Beyond Failure Training (BFT) a.k.a. Demon Training

[Matt Cena]

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED PART 2
by Trevor Smith



Let’s see where were we?
Ah yes, Mr. America’s gym circa 1986.
During my 18 months of less than fruitful training, I was always amused by the fact that most of the "Big Boys" in the gym at that time were some of the biggest losers I had ever come across. Guys that I had thought were big in part because I was a young kid and in part because their egos were fucking enormous, were, in retrospect, fucking jokes. Years later I would run into some of them and while they stayed the same, I obviously did not and it kind of reminded me of the first time I went back to my elementary school as an adult. Just as I could not get over how small in stature some of my teachers were and how small the desks and tables were (because I remembered them as being GIANTS), I could not get over that I was actually impressed with the guys that were in the gym during my early days at Mr. America’s. But that is neither here nor there. The whole point I am trying to make is that during that 18 month span, nobody and I mean nobody was there to help me. There were plenty of delusional egos, but that was about it. I remember going up to the counter and asking this jerk off by the name of Kenny (who was 3-4 years older than me, and juiced to the fucking gills) if he had any suggestions for me to put on some size. Without so much as looking up at me he pointed to the cabinet that contained some MLO Milk and Egg protein powder and that was the extent of his interaction with me.
I, of course, checked off the "DICK-HEAD" box in my brain. Funny thing is, about a year or so after that event, this tool shed came up to me to congratulate me on putting on the size that I did. I again checked off the "DICK-HEAD" box in my brain because it showed me the type of person he was. I was not worth his efforts when I was a 185-pound kid looking for advice…..but when I was 235lbs. and the same size as him, I warranted the respect of him saying something to me. It was events like those that made me realize if I ever had the opportunity to help someone who was just starting out, achieve their goals a little faster, I would. I knew what it was like to have nobody to turn to and nobody willing to give me advice. I guess it was a good thing because it made me rather self-reliant and introspective. FUCK THEM ALL became my motto. I was going to do it by myself and more importantly I was going to do it harder and better and all without succumbing to the temptation of taking the easy path that this Kenny and the others took by hopping on the sauce at an age when their body was producing more than enough testosterone on it’s own. No sir, I was going to do something that nobody ever took the time to do, I was going to maximize my natural potential before ever even considering playing around with gear.

Thus, began my quest. It was 1987 at this point, my senior year of high school. At the start of football season I weighed in at 196lbs. at a height of 6’1" and I was 17 years old. I was still over training and more importantly under eating. During this time I was consumed with getting a football scholarship, yet all the while I dreamed about being able to pursue bodybuilding on a full time basis. As anyone who plays football knows, you only get about 6 months out of each year to devote to serious training and that is assuming you don’t get any injuries. So even back then I knew where my heart lay. But, I was stupidly playing to the wishes of other people and succumbing to the pressure. Football was a good thing, an honorable thing, something you could be proud of in the world I lived in. Where as bodybuilding was looked at as a joke and just for guys that "took lots of steroids". This always bothered me, but hey I was a young kid and it would only be a few more years before I broke free of other peoples desires and spent time doing what I wanted to do and loved.
Got sidetracked a little bit there. O.K., so it is the late fall of 1987 and football season is coming to a close and wrestling season is about to begin. My buddy Mike was projected to win the state championships that year in the heavyweight division and needed someone strong to work out with. I always wanted to go out for wrestling and figured why not give it a try. Turns out it was something I wished I would have started sooner because I was a bit of a natural at the whole grappling game. However that is another story, the point I am making here is that I was immersed in another full time exhaustive sport for 3 months that was not conducive to the bodybuilding life-style. I still wasn’t eating anywhere near much as what I needed to be eating and still over-training to a great extent.
As the wrestling season started to come to a close in the early winter of 1988, my family was faced with a great tragedy. Five years earlier, my Aunt Kathy, who was full of zest and full of life and always one my favorite people, aside from being my mom’s best friend and sister, was diagnosed with stomach cancer. After 3 years of intensive ChemoTherapy, she had gone into remission, at least so we thought. It basically came out after she died that she was given only a couple of more years to live back in 1986 when she said her cancer was gone and this brought us to January 1988.
Everything seemed to be fine with my Aunt and then all of a sudden she was in dire straits. Of course I now realize that the "all of a sudden" was merely her being strong and not showing the pain she had been in on a constant basis for the past year or so. All along she knew what nobody else knew, that she was dying.
I remember being awoken one night at about 11:00pm and told by my father and brother that we were going to have to go up to my Grandmothers house (where my Aunt Kathy had been moved to when her condition worsened) to join the rest of our extended family in saying goodbye to her. The truth was cold and emotionless, I was going to have to go and say goodbye to a woman that I had known and loved all my life. I was going to have to watch as her once strong body and spirit (now an 80lb. shell of itself) slowly and painfully drifted into deaths cold hands, never to utter another kind word of support to me and never again to come to my defence when my mother and father were being a bit to heavy handed in their disciplinary beliefs with me.
She was the one relative of mine that always believed in what I was doing and thought my love of bodybuilding was the greatest thing in the world even when everyone else though it was nothing more than an adolescent pipe dream.
I can recall how I went up to the couch that she lay dying on and leaned over to give her a final kiss and say goodbye. I tried to be strong and talk about my future plans, but it was of no use. She was too weak to lift her head up and too weak to put her arms around me. I lost it.
I have little problem with the entire issue of death, but to watch someone who was so strong be stripped of all that they were and lay in an almost skeletonized state before my very eyes with each gasping breath bringing them one step closer to death was very hard for me to take. I wanted to take away her pain, but I knew I couldn’t. My mother stayed by her side and she died several hours later. I never cried for her again, for I knew her suffering was over. Even at her wake and funeral when people were in such drastic states of hysteria and pain, I was emotionless. I knew she was in a better place and I knew her suffering was over. I was not going to cry for my loss or for anyone elses loss because that would be selfish. She went through hell and back again and I was glad her journey of torture was over. However, the one thing that I did do, was promise myself that I would make her proud. It became almost an obsession. I was not going to let her down and I was going to prove to everyone that her unwavering belief in my love for bodybuilding was not for nothing!
I can remember sitting in the funeral home with my freshly purchased copy of Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. All my other relatives thought is was disrespectful and tasteless, but I knew it was what my Aunt would have wanted; for me to use her death as a pillar on which to devote myself to my dream. From that day forward that book had become my bible. I read every page over and over again. More importantly I payed strict attention to the section on diet and gaining weight and it was that day in the funeral home that I made a promise to both my deceased Aunt and myself that I was going to get super focused with my diet and training.
The first step in that focus was to put on some much needed weight and to do that I had to start getting structured and to start eating.
When I had first started lifting weights, one of the police officers that worked under my father had given him a bunch of old Flex magazines to give to me. I was mesmorized by them, and in particular one issue.
There was a small article in this particluar issue on an up and coming teen sensation named Shane DiMora. Some of you may recall Shane as I believe he was the youngest man ever to turn pro at the age of 19. But this article was written a few years before he turned pro. I think he was 16 at the time it was written and I remember seeing his picture standing next to Cory Everson and I was shocked. At age 16 he was 202lbs. (he was only 5’3") and his thickness was astounding. That image always stuck in my mind, so when I made the pact with myself to get serious and start putting on size, I dug up that old picture of Shane Dimora and cut it out. I pasted it to my wall. I decided I was going to be proportionally as big or bigger than that little freak Shane DiMora and that meant I needed to reach a weight of 230lbs. since I was 6’1".
I marked off on the calander when I would accomplish this by. It was the beginning of February, one week after my Aunt Kathy’s death and I was giving myself until June 15th of 1988 to achieve my goal. I was 194lbs. (two pounds lighter than when I started my senior year of High School) and had just 4 months to put on a solid 36lbs. For the first time in my life everything was crystal clear. I had a clear purpose, a path that I needed to adhere to and one that I would travel all alone, and that is what I liked about it the most.
Next time we will pick up where I left off and discuss what it was that I did during that 4 months, the things I encountered along the way and whether or not I was able to achieve my goal.

[Matt Cena]

The Road Less Traveled Part 3

by Trevor Smith

So I made my pact and now I had four months to get the job down. Little did I know it would be a lot easier than I thought! You have to understand that at this point in my life, I was still under the delusion that one could achieve the kind of physiques that you saw in the bodybuilding magazines without steroids. Hard work was all I thought I needed. The mountain of mis-information that was around about steroids was enough to fill the fucking Grand Canyon. So things like: "steroids really don’t work, they’re just dangerous and will get you sick" and "all steroids do is help you achieve the physique at a faster rate"…so on and so forth. I didn’t know any better. I knew steroids worked, and knew they worked big time just from watching the guys in the gym, but I honestly thought you didn’t need them. Turns out I was both right and wrong, but my blind faith was a massive blessing because I never had the least bit of doubt on what I could achieve without the use of drugs. I pulled out the training routine that was briefly outlined in Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding and put it together with the one I had been following. Basically that meant scaling back the number of sets I was doing and therefor getting more rest. I began my new routine, but more importantly I began my new focus and new eating pattern. I became religious in achieving my goal. This meant continual feeding, and for the first time in my life I actually did so. Young kids are funny. They think they are eating a lot if they eat a lot at one sitting. They don’t factor into account that they don’t have another crumb of food for 4 hours, but they think because they ate 6 slices of pizza that they eat a lot. Then they wonder: "How come I can’t gain any weight?" My answer is always the same: "You may think your eating a lot, but you are not! A starving dog could probably eat half of a fucking dead cow in one sitting, but that don’t mean it’s gonna gain a massive amount of weight from that one meal!" And that is what has to be done, continual gorging! Stretching the stomach wall by stuffing yourself with so much food that you feel sick. After a few weeks of this, you will be able to utilize more and more food, will have a bigger and bigger capacity to eat and therefor be able to take in a greater amount of calories and nutrition. Now at age 17, my metabolism was a fucking blast furnace, as it is for all kids at this age who are not obese and who are very active. My concern, was simply to get in a high amount of nutrients and more importantly calories. 6000 calories per day to be exact, and that is what I did every day for the 4 months. Because my metabolism was so high, there was no concern for counting fat content in my diet (although I was not cramming donuts and cookies down my throat). My calories came from lots of red meat and lots of dairy products and lots of fruit juice. Typically I would wake in the morning and eat 6 whole eggs with a buttered bagel along with 2 glasses of whole milk. Then I would go off to school. My schedule in my senior year of high school permitted me to go home again at around 10:30am because I had a free period. So, everyday, I would come home for 40 minutes and consume 4 glasses of whole milk and a bagel with 6 slices of american cheese and a healthy smearing of cream cheese. Back to school I went and would eat again around 12:30 in the cafeteria with my buddy. I would get a double lunch of either pizza or hamburgers with 4 glasses of whole milk. Then I would go home after my classes were done, which was around 1:30, and I would have a half pound of ground beef along with a few glasses of apple juice or fruit punch or iced tea. After I digested and relaxed a bit, I would go to the gym and train. Just the basics: Incline presses, flat dumbbell presses, standing military presses, curls, squats, leg presses, hack squats, calf raises, tricep extensions, etc. I went as heavy as I could and kept the reps in the 6-8 range. Within a few weeks, shit started changing. I remember going to my family doctor for a check up and when I got on the scale—which was the first time I was on a scale since February, I was 214lbs! I had gained 20lbs. in four weeks and I didn’t even realize I did. This did nothing but fuel my motivation even further. Now I was pumped. My bodyfat was staying the same, but I was just filling out, literally exploding! My XL T-shirts which fit comfortably and roomy were now getting tighter and tighter. Another month went by and I was up another 10 pounds. At this point, I started to feel the ramifications of achieving your goals: Jealousy! I began to hear whispers of "He uses steroids, there is no way he could get that big that fast!" or "He’s on something, I know it for sure!" I was amazed and hurt at the same time. It really bothered me that people thought I was using gear. I was dead set against using steroids at the time and here I was busting my ass, training and eating like a man possessed, and people were shitting on it and trying to take my achievements away by crediting steroid use. Around the middle of May, I was 230lbs. and now everywhere I went I would hear the rumors about how much steroids I took. It really made me angry and sick. I guess I should have taken it as a compliment, but I did not. What really started to bother me was when I was in one of my classes and the teacher said in front of the whole class "stop popping those pills Trevor". I was totally fucking shocked. I asked him to repeat himself and he did, but he tried to make it like he was joking with me, but the damage was already done. Now I had another 30 people who were convinced I was a "Roid Head" as they so aptly put it. I would hear stories about people telling other people that they saw me go into the locker room at Mr. America’s and get "shot up" by the owner, or that they saw me buying steroids from one of the guys in the gym. Complete and total fabrications every fucking one of those stories, and I was just amazed that people would have so little going on in their lives that they would completely make up a total lie to try and tarnish my achievements. To this very day, if you spoke with people who were in my graduating class you would have a great number of them tell you that I used steroids way back then and they would "Know it for a fact!" As much as this bothered the shit out of me, it was nothing compared to what I felt when I found out my really close friends were telling people that "I had to be using something." That really hurt. These were people who witnessed day in and day out what I was doing and putting myself through yet they not only believed the rumors other people were spreading about me, they were confirming them to these fucking idiots! Of course, they denied saying anything, but I found out from people I knew and trusted and who were older, that they did, in fact, say those things. I guess that is the price one has to pay for any type of success. There will always be someone there waiting to kick you down. It is a rare person that chooses to build themselves up so they achieve more, most people spend their lives tearing others down so they can appear to be higher up. In any event, it was now June 15th. I had already achieved my goal, so stepping on the scale was only a formality, but it was a fun one. When I got on the scale, it read 237lbs.! I had gained nearly 45lbs. in four months. Regardless of what others were saying I was very happy with what I achieved. And like a true bodybuilder all I wanted to do, was see the scale jump even higher. Now as I look back, the reason why I was able to gain so much size and weight in such a short time without any drugs was simple: For two years I was over-training and under-eating, and once I started feeding my system , getting adequate calories to grow and getting adequate rest, I rebounded like a bodybuilder after a competition. The size I gained was size that I would have had spread out over the past year and a half had I eaten sufficient nutrients and calories. Interestingly enough, my "friend" who I found out was telling everyone that I was using steroids, tried to convince me that it would me smarter to go into college football camp not weighing more than 230lbs. His exact words were: "Trevor, 230lbs. is more than enough for you to weigh as a freshman college football player." I immediately told him "Yeah, but 240lbs. would be even better!" Of course, at the same time he was asking me for all my "secrets" so that he could put on size. That kind of put a kink in our friendship for a good 4 years. We were still friendly, but not the same. Eventually though, after we graduated college and were both a lot more mature, we got close again. After I reached my goal, I began to realize that I could excel in bodybuilding or anything for that matter if I just focused. Nothing was going to stop me. Before that point I thought 250lbs. was the heaviest weight in the world and certainly never envisioned myself at that weight. Now I had my mind set on just growing, growing and growing. I had no idea where the train was going, and I did not care, I was loving the shit out of the ride. One month later I flew down to the University of Central Florida, to fulfill everyone else's expectation of playing college football. Even so, I was already obsessed with bodybuilding and spent every free moment reading everything I could on it. I knew it was only a matter of time before I pursued it full time, but that is another story for another time. If you take away anything from this article I hope that it is above all else, human will is the most powerful tool at your finger tips. Steroids work yes, as does proper nutrition, training and rest, but without the will to walk the path—and it can be a very solitary and lonely path—all the drugs, training and food in the world won’t do a damn thing to get you where you want to go. Stay Focused!

