Barbarian Training Systems

Quien quiereuna sentadilla mas poderosa? actuen yaaaaa!!!!!

2011-05-25T14:30:00.001-07:00

http://www.synergy-athletics.com/effective-strength-training/free-6-week-squat-program-drawing/

ENTRENANDO LA MENTE

2011-04-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

Este es un posteo breve pero muy relevante, todos sabemos que la mente es poderosa y capaz de llevarnos mas alla de nuestros limites, si aprendemos como utilizarla correctamente. Este video es parte de una workshop para entrenamiento de fuerza y es sumamente poderoso, lo que venalo y apliquenlo, les aseguro resultados!

http://superhumanworkshop.com/mental/

Demasiado Bueno como para no postearlo

2011-01-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

Este me lo mando Pancho y simplemente tenía que postearlo, me dieron ganas de reir de llorar y sobretodo mucha gratitud...mucho amor a mis gente querida...con mucho respeto, honor y cariño para mi familia guerrera:

I am blessed by my friends and family at Carlson Gracie (US and Guate)/Fight Club Guatemala. Here are a few comparison between my friends at the gym and my regular "civilian" friends.

Civilian Friends vs. Gym Friends Comparisons:

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Get upset if you're too busy to talk to them for a week.
GYM FRIENDS: Are glad to see you after years, and will happily carry on the same conversation you were having the last time you met.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
GYM FRIENDS: Have cried with you.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.
GYM FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
GYM FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will pamper and get upset over perceived insults, without talking to each other about what is bothering them
GYM FRIENDS: Will beat the shit out of each other at the gym and THEN have a beer together at the bar
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
GYM FRIENDS: Will stand by you no matter what the crowd does.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Are too busy to give you a hand when you need them the most
GYM FRIENDS: Will travel 3 hours just to help you change your tire, or get together as a group to help you move
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Need to schedule an appointment to hang out with them
GYM FRIENDS: Crash into your sofa when they've been kicked out of the house at any time during the night, with free room and board for up to 3 months
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have shared a few experiences...
GYM FRIENDS: Have shared a lifetime of experiences no regular person could ever dream of...
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will take your drink away when they think you've had enough.
GYM FRIENDS: Will look at you stumbling all over the place and say, 'You better drink the rest of that before you spill it!' Then carry you home safely and put you to bed...
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Are for a while.
GYM FRIENDS: Are for life.

Posteado tal cual lo recibí, eres grande PANCHO!!!!!

Hoy estoy como la gran p**a

2011-01-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

Así es mi gente hoy amanecí inconforme...no me malinterpreten ayer tuvimos asistencia de más de 30 alumnos, eso fue excelente, pero el entreno de acondicionamiento me dejo queriendo dar más...falto...

A veces es complicado diseñar un circuito de combate para 30 personas pero esa no es excusa, simplemente no entrenamos con la intensidad de siempre y eso me deja un sabor amargo en la boca...

Quizá habrán escuchado hablar de Alexander Karelin, los que no ahí le cuento: Karelin (de origen ruso) es considerado Universalmente comel luchador GrecoRomano super heavyweight mas grande de TODOS los tiempos, muchos lo consideran el hombre más rudo del mundo, otros el atleta más temido de todos los tiempos, aquí hay una foto de referencia:

En sus días fue tan dominante que lo apodaron "El Experimento" porque alguien como el simplemente no podía ser considerado humano, Gano medallas de oro en 3 de 4 olimpiadas 1 plata, el único enhacerlo, invicto por 13 años 10 de los cuales combatio sin que una sola vez se le anotaraun punto en contra, la leyenda cuenta que podía limpiar y levantar sobre su cabeza mas de 420 libras...para repeticiones...

Karelin es buen amigo de Couture y Fedor lo ve como un idolo, sobre quien dice: "De haber competido en mma hubiera sido imparable". Una vez lpreguntarón a Karelin sobre su total dominancia de oponentes, Cómo lo hace? y el respondió:

YO ENTRENO CADA DIA DE MI VIDA COMO ELLOS

JAMAS LO HARAN 1 SOLO DIA EN LAS SUYAS...

No se ustedes pero a mi eso me pone en modo bestia...

Hacía tiempo que no escuchaba una cita tan poderosa...así que hoy me propongo entrenar como tal, ya tengo en la cabeza el protocolo de entrenamiento del día de hoy y se que será brutal....tengo que redimirme del entrenamiento, solo asi me voy a sentir bien, al final del día lo único que importa en nuestro entrenamiento es cuan duro nos empujamos ese día...

Los que vengan mañana a Warehouse pueden esperar un trauma similar, Respeto y honor!!! los espero y a los que les interese escríbanme y vos a postear la rutina que tengo en mente,porque será duro, y de que otra manera va aser? en las palabras de Zach Even Esh:

MIS ENTRENAMIENTOS SON UNA BATALLA

DE FUERZAS DE VOLUNTAD

Todo está dicho...a entrenar.

Algo para empezar bien el año....

2011-01-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

Empezamos un nuevo año, algunos con un pokito más de peso, algunos abusaron más de la cuenta pero en cualquier caso quiero dejarles en la mente una dieta para desintoxicarse y sentirse mejor en 24 Horas; no la veo muy dramática, ni dañina, pero como todo...requiere un esfuerzo. Hagánla y comentenme sus resultados!

1 cosa antes de empezar: durante las 24 horas consumirán cero (0) proteínas.

Ok, Evidentemente, el mejor día para llevarla a cabo es el sábado o el domingo, este también es un buen tiempo para dedicarse al al reposo o actividades relajantes leán, veán tele, salgana caminar pero todo SSSSUUAAAAAAAAAAAAVE.

Para que la dieta sea eficaz es necesario beber mucha agua y comer frutas ricas en fibras para desintoxicar el aparato digestivo. Se aconseja privilegiar el consumo de frutas ricas en vitamina C (naranjas, limones, pomelos o mandarinas); la menta, por otra parte, resulta sumamente benéfica por sus propiedades tónicas y digestivas. Las zanahorias ayudarán a nuestro propósito por su rico contenido en fibras y celulosa. El intestino, habitualmente sobrecargado, se los agradecerá.

Eviten estar en está dieta por más de más de 24 horas por su carencia de proteínas. Sin embargo! si alguno decide seguir la dieta durante todo el fin de semana, puedes añadir a la cena un yoghurt, queso fresco o un vaso de leche, y 100 gramos de jamón en el almuerzo del sábado y del domingo.

Importante es que AL LEVANTARSE DE LA CAMA: se tomen un par de vasos de agua, con medio limón exprimido en cada uno.

AL DESAYUNO: Zumo de pomelo mezclado con hojas de menta y un poco de azúcar -o mejor miel-. Si lo prefieres, puedes tomar un café ligero o un té, junto con una macedonia (ensalada de frutas) preparada con dos o tres mandarinas y un kiwi.

ALMUERZO: Un puré a base de tres zanahorias cocidas y medio pepino cocido al vapor. Es preferible, hacer la mezcla sobre el plato con un tenedor. Completar la comida con una macedonia de naranjas y pomelos con hojas de menta troceadas, zumo de limón y un poco de azúcar o, si es posible, un edulcorante. Para beber: licuado de pepino y añádelo a un vaso de agua con limón.

CENA: Una sopa de sémola con zanahorias cocidas. Una macedonia de mango, un kiwi, tres mandarinas y hojas troceadas de menta fresca. Para tomar: lo mismo del almuerzo.

ENTRE HORAS: Toma cada 1 hora aproximadamente grandes vasos de agua con limón y zumos de naranja mezclado con pomelo. Mastica de vez en cuando hojas de menta.

ANTES DE IRSE A LA CAMA: Una taza de tilo o una infusión hecha con pétalos de azahar.

Muy importante: Los zumos de frutas y verduras deben tomarse en el momento de hacerlos para que no se oxiden sus vitaminas.

OK mi gente ahí esta, A desintoxicarse!!!!!!

Familia

2011-01-05T08:19:00.000-08:00

Familia Carlson gracie ReyDiogo BJJ Guatemala.

Antes de cualquier cosa quiero desearles un muy Feliz y próspero 2011, que Dios los bendiga a ustedes y sus seres queridos, gracias por leer y visitar este blog, en este nuevo período les prometo escribir con más frecuencia y entregarles cada vez mejore contenidos, Respeto y Honor!!!!

Recuerdo que después de su demoledora victoria en el SlaughterHouse 2, mi compadre Wicho Ciraiz se dirigió al público agradeciendo al padre ante todo y dando crédito a sus guerreros a quienes llamo un ejército, así de unidos y fuertes son...y me quede pensando...

En Warehouse no somos un ejercito...somos una familia, disfuncionalmente funcional como diría nuestro líder Pancho flores, con tantas personalidades y carácteres de Freud se daría gusto analizándonos pero SI una familia.

Según Wikipedia, familia se define como: Un Conjunto de personas, unidas por descendencia, matrimonio u otras relaciones —incluyendo, según las culturas, la adopción y aún la propiedad— que conforman una unidad doméstica, compartiendo residencia y cooperando económicamente.

A nosotros no nos une la descendencia, sino más alla de nuestro pasión por el combate ysimplemente el deseo de querer ser más...ese común denominador nos mantiene unidos, regresando cada día por más entrenamiento , por mas dolor, porque solo así es como se templa el guerrero...

Pero en está familia se lucha para entrar y se debe luchar aún más para mantenerse, nada es gratis, nada es regalado, cada logro cuesta, sangre, sudor y lágrimas, como deber ser...

Ayer miraba un capítulo de Espartaco, que de paso se las recomiendo muchísimo, y en una escena DOCTORE les dice a los gladiadores:

"ENTRENENSE, ESTUDIEN, SANGREN Y UN DIA SERAN GRANDES Y LEGENDARIOS".

Para muchas personas esto podría sonar extremo pero no para ustedes que leén este mensaje, por eso los llamo a luchar por lo que quieren, a aferrarse a los mejores ideales a buscar a el crecimiento, el perfeccionamiento constante y sobre todo a buscar a Dios.

Hermanos Guerreros, somos una familia y es con espíritu guerrero como avanzamos por está vida, ayudándonos, motivándonos, exigiéndonos, apoyándonos y fortaleciéndonos, Bienvenido sea el 2011, Bienvenidos sean los retos porque vivimos para eso y para los que vienen a la familia Bienvenidos!

NO a las bebidas energéticas!!!!!!

2010-11-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

Cuando alguien me pregunta, y a veces cuando no también, (ustedes saben que a veces peco de dar mi opinión sin que me la pidan) sobre si tomar o no bebidas enérgizantes, mi respuesta es: NO LAS TOMEN.

Yo se que muchos de ustedes llevan estilos de vida super ajetreados y de repente necesitan un "Pinchazo" de energía pero creanme que este no es el camino a seguir. Como saben guerreros, esta pocimas basan su fórmula en la combinación esencial de 2 sustancias: La cafeína y la taurina.

La cafeína es un estimulante vasodilatador, y la taurina es un ácido energético revitalizador. La principal crítica a esta bebidas es debida principalmente a su interacción con otras sustancias como el alcohol o drogas como extasis etc. En el caso del alcohol que es un depresor,, al mezclarse con una bebida energética que es estimulante, el efecto puede provocar ¡taquicardia! una sensación muydesagradable que no se la deseo a nadie......hablo por experiencia....

La verdad es que si las toman guerreros hagánlo por su propia cuenta y riesgo, yo se que aportan una buena dósis de vitalidad y dinamismo, pero aquí les van unos datos que los deberían poner a pensar seriamente sobre este tema: La típica tasa de café contiene ente 60 y 120 mg´s de cafeína, algunas de estas bebidas pueden llegar a tener un contenido de hasta 500 mg´s, no eso como tomarse una "tacita de café" como ven...

En algunos lugares de Estados Unidos ya se está legislando en contra de estos productos por ejejmplo "Four Loko" – llamada así por su ridiculamente alto contenidot de cefeína, Taurina, Guarana y Alcohol ya está prohibida en Michigan debido a un incidente con 9 estudiantes universitarios que necesitaron asistencia medica después de tomarlas, Nueva York y Oregon también están considerando legislar en su contra.

Un estudio de la Universidad de Texas en houston investigo sobre los riesgos de estas bebidas conalarmantes conclusiones que incluyen ataques al corazón y encasos extremos muerte. en estudio realizados en ratas, (y aunque nosotros no somos ratas) el consumo en estos animales resulto en conductas de alto riesgo e incluso autoflagelación.

La cara de este imbecil, más que bienestar muestra un estado

de conciencia alterada, definitivamente algo a evitar.

Otros efectos menos extremos pero sin duda dignos de preocupación se refieren a la deshidratación y la presión alta. Una cuestión bien importante es que como no existe legislación en cuanto a la fabricación de estos productos las empresas pueden poner realmente lo que se les ocurra en su fórmula...da mucho en que pensar. En definitiva: NO LAS TOMEN.

UN PLAN PARA ENERGIZARSE:

La cafeína no es totalmente mala, en moderación puede apoyar sus entrenamientos en días cuando realmente no se quiere nilevantar los párpados, pero en exceso puede perturbar plos patronesnormales de sueño, eleva peligrosamente la presión y causa dolores de cabeza

Un primer paso es realizar actividad física y yo seque ustedes ya estáneneso así quevamos al siguiente paso y este tiene que ver con la actitud mental. una vez un amigo en mis días de fisicoculturismo me vio de bajónen el gym y me dijoo, "Compadre cuando no se quiere entrenar, no se entrena".... en ese momento estaba de acuerdo ahora ya no tanto...

Una poderosa técnica de programación Neurolinguistica que para varias me enseño el gurú Lopez se refiere a actuar como si...y la palicación en el caso de cuando no se quiere entrenar sería la siguiente:
Supongo que este día no quiero entrenar por la razón que sea, pero entoncesempiezo a pensar que el entrenamiento de hoy va a ser excelente, que voy a levantar mas peso, ser mas agil, mas explosivo y pienso que ya lo soy, que el entrenamiento de hoy seráextraordinario y me por lo que al llegar a entrenar simplemente el inconciente obedece y mi entrenamiento va a ser consecuentemente intenso y productivo.

Matt Furey dice que en el acto de entrenar 50% del proceso es simplemente presentarse, llegar al gimnasio, bodega, dojo etc. solo con llegar ya se cumplió la mitad de la meta, interesante...

Entonces aún si no tienes ganas de entrenar actúa COMO SI...tuvieras un tigre adentro esperando se desenjaulado para desatar su fuerza...y todo va a estar bien....

Desde el punto de vista de lo que comemos; es importante monitorear que alimentos consumimos diariamente, hay muchas comidas que literalmente "se chupan" nuestros niveles de energía, disparan los niveles de azucar enla sangre y nos puedendejar letargicos hasta por 2 horas.

Alimentos energizantes, por otro lado, son aquellos basados en carbohidratos, pero notodos nos convienen, los alimentos en este sentido deben llenarnos sin "desinflarnos". Frutas, vegetales son entoncesl a mejor elección y ahí les va una lista de sugerencias:

Melón, tomate, bananos (en especial estos por su alto contenido en potasio un electrolito que estabiliza los niveles de azucar en la sangre y ayudar a mantener el correcto funcionamiento de los músculos y los nervios) y espinacas. Las grasas sanas tambien son utiles y aunque el cuerpo prefiere obtener su energía de carbohidratos, las grasas contienen más energía que estos, fuentes importantes son el salmón, caballa, el aguacate, nueces, almendras, semilla de maravilla y girasol.

Ahí lo tienen hermanos, a energizarse de manera natural y a vivir el día como si fuera el último, respeto, honor, obediencia y lealtad...

Veni, vidi, vici

2010-11-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

Vine, vi, vencí.... Estas fueron las palabras del general y Cónsul Romano Julio César al dirigirse al Senado para describir su demoledora victoria sobre Farnaces II en la Batalla de Zela. La poderosa frase ha sobrevivido el pasar del tiempo para convertirse en una frase de batalla para muchos lideres en diferentes dominios de nuestra sociedad.

Y la verdad es que muchas veces en nuestras vidas debemos probarnos, medirnos, combatir, luchar, batallarenmuchas ocasiones con nuestros temores y esta puede llegar a ser una de las batallas mas duras de luchar....

En Warehouse tenemos un pequeño afice con palabras del gran CuZ D´Amato, el hombre que produjo a Mike Tyson, el material dice: El Valiente y el Cobarde son esencialmente iguales, ambos sienten temor, pero mientras que el cobarde se congela, el valiente a pesar del temor actúa y por eso es valiente...

Este posteo lo escribo para motivarlos a luchar a pesar de cualquier obstáculo para vencer cualquier temor, porque solo al vencer el temor es posible crecer para ser la mejor versión de nosotros mismos, de cumplir la voluntad de Dios:

"No temas, porque yo estoy contigo; no desmayes, porque yo soy tu Dios que te esfuerzo; siempre te ayudaré, siempre te sustentaré con la diestra de mi justicia." Isaías 41:10...

Muchas veces el temor que nos frena es el fracaso, pero tal cosa no existe, no mientras estemos dispuesto a perseverar, a levantarnos y seguir luchando....

Michael Jordan: “He fallado una y otra vez en mi vida, por eso he conseguido el éxito”.

La verdad de las cosas es que sin tratar no se crece, sin lucharno se avanza y esto es una regla, uno de mis mejores amigos César López (El gurú) me enseño que en la vida no existe el fracaso solo la retroalimentación y eso es verdad, no existe el fracaso excepto enla mente de quien se cae y no se levanta...todos nos caemos hermanos, nadie es infalible pero todos tenemos la fuerza para levantarnos y seguir, piensen en un gran campe´øn del boxeo como Felix Trinidad quien en mas de una de una ocasion toco la lonaen los primeros rounds de una pelea solo para levantarse y noquear a su oponente, de eso se trata la vida guerreros...

Cus D’Amato, explicando cómo entrenó a Tyson: ‘’Primero transformé la chispa en una llama. Esta se tornó en fuego, y el fuego en un incendio incontrolable’...

Esto se refiere a que controlando el miedo y usandolo como combustible en nuestras vidas podemos crear fuerza demoledor, impaable y desarrollar la confianza necesaria paraperseverar hasta lograr la meta.

Todos tenemos nuestros demonios, todos tenemos situaciones personales con las que lidiamos en nuestras vidas, pero hoy quiero motivarles a ser valientes, a hacer frente a lo que venga con animo , fuerza y FE, que cuando se sientan temerosos piensen en la imagen al inicio de este posteo, es una impactante pintura del gran virtuoso artista fantastico Boris Vallejo donde Hercules domina al Cancerbero, y es en esta imagen que quiero que se concentren porque ustedes mis hermanos guerreros pueden vencer cualquier adversidad porque aún antes de venir a está tierra, nuestro padre celestial nos equipo con todo, absolutamente todo lo que necesitamos para triunfar en esta vida, no lo duden ni por un momento, ustedes son ganadores y mas que vencedores.

Respeto, Honor, obediencia y lealtad

Me llega tanto la imagen que en una de esas me la tatuo.... como no? jajjajajaajja Bendiciones!

Las 3 D´s enel entrenamiento o en lo que sea...

2010-11-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

Determinación deseo y disciplina, creo que esas son las 3 palabras que mejor definen la actitud de una persona 100% comprometida con entrenar y superar sus límites, crecer y trascender.

Con frecuencia me pasa que converso con personas que se entrenan y en algún momento de la conversación me cuentansobre que están molestas por no poder entrenar porque:

A. No tienen pisto para pagar el "GYM".
B. Fue feriado y no pudieron entrenar porque el "GYM estaba cerrado".
C. Se cambiaron de "GYM " y no les caen bien los entrenadores.
D. Una mezcla de las anteriores...

La verdad es que ninguna de las anteriores es válida...NINGUNA, si no tengo para pagar el "GYM" hago calistenias, salgo a un parquecito y me cuelgo de los pasamanos, corro, escalo, levanto piedras y si tengo un poco más de iniciativa compro un martillo, recojo por ahi una llanta,me voy a la termiy compro cuerdas, recipientes de plastico para llenar de arena y listo un Garage "GYM" básico.

En realidad no se necesita mucho para entrenar como un gladiador y en el proceso transformarse fisica y mentalmente en un especimen... Hablo en serio!!!!

Hace poco leí un artículo de Jay Ferrugia donde decí que no importa la situación en que se encuentre siempre va a contar con alguna forma de mantenerse fuerte y en condición, estoy de acuerdo, ninguna situación en la vida es idealpero nuestra capacidad para inventar, aaptarse y fortalecernos no depende del equipo porque eso lo llevamos...

Tatuénse en sus mentes y corazones las 3 d´s:

- Determinación: para entrenar, forjar mi cuerpo y mi mente, demoler obstáculos sin importarque pase por nuestras cabezas y si es necesario en nuestras vidas.

- Deseo: Tener las ganas, tener una visión querer ser más.

- Disciplina: La fuerza que nos mueve, perseverar ante todo!

Y ante todo confíen en el padre que todo lo concede a los hjos que son valientes....

NO SE TRATA DE DONDE ENTRENAS SINO COMO ENTRENAS!!!!!

Recuerdo bien la vez que le dije esto a un niñito del World Gym que me hablaba de su rutina, de su entrenador personal y las maquinas (como si valieran de algo a la hora de entrenar) de este gimnasio. Aquí y ahora les digo algo y no me importa herir susceptibilidades si alguien fuera de nuestro cículo lee este posteo:

Cualquiera de mi atletas es mejor que alguien que entrena enWorld Gym, cualquiera! y si alguien lo duda esta cordialmente invitado a entrenar GRATIS con nuestro equipo. Mis alumnos y hermanos no solo porque saben entrenarse en cualquier circunstancia, con o sin equipo, sino porque han crecido para dejar de ser simples mortales en camino a convertirse en algo mas...en guerreros, sin excusas, sin dudas, sin huecadas...

