About

What is Project Swole?

Project Swole is a resource that all athletes can use to maximize their natural physical, mental, emotional,and spiritual potential. I call it a ‘project’ because it takes planning, design, testing, refining, execution, and maintenance.

This site is meant to share all my knowledge of training and nutrition, and also to offer the opinions of other experts in the industry. Men and women of all ages are encouraged to use the thoughts and ideas on this site to affect glorious body composition and conditioning changes over time.

What is Swole?

Being Swole refers to a state of accomplishment in all positive areas of life:

• Strength – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual
• Size – physical, goals, ambition, progress, even libido
• Endurance – physical, aerobic, anaerobic, mental
• Agility – physical, mental, reactionary, decisiveness
• Flexibility – physical, emotional, adaptation to stresses
• Performance – physical, mental, and even in the sack
• Confidence – physical, social, business, personal

These are all the good things in life that make us successful at what we do. These are the things we can control. To be Swole, one needs to a goal, a plan, a determined attitude, a desire for success, and of course some training equipment.

Why Am I Qualified to Publish This?

The simple answer is that I used to be a personal trainer in my 20’s.

The knowledge that I use, which I will share with you at Project Swole, comes from years of training myself, training others, and continued education in the form of reading books, magazines, and articles; and participating in a wide variety of clubs and events such as Crossfit, Strongman, and P90X.

I have weeded out all the bogus information that just does not work, and I am now able to create a training program for any individual, to meet nearly any goal given an adequate amount of time. Sometimes my plan is not best, sometimes I make mistakes, but when 99 out of 100 clients are happy with my results, I think that says something positive about what I have to offer.

I do not currently have an active certification or a degree, but I used to be certified by the IFPA and the ISSA as a personal trainer and sports nutritionist, and I read the ACE manual once. =)

I Am Not a Bodybuilder

I am a guy who enjoys lifting weights and practicing martial arts. Strongman, powerlifting, and mixed martial arts competitions are fun to watch; bodybuilding shows, male or female, are totally lame but some people are into it for whatever reason.

Will I compete in any of these things? Honestly, I don’t know. I have never been strong for my height and weight, I have never been very big except when I weighed 220 lbs back in 2006, and I have been down to 8% bodyfat only once, back in my early 20’s.

I am not competitive in these sports, preferring to compete with myself, with friends, and with training partners.

What Are My Goals?

To be functionally strong, agile, and flexible; to be able to defend myself in a brawl; to be able to run for miles in the case of an emergency; to be able to climb nearly anything if necessary. Essentially I want to be prepared for any situation that might involve an extreme physical effort, or a fight or flight response. Looking good naked is also a bonus.

How Will I Reach My Goals?

I will reach my goals through the combination of the following:

• a healthy, high-protein, carb-cycled diet
• kickboxing and MMA workouts
• additional functional training workouts 1-2 times per week – often HIIT or HIRT
• a healthy lifestyle including limited alcohol consumption and no smoking
• plenty of sleep
• and some outside assistance including massage, good sex, and effective stress coping strategies

I will be persistent in my efforts to make each and every training session, except where scheduled time-off takes precedence for recovery purposes, or if something imperative is happening with the business.

Supplements?

Yes, I will use supplements. I will use legal supplements such as:

• Pure Protein and Trioplex protein bars
• protein shakes like those by Biotest and Optimum Nutrition
• XTend amino acid powder
• NO-Xplode by Scivation
• Biotest Hot Rox Extreme
• Nutrex Lipo6 Black
• Bone Boost by SAN
• a multi-vitamin; One-a-Day Men’s Formula works
• melatonin for sleep
• 5-HTP for mood and appetite

I will not use all of these supplements, in fact I won’t even use any supplements most of the time, except maybe the energy supps like Hot Rox and Lipo6, protein powder, and protein bars.

I will (probably) not use any illegal supplements or steroids.

At times I will add and remove various supplements as my body starts to adapt to exercise or when I feel that my body is ready to grow. Protein shakes and a multi-vitamin are my daily staples even when I am not lifting. Also, I am prescribed the blood thinner Coumadin, or Warfarin, for a blood coagulation problem that I was born with.

Let the Changes Begin

I might report my progress from time to time and hopefully you will report yours. Occasionally I will present photos and statistics, along with training and diet logs.

I will provide as much info as I can about what works and what doesn’t. Always will I strive to offer workout plans, diet plans, strategies, and more… as much as it takes to help myself and everyone that visits this website, to stay on track and to push themselves to accomplish above and beyond what they ever thought possible.

It is time to get SWOLE!