[Matt Cena]

How Far Are You Willing To Go?
The Need to KILL THE EGO To Achieve Your Goals. By Trevor Smith

During the time of the Samarui, they referred to it as "cutting off the head". Not actual physical decapitation, but rather a decapitation of the mental kind. Now, we refer to it with more civilized verbiage, "Losing the ego."
Just why is this so important? Why do so many people with great possibilities turn out falling short of their potential goals because of their inability to loose their ego?
As a teacher-of both martial arts and physique augmentation-I have encountered countless people who have egos the size of African Bull Elephants. The interesting thing I discovered is that there is often little merit, if any, to the ownership of such egos. In other words, the people with huge egos almost never have anything behind them in terms of achievement: Legends in their own minds. They seem to be viewing themselves with a distorted vision and look down at others is if they are not worthy or fit to be in their presence…. even though these "others" that they so disrespect in their thoughts and actions, may be much more accomplished, knowledgeable, kind-hearted…more of a human being than these disillusioned individuals can imagine.
One of the things I learned very quickly in my studies, was that EVERYONE and EVERYTHING -yes, including the afore mentioned egomaniacs-- has something wonderful and special to offer…and it is the fool that looks past these gifts. I would have students that were such poor athletes, struggling with the simplest of concepts, capable of showing me more about life than black belts with 20 years experience. Others would look at them as inept or unteachable. So they would possibly ignore them or give up on them altogether. I made a conscious effort to keep my eyes and ears open to all my students, and then, when I least expected it, they would unknowingly teach me a huge lesson providing me with amazingly powerful knowledge.
I am reminded of this one student that I taught that was just about a seemingly hopeless in the dojo. His mind would always wander (probably from A.D.D.) and his physical skills were severely lacking. His confidence was non-existent and he was pretty much an outcast from his peer group. However, day in and day out, this child would show up for my classes and consistently falter. Whether it was learning a self defense pattern, sparring, grappling practice, or some sort of cardio-vascular/body coordination drill…it was a lock that this kid would mess up, lose his match and finish dead last. Yet there he would be, every day standing in the doorway of the Dojo with a smile on his face and a, "Hello Sensei Trevor," out of his mouth. It finally dawned on me one day, when I was asking myself why it was that this child gave such effort with such little result? "Who the hell am I to quantify results by external measuring?" Who was I to assume that because this child learned at a rate that was many, many times slower than the norm, that he was not still learning and receiving internal gains that were immeasurable? If a snail moves an inch in one month and spends 5 years in the struggle to move forward…it will have moved FORWARD 60 inches! Just because I can move 60 inches in a few seconds does not mean that the snail's accomplishments are meaningless. I realized that any improvement IS a major success. For me to decide that there must be a certain amount of improvement or it's worth is useless is limited thinking and narrow minded. So I learned a tremendously valuable lesson from this child, any improvement, no matter how small, tiny or unnoticeable to anyone else, is still an improvement.
In bodybuilding, I cannot tell you the number of people that I encounter or hear about that attempt to discredit what I am, and all that I have offered simply because I have not stepped foot on a competition stage. It seems that their egos have a need to discredit me in some way because they feel uncomfortable giving me credit for some reason. This discomfort stems from their egos and their incorrect thinking that crediting someone else in bodybuilding is somehow detracting from their own accomplishments. I find this strange because my mind is inspired when I am around those that are achieving success. I am inspired when I see Jay Cutler transforming his physique into a 270lbs. shredded freak and taking the world lead in the sport of bodybuilding. I am inspired by the size and thickness of Markus Ruhl, I am inspired by the persistence of Lee Priest and his winning his first Pro show after a year of hell and disappointment. I am inspired by the symmetry of Amhed Haidar and I am even inspired by the fact that King Kamali puts his money where is mouth is and shows up in razor shape condition, time after time.
The knee-jerk reaction of the weak minded and ego driven is to make that which causes discomfort to go away…either by ignoring it, running from it, or attacking it (verbally speaking). Rather than looking at the situation and deciding what one can learn from it and apply it to their own endeavors. The 200 pound pro bodybuilder that discredits me as being someone to take advice from simply because I have yet to compete, would be much better served if they said, "Hmmm… here is a guy that has a tremendous amount of muscle mass and knowledge to help others gain more mass…maybe I should listen to what he has to say, because if I add 5 pounds more to my physique, I will be that much better a pro and whether or not Trevor ever steps on stage, has nothing to do with the fact that he is educated, well spoken and has a large amount of muscle mass himself."
In any of my endeavors, I make a concerted effort not to have an ego. I never go around saying that I am great, wonderful, awesome and better than everyone else. I am not after adulation and admiration. In fact, one of my many weaknesses is that I really don't know how to handle compliments all that well. I try and work as hard as I can, have passion in what I do, and share my beliefs and information to help enhance the lives of others. Not for monetary gains, but for internal gains. I really enjoy being a positive impact on people's lives. The thing I loved most about teaching was that I had a chance to take a child that was going down a path of insecurity and provide them with confidence and a belief in themselves as wonderfully imperfect, perfect creatures that can do and be anything they want to be. One of the repeated mistakes I have seen is the ego that often gets in the way of achieving success. A narrow mind will always equal narrow and limited results. The most powerful thing one can do for themselves is to keep an open mind to absorb as much knowledge as possible from every possible source and situation.
A boxing coach often sits in the corner of the ring, with a cigar in one corner of his mouth, a cheeseburger in the other, one hand scratching his head and the other resting comfortably around his huge belly. This picture of horrendous health should not, on the surface, warrant the respect of the muscular animal in the ring that is receiving the tongue lashing from this mess. But it does! Why? …Because knowledge is knowledge and it doesn't matter what it looks like on the outside. However, what happens if the outside appearance of the knowledge is somewhat threatening? Usually that is where the ego steps in, gets bruised for some moronic reason, and chases away or discredits the knowledge and this is something that I see extensively in bodybuilding.
This is why the Samurai would talk about the need to "cut off the head" before they could teach a student. If someone thinks they are all knowing, then how can you instruct them? It is the law of the land that there will always be someone bigger, better, smarter and faster than any one person at any given time. So it is the wise man that keeps his options open and is always striving for more knowledge from any possible source.
Look, it is not comfortable to realize that you are not all you think you are. The ego doesn't like it when it is made to feel less than 100%. This is often why you will rarely see numerous top bodybuilders training in the same facility. Everyone likes to be the big fish and get all the attention and compliments…everyone that lets their ego dictate things that is. You can either choose to be a big fish in a little pond and surround yourself with people who tell you how great you are, or you can expand your horizons by taking yourself out of your comfort zone, surrounding yourself with people who are better than you in various areas, so you can consistently improve yourself, raising your weak points and shortcomings.
When I was more heavily into the Martial Arts, I tried to expose myself to Masters of all different styles so I could see things from different perspectives, allowing myself to gain a well-rounded education. I would go to various seminars and notice something interesting (particularly when grappling started to become popular). So called "Masters" of traditional martial arts would always make sure that they were NEVER taken out of their comfort zone. They would organize seminars for boxing or grappling experts to come into town so their students can learn, but they themselves would NEVER take the class or get onto the mat. Why? EGO! They did not want to look inferior in the eyes of their students. They did not want to get onto the mat wearing their multi-striped belt displaying their lofty black-belt rank and look like a novice at the hands of Master from another art form. Basically, they did not want to look human, vulnerable or less than "all knowing, all powerful" in front of their students. What they did not realize is that in allowing their ego to dictate their actions, they became exactly what they were trying to avoid. I once trained with Benny The Jet Urquidez (actually I trained a number of times with Benny) and I was thankful that I had the chance to be in the same room as him. To me, he was a true warrior and a true Master. He had zero Ego. He would teach a class or seminar and then, when another Instructor (from a style different from Benny's) came onto the floor to teach, Benny would be right there with the lower level students, training with them and struggling with brand new ideas and techniques from an art he knew nothing about but hungrily wanted to absorb as much from as possible. Watching him do this was more valuable to be than any left jab, front kick, right cross, bob left, hook left, bob right, hook right combination he taught me.
The other thing I tend to notice in bodybuilding is justification as a means to soothe the Ego. Usually, if bodybuilders see a guy who has a huge amount of muscle mass-a lot more than they do-often their response is: "Yeah, he's big BUT… Then the barrage of excuses come: " He's holding a lot of water," "He's also got some fat," "He's taller than me so he can carry more muscle mass, but proportionally I am bigger than him," " If I took as much stuff as he did, I could be that big," " His arms are too big for the rest of his body, he's blocky," "He's 2 years older than me, so I still have time on my side and I will be bigger than him when I am his age." Oh the Ego saving contorted logic goes on and on and on. Is it that difficult to admit that someone else is impressive, too? Must the ego always enter in and knock things down so it feels better and less threatened?
The latest thing in bodybuilding is the comment, "Yeah, but his arms and delts are full of oil…he uses tons of synthol." You hear this about Marcus Ruhl all the time. Whether or not it is true, is not the point. The point is, Markus looks freaky and awesome, so whatever he is doing, he is doing correctly and it looks good! Suddenly, everything is attributed to synthol. However, for the past 30 years, bodybuilders have been site- injecting steroids into body parts (calves, biceps, triceps, shoulders, quads, pecs and lats). But for some strange reason, everything is now the result of synthol. Again, there are instances of people using synthol-type products and having retarded, fake looking muscle. However, if someone looks freaky, it is now because of synthol. "Jay's shoulders are huge and round and full…it must be from synthol." Another comment heard, "Markus Ruhl's chest is huge and striated…Yup, synthol again!" You can't have any outstanding body parts these days without having some ego driven person (who is annoyed that you look that much bigger and better than they do) credit your achievements to anything but your own hard work and efforts in the gym. Amazingly enough, the people who make these cries are almost always smaller bodybuilders who have no freakiness or outstanding size or body parts. This is better known as "Small Man's Complex." Wouldn't people love to know that some of the people making these cries, particularly on the professional level in bodybuilding, have purchased bottles of Site Enhancement Oil from me when getting ready for their shows? Seems they are not against the use of injecting oils into the muscle belly to get a lifting effect and a bigger looking muscle…they are only against those people who get bigger and better looking results than they do! They have no problem with round, full delts and big thick triceps and peaked biceps…if it is on their body! Put it on someone else's body though and they scream, kick and cry, "It's not fair, this is an outrage…wah…wah…wah…my ego hurts 'cuz his arms and shoulders are bigger than mine." Babies! Stop crying and pay more attention to those who are more accomplished than you in ANY given area. Maybe then you will learn something. Until you crush your ego driven nature, you will always be a few steps behind those who have "Cut off their head" long ago.