Entonces mi llamado es simplemente a que hagan algo, entrenen, la voluntad es más poderosa que cualquier otra fuerza, una voluntad fuerte de la mano de DIOS es imbatible...piénsenlo.

Cuando empece el programa de acondicionamiento enWarehouse a todos le dije que mi meta era transformarlos a todos en bestias...Esa es mi misión y viviere o morire con respeto y honor en el intento!!!!!

El mundo no viene a nadie hay que lanzarse y tomar lo que quieres, TOMALO!!!!!

Reflexiones

2010-10-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hace un tiempo el Alex me dijo que empezará a escribir de nuevo y como no tenía mucho que decir, les trasladaba artículos que me parecían relevantes para mejorar sus entrenamientos. Desde entonces han pasado un chingo de cosas y hoy tengo ganas de escribir ahí les va...

Una cosa que siempre tengo en mente cuando se trata de entrenar es que " no se trata de DONDE se entrena sino COMO se entrena. Hace unos años descubrí los secretos del Underground Strenght Training de la mano del super coach Zach Even Esh, quizá la persona que más me ha influenciado en esto del entrenamiento. A través de sus métodos aprendí los secretos de como desarrollar verdadera fuerza para el combate y los deportes de contacto en general. Los he aplicado con éxito, primero conmigo como conejillo de indias, luego con amigos entusiastas y eventualmente con atletas aspirantes y verdaderos prospectos, ha sido una experiencia muy enriquecedora, hoy entiendo que esa es mi verdadera misión en esta vida.

Desde entonces conocí a Jim Smith de Diesel Crew y bajo la tutela de "Smitty" Diesel llegue a profundizar aún más sobre los métodos de entrenamiento que hacen superatletas de simple smortales y transforman superatletas en Bestias de combate.

El documental STRONG de Joe De Franco me inspiró y me movió a dar pasos a cumplir el sueño de ser el mejor preparador de atletas de combate en Guatemala...todavía lo veo y me devuelve la fuerza para seguir perseverando cuando esto cansado, fatigado y no encuentro sentido...

Mi actual mentor Elliott Hulse es un "Strongman" profesional, (búsquenlo en Internet, busquenlos a todos si quieren...) el tema es que Elliott es un gran maestro que me ha enseñado como obtener resultados de Elite con el equipo más básico pero con la herramienta más importante: la voluntad. Los principios que he aprendido trascienden el tema deportivo. FUERZA es más que músculos, FUERZA es más que la hablidad de vencer al contrario, FUERZA es un concepto que hoy entiendo desde un punto de vista más completo... es una búsqueda por conseguir la excelencia total, me falta mucho pero estoy en esa senda.

Hace unos años vengo implementando estos métodos como entrenador personal de personas comunes y corrientes, con atletas de combate, peleadores profesionales y hoy desde la academia Barbarian Training Systems en MMA WAREHOUSE bajo mis hermanos y maestros Pancho Flores y Vanila Rodrigues, donde estamos trabajando duro para formar y producir los mejores atleatas de combate para Guatemala... TODOS son bienvenidos a entrenar....siempre y cuando recuerden que JAMAS preguntamos...Cuanto falta para terminar?

Vengan a Warehouse, nuestros métodos son altamente eficientes, les prometemos resultados de verdad, sin distracciones, ni música para pendejos que lejos de enfocarte te distraen Una vez mi hermano Luis Ciraiz me dijo que para ser un león hay que estar con los leones y en Guatemala, los leones están en Warehouse-Fight Club, respeto, honor y a Dios siempre obediencia

Bendiciones a todos…

Nestor

Antes de escribirles cualquier cosa lean esto!!!!!!

2010-09-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

Poisonous Protein Powders

In July, Consumer Reports magazine tested 15 protein powders for levels of 4 heavy metals:

Lead
Arsenic
Mercury
Cadmium

At certain levels, these heavy metals can be poisonous.
The worst thing is that they will accumulate over time so if you continue to use these products, you’ll accumulate more and more poisons in your system and they may reach a level that causes negative health effects.
What are these brands and what are the levels of these poisons?
Check out this chart first then I’ll explain more below:

First of all, notice that these are all based on 3 servings, not 1 serving.

So if you’re doing 1 serving a day, then you’ll be well below the daily limits for all of these brands.

But remember, these heavy metals accumulate, so ideally you want NONE!

Here are the daily limits for each metal:

Arsenic – 15 ug
Cadmium – 5 ug
Lead – 10 ug
Mercury – 15 ug

Amounts exceeding these levels are in BOLD in the chart.
By looking at the chart, we can see that the EAS Myoplex Shake and Muscle Milk products are the worst.
So I’d avoid these things at all costs.
And there are so many alternatives that there’s no reason at all to use these products.
One product I use is Hemp Protein vs. Whey.
No, you don’t get high from it (unfortunately).
I still use Whey occasionally, but find myself taking Hemp protein more often as it’s a) closer to nature and b) has protein, fibre and healthy fats, making it a more balanced food.
Plus, they keep coming out with new flavours vs. the original sludge flavour, so it’s actually tasty now!
Either way you go, I always recommend rotating brands – don’t use the same brand all the time.
This way, you can insulate yourself from potentially overloading your system with heavy metals or other toxins contained in these products.
And, your body doesn’t develop an intolerance to a particular brand and it’s components.
Another brand you can check out for Whey protein is Prograde.
They’re not the cheapest whey protein (which is probably a good thing) but they’ve got some videos taking you into their labs and I like to see the behind the scenes action when I can – it just makes me trust them a bit more.
Plus, I know the registered dietitian in charge of the whole operation (Jayson Hunter) and he’s a good guy and he’s also a martial artist himself.

SOBRE LA PLANIFICACION DEPORTIVA

2010-08-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

Planificación del Entrenamiento Deportivo

DR. C. Rene Jorge Romero Esquivel, Cuba

La planificación determina a donde ir estableciendo los requisitos para lograrlos de la forma mas eficiente y eficaz posible, Todo lo que ocurre en el proceso de entrenamiento y su interioridad es en una medida el resultado del pensamiento Del Entrenador Pero DEBE:

Evitar la improvisación
Apoyarse en la ciencia y tecnología.
Integrar los conocimientos en un sistema estructural y organizado

Concepto: "...Es la organización científica de todo lo que ocurre en la preparación del deportista, es el sistema que interrelaciona los preceptos de preparación y competencia con elementos técnicos de prospección, donde las reservas individuales de rendimiento se educan para movilizarlas eficientemente en el momento adecuado". Romero R. Para ello será necesario que el entrenador conozca las características individuales, las fortalezas y debilidades de los deportistas.

Esquema sobre el rendimiento deportivo, requisitos para aplicar los diferentes sistemas de entrenamientos para obtener un alto rendimiento. Rendimiento deportivo Medios, métodos y sistemas de entrenamiento:

Desarrollar!!!!

Aumento de # de miofibrillas
Aumento del Vo2 Máximo
Volumen sanguíneo
Capacidad de recuperación
Mejoramiento de los sistemas energéticos
Perfeccionamiento de las percepciones especializadas

Evitar

Ácido láctico
La fatiga

Respetar!!!
Los principios del
Entrenamiento deportivo

Rendimiento deportivo

Resultado alcanzado en su preparación

Las cargas en el entrenamiento deportivo

l Constituye la célula fundamental del sistema de entrenamiento y del entrenador.

CARGA DE ENTRENAMIENTO

Contrae:

EFECTO BIOLÓGICO

Conlleva:

ADAPTACIÓN

Tiene por consecuencia:

MAYOR CAPACIDAD FÍSICO - FUNCIONAL

Potencia y capacidad energética máxima de los Sistemas de Producción de Energía

POTENCIA ENERGÉTICA MÁXIMA:

- Máxima producción de energía en un tiempo determinado

CAPACIDAD ENERGÉTICA MÁXIMA:

- Máxima reserva energética disponible.

SISTEMA ENERGÉTICO	POTENCIA MÁXIMA	CAPACIDAD MÁXIMA
ALACTÁCIDO	2 -3 seg., hasta 6 seg.	10 - 12 - 15 seg.
LACTÁCIDO	+20 seg., hasta 60 seg.	1.5 a 3 minutos.
AEROBIO	2 -4 min., hasta 29 min.	Infinita.

Objetivo: Profundizar en los mecanismos bioadaptativos que se producen, producto del entrenamiento deportivo.

¿Que es el Entrenamiento Deportivo?

Proceso biopedagógico encaminado a favorecer los procesos de Bioadaptación a las cargas físicas en el organismo del atleta.

BIOADAPTACION Se define: Respuesta de las estructuras vivas a los cambios del medio que permite el mantenimiento de la Homeostasis.

En el deporte el factor mas importante consiste en la variabilidad bioadaptativa del organismo, es decir, aumentar sus funciones a un nivel óptimo en el menor tiempo posible según las exigencias y disminuirlas durante los intervalos de descanso relativo.

Homeostasis Se entiende como: el mantenimiento del equilibrio interno, es decir, de la constancia de las reacciones químicas y las funciones orgánicas imprescindibles para la vida.

Sistemas energéticos mediante los cuales el organismo

produce energía para la contracción muscular

(Garantizar el movimiento)

Sistema Energético:	Capacidades con las que se relaciona:
1.- SISTEMA ALACTÁCIDO	Rapidez - F. Explosiva - F. Rápida - F. Máxima - Resistencia Muscular Local
2.- SISTEMA LACTÁCIDO	Resistencia a la velocidad - Resistencia a la fuerza
3.- SISTEMA AERÓBICO	Resistencia aerobia (Endurance)

VEAMOS ALGUNOS EJEMPLOS

EN LOS DEPORTES CÍCLICOS

EN LOS DEPORTES ACÍCLICOS

Potencia es:

Alto nivel de movilización y desempeño de las capacidades del rendimiento con grandes resultados y con bajo gasto energético.

V= S

La Planificación del entrenamiento deportivo es por capacidades de niveles de desplazamiento, no por indicadores

¡Educa tu ritmo! ¡Se eficiente!! Zona de potencia máxima Zona 1:

La Duración del trabajo no sobrepasa a los 20 segundos (Potencia alactacida)

Ø Los síntomas de fatiga se producen a los 10 segundos generando una disminución de la potencia

Ø El trabajo se realiza bajo condiciones anaerobias

Ø La demanda de O2 en el organismo durante el trabajo sólo es satisfecha una vez terminado este

Ø Durante el trabajo se presenta una deuda considerable de O2

Ø El sistema energético de los Fosfágenos (ATP y Cr P) es el que se pone de manifiesto

Ø Debido a la poca duración del trabajo (durante un sprint de 100 m) la deuda de O2 es pequeña

Ø Los procesos respiratorios y cardiovasculares antes del trabajo de potencia máxima se incrementan muy ligeramente

Ø Durante este breve período el corazón incrementa ligeramente las contracciones pero el volumen sistólico se aumenta de modo insignificante (aumenta ligeramente el volumen minuto sanguíneo)

Ø Como el trabajo es de poca duración el producto de las reacciones anaerobias llega a la sangre en pocas cantidades (no se producen cambios sustanciales en la sangre) La frecuencia de paletadas es máxima, pero no sostenida y quizás, no tan efectiva

CAMBIOS EN EL Sistema. Nervioso:

Ø Las células del sistema nervioso central que envían sus impulsos a los músculos que funcionan con una potencia máxima a..Los receptores del aparato motor que son estimulados con los movimientos realizados con la máxima rapidez y fuerza envían impulsos extremadamente frecuente a los centros nerviosos La secciones aferentes y eferentes del sistema nervioso que está relacionados con una función con una función motora dada funcionan en este caso con una tensión máxima

Zona de potencia sub. Máxima (Potencia lactacida) Zona 2:

Ø Su duración es de 20 a 30 segundos pero nunca más de 3 a 5 minutos

Ø Junto con la desintegración de ATP y CrP se produce la desintegración del exofosfáto y la energía garantiza la resíntesis de ATP y CrP

Ø Como resultado de la glucólisis se forman grandes cantidades de ácido láctico el cual se difunde hacia la sangre.

Ø A estos procesos anaeróbicos se suman los procesos anaeróbicos incrementando bruscamente la respiración y la circulación sanguínea, asegurando el aumento de la cantidad de O2 que fluye a los músculos a través de la sangre

El consumo de O2 va aumentando continuamente pero las magnitudes máximas sólo son alcanzadas casi al final del trabajo

Ø La deuda de O2 es muy grande debido a la duración del trabajo

Ø El O2 consumido después del trabajo se designa a la resíntesis oxidativa tanto en el ATP como en el CrP así como en los carbohidratos ocurren desplazamientos fisiológicos máximos en el organismo. Esto se refleja en el carácter de la fatiga que se manifiesta al final de la distancia. El deportista finaliza en condiciones de acumulación máxima de ácido láctico en los músculos y en la sangre y con un incremento en las funciones respiratorias y circulatorias al variar el PH hacia el lado ácido, así como un incremento del CO2 y de una disminución de la tensión de O2 en la sangre. En la sangre aumenta la presión osmótica debido al paso del H2O desde el plasma a los músculos y a la secreción sudorípara intensa que empieza.

Zona de gran potencia (Potencia aeróbica) Zona 3:

Su duración es superior a 3 o 5 minutos pero no más de 20 a 30 minutos

Ø Incremento de la respiración y la circulación sanguínea toda su magnitud

Ø Se produce con un consumo de O2 que se encuentra próximo a las posibilidades máximas

Ø La deuda de O2 resulta mayor que las posibilidades de consumo La intensidad de los procesos anaeróbicos supera a la intensidad de las reacciones aeróbicas.

Ø En los músculos se acumulan productos de la desintegración anaeróbica y comienza la deuda de O2. Este O2 se utiliza para la resíntesis de los carbohidratos.

Ø Durante los primeros minutos de trabajo la secreción sudorípara realiza una función termo reguladora para proteger al organismo contra el sobrecalentamiento.

Ø Con el sudor se elimina una pequeña parte del ácido láctico y otros productos del metabolismo que llegan a la sangre procedente de los músculos y la parte considerable son eliminados por los riñones.

Ø Aumenta las exigencias del trabajo cardiaco ya que debe funcionar casi al límite de sus posibilidades durante el transcurso decenas de minutos.

Zona de potencia moderada

(Potencia estable mixta) Zona 4:

Su duración se extiende por más de 20 a 30 minutos. RB2

Ø Presenta un estado estable (igualdad de magnitudes de demanda de O2 y del consumo en la unidad de tiempo) Sólo al comienzo del trabajo la demanda de O2 supera al consumo del mismo, sin embargo al cabo de varios minutos el consumo de O2 alcanza el nivel de la demanda de O2

Ø El O2 consumido por los músculos durante el trabajo es doblemente utilizado: una parte para la resíntesis oxidativa de ATP y CrP y carbohidratos, mientras que la otra se destina a la oxidación directa de grasas y carbohidratos.

Ø La acumulación de ácido láctico no existe o resulta muy pequeña durante el estado estable real (no aumenta el ácido láctico en la sangre)

Ø Las funciones de la respiración y la circulación sanguínea aumentan grandemente sin llegar al máximo.

Ø Durante un trabajo de muchas horas puede presentarse un agotamiento parcial de las reservas de carbohidratos en relación el gran gasto de ellos en los músculos.

Ø El inicio del agotamiento de las reservas de glucógeno del hígado, conduce a la disminución de glucosa en sangre (hipoglucemia)

La hipoglicemia se refleja negativamente sobre la actividad de los centros nerviosos y puede provocar que el atleta "explote" y a la aparición de la fatiga.

Ø Una secreción sudorípara prolongada y abundante conduce a la alteración del equilibrio agua -sal en el organismo y aun aumento de la presión osmótica de la sangre.

Ø El trabajo muscular intenso provoca la función incrementada de una serie de glándulas de secreción interna, particularmente las glándulas suprarrenales (secreción de catecolamina)

¡Zona básica del desarrollo!!!

Criterio cualitativo y cuantitativo a considerar al planificar el entrenamiento para los deportes de coordinación y arte competitivo.

Cantidad: Número de elementos, combinaciones, selecciones (dificultad B, C, D, E y Se) ejecutados en una sesión de entrenamiento, etc.

Al planificarse la carga debe considerarse la dificultad para facilitar el conteo de los elementos realizados.

Dificultad: Representa el índice de STRESS (tensión) sobre el SNC en la ejecución, se expresa por el No. de elementos de mayor dificultad incluidos en cada ejecución.

Intensidad: Cantidad de trabajo realizado en un periodo de tiempo determinado, este tiempo debe definirse para cada momento del entrenamiento.

Otros aspectos a considerar al planificar la carga

Tiempo total de entrenamiento.
Número de sesiones de entrenamiento
Tiempo de entrenamiento en cada aparato
Cantidad de elementos, combinaciones y selecciones
Dificultad de los ejercicios
Tiempo de descanso entre cada repetición.
Nivel y características individuales del gimnasta

Proceso de la carga en su influencia sobre el organismo

Se adapta al entrenamiento

Desarrolla las capacidades

Integra y consolida las capacidades

Las aplica durante la ejecución de partes, selecciones y competencias preparatorias

Entrena con las exigencias competitivas

Compite con el nivel asimilado

Se recupera y mantiene sus capacidades

Otros aspectos de la carga

	Magnitud de la carga	Tendencia de la carga
Carácter de la carga	Pequeña Media Submáxima máxima	Fuerza rápida Resistencia especial Capacidad coordinativa Rapidez otras
De entrenamiento De competencia Perfeccionamiento

Dirección del entrenamiento

Cargas

Medios
Métodos
Sistemas

Organización a través de ciclos, periodos y etapas Periodización en el entrenamiento deportivo ¡Existen técnicas y con esto diseños de preparación!!! Esta Periodización fundamenta la premisa de construir, mantener y después perder relativamente la forma deportiva a lo largo de grandes ciclos anuales de entrenamiento. (Matveiev, 1961, 1977, 1981 y 1986)

¿Qué necesitamos conocer para entrenar a nuestros atletas?

Sistemas Energéticos que predominan y como se alternarán en el entrenamiento.

Sistema anaerobio (Alactácido y Lactácido).Sistema Aerobio

Las direcciones determinantes del entrenamiento.

Fuerza Rápida, Resistencia a la fuerza, Coordinación, Resistencia especial, perfeccionamiento mitades selección, estructuras nuevas, seguridad de los enlaces que conforman los programas etc.

Lo que necesitamos para obtener buenos resultados.

Mejorar la técnica, ritmo de trabajo, fuerza explosiva, Preparación Física especial, Equilibrio, transformar flexibilidad pasiva en activa, etc.

Estructura del macrociclo.

Periodo Preparatorio relativo a la:

Adquisición de la forma deportiva

Primera sección del macrociclo, donde se construye la forma, mayormente ocupa la mayor parte del tiempo en la planificación tradicional, los mesociclos mas utilizados son introductorios y básicos, en los diseños contemporáneos, los de asimilación y transformación.

Indicadores a tener en cuenta en la planificación:

Tiempo general del entrenamiento.
Numero de eventos a ejecutar
Progresión del aumento de la carga (elementos y selecciones)
Se realizan los máximos volúmenes de elementos y selecciones
Perfeccionamiento de las estructuras y partes deficientes de los programas de competencia que continuarán vigentes.
Estudio y definición aproximadamente en un 90 % de las partes y enlaces a incluir en los nuevos programas competitivos.

Periodo Competitivo, relativo a la:

Estabilización de la forma deportiva

La segunda sección persigue la estabilización relativa de la forma, coincide con las competencias mas importantes son característicos los mesosciclos pulidores, precompetitivos y competitivos, en los diseños contemporáneos los mesociclos de realización

Indicadores a tener en cuenta en la planificación:

La preparación con ejercicios especiales ocupa el mayor tiempo, fundamentalmente para mejorar las partes y elementos aún deficientes.
Eliminación paulatina de los errores de ejecución que permitan mejorar la puntuación final.
Se trabaja sobre el perfeccionamiento de los enlaces y combinaciones con mayores dificultades.
Análisis colectivo e individual de los resultados de los controles y su plan de medidas para mejorar las notas de partida.
Análisis de los % de rendimiento individual y colectivo
Estudio de las bases teóricas de la competencia
Se modelan el programa de la competencia fundamental.

Periodo de tránsito relativo a la:

Recuperación

Después de la competencia viene una fase de perdida de la forma y recuperación de las cargas intensivas, mesociclos recuperadores, en los diseños modernos se emplean microciclos de descarga o de recuperación os diseños contemporáneos los mesociclos de realización.

Indicadores a tener en cuenta en la planificación:

Mantenimiento de niveles medios de preparación alcanzados que garanticen la continuidad del proceso
Asegurar el restablecimiento de las zonas dañadas y la profilaxis de las que estuvieron lastimadas.

Rodillas fuertes y poder de KO

2010-08-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

Knee Stability and Punching Power Part 1

Picture for a moment that you’re standing on a tightrope… As you can probably imagine, it’s pretty wobbly.

You’ve got absolutely no stability and at any moment it might feel as if you’re going to fall off. Now imagine throwing a punch while you’re standing on this tightrope. How powerful do you think this punch would be? Obviously, not very powerful and it definitely wouldn’t knock anybody out. So how does this all relate to your development of explosive KO power in your hands, you might be asking?

WHAT’S SAPPING YOUR POWER?

It has to do with the stability you have in your lower body, particularly the lateral stability of your knees. The first thing you’ve got to understand is the problem. The proper term is ‘valgus’ knee, which basically means your knee buckles inwards. It looks like this:

It can either be postural, meaning your knees are buckled in while just standing still, or it can be dynamic, meaning during certain movements, your knees buckle in. While both are issues, we’re going to address dynamic valgus of the knee, because it’s more important and more common in MMA fighters.

