Mental Toughness. Here we go again. One of the most overused phrases in the coaching world. What is it? How do you help athletes "Get Tough" and why is it even important? Well, being a kid who grew up in the 80s and experiencing countless training styles and coaches, I am smart enough to see the changes and the evolution. And with all this experience comes a lot of mistakes and knowledge. What worked in the 80s and 90s doesn't always work today. As a high school athlete, my coach … [Read more...]
Barbarian Brothers Strength Training Lessons & Inspiration
Lessons & Inspiration from THE Barbarian Brothers. I know that some people will dismiss this information. Others are simply not ready for it. They don't have an open mind yet. For me, with my decades of experience, I have seen a lot and gone through a lot. This gives me a massive pool of knowledge and experience to pull from. So if you're ready, read on. Heck, even if you're not ready, jump in and read on...... The weight room at my high school has been PACKED to the gills since … [Read more...]
Refined Savage Podcast: Coaching & Building TOUGH High School Athletes, Training LEOs & Parenting
Great times as always chatting it up with Mark Valenti on his podcast, The Refined Savage. Topics we cover are below: Training High School Athletes to be TOUGH and why this is Crucial, yet NOT Popular The difference in knowing how to train yourself vs being able to coach others, especially large groups of athletes with varied ability levels … [Read more...]
255 | Jim Wendler: Training High School Athletes, Thoughts on Social Media, Music & Best Business “Advices”
STRONG Life Podcast 255 with Jim Wendler. https://JimWendler.com This episode is a barn burner and loaded with passion, real life training talk, discussions on our own training as we "get older" plus everything in between. Of course, we get into our dislike of social media and our love for music. Chatting with Jim is always inspiring. Being around this guy reminds how he is one of the realest dudes out there just living his truth. The story of How / When did Zach & Jim meet … [Read more...]
9 Training Tips for Re-Building Athletes Post COVID
Photo Cred HuskerMax.com In mid June in NJ the Governor granted permission for "gyms" to train outdoors. I always say, The Underground Strength Gym is a Private club, but the government and governor don't really understand this. When mid June came around, I knew that I would have to start at 50 or 60%. The plan was to add 10% of work / intensity each week so that by the 4th week, we would be almost at "normal". Which nowadays, I really do not enjoy that word, "normal". With 3 months of … [Read more...]
Why Coaches Must STOP Training Athletes with Stupid, Dangerous “Workouts”
I am always in shock with how abundant information is, both good and bad, yet still, when left to their own devices, sport coaches are implementing crazy, stupid, BS "workouts" for their athletes. I know this article and video will hit a nerve with coaches. In fact, I know of Coaches who threaten their players that if they DO train at The Underground Strength Gym, they will be reprimanded. How's that for caring about the kids? It doesn't take much work to research what is safe and … [Read more...]
208 | Paul Kolody on High School Strength & Conditioning
STRONG Life Podcast ep. 208 HERE WE GO! BOOM! This was a POWERFUL episode I did with my friend, Paul Kolody, a NJ Strength Coach at powerhouse Hunterdon Central High School. In this episode we REALLY dig deep into how to organize and run a high school weight room like a PRO! Paul sometimes has 90+ kids in his weight room with NO assistant coaches! Can you image 90+ athletes in your weight room? Enjoy the show and make sure you follow Paul at … [Read more...]
191 | Getting STRONGER in Life, In The Gym & In Your Business
STRONG Life ep. 191 here we GO! I answered some GREAT questions and this is part 1 of a post from my Instagram. We're almost at 200 episodes so feel free to dig in and keep going WAY back as I've posted ALL The STRONG Life Podcast episodes HERE. In this episode I answer questions on: - Strength & Conditioning Tests for High School Physical Education - Expanding Your Training Business & Getting Away from 1 on 1 Training - Developing Relative Body Strength, Absolute … [Read more...]