[Matt Cena]

Snap Shots From The Beyond Failure Training Video

The following are snap shots taken during the filming of Trevor L. Smith's long awaited
BEYOND FAILURE TRAINING VIDEO.
The Beyond Failure Training Video was shot during one week of Trevor's last mass training cycle in April , 2003. All lifts are well documented and refernced as 100% legit. The video and testimonials of those present will be proof of the legitimate weights, size and strength.
Trevor's bodyweight in the pics and in the video was around 410lbs....somedays more...somedays less. Hopefully these pictures will inspire many to train to their maximal levels and learn that the most powerful muscle in "Beyond Failure Training TM" is the mind.
It is important to understand that Trevor does not train for the purposes of being a strong man or a powerlifter....he respects both of these type of athletes tremendously and in return garners tremendous amounts of respect from many world record holding Powerlifters, Bench Press specialist and Squat specialists. Through his years of dedication to the "Iron" and the "Martial Arts," he has been able to excel in strength and size and feels pleased to share that knowledge as well as his own accomplishment proving his training theories and years of efforts to create them. He has been fortunate to have been recognized and hired by top professional athletes and top professional bodybuilders including top Mr. Olympia Contender Jay Cutler whom aside from being a personal friend of Trevor's, Trevor is very honored and excited to be of assistance to and take an already amazing and freakish physique and make it even better. To have someone of Jay Cutler's stature and accomplish acknowledge Trevor's accomplishments and training intensity and knowledge in the field of bodybuilding and, in particular, adding muscle mass means a great deal to Trevor. Jay Cutler has trained under Trevor in the Beyond Failure Training Center and has experienced first hand the power and intensity of Trevor's training system and knowledge and it is Trevor's hope that his knowledge combined with Jay's own will be of tremendous help in securing the title of Mr. Olympia, a title that many feel was rightfully his in 2001.
Trevor firmly believes that through his many, many unique techniques that he uses in the ever evolving system he created called, "Beyond Failure Training TM," he will continue to gain tremendous strength along with tremendous size. Regardless of the incredible poundage that he routinely lifts, Trevor does not train for MAX lifts as all his pressing movements are done AFTER EXTREMELY HEAVY AND EXTREMELY EXTENSIVE PRE-EXHAUST WITH ISOLATION MOVEMENTS which is a cornerstone of his training system.
Trevor also has come to an understanding that there are many non-believers and lots of negative comments and gossip that the weights he uses are fake, that his bodyfat is 30%, that since he has not yet competed in bodybuilding his size and strength are somehow irrelevant, that his pictures are graphically enhanced, or that he wears shoulder pads etc. He further understands the nature of the internet and the ease of its anonimity to dispute, discredit and insult. This is inevitable when you put yourself out there and exposure yourself so one must take the good with the bad. Regardless of those comments, there are many that use the photos and information of Trevor's writings, knowledge about his training system, "Beyond Failure Training TM," mass theories, and philosphies (including many well accomplished and well established professional athletes) to enhance their own training and lives. It is for those people that look, read and become more informed that this is for.
*All photos are the property sole property of Trevor L. Smith, The Beyond Failure Training Center LLC and Nuclear Nutrition LLC Copyright 2003. U.S. PATENT & TRADEMARK LAWS strictly enforced. Kindly fax 702-365-1651 or email info@nuclearnutrition for permission to hyperlink or copy photos. Any unauthorized reproduction, and or copying of the pictures for any public viewing on other websites, written publications or any manner is strictly forbidden and considered theft of content. Violators WILL be prosecuted and the websites posting the photos will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The information displayed below is for entertainment purposes only. No liability is assumed by Trevor L. Smith, Beyond Failure Training LLC or Nuclear Nutrition LLC.

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Chest Day....Pre-Exhaust set with the "Flex 30 Degree Pec Contractor" at 500lbs. (since the machine is designed normally to hold a 200lbs. stack and Trevor's machine was customized with a 300lbs stack....the people at Flex Equipment would probably not be too warranty friendly seeing the extra 45lbs. plates and the dumbbells added to the stack
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Trevor getting some "Extreme Forced Reps TM" after hitting failure with the 500lbs....of course, the video shows the entire set complete with all the drop sets and "Extreme Forced RepsTM"

After pre-exhausting the pecs....it was on to incline bench presses on the Smith Machine with a starting weight of 765lbs. and continuing with drop sets and very unique style, "Zero Momentum RepsTM" called "EXTREME ZERO MOMENTUM REPS TM"...a technique that Trevor has not written about or shown to many people.
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Shoulders: Pre-Exhausting with a triple drop set of seated laterals.....starting weight: 150lbs. Dumbbells...Again, the video will have the complete set and the unique style these are done in to completely isolate and pre-exhaust the lateral delt.

Then on to Front Shoulder Presses on the "Smith Machine"...Starting weight: 675lbs.....and once again adding never before seen techniques to increase difficulty and intensity...This Video Is, Without Question, The Most Intense Training Video EVER Filmed...
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After Shoulder Presses...it was on to Triceps training.....Starting with Close Grip Bench Presses With 585lbs. to start and ending in a whole lot of pain and an inability to lift the arms after the multiple strip/drop sets and forced reps...note the unwrapped thumb technique used throughout all Trevor's pressing movements.....subtle changes like this can dramatically increase the intensity of a set..WARNING : DO NOT ATTEMPT WITHOUT COMPETENT AND ADEQUATE SPOTTERS AND ALWAYS START WITH A LIGHT WEIGHT SO YOU CAN GET USED TO THE TECHNIQUE.

After Pre-Exhausting On The "Nautilus Plate Loaded Pullover" (sorry guys....didn't get those pics) Trevor moves on to a Power Set on the Nebula Heavy Duty Low Row Machine (Eleven 45lbs. Plates Per Side)....(due to its floating arms/handles....this incredible machine is much more difficult than a standard "Hammer" Low Row Machine and thus completely tortures the back from multiple angles.

This picture was taken between sets....here Trevor is adjusting his belt and catching his wind before finishing up with the left side on the Nebula Heavy Duty Low Row Machine....
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Trevor in mid rep on what he calls the "Most Intense Piece Of Back Equipment Ever Developed."....It is an "Iso Mid Row Machine" made by "Nebula".....although you cannot see it clearly in this picture....it has two floating arms that move outward and inward as you pull back and the handles rotate 360 degrees......the amount of stress this puts on the lats is amazing.....it is a very, very, very hard machine and way more difficult that even free weights or dumbbell rows due to its unique design. Although it is loaded with Six 45lbs. plates..... according to Trevor this is like using the" Hammer" DY row with Twelve 45lbs. plates per side (which is impossible to load on to the "Hammer" DY machine) yet even that cannot compare if it were possible due to the "Floating" nature of the arms on this machine and the fact that your wrists rotate throughout the movement....thus making it a very DYNAMIC movement which is much harder than a standard plate loaded back machine which are mostly STATIC in their movements. Hats off to" Nebula" on this back/lat torture device as Trevor's face is worth a thousand words.
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After an extremely intense pre-exhaust set of leg extensions with unique variants of Z.M.R.'s that yielded tremendous amounts of blowtorch burning pain to the quads..
Trevor mentally readies himself for a set starting with nearly 2,500lbs. on his customized Pendulum Power Squat Machine. A custom built machine made with 1:1 ratio to mimic almost identically the feeling of a standard free bar squat.


This shot was taken literally 2 seconds before Trevor puked into his gym bag.....

That's all for now....STAY TUNED TO THE WEBSITE AND THE FORUM FOR THE RELEASE OF:

Trevor L. Smith's

BEYOND FAILURE TRAINING VIDEO

FILMED ENTIRELY AT THE

BEYOND FAILURE TRAINING CENTER

"The Weak Shall Perish..."

[Matt Cena]

RETURNING FROM A LAYOFF....THE DO'S AND DON'TS TO GET BACK INTO THE GROOVE SAFE AND SOUND.
by Trevor L. Smith
Let's face it...IT SUCKS! After a long layoff, whethe rit is intentional or due to illness or injury, it can be very frustrating due to the fact hat you are constantly reminded that you are not where you were before in terms of size, strength, and condtion. However, layoffs are often out of our control and also neccessary to avoid burnout. So let's talk about a few things that invariably come up when coming off a layoff, and how to make the transition from being relatively sedentary to getting back to your physical form before the layoff-and even surpassing it-a smooth one.
Too Much...Too Fast...Too Soon:
This is a problem that can result in giving you a quick return to another layoff or even a permanent one, if you are careless enough. Here's the scenario: A bodybuilder comes down with the flu while he is in the middle of a mass course. Everything is going great...he is stronger than ever, bigger than ever and leaner than ever. On top of the world! Then it hits...at first it seems just to be a slight cold...but reality quickly sets in: INFLUENZA! Now, instead of realizing that you cannot do anything but rest, most bosybuilders will try and continue to train until it is physically impossible, instead of listening to their bodies and giving it a rest...FROM EVERYTHING. I am amazed at the questions I have received. "Trevor, I am sick with the flu and I can't train...but I am in the middle of a cycle...should I continue taking the drugs? I don't want to lose size." Man oh man...God help these idiots. Lose size? You are sick with a virus that kills thousands and thousands of people each year and you are worried about losing size? the only thing you can and should do when you have the Flu is rest, and drink lots and lots of liquids. If you are in the middle of a steroid cycle, stop everything...the drugs will not work. Your body is not going to worry about building muscle while it fights off a virus such as influenza. Do yourself a favor and realize that you will be down for a minimum of two weeks...possibly three...and do everything you can to assist your body in the recovery process. Instead, the typical bodybuilder is so insecure about losing size, that they will rest until they feel the slightest bit better... then return to the gym... going through an unproductive workout and best of all, causing the virus or illness to linger for a longer time period. Instead of resting 2-3 weeks and being sure your body is fully recovered...they wind up getting pneumonia on top of things and are out for 3 months. Then they really will have something to cry about in terms of "losing size." Be smart when you are returning from a layoff. be sure that you are fully functioning and healthy and completely ready to return to the gym...physically and mentally.
Feeling Depressed/Sad Because You Aren't Where You Want To Be:
It is tough climbing back up the mountain once you are on top, but such is life. You cannot make a continual climb to the top. Sometimes, when you reach new heights, you must take a few steps back to see where you have been and to see where you are going. It is quite normal to feel a bit depressed when you hit your first new workouts after a layoff. Understand that it is all a process and that soon you will be right back to where you were and if you train hard enough...even better than you were before. One of the treasures of a layoff is that it causes you to examine your ego and learn to disgaurd it as the useless entity that it is. Your ego is what is causing the feeling of depression of inadequacy that comes over you when you see people who you are normally bigger than or stronger than who are now bigger and stronger than you since your layoff. Instead of festering with these feelings, view these people who are now ahead of you as inspirtion. Do this and they won't be ahead of you for long, I gurantee it! But if you go home, get frusterated, angered, think you can remedy the situation by pushing yourself too hard and start injecting greater than normal amounts of gear, you are only fooling yourself.
Losing Patience:
This was touched upon in the above paragraph, but we shall get a little more detailed here. Look, there is nothing you can do except doing. Wanting things to move faster than they are going will accomplish nothing. Simply put, it is going to take you some time to build back to where you were before your layoff. Not much time, but it will still take time, and you will be better served if you realize this and enjoy your journey, rather than looking at the clock and waiting to arrive at your destination.
Look, nobody is a machine...and machines aren't even machines in that they need down time, repairs and maintenance just as we do. Layoffs are going to occur. Sometimes they will be self imposed (these are the ones we like) and other times they are not of our doing (illness or injury). The bottom line is that you must realize that they represent an opportunity for you to surpass where you were before and also afford you the opportunity to see what you are made of. After all, you have a choice on whether you are going to sit there and whine about the layoff, or you can go about making it work for you and improve yourself. Good luck!

[Matt Cena]

THE EFFICACY OF NOTHINGNESS
By Trevor L. Smith

When I told my wife tha title of this article, she looked at me the same way the parents of my Jiu-Jitsu students would whenever I used words that they felt were "Too advanced" for the children. They felt that I was speaking "Too much like an adult," and that the children could not possibly understand what I was trying to convey. My approach was certainly different from anything they had seen or heard before. I always felt that the children would welcome the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and if I spoke to them in a more advanced manner, they would learn in a more advanced manner. Therefore I made it a point to expand their horizons in everything that I could. I would use words that they may not have heard before and simply teach them the definition. Novel concept, I know. The parent's annoyance with my style of teaching when they first witnessed it, lay in the fact THEY did not understand or know the words I was using, and therefore ASS-UMED (one should never assume as it tends to make and ASS out of U and ME) that the children couldn't possibly understand or even learn different vocabulary. Ah the lovely ego...always rearing its head when you least want to deal with it. Please understand that I am not comparing the readers to children, but to students lookig to gain knowledge.

