Real and Raw

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Keone Pearson is human. He is not impervious to physical and mental obstacles.

Keone is also a champion. He will sort out his priorities, focus on his goals, adjust his approach and move forward.

In this interview from 1 day after the 2021 Mr. Olympia, Keone reflects on what was accomplished, what didn't go according to plan and what to focus on in the moment.

Now Keone has announced his intentions on returning to classic physique for 2022 and he seems hyped and gassed up to further his own career and his time NOW and moving forward.

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Keone Pearson - Learn Adapt & Move Forward

"Continually strive to beat yourself. If you do that over and over, you start to beat everyone else."

Dustin Kueck has been powerlifting for 18 months and is nearing a 2000lb total which is huge and puts Dustin in the top percentile as far as competitive powerlifting goes. Being that a 2000lb total is Dustin's next goal, the off season is just as important as on season programmed lifting for powerlifters.

Here, Josh Bryant gets Dustin away from the same movement patters of bench, squat and deadlift with this workout.

"If all you do is stay in the bench, squat and deadlift box and never do anything else, what are you going to do when real life hits? This is going to make you more resilient to injury because this training makes your stabilizer muscles stronger and exposes you to different planes of motion which eliminates more limiting factors when lifting more on your bench, squat and deadlift."

Off Season Powerlifting with Dustin Kueck

How much do you bench? This question is about as annoying to any veteran, noticeably well-trained lifter as asking if creatine is a steroid. Consequently, heavy compound movements like the barbell bench press and incline presses are and have been the bread and butter exercises of greats such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler to name a few. Point being that the barbell bench presses have earned their right to be in the forefront of novice lifters minds and should be a staple in most chest training routines where strength and size are priority.

Here Johnnie "beats the dead horse" reiterating the importance of compound movements and how he uses them more frequently in his chest training nowadays.

Flat Barbell Bench Press: bar alone x 15 reps, 135 x 15 reps, 225 x 10 reps

working sets: 315 x 10 reps, 405 x 2 reps, 315 x 8 reps

Incline Barbell Press: 135 x 10 reps, 225 x 10 reps, 315 x 8 reps

Flat Dumbbell Press: 100 x 10 reps, 120 x 10 reps, 170 x 5 reps, 150 x 10 reps

Stay tuned for more REAL and Raw Training form Johnnie Jackson, Guy Cisternino and Branch Warren and the HUGE Iron World Tour 4 city trek in China!

Johnnie Jackson - The Importance Of Compound Chest Exercises

Fresh off a great comeback to competition post burns and double shoulder surgery competing in Chicago pro Guy Cisternino keeps the momentum going working towards an Olympia qualification in 2019.

Here Guy trains at the massive Metroflex Gym in Fort Worth Texas known as The Castle. Owner Rendy Delacruz, explains that the massive space that is now the biggest Metroflex gym in the world, complete with strongman implements, crossfit cages, powerlifting platforms and MMA octagon used to be a bomb factory during WWII.

Lat pulldowns: 4 sets 10-15 reps (pyramid up in weight each set)

Nautlius Machine Pullovers: 4 sets 10-15 reps (pyramid up in weight each set)

Deadlifts: 2 warms ups then 3 pyramided sets up to 405lbs

Unilateral Hammer Row: 4 sets of 10-15 reps

Underhand Grip Machine Pulldowns: 4 sets of 10 reps

Neutral Grip Pull downs: 4 sets of 10-15 reps

Back In The Heat - Guy Cisternino at The Castle

Kevin Ofurum is a 212 IFBB Pro bodybuilder who has built notable density especially in back development. Courage Opara is a very quickly rising classic physique pro who is preparing for the 2019 Olympia.

Courage's number 1 priority for improvement for this year's Olympia is BACK! Here he teams up with Kevin Ofurum for a few pointers and techniques that have worked to build his size and thickness.

Bodyweight Pull-ups: (Pull body as high as possible at least forehead to bar)

Prime Neutral Grip Pulldowns: (Pyramided up in weight)

Rope pulldowns: (Pull rope down and out at the bottom)

Ofurum Shrugs: (Start with dumbbells in front of thighs and pull up and back and try to touch dumbbells together in back)

Stay tuned for Olympia progress and more old school real and raw training from Kevin and Courage.

Kevin & Courage - Classic Back Training

We are not all equal. When it comes to resources, genetics, perspective or even work ethic, we are all different. Given that fact, we can all ADAPT.

Ed Brown is an example of not having the best genetics for bodybuilding but he studied the best, learned from the best and had the determination and grit to outwork many of his peers in the competitive bodybuilding circuit.

"You have guys like Lee Haney. He could paint his toenails and lift half the stack on a row machine and look better than me. I have to out work guys like that." - Ed Brown

Currently Ed Brown is in his offseason implementing some lifts and training technique here to improve his back development. See what you can learn from him and stay tuned for more real and raw training at gaspofficial.com.