TESTING FOR DYNAMIC VALGUS

I look at 4 exercises to test for dynamic valgus:

Squat
Reverse Lunge
Squat Jump
Lunge Jump

The tests get more difficult as you go down the list, so you can see exactly where the problem starts. The jumping exercises show the condition under explosive movements, which most relate to MMA and in this case punching power. What you’re looking for during these exercises is any buckling inwards of the knees. It may not be big, but it’ll definitely be noticeable in that your knees will almost tremble and shake at the bottom of the movements.

So check yourself out in the mirror when you do these exercises and if you notice the centre of the kneecap moving inside of the second toe (the one right beside your big toe) during any part of the exercise, you’ve got some work to do.

HOW VALGUS KNEE AFFECTS PUNCHING POWER

When you throw a power punch, such as a straight right (or straight left if you’re a southpaw) you should be throwing your whole body into it – starting from the hips, to the core, to the shoulders and finally through to your fist and into your opponent’s jaw. Here’s a great example from of what it looks like in action (my man Jeff Joslin):

But to give you true KO power, you need to create ’snap’ in the punch. The snap comes from your lead leg suddenly stopping this powerful rotation of your hips, core and shoulders, causing the whiplash effect. If you don’t quite get this, think of when you’re driving and you suddenly hit the brakes.

Your seat belt locks your pelvis down while your torso and head gets whipped forward violently. In this case, your head is like your hand during the punch and the seat belt is like your lead leg, suddenly stopping the motion and creating the snap. Now if you tested yourself and you have valgus knee during any of the tests above, you won’t be able to stabilize the rotation of the punch and you’ll lose snap and ultimately power. Your knee doesn’t lock you down and ground you, so it’s like braking slowly instead of stopping suddenly. Much less violent. Stay tuned for part 2...

DELOADING, excelente artículo de quién más? FERRUGIA

2010-07-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

De paso guerreros, porfin entendí el concepto y como aplicarlo a partir de este artículo, lo recomieond totalmente, así como cualquiero otro de Jay:

How to Deload Properly… And Why It’s So Important

Deload weeks are when you want to take plates off the bar. Once you’ve been training more than a few years the need to deload on a somewhat regular basis becomes more and more prevalent.

How often you do so depends on your training age, strength levels and injury history. Eastern Bloc countries and countless other successful lifters have had great results by training hard for three weeks and deloading on the fourth week.

It’s a pretty widely accepted formula and has been proven time and time again. So there’s really no need to try and reinvent the wheel. Three weeks hard, one week deload is my standard go-to-recommendation.

There are other options, however, and if you have only been training for a couple of years you won’t need to worry about deloading just yet. Beginners can go a few years without deloading. Eventually you’ll want to start with 12 weeks then work your way down to 10 and so on. When you get a little more advanced some people might be able to go 6-8 weeks hard before deloading. If you’re more of an early intermediate lifter, eight weeks may be a better option for you. If you’re more advanced and go eight weeks you might want to consider deloading for two weeks.

But to keep things simple let’s assume everyone is following the three to one rule. That’s the easiest thing to do since it fits nicely inside of a month.

I usually recommend reducing the total training per volume per workout by 40%. So say you normally do 20 sets per workout; on your deload week you would do 12 sets at each workout. On big barbell exercises that you do for maximal strength like a bench, squat, dead, military I recommend cutting the weight to 50% of your one rep max and just doing two sets of five. So lets say your 1RM on the bench is 315 and the previous week you were doing 255 for sets of 6-8, the deload week would be 155 (or technically 157.5) for 2×5.

The other option is to remove the lift all together for that week. I like this option for experienced guys who have a mastery of the lift and/or are also beat up from years of heavy training. The removal of the big barbell lift all together helps their joints recover. You also may kind of “lose the groove” if you do this, if you are more inexperienced, so it’s something you have to decide for yourself. But I think the benefits of taking that week off of heavy barbell lifting usually outweigh the negatives. You’ll get back in the groove in not time the following week.

For assistance exercises you have two choices. Intermediates should just do fewer sets but keep the intensity the same. You could do the same weight as the previous week or even try to go up. However, the intensiveness (not what some people mistake as intensity) should not be as high as the previous week . This means that you need to give your CNS a break on your deload week and shouldn’t be going to failure or getting overly psyched up on anything.

For guys who have been training a while and are a bit beyond the intermediate level I recommend cutting the intensity by 20-40% on assistance exercises. So just take 20-40% off all your weights. If you did incline db presses for 10 reps with the 100′s on week three you would do 60′s- 80′s on your deload week. The stronger/more advanced/more beat up and further along in a training cycle you are the greater the drop off % should be. It also depends on the exercise. If you’re normally using 150lbs on a 1 arm row I would want to drop that down by a full 40%. But if it was just something like a face pull or curl you could easily get away with just dropping it 20%. You would do the same number of reps as the previous week but just cut the sets.

The other option is to just take the week entirely off from heavy lifting. I first did this back in the mid 90′s after a phone conversation with Ian King, and my results were awesome. My recovery dramatically improved, my testosterone went up, I was sleeping better and I had fewer nagging injuries. Like any good American I wanted more and got suckered into other stuff and got away from that for a while.

Be sure to lighten your weights on deload weeks

That was until I went to Nazareth Barbell one day for a visit and big Mike Miller told me that that’s what they did. Three weeks on of balls to the wall training, one week off entirely. They went at it hard and absolutely killed it for three weeks, then they rested. They were all monsters and I’m pretty sure Mike was the first guy to squat 1200. So it was hard to argue.

I went back to it again and had some of my over 35 year old clients doing it and they were making great progress.

Like the stubborn, glutton for punishment knucklehead that I am I have yet again gotten away from that schedule but it does work incredibly well and should strongly be considered by all those over 40 who like to go heavy and balls deep like we do. If all you do is some light bodyweight training or kettlebell stuff, deloading won’t be as important for you. But if you like moving iron and do stuff that stresses your shoulders, spine, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles regularly (like military presses, squats, farmers walks, tire flips, deadlifts- ya know, all the fun stuff) then I would highly suggest deloading regularly.

If the over 35 crowd doesn’t want to take the week off entirely they should definitely at least reduce both the volume AND the intensity on their deload weeks. Not doing so really isn’t even an option, in my opinion, because it will keep you in the game and healthy a lot longer. Either you take the deload week and truly deload or you will be forced to deload due to an injury sooner or later.

Also, for the over 35 crowd I can’t recommend going more than 10-12 weeks without taking a complete week off entirely; with once every 8 (or fewer) weeks being an even better option. During these weeks you can stay active- walking, swimming, hiking, stretching, etc. But no lifting. Hopefully that gave you some good ideas about how to deload properly without being too confusing.

To sum it up…

- Reduce total # of sets by 40%
- Reduce intensity on big lifts to 50% of 1RM or just eliminate them all together
- Reduce intensity on assistance work to 80% of the previous weeks weight (if that doesn’t allow enough recovery drop the % down to 75% the next cycle, and so on and so on until you decide what % works best for you)

Hermandad de acero: derecho ganado con esfuerzo o por inscripción?

2010-07-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

Do you have what it takes?

by Jason Ferruggia, Author Triple Threat Muscle

Question: Jason, I just wanted to let you know that I have been following your stuff since 2003 and am a huge fan of your work. I am thinking about opening a small, hardcore gym like yours and had a quick question for you. Would you mind sharing with me what kind of application form you use and how you determine who gets to train at Renegade Gym? From what I understand you don’t just accept anybody off the streets, correct? Thanks for all that you do and keep up the great work.
Andy

Answer: Andy, thanks for the comments and the support. Years ago I had a formal application sheet that potential gym members/clients had to fill out as a pre screening measure. After looking over that we would arrange for a sit down interview with them. If I liked what I saw and heard the applicant was granted a short term membership to prove their self. If that worked out they were invited to stay.

Nowadays, in an effort to be more time efficient, and just because I have done this so many times over the last 15 years, we have whittled the application process down to this…you come in and you train. That’s it. Your “application” is your first workout. I know within one training session if someone is Renegade material and if they are someone we want at the gym. After that first session I will invite someone to train with us or bluntly let them know that it isn’t going to work out. At this point in my career it usually doesn’t even take a workout any more. One two minute conversation is usually enough. But I try to give people the benefit of the doubt.

At Renegade we want and accept only the most dedicated, disciplined hardest workers around. There is absolutely zero tolerance for anything less than 100% commitment. I don’t say that to be cool or hardcore or tough. Because I am none of those things. I say it because I take this business very seriously and am not in it for the money. I do it because I eat, sleep and breathe this shit. I am obsessed with it. I love getting people bull fucking strong and jacked out of their minds. I love helping guys run faster and jump higher. I live to help people hit goals and do things they never thought possible.

The majority of people, however, just don’t have the level of commitment that I expect and demand. That is why I have turned down more clients than I have accepted and will always continue to do so. It’s why I have always thrown an average of probably half a dozen people per year out of the gym. From a business perspective I highly recommend that you do the same. When you’re starting out it can be tempting to just take money from everyone that comes your way. But doing this will ruin your business in the long run. Your clients/ members need to be walking billboards for your company. And if they are lazy, whining schmucks, how is that going make you look when they get zero results and then tell people they train at your place? Never mind the fact that these types of negative, weak minded people will ruin the atmosphere in the gym, bring others down of and basically make you hate your very existence.

At Renegade we demand that if you are going to be a part of the team, you bring something to the table and make the entire group better. If you are not making the atmosphere better you’re only making it worse and just taking up space that we can’t afford to give you. At Renegade it’s not just about you; it’s about everyone else you train with as well. You need to not only elevate your game but also bring everyone else up with you. And if you are the low man on the totem pole, your job is to get to the top fast.

Like the great strength coaching legend Louie Simmons said about his world famous Westside Barbell Club, “I don’t have room for poodles in my gym; I only want pit bulls.” I am not comparing myself to Louie or Renegade to Westside, because there can not and will not ever be any comparison. But like Louie, I want guys (and girls) who are fiercely competitive and will do whatever it takes to constantly set PR’s and be the top dog in the gym.

I expect that every member of Renegade not only “brings it” each and every time they are in the gym but also that they do whatever is necessary to enhance their results outside of the gym like eating more (or less), getting enough protein, sleeping more, foam rolling, stretching, meditating, doing mobility work, sprinting, conditioning, etc. And if they don’t do it I always know. And soon I lose interest in them. We all do. Renegade is similar to the animal kingdom in that once you fall behind the pack you’re on your own and left to die. The rest of the group will move onward and upward and those who are not doing what’s necessary to excel will be forgotten about. In the jungle, the weakest and slowest water buffalo are left behind to get eaten by the lions. Things are no different at Renegade. When you get to the point that people stop caring about your results and your lack of progress you are all but dead. And your complaints and excuses will fall upon deaf ears because nobody gives a shit.

Yesterday was a max effort squat day, and longtime Renegade member Jeff D’Annunzio walked into the gym with a fire in his eyes and approached me like he was going to punch my teeth out. He told me he couldn’t sleep last night nor could he think about anything all day long at work except hitting big numbers on his squat last night. He had his fists clenched and was nearly foaming at the mouth before we even started warming up.

THAT’S the way it should be.

Some guys walk in and don’t even know what we’re training that day and are more concerned with what they are doing after the workout is over than the task at hand. Those are the guys that won’t last long and will never achieve greatness. I’ve always said if I had a 100 guys like D’Nunz and Doyle I would never leave the gym all day long.

For 15 years people have walked through the doors of Renegade Gym and have left their blood, sweat and tears on the floor. And those people have all become family. I have formed some of my closest friendships and bonds inside those four walls and I love many of those guys like brothers.

In all the years since I first started doing this, I have never once tried to sell myself or the gym. I have read almost as many business books as I have training books and I have helped many people in the fitness industry increase their yearly income to six figures. I know all the rules of business and have taught them to many people. But I don’t follow too many of them. It’s just not in me to do so. Like Sinatra, I have to do things my way.

Many of my friends and clients joke around about my salesmanship, saying it’s the worst they’ve ever seen. One of my oldest clients, Mike Schwalb, brought his friend Andrew Slater in once about six or seven years ago, and on the way to the gym repeatedly told him, “Don’t expect any sales pitch whatsoever from Jay. In fact, don’t expect him to say much of anything. He really doesn’t give a shit if you train there or not. If anything you’re gonna have to prove to him why he should let you train there.”

Andrew is now one of my close friends who I go to concerts and party in Vegas with. Something neither of us would have guessed that first day. But when you go to battle with a guy you develop a level of respect and mutual admiration that you can’t get in any other way. And if he starts slacking in the gym I’ll be the first person to get on his ass and let him know it.

I couldn’t possibly count the number of people who have trained at Renegade over the years. The weak fall out rather quickly; the driven often become lifetime members.

My friend and longtime client, Joey “Styles” Scott told me recently that winning the Big East Championship with Seton Hall University and playing professional baseball in the Oakland A‘s organization both paled in comparison to the times he had training at Renegade. He said it was the best time of his life and many have echoed his sentiments.

To create something that special that people love so much is an amazing feeling that no words can describe. There is no amount of money in the world that can replace that. That is why I will never accept payment from just anyone who walks in my door. It’s not about the money.

It’s about creating a place where guys can excel beyond any and all expectations and be the absolute best they can be. And if you’re not prepared to do whatever it takes to be the best… you’re not prepared to train at Renegade.

Jason Ferruggia is the owner of Renegade Gym in New Jersey and the author of Triple Threat Muscle

Excelente Articulo de Ferrugia Incluye a uno de mis idolos

2010-07-21T11:43:00.003-07:00

Hill Sprints For Fat Loss

If you know me you know I like to keep things simple. I’m a big believer in the 80/20 rule. Focusing on too many things and making too many changes at once is always a recipe for disaster and will undoubtedly lead to lackluster results. So when people ask me for some tips on how to get lean I tell them two things- diet and sprint. Pretty simple stuff.

Diet is really 80% of getting lean but that’s another topic entirely. Today we’re simply gonna focus on hill sprints for fat loss. Mainly because not enough people are doing them and many of those who are, are doing them all wrong. If you are new to sprinting you need to take it easy. I mean reeeeaaaally easy. If the last time you ran a sprint was the week before senior prom you need to be very cautious or you’ll probably get hurt.

If this describes you I’d start with hill sprints. Why hill sprints? Well, firstly, because Walter Payton did them. And most of us should strongly consider doing whatever Walter Payton did just because he was that awesome. Because he was my favorite athlete growing up (along with Michael Jordan) I started running hill sprints way back in the 80’s when I found out that that’s what “Sweetness” did (and that poster, pictured above, was on my bedroom wall for years. You see how ripped Payton was?). When I found out a few years later that they were a major part of Jerry Rice’s off season training regimen, their greatness was reaffirmed in my mind.

Hill sprints place your body in a safer position because of the angle, so there is far less impact. The risk of pulling a hammy or popping an Achilles or something in your knee is greatly reduced. So, for most of us, this is the way to go. Another great thing about hill sprints versus other fat loss methods is that they also build muscle at the same time. Can’t really say that for the stairmaster, can you?

Now, before you get started you should warm up properly. Wearing some neoprene knee sleeves might be a good idea just to keep the knees warm. I recommend starting with about five to ten minutes of low intensity drills to get the body ready for the task at hand. A good warm up might consist of:

•   Jumping jacks •   Flings •   Seal jumps •   Ali shuffle •   Low pogo jump s•   High pogo jumps
•   Prisoner squats •   Gate swing s•   Wide out s•   Leg swings- front, back, side to side
•   Walking lunges•   High knees •   Butt kick s•   Tuck jumps •   Lateral shuffling •   Skipping
•   Etc.

The nice thing about sprinting up a hill is that you don’t require as much of a warm up. After hitting 5-10 minutes of the drills listed above start with some lower intensity sprints. Do one at about 60%, then 70%, another at 80%, one more at 90% and then you’re ready to go. For the most part I recommend that your sprint work be done at around 95-97%. Very rarely should you go all out at 100%. I realize that the difference between 95-97% and 100% may seem very small but an athlete in tuned with his body can tell the difference. And keeping the intensity just that much lower makes a big difference in overall recovery and CNS fatigue.

Again, if it’s your first sprint session in years you need to start way easier than you think. I recommend no more than FIVE sprints of no more than 40 yards the first day. Some times I see coaches or trainers recommend starting with ten 40-50 yard sprints. When I see this it’s immediately obvious that they haven’t trained too many people and haven’t done this themselves. Or they have been sprinting for years and forgot what its like to be a beginner. Beginners need to be extremely cautious and should start at only about 85-90% for the first week or so and keep the total number of sprints very low.

See how you feel after the first session and give it a go again in about five days. Slowly increase the intensity over time. Rest periods can be as short or as long as you need them to be. You want to keep your heart rate elevated but you don’t want to rest so little that your form starts getting sloppy and you risk injury. If you were training for speed you might be resting up to five minutes between each set. But since today’s topic is hill sprints for fat loss try to keep the rest periods a bit lower. We don’t need complete CNS recovery here.

The next thing we need to discuss is proper running mechanics. This is where most people get it all wrong. A couple weeks ago I went down to the field with my long time friend, Mike DeSanti (the creator of the recipes in the Triple Threat Muscle nutrition guide and our upcoming recipe book) and we ran some sprints. Since a qualified coach had never taught Mike how to sprint before he was just running like he always had without much thought involved.

I wanted him to feel the difference so I let him do about five or six sprints the old way. Then I taught him to run properly. His speed increased dramatically on the next one and when he hit the 50-yard line he broke out into hysterical laughter.

“I can’t believe I just learned how to sprint at thirty years old!”

“That was awesome!”

“I never moved like that in my life!”

“I was like a gazelle!”

He could barely get the words out through the laughter and since he was cracking up so hard I started dying, myself. We laughed uncontrollably the entire way back to the goal line and it continued throughout the rest of our workout. Mike was so blown away by the difference that proper running mechanics made that he couldn’t contain himself. So what did I show Mike that most people don’t know?

Since this is not a discussion on maximal speed training or mastering the 40 yard or 100 meter dash we won’t concern ourselves with the start so much. Instead, to be safe, we will use flying starts, meaning you start by running at less than your maximal speed and work your way up to top speed over the course of 15-20 yards.

• Starting from the top down, the face must be relaxed. Do night clench your jaw or make any crazy faces. Relax.

• Keep the chest up and shoulders back and down.

• No side to side rotation of the pelvis, torso, shoulder girdle is allowed.

• Hips remain forward toward the finish line at all times.

• Arms should be bent ninety degrees with the hands open (no clenched fists or flailing, limp wrists).

• When you are running the arms must pump vigorously, forward and backward. NEVER LET THE ARMS CROSS THE MIDLINE OF THE BODY. Only forward and backward. Little kids run with their arms side to side. Don’t do that or we will all make fun of you.

• Think of pulling yourself through the air by driving your arms back as fast and hard as you can. The hands come up to a level even with the face and they come down and cross your pocket on the way back (but no further; don’t have them swinging way behind you).

• Drive the knees high and be sure that the foot strikes directly under your body; not out in front of you (although, on a hill this may be slightly different depending on the incline).

• Only the front portion of the foot should strike the ground; the heel should never make contact.

• When the ball of the foot makes contact with the ground think of yourself as an animal pawing at the ground and rapidly pulling it behind you.

• As Charlie Francis said, running takes place on the ground, sprinting takes place above it. If you do it right you should feel minimal impact or stress and should feel like you are flying effortlessly. If you’re taking a lot of pounding and it feels like a lot of work, you’re doing something wrong and should consider having someone watch or video tape you for some feedback.

What I listed above are basically the instructions for flat ground sprints but can easily be applied to the hill. A few angles will change here and there but for the most part, if you follow those recommendations you’ll be ahead of the pack and your sprints will be a lot safer and faster.

Just in case you aren’t convinced that hill sprinting isn’t the way to go just yet, consider that the current 49ers head coach, Mike Singletary, who played most of his career with Walter Payton and had several outings against Jerry Rice, has taken a page out of the legends books and added hill sprints to the teams off season training regimen.

“There’s something about the hill,” Singletary told reporters back in mid-March 2009, after the 49ers first minicamp and the hill was on full display for the first time. “It’s beautiful to look at but what it’s going to do for our guys is it’s going to bring about something that you can’t really get in the weight room, something that you really can’t get on the track.”

“All the guys that I know that worked out on a hill, they were a cut above some of the other competition around the league and they had a long playing careers,” Singletary said. “So I’m excited about the hill and it just adds another dimension to our workout.”

So make like Payton and Rice and the entire current 49ers team and go find yourself a hill and start sprinting…

REvisen sus programas yo ya estoy revisando el mio!!!!!

2010-07-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

MMA Workout Program Basics

By Eric Wong, BSc, CSCS

Strength and conditioning are keys to MMA success. Your MMA workout must develop all of the components you need for mixed-martial arts. In the past many athletes could get away with mediocre conditioning if they were highly skilled martial artists, but if you look at today’s UFC champs, they’re all highly skilled and in great shape.

So if you’re training MMA, to get the most out of your mixed-martial arts classes, you need to be in good shape. If you’re not in top shape, you’ll be more focused on your fatigue and breathing than on perfecting the details of the techniques you’re learning. And without good technique, you’ll waste more energy, creating a vicious cycle. If you’re out of shape, you need to focus on your base conditioning, before you can get the most out of your skills training. And if you’re in OK shape, getting into great shape will further enhance what you already know.