Anyway, let me get back on track. The point I was trying to make was that my wife thought I might "lose" a lot of people with a topic such as the Efficacy of Nothingness (seeing how the majority of people reading this are interested in building muscle and or losing fat). However, my own thoughts would prefer not to ASS-UME what someone might "get" or understand. Why not give the opportunity for people to learn something a little more intersting and perhaps deeper than another biceps routine or the latest fat loss diet? After all, if one can learn about and grasp the concept of Nothingness...building bigger biceps and losing fat will be that much easier. Let's get started...

It should be the ultimate goal of one's life to achieve nothingness. Now that might seem like a pretty, and perhaps pompous statement. I am sure that some of you are thinking, who the f--- am I? Well, let me see, I guess I can say that on a good day I am absolutelt NOTHING, which is to say NO-THING. I am no thing! Yet, I am everything, something, and then again nothing! The underlying concept I am trying to convey is that when I am having a good day...and I am at my best, my highest vision of myself, I am truly nothing. Again which is to say NO-THING. I am in a state where I understand that seperation and isolation from the IS that is everything (i.e. the universe) and a single definition of who and what I am or what I can be inherently, limits the greatness that I can achieve, whether taht greatness is gaining an inch on my arms or getting down to 5% body-fat. I am the first to admit that these moments are a great deal fewer than I would hope for. Unfortunately, a great deal of the time I am a single definition and I am seperated and isolated from Everything. A great deal of the time I am "a bodybuilder" or "a writer" or "an angry, grumpy, cranky motherf--ker" or maybe I am "Happy"---I know, you are going to ask what is worng with just being happy? The thing is, whenever I choose to identify myself completely and fuly by one thing, I am limiting how far it is that I can go, in every capacity (This includes defining oneself soley as being happy, because happiness is somethign that can only exist in relation to something that is non-happy...so to ignore taht which is non-happy and choose to nly be happy is quite impossible and a limited way of existence). Ponder this last sentence for a while and you will see how accurate it is.

Let's bring this idea to the reality of bodybuilding. If you are just being "a bodybuilder," you are clearly going to rob yourself of things that you could be and experience if you were just simply nothing. This would mean you were everything, allowing you to be and experience the wonderment of yourself as a bodybuilder, aboyfriend/girlfrined, a brother/sister, a student,a teacher,a spiritual being, a funny being, an angry being, a happy being...an everything and anything being...a nothingness being.

There are so many opportunities that vanish when one boxes themselves in by a single definition and tries to make the universe conform to that definition. Her's a little hint...the universe doesn't conform to you...you conform to the universe. The way you conform to it is to live by its laws and to allow yourself the freedom of nothingness.

Do not try and be just one thing...be everyhting and anything. This, of course, ultimately means being nothing. Many times I encounter people in the bodybuilding and fitness industry that are disasters waiting to happen. They live their lives through obsession. They have a limited vision of who and what they are and they think that is something to admire and be proud of. I hear statemnets like, "I am going to be mr. Olympia one day...it is my destiny...and I don't do ANYTHING except sleep, train, eat and focus on achieving my goal." Of course they usually leave out, "And take insanely amounts of pharmaceuticals to feed my obsession." I will admit that sometimes---very rarely, however, peoplelike this od achieve success, but it is success at a tremendous price. When their fleeting moment of glory is long gone, they have nothing but an empty feeling inside that can only come from living an empty shell of an existence.

Most of the time, however, these sad individuals wind up walking a tight rope without a net. Their obsession winds up destroying their lives (And often the lives of others around them). In the end, they usually wind up falling way short of their hopes, dreams, expectations and have absolutely nothing to show for it in the process. They shut themselves off fom the wonderful opportunities and experiences that life's everyday, seemingly insignificant occurances has to offer.

The beauty of a raindrop as it crashes into a puddle...
The joy of freedom that can be seen jumping off a dogs face as it runs with through a field with its human companion (I hate to use the word owner, when refering to another life form that is in no way lesser, but sadly often times greater than the human animal, ownership is something that just cannot be...and it is the limited mind that think this way)...
The laughter echoing in the streets from children at play...
The sound of crickets chirping on a warm summers night...
The anticipation of a first date...

Conversely, even the so-called negative things should be recognized, reveled in and experienced in a fully concious manner. The point is simply that a closed mind is a limited mind and a rather empty existence. If one truly wishes to reach the pinnacle in any are, bodybuilding included, you must open yourself and pay attention to, appreciate and learn fromevery single moment of your existence.

Being focused, determined or driven doesn't mean that you must shun those things in this world that might not immeadiately seem like they would benefit what it is that you are trying to achieve. In opening yourself up to the everything and allowing you to experience the efficacy of nothingness, something very intersting and funny happens. You wind up getting to a particular goal a lot faster than you would have had you boxed yourself in with a limited existence and a limited definition of yourself. Additionally, as an added bonus, the journey winds up being a lot more fulfilling. Then again, most people who are obsessed have already made the tragic mistake of thinking that it is the destination that holds all they are seeking, and searching for...that it is the destination that holds all the magic. For them I would ask that they pay attention to something I wrote to one of my students when she received her 1st degree Black-Belt:
...And when he snatched the diamond out of the mouth of the dragon, a profound sense of sadness filled his being. So he cast away the precious stone. For he understood that the real treasure lie in the journey and not the destination...

Please do not think I am suggesting that one should have a scattered mind that focuses on nothing in particular. You can be nothing and still accomplish everything. Focus is a huge part of the efficacy of nothingness. However, only when it is time to focus. Being focused on your bodybuilding goals while you are doing activities that are not related to your bodybuilding goals is what you are trying to avoid here. When in the gym-Train, when at the table-Eat, when in bed-Sleep, when practicing posing-Pose. It is very simple and best summed up by a very famous Zen story in which the student asks the Zen master how he may achieve enlightenment.

Student: Master, how do I become enlightened?
Master: Have you eaten your supper?
Student: Yes.
Master: Then clean your bowl.

In other words, do and be whatever it is the moment is requiring of you. In doing this you become nothing. So one who is truly enlightened is doing and be-ing nothing but the experience of cleaning their bowl...NOT wondering about the next task, the next minute, the next hour or the next contest. This serves no purpose other than robbing yourself of the wonderment o fthe moment at hand. Can you imagine training for a show in the gym and thinking about anyhting other than your training? Hopefully your answer is no, but on the flip side, most people think about other things while performing other tasks...tasks they deem unimportant or take for granted. For instance, how many people actually pay full attention to tthemselves wheen they are walking across a bust street to get to their car? Not many, if any. Most people are fumbling around for their keys thinking about where they are going next or where they have to be. In doing this, they lose the moment they are in. Sometimes, in doing this, they lose the wonderful experience of realizing that is walking and realizing that others do not have this gift or do not have it with such ease. Other times, in doing this, they lose their life because their mind is not where their body is and his split means they are not paying attention to the task at hand...which is when accidents happen.

Again, the correlation to bodybuilding is a simple one. When it is time to e a bodybuilder,be a bodybuilder...when it is not...don't. Try and live fully and completely in the moment and do not define yourself by any single thing. You will find that life will be a lot more enriching, you will see things clearer than ever before and will have the ability to go farther than you have ever gone before. After my training session, I drove back to my house and upon getting out of my truck, had a brief conversation with my neighbor, who was contently sitting on his porch with his newborn child. The look of utter happiness and cantentment that he sisplayed made me stop in my tracks and look down at my feet...look down at the grass in front of my house, take a deep breath of the cool winter air and gaze up at the clear blue sun filled sky. It brought me back to the only moment that was important...the moment at hand. A smile grew on my face and a tremendous sense of well being filled me...for that moment I was nothing...I was energized from this experience. An energy that I could use in whatever way I wanted...which will be towards my next workout. For it is nothingness that I seek...and it is the most effecient way I can think of to reach my bodybuilding goals.

[Matt Cena]

The UN-Crowned Mr. Olympia?



A Few Words With 2001 Mr. Olympia Runner-Up And 2002 Arnold Classic Champ Jay Cutler

Jay Cullter Picture at the 2001 Mr. O

By Trevor Smith



This is the part of the interview where the author is supposed to write a clever paragraph or two that speaks the praises of the interviewee and informs everyone that the writer is a personal friend of theirs. A couple of semi-witty analogies and then the paragraph ends in a neat segue to the interview. Well, I am not like other bodybuilding magazine writers and would never want to be mistaken as such. So I am not going to take the time to talk about how Jay, who by the way is one of the nicest and most down to earth people you will ever meet, and I came up with the idea to interview him after we finished having Thanksgiving Dinner together at my home this past November. I am certainly not going to talk about the fact that this interview was as easy as taking candy from a baby even though Jay's been busier than a one armed paper hanger with crabs since his stunning performance at the 2001 Mr. Olympia. So let's just save time and get right to it.

What were your thoughts going into this years Mr. Olympia?

This year my goal was to be at my best and I obviously achieved that. I was 8th in 2000 and planned to do better in 2001. Every contest I try to come in better than the last.

Did you do anything differently this year in terms of your prep as opposed to last year…i.e. diet, training?

Higher carbs, less cardio, 20 week diet instead of 16 weeks. I cut travel time 12 weeks out and trained with much higher intensity than ever before. I also substituted a protein powder for 3 meals out of 6.

How did you feel when you saw the other contestants…did you think the show was yours? What did you think when you saw Ronnie?

When I saw Ronnie I said, "What a freak." All I knew is that I was at my absolute best and that was good enough in my eyes to be the surprise of the show. I really didn't pay attention to anyone else.

What are your thoughts on bodybuilding as a whole? Do you consider it a sport? It has been said that bodybuilding lacks credibility and doesn't attract real athletes what steps do you think can be taken to change this?

Bodybuilding has been very lucrative and has built character for me. I will use this as a stepping-stone towards building my future. I consider bodybuilding more of a show rather than a sport. It is very entertaining. While many think bodybuilding is dying, I think it continues to grow. We definitely need to take it more "mainstream" and work on getting the networks involved and this would bring a lot more pure athletes into the sport.

After seeing the Mr. O video and the pictures in the magazines, what did you think of the judging overall at the Mr. O this year? Were you happy with where you placed, and was there anyone that you feel got an early Christmas present and anyone who got the shaft that stood out in your mind?

I was happy with my placing; it could have gone either way. I feel that Vince Taylor could have placed higher as with Markus Ruhl.

What are your thoughts on King Kamali? He apparently made some comments about you regarding your drive and work ethic…and he also stated on his website that had Chris Cormier, Shawn Ray and Kevin Levrone been at their best at this years Mr. Olympia…you would have been battling it out for 5th or 6th.

Everyone has their own opinions. Since when do opinions matter? Would anyone guess I would be a top contender ten weeks from the Olympia? Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one! The fact is I placed second and not anyone else.

The company you represent is ISS. Tell us how you became involved with them. How do you like working with them and what do you like about the company? In other words, what made you choose them over others?

I signed with ISS in December 2000 and, so far, it has been the greatest experience of my career. I truly believe in their products and they truly believe in me, not as just as athlete but as a person as well. They have given me the opportunity to develop several new products and support any opinions that I may have. ISS will be a major player in the supplement industry in the next few years.

[Matt Cena]

The condition you have achieved at both the 2000 N.O.C. and the 2001 Olympia was truly amazing...I have never seen anyone who has such psychotically cross striated and shreded thighs...who, if anyone, assists you with your nutritional plans and what do they consist of?

Chris Aceto does all of my nutritional guidance. We have been working together since I was 18 years old and he is one of my best friends. Chris' knowledge, I believe, is the best in the business. He sticks to basic, old school, blue-collar training and nutrition. That is what my diets are, hard work, no cheating and very bland.

What does the future hold for Jay Cutler after bodybuilding?

I come from a construction background and plan to continue working in real estate and construction when my bodybuilding career ends.

You mentioned to me that you just signed with Muscular Development Magazine to write a monthly column, tell us about that.

I have a Q&A column which will be featured monthly and will allow fans to communicate and ask questions regarding training, diet or just anything in general. Steve Blechman is the editor/owner of MD and has given me a great opportunity.

What type of training do you typically do in the off-season in terms of volume and frequency? Do you train with a partner, or train alone?

Off-season/pre-contest training is basically the same, high volume, high intensity, litttle rest between sets and 5-day/week training. I always train twice per day with each workout lasting 45 minutes to 1 hour. I train alone, with the exception of training with my wife from time to time (People can check my website-www.jaycutler.com-for my workout routine schedule.)

What are your thoughts on the use of performance enhancing pharmaceuticals in bodybuilding today...do you think the envelope is being pushed a little too much and what is the biggest misconception you find in terms of what people think about their use in bodybuilding? I know from my own experience, the biggest problem seems to be that the younger kids in the gyms today, assume that pros take MASSIVE doses of drugs to look the way they do, and to be honest, the biggest abusers of the drugs that I encounter are just regular "gym rats" that are trying to look good for their Saturday night club going.

