Below is a lil’ compilation of various Football / Gridiron Gladiator Workouts.

From myself to my bruddah Joey DeFranco and Duane Carlisle.

Duane Carlisle is the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for The San Francisco 49ers.

Years ago, Duane had several locations of his OWN in NJ, not too far from Edison. I would listen to countless audio interviews with Duane, especially his speed, agility and conditioning work as my expertise was in getting them Strong as Hell.

Duane has given an inside look as to how he trains Football players with regards to Strength, Speed / Agility & Conditioning. You can pick it up HERE. If you snag Duane’s Total Football Training, e mail me your receipt and I’ll send you The BEAST Strength Program).

Check these Videos of Gridiron Gladiators in Training, Jerzee Style.

Now that you’re blood is pumpin’ it’s time for you to rip through some heavy weights and run some hills!

Lead from the FRONT

–Z–

Recommended Resources:

Duane Carlisle’s Total Football Training

Joe DeFranco’s Super Strength

Underground Strength Inner Circle 30 Day Trial

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Team Underground has been competing in Strongman Competitions held by Joe DeFranco since Day 1. I believe the first one was 4 years ago in the parking lot of Joe’s Gym. It was held after an Elite FTS Seminar where Jim Wendler & Dave Tate were present.

I still remember getting a 600 lb tire 3 or 4 days before the event so our guys could practice the tire flip. The tire was old and grimy and the guys couldn’t even grip the tire.

It was the beginning stages of The Underground Strength Gym being in a warehouse, after several years of being housed in my 2 car garage.

No one expected our athletes to do well as we were unknown to others. What others did NOT know was that my athletes were like a tightly knit unit of a Military Special Forces Team. They had gone through Hellish Underground Workouts in my garage, backyard and at a school field down the road from my house.

I still recall the spectators at the first strongman competition asking, “Who the hell is Underground?!?!”

That first Strongman Competition was an epic day and one that I still remember as if it just happened 2 minutes ago, where one of our athletes, “Curls”, had to compete against Adam “Trigs” Triglia in an overtime finale with a prowler race for the high school division crown.

Trigs won by a mere fraction of a second and it would spur Curls to go on and win the next TWO strongman competition titles hosted by Joe DeFranco.

From chubby slow poke as a kid to the world’s strongest college athlete it was a helluva ride. I try to explain to my athletes often that this chokes me up and makes me proud as all heck, but I still see nerves in their eyes every time I talk to them about what I want them to do and the high expectations I have of them.

This year, as we prepped for The World’s Strongest Athlete my nerves were running more than ever. With our college guys coming back to The Underground with nagging injuries and crazy work schedules we had to work around LOTS of injuries, strange time schedules and I had to rebuild these warriors.

We used lots of Eischen’s Yoga & soft tissue work to get the body’s back on track. Strongman training was actually VERY low volume and we focused on Kettlebells, Bodyweight and Muscle Building movements.

Several weeks our from this year’s WSA competition, my former students from Elementary School, Curls & Coop, stood nervous as we went over workouts, expectations, nutrition and MORE expectations. I got a bit choked up as I looked back to how fast time had gone.

It seemed like yesterday that these two boys were in 4th grade and we still bring back our memories of Curls rapping in 4th grade math class using Football touchdowns and field goals to help the class memorize their times tables.

Coop still remembers getting in trouble with me and sitting out after performing a death defying head spring off the vault during while I was teaching Gymnastics.

Curls remembers being slower than everyone else and getting tagged first in every game.

I remember those days like yesterday and after the WSA was over, I had this clear vision in my head of these boys still being scared and nervous every time I spoke to them. I realized we had only 1 more year of competition ahead and that as a TEAM, we had seen each other change and grow.

The boys growing from elementary school to high school stand out Football players, and today, the standouts of their college Football team. Myself, a teacher and wrestling coach and today the owner of The Underground Strength Gym.

Last year, our top athletes represented BIG time at The World’s Strongest Athlete. Curls took 1st in the college division, T Woods 3rd in high school and Kevin Kelly, a NJ State Trooper took 2nd losing the entire event by a mere half second.

It was a stressful day of events this year, with our high school Beast, T Woods, going through a repeat battle as Curls did when he was in high school. The first Prowler Race was so close we had to go into Double Overtime where Pat Cole edged out T Woods for the title. I didn’t get as much video footage as I wanted as I was too nervous pacing the floors of the event watching all our athletes compete.

T Woods had just finished a whirl wind 2 weeks as he was in full blown Football practice for the Snapple Bowl, a Football Game that pits the best players of Middlesex County VS Union County and you can see the reporters were BIG time impressed with his presence on the field HERE.

