👍The power of PRIMERS💯

👍The power of PRIMERS💯

If your like most, you head to the gym...slap on some light plates and within 2-3 minutes your hitting your working sets.💪🏾

This can only go so far before your body begins to break down and your joints truly start aching. 

Welcome to the world of POWER-PRIMER supersets!

🤷🏻‍♂️What are they? 

A combination of a power based movement paired with a isolating high volume exercise that can help BETTER prepare you for strength gains!💯

The key 🔑 is not to go overboard and fatigue yourself too much so stick to 3-5 reps for the power based movement and if you are feeling frisky and after a good pump hit 12-20 for the primer!

The best way to get after them...

Hit some posterior chain work!

An example would be a power/primer of kettlebell swings and Swiss Ball leg curls. 

A couple key points for your leg curls(because I see them done incorrectly a lot) are to: 

1. Extend the hips! Dropping the hips too low with no extension limits your potential range of motion.
2. Use your back! With no engagement in the upper back, you'll have no balance. Drive your hands to the floor to help
3. Go slower! Stop trying to beat the clock!
4. Don’t cut short! Stop ending the movement early, get all the way through! 

Then you all saw my notes on swings from last week! Just remember to hit them only a few sets each! 

👍An upper body example would be...Med ball slams(1) or even rotational(2) or finally lying tosses(3) paired with exercises like band face pulls, band pull aparts, or even YTWLs. 

Upper Primers 

Again, remember to keep reps low for the power exercise! We are preparing for heavier loading which is my next point!

🤷🏻‍♂️Why do they help? 

Well...for ONE...power movements spark up the CNS which can translate to better speed and velocity with your lifts, leading to greater gains! 

Secondly, high end motor control concentric actions like slams tend to recruit more muscle which can relay to more growth. 

Lastly, power drops the most with age so it’s important to train it! Use it or lose it LOL. 

🙌🏻Then to top it all off the primers can act to stabilize, correct or even improve faulty body postures displayed from everyday desk jobs WHILE giving your main muscles used in lifts a “pre fatigued” pump that will correlate to better growth and activation!💯

If you havnt yet taken advantage of these or even added some as fillers between heavier lifts, make it your mission to! Nothing like fueling the fire before the work!👌🏻 Using fillers can be a HUGE advantage to decrease warm up time, add prime mover strength and they reinforce stability for your main lifts!

Get after your sessions today! I hit one of my favorites pretty hard! If you want to know what CRAZY 8's are MIKEY style, head to my IG @mjo_oaf.

#power #primer #menshealth #stack #nasm #knowledgeispower 

It's My Anniversary....WOW....Time FLEW BY!

4 Years....



Come and gone!



Years 1 & 2 were a blur because both of our schedules and me being in the midst of growing Over-Achieve. See a few messages between us from those times below.



Yet...3 & 4 have added some new twist....ones I can't say were good....nor bad...but live throws us all curveballs and it's ultimately how we grow, survive and adapt, right? 



Meg is the love of my life. My best friend, and my forever sole mate. We knew this from day ONE! There isn't a day I don't think about how I can make her happy! We just love each other so deeply and for many, it's rare...but we LOVE being around each other! We never like being apart!



But this last year in more detail has been quite the ride...



A new baby boy, a new home, a BUNCH of new personal chaos issues and oh...well...another baby on the way.....AND THEN there is COVID and the insane effects its had on my business. 



"Survive and ADAPT" became one of our mantras, along with "Go F*** yourselves" ...you laugh....but until you live a day in the life....keep that mouth shut! haha.

We've been through so many ups and downs. We've wondered if this is "all worth it" ....

I contemplated changing my name and leaving the country, abandoning her...until she openly said she would chase me down with a pitch fork if I didn't take her! 

That's where we are. This surreal, twilight type sensing moment of our lives where I'm unsure what to expect each day, but the fact of the matter is that our world has gone mad, the virus is coming back, people are freaking out, businesses are hurting more and more and we seem to be all just very "angry" about everything.

Heck, you could be walking into the grocery aisle and be starring at the fruit...meanwhile some random stranger questions whether you have a problem and asks if you are looking at them.

People's anger seems to be at an all time high....but my love for my wife matches synergistically with that.

Many would think being stuck in our homes for 4 months with their spouse would mean the opposite, BUT in fact...we get along better....and well...for most of these four months I have not been present to her and Noah anyways because of the work load I have been under, but it is all for the future and well being of OAF.

She gets it!

She gets ME!

Not too many people do.....which is why I need to give this women the most AMAZING shout out today for being there for me through it all and sticking out 4 years with me! 

There are nights I go to bed unsure as to how she does what she does in a day....but we both lay our heads down at night loving each other just as much and knowing we will ALWAYS be there for one another, forever!



I even came across these messages from FACEBOOK MESSENGER( our only source of communicating during the first 2-3 years we met since I was always working....and the SAME messages are told to each TO THIS day!)



8/13/2015

Then this goes to show just how much we long each other and how hard I wanted to work for her and our family!



Yes, I am shit scared of baby #2, YES...Noah has ruined my love for dinner time....and YES, these last 4 months have been the worst of our lives....but all in all....the 4 years have been best spent with you and I wouldn't have it any other way!

<3 Mikey 



Forever & Ever