comedy. Mine just turns into comedy, more like “har-har-har.”  I can’t consciously write funny shit… it will turn out to be verbal baby puke. It has to come out organically.

Roger: Man, let me tell ya, If I couldn’t do what I’m doing now, I would make a serious run at stand up. I’d probably suck for a long time, but I know that eventually I’d come out on top

me: You would. I’d consider that as a side career if I were you. More appealing than toilet water drinking… though that has its own benefits – like hanging out with REAL DAWGS!

Roger: BWAHAHAHA! I might have to bring you on stage with me

me: Only if we can wear Spartan gear and kick hecklers off stage. Literally.

Roger: God damn, that would be fantastic. Right into a well

me: “This IS COMEDDYYY!!” *FRONT KICK* – Come to think of it, that would be fucking hilarious.

Roger: We need to get a patent on some bullet time technology. Stuff like that is only cool in slow motion

me: That’s true. ORRR we can just get everyone drunk. It’ll look like bullet time to them, and its cheaper on our wallets.

Roger: Sweet Jesus, you should be a business consultant, For Google.

me: I do pride myself in being a businessman.

So now here’s a question I wanted to throw your way. And I’m repeating verbatim from some dude, “What the fuck is sexification?” I think this person is looking for an official definition, since that’s what you’re all about. Can you help out this tool-bucket please?

Roger: Well first of all, I’d like to thank you personally for cutting through the jibba jabbah and getting right into the question. A person with more unscrupulous morals would have easily turned such a succinct question into an epic novel

me: Indeed, good sir.

Roger: But back to the question at hand. In my opinion, which is the only one that matters since I reckon I came up with the word, Sexification, while it encompasses looking how you want to look, is about so much more. Think back to a time when you’ve been in the presence of a really awesome person – what was it about them that drew you in?

me: her fantastic ass

Roger: Sure, if they’re a female then having all the right accessories and looking like what love feels like definitely helps, but odds are it was more than that too – Speaking of, we need to side track and talk about Serena Williams at some point

me: Done

Roger: That ass gives hope to the future

me: But I see what you’re getting at. Charisma, and mainly confidence when you DO look sexy as fuck

Roger: Yes. Sexification is really all about being WHO YOU ARE without feeling bad about it or thinking you have to compromise on it

me: I’d say the sexiness of your vibe is directly proportional to the level of awesomeness of your body

Roger: Oh fo sho. I haven’t met a person who doesn’t want to look better. Now whether they’re willing to work towards it is another subject entirely, but everyone does. And if they say that they don’t, they’re lying and I’ll engage them in Mortal Kombat.

Like, if you’re a grown man who loves collecting pogs, while I’m not into it, that’s Sexification to me. Collect the SHIT out of those pogs! Aim to be the best at it if that’s what you want.

me: So could Sexification be a “sexier” replacement for the word “passion”?

Roger: I’d be hesitant to do so, only because passion isn’t enough, action is necessary.

Sexification is about passion and action. Love what you do, do what you love. Very little compromise.

me: Perfect, I think you need T-shirts. I’d wear one. Hell… I’d sweat in one then make my lady friends wear them. Because wet t-shirts hugging the curvature of boobs is definitely sexy.

Roger: That just increases the Sexification of everyone involved, and I’m ok with that.

me: I look forward to your threaded merchandise. Now, let’s move on to some training aspects. First up, besides the big 3 lifts, which are your other personal favourites and why?

Roger: I’m sure that this will net me a major loss in man points, but I hate deadlifting! And benching too. So I guess I’m left with the Big “1”. Aside from squatting though, I love chin ups, push ups, and rowing

Shit, dips too

me: First time I heard of a man hating the bench… that’s weird. But then again, you aren’t exactly normal. But loving dips definitely redeems you some of the brownie points you lost for not liking the bench. Now here’s a question from Twitter… “What do you think is the sexiest feature on a woman?”

Roger: I will not be deterred while talking about my love exercises! I actually love 45 degree back extensions and band hip thrusts most these days. It ties into my long term goal, but we can talk about that later on

As for the question, I’m gonna go with a nice pair of butt cheeks, FJ

me: my man!