When Travis began training at The Underground, in the garage, he was training alone, in a corner almost, as he was too weak to deadlift more than 185 lbs without rounding his back.

On the other side of the garage was Curls & Coop, deadlifting 500 + lbs and motivating Travis to that next level. T Woods went from 160 lbs to 220 + lbs and is heading off to play college ball.

Check the highlight below and you’ll see how tough this event was and why I am so proud of the athletes who represented from The Underground Strength Gym.

Before the day was over I was PROUD of my crew for representing BIG time in more ways than one. They competed with every ounce of strength they had to raise funds and be strong for The MS Society as all funds were donated to MS.

The crew was ready for the next step and that was to prepare for their next season. They ALL showed up Monday ready to train again. Dedication. Commitment.

Although we battle for 1st place during this competition, our crew and DeFranco’s crew have become brothers through the years. It’s been an awesome journey watching our high school athletes grow into college athletes and now on the verge of graduation they’ll be heading into the work force.

I believe these are THE kids who can bring the economy back on it’s feet as they are warriors, they understand how to get results and don’t fear the hard work, sacrifice and commitment necessary to become a BIG success.

What these boys have learned in the weight room has made them better MEN.

And, because of these times and these athletes, I too am a better man.

I am grateful and honored.

Lead from the FRONT.

–Z–

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After lifting for 21 years and having gone through quite the gamut of training methods, training tools, near death experiences and plenty of pain and pleasure mixed in I have learned quite a lot. I’ve learned quite a lot in regards to training AND life through these 2 decades.

1) I used to do my homework in the gym. I just wanted to be amongst the weights. If I opened one of my books in the classroom you would find FLEX magazine inside the book. I couldn’t get my mind off lifting and being in the gym.

2) I would cut school to record American Muscle Magazine on ESPN. The show would air at strange hours, catering to to the west coast bodybuilding scene. Sometimes the show aired at 3 AM so I would set my alarm in the middle of the night just to watch the show.

I would count down the days till the show and mark my calendar. The weeks I had to wait to catch the next episode seemed like years to me.

3) I used to watch The Lee Haney show on Sunday mornings at 8 AM.”Stimulate, Don’t Annihilate.” I would watch his workout tape before I trained at home when I was 13 years old! Hells Yea I bought that tape!

4) I read ‘Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder’ for 4 years straight while in high school, NEVER allowing the other kids to take the book out from the library so I kept renewing it. I feared they would learn the secrets of Arnold and catch up to me.

5) On family vacations I didn’t want to relax. I made my Dad drive around and find me a gym. They would often drop me off in the morning and pick me up SIX hours later!

6) On the way to the gym one day, at the age of 14, my brother was driving me there and I was meeting up with two of my idols, both former wrestlers from the high school team and two of the most Bad Ass Wrestlers I knew at the time. Instead of helping my brother I got out and ran down the highway to get to the gym.

7) By age 15 I KNEW I wanted to own my own gym. My Dad would drive me to ALL the gyms within a 1hr drive and I would meet with the owner and ask him questions about running a gym. My Dad always had the business mind and would ask them if they would sell the gym! haha

There was a small, hardcore gym in Perth Amboy, home of John Grimek. The owner was lazy and the place was a yellow building with a few light bulbs and tons of OLD equipment, YORK barbells, dumbbells and a crossover machine connected with rope rather than cable! I would have bought that gym but the owner burnt it down…… Pure accident of course, at least that’s what the paper said. Coulda been quite the gem if I got in there.

9) There was a gym for sale in Newark, in a scary area. It was called Pumps Gym and the owner was a welder. He welded EVERYTHING, all the dumbbells, barbells and he even MADE the machines. The Leg Press was the size of a Volkswagon Beetle.

The Power Rack musta been 11 or 12′ tall!! He was burnt out and wanted to sell it for 10 grand. I had 10 grand in the bank to buy a diamond engagement ring. I ALMOST bought the gym instead!! Instead of the gym, I married that girl and bought some old equipment from the guy

10) When I was in my early 20’s I traveled to California alone, to do some soul searching. I stayed with my older bros buddy from The Israeli Army. Every day I drove into Venice and Santa Monica to train on Venice Beach or at Gold’s Venice.

I ate at the Fire House every day and layed on the beach. I was hoping for some nostalgic feeling of Pumping Iron but it NEVER happened

I walked into World Gym and saw Joe Gold, Zabo and a few other GREATS from The Golden Era hanging out behind the front desk like the good ol’ days!