I think drugs are definitely overused in bodybuilding by the younger generation and this continues to be the downfaall. I know that through the years of hard work and dedication, I have achieved a look that most will never see. I credit much of my success to diet and hard training but also time and consistency. Yet your average "gym rat" assumes that massive doses of drugs are what makes champions. Many people believe there are shortcuts but there is no shortcut in bodybuilding. Drugs cannot take the place of time and commitment, otherwise there would be Ronnie Coleman's popping up every two years and it just doesn't happen.

In the February 2002 issue of Flex magazine on page 108, Ronnie makes the statement in an article on his take of the Mr. Olympia, that the reason he looked bloated was because he drank 1 gallon of water just before prejudging and that he looked way better at the night show cause he was rested up and didn't drink excessive amounts of water. He also stated that he was never worried about losing to you because he was in better condition than you and bigger than you and that you will never ever beat him in this lifetime. Now as an outsider, Ronnie seems to sound a bit like a sore winner. In fact, it was a little emberassing to read. He makes excuses and then contradicts those excuses. If his bloated, spilled over apperance at pre-judging, where he lost both rounds to you, was due to drinking a gallon of water, then why did he still look bloated and spilled over at the night show? Anyway, enough of my thoughts, what did you think when you read this?

I guess Ronnie may be planning on retiring before the next Mr. "O". I also think he needs to look at the score sheets where it really counts.


O.K. I hate the standard interview questions...so I am going to fire some rather odd and different ones at you so people can see that you are a real person.
How do you take your coffee?
Black with two equal.

What c.d. is currently being played in your car or home the most?
Mostly Techno ot Trance...it really helps make cardio a lot easier to do.

If you could have as a pet ANY animal what would it be and why?
I wouldn't want any pet other than my cocker-poo Scraps...he's the ultimate dog/pet...although we just got a new puppy Trace (He's an Air Dale Terrier) who is also awesome!

When someone aks you if you "workout" or if you are a "wrestler" or if you are a "football player" or better yet "how much you bench?" What is the first thing that comes to your head that you would like to be able to say, but don't? Be honest.
The first thing that comes to mind is, "Why would you ask such a stupid question?" Then I realize that they are just trying to make conversation.

Stupidest question you have ever been asked?
Do you lift weights?

Do you have any hobbies outside of bodybuilding?
Reading, motorcycling and eating out at nice resteraunts with Kerry.

Shoe size?
12EEE

If you could change one thing about bodybuiling what would it be?
I would make sure that everyone that is a professional bodybuilder would be paid well or at least have the opportunity to do so.

What is your idea of the perfect world?
On top of a mountain with my wife and my dog and no one else.

Do you believe in the afterlife and do you believe there is life in the universe other than on our planet?
After-life-Yes, I believe there is a better world where God shows us the way, and yes, I believe there are aliens ou ther.

What was the most emberassing thing you ever did or had happen to you?
I was once in a bicycle jumping competition ( Which I in fact, won) and I went so high on one of the jumps, that I hit my head on a tree branch and started bleeding profusely from my head!

Who is your role model/person you look up to or had in the past for inspiration?
I don't really have any role models: I just try to be the best I can be.

What was the last book you read?
"Riptide" by Vatherine Coulter.

What do you typically find in your fridge during the off-season?
I stay on the same foods as when I diet so basically steak, chicken, rice. Off-season I might add pasts, bagels and diet soda.

What is the single most important invention in the last 50 years?
Computer and Internet.

What si the most difficult thing you find about being 300 plus pounds in the off-season?
I can't be involved in other outside sports such as basketball and football, which I love.

If you find a magic lantern while strolling along the beach one day...and you could be rganted one wish, what would that wish be (And you cannot wish for infinite wishes)?
My wish would be, to stay in California with my wife and continued success for us both.

Jay thanks for your time and good luck this year.

Editor's note: At press time of this magazine, Jay has just crushed the competition at the 2002 Arnold Classic. I guess that shoots sh-- out of all the non-believers theories that Jay's performance at the 2001 Olympia was a fluke and purely the result of alleged, illegal diuretic use. Congratulations Jay!

[Matt Cena]

GEAR UZR ISSUE#5:SPRING 2002
PHYSCIC VAMPIRES BY TREVOR SMITH

Be afraid...be very afraid. They are out there...they are everywher...and they are on the hunt...in fact, I am quite sure that some of them are reading the very words I am writing.
We have all encountered them many times before...although unaware of what these useless creatures are all about. having experienced another psychic vampire this past year, I thought it would make an excellent topic to start off the New Year and a new issue of GEAR UZR.
What exactly is a psychic vampire anyway? Simply, psychic vampires are cunning individuals that look to drain the positive energy and kindness that emanates from positive, good-hearted people. Psychic vampires disguise themselves as goo people, trusting people, friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc. Once they have sunk their fangs into your neck, they will not release until they have drained you completely or you expose them for what they are, and drive a stake through their hearts.
Psychic vampires run wild in the bodybuilding world. They are expectant, lazy takers for the most part that establish a rapport with you, make you feel sorry for them or seem to be a friend in need or offer assistance to you with "no strings attatched." My ass..... the strings are tied to vampire fangs that are waiting to bury themselves deep into your soul.
Psychic vampires thrive on your good nature and kindness. They take, and take, and take, and take. The more you give, the more they expect. As stated above, they will often initially extend some sort of gratuity or kindness that you did not even ask for. They do this to simply have something which they can "hold over your head" at a later date to insure that you continue to be their positive energy source.
The thing that is so amazing about psychic vampires is that you actually feel guilty when you do not help them or offer them assistance...always at your expense by the way! Yup, this is their greatest power. To make you think that the right thing to do is to rob yourself so that it can be given to them. All the while you are worrying about your own responsibilities, and they are sleeping like babies knowing they have a new energy source to feed off of for the time being.
I have encountered way too many of these idiots in my life...and each time I learn a little something more about how to spot them before they get their teeth in..or how to quickly remove them if they do. First off, when someone is coming into your lifeand seems to be really, really great... you would be wise to stop yourself and take a step back and do a little psychological analysis:
Do they always seem to complain about having been screwed over, ripped off or done wrong by people in the past?
Do they feel that life owes them a living...or that they should be in a better place and should have what someone else has?
Do they point the finger at everyone but themselves?
Do they have a large propensity for taking? In other words, is it easy to give to them?
Do they seem to give off a generosity that never manifests itself other than words or seems to have existed in the beginning of your interaction/relstionship with them, but has since gone the way of the Dodo bird(i.e. extinct)?
Does their existence in your life make your life more difficult and stressful?
Do they seem to lack a history of strongly bounded relationships...and do they seem to surround themselves mostly with losers and frineds that come and go like the wind?
Do they become expectant and angered when you start to taper off the generosity that you give them?

If you wind up answering yes to these questions then you more than likely have a big, fat, useless psychic vampire that is attached to your neck and is draining you of your energy and happiness.
To remedy this is brutally simple. Show NO MERCY...do whatever you ahve to do to get rid of these leeches and let them go and find someone else to feed on. F--k them! You come first and you need to save all your energy and resources for yourselves and for those who truly deserve and are truly in need of them. Psychic vampires are all around you at all times...they wear clever disguises...aren't afraid of the sun, crosses or garlic and are as dangerous to you as being diagnosed with cancer...sometimes they are what causes all of your ailments and ill health. So be wise to their ways. Don't go around being distrusful of people, but always be a bit gaurded. Let people prove themselves to you a bit. If oyu do this, and pay attention to the above signs, you will wind up spending your precious time, energy and efforts on yourself and the people in your life that truly deserve it.
STAY STRONG.

TREVORISM: A failure is one who chooses not to give their all.....when there is no guarantee that their all will give anything back to them.

[Matt Cena]

This article was written by Mat Duval who trained with and under Trevor's guidance using the BFT Principles.

Seeing the Light

By Mat Duval


Top National Super-Heavyweight Contender


An awakening? Yes! A realization? Yeah, a bolt of lightening striking me in the ass! That?s it! That is what Beyond Failure Training represents to me. I, like so many others where skeptical, but once I realized what it was about, I was amazed to say the least. Allow me to explain what Beyond Failure Training is doing for me, what it will do for me, and why you should be doing it! I, like so many bodybuilders, started as a power-lifter/ power trainer. I was taught that in order to grow, I had to consume whatever lie in my path and train extremely heavy, keeping my reps in the 3-8 rep range. So, I, the ever so hungry young man, sought out the biggest, strongest power-lifters that I could find and I ate like there was no tomorrow. My workouts consisted of endless sets of squats, deadlifts and bench pressing, with little to no time left for what was tagged ?assistance work?. Assistance work was anything outside of the 3 basic power-lifting movements. I trained like a madman and got strong and big! By the age of 21, I was walking around at a very large 275lbs and feeling liked I had conquered my goals. I was, in my mind, ready to be Mr. Olympia! That is, however, until I actually attended a Mr. Olympia and saw the competitors up close. They were big and had tremendous amount of detail! Vascularity, density, damn they looked like cartoon characters! And while I was big, I looked like a bloated buffoon! It was time for immediate action; so once again I started asking questions of the behemoths around me. The answers were many, but some better than others. I was instructed that while strength was important, achieving what I wanted to achieve was dependant on more than just being strong. I was taught all about the different muscle fibers and what it took to stimulate them. Years have passed and I am now constantly getting closer to what I consider the ideal physique, you know 300 shredded, vascular, dense pounds! In the past two years, however, I noticed a slowing down to my progress and could not help but think that I have been training the same way too long without making the necessary changes to my program. My doubts started when I trained with an extreme athlete for several months this year. His goals were not to have 25? biceps of 36? quads, but to hang off cliffs and kayak to places he could race down on his mountain bike, interesting stuff. He convinced me to train for more endurance and at the same time I would incorporate more muscle fibers, thus adding more detail to my physique right? Well, kind of, but just doing more reps did not over load the muscle the way Beyond Failure Training does? ?Seeing the Light? occurred shortly after I returned from Venice, California back to good ole New Jersey a few weeks ago. I received an email from Trevor Smith, someone I had never had the pleasure of meeting, but he was honest in his remarks about my physique and the potential he felt I had. He explained to me a system of training that he developed that would challenge me beyond my wildest dreams, and in return, yield new gains that a lot of guys at the National and Pro level do not feel they can attain anymore. These gains are ?only? supposed to be made when we are young and new to the gym, well I am new to Beyond Failure Training; therefore, it does put me in the same state of mind I had as a young power-lifter: HUNGRY! I was so excited to start I could hardly wait, but then I realized I was supposed to be getting over a couple of injuries until the first of the New Year. Well, I am not one to wait, so I went to the gym, explained the system to my training partner and just did it! To say I experienced a workout that I had not dreamed of in quite some time is an extreme understatement. I was pumped beyond belief! I felt superhuman! I was ready for WAR! My personal war is the 2001 competition season and the new and improved physique I can bring to the stage! In 1999 and 2000 I brought over 260lbs. of beef to the National stage, and that will pale in comparison to what I do in 2001, that I promise! I will be a ridiculous looking 270 some pounds of sinewy, vascular, dense, meaty fucking muscle tissue. I will be making a trip to Venice, California in February of 2001 just to make sure I have the basics of Beyond Failure Training down correctly. I will do so by challenging Trevor to do his dirty work in the gym with me as a training partner. I have already communicated to him that I want him to try and break me! Try and make me say uncle! I require it! I want to return back to Jersey one big lump of a hurting human being! Anyone wanting to push their body to the limit has to learn by others mistakes. Training in the Beyond Failure style can help one reduce the amount of time it takes to get freaky! Challenge yourself! Require more of you than you ever have, it is an experience you will never forget, I promise. Do not be afraid of the pain that comes with this training system, it is well worth it when you consider the payback. As much as I enjoyed the training I did in my late teens and early twenties, I wish I had a system like this at that time. It would have provided the same, if not more, intensity and my physique would have yielded more of the look I wanted. To help others decide as to whether they want to try Beyond Failure Training (or what Trevor sometimes appropriately refers to as Demon Training), I am going to ask Trevor to print pictures of me, starting at a post 2000 Nationals 290lbs., to how I will look by March when I attend the Arnold Classic, that is 315lbs. of granite! From there I will send him pictures throughout 2001 as I get closer to the Nationals and pictures from this year to compare them to. Believe me, these pictures will tell the story, and show the results that Beyond Failure Training brings to you. Best of luck-Mat.

[Matt Cena]

How Big Is Your Heart?
By Mat DuVall


"Hey man, how big are your arms?" or "Dude, how much can you bench!"

Any individual who has been in the gym for any amount of time has heard one if not both of these questions. I am at the point where I no longer ask, nor do I care what another's measurements are, or how much they can lift. Who cares? And more important, just as the title implies, How much heart do you have, or how big is your ticker?

Do you have what it takes to go beyond the pain zone, beyond the screaming in your muscles, Beyond Failure?