Roger: I’ve seen big pairs of boobs, and while they’re a nice novelty, they’re largely overrated. Plus boobs can be too big. I’ve NEVER seen an ass too big on a woman who isn’t obese.

me: Indeed. Did you read my interview with this girl, Lily Frei? Squatted 185lbs for 10, full ROM. No quarter squat BS and she has quite the ass to show for it.

Roger: I didn’t get past the video of her squatting. She kind of derailed my entire day. I almost lost my job because of her.

So tell her thank you

me: I’m sure she appreciates your kind words. I’ll be sure to pass this along. But yeah, if only all women started squatting, the world would be a better place. So let’s go to Serena William’s ass for a second. Here’s your chance to confess your love to it without your woman finding out. And even if she does, who cares? You’re on FJ’s turf baby!

Roger: I’m a firm believer that all statements made regarding Serena William’s ass cannot be used against any man by any woman anywhere at any time

me: I now deem you Roger Lawyer Lawson the 2nd

Roger: I mean…JUST LOOK AT IT FJ!

She could turn a dress into a thong

me: oh my…so let’s continue this interview next week yeah?

Roger: She has a rare ass, the kind of ass that tears pants. One minute next to her ass is the equivalent of 20 hours of real time. I’m sure Einstein wrote about this somewhere in one of his books

me: and I’m sure he would be rather proud of the use of his theory right now

Roger: Lets just say I’d drink her bathwater… Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way

me: Now that I know what to get you for Xmas *cough* poster *cough* haha let me ask you a “practical” question. Because people reading this also expect “useful advice,” or whatever.

Roger: If they can’t get something useful out of Serena’s cheeks, then their life is over.

me: Amen! So say I’m weak, pathetic, have no equipment, too poor for a gym, my girlfriend left me for FJ, my mom disowned me, and I’m a failure at life… BUT I still want to get in shape. How would you sexify me?

Roger: That person is a prime candidate for Sexification – where there is a will, there is a Smith

…Err there is a way.

Odds are this person is bigger than average, so the good thing is that any progressive resistance will increase their Sexifications, but without equipment they have several options…

1) Bodyweight training: I’m a big fan of this type of training as you can pretty much do it anywhere. You have your squats. People usually stop with bodyweight squats and pistol when they’re talking about these, but there is a big ol’ gap in the middle that’s missing. Buy some gangster book bags which you can load up with weights and use that as resistance.

me: It’s true, my anatomy book can be used as an Olympic bumper plate.

If only it had a hole

Roger: Hip thrusts will put a hole into that one for sure

me: HIYOOO! It’s because you have that long Asian penis

Roger: Be careful before I impregnate you via the internet. You also have your chin ups. If you look hard enough, you can always find a place to do them from.

me: That’s what I said about strippers, but no one believes me.

Roger: And that will be their downfall! But if you do pull-ups at random spots then sure, some people may think you look stupid. Especially if you do them from a tree, but that’s ok. Haters gonna hate.

Also, If said person is pretty poor, they can build some of their own equipment. PVC pipes for dips etc.

me: True say, so bodyweight training is the go-to answer for this guy. And homebuilt equipment is genius. What frequency would you prescribe?

Roger: I’d go with full body sessions 3-4x a week.

We’re talking about a beginner here, so the stress that they place on their body isn’t going to be that great anyway, so recovery isn’t going to be compromised as long as they aren’t eating like a child.

me: Which brings me to my next point. This dork obviously cannot afford fine dining… so what would you tell him to do?

Roger: The best thing about Sexification is that anyone can achieve it as long as they’re committed to action – buying in bulk is a fine starting place. Grocery stores often discount meat a few days before they go “bad” and as long this guy buys and cooks them up ASAP, he’ll be good to go.

