Hey! Just got off the phone with my friend and fellow trainer Bert Sims of Dynamic Physique up in Vancouver, B.C. Canada.
We talked for about an hour on the methods of where to begin in order to create a great training program. Included in the interview are some great points. You can expect to hear:
-Purpose of Training (the goal)
Hopefully a training program helps to...
…Translate over to this!
-What factors need to be addressed in order to achieve the goal?
-Our TOP 3-5 Easy, basic principles that every person should follow in order to reap the maximum benefits.
-Are all athlete’s programs exactly the same? Do you train youth athletes the same as high school, college, or pro?
Just click the link below to listen in! You can right-click and save if you’d like.
PS- If we get15 comments or questionson this audio, we’ll set up a call where we outline an entire 4-8 week strength and conditioning program step-by-step, as well as post it up for you to see and use for yourselves! If enough interest is out there, I’ll make it happen!
This is a short video of a series of drills that I like to use to prep my athletes before a workout. Again this is just an example, not the ONLY drills or sequence I use. But for reference, here is the format and drills below:
Hip Mobility:
-Leg Swings
-Hurdle Walkover/Unders Quickness/CNS Prep/Activation
-Lateral Line Hops
-Vertical Line Hops
-Pogo Jumps
-Skip for height
Drills:
A Skip/B Skip
Butt Kicks
Fast Leg
2-3 practice starts, good to go..
This seems long but if the warm-up is done a few times it will get easier to transition through and get the feel of the movements. There is rhyme and reason for the sequencing of the warm up and how you build up to prepare the body for intense speed/strength/power work.
Should take no longer than 10-12 minutes. Each drill done for 1-3 sets of 5-10 yards (or 10-12 repetitions depending on the drill).
This warm-up would be appropriate for basically any athlete that needs to prepare for practice, competition, training, etc. Basically all sports go here since there is a speed and power element to nearly every team sport. (Yet some still train them like endurance runners for some strange reason).
One of the greatest moments in sport history occurred at the 2009 World Track and Field Championships in Berlin, Germany. Usain Bolt, a Jamaican sprinter broke 2 world records in the same meet; the 100m in 9.58 seconds and the 200m in 19.19 seconds. UNREAL. He took down a world record in the 200m dash that most thought was untouchable by Michael Johnson of the U.S. (formerly 19.32 seconds). You have to appreciate Usain’s blazing speed and acceleration for a big man; at 6′4″ 190 lbs, he is not your typical build for efficiency in the short sprints. History shows that most of the top sprinters fall in the 5′ 9″ to 6′ 0″ range and 170-180 lbs. I remember watching these performances and being absolutely amazed!
Anyways, enjoy these videos of the fastest man in the world!
If you’ve been stuck to your treadmill, day in and day out.. You probably are pretty damn bored right about now..Not only this, but traditional “steady state” long duration cardio has been proven to be highly inferior to shorter duration, brief, intense exercise.
Especially if your goals are to lose body fat.. But not at the price of getting weak and smaller in the process.
How you can simultaneously lose fat, get in killer shape, and still build muscle and strength at the same time?
The answer lies in how you CONDITION. I recently got my hands on a copy of strength coach and owner of Synergy Athletics in New York, Joe Hashey’s Bull Strength Conditioning Manual.. And let me tell you…
I am being 100% completely honest that this is probably one of the greatest manuals on the exact subject we talked about above.. No matter if you’re a current athlete or want to get back into “athlete-like” conditioning, this is THE book you’ve waited for. Think you can’t get a killer 10-15 minute workout in? This manual proves that completely WRONG. And with over 23 done-for-you workouts ready to plug and play, you basically have an entire 1-2 months work done and ready to implement right away.
My review: Go to this link here ==> Bull Strength Condtioning and check out why I think this is a MUST have. I approve 100% of it, Joe Hashey is one of the smartest dudes in the strength and conditioning industry right now. He’s one who “gets it” when athletes or former athletes want to get in kick ass shape. Look, as readers of my blog, some of you may or may be familar with Joe; but if you haven’t I highly suggest getting over to Synergy-Athletics.com and Bull Strength Conditioning website to see what it’s all about!