Rack pulls: 4 warm up sets x 10, 8, 6, 6 reps

Dumbbell rows: 100lb x 10, 130lb x 10, 160 x 10

drop set 200lb - 160lb - 130lb 10 reps each drop

Hammer unilateral row: 4 pyramided sets x 10-12 reps

Ed Brown - We Can All Adapt

Joe Robinson is a nationally ranked heavyweight bodybuilder with a background in athletics. Growing up playing football in Alabama, Joe has grown accustomed to physically "gassing" himself full throttle during his training sessions. He is currently 280lbs and is planning to compete for pro status in the IFBB again in 2019. Joe teams up with Craig Leblanc, a nationally ranked classic physique competitor.

Attention to detail, knowing what needs improvement, planning and ACTION is everything.

Joe Robinson and Craig Leblanc double up on the back training with a width (shown here) mass and thickness focused workouts. Admittedly Joe and Craig were sore from this session for a full week. Try it out and give these lifts a try and let us know what you think!

Neutral grip pulldowns: 4 sets x 8-15 reps

Underhand cambered barbell rows: 4 sets x 10-12 reps

Big Is Not Enough

"This is what its about baby. Hanging in there no matter what the elements are. No matter how heavy it is. No matter how exhausted you are. Its all about first place. Its all about that goal. You cant handle it? Stay yo ass out the gym." -

This is as raw as it gets. Johnnie Jackson pushes through a raw chest workout in the hot AF Original Metroflex Arlington. Johnnie's methodology is well known to most bodybuilding and lifting aficionados as volume, pyramided up heavy sets and sometimes what most consider ballistic form that no doubt has worked for Johnie and is his approach of choice to training.

Flat dumbbell press: 4 x 10-12 reps (pyramided up in weight each set)

Incline barbell press: 4 x 6-12 reps (pyramided up in weight each set)

Weighted dips with chains: 4 x 10-12 reps (drop set on the last set until you reach failure at body weight)

Pyramid Chest Training with Johnnie Jackson

"Most people that come in here train, and for the most part it becomes a comfort zone. In order to make progress you have to get out of your comfort zone. Truthfully, if you do this day in and day out you gonna have to get new and different ways to get out of your comfort zone, whether it be volume, drop sets, heavier weight or pause reps. Just whatever it takes to signal an adaptation to make you body change." - Shaun Vasquez

Squats: 5 warm up sets 135lb x 12, 225lb x 10, 315lb x 5, 405lb x 3, 455lb x 1, 500lb x 3 + Birthday Squat set: 315lb x 31 reps

Bear Squat: 4 sets x 10 - 15 reps (increase weight each set)

Superset: 1. Leg Extension 4 x 15-20 reps with 2. Elevated dumbbell squat (elevate heals and hold a dumbbell in each hand) 4 x 10 - 12 reps

Superset: 1. Leg press 4 x 10 - 15 reps with 2. Glute/Hamstring Hyper Extension 4 x 15 reps

"No Comfort Zone" Leg Day

Ever wonder why Guy Cisternino can eat muffins before training? He throws every exercise with volume (3-4 sets) and heavy weight at every muscle group. Eat big and train big seems to work with Guy's physique. Decide for yourself.

Incline Hammer Press: 2 warm up sets, 3 work sets x 10-12 reps

(stop every rep and press from the bottom starting position).

Flat Hammer Press: (pyramid up in weight) 4 sets x 10-12 reps.

Decline Dumbbell Press: (pyramid up in weight) 4 sets x 10-12 reps.

Cable or Machine Flys: (pyramid up in weight) 4 sets x 10-12 reps.

Incline Dumbbell Champagnes: (not shown) 3 sets x 15 reps. Hold 2 dumbbells together (palms facing each other). Press up with a hard flex on the pecs each rep.

Protect your wrists when pressing, check out the 

Real & Raw: Chest with Guy Cisternino

We have the one and only Ed Brown out of Austin, Texas visiting ...destination Dallas, Texas for some back training and new GASP product photos. Kill two birds with one stone kind of a thing.

Having a raw bench press of over 500lb. and some notable deadlifting strength, Ed is no stranger to some legit pulling and pushing training as evidenced by his thickness and density which parlays into his standing as a legitimate competitive bodybuilder.

Here he gives some great pointers for beginner and advanced lifters with execution advice and exercise selection. From prison t-bar rows where you touch the floor with the weights to weighted chins with chains, all can be used to build a thick, wide and real world functionally powerful back.

Check out his training here and pay attention to the accessories he utilizes to get the job done safely. Straps and lifting belt are a mainstay in most of his training.

Real & Raw: Heavy Back Training with Ed Brown

Keep it simple. Overload, recover, repeat.

This isn't a cutting edge training concept, however today it seems "keeping it simple" is overlooked more and more often.

We have been through some of Johnnie's arm, chest and shoulder training. Now we get to how he built his world class and legendary back. "Make sure each part of your back fires off so it grows evenly." Johnnie did this with rows and pulldowns essentially. "Hit the basics. Hit them hard. Hit them heavy. Then go home and recover."

Having said that, check out these back training basics that Johnnie performs and then hit them yourself.