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As a side note don’t be afraid to let your creative side flourish and don’t be scared to follow through with an idea all the way until it’s complete. You got an idea then let’s see it mother fucker…..Where is it? Are you letting the world tell you that you can’t make your idea? Your idea will never work? Do you feel you’d die a slow death without your current job? Guess what you don’t need it and it don’t need you. With that being said you my as well follow your dreams and if you die trying then you die a death worth living. If you have a creative side don’t let the genius reaper slay your ideas.

Motivation

Motivation

Love me or Hate me:
Love me or Hate me repeat after me….. The Sling Shot is the best and most effective strength product ever invented. Go ahead and think of something better? Is there anything you can put on in 10 seconds, that will increase your strength by 75-100 pounds, that only cost 50 bucks? Ok Maybe a weightlifting belt will come close to doing that? What about expensive shoes and expensive compression gear? Do you think they will increase your performance by 15-20%? Fuck no they won’t! So hate me or love me you can’t deny that the mother fucking Sling Shot rules!

Red Bull Freaks:
Remember in the XFL that dude that had the Jersey that said HeHateMe on the back. That shit was great. I also have a shirt from a friends company called Most Hated. I said I love the name, he said where ever I go I feel like the Most Hated guy in the room. This brings me to the lovely topic of hatred and how great and powerful it can be. While watching the Red Bull New Years Death Stunts A guy turned to me and said how much do these mother fuckers hate there lives to be doing these insane jumps. I thought to myself they sure as hell seem to hate themselves a lot less then you do while you dump posion into your body while watching them reach “rock star” status on TV. At least these dudes are doing shit they love to do and they are getting paid for it! I heard someone say when you don’t think you have a real job but you have income from it then that’s the job you’ll pour the most into. That’s how I role, that’s for damn sure. Fuck having a boss and having to be places on time.

People hate on powerlifting:
I love when you tell someone you Powerlift, they then make that face like they are smelling shit and say isn’t that stuff dangerous? Is there any money in it? It’s like look FAGGOT! What the fuck do you do with your life? Oh cool you go on a boat with your buddies for 8 hours and get drunk and don’t catch one fucking fish. At least with my workouts I make and see progress in other words at least I’m catching fish motherfucker.

Power:
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Mark Bell

I’d rather be DEAD than Average.

Hmmm let’s fucking see.
I don’t always feel like writing maybe it’s because I was in a class room with kids that liked showing there dicks and enjoyed setting fires in the class room once a week. Maybe it’s because I was told that I write on a 3rd grade level when I was in 10th grade? Whatever the case I kinda hate to write but not as much as I hate to read. I still have never read a book cover to cover, sad perhaps but very true. I bought the book the Paleo Solution and it rocks but it’ll take me about 4 years to really read it so I got the help of John Welbourn from CrossFit Football. John played in the NFL for over 12 years and he knows a thing or two about optimal performance. John has been walking me through this Paleo thing and as we speak I’m about 290 with some decent abs coming in. Don’t get me wrong my face is still fat and I still have some love handles going. I’m not looking to be ripped though I’m looking to be healthier, and I want to total 10x bodyweight at 275. With all the extra fat and less un healthy refined carbs I felt better within about 3 days. The idea behind the Paleo Diet is to reduce inflammation. In short foods that irritate your gut use up energy that can otherwise be spent on healing other more important things in your body. The inflammation in the gut can manifest into over all body inflammation. When I dropped gluten I noticed an increase in my range of motion and just less overall pain and inflammation in my body.  I also noticed my midsection tightened up rapidly. I already feel the healthiest and strongest I have ever been and it’s only been about 3 weeks.

I just banged out another meet here at ST where I under performed by about 75 pounds (on bench and dead) but i still got a 27 pound total PR. I crushed 1080 in the squat, benched 804 (best is 854) Deadlifted 744. My 2628 total is the highest total in CA history (besting my own 2552 at 275) and probably all of the West Coast really (not sure) gay record but CA is the birthplace of PL. Next meet I want 11-9-8, but I will only go to 275 if I’m 285 10-12 days out. Otherwise I’ll just stay big.