If you want something, how are YOU going to make it happen? Look, nobody owes you anything. This video inspires the hell out of me. I’m sure we’ve all had an excuse to WHY you can’t workout because..
I don’t have a gym..
I’m too old/out of shape/lazy…
I can’t because (irrelevant excuse)
Make it happen, someway, somehow! When there’s a will, there’s a way. Get better today, and every day after!
Enjoy this video from strength coach Matt Wichlinski who owns his own warehouse gym in Virginia Beach, VA. If you’re in that area, get over to his facility right now!
You can get a kick ass workout practically anywhere if you’re creative enough!
Carrying heavy objects and walking with them for a given time or distance is one of my favorite things to do to train mental toughness, conditioning, and build insane work capacity. Not only this, but you also will build REAL WORLD muscle and strength that just can’t be matched by many other exercises. Below is a guest article from the Underground Strength Coach, Zach Even-Esh that speaks on this exact topic. When Zach speaks, I listen!!
The simplest movements can often yield the most powerful results. Is this why I never saw anyone doing farmer walks with the 180 lb dumbbells at some gyms I’ve been to?
Or heavy rack pulls, heavy squats, heavy military presses (standing not seated) or heavy barbell rows?
These movements pack on the real muscle and make you stronger than a Bull! What about farmer walks with the farmer walk bars?
I used the econo farmer bars and they arrived 2 days later! These long bars make the carries much harder and really hammer the lower body. Normally we used our 130 lb dumbbells or heavy kettlebells but these long bars were different and better for full body work!
You can also perform the other basic carries with dumbbells and sandbags. These movements will develop full body strength and you want to include these HEAVY in your workouts on a regular basis. These are the basics. After the basics you can start getting more advanced by using cross carries or mixed carries. I’m talking about zercher carries and bear hug carries using sandbags or carrying a stone around the backyard in between sets of kettlebell work.
The cross carries can be used with dumbbells, kettlebells and even sandbags. All you need to do is hold them in two different positions. This awkward loading of the body strengthens the muscles and the body from unique angles that don’t get worked through traditional movements.
Some more of my favorite are rack walk + overhead carries or overhead and farmer walk mixed together.
Carrying heavy objects of any type are awesome for full body strength development and work capacity.
In addition, the first rep of every set is some form of a power clean and / or deadlift just to get the weight off the ground. Putting the weights down requires control, so no dropping, only squatting / deadlifting the weights down under control.
I’ve met some seriously strong men who never touch free weights, their strength came from manual labor carrying objects, lifting them, throwing them, power cleaning them into truck beds, etc.
The guy who used to pick up our garbage when we were remodeling our house had an old pick up truck, it seriously looked like Steve Justa’s truck!
This guy’s name was Tony. Tony picked up junk for people as a side job, but it was always heavy stuff. Odd objects that makes you stronger than a freight train.
He would pick up all our stuff: toilet bowls, dish washers, heavy contractor bags filled with sheet rock, an old deck and more! I remember talking to him about strength training (as I always did) while we were loading his pick up with 20 + bags of sheet rock. He was holding one bag with a straight arm as he causally spoke with me! I was using two arms and my entire body to heave those bags up and I was starting to sweat bullets.
Tony was used to carrying car parts, scrap metal and other seriously heavy and odd objects. Essentially, all he did was carry junk. But, remember, like I said, when you carry objects, you power clean them up / down as well as deadlift the weight up / down.
It can’t get any simpler than that!
Now it’s time you begin to carry some odd objects!
About the Author Zach Even – Esh is a Strength & Performance Coach from Edison, NJ and is the owner of The Underground Strength Gym and creator of the Underground Strength Manual. Zach’s Underground methods have spanned the globe and have helped men and women of all ages to dramatically improve athletic performance, pack on rugged muscle and develop brute strength. Zach is the Strength & Conditioning advisor for TapOuT Magazine and is also a featured writer for Men’s Fitness Magazine. To learn more about Zach and his methods visit UndergroundStrengthManual.com
PLEASE DO NOT be this stupid. Nothing about this is functional and is plain dangerous. Save the gimmicks!!