The 9 Key Components an
Effective MMA Workout MUST Have
(or you're just wasting your time and energy)

1) Workouts to develop all 3 energy systems: aerobic, anaerobic lactic (glycolytic), anaerobic alactic (ATP-CP)

The Anaerobic alactic system gives you high-power for 10 seconds - that's the energy system you need to train to knock your opponent out or get an explosive takedown
The Anaerobic lactic system gives you that burning feeling - it's what you need when you're in a heavy clinch or doing a lot of grappling
The Aerobic system helps you stay fresh and recover between rounds

2) Exercises designed to enhance movements specific to mixed-martial arts

Example #1 - Many people hate on bicep curls but they’re necessary to hold underhooks when standing or to defend an armbar, so they must be a part of the program
Example #2 – Powerful strikes come from having a high level of dynamic core stability in the rotational (transverse) plane of motion, so exercises like medicine ball side tosses are necessary

3 planes of motion

3) Exercises that work all 3 planes of motion: sagittal, frontal, and transverse

Most exercises that you do are predominantly in the sagittal plane: Bench press, Squat, Deadlift
Examples of frontal plane exercises include Side bridges and Turkish getups
The transverse plane is where you earn your bonus for Knockout of the Night: again, Medicine ball side tosses are a great exercise for pure development of this plane

4) A workout program that doesn’t make you too sore so you can effectively train their MMA skills. If you're following a standard bodybuilder or powerlifter routine, you're going to get sore and it will hurt your ability to perform MMA techniques with proper form because the body always avoids pain when it can.

5) An effective MMA workout program must not put on too much muscle mass (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, like bodybuilding) – instead the focus must be on strength and muscle density (myofibrillar hypertrophy)

6) A progression scheme that peaks your conditioning level for the fight, taking into consideration the typical volume and intensity of MMA training leading to the fight

7) A workout program that doesn’t demand more than 3 days a week of strength and conditioning. Anymore than this will surely detract from MMA skills training

8) Exercises that will train all 8 biomotor abilities: strength, power, endurance, speed, agility, co-ordination, balance, and flexibility

9) Exercises that will help prevent common injuries to fighters:

Example – the shoulder is often a problem with fighters, especially those who rely on their boxing, which causes overdevelopment of the anterior deltoid and demands a lot of anterior acceleration of the humerus in the capsule – so to minimize the impact on the joint itself, the muscles that are responsible for deceleration (external rotators, posterior deltoid, scapular stabilizers) must be strengthened eccentrically

All of these points are essential to the complete physical development for a mixed-martial artist. There are many basic strength programs out there, like the 5x5 and Starting Strength programs, but they leave out some crucial elements such as training the transverse plane that is responsible for developing KO power.

Not to say that these programs are not beneficial, they definitely are better than doing something randomly or not doing anything at all, but they are not specific to MMA athletes, they are generalized strength programs.

Then there are the general conditioning programs, like CrossFit. Although they can be very challenging, they are random workouts with no goal in mind other than to make you sweat, again providing a more general type of fitness instead of the specific requirements needed by a mixed-martial artist as outlined in this article.

If you’re currently working out, look at the points in this article and add in what is missing and you’ll surely feel the impact on what matters most – your MMA performance.

REtomo actividades con un artículo de Ferrugia

2010-07-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

Fat Burning Tips:

An Interview with Chad Waterbury

About three or four years ago Chad Waterbury and I connected for the first time through our mutual friend, Alwyn Cosgrove. Over several Jack & Red Bulls at a bar in Santa Monica, we discussed training for hours on end. Despite the fact that we went into the meeting with seemingly very different views and theories, we concluded that we agreed much more than we disagreed. Since that night Chad’s become one of my good friends and we discuss training on a weekly basis. He’s one of the guys I trust most and I’m always interested in hearing what he’s been experimenting with as of late.

Since summer’s in full swing and a large number of people are in fat loss mode I grabbed Chad last week for a few minutes to sit down and share some of his top fat burning tips.

Here’s how it went…

Jason Ferruggia: Chad, the majority of people reading this site want to get bigger and stronger but many of them would also like to be learner as well. The problem, however, is that when most people embark on a fat burning phase the first thing that happens is they start losing muscle faster than King Kong Bundy pinned S.D. Jones at WrestleMania I (which I was at, BTW) How can this be avoided?

Chad Waterbury: You’re right. I’ve lost count how many guys I’ve seen who’ve lost almost half the muscle they gained once they try to get six-pack abs. It’s not easy to build muscle, but it’s definitely easy to lose it.

There are three keys to avoiding this. First, stimulate as many muscle fibers as possible with full-body workouts comprised of strength and cardio strength exercises that are performed at top speed.

Second, follow a systematic progression plan in order to make your body do more work over time.

Third, feed your muscles the nutrients it needs at the right times.

JF: What are the three biggest mistakes you see people making when trying to lose fat?

CW: The first mistake is performing long duration cardio at a low intensity. Nothing wastes muscle tissue faster than jogging for an hour. When muscles are forced to continuously contract for 45 minutes or an hour, that energy has to come from somewhere. The body is very stubborn and doesn’t want to use fat for energy because it’s much easier to break down muscle tissue instead. This is why marathon runners are skinny and weak.

Second, when people try to lose fat they drop too many calories, too fast. Your anabolic hormones are fed by certain, key nutrients. When people go on a low-calorie diet they end up giving their muscles fewer nutrients for support and recovery. This quickly puts the body in a very catabolic state.

The third biggest mistake guys tend to make is choosing the wrong exercises and workouts to lose fat. Most people end up lifting light weights for a ton of reps. This is the exact opposite of what they should be doing because they’re not recruiting the muscle fibers they’re trying to keep: the biggest, strongest ones.

Think about it. When people try to burn fat they instinctively do the three worst things possible to maintain muscle. I’ve seen guys lose 10 pounds of muscle in a matter of weeks when they combine low-intensity cardio, high rep weight training, and a low calorie diet. This is a travesty.

JF: What are your top three fat burning tips? Actually, let’s start with three for training and then we’ll go into three for nutrition.

CW: The first step is to make your cardio training short and intense. Tabata’s research taught us that high intensity cardio is the way to go because you’ll boost your anaerobic and aerobic power at the same time, and you’ll stimulate your metabolism to burn calories long after you leave the gym. Low-intensity cardio only burns calories while you’re doing it. High intensity cardio stimulates your metabolism to keep burning calories long after you stop.

Next, for every other workout it’s important to lift weights that are heavy enough to recruit your biggest, strongest muscle fibers. A 6-10 rep maximum is enough to get the job done when you accelerate the lift. There are two reasons why this is important. First, you’ll keep the muscle you have because you’re recruiting all of your muscle fibers. As I’ve mentioned in my books and articles, when you recruit the largest muscle fibers you’re also recruiting all of the other muscle fibers because of the size principle. As the saying goes: if you don’t use it, you lose it. Second, when heavy weights are performed in a full-body circuit with short rest periods, it drastically increases the metabolic cost of a workout. That’s essential for burning fat. But you can’t do much heavy training while cutting fat, so that’s why the next step is so important.

Third, you must perform cardio and cardio strength exercises at top speed. There are no typical cardio exercises in my world. Instead of jogging on a treadmill I have my clients perform a circuit of, say, split jacks, jumping jacks, and burpees for multiple rounds as fast as possible. Then I have them do exercise pairings that don’t require a lot of weight, but still recruit all your muscle fibers when performed at top speed. I call this “cardio strength” training. A good example is the kettlebell swing and push-up pairing. Start with 13 swings, then immediately drop to the floor and do 13 push-ups. Jump back to your feet and do 12 swings followed by 12 push-ups. Then do 11 swings and 11 push-ups. Continue with this sequence until you reach one rep of each exercise.

Tomorrow I’ll be back atcha with part 2 where Chad discusses his top fat burning nutrition tips, shares some real life examples of what he’s doing with his current clients and reveals who won when he and I raced in a hundred meter dash…

Fortaleza mental en todos los aspectos

2010-06-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

En estos tiempos ando en el rollo de a preparaci´øn mental y en este posteo les comparto un artículo de Vince Palko que en realidad trasciende el umbral deportivo y encuentra aplicacion en la vida diaria, aprovechenlo...

What do John Elway, Hines Ward and Brian Pruitt

all have in common?

First, a lil diddy: Back in college it came down to the biggest game of my collegiate career - BG vs Central Michigan, the winner went to the Mac championship. Central had a top rated running back that year name Mike Priutt. Nothing did I like better than having the challenge rest on the dee to stop this guy. The first play from the line of scrimmage was a sixty yard scamper to the end zone by Mr Pruitt. After that, he was lucky to get fifty yards total.

On one play, I remember drilling Mike into the ground with everything I had. He let out a gust of wind emptying his lungs.... "Umph!" "Ya come on my side a-gain and yur gonna get more of dhat," I whispered in his ear hole.

"Vince, May God be with you!" "What?!?!?!?!" I thought. How can this be? I leveled him and his response was "May God be with you." My strategy for mentally messing with his head was trumped.

People who practice mental toughness have a knack for never letting you know an ounce of their pain inside. Theyre tough as nails. They eat thunder and crap lightning.

John Elway was another example of this. No matter how hard a linebacker would thump him he always stood-up displaying that cheshire grin. In fact, no matter if the Bronchoes were behind or ahead

he alwas seemed to have the same expression. As a fan on the opposing team it was frustating as heck to watch.Can you imagine being an opposing player and seeing that when you line up for every snap.

Heines ward is another example if you want a more recent person who practices this "smile into adversity" principle. After every jaw rattling tackle he pops up off the ground with that cheesy smile. It almost looks fake if it were not plastered on his face - all game long.

So is this another one of my many ole football stories that I mindlessly pound out that have zero to do with your life. Hardly.

There are many folks who are in a world of hurt. Maybe not physically but mentally. If you are unemployed. If you are facing foreclosure. If you are at odds with your employer. Basically, if you are living life... chances are you are being challenged now more than ever.

So my advice is smile into adversity. Smile when it hurts most. Dont let the circumstances get the best of you; less you give your power away to people, places and things that dont count in the grand scheme of things. Or the big picture.

When you smile when you dont feel like it, you instantly change your energy. You change the way people respond to you. In essence, you activate your FAITH muscle trusting everything will be alright in the future. And FAITH is one of the key components to success and turning your life around.

La sabiduría de Cus D´Amato

2010-06-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

On November 4th, it will have been 21 years since the death of Cus D'Amato - a man who helped alter the future of the sport and who developed some of the greatest fighters in history. To remember this legendary trainer we would like to give you some of Cus D'Amato's words of wisdom and remember the great man and brilliant trainer/manager he was.

Cus D'Amato on how the recognition and acknowledgement of fear is the crucial lesson he taught and was ignored by other trainers:

Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning in any area, but particularly in boxing. For example, boxing is something you learn through repetition. You do it over and over and suddenly youve got it. However, in the course of trying to learn, if you get hit and get hurt, this makes you cautious, and when youre cautious you cant repeat it, and when you cant repeat it, its going to delay the learning process.

When kids came up to the gym and say I want to be a fighter, the first thing Id do was talk to them about fear would always use the same example of the deer crossing an open field and upon approaching the clearing suddenly instinct tells him danger is there, and nature begins the survival process, which involves the body releasing adrenalin into the bloodstream, causing the heart to beat faster and enabling the deer to perform extraordinarily feats of agility and strength. It enables the deer to get out of range of the danger, helps him escape to the safety of the forest across the clearing, an example in which fear is your friend.
The thing a kid in the street fears the most is to be called yellow or chicken, and sometimes a kid will do the most stupid, wild, crazy things just to hide how scared he is. I often tell them that while fear is such an obnoxious thing, an embarrassing thing nevertheless it is your friend, because anytime anyone saves your life perhaps a dozen times a day, no matter what how obnoxious he is, youve got to look upon him as a friend, and this is what fear is.

Since nature gave us fear in order to help us survive, we cannot look upon it as an enemy. Just think how many times a day a person would die if he had no fear. Hed walk in front of cars, hed die a dozen times a day. Fear is a protective mechanism.

By talking to the fighters about fear I cut the learning time maybe as much as half, sometimes more, depending on the individual.

More words of wisdom:

"They say I 'mold' a fighter, but no. I help him mold himself. I bring out with him qualities that he has buried deep down, that many times he doesn't know he has. My job is to discover and uncover, bring 'em to the surface slowly or quickly, dependin' on how much dirt is layin' on top of 'em. When I bring 'em to the surface, I not only become fully and completely aware of 'em, but the fighter does too."

"The first lesson I teach these kids before I teach them to box is a lesson about Fear, about what Fear is and why we have it. Fear is like a fire. If you control it, as we do when we heat our houses, it is a friend. When you don't, it consumes you and everything you do and everything around you."

"I am a professional. My commitment demands of me... my pride. Everybody sets his own limitations on himself. I set no limitations on myself, except to do the job that I commit myself to do."

"I deal in minds and emotions."

"There is no such thing as a natural puncher. There is a natural aptitude for punching and that is different. Nobody is born the best. You have to practice and train to become the best."

"A boy comes to me with a spark of interest and it becomes a flame. I feed the flame and it becomes a fire. I feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze."

"Mike's (Tyson) punch is like an atomic bomb in that it is relative to nature. Both have no value unless you have a means of conveying it to the target. He is boxing-smart."

"When a fighter no longer wants to fight, he finds a convenient corner to lie down in. It's all psychological."

"Any kid coming here (Gramercy Gym) for the first time who thinks he wants to be a fighter, and who makes the climb up those dark stairs, has it 50% licked, because he's licking fear."

"People who are born round don't die square."

"No matter what anyone says, no matter the excuse or explanation, whatever a person does in the end is what he intended to do all along."

"Heroes and cowards feel exactly the same fear. Heroes just react to it differently."

"There are no stupid people. There are only uninterested people."

"People, especially if they come up in a rough area, have to go through a number of experiences in life that are intimidating and embarrassing. These experiences form layer upon layer over their capabilities and talents. So your job as a teacher is to peel off those layers."

"People talk about boxing as a 'brutal' sport. If fighters got hit as often as people think, they'd all quit."

"With fear, a man becomes emotionally tired and when he is afraid, he has no faith in himself."

"I believe nature's a lot smarter than anyone thinks. During the course of a man's life he develops a lot of pleasures and people he cares about. Then nature takes them away one by one. It's her way of preparing you for death.

Poderosa Reflexión:

2010-05-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

ADVERSARIO

Tú eres mi adversario, pero no mi enemigo…Porque tu resistencia me da fuerza, tu voluntad me da coraje, tu espíritu me ennoblece. Y a pesar de que quiero vencerte si lo logro, no te humillaré En lugar de eso te honraré, porque sin ti sería nada.

Para fuerza y resistencia estan los 300 y para crecer estan las 100

2010-05-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

100 Rep Sets For Muscle…A KILLER Mass Training Strategy

By Nick Nilsson

100 rep training is pretty simple: 1 set of a hundred reps. You do just one set of one exercise per bodypart and do a total-body workout each time you train. Very simple but VERY challenging. So what could possibly be useful about this technique for muscle-building, I can hear you ask? Isn't the resistance you'd have to use in order to get 100 reps in a set be way too light for building muscle?

And the answer to that is ABSOLUTELY. The main purpose of this training is not to build muscle directly (though it does have some potential to build your slow-twitch, Type 1 endurance-oriented fibers). The purpose of 100 rep training is to improve what I call "microcirculation" in your muscles. I'll explain…

In your circulatory system, you have blood vessels…arteries to carry blood to the tissues of the body and veins to bring it back to the heart. Where the real action happens is in the capillaries…the tiny blood vessels that are so small only one red blood cell can fit through at a time. THAT is where oxygen and nutrients get delivered to the muscle cells and THAT is absolutely critical for building muscle.

So think of microcirculation as those little blood vessels where food and oxygen feed your muscles. Now think about this…the more of those little blood vessels your muscles have to feed them, the easier it will be for those muscles to GROW. Think of the muscles that you have a hard time building…do you find it hard to get a "pump" in those muscles? THAT is poor microcirculation at work.

So the idea with 100 rep training is to increase capillary density and basically improve the food and oxygen supply to your muscles, setting the stage for better muscle growth when you go back to heavy training. And as sore as you get from 100 rep training, that soreness ain't gonna result in a whole lot of muscle growth….we're just improving the plumbing, which will in turn help you supply your growing muscles with more nutrients to build with!

It does this by literally FORCING blood cells through the cracks, meaning you're going to force so much blood into the target muscles for such a long period that the traffic jam of blood cells will cause the body to CREATE new capillaries in order to deal with the overflow.

Think of yourself in a traffic jam on the road and think of how cool it would be just go off the road and drive through that field beside the road. THAT is what your body is doing…creating a new road where there was no road before, which helps deliver more food and oxygen to the muscles (and remove waste more efficiently, too!). And the bottom line is, it WORKS.

HOW TO DO IT:

This is where the rubber meets the road. 100 rep training is just what I said…one set of a hundred reps done straight through. Sounds simple but there are a few technical details I want to give you to help make it workable. I recommend doing this training as a total body workout each time. Each workout will take about 45 to 60 minutes to get through. Take 90 seconds rest between each set/exercise. You can take a bit more time when using bigger exercises that generate more lactic acid (like leg press, for instance).

Train every other day with this style of training (you can add in an extra rest day if you need it) - it will result in a LOT of soreness the first few times you do it. When I used this program, I trained through the soreness - I find that actually helps decrease it. As long as soreness doesn't compromise training form, you'll be fine to train while sore. Here are the exercises I used and the order I used them in. I've found certain exercises are better to use with this style of training than others, but feel free to experiment to find what works best for you.

You'll notice that these are more "bodybuilding" type exercises than "functional" type exercises. With this type of training, we want to just focus on cranking the reps out, not on having to balance and constantly adjust so it's actually BETTER to use more traditional movements…that's why I've listed leg press instead of squats here (more on that later, though - I've got a variation for you with squats that works GREAT).

Seated Cable Rows
Leg Press
Dumbell Bench Press
Lying Leg Curls
Seated Dumbell Shoulder Press
EZ Bar Preacher Curls
Seated Calf Raises
Pushdowns
Crunches

(on a side note, I haven't done regular floor crunches in literally YEARS - I usually do low reps and added resistance…this was a BIG change of pace!) So to repeat…just do ONE set of each exercise and take 90 seconds rest (a minute and a half) between exercises. This will give you enough time to get to the next exercise and get it set up.

The first time you do 100 rep sets, you will basically have NO idea what weight to use. Start lighter than you think you'll need to (trust me). After you do your first set, you'll have a better idea of what it's all about. I HIGHLY recommend keeping a log of your sets and weights so you know how to adjust for the next workout. I'll give you examples of how I adjust things and how to know when to increase or decrease the weight you're using.

Seated Cable Rows - in my first workout the first set I did was with 80 lbs. I managed to get a full 100 reps all the way through with no stopping. So in the next workout, I increased the weight to 90 lbs. I got 100 reps again in the next workout so I increased the weight again (to 100 lbs).

In THAT workout, I was able to get only to 70 reps before lactic acid got me and I had to take a brief rest. What that happens, set the handle down, shake out your arms for a few seconds then immediately grab the handle again and keep going (maybe 3 to 5 seconds rest). You might get another 10 reps before you have to set the handle down again and give the lactic acid a chance to clear.

Repeat this pattern until you get the full 100 reps, even if you're only getting a few reps at a time towards the end. The key is to just give the lactic acid a chance to clear a little then go right back at it. This gets you past what I call "chemical failure" and allows you to really push the muscles harder. It keeps the blood in the muscles and really builds that microcirculation without letting lactic acid totally limit you.

And yes, before you ask, this style of training IS good for fat loss. The lactic acid you get from this style of training boosts GH release and can be used very effectively for fat loss. But here's the only problem…it also results in a LOT of muscle damage (especially the first few times you use it). If you're on a low-calorie diet, your body doesn't have ample nutrients and energy to recover from it so it can longer to recuperate from.

The other issue is that when you're on a diet, your glycogen levels (and potentially water levels) are lower. This means you may not get the same volume of blood pushing through your muscles to help build that microcirculation.

Leg Press - in this exercise, you actually have a moment at the top of the movement where you can lock out the knees and release the tension in the muscles, which allows for some clearance of lactic acid. Take this into account when doing the exercise. The first set I did of this, when I hit 80 reps, I felt like I need a break but instead of setting the weight down, I locked out my knees and shook my quads out a bit and kept going.

Dumbell bench press - now we get into how to know when to adjust the weight you're using. On the first set of this, I got 50 reps. Then I used the short-rest technique to continue the set all the way to 100 reps. If I would have gotten UNDER 50 reps, I would have kept going but decreased the weight in the next workout in order to go straight through as much as possible.

As it was, because I hit the 50, I decided to remain at the same weight for the next workout and see how I improved. In the next workout, I hit 70 reps with the same weight and 80 reps the following the workout, before having to take brief rests. When I would have hit 100 reps straight through THEN I would have increased the weight and taken it from there.

*** So the rule of thumb is, if you get less than 50 reps on the first attempt, reduce the weight next time. If you get more than 50 reps, stick with the same weight next time. If you get 100 reps, increase the weight by the smallest increment possible next time.***

On exercises like leg press and preacher curls, you'll find there are points in the exercise where you can release the tension in the muscles and rely on skeletal support for a moment. This is a good way to keep the exercise going and keep the reps going straight through. That's 100 rep training!

It's not too complex but these tips should help you make it work in your training. If you've hit a plateau in your muscle building, this could be just what the doctor ordered to get yourself back on track.

This type of training should be done for at least 2 weeks (or 6 to 8 workouts) but not any more than that, if you're looking to build muscle. It'll help build microcirculation but because the weights are so light, you don't want to use it for too long. It'll take you probably at least a week to get past the soreness…once you do, then you'll really be able to see what your body is capable of for endurance.

SQUAT TECHNIQUE - Delaying Fatigue

I mentioned that technique for doing squats with this 100 rep technique. Here's what I did… 20 sets of 5 reps with 5 seconds rest between sets, using 135 lbs on the bar.

I basically took a weight I could get probably 30 to 40 reps straight through and did 5 reps with it. Then re-racked the weight and took a few seconds then got back under and did 5 more reps with it. Naturally, the first 50 or so reps with this technique were fairly easy. The brief rests with an easy weight allowed me to keep going strong for a lot longer than if I tried to go straight through.

