Motivational bodybuilding videos on YouTube are everywhere. They keep popping up like weeds – all filled with epic action movie-like music; inspirational quotes; and intense dramatic shots of mass monster workouts. For the most part these videos get the job done. They hype you up and get you ready to go into beast mode in the gym. But not all motivational videos are created equal. What is it that can set one “bodybuilding motivation” from the other?
Well this Arnold Schwarzenegger themed video already has over 4 million views after just a few months of being published. If that’s not a sign for some extreme motivation then we don’t know what is. So let’s kick off the week with what could possibly be the best motivational video of 2017… maybe even all time. Ultimately it’s up to you to decide for yourself – so check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments.
Sometimes I have a tendency to be a bit judgmental. It’s at times a blessing and a curse depending on the situation. Sure, many will likely say “who are you to judge” or “only God can judge” but the truth of the situation is that everyone is going to have an opinion on a given subject matter. It’s natural, it’s human, it’s ingrained in everyone of us. So when I say that Kimbo Slice vs DaDa 5000 is both a disgrace and a fine piece of matchmaking you’ll likely be scratching your head as to where I fall on this issue. In one sense the match is certainly an amazing one. Both combatants were once street fighters who gained notoriety for their pugilistic endeavors outside of the cage. Now that they’ve both signed to Bellator it seemed almost inevitable that the two would meet. In one sense it’s great to see that Bellator is giving the fans a fight that they’re curious about, but that is also sure to reverberate past the tight knit circle of MMA and potentially into the mainstream. Another way to look at it is as a complete affront to what the sport represents. All week leading up to the showdown between the brawlers the pre-fight talk has focused more on the street cred aspect of the match and less about the fact that both men are now professional athletes. At least that’s what they’re considered on paper anyway. It’s a spectacle and makes a mockery of the sport. That two men are looking at this from the perspective of two men from the underground fighting circuit as opposed to two athletes looking to prove that they’ve grown past the gritty street image that they’ve portrayed in the past. At this point you’re probably still confused as to where I stand. Well, the reality of this is that though I think it may blemish the prestige of the sport, from a purists mindset it’s perhaps the perfect definition of what fighting is meant to be. Both men, spectacles or not, have a lot invested in this showdown at Bellator 149. Both are fighting for respect and credibility, emotions that many of us can relate to. Those very same emotions and passions are what give this fight an extra layer of interest. So though their portrayal isn’t necessarily a shining example for the youth to watch on television and emulate, the fight highlights exactly what makes fighting such an interesting and engaging form of entertainment. Not everyone can be a Bruce Lee, a martial artist with supreme integrity seeking enlightenment through mastering a variety of skills. Some guys are rough, rugged, and looking to prove that they’re toughest bastard out there. Are you looking forward to Bellator 149? Let us know in the comments and forums. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron MMA on Facebook and Twitter. Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor and geek culture enthusiast. Follow him on Twitter and keep up with his latest exploits.
I can’t believe I’m writing this – I was one of those guys tweeting out “ding, dong, the witch is dead” and other unsavory memes when Ronda Rousey fell to the now bantamweight champion Holly Holm via kick heard round the world on November 15th, 2015. The fallout was even better. People said outlandish, hilarious, and over the line things and I loved every minute of it. I didn’t like her mouth, her attitude, and honestly I didn’t think she was even that hot. However, with the current “suicide” situation, I feel the media has gone too far. In case you haven’t heard, Ronda Rousey appeared on Ellen earlier this week where she revealed that after her loss to Holly Holm she had thoughts of suicide. First of all she said she had thoughts. Just because someone says they’ve had thoughts doesn’t mean they’ll actually follow through on the act. She didn’t put out a method, she didn’t buy a gun, she didn’t show Ellen the track marks on her arms, she had thoughts. We’ve all been there. She was in a dark place and she didn’t know who she was. Which makes complete sense for a girl who ran away from home and use to live in her car. Her only claim to human attention was being good at something. She was good but not great at Judo (Olympic Silver Medalist), and this MMA thing was her last shot. Broke, depressed, and lost, she gave it a try and rocked the world. Now I hear what your saying, she’s got millions of dollars now and is an icon of the sport and women everywhere. Well that’s true but her needs were deeper than money, she was on a search to feel validated, to feel heard, to feel listened to, a reason to live essentially. One of the basic human needs is the need to feel significant, who is Ronda Rousey without “Ronda Rousey”? Behind the super tough persona stood a super tough personality that was hanging on a thread, and that thread broke in the second round of UFC 193. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwCdv9iR8P8 Fast forward to this week – the interview. Ronda just let out a heartfelt retelling. There was no ulterior motive, no thought of being a role model to all girls, no PR person, just her being a human being. People raced at this calling her a cry baby, a bad role model, and not valid of having these thoughts because of her wealth and affluence. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say there’s nothing wrong with being vulnerable and nothing wrong with talking about suicide. I think there’s something wrong with our society when someone is torn down and demonized for being honest and emotional. Sure she could’ve given the typical “dust yourself off” speech, but that’s not what she was feeling. Being hard all the time is not strength, being broken down and building back up, that’s show’s antifragility, that’s where people really grow. We are witnessing the growth of a human and a fighter, live, and we scoff at i. Since when did emotion equal weakness – are we not human? As far as being too rich to be depressed – that’s just a crock of sh@t. There’s always somebody who has it worst than you, does that mean that you can’t feel sad for not having shoes because someone has no feet? That’s ridiculous. Everyone is built differently and holds different things to varying level of importance. This means even you have an achilles heal – something you would lose your sense of self over. Family? money? power? sexuality? there’s something out there that you feel defines “you” and what happens if you lose that? Who are “you” now? Sometimes there are holes all the money in the world can’t fill. There’s no benchmark as to what levels of success makes you incapable on thoughts of suicide, feelings are valid because they are felt. If Ronda’s wealth and influence makes you uncomfortable then that’s on you. She can cry, she can laugh, and she can feel sad despite her money. Money isn’t everything and celebrities are still human. If you think that level of success takes away all your problems, then get there. If any accounts from successful people are true you’ll find that it’s not what it seems. What do you think? Is ronda Just a blubbering baby or is she a true pioneer for being vulnerable and moving forward? Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Valentine’s and President Day weekend was pretty harsh to the east coast population. The weather was blistering cold and that meant that only the most dedicated athletes found themselves at the gym over the weekend. Temperature of 5 degrees farenheit is enough to keep even the toughest, most dedicated bodybuilders out of the gym. Valentine’s day certainly didn’t make things any simpler as the chocolate treats and expensive dinners were sure to set a few bodybuilders back over the course of the long weekend.
But with new trials to overcome there’s no doubt that a spark of motivation was lit with the beginning of a new week. Whether it was lack of training or poor nutrition, now is the opportunity to look forward and hopefully correct the mistakes made this past weekend. A new song of the week is just the motivator you need to get you pumped for a hard training session.
But perhaps the biggest thing to happen this weekend – trumping Valentines and Presidents alike – was the insane BS storm of Kanye West shenanigans leading up to the drop of his much anticipated new album (finally) titled The Life of Pablo. You literally can’t click more than five times on the internet without running into news about Kanye. So to honor the ultimate egotist in music – we’re picking his latest single “No More Parties In LA” for your next workout. It’s got a driving beat that can keep you pushing that iron for days.
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This Week’s Pick
Song: No More Parties In LA Artist: Kanye West Album: Life of Pablo (unless it changes again)
Crank up some Kanye and hit the iron hard. You’ve got no time to be lazy. Get those gains!
Check back next week for the GI workout song of the week and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Well that’s one way to leave an impression at a wake.
STORYTIME WITH GREGG VALENTINO – is a new weekly series showcasing the most insane bodybuilding stories ever told by one of the industry’s most controversial figures, Gregg Valentino. They simply have to be seen to believe.
Most people have similar experiences when it comes to wakes and funerals. A somber and respectful affair. Usually uneventful beyond the stirred up grief hanging in the air. It’s quiet. It’s sad. Maybe there’s a few tears. But we aren’t talking about most people. We are talking about Gregg Valentino. So when Gregg had to show up at a childhood friend’s wake there were definitely tears flowing from Gregg Valentino… mixed in with a crap ton of blood.
Accidentally spilling blood all over the dead body of your childhood friend isn’t the best way to leave an impression. So how did this all happen? Watch the latest episode above and find out. .
You can catch Storytime With Gregg Valentino every Tuesday only on the Generation Iron Fitness Network. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive updates on all of our daily videos and never miss a beat. Stay pumped.
Can this all American 212 badass take down the current champ?
Competition is something that’s in our blood. Every human being competes at one stage of the game or another whether you’re an accountant looking to get a promotion or a marathon runner looking to come in first place. That competitive drive lives in all of us and is represented most clearly in professional athletes, bodybuilding being one of many. A bodybuilder doesn’t just compete against other athletes. They also compete against themselves, always striving to make improvements on their physique. It can become so daunting in fact that it consumes them, effectively destroying their drive for competing. It’s what happened to one time IFBB standout Seth Feroce.
