I’m headed down to Maryland today for my longtime friend Greg’s wedding. It’ll be quite a car ride, but luckily, I’ve got my girlfriend to keep me company. Of course, I don’t know why any of you would care, but I was a little short on introductory content this week, so you had to put up with my senseless rambling. Sorry about that.

1. Speaking of Greg, I’m happy to say that I’m at least partially responsible for him being a stud in his tuxedo this weekend. You see, Greg did my Maximum Strength program over the past four months, finishing two weeks ago. Here are his pre-post numbers:

Weight: 205 to 193
Broad Jump: 81″ to 93″
Bench Press: 245 to 275
Squat: 245 to 295 (Greg is coming back from a knee surgery last year)
Deadlift: 275 to 315
3-rep max Chin-up: 250 to 263 (total system weight)

His friend Bill did the program with him, and he proved to be another example of a guy who can either maintain or decrease his weight while still improving strength appreciably:

Weight: stayed at 170
Broad Jump: 91.5″ to 105″
Bench Press: 275 to 300
Squat: 315 to 335
Deadlift: 365 to 405
3-rep max Chin-up: 260 to 285 (total system weight)

Pretty soon, when he does chin-ups, Greg will have to also include the ball and chain around his leg in his total system weight calculations. Zing!

2. I’ve come to the conclusion that it kind of weirds me out when people email me and address me as “Coach.” To be honest, nobody around the facility calls me “Coach.” And, if the people I see in person all the time don’t call me Coach, why should people I don’t train call me that? I mean, do I look like any of these guys?

While we’re at it, I’m not a fan of being called “Bro” or “Comrade.” And, the word “Yo” is stupid and really 1990s.

3. This isn’t really what I had in mind with my focus on unstable surface training, but it’s amusing nonetheless.

4. Speaking of unstable training surfaces, you see what happens with you swallow your bubble gum?

Commit that to memory, kids.

5. Someone asked me earlier this week if for someone needing extra scapular stability work would find value in doing 1-arm DB punches flat, incline, and even overhead for the serratus anterior rather than just doing them solely on a flat bench all of the time. My response was that I actually think it could potentially be worse to do it on an incline or decline. The decline would encourage a bit more scapular anterior tilt (emphasizes pec minor over serratus anterior), whereas the incline might actually irritate an already-angry shoulder injury. So much for innovation!

6. My newsletter for this week focused on the state of the fitness industry. At risk of sounding overconfident, it’s definitely worth a read.

7. I had the best steak of my life on Tuesday night. For those who haven’t been, definitely check out Abe and Louie’s on Boylston if you are ever in Boston. It was pure, succulent, dead cow bliss. If you’re a vegetarian, sorry – but you can at least take solace in the fact that the asparagus and broccoli sides were pretty good (especially since they were drenched in steak juices).

8. While on the topic of steaks, I cooked up some moose meat earlier this week – and it was great. I’m from Maine, so it’s not THAT weird-sounding to me. The secrets are to a) use a lot of spices, b) not overcook it, and c) try not to think about how it was carved on the back of a pick-up truck until after you’ve eaten it.

*For the record, I resisted the urge to post a picture of a hunter posing with his rifle in front of the moose he’d just shot. I figured I’d upset the vegetarians enough already with random thought #7. So, I’ll just upset the kiddies and cartoon fans by saying that I ate Bullwinkle.

We just have eight thoughts this Friday, as my mind’s on all the travel I have to do and programs I have to write. With all our pro baseball guys rolling or in the process of getting started, there are a lot of logistics to which I am attending. I’m psyched for a great off-season, and we’ll have plenty of blog video content for you along the way.

In the meantime, have a great weekend.