11) While in Santa Monica I walked by the ORIGINAL Gold’s Gym where Arnold and the boys used to train. And although it was just a BIG cement wall, I swear I could still hear Arnold talking and weights clanking as if it were 1975 all over again, the year I was born.

Last I heard some dude bought the original building and made it his house. Bastard.

12) I almost moved to Cali that summer and was ready to tell my parents to send me socks and underwear. I bailed and stayed in NJ ans regretted that for YEARS! It taught me to Man the F**K UP and be more of a risk taker. Now that I live 2 minutes from the beach I’m a happy man

13) I remember having a goal of squatting 225 for 50 reps. I hit 46 or so on my own and cranked the extra few with a spotter. That was FUN. Sometimes I wonder if my legs were so damn strong from doing Leg Presses!!??

14) I remember squatting 315 for 22 reps. I wanted to impress this hot girl at the gym but I was too shy to speak to her, imagine that. Figured I could catch her attention by squatting 315 for 20 + reps. She was ALWAYS at the gym when I was there. Except this time she showed up 10 minutes AFTER I did 22 reps with 315. The entire gym stopped to watch me, except for her.

15) I won the “Young Mr. Israel” contest when I was 18 with less than 2 weeks preparation. I was convinced to compete when I went to visit my Grandparents and the gym owner saw me. The competition was held inside an amphitheatre and the crowd was over 1,000 people watching!

The crowd was nuts and there 18 or 19 competitors in my weight class. I beat a kid from Russia to win the contest. I trained with a Navy SEAL and the gym owner, a former physical instructor for The Israeli Special Forces. Those 2 weeks of training were some of the most memorable days of my life!

16) When I was pumping up for Mr. Israel bodybuilding show it was in the basement. I retreated to a small back room and began churning out push ups with my feet elevated and my hands placed on 2 chairs for the extra stretch. Why did I do this? Because this is what Arnold did when he first came to America and competed in his first ever bodybuilding competition on American ground.

All the other kids were staring at me trying to figure out what secrets I had from America. After winning they all accused of me being on steroids and the Navy SEAL I was training with kind of flipped out. Kind of

17) I remember copying everything Vic Richards said in the magazines. It was common to find me doing things like:

- Squats for 2 hours

- Leg Press or Hack Squat for 2 hours

- Bench Press for 2 hours

18) I remember a kick ass, hardcore gym in my hometown that was packed with powerlifters and bodybuilders. The music was always loud as hell and everyone was lifting hard and heavy.

The owner sold his gym near the jersey shore, came back and painted all the brown equipment white and baby blue. The clientele cleared out like the plague was coming, the tape deck was removed (yes, it was THAT long ago) and eventually the gym shut down.

Shoulda stayed hard core. Period.

19) After years of trying to find a hardcore gym, as they were all either burned down, burnt our or sold out, I purchased a $ 99 300 lb barbell set from Costco. The training I had was f**ing awesome. I began purchasing odds and ends from E Bay, classified ads and Craigs List.

I was benching, power cleaning, deadlifting, floor pressing and shrugging.

The garage was freezing, literally. I purchased a space heater which did little to keep me warm. I wore 2 pairs of sweats, 3 – 4 sweat shirts, hats and gloves. I purchased a 2nd space heater, but when turned on, I shorted the entire house. My Dad wasn’t happy. I continued to train through mid December until I got sick for a full week and had to retreat back to a “regular” gym. F**K

20) The first time I ever saw Pumping Iron was when my friend’s Dad rented the movie for me. I didn’t leave the house and must have watched it over and over again until I had to go home. My friend’s Dad copied the VHS for me so I could watch it over and over again…. except this time at my house, haha

When the anniversary edition came out and all the lost footage was brought onto another DVD, I did the same thing. Spent ALL day watching that movie!!

21) There used to be an OLD School YMCA in Metuchen. All the equipment was by YORK and all the dumbbells were globe style or round heads. I would ride my bike there and barely make it home alive. I would try to ride my bike at other times push my bike.

Those days were THE BEST! I remember asking a landscaper if he had any water as I was pushing my bike home after killing myself with a leg workout copies straight out of ‘Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding’. The guys would always play AC / DC in the radio tape deck and this is the gym where some of my earliest articles about ‘NO Rules Training’ came from as some Beast named George was tearing up the YMCA weight room.

I have PLENTY more stories to tell, perhaps there will be a Part II.

Drop a comment with some of your memories and stories from lifting. Looking forward to reading them!

Lead from the FRONT!

–Z–

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Complexes are downright brutal. I use them with barbells, dumbbells, sandbags and kettlebells.