The title of this blog is my late brother Mike’s quote from the film Bigger, Stronger, Faster. “I’d rather be dead than average” Mike passed away on this day DEC 14 2008. Mike’s heart would be split in about 3 billion pieces right now with what’s going on with my dad. Mike had a special connection to my dad. They weren’t just father and son they were best friends. The grim reaper is knocking on my dad’s door big time but I got a feeling Maddog will break the reaper’s neck and say leave my dad alone you fucking pussy! Anyway for better or worse my brother taught me a lot about this fucked up world we live in. One thing that sticks out to me about my brother is that I got a few calls and emails from a bunch of his old friends who were very concerned about my dad. It made me realize If you were down with my brother you were not just friends he made you feel part of the family and he really valued your friendship. I hope I can make my friends feel like that. I understood my brothers goals and since he is not here I will carry them out with my brother Chris. As I always say when ever I talk about my brother if you have someone in your family or know a friend who suffers from addiction and or bipolar disorder, reach out to them. I know it’s hard but everything in life is hard don’t be a stubborn  prick. I have no regrets with the way i treated my brother I tried my best. Can you say the same if the person you know was suddenly taken away from you? 

My pops has moved hospitals he is now in Manhattan at Lenox Hill. He now has a specialist working on the situation. This took a long fucking time do to how long the other hospital was taking with everything. They were all nice and carrying but boy did many of them suck at there job. I am no expert but having someone not eat for over 30 days is just pure bull shit. I do understand that this is complicated and all that but i wish sometimes the medical community would think logically as well as medically. My dad looks like he is dying because of those fuckers. Most of it is simply just not from getting any sort of food source. He is in much better hands now but do yourself a favor and talk to the people closest to you right now about your wishes and how you’d like to be cared for. I think with out my mom and dad talking about this kind of shit that my dad would have died. My dad has said many times I don’t want life support, or a fucking bag on my hip I’d rather be dead. So when the docs brought up life support my mom that is not an option. My mom who has been very brave through all of this also got my dad off the ventilator and helped him breath through the night. My dad needs food and less tubes and less bull shit not more. Anyway the docs at the new hospital said he is a mess but I don’t think they wanted to throw the other docs under the bus too much. But i say fuck it lets throw them under a fucking burning bus and watch that fucker explode! I realize that no one is trying to kill him and that they did there best but I want all of you to realize you need to do what’s right for you and your family and every once in a while tell the doctors to eat a dick. 

Get well dad! Xmas is almost here and now I have to rig shit up myself so Jake and Q can catch Santa. I really hope we get more then just his underwear with shit stains in it this year! Maybe my trap will work better.

I love you and miss you dad, see ya soon!

I love you and miss you Mike and no you can’t see dad yet he needs to be here for at least a little longer. 

A letter I had my mommy read my daddy in the Hospital…

Dear dad, 

It’s me Mark, your baby. 

I remember as a kid growing up admiring you strength. I remember being in awe seeing you do yard work and pick up 50 pound bags of concrete. I remember watching you hammer things, pick things up and build things or fix things. I remember feeling your arms and they were hard as rocks!  I thought to myself I’d like to have arms like that some day ha ha. I learned that you don’t get that way by sitting around you got to work for it.

I remember seeing you drenched in sweat. I’d run inside and mom would hand me a huge glass of ice water and you’d guzzle down all in one big gulp… And say ahhhh! You’d give me a kiss on the head Then you’d get right back to work. 

You been carrying pain around in your body for years but rarely showed it and still went on with life having fun and wearing a big smile! Knee surgery, hip surgery and cancer couldn’t slow you down. I decided a few years back that you must be indestructible.  You have always put others needs in front of your own and you are my hero! 

When I sucked my thumb until I was about ten you probably thought there was no hope for me….But, You have given your baby boy all the tools to be a successful man, with my family, my life, my business’ and anything else that pops up. I can handle anything and it’s because of You and Mom! I hope to be just like you…only about a foot taller! 

