Brad's Strength and Fitness

It's December 13th and I've officially decided to do a lean bulk through the end of this month and on through January and February. This may, or may not be right for you, I'll see if I can explain. For reference, there are two ways to gain muscle (or to "bulk up"), the first one being what's usually called a "dirty bulk", which is what I did very successfully at age 27. And it was wonderful because I gained weight very quickly (which was my goal as a skinny guy) and got to eat a LOT of wonderful food. It was the best of times - I discovered Mexican Food, and Prime Rib, among other things. My weight skyrocketed, and I went from "skinny" to "lean and mean" in a matter of months. I can still remember the magical moment when the scale went over 150 pounds, and I was able to hit my goal weight of 165 soon afterwards. I don't have any written records of my weight when I started, but my best guess was that I was a little under 130 - ...

My goal for the New Year is to build some muscle, and I've been pondering it, and have decided to start today, December 12th, right after I've have some breakfast. Because I'm no spring chicken anymore, I've discovered that I need to increase my recovery time, so in addition to doing less training during the week, I'll be taking a full month of for recovery after two months of intense muscle-building. And that means that I'll be pumpin' iron (and resistance bands) from now until the end of February, at which time I'll ease off a bit, just kinda going through the motions, and let my muscles (and especially my joints!) fully recover for a full month. This past year I've scaled back my calories, and have found a comfortable amount of food that keeps me from gaining weight and still is satisfying. My famous "Brad Burgers" have gone from 150g to 75g, and I'm fine with it ("Where's the beef?"). Back in my twenties I figure that ...

It's December 11th and I'm thinking about what I want to do with the New Year regarding my fitness, and there are two things that I want to accomplish 1) build muscle and 2) not hurt myself. Yesterday I ran into the bodybuilding coach at the gym where I used to go and we compared notes on our respective year's progress. And while he gained a fair amount of muscle and lost about thirty pounds of fat and is doing great, I had to admit that it felt like I hadn't made much of a change, and I mentioned that I had managed to hurt myself this past summer (neck and shoulder strain, nothing serious, but it held me back). But I'm older and wiser now and I will be sure to warm up thoroughly before any heavy lifting (a mistake that I made last summer), and will continue with the program that he suggested for me last year, which is two months of muscle-building followed by a month of muscular recovery with the emphasis on watching my weight, and then back and forth. I liked doin...

I like training alone, and nowadays I don't even belong to any gyms. I have a simple adjustable weight bench, some dumbbells, resistance bands, and a variety of odds and ends that I've accumulated over the years which I like. Doing something like this may, or may not be right for you, I'll just tell you how I feel. First of all, I like to train. I like the feeling of my body in motion, and the way that it relaxes my worried mind (although I really don't have anything to worry about!). I've been this way all of my life, from being a monkey boy in the backyard in Minneapolis, riding my bike, doing gymnastics in my teens, and then doing direct muscular training in my twenties. There was a time, back in my thirties, when I had two (2) gym memberships, I liked training that much. Then in my forties a friend of mine gave me a weight bench, which I still have, and use just about every day. To me, training is a solitary thing. I've never had any interest in making it a ...

Fill a medium-sized pan with water (not hot), just out of the tap. Put the pan with eggs (I make three or more) on the stove set to high and bring to a boil. Once you see the water boiling watch it for one full minute, then move the pan off the heat, put on a lid and set a timer for 12 minutes. Don't overcook them, or the yolks will get greenish, and the egg will be rubbery. You want bright yellow yolks and a creamy texture to the white of the eggs. After twelve minutes, take the eggs out of the pan (I have a special slotted spoon for this) and put them in a bowl with cold water (I even put it a few ice cubes to make the water colder). Wander off for about a half hour (or longer is fine), then peel them, put them in a zip-lock bag and put them in the fridge. I like my hard-boiled eggs cold, so I usually leave them in the fridge overnight, or at least for an hour or so. Also I like my hard-boiled eggs lightly salt-and-peppered, with some slices of cheese, and crackers. Enjoy!

Losing weight is difficult, but it's easier if you're rich, and a Hollywood actor. I'll see if I can explain - no, this isn't some secret diet, it's just that they have advantages that many people don't have. Stay with me. First of all, if you're rich you can have a very controlled environment. No, I'm not rich (nor am I a Hollywood actor), but I have the luxury of being able to stay on my diet with no real worries about having to suddenly do something that might require me to scarf a bunch of junk food just to keep going. I'm retired, no one is gonna call me at midnight and ask me to stay up all night working on the Jenkins deal for the morning meeting. Nah, I'm going to bed right on time tonight. This is a luxury that very few people have, and believe me I don't take it for granted. The other piece of the puzzle is motivation. If you're a Hollywood actor and you've promised to do a shirtless scene for filming that's starting soo...