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A few weeks ago, I did a Q/A on Instagram. Keep in mind that I asked that the questions be short/answers short - like most people I find typing on a phone ridiculous and impossible to write 16 week training cycles.  So I tried to be as precise with my answers as possible while not being so damn boring.

Although Law Enforcement Officers have more incentive to be in great shape/be strong, all of us, regardless of who you are/what you do, have no excuse to be weak and out of shape.  One thing I tell the kids I'm coaching is that it takes no talent to have great manners, have a winning attitude and be in awesome shape. Yes, some people will be genetically stronger or be able to run faster/longer.  But you can always be a better version of yourself. And not just "a little better".

Traps and neck are earned with hard exercises done by hard people. Anyone can move their elbows but few can move mountains.

I struggled to gain weight in high school and have gone through many of the same challenges most of you skinny guys have or will go through. By the time I was a sophomore I had been lifting for about three years, was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball, run/throw in track) and never really had any breaks from running or an off-season to gain weight. I really needed a plan for adding pounds. As a busy student athlete it had to be simple, it had to be affordable and I wasn't going to count calories or macronutrients or weigh anything, because that's neither of the above- time has always been especially valuable to me.

Building Your Home Gym Your home gym always depends on what you want to do in your training and what your goals are. But for simplicity sake, let's just say you want to be strong and awesome. This is by far the easiest thing you can train for, and probably the cheapest. Here's what you'll need.

It’s that time again and everyone you know is ready to make a change. More times than not, this means they want to get their ass in a gym and get in shape. Well, I have no idea what “in shape” means to everyone but 99% of people fail for the following reasons:

Ever since I started pressing, I have been obsessed with making it better. Partly because I was so weak at it for so long (which meant that it had no place to go but up) and because it is simply a cool exercise to do. The death of the Press as a movement can be attributed to a lot of things, none of which actually matter. BUT, if you view this lift with as much enthusiasm as I do, use these tips to improve what I consider to be one of the most fun movements in the gym.

However you choose to bench press, make sure every single rep, regardless of weight is done with perfection. This goes for the squat, deadlift, press and any other big barbell lift. I've never seen any strong, experienced lifter take any set lightly - they demand perfection from the bar to their max. Think back to the last time you bench pressed - did you have a perfect set-up on the very first rep with the empty bar? Did you treat it with the same importance as your last max attempt? The beginner still thinks there must be some kind of special secret or trick. A veteran lifter always makes sure the simple things are taken care of; they aren't ever sexy but they always work.

I'm 5'9", 195 pounds. I've lifted all kinds of programs for twenty years now, so I'm not experiencing beginner gains or whatever. I've been all 5/3/1, a little bit of a Wendler homer, and pleased with every result I've gotten since I decided to go all in with 5/3/1 about 14 months ago. I'm an average guy: literature and writing professor, dad and husband. I'm definitely not someone who can do things most others aren't physically capable of doing...

One of the keys of doing grip work is to make it economical - there is no point in doing direct grip work when you can EASILY add to an exercise you would already be doing. And the BIGGEST excuse is "but I can do more weight if I don't use overhand grip or X". Well, guess what? If your grip ain't strong, it won't matter what you can tug. You are simply WEAK. Get over your own ego and do things right.

Before we start with the simple process, let me define the Kroc Row. Named after everyone’s favorite Polish American Powerlifter, Matt Kroczaleski, the Kroc Row has quickly become a staple exercise in many lifting circles. In its infancy this exercise was simply a single set of high rep dumbbell rows with the heaviest weight possible. Matt did this because of necessity – the dumbbells he had access weren’t heavy enough to perform the requisite “10-12” reps that is often prescribed. To combat this, he just did a ton of reps with the heaviest dumbbell available. Initially done to build his upper back for his bench press, this exercise also gave him great deadlift lockout strength as well as grip strength.

I like weighted chin ups. I'm not voting for them in the next "Five Awesome Exercises" election but they certainly have their place. I've championed chin ups for years, mostly because they're great for the upper back, lats, and arms. And because you can do them anywhere – chin-up bar, top of the Smith machine, scaffolding, top of the monolift, playground equipment, etc. Weighted chin ups are a good idea IF you can do them, and even then you still need to keep bodyweight chin ups as part of your training (unless you can bang out multiple sets of 20 with good form). And if that's the case, gain some weight!

Question: I did 5/3/1 previously and am considering starting it again soon. I had a couple questions that I could really use answering First off, could I add an arm day as the 5th day to workout?

Question: I've being doing the 5/3/1 full body routine that has me squatting 3 times a week for a while now. Very enjoyable, makes you feel like a man! About to move onto Phase 2. I like the sound of the 3 month BBB challenge, what are your thoughts on including that BBB template with the full body routine? If thumbs up, you got any pointers/dos & don'ts?