With an exercise like the squat, which is so demanding on the whole body and which requires good form and balance, this meant I could KEEP that good form and balance for longer than if I tried to go straight through. Then the NEXT 50 reps is where it got harder…and those last 20 reps were BRUTAL.

This brief rest (if you've used EDT or my Time-Volume Training, this will be familiar to you) allows you to delay fatigue and keep going. You can use this style of training on other exercises, too, especially ones that are more demanding, like deadlifts, etc.

I can promise with this technique you'll either love it or hate it (or love it THEN hate it :)

Te guste o no Ferrugia la canta como la ve...y sabe lo que esta diciendo

2010-05-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Why Some Skinny Guys Will Always Stay Skinny

It’s funny, but in 2010, with all the advances in science and technology that have been made over the last few decades, an average skinny guy has far less of a chance of ever getting significantly bigger, stronger and faster than he did twenty or thirty years ago. Why?

Because there is far too much information out there and society as a whole has developed an incurable case of ADD. The Baltimore Colts won Super Bowl V while training under the watchful eye of legendary strength coach, Bill Starr. You know what their program consisted of?

Bench, squat, clean- three times per week, for five sets of five. It aint sexy or exciting and it’s not what you watch Brock Lesnar do on UFC All Access.

But it’s effective for building muscle and gaining strength.

Brutally effective.

If you’re a hardgainer/beginner then that is the type of program you should be doing.

And don’t tell me it’s boring or ask me how long you should do it for. Get your squat up to at least 1.5 (and preferably 2) times your bodyweight for five reps and then we’ll discuss another option or maybe add in another exercise here and there.

If it worked for the greatest team in the NFL way back then what makes you think something like that wouldn’t work now?

Ideally, before you even start that type of program, you should do a few months of bodyweight only training and be able to do at least 40 pushups before you can even touch a weight. Again, these should consist of an upper body push, an upper body pull and one lower body exercise. No abs, no curls, no kettlebell swings, no box jumps.

If you’re a skinny hardgainer and you hire me or join my gym, that is what you will be doing for the foreseeable future. If you don’t like it and are more interested in being entertained than getting results I will refer you to a trainer at Gold’s down the street for a nice machine based bodybuilding program that will get your little heart pounding.

In fact, I’ll save you the money and write you the program right here for free:

Monday:
Machine incline press- 4 ×12-15
Machine flat bench press- 4×12-15
Incline Cable Crossover- 4 x12-15
Pec Dec Fly- 4×12-15
Cable pushdown- 4×12-15
Rope French press- 4×12-15

Wednesday
Leg press- 4×12-15
Hack squat-4 x12-15
Leg extension- 4×12-15
Leg curl-4×12-15
Standing calf raise- 4×20
Seated calf raise- 4×20

Friday
Front pulldowns- 4×12-15
Behind the neck pulldowns- 4×12-15
Pullover machine- 4×12-15
Seated cable row- 4×12-15
Cable curl- 4×12-15
Machine preacher curl- 4×12-15

Come see me in a year. If you’ve gained more than a couple pounds I’ll shave my eyebrows and get a toupee permanently sutured on like Sol Rosenberg. Or perhaps you want to do what you saw GSP or Nate Marquardt do in preparation for their last fight. That looks like more fun than what those silly old Baltimore Colts did, doesn’t it? Besides, you should really be sweating buckets and near nausea when you’re training for size and strength, right? Ok, here’s your “fun, UFC inspired” mass building program on me, again…

Box jumps- x5
Walking lunges with heavy sandbag- x10
Towel pull ups- xAMAP
Kettlebell swings- x20
Bear crawl- x50 yards
Prowler push- x50 yards
Keg clean and press- x20

Repeat five times with no rest between sets.

Looks more fun and exciting than a few sets of five rep squats and presses, right? You’ll be massive and inhumanly strong in no time, I’m sure. Don’t get me wrong, the tools and exercises listed in the workout above are all very effective and I’ve used them all on a frequent basis since the early 90’s. But if you’re a hardgainer who weighs 138 pounds and your main goal is to gain muscle and get stronger you need to steer clear of this stuff for a few years.

Stick to the big basic exercises and get progressively stronger while shoveling food down your throat every few hours. Don’t miss meals or stay up past 10:30 at night. Do this for two years and we’ll seewhere you’re at. I’ve seen people go from 130 pounds to over 200 in that time frame doing just that.Too many people want to do something completely wacked out and exciting every time they walk into the gym. Occasionally clients used to ask me, “Rack pulls (or 1 arm rows, incline presses, whatever) again? Didn’t we just do those a month ago?” (these people never lasted long) Yup… we did.

And although I would like to feign empathy for you the fact is that I have been doing rack pulls, military presses, squats and pull ups for 23 years straight. Not juggling kettlebells while standing on a Swiss Ball in the middle of rush hour traffic. And I haven’t gotten bored yet. If you want to be entertained book a trip to Vegas or buy the Seinfeld box set (“It’s gold, Jerry…Gold!”)

If you want results you need to get over the ADD and the obsession with doing everything you see your favorite fighter doing and realize that getting big and strong requires a commitment to short, intense training sessions with a limited amount of basic exercises. And no, they won’t leave you drenched with sweat or sick to your stomach. If you’ve been brainwashed into thinking those types of workouts are “too easy,” then get stronger. This will no longer be a valid complaint at that point.

To recap, for beginners and skinny hardgainers to get bigger and stronger they need to do the following:

• Use big, compound lifts- Squats, deads, pull ups, rows, pushups and presses

• Do an average of 3 (and no more than 5) exercises per workout- Usually a push, a pull and a lower body exercise. Do not add in work for the calves, bi’s, tri’s, or abs.

• Do no more than 8-15 total work sets per workout- Any more than this will only be cutting into your recovery ability.

• Train three times per week- Guys with limited recovery ability can’t afford to do more than three workouts per week.

• Limit workouts to 30-45 minutes, max- Anabolic hormone production peaks a half hour into your workout and is down to nada at the sixty minute mark. Cortisol production also rises during this time. Get in, hit it hard and get out.

• Limit the amount of conditioning- Again, unless you have a fight coming up in a few weeks you need to make sure you stay focused on one goal at a time. If that goal is size and strength and you don’t have the genetics of a Mr. Olympia on your side, you need to resist the urge to add in extra conditioning work.

Like Dan John said, “The goal is to keep the goal the goal.”
–

Como andan de fuerza?

2010-05-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Excelente punto de referencia!

How Does Your Strength Compare to D-I Football Players? The purpose of this chart is to set evaluation standards for each athlete giving him an idea of what is a superior strenght level versus a marginal strength level for a specific position.

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN AND DEFENSIVE LINEMAN
Position Levels		Bench Press	Parallel Squat	Incline Press	Power Cleans
Superior	100%	400	500	350	310
Excellent	90%	380	480	330	290
Very Good	80%	355	455	310	270
Good	70%	330	430	290	250
Average	60%	300	400	270	230
Marginal	50%	260	360	250	210

LINEBACKERS, TIGHTENDS, AND SNAPPERS
Position Levels		Bench Press	Parallel Squat	Incline Press	Power Cleans
Superior	100%	360	460	310	280
Excellent	90%	340	440	290	260
Very Good	80%	315	415	270	240
Good	70%	290	390	250	210
Average	60%	260	360	230	190
Marginal	50%	220	320	210	170

OFFENSIVE BACKS
Position Levels		Bench Press	Parallel Squat	Incline Press	Power Cleans
Superior	100%	330	430	280	250
Excellent	90%	310	410	260	230
Very Good	80%	285	385	240	210
Good	70%	260	360	220	190
Average	60%	230	330	200	170
Marginal	50%	190	290	180	150

DEFENSIVE BACKS, QUARTERBACKS, RECEIVERS & KICKERS
Position Levels		Bench Press	Parallel Squat	Incline Press	Power Cleans
Superior	100%	305	405	250	220
Excellent	90%	290	390	230	200
Very Good	80%	270	370	210	180
Good	70%	250	350	190	160
Average	60%	225	315	170	140
Marginal	50%	190	290	150	120

Did you find this chart interesting? See how your bench press measures up compared to your body weight using this chart from Dale Harder's book "Strength & Speed Ratigns".

Sin dolor no hay Gloria?

2010-05-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Training through Pain

‘NO PAIN NO GAIN’.

The common mantra you hear across ‘hardcore’ gyms around the world.Especially in the MMA world.

According to some, if you can’t put up with a little pain, you’re not a man. Well, it’s all B-S-.Kinda.

Here’s the thing… There are different types of ‘pain’ that can happen when you’re training… There’s the burning pain you get in your muscles when you’re pushing yourself through an extra few reps of bench presses or bicep curls that’s a result of excess ‘lactic acid’ buildup in the muscles. This is the type of pain that you want to train through and go beyond, as you know there’s no unwanted damage occurring and you’re not going to cause an injury.

With intense focus and determination, you can often gut out a few more sets compared to when you’re easy on yourself and you don’t have a partner urging you on. One thing to remember is to ALWAYS TRAIN IN PERFECT TECHNIQUE. That means you immediately stop when form breaks down.

If you’re in a fight and you start getting a bit tired, do you think it’s acceptable to have sloppy form?

Obviously not!So train the way you want to fight. Another little tip I always tell my fighters when we’re training hard is to keep a ‘poker face’ (unlike the pic below).

Even if you’re exhausted, don’t let your opponent know it by making faces like you’ve been constipated for the last 7 days and you’re about to unleash the fury! Keep a calm, collected expression and you won’t energize your opponent by looking like you’re almost done.

This generally comes at the end of a hard set or during an intense interval type workout.

Yes, you’ve gotta go hard, but think of it as a controlled aggression, not an all-out, uncontrolled fury.

Other types of pain that you’re going to experience sooner or later include sharp, stabbing type pains where you just know something’s not right. These are the things you want to avoid during training for two reasons.

One - you’re likely causing more damage to already injured tissues, which will lead to a more severe injury and lost training time.

Two - the pain will likely be causing changes in movement and motor patterns, which will lead to compensation injuries in the future.

Here’s an example…When you sprain your ankle, your body wants to stay away from weight-bearing on your left leg.Do this over and over and your body soon starts to avoid using the left leg during all different types of movements. So say you start squatting heavy and because your body is trained to avoid the left leg, your body deviates to the right, putting damaging stresses on the lumbar spine and hips, resulting in an injury whenever you try to squat heavy!

You’ve got to avoid these compensatory movement patterns at all costs, because it takes a lot of specific exercise and rehab to break these patterns. If you’ve had any injuries from training or anything that you think may be disrupting proper movement patterns, leave them in the comments section below and let’s analyze them to see if they may pose a problem for you:

PARA REHABILITAR LOS HOMBROS

2010-04-28T15:40:00.001-07:00

7 Ways to Fix Your Shoulders

As you may know by now I suffered a torn rotator cuff and labrum that required surgery. The injury was a long time in the making and the destruction of my shoulder began many years ago when I was doing stupid things like isometronic training in the power rack and other high risk, low reward methods.

Before surgery I was sitting at about 227 pounds. After several months of being incapacitated and eating like a normal human I was down to 179! Like I’ve always said, my hardgainer genetics are freakishly bad. Hell, my wrists don’t even measure seven inches around.

Anyway, the comeback has been long and frustrating. Because I have the undying urge to go heavy whenever I get near iron and the fact that rational thought processes go out the window after I start warming up, I have reinjured my shoulder a couple times throughout the rehab process. Needless to set these setbacks have been incredibly stressful and annoying to deal with.

While training together at CJ Murphy’s gym in Boston once, my friend Dave Tate commented, “You think Jay’s a smart guy until you see some of the stupid shit he does when he’s training.” And he was 100% right. I do stupid shit. Often and with reckless abandon. It’s my greatest downfall in life. Has been for as long as I can remember. Whether it be flipping dirt bikes, jumping off cliffs or trying to do heavy cleans with an injured shoulder, I just lose control of my rational thought processes when the adrenaline kicks in.

Anyway, the purpose of today’s update is to let you know that after 20 plus years of training I seem to have finally smartened up and have been a bit wiser with my decision making in the gym as of late. As a result my shoulder is feeling a lot better and I’m regaining size and strength pretty quickly.

I’m now back up around 220. It’s a little smaller and softer 220 than how I used to look at this weight but I’ll take it for now. At the rate I’m going I’ll be gaining a lot more size back over the next few weeks and months and I can lean down when I decide the time is right.

After I completed the Triple Threat Muscle program and made great gains, I decided that I was back closer to an advanced level and needed to change my training back to what I used to do pre-surgery. The only difference was that there would have to be major modifications due to the shoulder injury.

So what have been the biggest changes that have made all the difference as of late?

1) I always do a general warm up lasting at least 10 minutes. This consists of various mobility drills and isometric holds for injury prone areas. Years ago I might have walked into the gym in a rush and skipped my warm up entirely. Now I would never dream of it.

2) I do more specific shoulder warm ups. After my general warm up, on an upper body day, I do specific shoulder warm ups. These consist of YTWL’s or something similar. Instead of that sequence I may just do bent over Y-raises, lateral raises, bent over rear delt raises, standing front raises, standing external rotations, all in a row for ten reps each with a pair of fives. After that I will always do two sets of external rotations lying on my side for 12-20 reps. Another great one is to take a medicine ball and place it against the wall. With your hand pressed against it you do the alphabet. I got this one from my friend, Keith Scott and it works like a charm.

3) Shoulder dislocations with a broomstick. These are part of number 2 but are so important that they need an individual mention. Nothing has helped my shoulder more than these. I do 25 reps before every workout and 25-50 reps another couple days per week even when I’m not training. I can’t recommend this drill highly enough. I only wish I had known about it years ago.

4) I do higher reps on my warm up sets. In the past when I was ready to start my work sets I would minimize the reps on warm up sets only because I couldn’t wait to get to the heavy sets. I just wanted to get my warm ups over as fast as humanly possible and load the bar up with heavy weight.

Big mistake. Let’s say I was going to pull 455 for 10. My warm up sets would look like this:

135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 1-3
405 x 1
455 x 10- work set

In retrospect that just seems silly to me now. There’s no way you’re adequately warmed up doing that.

Last night I did barbell military presses. I know I probably shouldn’t even be pressing a bar at this point in my life but I love it and need it. It’s an addiction. My warm ups went like this:

45 x 20
75 x 10
95 x 10
115 x 10
135 x 12- work set

The difference this made was immeasurable. I can’t even begin to tell you how much better I felt doing this than I would have had I done my old style warm up where I got zero pump or blood flow and felt the sets more in my joints than I did in the belly of the muscle. Does this limit the amount of weight I can do on my heaviest work sets? Maybe a bit. But I don’t think the extra few pounds is worth the risk of injury. The body will adapt.

5) I don’t go below eight reps on upper body exercises. And most of my sets fall in the range of 10-12. I will actually only go down to eight reps only after an adequate warm up and maybe a few work sets at a higher rep range. Now, this isn’t to say I will never go below eight reps because I’m sure eventually I will. But right now I have no intentions of doing so. It’s just not worth it. Having said that, what I do is not necessarily what you should do. Hardgainers who try to train solely in the range of 10-12 reps will remain skinny and weak forever. This rep range is better suited for advanced, stronger lifters.

6) I stay far away from failure. I have always recommended this and have practiced what I preached for the most part. But in all honesty, I would let myself get a little out of control in the heat of battle. I rarely ever miss a weight in training but in the past I have come too close too many times. I never, ever allow this anymore. All of reps are piston like, smooth and fast, with control and picture perfect technique, and I never come near failure.

7) I use a limited range of motion. I know, I know you are always supposed to use a full range of motion on every exercise you do. Except for the fact that it’s unnatural and dangerous I guess that old rehashed advice makes some kind of sense. Do me a favor. Hold your hands up in position to do a barbell military press. Now draw an invisible line connecting your two hands. I’ll bet the invisible bar is not sitting on your upper chest. If it is chances are you’re incredibly skinny. Which isn’t a bad thing if you’re a beginner. I’m just making a point here.

For most of us the invisible bar will a couple inches above your chest. If you hold a broomstick in this position, without intentionally trying to bring the bar to your chest, it will probably be around chin level, and that’s where you should be pressing from. Why? Because it’s natural. Bringing it down to your chest would place a lot of undue stress on your shoulders.

Now if you want to count a strict press and compete against someone or whatnot you would technically have to touch your chest. But since there aren’t too many military press contests around I would opt for the safer range and keep the bar somewhere around chin level in the bottom position.
Dead hang chin ups and full extension barbell curls have the same type of destructive effect on the joints. This discussion in itself requires a full article but for now we’ll leave it at that…
No extreme, unnatural ranges of motion.

One final point I would like to make is that I always start my workouts with long sleeves or a hooded sweatshirt unless it’s a minimum of 80 degrees in the gym (and preferably closer to 90). I don’t peel a layer off until near the end, when all the heavy lifting is done. If it’s in the 60’s or 70’s in the gym I stay bundled up throughout. This is nothing new as I’ve always done that. But I thought I’d mention it because it’s a great way to stay healthy. Sometimes people are scared of sweating and want to open the door or turn on the fan or complain about the heat. Little do they know it’s actually helping them stay injury free.

UNO para mi gente "Pinchada"

2010-04-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

How to Lose those Ridiculous Looking Man Boobs

By Jason Ferruggia

Seinfeld fans will undoubtedly never forget the episode in which Frank Costanza and Kramer invented the mansierre, which was a bra for men with excessive breast development. While we all laughed hysterically some people were just the slightest bit uncomfortable because the reality is that an inordinate number of men have “moobs,” or man boobs. If you want to lose man boobs then read on.

Having man boobs is often due to excessively high body fat levels. But it can also be due to high levels of estrogen. Having high estrogen can not only cause you to gain body fat in the chest and lower abdominal area but it can lead to numerous health issues and diseases. Unfortunately more and more males are suffering from increasingly high estrogen levels and this is leading to the continued feminization of the male species as we know it. It has to stop now before it’s too late. How do you do that, you ask?

Simple. Follow my advice below and you will start to get your estrogen levels in check immediately and hopefully eliminate your need for ever having to call up Kramer and Frank for one of their prized inventions.

1) Don’t eat fake foods. If a cavemen couldn’t eat it, you shouldn’t eat. All the chemicals and artificial junk that they put in most foods these days can lead to increased estrogen levels and numerous other health problems.

2) Avoid eating and drinking out of plastic as much as possible.

3) Eat only organic, pesticide and chemical free, organic produce, preferably purchased from a local farmers market.

4) Avoid all meat and dairy unless you are 100% sure that it is drug free and organic. All of the drugs and hormones that go into most animal and dairy products will wreak havoc on your body, dramatically boost estrogen levels and lead to heart disease and cancer.

5) Limit your consumption of fish to no more than once or twice per week. Fish is loaded with PCB’s and dioxins that you should really avoid as much as possible. You should also support clean water laws and organizations like Waterkeeper.

6) Only drink purified water. Our water quality continues to worsen all the time and is filled with numerous toxins and estrogenic compounds.

7) Consume citrus fruits regularly.

Eat lots of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower.

9) If you must drink alcohol try to avoid beer as much as you can because it is highly estrogenic; thus the acclimation of a beer belly. Red wine is a far better choice and may actually be anti estrogenic.

10) Eat a good amount of organic nuts and seeds. A high intake of organic nuts has been linked to increased virility in men.

11) And finally, be sure to only train with short, high intensity workouts that actually boost testosterone levels and decrease estrogen. This includes resistance training and energy system work. Unfortunately, the wrong training program can actually make things worse instead of better.

Be relentless,

Train hard,

Jason Ferruggia

25 razones para entrenar con bandas...ustedes decidan

2010-04-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

25 Lessons I have Learned from

training with bands

I recently read a blog from my good friend Pat Rigsby about lessons he has learned as he evolved inhis

fitness business career. It made me think about what lessons I have learned as I developed Resistance Band Training Systems and www.resistancebandtraining.com

1. Band training changes how the body deals with force reduction and production. Understand that initially it will show up more on the neurological side of things rather than in the mirror. The engine must be running before we can add the horse power.

2. Putting function first. Band training is about improving functional movement and functional strength. I love seeing adults eyes light up when they get athletic and do a feat they thought was impossible. Don’t isolate them, integrate them.

3. As I age, being able to stay functionally young and functionally healthy becomes a higher priority. Looking good is important but being able to play my children on the driveway is top priority these days

4. Performance isn’t just for athletes, it’s for everyone. Band training keeps you athletic which means you get all the benefits in the mirror while creating a higher performance body regardless your age or gender.

5. I love training young athletes because it’s like painting on a new neurological canvas. Fortunately kids love band training, which makes it even easier to get them moving and training well.

6. It takes about 3 weeks for a young athlete to recognize how band training is making a difference. From that point they want to train everyday.

7. Building on success is the only way to get athletes, clients and patients motivated.

8. Don’t knock it until you try it. The people that train in bands, understand what band training does for them but it takes a 2-3 week commitment and not 1 session. Trust me I know, because I use to think that about bands.

9. Muscles are dumb. They react to band training just like they react to dead weight training. What you need to understand is the effect may be different but equally as important to you getting better.

10. Many adults think band training is a last resort. In reality, band training is a necessity not an option if the goal is to create a high performing body that allows you to do what you love to do everyday.

11. Coaches love bands but hate to wait. I have found that coaches just need to understand the importance of progression and not be tempted to jump to the most advanced exercises on day one.

12. The body is unlimited in what it can do. It’s simply a matter of providing it the correct driver.

13. Band training is unlimited in what can be accomplished, but you need to master the basic band exercises before you can evolve into the sexy ones.

14. Band training is perfect for boot camps, but like anything you need to learn yourself before people will trust your teaching.

15. Bands break if you over stretch them. They are tough but not invincible.

16. Band links don’t get tight by themselves, people take them their most of the time.

17. Most fitness tools can deviate from their traditional exercises but make sure you are doing the standard stuff first. Hybrid ideas are great but make sure you know your tool and its capabilities.