His nutrition will probably be pretty boring too, but it’ll get the job done: chicken breasts/thighs (buy thighs with skin on them and remove the skin yourself as that’s a cheaper option usually)

Also don’t forget the BIG ASS industrial sized bags of rice for like $10. Oh and eggs. Eggs are dope, cheap, and taste worlds better than egg-whites. I’m convinced that a puppy gets kidnapped every time someone throws away a yolk.

Do it for the puppies, people.

me: Haha, nice. Alan Aragon has a similar saying, what is it? “Nature cringes every time a yolk hits the wastebasket?”

and Charles Poliquin is famous for saying “Egg whites are for dorks.” Or at least I think that was him… I’m on my 3rd glass of Scotch.

Roger: Alcoholic

me: Hell yes. Now, you have some solid posts on your blog, specially the one about how you used to be a McDonalds whore… give me the quick and dirty on how you stopped being such a whore and how others can get their dignity back.

Roger: Sweet Jesus, those were the dark days indeed

me: Yah those receipts looked brutal. I spend more at a gentleman’s club.

Roger: You have to understand something – by the time I really made a SERIOUS effort towards stopping and changing, I was already a lifetime fast food hoe. So anything less than an all out cold turkey approach just didn’t work. I remember when I tried to wean myself off eating it to only 1x a week. I’d go like two days. Say that I’d use my “fast food” day early and be done with it, and as soon as that food touched my lips it was on like donkey kong in a victoria secret thong

me: That’s a terrible image.

…I meant you eating burgers, not donkey kong in a thong.

Roger: Hah. But once I committed to stopping though, I put a plan in place. Whenever I went out anywhere, I never took money or a credit card with me. And to be honest, I’ve never had a burger from a fast food joint (aside from In and Out). I was all about the fries, nuggets and sweets.

I’m sure I’m missing out on something amazing though.

me: Yeah kind of. Weird how you never ate their burgers. But in a way that’s even worse since the beef they use is OK. And by ok I mean it’s better quality meat than the chicken as far as I can tell.

Roger: Yeah. I’ve seen pictures of what it is and apparently it looks like alien sperm? Don’t judge me. My Sexification travels take me far and wide.

me: I wonder what your babies would have looked like if you kept on stuffing yourself with that stuff.

Roger: Probably like Carrot Top. Here is the advice that I’d offer to a person in a similar position: DO NOT rationalize. It was like going through withdrawals for me. On a daily basis I’d look for an excuse to hit up the drive-thru. “Oh, I stubbed my toe. I need 2 large fries to make it feel better”

me: Haha, now you just sound like my man, JC

Roger: He’s a brave one. He still messes with the temptress. I still think about eating that food daily, but I know that if I go down that road it is over for me.

me: So it’s still a bit of an on-going battle? How long do you think it’ll last?

Roger: Yessir. I’ve had the habit for most of my life, so this success will be on shaky ground for at least another year or two I imagine

me: Just think, Serena’s ass would never approve

Roger: And I cant have that! ROG LAW DONT PLAY THAT!

But yeah. Do not compromise. Eat anything but fast food. To be successful you have to break that connection between any emotions and feelings you have and the act of getting the food. It all starts with one day. 1 day leads to 2, and 3, and so on…

me: I think that’s why cooking is the shit. Makes you appreciate your time and the quality of the food. Not to mention the results.

Roger: Seriously, and it’s so much cheaper. I bought 5lbs of beef today for $15. I’d spend that in a day easily on food that I could crush in less than 10 minutes.

My worst day happened when I was in college. I got a family size bucket of KFC, 3 large fries, 5 place McChickens and 2 orders of Cinnamons melts.

…then I went to Wendys and got more later on.

me: How the fuck are you alive?

Roger: I don’t know man. I’m sure I’ve shaved a good 15-20 years off my life

me: I’d say.

Roger: I’m sure high intensity intervals would shake loose some plaque and kill me at this point, so I stick to walking.

me: haha oh how I dread cardio. But that’s pretty awesome. I know avoiding cravings isn’t easy, so good on ya for sticking to your guns.

Roger: *BROFIST*

me: *BROFIST*

Rapid Fire Round

me: Now to end off this shebang, I’m going to do a little rapid fire round. I’ll spam… err I mean, spit out questions and you have to answer them as fast as you can in one sentence or LESS. Ready?

