Category: lifting
Avengers Infinity War and the “secret” behind superhero physiques.
So this past weekend I finally got a chance to go out and see Avengers Infinite War. Don’t worry I won’t spoil it, but I do recommend you watch all of the movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe before checking it out.
Now having watched it gave me a chance to discuss it with some of my clients and of the topics to come up was the topic of casting. I think everyone was cast very well…with the exception of Black Widow and that’s mainly because she’s supposed to be a Russian agent, but doesn’t have a Russian accent.
In this discussion, came up the topic of the physiques behind the characters, notably Thor and Captain America. When they were cast, they weren’t well-known actors. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) had Star Trek to his credit, even though his part was short, and Chris Evans (Captain America) had Fantastic 4, which wasn’t very successful.
Basically, they were a blank slate. They were a fresh start that could make or break the actor’s career. The big names in their origin movies were supporting cast members. In Thor, it was Natalie Portman. In Captain America, it was Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving.
And following the origin stories were sequels and cameos that I’m sure were written into the contracts. For Captain America, there were 3 movies as the leading role, plus 3 appearances in Avengers. For Thor, there were 3 movies as the leading role, plus 3 appearances in Avengers, and a cameo in Dr. Strange.
And there are more movies to come.
But the original’s success was hinged on the actor’s physiques, which brings me to the main point of this article.
A multimillion-dollar movie career is one heck of a motivating force to get in shape. Add to that the guidance and support system of having a personal trainer, plus nutritionist etc. and that is where their success comes from, though I can’t deny that there is a high likeliness of PEDS as well as there is always risk of this whenever money is on the line.
When people say to me “The only time I have is in the morning, but I just can’t get up.” I know it’s not completely true. They just don’t have the same mindset. If they were offered a million dollars to wake up at 5:30am I guarantee they won’t hit the snooze.
Now, I know you likely won’t be offered a multimillion-dollar picture deal but that doesn’t mean that a fit, powerful, capable superhero physique isn’t worth pursuing. Life is simply better when you are all around strong, lean and healthy.
And maybe you won’t reach the levels that they do…naturally. But with the right guidance and support system in place, you’ll surprise yourself with what you can accomplish. If you are unsure of what to do, that’s what I’m here to teach.
If you would like to try out my program to see if I’m right for you, send me a text at 973 476 5328. I’ll get you set up on your trial membership which includes, a movement analysis session/intro session, 3 personal training sessions done in a relaxed group environment and a goal assessment interview. It doesn’t cost anything and the only thing you have to lose is weakness and body fat.
Do it now, because success likes speed.
Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.
Why You Should Get Strong
Yesterday after my motivational strongman performance I did a questions and answers segment. Generally speaking, people always have questions and I’m more than happy to answer them, though I don’t reveal my personal numbers in the gym (I like some things to remain a mystery).
One question I got yesterday is;
“What do you train people to do?”
“Uhm, I train people to do what they want to do.”
I know it’s kind of a weird way to answer a question but upon some digging to understand the question better, they asked if I helped people learn to get stronger ie general strength or if I also helped people lose weight.
The answer is I train people to accomplish the goal, whatever that goal may happen to be, but sometimes the goal changes.
As an example, years ago before Jill became my substitute teacher of strength and awesomeness, she had hired me to help her lose weight for her wedding. Prior to me, she didn’t know that she could get stronger without putting on muscle and nowhere in her stated goals did she ever mention anything about strength.
However, strength was part of the strategy to help her lose weight, which yes she lost the weight but got much stronger in the process and when a video featurette was being done about me, I asked her to say a few words on camera.
With tears starting to well up in her eyes on camera, she talked about how getting stronger made her feel, without once mentioning weight loss.
I found with her, and with many others that though they initially want one thing, they become excited by another thing altogether. I understand this myself.
Years ago, I embarked on a program to get really ripped. I did and kettlebell training was part of the process. Being ripped wasn’t fulfilling to me, but when I got stronger that was exciting and it opened doors to a world that I would never have thought possible.
yes this is me
And many people come to me because they feel something is missing in their life, and they think that getting in shape will fill in that gap.
Many times it does.I digress though.
One of the reasons they had asked me that particular question is because many fitness programs have a cookie cutter approach and lump you into their goal for you.
I don’t do this. I dig deep to figure out what your goal is, even if you don’t really know. And when I know the destination I can provide the path to get there. Sometimes your goal will stop being important to you and your goal changes. That’s ok too.
I do have a system in place to make everybody stronger though. I make people stronger to accomplish whatever it is they want to accomplish because strength is the foundational quality that makes everything else easier.
And even if you don’t even really have a reason, it’s good to get strong because as Mark Rippetoe famously said;
“Strong people are harder to kill and more useful in general.”
Would you like my help getting strong? I have a one-week trial membership of my personal training services available.
Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.
The 10 Commandments of health, strength, and fitness
On Monday I got a phone call. This particular person had mentioned my autobiography/memoir as one of the books that their scout had picked up and had planned on showcasing it at some book fair.
Now I knew it was likely a scam because of the telltale signs. You may know them;
- Asking for the owner or manager even though I introduce myself by name and the name of my business’ have my name in the title. (My personal training studio is called Eric Moss Fitness, and my entertainment/inspirational speaking business is called Eric Moss: The Strongman Experience) This wasn’t the case this time though.
- Heavy praise in an effort to stroke my ego and “build rapport”
- Saying my name way more often than anybody should in a normal conversation.
- And asking only questions that will generate a “yes” response.
- Telling me things that obviously come from a rehearsed script.
It works the same way in health, strength, and fitness as well. It often comes in the form of;
“new discovery of the something or other from deep within the forests of the blah blah blah that will help you burn belly fat fast.”
but can also appear in many forms, usually promising big results without doing the work. Something for nothing rarely works out.
Here’s the cold hard truth. There aren’t really any shortcuts. There are better strategies for sure, but nothing out there that will generate results without the requisite amount of effort. The closest thing there is to a shortcut is a coach, and that is really only a shortcut because they simplify the process, prevent you from making common mistakes, like seeking shortcuts and falling for scams and give you a tried and true process. It works if you work.
In my personal training studio, I have to give some uncomfortable truths and give a set of rules to follow, much like Moses gave the people of Israel according to legend. And even though I don’t consider myself a higher power, I do have about 15 years of experience doing this sort of thing so I’ll list here the “10 commandments of health, strength, and fitness” for you to follow for fitness success.
- Though shalt get thine head on straight (you need to be committed to your own goals or else no strategy I can do will do anything)
- Thou shalt keep it simple and stick to the basics most of the time.
- Thou shalt address diet (for fat loss this is ABsolutely critical)
- Thou shalt be honest with thine-self (don’t b.s. yourself, if you aren’t achieving your goals look at why and be honest)
- Thou shalt be consistent in putting in the work. (consistency outperforms intensity)
- Thou shalt seek to be stronger through progressive resistance.
- Thou shalt understand that the fundamentals are fundamental.
- Thou shalt understand that health, strength, and fitness are supposed to enrich your life, not take it over completely. (what we do in the studio is intended to make your life better not worse)
- Thou shalt compare thine-self to previous self, not to others except to use as an inspiration of what can be achieved, not to measure thine self-worth.
- Thou shalt understand that the answer to everything in health, strength, and fitness is “it depends” (every case is slightly different and for every hard and fast rule there is always an exception)
And yes there are more, but I’d like to stick to 10 for now. Regardless of your goal, you stick to these and you’ll do well. The individual strategies for specific goals are different which goes outside the scope of this post.
Need more help? Give my one-week personal training trial membership a go.
Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.