18. I don’t believe in teaching anything I don’t test out and see a personal change with first. I keep getting changes every week as I train in bands, which is why I keep bringing it.

19. Just because I get great results with band training doesn’t mean you will. However if it works for my patients, athletes, children, and clients…. it works.

20. Don’t put blinders on to any training tool but make sure the bang is equal to the buck when it comes to exercising the body the way it was designed to work.

21. How our body functions is pretty simple, just wind it up and let it react.

22. We can learn a lot about training from individuals that sustain injuries. Resistance band training is totally built around getting people better off injury and now before injury.

23. I use to love fitness centers. Band training has taught me about how exciting it is to train anywhere, anytime, and in any direction. Most fitness centers are 1 plane training facilities that simple don’t get it done.

24. Passion must come before anything else. I love training myself and others with bands. Resistance Band Training Systems was a wonderful bonus and allows me to do what I am passionate about. Getting better.

25. Nothing is more powerful than suffering an injury and having to rehabilitate yourself back to where you were better then before. That happen to me and thank god bands were part of my life at that time.

Get BETTER with BANDS!!

Dave Schmitz

COMO RECUPERAR LA FORMA DEPUES DE UN DESCANSO

2010-04-13T12:00:00.001-07:00

Training Layoffs Pt 2
From: Stephan Kesting

Last time I tried to reassure you that occasionally taking breaks from your training is NOT the end of the world. Injuries need time to heal, priorities can shift rapidly, and sometimes life just plain gets in the way of training. But there ARE things you can do to make it a little easier when you do eventually get back to training. My recommendations are based on a mix of scientific research and my own personal experience.

Hopefully you'll come away from this lesson with a couple nuggets of practical advice.

PHYSICAL FACTORS:

BJJ is a physical sport, and so it should come as no surprise that physical factors have a strong effect on your performance. These physical factors include strength, power, flexibility, aerobic / anaerobic endurance, muscular endurance, coordination and balance. The trouble is that when you stop training your performance in all these areas drop off...

Some of the first things to go are aerobic and anaerobic endurance - for the sake of this lesson I'll lump them together as 'cardio.' When someone has been off the mat for a month or two and then come back to training they often do OK in the first few minutes of sparring.

As they get a little deeper into the sparring match, however, things start to go wrong. They're suddenly exhausted and their grappling level drops precipitously. That's because when you get tired you're not strong. When you get tired you're not fast. When you get tired you're not even smart.

So cardio is critical!!!

There's a lot of research on endurance, and it turns out that a simple concept like 'endurance' isn't actually very simple. To dig into this research you have to become comfortable with terms like VO2 max, exercise stroke volume, respiratory exchange ratio and ventricular wall thickness...

The bottom line is that if you stop training your endurance will start going down within a week or two. At first the effects might be relatively small, but in a close match a few percentage points of VO2 Max can sure make a difference.

You also lose strength, power, explosiveness and muscular endurance, but usually this takes a little longer than the relatively rapid decline in cardio. So when a layoff is inevitable try not to become a complete couch potato (or desk jockey). Try your best to stay active and do something physical. If you have a choice, then give priority to activities that get you out of breath. Even it's only a 20 minute jog, every little bit of cardio helps. You can look at it as crosstraining.

Anything is better than doing nothing. Running. Lifting. Climbing. Swimming. Soccer. Yoga. Biking. Boxercise. Hiking. Skiing. Rollerblading. Pushups. Crunches. Pull-ups. Once you start training again you'll start regaining what you've lost. If you took 2 months off of training then it will take at least 2 months to get back into the shape you were in before you stopped.

One final thing to consider: if you just don't have the time for physical activities, or if you're injured, then pay attention to your diet and don't let that slip too! It's hard enough to get your heart and lungs back into shape without having to lose an additional 20 lbs of bad body weight...

MENTAL FACTORS

In BJJ the mental game is at least as important as the physical game (that's why small BJJ black belts eat larger, stronger opponents for breakfast). Mental factors include creativity, sensitivity, perception skills, the ability to remember techniques, the ability to make quick decisions, willpower, self discipline and mental toughness. All of these factors are important, and all of them decline with detraining.

However the ability to make quick decisions is one of the first things to go when you stop training. Here's an example. When you're sparring after a long layoff you still know what you should be doing and how you should be reacting to your opponent. The problem is that your thoughts move like molasses.

Your opponent does something, and it's up to you to pick the correct response. But you're like the ship's computer in the old Star Trek series: "... processing ... processing ... processing..." You haven't forgotten all the BJJ you ever knew. It's just taking you longer to make decisions.

Back at your peak you could choose the right technique in the blink of an eye. Now the same decision takes three or four seconds, by which time your opponent has moved again and the situation has already changed.Your old sparring partners are now one or two steps ahead of you all the time. So what can you do about this?

I'm not going to go into the actual research here, but there's a ton of evidence that VISUALIZING activities and WATCHING activities then helps you PERFORM those same activities. So the bottom line is that anything you do to keep your brain actively thinking about BJJ will keep your mental skills sharp.

Go drop by class and watch your friends spar. Watch some instructional DVDs. Study how a high level player competes by watching youtube. Read a book. Visualize using your favorite techniques. Daydream about new techniques. All these things help.

And finally I have to point out that ALL your mental processes get slower when you're fatigued. So work on your brain and your body, and you WILL see the effects of it when you get back to the mat.

Stephan Kesting

Que es eso de la mitocondria?

2010-04-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

100 Rep Giant Set Training

By Mike Westerdal

Nutrition and training expert John Parrillo is an innovator who has been on the cutting edge of bodybuilding for more than two decades. His ideas go against conventional wisdom and have been hailed as revolutionary by some and dismissed by others. Some people think he’s an exercise and nutrition genius who knows more about maximizing muscle growth and losing body fat than just about anyone else around, while others think he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. In any case, John was among the first to embrace the idea of Super Hybrid Muscle. In fact, he was really the first one to develop the first hybrid training system.

More than 15 years ago he caught on to the idea of Super Hybrid Muscle and began having his bodybuilders doing really high intensity cardio. John realized that by doing this, his guys were actually altering the composition of their muscle fibers. He called this form a resistance training the “100 rep extended set,” saying that it helped the body to construct more mitochondria—the muscles’ “cellular blast furnaces,” while also increasing muscular growth by developing the circulatory pathways that provide nourishment to the muscles. As the cellular blast furnaces, mitochondria are extremely important to muscle because they’re the energy-supplying systems of the muscle cells.

Every muscle has a certain number of mitochondria–the more mitochondria in the muscle, the greater its potential for growth. So by forcing the body into creating more mitochondria, you’re setting the stage for big increases muscle strength, stamina and endurance. Ordinary muscle fibers are either built for strength or endurance–not really for both. By forcing the body to increase the number of mitochondria in the muscle cells, you’re also causing a metamorphosis that converts ordinary muscle fiber into Super Hybrid Muscle fiber. And not only that, but a human body loaded with mitochondria is far less likely to accumulate body fat than a body with fewer mitochondria.

While researching ways in which to reconfigure the composition of muscle fiber, John realized that the answer could be found in the past. Looking back, he realized that prolonged, intense physical effort causes a working muscle to build additional mitochondria, resulting in big gains in muscle strength and stamina. Part of this realization came from looking at railroad workers from the 1860s. These guys would lay track all day long using a 4-pound sledgehammer developing powerful arms, forearms and shoulders loaded with mitochondria, strength and endurance. But because their legs weren’t being exercised as intensely, they stayed the same.

So basically, John’s 100 Rep Giant Set training routine

recreates this kind of super intense, prolonged workout.

Here’s how it works. You start by picking a single muscle group, doing 20 reps of an exercise, then launch right into 20 reps of the next exercise. Immediately after that, you do 20 reps of another exercise, followed by 2 more sets of 20 reps each of two different exercises. There is no rest allowed between the 20-rep sets. At the end of all this, you’ve done a total of 100 reps, almost sequentially. Now you can rest for no more than 1 minute before starting the whole cycle again, repeating it at least 2-3 times total.

That is one hell of a tough workout–especially when you realize that you’ve just done 200-300 reps for a single muscle. In a normal workout, even on a high rep day, most guys aren’t going to even hit 100 for a single muscle. The important thing to remember here is that the workout needs to be intense. You don’t want to be screwing around wasting time by not making it challenging. At the same time though, you don’t want to start out with a weight that’s too heavy because once you start, you need to commit to finishing with the same weight. No drop sets here.

You can do 100 Rep Giant Sets for any body part–you’re not limited to just certain muscle groups. You can also do it whether you use machines or free weights but you’ll always get the best results from free weights because they force each limb to carry its fair share of the total weight, requiring each muscle to perform equally, making free weights far better muscle-building tools than machines. You should do the 100 Rep Giant Sets once or twice a week, rotating body parts for about eight weeks.

If you tell most bodybuilders that you’re going to be doing 100-rep sets to build strength, stamina and size, they’re likely to ask if you’ve gone out of your flipping mind. Most hardcore bodybuilders reject this philosophy entirely because it runs directly contrary to the all-known logic – fewer repeats, bigger weights – equals bigger muscle growth.

Even though the path to getting there is a bit different, the underlying principle and ultimate goals of 100 Rep Giant Sets and Lean Hybrid Muscle training are the same. Both rely on grueling workouts that combine resistance training and cardio activities to force the body to increase the number of mitochondria to build Super Hybrid Muscle.

Interesante Artículo de Grapplearts

2010-04-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

So You Want To Train BJJ in Brazil?

An Article by Mark Mullen

Introduction

As I lay gasping on the cold pavement of the Trans Canada Highway, the 18 wheeler that had just plowed me over belching diesel exhaust into my face, my life essence slipping into the next plane of existence, my last thoughts were "Shit!! I never made it to Rio de Janeiro" I bolted upright, awake out of that feverish dream, heart pounding. I had daydreamed about going to Rio to train jiu-jitsu for over 10 years, but never found the right circumstances, time or money. I resolved right then and there in the darkness that I would go to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the next year of my life.

Aged 41, living in Canada, I have a brown belt in Judo and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu - I had been training rather recreationally (and truth be told - sporadically) over the last few years. I planned to do some jiu-jitsu while in Rio, but the focus of my trip was to sample what life was like for those fortunate carioca who had grown up in the "cidade maravilhosa". I had always envisioned the idyllic life as a jiu-jitsu / beach bum down on Copacabana Beach, training jiu-jitsu in the morning and spending the afternoons at the beach with friends, watching the world famous brazilian girls while sipping agua de coco.

The trip was 6 weeks in length - with a laptop in my apartment, I could stay in touch with my webdesign clients and even work a little. Through a website that offered to rent apartments to gringos - I booked a simple bachelor apartment with an ocean view of Copacabana Beach and less than a block from the infamous Help Discotheque. I received a 20% discount for booking longer than 30 days and for $150 - I had a maid every second day for the entire 6 weeks. I saw some arrangements of staying in a house near an academy with a bunch of other foreigners - but frankly, staying in a big dog pile and sharing a room with a bunch of sweaty, stinky guys didn't have much appeal.

The Academy

I told the guys in my home academy (Gracie Barra Calgary with instructor Josh Russell) that the main focus of my trip to Rio was to enjoy the beach, food and garotas - but if you were a Catholic in Rome, you had to visit the Vatican. When in Rio, I had to visit "the Church of jiu-jitsu" - the Carlson Gracie Academy. There were several small academies within blocks of my apartment and the Gracie Barra Academy was way too far from where I was staying in Copacabana. The famous Champion Factory - where my first jiu-jitsu instructor, Marcus Soares had come from - had produced many of the greatest MMA fighters and his stories had fuelled the dream of someday myself stepping onto the mat.

Took me 3 attempts to find the academy (no signs). I stopped at a sucos bar, frustrated and exhausted from the heat and in a last ditch effort asked the juice jockey where the academy was - he had never heard of it. Fortunately, a businessman overheard and offered to point me in the right direction "but I think it closed when Carlson passed away?". And there it was,..non descript, the entrance on a side street above a beachwear shop. Ari Galo is the morning instructor at Carlson's Academy - 150 reals (approx $100) for a month of classes. The Carlson Academy was far smaller and humble than I had imagined. There is no air-con in the academy and I had sweat running down the tip of my nose as I put on my gi. It was the realization of a long held dream to cinch up my belt, bow and step onto the mat at the Carlson Gracie Academy :-)

I trained at the 8am class - I can't imagine how sweltering the temperatures would be inside the academy under the midday equatorial sun. The instruction was in Portuguese and I did my best to keep up and nod and smile alot. Most of my friends in Canada had expressed some apprehension that the Brazilians would try to headhunt the gringo. I found the exact opposite to be true. I was matched up with one of the very best brown belts - who dispensed advice and tapped me out in equal measures, but I never felt like I was getting my arms cranked. Obrigado to Fernando.

Most classes there was usually maybe 1 bluebelt, no white belts with the majority of the 12-15 students at any class being purple through black belts. Few of the students appeared to do any weight training with average looking physiques. One slim individual came in to class one morning with no muscular definition to speak of; I immediately evaluated him as a soft beginner. He put his worn blackbelt on and was an absolute monster on the mat with a relaxed rolling style until the timing was right and he would explode into a submission. A few guys who fought MMA professionally would come in and roll with everyone in gi - I saw zero no-gi grappling my entire stay.

Most of the guys back home wanted to know about the differences between the North American and Brazilian academies. a few observations:

Far fewer techniques demonstrated in Brazil. Maybe 2 per class and it was not uncommon after a brief warm up to hear "ok,..today we go to training". The emphasis was on rolling in 7 min timed rounds.
No stand up. The blackbelts explained that the only time they performed sparring from standup was in a week or so before tournaments. They felt that standup grappling was more likely to result in training injuries.
I found the jiu-jitsu much more "feint" oriented as opposed to straight ahead pressure. The majority of the techniques were explained in the context of setting it up with pressure to one direction and then reversing to take advantage of your opponent's reaction. The softer, more flowing style of jiu-jitsu was described by Ari as more pure jiu-jitsu - that is to say in Brazil, there was less influence of other arts like wrestling in the jiu-jitsu.
No one had stripes on their belts. The majority of the blackbelts were not competitive wunderkind - rather, guys who just had been training for a long time.
You don't pick your own sparring partners - the instructor always matched me up.
I felt that people were less concerned with "who tapped who" or needing to establish the pecking order than in North America.
The atmosphere was very relaxed - some guys dropping in, having 1 roll and then getting back into their street clothes to go back to work!

When I returned home there were the inevitable questions about "How did you do down there? Did you tap everyone out?" I laugh and respond "I didn't bring anything down there that they hadn't seen before or know how to deal with!"

Conclusion

The trip to Brazil was a life changing experience. It should come as no surprise that a trip to Rio would re ignite ones passion for jiu-jitsu. I resolved to do less weight training and more attention to smooth jiu-jitsu based on leverage, timing and reading my opponent's energy. And more importantly, I changed my attitude towards showing up at the academy back home. Whereas before I frequently would be too serious about training - all or nothing mentality - don't tap to this person or self flagellation at missing a class or getting your guard passed.

The Brazilian blackbelts seemed to have a different approach: it was part of their lifestyle and they just went to the academy because it felt good. Instead of intense pressure on having to improve all of your game immediately, they just got on the mat, enjoyed rolling with their friends and along the way,...managed to develop some great jiu-jitsu!

I experienced some perfect days down there in Rio. Wake up hearing the surf crashing outside your window. Grab your gi and flip-flop your way along the beach down to the academy; looking out at the ocean mentally running through your techniques. Have a few laughs and practice my Portuguese on some new friends while learning my favourite art in one of the world's best academies. Acai or fresh squeezed juice at a street side sucos bar before heading to the beach all day. The lifestyle down there is fantastic.

One of my travel buddies put it best: in his broken english "All the time in my life before I came to Brazil was wasted!"

Mark Mullen is a Calgary-based web programmer and BJJ purple belt.

Entrnamiento en todos los niveles, un artículo de Ferrugia

2010-03-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Muscle Building Workouts: The Difference Between

Beginners and Advanced Lifters

By Jason Ferruggia

Many people often ask me how a beginners and/or weak hardgainers muscle building workouts should differ from the programs of strong, advanced lifters.

There are four important things that differentiate the training of a beginner or hardgainer and an advanced trainee. Firstly, beginners and hardgainers who want to build muscle fast need to do fewer exercises than advanced lifters. A basic upper body push, an upper body pull and a compound lower body movement makes up a great beginner/hardgainer workout. The more exercises you are doing the more difficult it becomes to master them. So keep them to a minimum.

Secondly, a beginners muscle building workouts need to include more sets per exercise. While advanced lifters can get away with working up to one or two heavy sets per exercise it is much more beneficial to the weaker newbie to do multiple sets at a lower intensity in order to perfect their technique and improve intramuscular coordination. Instead of the 1-3 sets per exercise that I recommend to advanced lifters I recommend 4-6 sets per exercise for the weak newbie.

Thirdly, they need to train each body part and exercise or movement pattern with a higher frequency than advanced trainees. Again, this has to do with improving intramuscular coordination and perfecting technique. It also has to do with the fact that when you are weak it takes you a lot less time to recover between workouts because the training is far less demanding on your muscles, your joints and your nervous system. So while an advanced trainee may be able to wait 7-10 days between squats and make improvements, a weak newbie would actually get weaker by waiting more than 48-72 hours. Squatting 500 pounds takes a lot more out of your system than squatting 95 pounds does and thus requires a lot more recovery time.

The fourth difference between the training of weak newbies and advanced lifters trying to build muscle is that the beginners should keep most of their training on the lower end of the rep scale. Despite what you may have been told or read, high rep training is a waste for beginners. Not only that but it’s dangerous and only teaches you poor form on your exercises. An advanced lifter may be able to make tremendous size gains by doing one arm rows with a 130 pound dumbbell for 20 reps or squatting 315 for 20, but a beginner wont have anywhere near the same success.

Weak newbies don’t have the control or the stabilizer muscle strength to maintain the proper postures need to safely perform a high rep set. Nor do they have the strength to get anything out of high reps. If you can only squat 95 pounds for five, squatting 65 for twenty isn’t going to elicit much of a growth response. You need to keep the reps low in order to perfect your form, keep yourself safe and place the maximum possible overload on your muscles. This can only be done with sets consisting of five to eight reps and no more than that.

A todos mis alumnos-compañeros guerreros

2010-03-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

Con cariño para todos mis hermanos en el entrenamiento...

Hope

An open letter to all athletes from their coaches.

I remember the first time you walked into the weight room. So cocky and self-assured, it made me smile. I smiled at your child-like view of the world and your innocence. It is these qualities that I hoped would never be taken from you. It is also this view that I hoped to build upon and develop as you grew older.

You would learn the meaning of “no regrets” through years of consistency, hard work and pain. It was this pain that I witnessed with every set, every rep and every loss. It was this pain that I shared with you every step of the way. Now, as you move on to fulfill your dreams, I have some words of hope for you.

I hope that you understand that the lessons you learned in the weight room and on the field represent life and its never-ending obstacles that you must overcome.

I hope you remember that one workout where you were broken and couldn’t continue…but you did.

I hope that you remember that feeling of winning when you were way behind because you kept fighting.

I hope you remember that no one will ever give you anything. If you want something you have to take it.

I hope you remember that mental toughness drives everything.

I hope you know that hard work beats skill.

I hope you never have to feel the worse pain; the pain of regret.

I hope you remember, “I Can, I Will”

I hope you remember every rep, every set and every laugh.

I hope you remember those workouts late at night when every one else was resting.

I hope you set your goals high and smash right through them to the next ones.

I hope you treat others with respect and give to others when no one is looking.

I hope you learned more from the losses than from the wins.

I hope that others will be as inspired by your actions as I have been.

Yes, training has changed you. Your cockiness has given way to confidence. Confidence is real and is built. Cockiness is fake and anyone can have it. You now know the difference.

Live your life with no regrets.

Your coach and friend,

Jim

El componente mental, el arma definitiva para vencer

2010-03-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

Este es de Eric Wong, BSc, CSCS, MMA Performance Coach y me gusto mucho por el contenido sobre el elemento mental, clave para esforzarse más botar barreras y alcanzar nuevos niveles de desempeño, pónganle coco!

Your Most Powerful Weapon

Joe and I were working together preparing for his first MMA fight which is coming next month… He’s been training hard and he started training with me because he wanted to be 100% confident that he was in top shape going into this tournament… By doing so, he feels that whatever the outcome, he’ll be his best come fight night…Atta boy Joe!!

So we started the session off doing strength training and finished with some intervals on the Airdyne… if you don’t know what an Airdyne is, it looks like this: It’s an awesome tool for interval training because the harder you push, the more resistance is created since it’s driven by a fan…. plus it’s virtually indestructible… Anyway, this is NOT the most powerful weapon for MMA…

The most powerful weapon was revealed to me as Joe was in the middle of the 5th 60 second hard interval…

The interval started off like every other one, nice and strong, lots of power.

But about 20 seconds in, Joe cried, "My legs feel like Jello!"

Right after he finished saying the ‘o’ in Jello, his speed dropped dramatically and it looked like all of the gas was sucked right out of his body with a shopvac. The rest of the interval was a bit of a drag, despite my coaching and cheesy motivational lines "Come on man, it’s all you!!" (just kidding, I don’t use ‘it’s all you’)

Once the hard interval was done, I asked Joe if he realized that right when he said "My legs feel like Jello" his speed completely dropped. He noticed it too and for the next and final hard interval, I coached him to get ready to give 100% for the entire minute and stay positive, only thinking about the next pedal stroke.

I told him to imagine that it was the last minute of the fight and push as if the title was yours if you just gave 100%.

Guess what? Joe killed the last interval. Absolutely KILLED it! It was his fastest one of the entire session! After he finished up, we sat around and talked about it, and it’s like a new skill was revealed to him (and me)… Now, he knows what he’s got to do to make sure he’s at the top of his game when it comes time to fight.