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A bodybuilder with a ton of potential and a powerful physique, Feroce was once considered to be a top prospect in the 212 division. That was until he faced a few hurdles in his career, hurdles which ultimately saw him exiting the sport back in 2012. But these days Feroce has been back in the gym, working hard and looking to make a comeback. Leaving unfinished business always does well to leave a bad taste in the mouth and Feroce choosing to utilize that untapped potential rather than waste his talents.
A recent Instagram posting of the bodybuilder shows Feroce in top condition and looking absolutely huge. Take a look below at what Feroce has been doing to build himself into a beast once more.
Do you think Seth Feroce could dominate the 212 division? Let us know in the comments and forums. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
Things you should know to have the slight edge in your first competition.
So we all lift, right? Even if you’re not lifting heavyweight – if you’re reading this you probably care about your body and spend more time in the gym than most of the population. Let’s face it, it’s a niche sport.
But does lifting alone mean you can be in a competition? Does having the right muscle mass, taking the right supplements, and eating the right diet give you the ability to step on stage? What many casual lifters don’t know is that there’s much more prep work to entering a competition than just time in the weight room. When you’re competing at a high level you not only have to bring out the best in your genetics but find new ways to set yourself apart. Here are 5 of the biggest nuances many lifters don’t know about entering a bodybuilding competition.
#1. You Need A Posing Coach
Having a training a coach makes a huge difference. We get it – it’s 2016 and all information is readily available on YouTube, but take it from people who have entered competitions with and without coaches – a posing coach is key.
You want to display your strengths and hide your weaknesses – a flick of the wrist one way or another can give you two different lines, and you want to put your best foot forward.
A posing coach can also help you with your nutrition. Yes you have supplements that you know and love but a coach can add new supps and routine that can take your from good to great.
And hey, maybe you don’t need a “professional posing coach” – what’s really important is to get experienced advice and coaching from someone who knows how to pose correctly. Posing is often overlooked when it comes to bodybuilding training. It’s not a simple routine that can be learned in one night. Just like anything else, it takes focus, discipline, and practice to take it to a pro level. Just ask Kai Greene – who recently talked about the realities of pro posing on his Generation Iron podcast.
In this game of bodybuilding it’s pretty apparent that the goal is to gain some quality muscle while at the same time shedding the unwanted fat from your body. There’s no point in training hard, gaining muscle and making all that progress only to see it go to waste with a layer of fat over all your gains. The ability to gain muscle and lose fat is what makes professional bodybuilders so special. Your everyday amateur is capable of doing the same thing. No matter how hard a person may workout in the gym, at the end of the day if your diet looks like crap then guess what? You’re going to look like crap too.
So what is the most effective way to gain muscle and lose fat? There are so many different methods out there that will have your head spinning as to which one should be considered. A great deal of people subscribe to the low carb ketogenic diet as their method. Many bodybuilders have a more balanced approach when it comes to their diets however. Usually referred to as the traditional diet, these bodybuilders have their macronutrient levels on the 40:30:30 scale (40% carbs, 30% fats, 30% protein).
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The traditional method is great for building lean body mass and promotes muscle growth. But that’s not the whole story. Though the traditional diet is great for gains, when it comes to lowering your body fat percentage it potentially won’t do all that much. This is where the ketogenic diet can work wonders. The low carb diet that promotes more of a healthy fat and protein approach has been proven to be the way to go for losing body fat.
Confused as to what strategy to try? Then follow these tips to help you in your journey to shred and add huge muscle growth.
First Thing’s First
If you should start anywhere when it comes to body recomposition then you should definitely begin with the traditional diet first. Gaining muscle is key to having that shredded look so it should be your first course of action. Once you’ve built up an adequate amount of muscle then it’ll be time to shed that fat. Fat burners are great supplements to aid in fat loss and are both natural and safe to keep you shedding in the short term and maintaining in the long term. The benefits of a good fat burner include sharp mental focus, faster recovery, and a healthy dose of hormones to keep your body running at peak capacity.
Adding high amounts of protein to your diet is a great way to pump you full of nutrients and see those gains flowing. Consider either a whey isolate or whey concentrate depending on your exact goals. Whey concentrate will provide for some added bulk, while whey isolate will allow you to pack on lean muscle with a fewer amount of fat and carbs.
In a recent interview with popular T.V. host Ellen Degeneres Ronda Rousey revealed that after her devastating loss to bantamweight champion Holly Holm she contemplated suicide. While sitting in the hospital hours after her loss, the former champ felt that with the death of her persona – she no longer had anything to live for.
“I was literally sitting there and thinking about killing myself and that exact second I’m like, ‘I’m nothing, what do I do anymore, and no one gives a s–t about me anymore without this.’”
But before she could turn these thoughts into action, she caught sight of her UFC heavyweight boyfriend Travis Browne and put things into perspective.