To end on a good note ALL products at www.HowMuchYaBench.net are 5 dollars off.
Boy my pops would be proud of that plug!

This question came in an email today from some high level Crossfitians. Should I be using my lats when I bench and if so what are some of the reasons for it?

Use your back to bench big.

The Lats must be involved in the bench in order to create more stability, strength, and also to protect the shoulder. In the Deadlift you can protect your back by using your gut and your ass. In the bench your Lats are your ass…. Wait that sounded gross! By flexing the Lats and pulling the weights out of the rack you can better protect the shoulder.

On the decent of the bench you want to think about pulling the bar down with the Lats while still staying tight. So you will NOT free fall the weight to your sternum you will instead set the weight into your Lats by arching the mid/upper back and pinching the shoulder blades together and downward towards your hips. Be careful not to shrug up towards your ears. As you begin to revere the weight you will push the Lats out in a fashion that looks like the front chest pose in bodybuilding…. Guys don’t even try to pretend you don’t hit that pose every morning. Flex the Lats hard out of the bottom of the lift then fire the tricep until lockout. 

In order to really feel your Lats you’ll need to train them. 20 min of sled rows will help a lot. When you do the rows do them strict with chest up, do them violently, do them high, do them low, do them with a long pause where you squeeze and walk backwards with the sled. 

If I told you there was a million dollars cash money under a rock in a rock garden, how many rocks would you turn over? Leave no stone unturned in your quest for strength. Keep flipping over rocks until you find what you need to get better. Don’t lose sight of your goals and your overall mission.

Bench footage some good form some not so good you pick.

I really hope I don’t leave anyone out here but if I do then I apologize in advance. Let me start by saying the effort that was put forth by those who lifted and those who didn’t was at an all time high. People are starting to better understand this whole world. NEWS FLASH Powerlifting is fucking hard and if you even want to make a dent you better be ready to work your nut sack off. Speaking of nut sacks, Jessica Brown probably never realized she had balls until she nailed her 3 rd attempt deadlift. Jessica hit PR’s all day but had a hard time in her deadlift suit. She said it felt like shit so she pulled 308 Raw conventional. Very smart move by a lifter who has only been in a few meets. She then decided to go Sumo witht the suit again and she couldn’t budge 364 off the floor….YIKES. She wanted to fold up shop and call it a day. I had ST member Big Bird come sub for me in the judges chair. I then ran over and talked Jessica into trying the pull again Raw conventional. She was very unsure of herself but has enough confidence in me that I might know something she doesn’t. I looked around for other teammates but everyone was tied up with helping run the meet. Many times friends and teammates disappear on you after the bench thinking you don’t need help to pull big. This is a huge mistake. When your tired your mind turns you into a cowered and you need teammates and friends yelling at ya. I looked around for the perfect weapon then I saw 500+ pound deadlifter and full time bad ass Janet Loveall. I grabbed Janet and said Jessica needs you right by her side to get fired up for this last pull tell her she can do it! I do not know what Janet actually did or said but fuck it worked! Jessica nailed the weight and walked off with another PR! I think she got quad PRs squat, bench, deadlift and total! I also think she only missed 1 lift.

Between 4 of our lifters Treston Shull, David Bafus, Jessica Brown and Greg Buffington all got PRs in every single lift! They were 34 of 36 for on the day. 

David Bafus hit a 766 squat at 220 He backed up his squat with a PR bench and then drilled a 622 pull to nail down his first elite total. David has put the time in and it was great to see all that hard work pay off.

Greg Buffington (198) didn’t miss a lift all day on his way to pro total Greg squatted 782 benched 523 and pulled 611….I think. Super Training has three  current pro totals. Greg is highly dedicated and he travels about 2 hours to come train with ST.