Here’s the truth about what it takes to be a champ in MMA: You don’t win the fight during the fight, you win the fight in all of the little battles you have with yourself, day in, day out.

If you can harness the power of your mind to be at your best everyday, you’ll go far. It’s making it to all of your training sessions instead of tapping out to some lame excuse…

It’s pushing yourself through grueling workouts even though you want to quit…

It’s eating properly and fighting the urge to pig out on junk…

It’s getting to bed on time instead of dicking around on the internet so you’re fully recovered for the next day of training…

And everything else that goes into being a champion. So I’m wondering, how are your day-to-day battles going? Are you winning, or are you losing?

Every choice you make is either getting you 1 step closer to your goals, or 1 step farther. So start making the choices that will get you closer to your goals today!

Your pal,

Eric Wong

click here to get the Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Program today.

Si vas a entrenar, hazlo como un atleta, Elliott Hulse toma la palabra

2010-03-11T13:59:00.000-08:00

5 Big Reasons Why Everyone Should Train Like Athletes

By Elliott Hulse Co-Creator of Lean Hybrid Muscle

If you’re like me, you probably want nothing more than to feel like a ’super-stud’ every time you take your shirt off in public. You want to have the confidence to say, ‘Boy, this sweaty shirt is chaffin’ me’, then reach over your shoulder and tear your shirt off like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. When you know that your pecs look like two soup bowls inserted beneath your skin, and your abs are as hard the asphalt you stand on, it’s tough to keep your shirt on!

Today you are gonna learn the top 5 training principles that you MUST implement in order to make your physique and performance goals… a reality. But, before I open the info-floodgates, there is something you’ve got to understand. Men… all men, should recognize that we are athletes and our training programs must reflect this.

Even if you’re a ‘pencil pusher’ or a ‘white collar crook’, the essence of your being is athletic. In order to see any type of fitness results it is essential to recognize that Squats, Power Cleans, 40 Yard Dashes and Vertical Jumps are not only for NFL Combine participants… they are for you!

1. You’re An Athlete By Design

The foundation principle of everything that I teach all begins with one extremely powerful phrase: “We are primal beings living in a modern world”

Our physical bodies have been unchanged for thousands of years. In fact, today, our bodies are an exact expression of what our ancestors were over 100,000 years ago. It is believed that it takes about 100,000 years for 0.001percent of a genome to change… so yourself and Primal Man are for all intents and purposes… the same.

What has changed is how WE have chosen to live, if you can even call it that. As we have ‘advanced’ in technology we have regressed in physical strength and stature.

We function at a much lower capacity than were inherently capable of. This is analogous to those people who buy off-road vehicles that will never see anything but concrete! You’ve been given the ultimate athletic tool… use it.

2. Short, Hard and Intense Workouts Yield Lean, Hard and Muscular Bodies

When you spend over an hour in the gym sitting on useless ‘fitness machines’ while you’re waiting to do your ‘next set’…your nervous system’s primal response is to release Cortisol and Glucocorticoids - which are stress hormones, (these make you sick, sad, fat and, stupid) in response to your body thinking… “Holy Cow, we’ve been training for over an hour… perhaps we’re being chased by a tiger and need to preserve body fat”, then it begins sacrificing muscle tissue for energy! This is called The Catabolic Effect. Also, workouts exceeding 1 hour have been shown to be associated with a rapid decrease in androgen levels.

This is why marathon runners look so emaciated… id much rather look like one of those Lock, Stock & Ready Sprinters with muscles rippling across their backs and abs.

3. Aerobics and Cardio Training Is Boring & Ineffective

Strength coach Charles Poliquin has coined the phrase “Chunky Aerobic Instructor Syndrome” (CAIS). You’ve seen them, they do cardio all day long… don’t you think that they would be a bit leaner? Well, there is a scientific reason as to why they are cubby even though they bounce up and down on those colorful blocks all day long. In fact research has shown that aerobic instructors who taught an average of 3 hours a day maintained a body fat of 22-24% - mind you, that Olympic athletes hover around 9%.

Especially with repetitive exercises like aerobics the body adapts quickly to the stimulus and ceases to respond to the stimulus. Also, you begin to become very fuel-efficient… Listen, think of a metabolism that has adapted to long treks of cardio as being a Honda… it burns very little fuel (i.e. fat) but can go miles and miles. Think of a metabolism that is roaring with increased mitochondria activity (as is present in someone who weight trains with circuits) as a Hummer, large fuel combusting metabolism!

Here’s Why this is so important! You want a stronger heart, without the fat saving response of long boring cardio treks. That is why I teach my clients how to do work capacity sets. We take 4-6 exercises and complete them back to back with no rest and aim to complete them all with in about 2 minutes… if your heart is not ready to pound out of your chest after that, then maybe you should visit your veterinarian!

Here’s a simple circuit that you can do at home - first 20 squats, then 20 lunges, then ’step ups’ on a bench 10 each leg, finally do 10 squat jumps and get it all done in less than 90 seconds! Kick-ass workout!

We begin every session with Plyometrics and then get right into 3-5 “work capacity” sets for upper and lower body.

4. Get High on Oxygen & Sunshine

Besides the fact that training on treadmills and ’sit down’ exercise equipment is less effective than getting your feet on the ground and learning how to use your own bodyweight, training indoors can be detrimental to your performance and fitness results.

As ‘primal beings’ we are in need of several vital elements and forms of energy. The suns rays are nourishing to your mind as well as body. It is well documented that those who live in the cooler northern climates that enjoy less sunshine through out the year are several times more likely to suffer from depression.

Also, if you’re like most Americans you work and live indoors (maybe). In fact, the average person spends 90% of their time indoors. Several health experts have propounded that our homes and workplace are the most toxic environments in our lives. Many studies have stated that toxic particles and fumes found in your home and workplace include: air fresheners, spray starch, paints, mothballs and even ‘new car’ smell kills more people every year than automobile accidents!

So, what do you do? Train in the great outdoors! When I train my Strength Camp clients at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg Florida, not only do we benefit from the sweet bay breeze but also the scenery is beautiful enough to give a nun spring fever!

5. It’s Gotta Be Fun!

Drop out rates for exercise programs are almost as high as the drop out rate in my old middle school! The bottom line is, if you don’t enjoy it - you wont do it. The most effective way to ensure that you stick with your training program is to change it often. This doesn’t mean hop from one modality to the next before you get any results. It means stick with your weight-training program for a minimum of 90 day but change the exercises you use for each body part at least every 3 weeks.

This not only keeps you interested but also, your nervous system will be challenged with the new exercises and be forced to adapt. This yields fast and long-lasting results!

Lean Hybrid Muscle is the World’s Fastest Way To Furn Fat & Build Muscle.
** Learn More here => http://www.leanhybridmuscle.com/build-muscle.html

De vuelta a los dias de gloria con De Franco

2010-02-26T10:30:00.000-08:00

DeFranco's Training Rules for Washed-up Meatheads by Nate Green

Dear Washed-up Meathead,

Look, I've got nothing but respect for you. You gave me Playboy, bourbon whiskey, and barbells. You taught me how to pick up girls, when to flip the burgers, and why I should always wash my hands immediately after using Icy Hot. (Worst ball scratching experience ever.) You took me to the gym, handed me a program, and told me to bust my ass. And it worked. Over the years, I've gotten bigger, stronger, and more confident.

But then I noticed something. I noticed you're still doing the very program you handed me years ago. Well, let me tell you, sir, it's gone stale. You've gone stale. You may be a washed-up meathead, but that doesn't mean you should be doing a program that doesn't hold water.

So I've decided to pay you back. I want you to be in the best shape of your life. I want you to grow some bigger muscles, shed some fat, and start performing like the badass you once were. That's why I contacted self-proclaimed washed-up meathead Joe DeFranco to help whip you into shape. He's got five rules for writing your own badass program and even included a sample program at the end of the article. You can thank me later.

Sincerely,

A Young Punk

A quick note from DeFranco

"I've received a lot of hate mail over the past few years from the 30 and older meathead crowd. 'Your programs are just for athletes,' they say. 'I don't have time to do all that stuff.' And I know how they feel. You get older and take on more responsibilities. You have a career. Your joints hurt. The days of college, eating shit foot, getting hammered, sleeping for a few hours, and waking up refreshed are over. You don't want to train six days per week.

The guys who email me or show up to my gym have been lifting weights their whole lives. It's nothing new to them. And that's the main problem. Without variety, you won't gain muscle. But really, what good is gaining muscle if your joints hurt all the time or you can't even wipe your own ass?

What these washed-up meatheads need is functional muscle. No, I'm not talking about any bullshit Bosu balls. I'm talking about benching heavy weight without your shoulder hurting. I'm talking about coaching your son's football team and running a few pass patterns to show the little suckers how it's done. I'm talking slabs of muscle, no fat, with lungs of steel.

I've got five rules for these guys. And if they follow them, I have no doubt they'll be built like a badass."

DeFranco's 5 Rules

Train Three Days Per Week

"Recovery is the key to strength and looking good," says DeFranco. "You can't come into the gym sore because you won't have the strength or endurance you need for the workout." But is three days really enough? "If you're busting your ass and doing the right things, it is. Even if I had a guy who won the lottery and told me he could train as much as I wanted him to, I'd still keep him on the three-day schedule." Here's how DeFranco sets up his training week:

Monday — Upper Body
Wednesday — Lower Body
Friday — Upper Body

Why only one lower-body day?

"You'll get enough muscle stimulation from that one day to carry you through to next week," says DeFranco. "Besides, I've got some fun "finishers" that'll hit your legs, too."

Use the Max-Effort Method (With a Few Slight Twists.)

Yeah, you probably know the old-school Westside max-effort method. Well, DeFranco has made a few alterations. "First off, squat and deadlifts are interchangeable," he says. "We're not gonna force-feed these guys."

According to DeFranco, both of these exercises will accomplish the same thing, more or less. "All we need is a main lower body exercise that you can go heavy on. Some people are built to squat because they have the right leverages. Some guys like to pull heavy stuff off the ground. Doesn't matter to me."

And it's not like you're replacing squats with leg extensions.

"We're definitely not letting them cop out," says DeFranco. "But I want to give them something to look forward to. My favorite moment is watching my guys come in to look over the logbook with the day's training. They're nervous and excited, like 'Oh, shit, what do we have to do today?' That's how it should be."

Next, of course, is the bench press. "What washed-up meathead program would be complete without it?" asks DeFranco. "Guys like to see how much they can bench. They like to brag about it. And, hell, they're gonna do it anyway even if I don't recommend it. We might as well program it effectively."

Fair enough.

Now here's the interesting part: DeFranco includes the chin-up in his max-effort work.

"It's key. Not only is the chin-up a great upper back exercise to counteract the bench press, it's the relative strength exercise that will make you clean up your diet."

What's that mean? "Well, if your bench and squat are going up it doesn't mean much other than you're getting stronger. That's cool, but you could still be a fat-ass, you know? But if your chin-up strength is still the same or going down, it means you need to get some conditioning in and keep your freakin' hands off the Haagen Dazs because you're getting too fat to pull yourself up."

One last point about the max-effort work: DeFranco is a huge proponent of using percentages of your one-rep max. "I'm all about steady progress," he says. That means you actually have to test all three of your lifts. Testing your bench press and squat or deadlift is straightforward—just load a bar with 60 percent of your "perceived" 1RM and build up from there.

To test your chin-up, grab onto the bar with an underhand grip and do as many as you can with perfect form for one set. That's your max. You'll see how DeFranco programs it in a bit.

Your training week should now look like this:

Monday — Bench Press
Wednesday — Squat or Deadlift
Friday — Chin-up

The purpose of the max-effort work, explains DeFranco, is to ramp up the nervous system. "After the first exercise you should be fired up and ready to train," he says. "That's because it's either going to be a heavy movement or a jump (on lower-body days), which will excite the nervous system." The stimulatory effect is nice, but the key point DeFranco makes is that by exciting the nervous system, you'll be able to recruit more muscle fibers in the exercises that follow. Which brings us to our next rule.

Use Bodybuilding Methods

If the first exercise is neural, the second one is "muscular." "I like to get into some high-volume work for the guys so they can build some muscle," says DeFranco. While he usually recommends between six and twelve reps, he sometimes gets into the very high-rep sets. "I like to bump it up to 20 or 25 reps every now and then," he says. Hello, lactic acid. But what's the point? "I don't feel there's too much correlation between getting a pump and gaining muscle, but let's be honest, it's fun as hell," he says. "Why not get a pump while your nervous system is jacked up? The more blood that floods into your muscles, the more nutrients you get. It's a great environment for growth."

DeFranco likes to divide his bodybuilding methods into movement planes that correspond with the max-effort exercise for that day. So if you did the bench press, you'd do other horizontal plane work like dumbbell presses and rows. If you did chins, you'd do some overhead pressing and lat pull-downs. If you did legs, you'd do, well, more legs. One thing DeFranco is adamant about is not doing forced reps or going to complete failure. "Always leave a little something in the tank," he says. "No one wants to pull a bar off you."

Use "Finishers"

This is both "show" and "go.""Too many guys avoid any type of cardio, but it's usually the finishing touch that can really burn some calories and strip the extra fat," says DeFranco. Another reason, naturally, is to increase your athleticism. And since DeFranco is best known for his work with college and pro athletes, he knows a thing or two about conditioning. "Look, every guy should be doing barbell complexes, push-up and squat ladders, jump rope, or at least be able to run a mile. They act like it'll kill them or they'll lose all their muscle mass. Bullshit."

Warm-Up, But do it Quickly

Yeah, he saved this rule for last since he knew most of you would skip right over it if it were at the top.

DeFranco has a simple warm-up routine dubbed The Agile Eight. "It's helped powerlifters, washed-up meatheads, and other anti-mobility dudes really feel better," he says. The Agile 8 will make you sweat, prepare your joints, stretch your muscles, and best of all, it'll only take ten minutes. "Hell, I even do it on the days I don't train," says DeFranco.

The Agile 8

1. Foam roll your IT band — Start just below your hip and roll up and down to your (outer) mid-thigh ten to fifteen times, focusing on any tight spots. Then perform ten to fifteen "rolls" starting at your (outer) mid-thigh and rolling all the way down to the outside of your knee. Again, focus on the tight areas.

2. Foam roll your adductors — Start just below the crease of your hip and roll up and down your (inner) mid-thigh ten to fifteen times, focusing on any tight spots. Then perform ten to fifteen "rolls" starting at your (inner) mid-thigh and rolling down to the inside of your knee. Again, focus on the tight areas.

3. Glute/piriformis myofacsial release with a tennis ball — Take the tennis ball and sit on one your left butt cheek with a slight tilt. Cross your left leg. Roll for 30 seconds or so. Switch cheeks and repeat. Feel free to cry.

4. Rollovers into "V" sits — Perform ten reps.

5. Fire hydrant circles — Perform ten forward circles and ten backward circles with each leg.*

6. Mountain climbers — 20 total reps.

7. Groiners — Perform ten reps. Hold the last rep for ten seconds. Make sure to push your knees out with your upper arms while dropping your butt down.

8. Static hip flexor stretch — Perform 3 sets of 10 seconds on each leg. Complete all three sets on one side before moving to the other.

You've read the rules, but now it's time to see what the program looks like with everything in order.

DeFranco's Sample 3-Day Program

Monday — Upper Body

Max-effort
1) Bench Press: 72.5% of your 1RM x 8, 77.5% x 6, 82.5% x 4 or more
Bodybuilding
2) Flat DB Press: 2 x Max Reps using the same weight for both sets. (Choose a weight that you can get around 20-25 reps with on the first set.)
3A) Seated Overhand-Grip Cable Rows: 4x15
3B) Cable Triceps Pushdowns (straight bar): 4x15
4A) DB Shrugs (2-second hold at the top): 3x15
4B) DB Lateral Raise: 3x15
Finisher
5) Barbell Complex (Deadlift, Bent-over Row, Hang Clean, Push Press, Back Squat) — Do two sets of 10 reps on each exercise. Rest 90 seconds between sets.

Wednesday — Lower Body

Excite the nervous system
1) DB Squat Jumps, holding 10-pound DB's: 4x6
Max-effort
2) Squat or Deadlift: 72.5% of your 1RM x 8, 77.5% x 6, 82.5% x 4
Bodybuilding
3A) 45-Degree Back Raises (hold weight plate over chest): 3x15
3B) Seated Medicine Ball Twists (feet off ground): 3x20 each side
Finisher
4) Timed one-mile run: You can do this on a treadmill or outside on a track. If you're unable to run due to injuries, you can substitute this with two miles on the exercise bike or elliptical. Whatever you choose, make sure you try and complete the distance in the least amount of time. Record your time!

Friday — Upper Body

Max-effort
1) Chin-ups (total reps) — Chin-up max + 50%
Note: If you got 20 reps when you tested your chin-up max, you would take 50 percent of 20 (10 reps) and add that to your total to make it look like this:
20 reps (max) + 50% (10 reps) = 30 total reps of chin-ups.
Break it into as many sets as you need but make sure every rep is perfect.
Bodybuilding
2A) Lat Pull-down (Wide, overhand-grip): 2 x Max Reps using the same weight for both sets. (Choose a weight that you can get around 20-25 reps for your first set.)
2B) Standing DB Military Press: 2 x Max Reps using the same weight for both sets. (Choose a weight that you can get around 15-20 reps for your first set.)
3A) "Rolling" Triceps Extensions — 4x8
3B) Hammer Curls (both arms same time) — 4x8
4) Core Circuit: x 2

a. 20 Toe Touches
b. 30 Bicycles
c. Side Plank x 30 seconds each side

Finisher
5) 100 push-ups as fast as possible. Record the time it took you to complete all 100.

Wrap-up

To DeFranco, the term "washed-up meathead" isn't derogatory. "It just means you've been around the block a few times," he says. "It's a sign of respect. It means you've put in the work, gained some serious muscle, and know your way around the weight room." It also means you're probably a little stuck in your ways. "The older meathead guys are stubborn," says DeFranco. "I should know because I am one. Still, one of the best things you can do for you body is surprise it. And this is the best way I know how."

Now get to work, sir.

Drill for Skill

2010-02-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

Drill for skill fue un proyecto en línea que tuvo (o tien) Bas Rutten en su Sitio, aki les dejo 2 excelentes joyas de artículos que descargue en su momento de Drill for Skill

Self-Efficacy

In last week’s article, it was discussed that one aspect of a fighter’s desire to compete is based on internal and external rewards, or motivators. There are several other components involved in competition and training, not the least of which is a person’s feelings of self-efficacy or self-confidence. If we believe we will be successful at something in life, we are more likely to participate. For those of you who teach, consider when you first began teaching. You were probably nervous, felt unsure of yourself, and didn’t know if you were up to the task you had agreed to complete. Whether you covered this up by being very aggressive, or acting nonchalant, or if your nerves were out there for everybody to see, the base feeling was that you were not confident. Think about how you feel now when you teach. It’s a non-issue, it’s easy, it’s fun, it’s a paycheck; of course, good instructors will take time to think about and plan their classes, but that’s not about confidence. It’s the same thing when fighters fight in an organized event for the first time- they aren’t sure they’re ready.

Self efficacy is defined as a judgment about one’s capability to perform a task at an advanced level, with certainty, repeatedly over time. It relates to your perception of your ability to perform specific skills and abilities, or take advantage of opportunities. But self-efficacy doesn’t make you sit on your butt because you think, “I’ve got this,” like Rocky in Rocky III. Athletes with higher self-efficacy try harder, persist longer, feel less nervous, and choose greater challenges. True overconfidence, the kind that makes you not train, eat right, or take your opponent seriously, is so rare that some sports psychologists don’t even think it should be a concern. Often, people with the biggest bravado, those who do the most trash-talking, do not have true feelings of self-efficacy.
High self-efficacy can overcome very significant motivation killers. Think about how long it really takes to become an NFL player, never mind winning a shot at the Super Bowl, or how many hours in the gym it takes to get a fight in the UFC. While our “sport” is arguably a lot smaller than others, think of all the people who train in kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and MMA. Think of the odds of one of those people becoming a professional fighter…not good, right? But spending time envisioning yourself as successful (as a result of high self-efficacy) is sometimes just what you need to remain motivated. If Chuck Liddell, at the beginning of his career, sat down and thought about the odds of him becoming the successful fighter we know today, and considered every step it would take, he probably would have put on his headphones, gone home, and started studying for a career in architecture. But by keeping his focus on the belief that he could do it, this carried him forward into the manifestation of that very belief.
High self-efficacy is key to sustainability, which is the type of motivation that allows you to stick with something long-term. The other important factors that tie into sustainability are task-mastery orientation and ego orientation. People with task mastery orientation take pride in their improvement over past performances, like runners who are trying to beat their old times. Many of us who train but do not compete are sustained by task mastery orientation; we think about how silly we felt when we first started training, and compare it to now when perhaps our striking is clean and strong, or our jiu-jitsu is beginning to flow. Or, those of us who were out of shape think about being winded after two minutes of jumping rope, whereas now we can do five. People with ego orientation are focused on demonstrating their superiority over others and are motivated by social comparison. Many fighters fall into this category; think of Ken Shamrock as a good example. I think this is also the “ego” that everybody dreads when they enter a MMA gym for the first time.
When a sport situation doesn’t match an athlete’s orientation, his/her interest wanes. Your orientation is probably the reason you are interested in the sports you are interested in, in part, and also will likely dictate whether you like to train alone, with other people watching, whether your goal is to compete or not, or whether or not you jealously guard your

informal position as demonstrator in class. But every sport has aspects that appeal to both types of orientations; the trick is finding out what aspects will appeal to your orientation as an athlete. Examples of ego orientation are replete in MMA; think of every time someone calls the person with the belt out. But there are also examples of task mastery orientation; think about when commentators remark that a certain fighter has been working to improve his ground, stand-up, etc.
So, how can this help you?
1. Consider which aspects of your training you feel effective at, and identify them. Is it a given to you that you’ve got a great left hand? That’s a feeling of self-efficacy. Identify those aspects of your training that you don’t feel you are as good at, and make a plan to improve them, whether it’s supplemental training, working the Bas Rutten tapes, conditioning, etc. Now: stop telling yourself that you suck at these things. Stop making a face or inwardly groaning each time your instructor/trainer announces that you will be working on them. Instead, turn it around into an opportunity to improve in these areas. By avoiding them and not wanting to do them, you won’t get better, and you’ll continue to avoid and not want to do them!
2. Determine whether your tendency is to task mastery or ego motivation. Are you always comparing yourself to someone in class? Do you hear yourself telling friends you could “take” Georges St. Pierre? (Right). Then you are ego oriented. Do you think about how far you’ve come? Is it rewarding to hear your instructor say you’ve improved? Do you often think about “then” and “now?” You are task mastery oriented.
3. Identify ways to facilitate your orientation in your training. If you are ego-oriented, you’ll be happy with people watching, on the busiest nights at the gym; maybe you could even select someone as an “opponent,” someone to become better than. If you are task-mastery oriented, start keeping a training diary. Have someone film you and analyze your solid areas, and your areas of desired improvement. Track your development.