You can use them with stones as well. The bottom line is don’t be afraid to go heavy with complexes either.

They put on muscle AND improve conditioning, but, most people fear them because they are NASTY once you get going with them. Your muscles feel like they’re going to explode and your grip gets a helluva workout from the constant movement of the barbell in your hands.

Check out this video of some Dumbbell Complexes adding The Grip 4orce to make it even more challenging.

At least once a week you should be tossing in some form of a complex using any of the training tools:

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It was a Friday morning and I was supposed to train 4 wrestlers inside a wrestling club where I’ve got a small Underground Strength Club going down.

The doors were locked. It was time for Plan B.

This is what I thrive on: shitty conditions, no equipment, no gym….. this is how I began and this is where I was, all over again, 8 years later. I was in my element and a day like this brought me back to my roots.

You gotta go back to your roots no matter what you do or where you are in life. It reminds you to remain humble and focus on what is important.

Time to use the Black Berry. Google local elementary schools with hopes that they haven’t pussified themselves and torn down all playgrounds, monkey bars and anything else Underground. Nowadays, a kid falls off the monkey bars the school board get scared and tears down ALL playground equipment.

NO playing! NO running! NO climbing! NO living??!!!

Lucky for me, the cards were in my favor because this playground was OLD school and looked like old world Russia and something Fedor would be caught training at.

There was sand for wrestling on, poles for climbing and pushing and tables for jumping and press.

Hells Yea, this is MY world. OUR world. The world of Underground.

In this video you’ll see two Division 1 wrestlers and 2 high school wrestlers, one of which is an undefeated state champ as a pure freshman and a youth national champ. I FEAR these kids and that’s exactly what’s supposed to happen when trained properly.

Check these Animals in Training below….

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I’ve always been a BIG fan of Grip Strength and the countless benefits that come with bone crushing hand strength and jacked up forearms.

Check out this grip strength workout where I finished my upper body workout with.

And, below that video is a throwback, Episode 71 from The Underground Strength Show.

Here is what I want YOU to do.

Drop a comment with your favorite grip exercises or grip workout.

By the time we have a good 40 or 50 comments you will have a BOAT load of grip strength, hand strength and forearm exercises / workouts for you to add to your grip strength training arsenal.

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Grip Experts – the compilation of information inside of this manual is BadAss.

Lead from the FRONT

–Z–

Recommended Resources:

Underground Kettlebells

Underground Inner Circle

Grip Experts

Sandbag Assault Workouts

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When I first heard about Density Workouts is when Coach Ethan Reeve was describing his very own workouts from when he was a college wrestler back in the 70s. He would crank intense workouts for 20 minutes, going for maximum rounds.

The workouts would give an ass whoopin’ to ALL of us.

The Rutgers Wrestling Team is learning ALL about these Density Workouts as we crank many of our workouts based on time. It forces you to push the pace, minimize rest and in turn, mental toughness improves along with strength endurance, power endurance and muscle density.

No wimps allowed.

Below, I cranked 10 minutes of speed benching combined with mixed pulling, much of which was rope pull ups to improve grip strength.

With Density work you do not have to perform an entire workout based on time.

It can be portions of the workout.

You choose. Get UNDER the bar, in the trenches, live and learn.

Lead from the FRONT

–Z–

PS: I’ll be doing Part II of The Coach Reeve Audio Interview for The Underground Inner Circle this week.

Don’t miss it!

Recommended Resources:

Underground Inner Circle

Underground Strength System / Coach Ethan Reeve Audio Interrogation

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I had a kick ass workout last night. This is Part I, stay tuned for Part II.

But check it out, movin’ some heavy weight and plenty more to come!

Got questions, thoughts or comments?

Drop a comment below and let’s hear it!

Looking forward to your comments!

Lead from the FRONT!

–Z–

Recommended Resources:

The Underground Strength System

Underground Strength Coach 30 Day Trial

The Underground Biz Journal

THE Kick Ass Seminar

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My last workout which I e mailed to you got me a lot of heat, not just literally, bit via cry baby e mails.

If you recall, I spoke about my workout with no water, and the garage door shut with the warehouse being hot as hell.

Because of all the complaints regarding how unsafe this is and that others will follow this and possibly hurt themselves I decided it is best to STOP training in such a dangerous manner.

I would HATE to see people getting mentally tougher.

I mean, now that I think about it, people are tough enough.

I will remove my article from the Blog, The Pussification of America…..

I will instead be part of the problem, as my “solutions” are too difficult and are life threatening.