Since writing, Seeing the Light, I have received numerous emails stating that the Beyond Failure system is great for legs, or for chest, but all seem to think that not all body parts can benefit from this training. Bullshit! I tell anyone that has stated this that they are giving it their all on the good workouts, and simply not bringing their heart to the gym on the days they claim Beyond Failure does not work.

Being that I am in a gym all day, I witness some of the people that do not bring their heart to the gym. I guess it benefits their physique more to sit on their ass and stare at everyone else in the gym. They come to me with the glum look of one who is not making progress and of course they want to blame it on their training style, or the supplement they cannot afford. I tell all the same thing, you have to bring your heart to the gym, you cannot expect to train like a wimp, and make the gains most are looking for. Catching on yet? Having met Trevor and having the opportunity to discuss training with him, I realized that he, like I, has PASSION for what he wants to accomplish in the gym, and he knows that when training takes place with no heart, you are doomed to a mediocre existence.

A good example is taken from Rocky 3, Rocky, having gotten his ass kicked by Clubber Lang, asks former foe Apollo Creed to take over his training. Apollo brings Rocky back to the old neighborhood and tries to go to work, but Rocky, out of fear does not bring his heart to the gym and assumes tomorrow will be a better day. Who can forget what Apollo so eloquently said, "Damn rock! This guy will kill you", and after being informed that Rocky will just try harder tomorrow, he tells him what I am trying to say, "there is no tomorrow!" Do not assume that the next workout will be better, make every day in the gym count and make it productive! There is no TOMORROW!

My reason for using Rocky 3 is that how many times has a bodybuilder, power lifter, or any athlete for that matter, lost at an event and vowed not to let it happen again. Instead of starting in the gym right away though, they say, "Oh, I have plenty of time, tomorrow I will go back to really training." What? Tomorrow, there is no such thing. Set a goal and do it now.

I lost big at the 2000 Nationals. I came home and as explained in my first article met Trevor via email. From there I spoke with some NPC judges and officials that gave me their opinion on the package I brought to New York. What was next? I challenged myself to come back in 2001 better than ever. I did not take much time off. I wanted to make the most of each day I had. November, in Atlanta, is where my heart is every day. Yes, I do take time to enjoy the journey, but it is that day that drives me! The 2001 NPC Nationals

I am currently in a 3-4 week hiatus from the Beyond Failure training method. It is a necessary move in order to continue making gains year around, the nervous system cannot handle this amount of intensity year around. I get frustrated only because when training in the Beyond Failure method, I muster every bit of intensity possible, but now I am forced to actually not be as intense! I know it is necessary, but it is still frustrating!

Ask yourself every workout, did I bring my heart? if not, then go outside and find it in the car, then train. Do not waste your time in the gym, make every second count! Should you decide to take on the challenge of following Beyond Failure Training, make sure you do the routine justice by doing it properly, which means having passion! Training, or living for that matter without passion means, at least to me, living with no purpose. Train with a purpose, something worthy of not being able to walk for days, or not being able to turn the steering wheel. Enjoy the pain, and go beyond it, make the pain work for you. Bring your heart to the gym with you, and make sure it is as strong as you want your legs, pecs, or any other body part to be.

[Matt Cena]

Mat DuVall

4/6/02

Month 1: Shock, Anxiety... PAIN.

There are type's of pain that warrant anxiety when thinking about it. I am not talking about the brief pain experienced when one stubs a toe; no, I am talking about the pain felt when lactic acid has reached maximum levels in a muscle. The pain felt when muscle fibers are tearing apart at a rate that you do not have time to even catch your breath, much less, start to feel better. This pain is what builds champions in the gym. This is the pain I asked Trevor to bring to my world in my pursuit of the Mr USA title. My reason for moving to Vegas was to have the opportunity to step into hell everytime I trained with Trevor; to know I was leaving no stone unturned in my journey. Each month I will give you, the reader's a chance to experience in word the pain and torture that I ask for. You will have a front row seat as Trevor unmercifully breaks my body down in the gym. I will not hold back in my description of the pain I feel; please know this is being done not to discourage you, but rather to encourage you to go beyond the thresh hold of pain in your own training. Beyond Failure Training is not just some fly by night training system that will be forgotten in a month or two. It is a training system that when done right can yield gains like one has never experienced! It is a system that the trainer or trainee is encouraged to make subtle changes.. rep speed, range of motion, the possibilities are endless, yet all lead to the same place.. Shock as to the gains you will make, Anxiety when you are waiting to do your next set, and the constant Pain you will feel.

I arrived in Las Vegas on February 27th, a month late! Why was I upset? In being late, I missed the opportunity to go through a cycle of BFT with Trevor. He was on the last week of his training cycle, and I was coming off a 10 week lay off. My second reason for being upset?, I was as mentioned feeling untrained and flat, while Trevor greeted me at a bodyweight of 370 pounds! Trust me when I say, I have never witnessed any pro or amateur bodybuilder at this weight, while maintaining a beyond respectable level of conditioning! Damn! I needed to get my ass in gear and be ready for the next training cycle. To be honest, it was best that I was not on track with Trevor when I arrived. Why?, as it was put to me, " You would have died, you are not ready..." I felt like a bald little kid, only answering to the name, " Grasshopper", but in truth Trevor wanted to have the chance to guide me through some training while he was off BFT so that I could be ready for the Hell that lay ahead. The first week was tough. I knew that Trevor was taking it easy on me a bit, he knew that I needed time to re-adjust to training in this style. That week's workout that best describe's the pain felt by BFT is the leg training done on friday the 1st of March.

We had gone through the other bodyparts and only had legs left to finish the week. I was hurting, alot, from the prior 3 workouts and as I sat waiting for Trevor, a horrible feeling of anxiety consumed me. Had I timed my arrival with Trevor, it may have been better, but I was early that day, and left to think about the pain that lay only minutes ahead. Moments later I saw Lucifer, (Trevor), pass through the door. As he passed by me, he did not stop, or greet me with a "good morning". I believe the words were, " I feel like shit, let's go..." It was decided that due to his body's state, on that day I would be the center of attention. Trevor was there only to bring the pain. How nice of him you say? to come in for me, even though he was off? Understand that his presence was to, yes, help, but in doing so to make me feel every set that I had missed in the 6 weeks prior! With each hint of regret I felt for being there, I reminded myself that this was what I needed, what I wanted and what was going to bring me to July 26th looking like a mutant! Leg extensions, 1 warmup, and 2 worksets... I hear your thoughts, "that's all, just 2 worksets?" What I felt in the next 10 minutes is only comparable to having my thighs pounded by sledge hammers. The weight seemed easy enough, only the stack to start, a slight 300 pounds, big deal, right? I was then introduced to true no momentum reps. Explain you say?, TRUE no momentum reps, are slow, squeezing every fiber possible reps, then holding it at the top of the movement for a full 5 seconds. After the 5 second hold, it is a slow, excruciating negative that should take no less than 3-4 seconds, and you are not to rest on the bottom. The rep is stopped for a count of 3 just before the muscle fiber's of the legs can relax, thus keeping them in the contracted position. That was one rep; 4 seconds up, 5 seconds at the top, another 4 on the way down and a hold of 3 on the bottom. Sixteen seconds of pain and it was just one rep! I went on in that fashion to about 8 on my own,it was then that I had to do 3 barely assisted reps. I say barely to illustrate that the assistance given is just enough to complete the rep. At no time is the weight taken from me and finished by Trevor. After the 8 on my own and the 3 assisted, my legs were screaming! I actually heard myself wimper! Me, wimper! I know there will be some that say, only 11 and you were wimpering!? Hah! "what a pussy!" Those 11 reps took close to 3 minutes to do!!, and now came the first drop! now I had 210 pounds on the stack, and I could not perform one rep on my own. I opened my eyes just long enough to see Trevor glaring at me, reading his thoughts I heard, " I am not supposed to be training today, suck it up pussy!" Hearing his actual words he told me to keep squeezing, even though the weight was not moving. I did 3 assisted reps, another 40 seconds of pure, evil, pain. In all honesty at this point my motor skills were failing. My quads were not firing and I felt breakfast bubbling from deep within me.... Drop #2! Yes, from 210 to 140 pounds. I was numb, remember this was the first set! Numb to the point that my ears were popping, I heard little other than Trevor's encouragment to keep squeezing. In making sure that I was squeezing, he would give my leg a slap. A slap from a 370 pound freak, not a little punk! A fraction of me wanted to jump up and plant a 45 pound plate right between his eyes! "Why?" you ask, "Is it becasue I was in so much pain?", no, it was becasue I knew this was nothing compared to the 18 weeks that lay ahead. The 140 pounds on the stack felt like a car coming down on my legs. I gathered enough stength to complete one on my own, but for some resaon the 2nd rep was not moving. Again, I opened my eyes and saw Trevor leaning on the pad that my feet were under! He was adding another maybe 100 pounds of pressure to the 140 that I was barely moving! Remember, it is called, Beyond Failure Training, not Go to failure training! I managed to get through another two reps, thus making it to the 3rd drop, 90 pounds..... I should be able to move 90 pounds like a pillow!?, then why are tears forming in my eyes as I strain to complete just one rep?!, Oh!, again, Mr Smith is leaning on the pad, as if it was not hard enough. Doing 3 reps with the 90, reminded me of the opening scene to the Incredible Hulk, you know, when David Banner was trying to lift the car off his wife... That was a car, this is 90 pounds! Why am I grimmacing?, and why are my eyes tearing up? I was roughly 4 1/2 minutes into my first set, yes the first set, and there was no longer a mind to muscle conection. My mind had told my muscle to get ****ed a long time ago! this was now instinct and the desire to prove I was worthy of the title I wanted to earn. The 3 reps performed with 90 pounds were more Trevor than I, yes, I was squeezing, trying to squeeze for all I was worth, but at that point I was worth little to nothing. As I came down on the 3rd rep, a feeling of relief started to come over me, I was done?, right? I mean 5 1/2 minutes for one set is enough right?, What is enough? Does enough excist? Not today, Trevor dropped the weight again to 50 pounds! That's right 50 pounds. Had you been there to hear the wimpering done on my part, you may have believed I was pushing up 500 pounds, but it was not. With only 50 pounds I struggled through maybe another 5 reps of agony until I was allowed to stop. As I looked up and realized that close to 8 minutes of my life had passed, all I could do was look at the floor and ask, how bad do I want this?, how much work am I willing to do to achieve my goal? One set? Two sets?, by the way, on this day there was no second set of leg extensions. My quads were gorged with blood, and shaking to the point where another set was on that day, pointless. Realize that in one set of leg extensions I did more work than any idiot who loads the squat bar up with 500 pounds and bounces out 4-6 half reps! This was work, real work, and as much as I was in pain, I knew that my body would not deny me the gains I needed.
!...... From there, we went to the leg press, an exercise that I normally would be able to pound out reps with more than 2000 pounds loaded! That was then, on this day, due to the state of my quads, I was performing with a mere 4 plates on each side!! A little over four hundred pounds, but you have to keep in mind that my goal is not strength. The primary goal is to build muscle tissue and this is done by destroying as many fibers as possible. Once I was able to get into the machine, the 8 plates, total, actually felt a bit heavy. I was instructed to slowly lower the weight and hold it on the bottom. I was not holding it on my chest, no, that is cheating, I was holding it right off the chest, just enough to keep the fibers in my quads stretched to the max! 4-5 seconds on the bottom, and then a slow, controlled squeeze all the way to the top. The top is where it gets interesting, I was told to rotate to my heels and flex for all I was worth. Hold, hold, flex, harder! this is what I was hearing. After holding in a full flex for five seconds, it was another slow disent to the bottom. After 6 reps, in all truth, I was toasted! I finshed with 5 more reps at a faster pace, but still flexing at the top for all I was worth. When reading these words, it is hard to imagine the pain that is felt. I have trained in many stlyes; power training, high rep training, etc. and this is by far the most pain I have ever experienced in the gym. I was able to finish 2 sets of the leg press and 1 long work set for hamstrings before knowing on that day I was done. There will be some that may scoff at this training, as it is described in print, but I challenge anyone to participate and feel what I am talking about.

With each week that passes I see my physique changing for the better. I am getting fuller, harder and larger! Many, if not all, involved in the world of bodybuilding know that the formula for success is hard training, proper nutrition/ supplementation, rest, and on some levels well prepared courses. Starting at 12 weeks out from the USA's I have asked Trevor to post pictures of my progress. This is done more to prove the effectivness of BFT. My nutrition never changes that much when preparing for a contest, nor do the other aspects of my preparation. Having Trevor guide me through daily sessions of BFT is the most drastic change I have made to my pre contest training. It is my hope that I serve as living proof as to the effecitvness of BFT! Do not go day to day wishing you could be one of the champions in the world of bodybuilding. Challenge yourself to become a champion. Challenge yourself to perform BFT the right way!, By looking at life and your training as a constant challenge, and asking what you can do to win that challenge you have already won half the battle. The other half is won by being consistent and never, ever, quitting!

[Matt Cena]

Mat DuVall

Ground Zero; Article 2

Nuclear Nutrition, Gear UZR

"DOUBT, the enemy?, or the motivator?"