Motivation

Motivation. It’s what makes disciplined fighters like Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz excel in their cardio, technique, and skill. Motivation is what gets you to the gym on rainy, snowy days, and it’s what makes you do one more round, one more combination, one more rep when you feel as if you are at failure.
As important as it is, motivation is one of the hardest things to grasp and maintain in any sport; we’ve all heard stories of fighters and other athletes who seemed to be unshakable but somewhere along the line lost their spirit. I’m not going to name any names, but a couple Brazilian fighters come to mind. Why are some of the most readily available motivators, like prize money or belts, ineffective long term?
The most successful fighters not only have good physical genetics- strength, size, good reflexes, and so on, but also good mental genetics, such as high pain tolerance, natural inclination toward aggressiveness, initiative, attraction to challenges, and inner determination. Towards the end of a fight, fatigue, thirst, and pain begin to override these natural tendencies, and a fighter’s system can work to put the goals of rest, hydration, and healing above those of winning, competitive drive, and fighting well. As you can see, environment has a strong impact on motivation; however, we can all identify situations in which we ignored our biological drives and acted contrary to them- like when we wake up at 5 a.m. to work out, or delay eating because we have work to do. Humans have free will, and regardless of the influences surrounding us, we choose our actions, interpretations, focus, and attitude.

Essentially, sports psychology recognizes two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic.

§ Intrinsic motivation comes from inside the athlete- when he fights or trains because doing so is inherently pleasurable, because it is based on the enjoyment of competition, excitement, or improvement.

§ Extrinsic motivation comes from outside the athlete and includes things such as belts, money, and fame.

It’s important to realize that neither type of motivation is superior to the other; they complement each other, and most athletes fight because of a combination of both. Interestingly enough, however, research has demonstrated that athletes who are motivated intrinsically lose some of their enthusiasm when extrinsic incentives are added. Which is weird, right? Because most of us who train started out training because it interested us; then, those of us who were talented, had the time, and enjoyed it decided to try taking it to the next level by maybe doing a charity fight, a local tournament, or perhaps by becoming an instructor. The research has shown that when athletes view their training or competing as external to themselves (i.e. when they believe that a sponsor or manager is calling the shots), they feel a lessened sense of determination (remember, we said earlier that all good athletes have inner determination), and their will to train and compete drops off.
But didn’t we just say that extrinsic motivation was not inferior to intrinsic? Yes. It’s just appropriate for different things. For example, anybody who’s ever tried to make weight (hell, anybody who’s ever been on a diet) knows that it’s not fun. And there are other aspects to training that aren’t fun, that we wouldn’t do purely for the pleasure of it (in my case, this includes sprawling drills). But, we realize these things are a part of the sport; if we want to be in better condition, we might need to change our diet to include more protein and less ice cream, or we might have to do wind sprints or plyometrics. For unpleasant modes of training, research has demonstrated that extrinsic rewards increase motivation.
How does this apply to me, and how can this help me improve my training?

§ Take a few moments to identify why you train or fight. Many of us have automatic answers we give people like, “to keep in shape,” or “because I love it.” Think about why you love it; think back to your best moments in training or competition- why were they your best? What did they give you? Think physically, mentally, and emotionally. Was it the adrenaline high? Or was it a feeling of success after you finally mastered how to execute a perfect triangle?

§ Now, consider what you don’t like about it. The runs on off days? Focus mitt work? Think about what you can add as an incentive to improve your outlook on these things. If you’re not trying to cut weight, allow yourself some of your favorite food on the days you do your least-liked activity. By countering something negative with a primary positive reinforcer, like food, you send your brain a powerful message about motivation. An extrinsic motivator can also be something like keeping track of, let’s say, how long it takes you to do 20 jump squats, 20 squat thrusts, and 20 squat thrust jumps. Seeing your improvement in black and white is highly motivating. One thing to note- your extrinsic reinforcer should be something you can give yourself that day; i.e. don’t save up your “positives” to buy that rash guard you’ve been wanting. The key between pairing the negative and positive to improve motivation is immediacy.

Jennifer Predolin has a Master’s Degree in Psychology, and is currently in her third year of doctoral training.

Preguntas y Respuestas con Coach Staley

2010-02-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

Sports-Specific Training Questions and Answers

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS Director, Staley Training Systemshttp://www.staleytraining.com

Got something a little different for you this week! I've put together 5 sport-specific questions that I've received along with my answers to those questions. If you're a coach or athlete, this is really informative stuff that can really help you improve performance.

QUESTION: Dear Charles, My football coach will not let us do curls he says they have no place in training, but I say they do. The biceps must be there for a reason, right?

ANSWER: Since the biceps is often thought of as a "show" or "beach" muscle, bicep training is often over-worshiped by young male trainees, but also excessively discouraged by well-meaning coaches. To say, as many coaches do, that the biceps has no function for a football player demonstrates a basic lack of understanding. I understand your coach's sentiments — he's just trying to emphasize function over aesthetics. However, it's kind of like telling school kids not to read the latest controversial book— it’s the best way to guarantee that they will! The biceps plays a pivotal role in the function of the shoulder and also in the articulation of the hand. It also balances the forces created by the triceps at the elbow joint.

So I hope your coach will someday take less of an "extremist" position about this issue, but in the mean-time, see if he'll allow you to perform more chins— a great bicep movement, but just tell him you are doing it for your back strength!

QUESTION: Charles, I'm a 17 year old varsity wrestler. I want to strength train, but cannot outgrow my weight-class. Can I get stronger without gaining any weight?

ANSWER: If you're trying to get stronger without a weight gain I would recommend relatively heavy explosive weight training with very little emphasis on the eccentric portion of the lifts.

You obviously should not train the same way a bodybuilder does (unless you want to increase your bodyweight). However, if you do realize a weight gain from low-rep strength training, you probably are headed in that direction anyway. What I mean by this is that if you gain weight as an adaptation to low rep, high intensity work, it tells me that you are already neurally efficient as you are going to be at that weight and can only see physical (as opposed to technical) improvement with a bit more muscle on your frame. This commonly happens in boxing where a fighter gradually finds it harder and harder to make it down to their weight class, and then must make the move up to the next class. At your age, this scenario is inevitable, it just a question of how long it's going to take before you have no choice but to move up.

QUESTION: I am a young personal trainer that works with high school athletes. I find my athletes get bored with the routine of sets and reps without a lot of change. I do change up exercises as often as I can but some things stay the same because they are effective. I am wondering, what kind of things you tell your athletes to keep them motivated? I would really like to know what you say to an athlete when you are first starting with them?
Most of the athletes that stick with me will stay motivated by the results but it's hard to keep an athlete with me sometimes because I put them on a workout that seems boring to them. I do plyometrics, speed training, and the strength training progresses but I believe its just the routine that bores them and not the actual exercises. So when you give an athlete a workout, how do you prevent them from giving up too early?

ANSWER: Great question Nick, and thanks for your kind words. Motivation is a "lost art" among trainers. Actually, that's being too kindm I suppose, since many trainers never "find" that art in the first place! I place a lot of value on connecting with each client personally— in both formal (interview) and informal situations. And very simply, ASK the client, in a sincere way, what they're hoping to accomplish. Then (and here's the important part) LISTEN.

Your client may have a strong passion to (for example) lose bodyfat, gain upper body strength, overcome an injury, or he may want faster sprint times. As your client talks, take note of their body language and vocal tone. If your client becomes excited and animated as he explains his passion to squat 405 pounds, it's a message you need to pay attention to. Then, in subsequent workouts, when the going gets tough, link the current task back to the passionate goal: "Listen Salvatore, I know this exercise is difficult, but trust me, this is the price that needs to be paid for that 405 squat you're looking for!"

Finally, it's important that YOU are motivated! Not in an insincere way (which is almost a hallmark of bad trainers everywhere!), but in a sincere way. Nothing is more motivational than your client sees that his coach is genuinely interested in his accomplishments. Thanks for the great question!

QUESTION: Charles: Most people say you can improve your tennis game with strength training; however, I see few top-notch pros with physiques that are above average. Is strength training harmful for tennis players?

ANSWER: It’s true, few elite male tennis players possess the muscular physiques often seen in other anaerobic strength endurance sports such as baseball, basketball, football, etc... Even more perplexing, some top female tennis players, such as Venus Williams do possess superior levels of muscularity compared to their male counterparts.

Is there an ideal level of hypertrophy for male or female tennis players? I don’t think so. I suspect that tennis, the quintessential gentleman’s sport, may have dodged the no- so-gentlemanly iron a little longer than other sports and is just now catching on. There’s no reason that strength training would improve physical capacity in other games but not in racquet sports. Michael Chang, who champions the case study supporting strength training with his well-developed lower body, developed a hard-hitting baseline game despite a lack of advantageous height. Tennis requires high levels of starting strength, agility, strength endurance, and flexibility. All of these qualities improve with a properly executed strength training program. Let’s look at them one by one:

Starting Strength

Starting strength, or the ability to recruit as many motor units (all the muscle fibers controlled by one motor nerve) as possible in an instant is required from the first swing of the racquet. It is technically considered a component of speed strength.

It should be obvious that 80-140 MPH serves and furious sprints to the ball are not performed without quickly accessing high-threshold motor units. Of course, muscle fibers usually remain somewhat dormant until presented with tension that "recruits" them in order to overcome the resistance.

This challenge can easily be provided in the form of a well-designed resistance training program. Once the motor units have been trained, it becomes much easier to access them for tasks that require acceleration against small resistances, i.e., the racquet.

Explosive Strength

Explosive strength is the ability to keep muscle fibers activated once they have been innervated— it is the second component of speed strength.

Explosive strength is required for sprinting after a return, or generally, any rapid accelerative movements. This presents the most obvious need for strength training which can be developed in the weight room very easily and safely.

Remember not to mistake strength training with bodybuilding. The development of force can be greatly increased without significant gains in mass. Athletes are recognizing the need for strength training in tennis at a very rapid rate.

Agility

Agility is the ability to integrate starting strength, explosive strength, and balance within a single movement or movement pattern.

A common tactic employed in tennis is to physically and neurally exhaust an opponent by constantly firing cross-court shots, forcing repeated and rapid directional changes, debilitating the opponent’s energy stores and strength levels.

Because it is a complex quality, agility is a trainable characteristic. A strength training program won’t make a player look like Flex Wheeler, but the improvement in agility will save him in the late sets.

Strength Endurance

Strength endurance is the ability to perform sub-maximal efforts over a duration of time.

Tennis matches often endure for four or more hours. Increased levels of maximal strength provide a strength reserve so that, for example, repetitive tasks which used to require say, 21% of a player’s maximal strength might now require 17% of maximal strength. This is what improves the player’s ability to remain effective for a longer period of time.

Flexibility

A great concern among tennis coaches and players is that resistance training will decrease an athlete’s range of motion (ROM). Although resistance training without stretching might limit an athlete’s ROM, performing regular stretching exercises will prevent a loss of flexibility.

Although many athletes believe they are better or healthier athletes when they are more flexible, there is such a thing as too much flexibility.

Limit your flexibility training to ROM development specific to performing your sport, with a bit of room to spare for unforeseen events, such as slipping into a partial split position as you reach for a long ball.

Two things scare me (and Austin Powers): nuclear weapons and carnies! Please don’t show me your contortionist act, save it for the circus.

QUESTION: Hi, I'm 25 years old and I've been climbing for two years now, and have been lifting for three years. I've been off the climbing crag for about a month, and just started EDT this week— I wanted to ask you how can I can mix the EDT with the climbing (giving more importance to EDT). I usually climb two to three hours, three times a week. Thanks in advance.

ANSWER:Thanks for writing! First, EDT is a great way to improve muscular endurance for climbing, or any other sport which requires muscle endurance. The trick is to develop a schedule that allows you to lift and climb in a way that helps your performance. After all, if you can't recover from your workouts, your fitness levels will decline instead of improve. In this case, you have two choices: Either perform EDT on "non-climbing" days, or perform EDT on climbing days. In the latter case, you have the additional choice between lifting and climbing in the same workout, or in different workouts (in the same day).

There are a few different ways to arrive at the best decision:

1) If climbing is your primary training concern, and you wish to use EDT mostly to help your climbing, I'd suggest positioning your workouts in such a way that you're most recovered prior to climbing sessions, as opposed to lifting sessions. This can be accomplished by placing your EDT workouts soon after your climbing sessions, to allow for maximum rest until your next climbing session. This arrangement poses an obvious problem however— EDT is difficult enough, without having to do it right after a climbing workout!

2) If you wish to give equal importance to climbing and lifting, I would simply alternate between climbing workouts and EDT workouts, separating each workout by at least one, but perhaps as many as three days— whatever is required to facilitate adequate recovery.

There are a few other "tricks" that you might also consider:

1) Climbing is stressful to the hands and fingers — try to choose resistance-training exercises that are gentle on your hands, and/or use lifting straps to reduce the load on these tissues.

2) Skilled climbers rely mostly on lower body strength, whereas novice climbers tend to over-rely on their upper body to scale their climbs (many years ago I did some climbing for a short while, and I was in the latter category!). In either case, leg training should be emphasized in EDT workouts. For climbers, I like pistols, step-ups, and lunges.

3) Since climbing is an endurance-oriented event, target maximal strength in your EDT workouts: Instead of 10RM weights, use 6RM loads and start your PR Zones with sets of 3, working down to doubles and singles as you begin to fatigue.

About The Author

Charles Staley...world-class strength/performance coach...his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.

Click here to visit Charles' site and grab your 5 FREE videos that will show you how to literally FORCE your body to build muscle, lose fat and gain strength with "Escalating Density Training," Charles' revolutionary, time-saving approach to lifting that focuses on performance NOT pain.

http://www.staleytrainingprograms.com

Estrategias Correctivas para atletas de poder.

2010-02-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

Corrective Power Lifting
"Getting Jacked, Without Getting Jacked Up"
by Elliott Hulse, CSCS

Like you, I love slapping more heavy plates onto a barbell, as I progressively get stronger. When it comes to adding size and strength to my frame, I throw all caution to the wind and pour every ounce of piss and vinegar into each set I perform. If the thought of injury crosses my mind, I dismiss it immediately. I don't want that shit in my mind any more than I want salad touching my plate at supper.

Like you, I would also like to continue to get stronger year after year and to compete at a high level of performance well into my Geriatric Years. There is nothing worse than a 'has-been' athlete; a washed up meat head that is no longer of any use to himself or anyone else. I'd imagine that the same feeling that possesses an old race horse on his way to the glue factory is similar to that experienced by a power lifter or strong man that can no longer perform a single push up due to over use injuries.

In the proceeding paragraphs you will discover a simple technique that I call Corrective Power lifting. It is not the typical physical therapy stuff that you'll read about on "PtonTheNet", I will not advise you to breathe through "pursed lips" or to "draw your belly button in". But I will challenge you to take a career-defining look at your physical structure and program design. If remaining strong and injury free is important to you (not to mention maximizing your performance), you WILL read and take heed.

#1. Assessment - "Show me what you're working with?"

I hate generalizations, but I've discovered that there are "generally" 3 areas of the body where most people have landmines (injury potential). Also, athletes with a landmine in one of these 3 areas generally have one in the other 2 as well. In fact, one usually causes the others to appear.

a. The Shoulders / Neck - The most common landmines in this region looks like this:

TIGHT - Cervical Extensors (back of the neck); sides of the neck; Upper Traps; Pec Minor

WEAK - Deep Cervical Flexors (front of the neck); Scapular Adductor Muscles; Rhomboids (upper - middle back)

b. The Hips - The most common landmines in this region looks like this:

TIGHT - Periformis (deep glute muscles); Posas (hip flexors) OR Upper Hamstrings; QLO (sides of the hips); IT bands (sides of the thighs)

WEAK - Glute Maximus (superficial butt muscles) "Big Ass = Strong and Fast"; Abdominals

c. The Ankles - The most common landmines in this region looks like this:

TIGHT - Soleus (Achilles tendon); Flexors of the foot

WEAK - Anterior Tibialis (shins); Extensors of the foot

"How do I know if I have a land mind in any of these areas?"Simple, stretch the muscles under the tight category and if it feels tight… then guess what? Also, there are common postural issues associated with each landmine. For example, someone with a shoulder landmine may have rounder shoulders and a forward head (head juts forward). So, if that's you… be afraid, very afraid!

"Damn Elliott, what the hell do I do now?" Great question, this leads us to…

#2. Corrective Stretching & Strengthening

I know what you are thinking, but please understand… I hate physical therapy exercises too! Also, the name of this article is Corrective Power lifting not corrective therapy. Below I am going to give you some tools that will clean up your exercise form, relieve pain and get yo

jacked at the same time… so bear with me.

Shoulder Land Mine - The shoulder landmine is usually most evident during the squat. Guys with this issue cant seem to get their neck and shoulders comfortable with the bar on the back. They usually have a very rounded upper back and seem to be jamming the bar into their neck with the elbows pointed straight back. Here is what you will do to correct this issue:

a. Stretch - the sides of your neck by pulling your head to the side; stretch the back of your neck by pulling your head forward with your chin to your chest; stretch your pec minor in a door jam and stretch your lats by holding an upright and leaning your chest down.

b. Strengthen - your deep cervical flexors by keeping the tongue on the roof of your mouth when doing crunches (if you do crunches); your rear delts by doing rear DB flyes and Crows; your middle back by doing bend over rows, seated rows, face pulls and DB rows.

Hip Land Mine - This is usually associated with low back or hip pain. The problem with the hip land mine is that it comes in two forms. The first being associated with tight hip flexors and the second tight upper hamstrings, very rarely will someone have both… but it can happen. But since most athletes that I train have tight hip flexors I will describe this land mine and its corrective measures.

a. Stretch - your hip flexors buy getting on one knee and leaning your hips forward; stretch your piriformis or deep glutes by laying on your back and pulling your knee into your chest while pulling it towards the center line of your body; foam roll your IT bands.

b. Strengthen - your glutes by performing deep squats while shoving your ass out; your glutes by doing high box step ups; your glutes by doing glute-ham raises; your glutes by doing hip extensions.

Ankle Land Mine - This is usually associated with back pain and shoulder pain. Every thing moves from the ground up, so if your feet are screwed up so will everything above it. These guys love getting on their toes when they squat and will even place boards under their heels instead of stretching.

a. Stretch - your Achilles tendon by standing with one foot half way off of a block and the other on top of it. The knee of the foot that you are stretching should be slightly bent; your feet… I like to sit on the floor and just pull my toes towards me with my hands, you can also perform a standard calf stretch

b. Strengthen - your shins by sitting straight legged on the floor with your feet together, pull your toes towards your face and hold it there for timed sets. There are also devices that are designed to strengthen these muscles also.

Getting stronger year after year takes a combination of several modalities and patience. But this is only accomplished if you remain injury free. If you hate prehab but want to avoid rehab use my approach and perform Corrective Power lifting.

Elliott Hulse CSCS trains athletes and "Regular Joe's" to get stronger and faster so they can play harder. Find out how at: http://www.StrengthCamp.com

Conozcan a la MAQUINA!!!!!

2010-02-08T13:04:00.000-08:00

Mike "The Machine" Bruce es un hombre excepcional, Strongman professional y modelo para la juventud su vida es un ejemplo de fe y perseverancia, este artículo losextraje de su blog es podrosos se los comparto...

Si quieren saber mas de la MAQUINA visiten: http://www.mikethemachine.com/

La maquina doblando una barra con la poderosa fuerza de su cuello!!!!

With Success comes s***t from others:

Let me lay a little preaching on ya brutha.....pay attention because I know first hand.

When you get success many who are not confident will look at you as egotistical and they will become jealous. Many of them hate where they are at in life and thus just go through day in and day out settling for the same thing but never wanting to change their situation.

Brothers like you and I make things happen, we step out of the box and thus those weaker minded people can't understand that so we are viewed as cocky. But in reality all we are doing is what God asked of us.

And that is to grow fruit and continue to make it produce. That right there brother is taking a step for what and where we want to be in life, never accepting the norm and becoming one of the few.

I'll never let myself be average, heck bro I was a skinny abused, big eared pipe cleaner looking kid that always walked with my head looking down at the ground and who later tried to MASK who I really was by acting tougher than I was. I

'm now known worldwide as "The Machine" professional performing strongman and motivational speaker whose neck is so big I can never look down again because my neck won't allow me to and all I can do is look up! You have just been given the word on this beautiful sunday morning.

Keep The Faith, I got to get out of here before I start to really go off and start preaching baby. WHEW!!!!

Kettlebell Training ahora en BTS

2010-01-28T08:05:00.001-08:00