I apologize if I ever caused you to sweat, strain or work outside your comfort zone. I must have been on strange drugs at the time, causing me to think and act in unsafe manners.

I apologize if I ever told you that sending text messages, checking your hair or popping zits in the mirror during your “workout” and in between sets of leg extensions was wrong.

Please – STOP working so hard. You will hurt yourself!

Squats are going to hurt your back and will ruin your knees!!!

The Bench Press will KILL your shoulders. I suggest using the smith machine and if the smith machine is not available then a GREAT substitute would be the pec deck machine.

If your gym does not have air conditioning, END your membership and find a gym that has air conditioning!

Do NOT be so insane or crazy to think that you can work out in temperatures greater than 70 degrees.

It is unsafe and unhealthy.

You will dehydrate and end up in the hospital.

If you are in high school and about to prepare for Football, have your parents organize a group and
write a letter to the principal, the superintendent of schools, the head coach and to the state regarding the need for air conditioning while training.

With double sessions approaching, you should be able to nap between workouts and have a perfectly balanced meal provided so you can optimally recover for the 2nd session of the day.

Water breaks should be given every 6 minutes and 24 seconds as this is the EXACT time your heart rate is likely to exceed 175 BPM which is EXTREMELY dangerous!

If the air temperature is beyond 84.6 degrees, organize your teammates and hold a “Player’s Strike” demanding a day off as the heat can be too tough on the body AND your mind. YOU deserve BETTER!

After EVERY practice go to the trainer and get a deep tissue massage for 20 minutes, followed by a contrast shower, alternating hot / cold water every 30 seconds.

The towels provided to you should be 100% Egyptian Cotton and the ladies who pat you dry should be 5′10″ with blonde hair, Scandinavian or Swedish for best results.

These rules should apply for ALL sports and ALL military.

Those of you who are Spec Ops in the Military, please have your Commanding Officer read this.

Print this out for him so he can read this daily.

During your long runs or specialty training missions through jungles there should be water stations set up and rest areas so you can replenish and rehydrate your body. This is EXACTLY what will happen during a REAL war and it is time to start preparing the RIGHT way!

Optimally, each water station should be 1.2 miles apart for best results. Every third water station should have a massage therapist on staff to massage your calves and feet to alleviate any discomfort or pain you may be experiencing.

The military will be moving away from REAL application and training in the REAL elements. Rather than jungle training the military will be renting NFL Football stadiums and creating mock Jungles.

The trees will be fake and the streams you cross will be created from high end pool manufacturers, loaded with deadly fish such as Guppies and Gold Fish. The snakes will not be poisonous, instead, they will be garter snakes, rented from local pet stores.

Wild Life will be rented from local pet shops and returned every night.

Soldiers in training will be allowed 1 break per every 45 minutes of training last no longer than 6.17 minutes
and no less than 3.12 minutes.

This will allow sufficient time to check facebook messages, check your e mail and call loved ones.

The Underground Strength Gym is closed as of June 20th, 2010. ALL equipment will be donated to the local scrap yard as our equipment has been deemed to dangerous for ALL people of the human race.

I can be reached for consultation at various gyms throughout NJ such as LA Fitness, Retro Fitness and Work Out World – I’m gonna keep Jersey Strong, brothers!

Lead from the front.

–Z–

PS: The websites which were formerly mine have been taken over by hostile foreigners and payments will be collected in person as opposed to credit cards.

I am NO longer responsible for the following web sites:

http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

http://GetWrestlingStrength.com

http://ZachEven-Esh.com will be revamped shortly as ALL articles and videos will be removed due to their life threatening methods

Please allow me to take this time to transition into my new position as a personal trainer at the various “Proper” gyms throughout NJ.

PPS: Please let the guy below know about these NEW rules so he can stop training so hard for Football. He is going to hurt himself but my REAL hope is that he HURTS YOU

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Recently, I had the cameras of FLO Wrestling stop by The Underground Strength Gym to see how I train wrestlers. Here’s a lil’ tour and what goes on behind the walls of The Underground…..

Because of all this varied “play” these wrestlers become strong, conditioned, athletic and don’t hit the burn out that a typical wrestler hits because all he does is focus on ONE sport thanks to CRAZY Daddy who pushes him to do ONE sport and only sport.

Sorry for the rant and random thoughts, but sometimes, my mind goes off on a tangent and does its own thing.

If you have thoughts, comments or questions on ANY of these thoughts or the videos, please drop a comment. Looking forward to the exchange and learning from YOU.

Lead from the FRONT.

–Z–

Recommended Resources:

Get Wrestling Strength

The Underground Strength System

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