Hey Tough Guy. Yes, YOU.

You know who you are. The guy who goes to the gym and likes to “lift heavy”. The guy who wants to be “big and strong”. Yes, you.

(Or if that’s not you, I am 100% sure you know someone like this. The person who wants big muscles and goes about it by just putting as much weight as they can on a bench and uses the bench’s support to move the weight. You know the guy. He thinks anything that isn’t a barbell or a dumbbell is “for women”.)

Well, I have news for you Mr. Still trying to pretend you’re Schwarzenegger in Conan the Barbarian from 1982. Uugghhh…the fact that a new Conan movie is out is only going to aggravate the situation.

Here’s the deal, tough stuff: all those things that you think are for girls will make you bigger and stronger.

As usual, you can disagree with me – but you’d be wrong…again.

I’ll break it down for you:

Getting big and strong, to a large degree is due to the amount of weight you can move. It’s not rocket science. If you can dumbbell curl heavier dumbbells than you used to, your biceps will get bigger. If you can shoulder press heavier dumbbells than you used to, your shoulders will get bigger, etc.

So then following that logic, it should go without saying, if your body can physically hold and support heavier dumbbells, barbells, etc., your ability to use heavier weight for your curls and presses increases.

Now what do you think allows someone to hold and support more weight?

Ding! Ding! Ding! That’s right, your core! Or, the lumbo-pelvic hip complex to those of us who train at the TR. Good job, maybe you’re not such a meat head after all! The stronger your hips and abs are, the more weight you can grab and support.

OK, now stay with me: if a stronger core allows you to hold and support more weight, and moving more weight gives you bigger muscles, then total body core training will get you bigger muscles, right?!?!?! (Once again, not rocket science...) And, no, “doing abs” is NOT core training. You’ll need to improve the stabilization of your lumbar spine, and the mobility of your hips.

Yes, now I’m going to use the “F” word…

Your core needs “Functional” training. I know it’s a dirty word nowadays. I know it’s cooler to mock what you don’t understand and flip a truck tire over instead of admitting you can’t do one body weight pushup. I know the guy at the gym with acne all over his back tells you that you don’t need functional training, but trust me: you do if you want to get stronger.

If you can get your abs to stabilize your spine, and if you can train your hips to be mobile and strong, you can support and hold more weight. If you can hold and support more weight, you can train heavier and get bigger muscles – period.

And because I know you’re probably moving your lips and mouthing these words as you read this, I’ll slow down and say it again:

Improve the function of your hips and abs = hold heavier weight.

Hold heavier weight = move heavier weight when training arms, shoulders, etc.

Move heavier weight when training = bigger muscles.

Bottom line: If you want to get bigger and stronger, you’re selling yourself short if you don’t improve the functionality of your hips and abdominals. Just ask your wife who trains at the TR when she’s carrying in all the heavy stuff from Costco that you're unable to lift without your back hurting.

And a final note on Jason Momoa (or Chris Evans, or Dwayne Johnson, or whatever muscular celebrity is in whatever magazine next week telling you they use split body part routines to get big): Celebrities have access to things you do not, such as a) 15 - 20 hours per week to work out, b) professional nutritionists, cooks, and cleaning people. c) steroids.

When you have access to all those things then you can train like them. Until then, listen to the pros at the TR.

Here's Jason Momoa a.k.a. "Khal Drago", a.k.a., "Conan" looking not quite as big and muscular as he did on "Game of Thrones".