Treston Shull (SHW) was on fire as well and didn’t miss a list all day! He squatted 1030, Benched 727 and deadlifted 744 for his first 2500+ total. Treston had the mental toughness to stick with his 1030 squat after smashing 1000+ for the first time. Many times miles stones like that are followed by failure but not in this case! Treston is home grown made in the labs at ST. When he came to ST I think his best total may have been 1900 or maybe even less….

Robot missed out on 2 squats and seemed as if his day was doomed. However Robot hung in there and ended the day with a PR total despite missing out on some pounds in the squat.

Lisa Lindhurst got a PR squat and total even with 2 missed deadlifts. We are judged by our total and if you can keep pushing that total up that is all that matters nice work Lisa!

All in all this was the best performance as a team ever by ST and I hope we can continue to grow as a team and either you’re in or you’re in the way!

Power Project

Brian Hill posted on your wall:
“Hey Mark, have you or anyone you can think of had any luck using a second form of squatting for an assistance exercise after Box squats?
For example, doing 10 x 2 w/ Bands, then maybe working up to a heavy set of 5-10a on something like Front Squats or Anderson Squats or close Stance Box Squats with a Specialty Bar, etc…”

First off I think my wall is more popular then The Great Wall Of China and with all the fat fucks in here I am sure seeing people on my wall from outer space is not a problem. Good lord I can be arrogant sometimes….But not really. Anywho’s you bring up a great question. I’ll be a politicain here for a minute and answer your questions with more questions. 

-What’s the goal/intent?
-Can working too much on one thing mess up your other lifts? If so that will negatively effect your total correct?
-Could throwing in more squats help your squat?
-More squats means more underwear. Do you have the finances for that?

Ok let’s try to justify some of this.
-Possible intent add more volume to build more muscle and build strength. 
Practice a lift to get better and not necessarily just stronger. 
Work on form or a new technique.

All the things listed above can be viewed as positive things to help increase your squat….Correct Class? Class we are on page 43…You follow? Ok good. 

-Too much of a good thing?
By pouring too much in you get a lot of spill over and a lot can get waisted. 
Speaking of waisted training for strength is similar to drinking….as in getting drunk kids. Think about it, get yourself drunk efficiently and quickly by drinking the least amount of crap possible. Then cut your loses before it’s to late and you end up naked drunk eating a Bologna samich with mustard smeared all over your chest hair. What happens the next day? and sometimes the day after? Your hung over and can’t function. Get drunk in your workouts and have a blast but don’t let your hang overs bleed into your next few workouts. If the workout effects your next bench workout and then your bench workout sucked and your next deadlift day sucks to. Then all that extra squatting could KILL your total.

-More squats can equal a bigger squat.
The question is where the hell do you work them in. That’s the most important part of your question because in your examples above you got the reps on a DE day. Plus it looks like you may switch the bar that is used or go from bands to no bands and shit like that. In my opinion this is not a good way to go. But fear not! There is Belldick method founded by myself and Jesse Burdick. After your ME movement for the day drop the weight 20-30% and rep that shit out. Don’t stop at 6-8-10-12 just keep going until you can’t go no more. If that means you do 7 reps then fine but don’t stop at ten when you could have done 13. If you want to do one more set go for it but do no more then 2 sets. At ST we often rotate our ME work squats 1 week, GMs the next and then deads. But a lot of times I suggest lifters to use some kind of squat for reps 3-8 as a 2nd barbell movement. Many ST lifters had success using either of the above methods. 

More big squats mean more underwear and you’ll need all the wicking you can get your hands on. Baby wipes would be a nice investment as well. Now get out there and squat your O-Ring off. 

No Boards? No Problem!

Mark Bell
www.HowMuchYaBench.net
www.ThePowermagazine.com
www.SuperTraining.Tv

Power Project
I have been squatting twice a week here is an ME session done Donnie Thomson style. 5×2 then a work up single. The DE day is about 50% of your last single and you perform it for 8-10×3 reps squatting into chains. Video on that soon…..Next week I’ll do this ME movement with an ass load of bands probably. So far I like squatting twice a week and I hit a deadlift PR by pulling 705 for 2 last week.