He was the first American Gracie Jiu Jitsu Black Belt….

He had his own homemade Russian Kettlebells in his gym loooong before they were popularized in the states…

He taught classes with methods of Physical Culture when others were standing on balls and training on one foot standing on another ball….

The man is Steve Maxwell, a true Gladiator.

Lucky for you….if you’re up for it, is that Steve and I will be putting on ‘The Gladiator Fitness Seminar’ on July 12th at my gym in edison, NJ.

The first 10 sign ups get an early bird special and we already had 1 sign up after the first day of announcing.

There will be 20 available spaces, I hope to see you there. This is the type of training experience that can literally change your life.

It did for me….

In Strength,

Zach Even - Esh

P.S. - Don’t think, just do, don’t procrastinate, take action. NOW is always the best time. Take action Here.

Every Friday at 5 PM we have a packed house of guys training together. It is getting insane, but we organize the groups very tightly and there is little to no down time. This is a mix of high school Football players, College Football Players and a few guys from a adult Football League.

The workout pace is furious as we almost always perform 2 movements back to back. If they feel like they’re waiting too long they know to work in abs and pull ups. you can’t go wrong with rock solid abs and a powerful upper body developed through countless pull ups. And yes, even our 250 + lb. guys are required to hit pull ups.

 We work in recline rows as well using a 2″ thick rope to aggressively work their hands, forearms and grip strength.

I highly reccomend the focus on ground based lifts. I encouraged this BIG time when I spoke last Friday at the NJSIAA Coaches Annual Seminar. Ground Based vs typical training, Ground Based movements will always give a better return in results. The typical movements let you sit down or lay down waaaaaay too frequently.

I’d rather see athletes working on tire flips, power cleans, overhead presses, deadlifts, etc.

Now, I know MANY people know how to do these movements. But guess what, doesn’t EVERYONE know how to bench press and squat? Yet we know how many people who can bench over 600 and squat over 1,000 lbs?

Catch my drift? It ALL boils down to the magic in the program design. Those who understand the science behind program design get phenomenal results.

So when an arrogant idiot e mails me, “We all know how to lift barbells and sandbags, it’s not rocket science” - I must give the response, “Then why the hell aren’t you transforming athletes into Beasts?”

There is a science behind developing optimal training programs which develop phenomenal results in strength, speed, power and work capacity.

The arrogant people who already know it all will ignorantly state that “It’s not rocket science”, and this is likely why he is not training any athletes or, able to get himself any viable results.

My methods have come about through hands on experimentation and LOTS OF LISTENING to highly experienced Coaches.

This is why The Gladiators are increasing strength, speed and work capacity every single week.

I’ll be getting into the details of how, when and why we implement the things we do when I present in NJ, on April 5th w/my buddies Jason C. Brown, Pamela MacElree and John McKenna. These are three Coaches who are training countless people day in and day out, and truly getting their hands dirty.

This seminar is for everyone - Coaches, athletes, parents, etc.

If you’re in the tri state area I hope to see you there!

Info is here: http://www.crossfitphilly.com/Events.html

In Strength,

Zach Even - Esh

P.S. - As always, we have an early bird registration so get in before time runs out.

Want an inside look at what happens at The USC Gym when our athletes go through the ringer?

Most of the time, I only post these at the members only forum at Underground Strength Coach.

So here’s a little treat for you
After our warm up, we hit the following:

1A) Zercher Squats 5 x 3 - 5 reps

1B) 1 Arm DB Rows 5 x 6 - 8 reps

2A) log bar or swiss bar push press 4 x 5 reps

2B) 1 arm Kettlebell clean 4 x 5 reps

3A) dips 3 x max

3B) pull ups 3 x max

Finish with grip and abdominal training.

Our log and swiss bars allow for a parallel grip while pressing, which is more comfortable for our athletes when pressing, as well as more of a natural movement.

Note the coupling of movements to improve work capacity. Being in shape is critical, “in shape” is all around physical preparedness and it will carry over to all endeavors. This group is not going through any SPP (Specialized Physical Preparedness) as none of these athletes are approaching their sport.

If you’re looking to develop gut busting strength then give the above workout a shot. If you want all the insider secrets o what we do then check out my Ultimate Resource at http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

Time to get back to work!

Stay tuned for a critical announcement in 2 weeks time, you won’t want to miss this one!

In strength,

Zach Even - Esh

P.S. - Don’t let others get the edge over you, take control and put yourself on top by becoming a member of The Underground today!