Deadlifts and Pull Ups; 2 exercises that are tried, tested and proven to boost your performance. These exercises are great for athletes, for Military & First Responders and for adult men & women. I have used a unique training method with these 2 exercises through the years to improve my pull ups and deadlift. That technique is called Grease the Groove, which I learned from early days Pavel. Whether you're busy, Training for Life, trying to build strength, Grease the Groove is … [Read more...]
QnA: Tactical Training, Olympic Lifting Debates & Turning Pro
STRONG Life Podcast ep. 273 QnA ALL Day on this one, again! And, it was AWESOME. BIG thanks to everyone who contributed by dropping great questions on my Instagram. Make sure you listen to the end as I announce 2 Winners of a 1 year membership to The Underground Strength Academy for leaving awesome 5 star reviews! In this episode I cover the following topics: - Training the tactical population (Military, Law Enforcement, Firemen, First Responders) - Grease the Groove to Improve … [Read more...]
Training Around Injuries + My Full Meniscus Repair
I've been around athletes for 25+ years now. Even dating back to my knee injuries in high school, I learned that it is always better to work around an injury rather than sit home on the couch and sulk. The year was 1993 and I was a senior in high school. During practice my R knee swelled up to the size of a softball. I limped to the team locker room and took off my knee pad. My Coach came in a few minutes after to check on me and caught me crying. I wasn't crying from pain. I was crying … [Read more...]
Do These 3 Bodyweight Only Exercises, Inspired by Herschel Walker
There are 3 crucial bodyweight exercises that everyone should be able to do AND, that everyone should put a lot of energy into. 1) Push Ups - we learned these as kids and surprisingly, I don't see too many people doing basic push ups anymore. If you're shoulders are banged up from heavy benching and squats with a straight bar, then get busy on push ups and give the barbell a break. Focus on doing high reps and of course, perfect technique. Imagine your body is a 2 x 4 or a ruler, … [Read more...]
Why Calisthenics Are So Effective Yet Underused
Those old strength and health magazines had it right. They encouraged barbell lifting; Bodybuilding, Powerlifting and Olympic Weightlifting. They encouraged body control through the use of calisthenics, hand balancing and basic gymnastic drills. The physiques not only looked strong, they WERE strong AND athletic. You don't see the bodybuilders of today performing hand balancing or acrobatics. Heck, you don't see bodybuilders jumping. I often say I was born at the wrong time. I … [Read more...]
Fitness Is So Simple It’s Complicated
The photo above is from 1938. That's a pretty impressive physique for about 80 years ago. I am sure his training was ultra basic, what else was there in 1938? I am sure this man's nutrition was basic as well. If I could guess, he did calisthenics, basic gymnastics, basic barbell and dumbbell work and maybe some running? He probably worked full time, did manual labor and worked hard. Of course, the food back then was likely much more different than today. Whole eggs and whole milk were … [Read more...]
STRONG Life Ep. 130 | QnA: Strength Coach & Gym Business Success Strategies | Training to Be Dangerous
Ep. 130 | QnA: Strength Coach & Gym Business Success Strategies. This episode was awesome as I collected questions from the group of Certified Underground Strength Coaches. The questions bounced back and forth between the business of training and the relentless pursuit of excellence in the training itself. Here are the questions I dive deep into: … [Read more...]
Training The Multi Sport Athlete
I received an e mail recently from a multi sport athlete who competes in Football and Wrestling. This is a tough stretch as Football begins mid August and rolls straight into Wrestling season which begins on Thanksgiving. Depending on how successful you are, Wrestling season can end anywhere from mid February to the first weekend in March. All in all, we're looking at approx. 7 months of in season time. Not only is this a long stretch of time but there are MANY other factors that I add up and … [Read more...]
Is DAILY Bodyweight Training Effective & Safe For Muscle & Strength Gains?
This started all the way back in 1989. Every time I passed a pull up bar or anything I could grab on to over head, I banged out pull ups. This became a daily practice. Same for push ups. Push Ups for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Guess what happened? … [Read more...]
Training & Life Updates, November 2012
"We aren't going to try to train you, we're going to try to kill you." - Soldier I, SAS Training has been full steam ahead, high volume and high frequency. Check out the video below for some updates on my training, how to attack goals the RIGHT way, the volume workout I did on Thanksgiving morning and how to stay healthy when training HARD. Check the video.... … [Read more...]