Here's a lil motivational story. One that really hits home for me, touches my heart. I will leave the name anonymous but I will say a few things before I share this story with you. When I was in high school, I would follow this wrestler's success through the newspaper. He was a very humble, quiet and unassuming wrestler. But, when he stepped on the mat he knew how to "flip the switch." … [Read more...]
3 Reason Why You Need A Gut Check Workout
Last weekend I spoke in Md. at the state wrestling coaches association. I was fired up to train and the hotel gym was on the same floor as my room. It was a posh, pretty little studio. But, I turned out the crappy music and annhialated my training. I felt like a million bucks because I didn't make some lame ass excuse for being too tired after driving a lot the night before, not enough sleep, not a good gym, bla bla, bla. I stepped up. Period. There is something awesome that happens inside … [Read more...]
Cary Kolat Gives 9 Awesome Tips On WHY The Stronger Minded Person Wins
After watching Cary Kolat present yesterday, one of the best wrestlers in the world, he finished his technique session with the following points that seriously fired me up and they're gonna do the same for you. This is a MUST watch and you'll wanna listen to this over and over and over again. Here is what you'll learn in Cary's video: … [Read more...]
You Can See It In Their Eyes
The eyes say a lot about the person. You can get a vibe from someone by looking at their eyes. If you've seen Rocky III, you recall Apollo talking about "that look". The Eye of The Tiger is what Apollo called it. I pay attention to these details, especially when training athletes. Those who have that look are those who will rise above and fight through all the training. Those who don't have that look are those I will need to build and transform. And unfortunately, some will never … [Read more...]
Underground Strength Gym To The Marines
VERY proud of our Team Underground Homeboy, Wags. One of the hardest working kids I've ever come across, now, protecting our country!! Here's a message Wags sent to the crew at Team Underground, I wanted to share with Undergrounders around the world. Wags was an all state high school wrestler for South Plainfield (2nd in the state behind eventual 4 time state champ, Andrew Campolotano), then a D1 Wrestler and after sophomore year, Wags went on to The Marines. You've likely seen videos of Wags … [Read more...]
It’s Quitting Time: Lessons from Navy SEALs, Natural Disasters & TOUGH People
When Life Gets Uncomfortable, Will You Rise Above... Or, Lay Down & Surrender? Above, 12 + hours in to our SEALFit Challenge, we NEVER Gave Less Than Our Best NO Quitting... EVER!! This blog post is gonna PISS off a LOT of people, mainly the quitters. It's a straight up RANT! I am prefacing this post stating that if you move forward from here on, you MUST read every single word and watch ALL the videos. Don't be a chicken shit skimmer who half asses your way through this post. If … [Read more...]
Vision Quest
Above, my high school wrestling coach, Coach Pagach, getting inducted into The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Yesterday was a very cool day. I attended The NJ Wrestling Hall of Fame to see my high school wrestling coach get inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. It was GREAT to see my Coach again. The last time I saw Coach Pagach I was 22 years old and was in my 3rd month of teaching, the start of my teaching career. At age 22, at that time, I had MANY mixed emotions with … [Read more...]
35 Life & Lifting Lessons, Part II
If you missed Part I, check it HERE 17) After freshman wrestling season ended I joined Apollon Gym, which is the gym I share a parking lot with today! I trained 6 - 7 days a week, for a minimum of 2 hrs a day. Often times on weekends, my parents would drop me off in the morning to train while they went food shopping, ran errands, went to the mall, etc. It wasn't odd for me to be at the gym 4 - 6 hrs on weekends. I just kept on training till they picked me up :) 18) My subscription to FLEX … [Read more...]
35 Life & Lifting Lessons
Holy S**t! In a few short weeks I'll be 36. Time goes fast. TOO Fast. Here's some stories and lessons I've learned along the way & hopefully you're not too cool to learn from some of these. Anyway, for no reason whatsoever I thought it would be legit to have a pic of Dr. Ken training with an empty bomb to remind you to push the limits :) … [Read more...]
A Day in My Life
Not EVERY post on this Blog will be about lifting. I don't think lifting is the end all be all, perhaps you've heard me use the phrase, 'Kick Ass in Life AND Lifting'? If not, read the book HERE! Here's a bit of my day and how things are rolling for me lately... I've had a slam packed day and normally I do more work, but today was different. Many ask me how I get so much done and still have so much passion and energy on top of such a hectic schedule. Well, # 1, I focus on my passion, … [Read more...]