In the last installment of Ground Zero, I spoke about 3 of the elements one can and will experience when using BFT training. Those three things were SHOCK, ANXIETY and PAIN. In this article I am going to explain how one can take doubt, a powerful enemy to any trainee and turn it into a friend. Instead of allowing doubt to defeat one in their quest for size, one may use it to motivate them. The same has been and can be said for fear, but that is another article all together. Self doubt has ruined many an athlete. They allow doubt to pollute their brain by asking themself some of the following: "Am I good enough?", "Can I win", or "Is this too much for me to try?", these are but a few examples of self doubt. When considering this topic, I had to ask myself how this had anything to do with Trevor and my time in the gym. In the following article I hope you will see how doubt, in my case, on the day discussed was used to blast through a plateau, and how you the reader can do the same.

The day we will discuss is Trevor and my last chest workout. As usual it was a monday, but unlike the last monday, Trevor is now back to BFT. He was on a 3 week hiatus when I arrived in Vegas, but now on this monday is back to going through the realm of sanity in our quest for size. What is it about monday's? To most, monday represents the first day in a long work week, after a not so long weekend. Monday is the day that most things do go wrong in the week. I am not a fan of mondays, but I do love training chest and calves. Since arriving in Vegas, I have done my best to be early to the gym, but on this day I am about 5 minutes late. As I entered the gym, I could see Trevor crouching by the pec-dec, he seemed to be meditating. His eyes were closed and he was for the most part motionless. Upon reaching the machine, I was instructed to warm up. The machine was already maxed at 220 pounds. I cranked out a slow and controlled 10 reps and stretched for a minute. It was now time to go to work and that means loading up the pec-dec with an additional 320 pounds, bringing the machine to 550 pounds! That is the stack, with (4) forty-five pound plates, and (2) 75 pound dumbells balanced on the top. Trevor's ability to focus is something to be seen. He closes his eyes as he sits down on the machine and as he swings the handles around in front of him, his eyes open, glowing a golden color. His stare goes straight through me as he is preparing to rip every fiber in his chest wide open! With each rep, he stretches to a maximum at the rear and slowly squeezes the wieght together until the handles touch. After the handles touch, he squeezes his pecs together even harder. With each rep his color changes too, he has gone from red, to purple, and he spits a lot. Good thing I am not prissy about getting wet!, each time a rep is completed I get a wave of saliva! After the 6th rep, it is time for the forced reps to be done, I offer only enough assistance to get the rep done. Trevor does 2, and it is time to drop the weight. I unload the (2) 75's and take off (1) of the 45 pound plates, now the wieght is at 365 lbs. Again, Trevor methodically squeezes each rep, one, two, a third and he is spent, again I assist him through 2 more and we drop the wieght back to the stack. The stack being 220 pounds is rarely if ever used by others in the gym. I do not know if it is the weight being used, the groans that are coming out of Trevor, or the massive amount of spit hitting me, but a crowd has developed behind us. When most would justify a faster pace, Trevor actually slows his pace and squeezes each rep even harder to insure that every fiber in his pectorials is ripped apart. I offer little encouragment, in part to not disturb Trevor's set and second because I do not want a mouthful of spit, still frothing from his mouth! He has completed 5 reps and his chest is again failing, we perform two forced reps and it is time for the last drop. I drop the weight to what I think is 150, the numbers are faded and hard to read on this pec dec. Trevor loses no intensity despite the lowering of the wieght. He is still focused and still making every rep work for him. He is no longer just purple in the face, but his entire neck and upper chest are purple as each rep forces more blood to his pecs! Those watching are either laughing nervoulsy as they suspect his head will explode from his shoulders, or they turn away in disgust as they notice the soaking down I am getting! (just kidding about the soaking down). After 6 reps and 3 forced the set is done and Trevor falls from the machine, he is justifiably spent. The title of this article mentioned DOUBT, well, I am now doubting myself. Am I doubting my ability to train in this style, NO! Doubt is making me nervous about how much weight I will add to the pec dec. The stack is too easy, and I have done the four plates before. I load up the machine with (4) forty-five plates, but I do not load the 75 pound dumbells; I am doubting myslef! As I stand in fornt of the pec-dec, I know I can do more than what is loaded, but I do not act on it. Instead I begin my set, and as soon as I bring the handles around, I know I should have loaded more! Does this mean my set is ruined?, no, but it is a distraction as I try to focus 100% on making my chest grow! I perform 6-7 reps before Trevor must assist me through another 3, now the weight is lowered to 330 pounds. My chest is screaming due to the fibers pulling apart, but in the back of my mind I know I could have started with more! The 330 pounds feels heavy and I only get 2 before I need assistance, I only get two because instead of focusing 100% on the set, I am doubting my decision from step one! Trevor forced me to get another two before he rips off the other (2) forty-five pound plates. I am back to the stack and trying to regain my focus. In doing so I am making mistakes, I am allowing my elbows to drop which takes pressure off the pecs and transfers it to the shoulders. Trevor reminds me to keep the elbows up, and to focus. I perform another 4 reps and again 2 more forced before the weight is dropped, I am not sure what Trevor dropped it to, but it looks to be around 130 lbs. I manage to squeeze out another 7 and finish with an excruciating 3 forced. As I finish my set and feel my pecs throbbing in pain, I cannot help but me disappointed in myself for not managing first to maintain focus and second for not using the weight I should have. I remind myself that this is only the first exercise, and that we still have two more exercises to go. I will not allow doubt to ruin my training; if it ruins my training, it will surely ruin my day!
Now that we have finished with the pec dec, it is time for incline barbell press on the Smith Machine. The bench is set to only a slight angle, just enough to shift the pressure to the upper chest. This is an exercise that when done proper, can, in my opinion, yield tremendous gains on one's chest. It is my favorite exercise for the pec's. This is another exercise that attention must be paid to rep speed and control of the weight. I have witnessed many a lifter bounce reps off their chest in hopes of building shelf like pectorials. When training in the BFT style, reps are done in a zero momentum fashion to insure that every rep is ripping apart as many fibers as possible. Trevor is ready and we have loaded the bar to 455 pounds. I know that many out there will say, this guy does this much and that guy did this many, but you must witness these sets to appreciate them. When I say that our reps are zero momentum, I mean that the descent can take as many as 5-6 seconds, then after a 2-3 second pause on the bottom, a 3-4 second squeezing up of the positive part of the movement. This adds more intensity than many care to experience. It is truly a helpless feeling when after completing 6 reps, you are pushing as hard as you can on the bar only for it not to move; instead, it will start to sink back towards your throat! After saying all of this, on this day, Trevor thorws a monkey wrench into the works. Instead of starting with zero momentum, he starts his set with at least 8 if not more explosive reps. His rep speed is normal, up and down, not bouncing, but not as slow as I have been accustomed to. After doing the first reps like this, he then slows the bar to zero momentum reps. I hate to say it, but again, when many would end the set it is only beginning for those that follow BFT! Trevor does about 3 ZMR's (zero momentum reps) and then I assist with 1 forced rep. The weight is now stripped to 315 pounds and he continues with slow, controlled reps. He finishes another 3 and again I assist with 1 forced rep. The weight is dropped to 225, a weight that usually could be thrown through the ceiling, but after brutalizing his chest, Trevor is only able to manage 3 reps before stripping the bar to 135 lbs. At this weight, no matter how fatigued it is hard not to blast through the reps. Trevor slows the weight down on the negative and even has me lean on the bar at the bottom to increase the stretch on the pecs. He is able to do about 5, then the only weight left is the bar. This is where a training partner is involved in not only assisting on the forced, but in this situation making the negative a bitch to endure! Once the bar is pushed to the bottom with Trevor resisting, I lean on the bar and fight him on the way back to the top of the movement. He does 3 reps like this before waving the white flag and being forced to give in to complete pec failure. Having Trevor go first is always motivating. I have kept in mind that due to my doubting my abilities on the pec dec, I need to make it up here on this movement. During the past 3 weeks, I had to get used to the type of reps Trevor wanted me to perform. The reps are slower than I was used to, which made them more excruciating. The emphasis has not been on how much weight, but how much pain I could bring to the body part being trained. I have until this day kept the wieght on this exercise at no more than 365 to start. I need something today, I need to prove to me that I am not doubting my strength. There was a time when I could do 500 pounds for reps!, and here I am with only 365 lbs. on the bar. Today I load 405 pounds and know that this set is going to be my best set for chest since I arrived in Vegas. After a moment of psyching myself up, and allowing for Trevor to breath again, I start my set. I start straight into slower, controlled reps. I use no momentum off the bottom, I want each of these reps to count in a way that they have never counted! As my arms charge up and down like a piston; I am happy that the weight feels light in comparison to previous weeks with less weight. I am able to complete 5 reps on my own and almost a sixth before having Trevor and the other spotter help me to the top, I then do 1 forced and it is time to drop the wieght. The weight is dropped to 315 and by now my pectorials are really hurting. Pounding is a more precise description of each rep performed. I do only 2 with this weight and again force out 1 assisted rep. The weight is brought down to 225 and I cannot believe how heavy it feels! Understand that at this point, I am done, but done is not enough. With 225on the bar, I managed only 1 rep and that 1 had to be assisted. Once I locked out with 225, the bar was brought down to 135 lbs. Many would think that at this point I would start cranking out the reps?, not so. My motor skills are now beyond failing. My arms are twitching as I push the bar towards the ceiling. Two reps are performed and I can push no more. As my eyes start to open and re- adjust to the light, I hear Trevor tell the spotter to remove the weight, leaving only the bar. The bar!, hell, I can do the bar all day, no matter how tired I am! Sure, if I did not have a 370 pound freak leaning on it and yelling at me to keep pushing. That familiar feeling is returning; I want to jump up and plow a 45lb plate in to Trevors head!, but let's remember, he is HELPING ME. Allow me to paint this picture for you, Trevor leaning on the bar, telling me to keep squeezing, and of course pushing, yet nothing is happening. The weight is not moving, I only am managing to increase the pain I feel deep in my pecs. Well, on this day, the task master, or better described as Lucifer himself, allows me up after only 2 reps with the bar, Oh yeah!, and his 370 lbs. leaning on it!

This is normally when the chest workout would end, but Trevor has discovered a new way to finish. We go to the Hammer incline press, and do reps one arm at a time. This way, we can force even more blood into the muscle! My pecs are beyond swollen and I am trying to get even more blood into the muscle!this is why I train with Trevor. We do not do drops here, just as many as we can do with 2-3 forced reps. One set and it is finished! The pain of chest trainingis done for a week!, now it is on to calves!, but that is a whole other article and a whole other subject. That article may be called, "Not walking, how it feels..........."

There will be no more doubts for me, none. Since writing this, I have put all doubts to rest, and I continue to get stronger each workout. I have 13 weeks to do what I consider apart of my fate, become Mr USA. All the training that has been endured, and the other shows that have been competed in, lead me to that stage. July 26th, and 27th are my focus each day in the gym. I picture the stage, the way I will look, even the smell of the arena; there is no room for doubt in this picture or in my training.

[Matt Cena]

Mat DuVall

Ground Zero; Article 3 (part 1 of 2)

Nuclear Nutrition, Gear UZR

" Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas..."

Do I loathe my friend and training partner Trevor Smith?, No, of course not. Do I fear my training partner Trevor Smith, um, well, no, well.... sometimes. Loathing one, or fearing them can and has ruined many a relationship; however, in my quest to win the 2002 Mr. USA, Fear and Loathing here in Las Vegas is helping to fuel my intensity in the gym.

The training day in question? The longer I am here, the more material I have for this column. As each workout remains fresh in my mind, for this particular installment of Ground Zero, I chose several examples from different training sessions.

FEAR! Damn, Trevor has a way of intimidating someone. He even intimidates me when arriving early in the morning to the gym in which we train. I usually watch the front door from whatever machine we will be using first. As Trevor comes through the door; darkness comes over the gym. A dark cloud of pain, misery in the minutes that follow, a fear inducing cloud. I usually do my best to greet him with a smile and a, "How you doin, buddy Ole pal?" On a good day I am greeted with, "fine, did you warm up?" Do not get me wrong, outside of the gym, Trevor is the best. He is full of wisdom, direction, a great friend all around. In the gym, it is a different Trevor, there are times when I expect him to turn to reveal a red tail coming out of his ass, or when he removes his BFT hat, two sharpened horns to protrude from his head. These things of course do not happen, but trust me when I tell you that Satan himself would cower when crossing the path of Trevor in the gym. This helps me in that people do not approach to ask questions of Trevor or myself. One time it happened. I do not think that Trevor noticed, but it took all my patience to not erupt into a rage. As Trevor was fighting through the tail end of an excruciating set of preacher curls, two guys come from behind him to ask me if we use weight gain? ****ing weight gain!? I wanted to say, "No, I eat humans whole, and I am hungry!", but I refrained and implied that he may want to move on. He did not take the hint and said, "No, seriously, I am serious, do you?" Now please understand, I enjoy helping, and will when I can, but when my training partner is turning purple as he struggles and is expecting me to be there to spot, I cannot answer such lunacy. I then made eye contact just long enough for the guy's wiser friend to realize what was about to happen and they scuffled off. Did I feel bad? no, we were working. As mentioned, I do not think Trevor even noticed, good thing. Anyway, I digress. Fear can be a great help in the gym, or of course it can destroy you. Watching Trevor perform a set can induce fear, but it is the type of fear that motivates me to be stronger and get freakier than ever!