Roger: While I was not born ready, I became ready at a superior rate of speed compared to mere mortals – lets do this

me: 1. What makes you awesome?

Roger: My ability to simplify complex and/or mind boggling subjects and make you laugh while doing so.

me: 2. Three things people need to start doing TODAY to be more awesome?

Roger: Taking action consistently, Blaming no one but themselves for their lack of personally defined success, and having lots of sex.

me: 3. Your all time favourite supplement?

Roger: Protein powder

me: 4. One quick, effective tip to lean down for the beach?

Roger: Track your food intake like a mofo – being sexy never happens by accident.

me: 5. Favourite “Cheat” Meal?

Roger: Macaroni & Cheese with a side of apple pie

me: 6. Vodka or Rum?

Roger: Caprisuns

me: 7. Why do white people want to be as sexually tanned as us?

Roger: Because being tanned makes everything better and increases your sexual aura by at least 72%

me: 8. Sex on the first date?

Roger: You should know the answer to this… c’mon MAAAAAN!

me: 9. Top guilty pleasure?

Roger: Multiplayer Online RPGs

me: 10. What are you currently reading?

Roger: Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why

me: 11. What are you currently watching (shows)?

Roger: Curb Your Enthusiasm’

me: And finally, number 12. Favourite movie of all time?

Roger: Enter the motherfucking Dragon!

me: Good choice. I really thought you were gona say something like, “The Notebook”

Roger: Nah, I just re-enact every scene from that movie for fun.

me: Hey I can’t hate. I like to pretend I’m a “Mean Girl”

Except instead of plastic, i like to be called latex!

Roger: And this is why you’re a God among men

me: I’m never one to shy away from kind words.

I have to say BROger, this has been quite the blast. Like this hot chick that farted on my face while I went down on her. Except this I liked… that i didn’t.

Roger: LOL

me: Is it too much to ask for sexual courtesy? like damn.

Roger: I know a guy who lost his face from such an incident

me: What a pussy! But my sympathies, I guess.

Roger: Should’ve taken more Creatine

me: Nah, that’s too scientifically sound. More like, Indigo 3g!

Roger: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Indigo 3g increased by squat by 2lbs and enabled me with the power to impregnate people by looking at them. Male or female.

So don’t fuck with me – I’ll give you triplets and crush your bank account.

me: … I think Aragon needs to update the last month’s edition of AARR with some REAL facts. I’ll vouch for you. I already feel a tingle in my loins

Roger: I just looked at your twitter pic. You’re done dude.

me: Hah, that needs to be the topic of interview #2. So, any last words? Also, give the readers some info on where you can be found. In case they want to be impregnated as well.

Roger: I can be found blogging like a semi-mad man over at roglawfitness.com as well as interacting daily with folks on Facebook: facebook.com/roglaw and you can follow me on twitter here: @RogLaw

me: Right on. Alright homeslice, till next time. We really should do this more often.

Roger: –should +will

And the world will be a much better place for it. Thanks for the interview man, I’ve been meaning to contact you for awhile now but you beat me to it. I am shamed.

me: It’s ok, my sexiness does tend to intimidate. But I figured I’d be the bigger man
Later

Roger: Farewell!

All Good Things Come To An End

So what did you think? Best interview ever? Best fitness interview ever? Probably. If you have any questions for Roger, post them in the comments below and he’ll be sure to get to them. In the meantime, check out his blog and as always, lift something heavy. I think the term “sexification” is going to be thrown around here much more often in the future.

———–
© 2011 – 2012, By FitJerk. FitJerk.com is a division of Flawless Fitness Media – All Rights Reserved – No part of this post is to be republished without author consent under any forms of media (including print, internet, video or audio transcription). Doing so is a violation against copyright law and should be punishable by a punch to the face. All images are copyright of their respective owners.

Tired Of Looking Ordinary? Click Here And Get FJ To Design A Fitness Plan Just For You! FREE Initial Consultation.