Congratulations to my brother Noah. The Track & Field News (“The Bible of the Sport”) shot put rankings for 2011 and he was ranked number 5 in the United States. He had a best last year of 20.80m (68’3”), which was also a PR. The really great thing about this throw is that it came in the USATF Championships in Eugene. Noah is a tough competitor and does his best when the pressure is on. The Olympic trials will be in Eugene in June.

I want to congratulate one of my clients, Dennis Herrington, on his extraordinary strength gains over the past 12 weeks. Dennis also dropped 18 lbs., which makes it that much more amazing. Dennis works on a boat 4 days (lives), then is at home and off 4 days. Dennis had interesting 8 day split 4 days of lifting and two days of bodyweight conditioning. Dennis did not miss any workouts, thank you for your dedication, Dennis. I am very proud of your accomplishments.

In his own words.

“I'm very happy how stronger I got over the past 12 weeks. The truth is though, I didn't touch my chest when I originally benched 230lbs, I didn't use a full range of motion when I pressed 165, and when I squatted I didn't get parallel or lower when I squatted 265. My cousin (who was training with me before I hired you) came over today to help me out. He said I look like a completely different lifter. I'm willing to bet my bench was actually 225 or less, and my real squat was probably 225 as well. Knowing that I could barely squat 185 last year, and I was benching 205 (barely) last year it makes me realize how far I've come, and how far I'm gonna go! If you had been training me in person my original numbers would've been much lower, and we would've been able to determine the exact gains I've made (which are huge). Thanks for everything man. I'm looking forward to working with you again.”

Dennis finished with perfect form and tested out

• Bench Press: 255lbs
• Overhead Press: 175lbs
• Squat: 290lbs
• Deadlift: 370lbs

There is not a much better way to spend your birthday than going out to hunt some hogs. Since I moved down to Texas, this activity seems to take up most of my free time. The rush you get from hunting these beasts is very similar to the rush you get from moving a lot of weight or throwing really far. It was pretty hot and humid, so I wasn’t real optimistic about our chances of finding our quarry. I was only up in the stand for about five minutes when I saw the first big group of them. They were just about to head back into the woods when I picked one off at about 170 yards. That made them scatter like crazy and I was able to shoot one more before they disappeared into the thick woods. They all ran to safety except for one decent sized boar who decided that his best shot at escape was running back behind me towards the other field. That was a miscalculation on his part; the two people who were hunting with me were set up in the trees of that field. Thirty seconds after I lost sight of the lone boar I heard the report of my friend’s .25-06. So, after we killed the first three within twenty minutes of arriving it got pretty quiet for the next few hours. Once the sun went down we decided to call it, and began the process of skinning and butchering the pigs. We got the pigs all cleaned and the meat in our bags and packed up the truck for the 15 minute ride out of the ranch. On our way out we caught a glimpse of yet another large group of pigs. I brought the truck to a stop and my friend unloaded on the pig, it was a clean shot through the lungs… but the big boar didn’t feel like going down. He kept a thirty mile per hour pace for about ¾ of a mile with us in hot pursuit. Once he rested for a second, I was able to whack him with my .30-06. That put him down, but not out. When we finally got out to where he was, he was not a happy camper. He had two bullets in the lung but was still pretty alive. My friend’s dad jumped out with a ka-bar and put an end to this creature. All in all it was a good birthday; I got a bunch of meat, a nice trophy, and some good stories.