I’m sure sometime, somewhere, at the gym you go to (most likely a commercial gym), you’ve seen someone do something that just does NOT look right. It never fails– I don’t have to put up with nonsense like that anymore, but damn it used to make me cringe watching some of the moronic and idiotic thing people are doing in the weight room. This video shows exactly why you should always squat in a power rack; you should never use weight you aren’t ready for; and you should always stop short of failure (UNLESS Special Circumstances apply i.e. you have a good spotter, reason for doing it, etc).
Doing stupid shit like this just makes you look really dumb and also runs the risk of getting you hurt. If something like this happens in a power rack, that’s OK because the safety pins are there to catch the bar. It’s OK to get pinned by heavy weight, it’s happened to all of us. But this kinda thing takes some common sense and smarts to know this may not be the best idea.
What’s the take home point? Use your head! If it looks foolish and involves lots of crazy gimmicks, or you just aren’t sure it’s going to be the safest thing in the world, use better judgment!
At least the kid above made an attempt to do some full squats, but he should have taken some weight off of the bar.
Stay strong, but go about it using some smarts will ya?
John Cortese
PS- Speaking of training smart, if you’re looking to shed fat, build muscle, and elevate your conditioning to that of a professional athlete- without spending countless hours in the gym- the Bull Strength Conditioning Manual might just be for you. I just got a copy of it yesterday and cannot WAIT to start using these conditioning methods and workouts into my own training!!
If you’re looking for quick but efficient ways to light a fire under your ass, blast fat, build muscle, and increase your conditioning- You MUST include metabolic conditioning in your training. This is especially important in that not everyone of us have time to train over an hour at a time; the beauty of this work is that it is short, but extremely intense. This is NOT for beginners, and definitely NOT for everyone! Be warned!
Simply put, pick a series of challenging exercises and perform them in circuit fashion. You can get creative i.e. for 3 rounds for time, 20 minutes non-stop, 10 reps of each, etc.. In the video below, you’ll see a client of mine performing a round of an example metabolic training circuit he performed at the end of a training session. 20 seconds of work with 10 seconds of rest between exercises. Sounds easy on paper, but if you PUSH YOURSELF out of your comfort zone, you will be on the floor by 2-3 rounds.
The truth about developing real speed is simple: Keep the quality HIGH. THE video below demonstrates some volleyball players I’ve been working with for a few weeks developing their first step quickness and lateral agility/multi-directional speed development. I think it’s pretty funny/sad when you see coaches having their athletes performing endless repetitions of 400m repeats or running gassers, wind sprints, etc because they need a good “base”.
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It really irritates me and I hope this trend changes soon- it’s coming eventually, but this kinda stuff still happens. And you wonder WHY more and more athletes are getting hurt in high school. Most of the time it’s simply because they are so overworked and develop overuse issues, combined with lack of proper movement efficiency and a well-designed strength program, the only end result is devastating injury.
This HAS to stop. Enough with the “run the kids into the ground because they need to get in shape” mentality. Look, I’m all for developing mentally strong athletes, developing work capacity, and working all of the energy systems. But making an athlete tired and throw up just to do it is nonsense. Any joker can do that- it takes a skilled coach with some common sense and know how to develop true speed, agility, and quickness.
This sh*t ain’t rocket science. I’m just using proven methods and strategies that really work!
So remember; if you’re training for a sport that requires change of direction, reaction time, acceleration, and quick bursts of speed, then keep the quality of the work HIGH and remember the sport you’re training for.
See ya!
John Cortese
PS- Speaking of speed, if you want to develop lightning quick feet and supreme lateral speed and agility, I’d give this a shot if I were you. Yes I have it, I’ve used the methods with my athletes and I’m extremely impressed. Learn the Truth About Quickness Here
I was cleaning out an old binder today and came across a sheet with a very inspirational poem on it. If you’ve never read “The Man In The Glass” before, it will make you think..I have this posted up in my room to read every morning.
Just read this a couple times over and take it in…
“The Man In The Glass” – Anonymous
When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go in the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you mast pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in glass.
No more excuses people.. You want something? Make it happen!!
Prograde Nutrition