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...]
How To Improve The Current State Of Youth Sports / Youth Strength & Conditioning
More and more I begin to question if we can make a change to our youth sports programs and most of all, our youth Physical Education programs. My own answer to this dilemma? YES, change CAN be made. It is being made inside many Strength & Conditioning Facilities BUT there are flaws to this because parents must pay for their kids to train at these independent gyms such as my own gym. When parents have to pay for a service you quickly lose 85+ percent of kids you can potentially impact. This … [Read more...]
The Power Behind Push Ups
I always tell my athletes, "Eat your push ups & pull ups for breakfast!" You MUST be GREAT at these 2 exercises, they are the foundation for upper body strength and power and work wonders for muscle building. I recently got a copy of The Convict Conditioning Push Up Series Course and the FIRST thing that struck me was all the coaching techniques, regressions and progressions. I am ALWAYS shocked when I have athletes at my gym who trained elsewhere and they are NOT performing the … [Read more...]
Physical Education & The Pussification of America
This article will bring on the haters for sure, but f**k it, this is the truth!! One of my athletes shared the video below with me, and, below the video is a comment from someone, who has a friend that also teaches "Physical Education". Look what he said, below the video: From Philly.BarstoolSports.com: DETROIT, Mich. – The mother of 13-year-old Donell Dixon says he’s been at Children’s Hospital for 7 days after doing push-ups at his school, The David Ellis Academy. Vinyanda Mitche … [Read more...]
The Pussification of America
No photos or art work today, just a straight up rant..... Something has been irking me lately and it's exactly what I coin “The Pussification of America.” On the flip side, I’m sure this article will get me in a lot of heat, mainly by those who are contributing to the weakness. Complaining about the title of this article does nothing, by the way. There is a rare breed of people out there (Both men & women) who are also fired up about this and will understand where I am comi … [Read more...]