When does one Fear for their training partner or fear that their set is next? The day is another leg day, and it is time for Trevor and I to use the power squat machine. This machine holds 9 plates on each side. I have been in the gym when people are doing the machine wrong with 9 plates on each side and they have a crowd watching in amazement. Now, read carefully as I tell you how Trevor loads the machine. We start by loading the expected 9 plates per side; then we add a second bar and load another 9 plates on each side of the bar. This brings us to a total of 18 plates per side. 18 plates a side means 36 total plates, this equals 1,620 pounds!, and that does not include the weight of the machine. Well, surprise, surprise, it is now time to add a THIRD BAR to the top of the machine and add another 6 plates per side. This brings us to 48 total plates on the machine plus the two 45lb bars and plus the actual weight of the machine; that is over 2300 pounds and we are using a power squat machine, not a leg press. After taking more than 10 minutes to load the bar, which by the way is where the loathing can come in, it is time to get psyched. I watch Trevor as a nasty, focused, evil look comes over his face. He looks from side to side in disgust as the mere mortals bitch about the now lack of plates in the gym. They dare not say a word, as they know it will bring instant pain, hospitalization actually. Trevor now approaches and gets under the weight, his intensity is coming off him like an electrical current. As he lifts the machine and disengages the safety handle, all around him take notice that he is about to go into a zone that no one, and I repeat no one goes to. He lowers to parallel, pauses for a moment, and slowly squeezes back to the top. These are perfect reps, slow, squeezing, non bouncing reps. Six reps are done in perfect form before he racks the weight. What is scary is that he does not rack the weight due to muscular failure, instead it is due to a lack of oxygen. At Trevor's bodyweight, it takes a lot more wind to keep your sails stretched, meaning? his lungs are spent. It is awe inspiring, it is awesome to see before I must get on and follow suit. Am I ready to use the same weight, no, but I have gone from a measly 22 plates total to this occasion at 36 plates! With this much weight on the bar, I do not bother thinking, I just get under it and go to work. As I dis engage the safety lever, I feel the tremendous weight bear down on my shoulders. I know I will have the welts to prove the amount of weight I was holding after the set. As I drop down for the first rep, I feel my quads start to scream; mind you we have just completed two agonizing sets of leg extensions. Up and down like a piston, slow and controlled though, there is no momentum used in completing these reps. As I go through my set, I start to feel so powerful, I want to let out a massive scream, but I use the energy instead to control this massive amount of weight. As I reach a wall, my quads are pumped beyond belief! I am not a lover of shorts, but on this day I wish I were wearing them so I could see the veins pulsate as I go through each rep like a fine tuned machine! I am inspired by the fact that much like Trevor, I reach cardiovascular failure before I do muscular failure. At 10 reps, I am done, but I know I have more for the next training session! Was it scary?, hell yes it was! A quad can tear, rupture, but this is not allowed in our realm. We will not succumb to such negative thought, instead we stay focused on that intense energy that is created by fear. Damn!! after a set like this I want to grab the nearest female and like a caveman carry her off to praise my manly strength!! Just kidding, but it is a great feeling to move that much weight with authority!
Training is an outlet, a channel device in which I take every frustration I have known in the past months and unleash it on the weights. I feel my body growing each day. When those close to me see me with out a shirt, they immediately start to point out new detail to my physique. Am I enthused, **** yes, if only I had met Trevor on day one of my training journey, but perhaps 12 would have been too young. Fear no more! I am animal! I am power! I am a demon, satisfied only by quenching my thirst for muscle and of course females, but that would be a column for another site.

OK, so I touched upon what fear can do for you in the gym, but loathing?!? As stated I do not loathe Trevor, he is like a brother, but there are times in the gym that he makes me loathe him by giving me what I want!? I know, it does not make sense, in getting what I want, I loathe him. All I can say is that when any of you take the challenge to be put through a BFT workout by Trevor, you too, will loathe him, if not for just a moment as he tortures you for an hour of your life! You will wish that hour could somehow speed up! So how and when have I loathed my friend? Shoulder day, last week. I had missed two shoulder workouts due to my not feeling well. This was my first session for shoulders in two weeks and I needed it to be intense. Trevor and I start with seated laterals, quadruple drops with forced reps, of course..... Trevor's set started with 115 lb dumbbells, then to 75's, down to 50 and then finishing with 30 lb dumbbells. In writing I cannot communicate the intensity that goes into a set like this, but I will describe my set. I grabbed the 105 lb dumbbells, the 65's, 40's and 20's. Trevor has been on me to not use my traps in this exercise. I tend to tense up and utilize too much trap rather then delt. As I grab the 105's I feel that switch in my head click on. It is go time and I am ready to grow. The 105's feel good as I raise them up, a slight pause at the top and control them all the way down. After the 5th rep, it is time to drop to the 65's. Usually this type of weight would feel light, but after the battle with the 105's, I am only good for 4 reps before having to drop them and grab the 40's. The mistake I continue to make is thinking that when I pick up the lighter dumbbells it will make the set "easier". The set only gets harder as you go through. The 40 lb dumbbells now feel like they weight 105 lbs. I am resigned to doing only 6 more reps until I must grab the 20's. It is funny to see all in the gym look on as we struggle with that last weight; if it were not for them seeing and hearing us struggle through the first part of the set, they may think us weak. Those 20lb dumbbells actually feel heavy! I struggle through about 5 and it is time to stop. One set and I am so pumped I want to call it a day, but no, it has only just begun. After the dumbbell laterals it is on to machine laterals. One set, ZMR style with triple drops and forced reps. Next, we go over to the Smith and start to set up for the front military press. The incline on the bench is slight, just enough to accommodate men of size that cannot sit straight up and down; this would leave us unable to breath!

Trevor goes first on this exercise; therefore, we load the bar to 495lbs. 5 plates on each side for the first part of a triple drop set of front military presses. Usually Trevor will sit and wait for the switch in his head to totally turn on. After the grueling set of laterals it is necessary to give the brain a few minutes if not several to regain focus on the task of building balloon sized shoulders. I now must go through the gym and find a second spotter. It is so funny to see guys act like they cannot see me trying to get their attention, or watch them scuffle off to another part of the gym, too far too offer any assistance to us. The members are now learning about the sets Trevor and I do, so they know there is work involved in stripping the weight and offering a spot when needed. As Trevor stands from the bench to do his set I find a young man willing to help. Again, it is humorous to see the look in their eyes as they look at Trevor preparing to go to work. It is a confused look, I know they are wondering whether or not Trevor will turn on them after the set should he be hungry! The set starts, The weight is brought down to chin level slow and controlled. Once at the bottom, a slight pause and the weight is squeezed slowly to the top. After 2 reps done in the strictest of fashion, it is time for the 1st drop. The first 2 reps were not done in the manner most would do, they are CONTROLLED, the delts are made to hurt on purpose. The drop is made to 315lbs and Trevor continues. He pushed the weight in the same controlled process for another 3 reps and a 4th forced, again we drop the weight to 225lbs. By now the delts are starting to feel like jelly. In my experience they actually start to not fire. Meaning that the neuromuscular function is failing altogether. Trevor fights through it for another couple of reps and again we drop the bar to 135lbs. Under any other circumstances 135 would feel like a feather, but after the type of work that has just taken place, it feels more to Trevor like a ton! I move behind him and to further the intensity and the pain he will feel, I lean on the bar just enough to stop it from coming up. I have learned to let up only as the color in Trevor's face changes. I let up a little as he turns red and then a little more as the red goes to purple. I know it is time to help only when the purple goes to a yellowish hue and saliva froths from his mouth. This tell me that the "puke response" is close and I do not want to be in the vicinity when and if he blows! To watch a set like this motivates me beyond words. As Trevor regains his composure and fights off the, "puke response", I load the bar to 405 lbs. I have had ample rest time and only wait for Trevor to somewhat recuperate from his set. Trevor goes to get a spotter and I now look into the mirror asking myself what it is I want. In my mind I get rid of everyone in the gym. There are no other machines except the Smith that I am using and the walls become pitch black. I hear no voices, I see no one, only what is in front of me in the mirror. Silently I ask myself, "What do you want?" , "Just how much do you want to grow?" I climb into the machine and prepare for lift off. I am still spent from the laterals and still feeling pumped from the work that went into that set. As I grip the bar I feel powerful, I feel unstoppable, I am ready to grow! Anyone that has used a Smith machine knows that as soon as you unlock the hooks the weight is now on you. As I turn the bar and feel the weight transfer from the pegs to my shoulders, I start to focus beyond explanation. On this day 405 goes up and down 3 times on my own and a 4th time forced. The set now begins as the weight is stripped to 315lbs. This provides no relief, trust me, it feels just as heavy, which is why I manage one freakin rep before having to strip the bar. Now at 225, I feel as though I can get a second wind, but no, there is no second wind in BFT training. The 225 on the bar might as well be an elephant, I struggle for 2 and again it is time to drop to 135. It is now Trevor's turn to lean on the bar and I see a hint of a smirk as he leans with probably half of his bodyweight on the bar. It is not moving and he is still leaning. I am now seeing the red, to the purple, to the pale look of sickness as I push harder and harder on the bar. Trevor eventually helps me to the top and the set has come to an end. There is a gurgle in my throat, a bubbling in my belly and a distinct smell in my nostrils as my own puke is so wanting to project on to the mirror. I will not let this happen, no way, not today, but it takes maximum concentration to talk myself out of it.

Loathe I said, yes, Loathe. Well, after going through the dumbbell and machine laterals and then front presses on the smith machine, it is now time for a final set of presses, this time super slow style. When loaded, 225 looks so very light, but after the hell that has been experienced it feels like 1,000 lbs!!!, especially when it calls for a 5 second decent, 5 second pause and then a 5 second ascent. Trevor and I both do our set, yes, there is agony, hurt, and that pleasant release of emotion when the set is done. Rear delts are done (one set to failure on the rear delt machine), Triceps are punished (one gruesomely long and painful set) and we are out the door. Silently I am thanking Trevor and cursing him at the same time. We could have so much fun golfing or bowling, but no, we chose bodybuilding; furthermore, Trevor developed BFT! Oh the joy of feeling sick for an entire afternoon.

[Matt Cena]

This is part 1 of 2 for the 3rd installment of Ground Zero. I am going to ask Trevor to post the 2nd part, perhaps in the middle of June so you the readers can get more of the descriptions of my pain in the gym. To finish this part of the column, I elected to pay homage to David Letterman by writing a top 10 list of answers to the most popular questions asked of Trevor and I in the gym. Here goes... mind you the list goes from 10 to 1, 1 being the most annoying.

10) No, we are not training for a strongman event.

9) No, we are not trying to injure ourselves, we do train this way on purpose.

8) No, my training partner, (Trevor), is not a mute, he actually does talk time to time.

7) No, my training partner, (Trevor), is not having a heart attack, he is only convulsing due to the gagging he is doing into his gym bag. He does this so as to not puke all over me or those around us should it happen.

6) No, the machines in the gym are not made to have additional plates stacked all over them, but what are we to do?, and again, yes we do stack them on purpose. We actually like training this way.

5) No, we are not powerlifters, When was the last time you saw a powerlifter utilizing a pec dec? We respect powerlifters for what they do and how they do it, we just train very hard and as it happens very very heavy. I can see it now, a new event in powerlifing, the pec dec, "Now loading, 600 pounds......."

4) No, we are not being lazy by placing a bench under us as we squat, we are doing as few if any do by doing squat pauses, and not bouncing off the bottom....

3) No, it is not a good time to ask me about your diet, or your last course, or where you can get gear for a course!!! Can't you see my training partner under that bar, slowly changing colors, meaning that not so far in the future is the dreaded, "puke response", better known as the "gag response".

2) Yes, we are waiting on the Smith Machine!, (Just picture Trevor and I patiently looming behind someone as they slowly do set after set of singles on a flat bench under the Smith machine!) This is more of an inside thing as anyone at Gold's on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 8:30am knows that Trevor and I use the Smith every workout.) There are actually those that race us to it now! You want to see Trevor really really angry, just make him wait more than a couple of minutes for a machine while you do a totally nonsensical routine.

#1) NO, YOU CANNOT HAVE ONE OF THE SHIRTS MY PARTNER WEARS! YOU MAY BUY ONE LIKE ANYONE ELSE! AND NO! YOU CANNOT JUST HAVE ONE OF THE HATS HE WEARS, THOSE TOO ARE FOR SALE. This is number one, because I am asked this way too much. Ask Trevor!!!