Above: The Dumbbells at Diamond Gym. To get to the heaviest weights, you must do all the work to get them from the bottom! In sports, you can be a Coach or even a fan watching practice or competition and there will be stand out athletes. If you don't know that athlete, then you have NO clue how that athlete achieved his or her skill. he may have worked his ass off for it or, he might be gifted and lazy. But in the weight room, ahhhhhh, that's a different story. You can stand against the wall … [Read more...]
F–K Mediocrity & The Tough Kids From The U
Quite often I feel like a man all alone on a stranded island. Where the hell are all the dedicated, hard charging SOBs I ask myself? Still, I get e mails and messages on the daily asking me how I stay so motivated and hungry to succeed in all areas of my life. 1 of the BIG reasons is because I HATE Mediocrity. I HATE 2nd best or 2nd place. It wasn't always like that. I didn't start getting that inner drive of being pissed off for greatness until I was 19 or 20. … [Read more...]
5 Summer Football Workout Tips & Avoid These 2 Mistakes At All Costs
I've been stepping up and voicing my opinion on the overbearing, ego-maniac parents and coaches out there who are hurting their kids with shitty training programs and overall shitty decisions pertaining to training and ultimately, life. Why is it acceptable to let anyone and their Mom run the high school weight room? I thought this was about the kids? I understand sport coaches don't like this, so they threaten their players and disallow any of them to train at The Underground Strength … [Read more...]
Why Do High School Athletes Get SCREWED & How Can You Help Them?
“If you don't have time to do it right, When will you have time to do it over?" ~ Coach John Wooden ~ When I became a teacher, I did so because I CARED about kids and wanted to show them how amazing it is to be strong and healthy. I wanted to teach kids how to think for themselves, to gain confidence and learn about developing empowering habits. I left teaching after 11 years because I realized that the schools I worked for did NOT truly care about the kids. You can SAY something, but … [Read more...]
Does The Bench Press REALLY Matter?
[youtube width="640" height="360"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz6qKsWVA7U[/youtube] I train a high school Football Player / Wrestler who broke his hand / wrist in 8th grade. Now, he's a sophomore and strong as hell (naturally :). After his hand and wrist were fixed via surgery, it wasn't quite fixed. Ironic, right? Benching and holding horizontal weights in the hands is tough, the wrist deviates big time & causes pain no matter how strong we work the hands, wrist, grip, etc. … [Read more...]
Another Convict Conditioning QnA
Photo Above, from Convict Conditioning Book, by Paul Wade __________________ Hey Coach- I'm a 16 year old sophomore out of Dallas, TX, a varsity football player and wrestler. I've been a proud Undergrounder since the Summer after my freshman year, and I can't begin to tell you what incredible results I've gotten from performing simple, ground based barbell movements mixed with some light strongman work (sandbag stuff, mostly) has done for my athletic career. The UTM taught me how to program … [Read more...]
CrossFit and Cross Training
Lots of people HATE CrossFit. Of course, it's f**ing HARD workouts. Period. For my athletes I follow a system. A system of training is required to consistently get them stronger, more explosive, adding more muscle and improving their skill at the lifts as well. CrossFit is implemented into our conditioning work. CrossFit in lifting / movement / training is similar in philosophy to why I always tell my athletes to Cross Train in other sports to make them MORE athletic in their sport of … [Read more...]
Mental Toughness Training for Football & Wrestling
A question was sent my way and I pulled it out of the "Mail Bag" :) This question was in relation to why a Football team is looking strong and tough in the weight room, BUT, when they play Football and compete, there is a disconnect. We call this "transfer of training". But, what many Coaches struggle to understand is how to build the mental aspect of the athletes. Check out the video below and drop a comment / question when you're done watching. … [Read more...]
How an Athlete Gained 60 lbs of Muscle
Travis began training at The Underground when it was just a garage gym. The workouts were furious, in fact, I still miss those days, as do ALL the original Undergrounders. Travis was 160 lbs, soaking wet and he looked like a little boy. But he trained with us 2 - 3 days a week and ate exactly as we outlined for him. He didn't complain when he had to trap bar deadlift with only 185 lbs for months on end because his back could not handle any more weight. Today, Travis deadlifts near … [Read more...]
Kettlebell Training & Jump Training for Size, Speed & Strength
Strength is of critical importance for any athlete / adult, regardless of age. Speed is the next gear that takes strength to the next level. When I hear Coaches go on and on about strength and say nothing of speed I know they are missing the boat and vice versa. We then have Coaches who act as if strength is a bad thing. There is NO such thing as weak and successful. Not everyone who is strong is fast. And speed is not simply running around cones or ladders. Where is the force … [Read more...]