“I looked up and I saw my man Travis was standing up there, and I looked up at him and I was like, I need to have his babies. I need to stay alive.”
In case you haven’t heard Ronda Rousey lost her bantamweight title back in November 2015, at UFC 193 to Holly Holm in the second round via head kick K.O. In a fight many thought Holms shouldn’t have even been in, the challenger absolutely destroyed the champ with her pinpoint striking and world class footwork. The ending was all but inevitable as Rousey looked dazed and exhausted coming into the second round. At one point whiffing a shot so bad she fell down on one knee. Rousey revealed to Ellen that it felt like an out of body experience as she came into the fight tired and had no concept of where things were. She knew Holly was out there but wasn’t able to connect her movements to her body. All in all Rousey makes no excuses and hopes Holly wins her next bout in March against bantamweight contender Meisha Tate at UFC 197 – in order to enforce vengeance and reclaim the belt. All in all it shapes up well for us as the women’s bantamweight division is shaping up for some historic fights. https://youtu.be/iwCdv9iR8P8 What do you think about Ronda Rousey’s statements? Are they heartfelt and much needed or do they reveal a mental weakness for competitors to capitalize on? Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Lionel Harris-Spence is a borderline alcoholic, MMA junkie, and budding filmmaker – follow him on instagram (artofmixedmartial)
It’s an age old question that needs to be addressed.
It’s an argument that has been raging ever since the UFC first introduced the masses to mixed martial arts in 1993. The event saw fighters from different disciplines travel from all over the world to prove which martial arts was the best. The concept was straight out of a Jean-Claude Van Damm movie. It was insane to think that such a wild scenario would eventually transform into one of the fasting growing sports of the 21st century. In terms of combat sports, boxing was once the only option we had as fans of pugilism. With the introduction of MMA it gave fans of other styles something to appreciate. For boxing purist it gave them a new sport to scrutinize. Now you may have read that title and expect to see a technical breakdown on the difference between the two martial arts disciplines and philosophies. Maybe it’s something I’ll touch on at some point, but for now this is more of a response to a recent boxing match announcement than anything else. In April, IBF and WBA Middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin will be battling a man not named Canelo Alvarez. Yeah, dumb, I know. For those of you who don’t know Golovkin is pretty much the modern day version of Mike Tyson, knocking out ninety percent of the men who choose to face him in the ring. He has crushed his competition and proved himself to be a real threat to any middleweight boxer out there. Canelo Alvarez has also proven himself to be a talented boxer with some considerable punching power and slick skills. Both are middleweight champions at the height of their powers. For this reason alone it’s a great fight to put together for the fans. So obviously that means that the fight has to be delayed. For one reason or another Alvarez and Golovkin will not be facing each other in their next matches. Rather than putting together the fights the fans want to see, big business is getting involved in order to milk a potential match up between the two world beaters. There’s money to be made in the interim and rather than put together the fight when both men are in their prime, the world at large will have to wait until boxing promoters deem the time is right for the middleweight champs to face each other. This is where boxing is losing to MMA. It’s all about supply and demand in this day and age. If you’re not willing to give the people what they want then fans will likely become disgruntled with the product. The major difference is in the philosophies of the business practices. Where boxing looks to build the absolute best match by building up fighter’s resumes with a plethora of opponents, both worthy and unworthy alike, MMA or the more accurately the UFC is looking to put on the fights that the fans are clamoring for. Boxing is more about showing off marquee names while UFC focuses more on a supply and demand frame work. People wanted to see Jose Aldo fight Conor McGregor and they got exactly what they asked for this past December. People want to see a Golovkin/Alvarez bout, but because “there’s not enough money in it” or “it’s too difficult to promote” fans are unlikely to see that match up for quite some time. It makes things more complicated as calling either man the middleweight champion is both correct and a fallacy all at once. A fighter should not only focus on how much many they’ll be making for their bout, but the legacy they leave behind. Alvarez’s camp has gone on record that Golovkin isn’t a money fight and though business is certainly an important role in combat sports, a fighter shouldn’t let go of the idea of being the best in the world and proving it with legitimate victories over high caliber opponents. So sure, boxing may have a rich history, it may be called the sweet science, but if they continue to use the method that ruined the hype of the Pacquiao vs Mayweather bout, then we’ll continue to see decline in the interest of boxing. Until then mixed martial arts will continue to grow in popularity as it provides the match ups that fans want to see. Is it possible to enjoy both MMA and boxing? Let us know in the comments and forums. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron MMA on Facebook and Twitter. Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor and geek culture enthusiast. Follow him on Twitter and keep up with his latest exploits.
