When the beginning of COVID locked us all down, I was helping friends near and far with interviews, workouts and support for their gyms. My buddy Jim Kelly reached out to me. Jim is in Iowa operating Citadel BJJ and Eastern Iowa Wrestling Club but we've known one another since the early 2000s when I was starting to put out content and Jim was competing heavily in BJJ / Grappling. This Video was an Awesome QnA loaded with training questions and mindset to help Jim's students. It's great for … [Read more...]
Ep. 214 | QnA: Sports Specific Training, Power Cleans & NEW Training Tools
Here we GO! STRONG Life Podcast Ep. 214. I wound up doing this live on Instagram with hopes of getting more questions and the audio gets a little crappy in the middle but hang in there, because as always, the information is AWESOME. Plus, I am just NOT into that Hollywood BS, trying to impress everyone with perfection. On the flip side, when I post opportunity for questions on Instagram, I want to see MORE questions. You should question everything. You should desire to learn more, to … [Read more...]
170 | Zach & The Power Athlete Crew Discuss “Brace Your Core”
STRONG Life Podcast ep. 170 with Luke and Tex from Power Athlete HQ as we tackle, in depth, the topic of "brace your core". It's time to Get your learn on! I have always said, the art of coaching has MANY subtleties that are difficult to teach. It's so simple it's complicated. I began coaching others, we can say, as early as high school. When I had training partners, they all let me guide the training. I coached them up on technique, motivation, weight selection, changes on the fly … [Read more...]
159 | James The Thinker Smith
STRONG Life Podcast Ep 159 with James The Thinker Smith. WOW. This was a cerebral conversation and it will challenge your thinking about your role as a Coach of ANY sort. I have known James for about 15 years now and his evolution has intrigued and inspired me. I ask that you dig into this episode and give it your honest best effort to think about this conversation and how it can be applied to your profession. Will you make any changes? How? What? When? Question the status … [Read more...]
STRONG Life Ep. 101: Work Ethic & The Mystery Of Coaching Athletes
STRONG Life Podcast Ep. 101 with Mike Guadango, Owner of Freak Strength. In this episode, I connect with a long time friend, Mike Guadango. Mike and I met back in the early days of The Underground Strength Gym when we would compete against DeFranco's Gym at his annual Strongman Challenge. Back then, Mike was a hard charging athlete with goals of become a Major League Baseball Player. Injuries have a funny way of changing our life path and that's exactly what happened with … [Read more...]
14 Powerful High School Strength & Conditioning Tips
There's a lot of confusion out there regarding how high school athletes should be training and in this article I'm going to clear a lot of the BS up. For the highly motivated you can and should invest in your knowledge through my Encyclopedia of Underground Strength & Conditioning and through my 16 week online program, High School STRONG. You might be angry already saying, "WTF Zach, first thing you do is tell me to buy something!!!???" My answer: NO. The First thing I tell you to do is … [Read more...]
#STRONGLife Ep 78: Kettlebells, Minimalist Training, Gym Business & Mental Toughness
Another QnA Episode here on STRONG Life Podcast # 78. I crush The QnA from my Instagram and of course, the topics vary from training to a lil' business to some LIFE. Some of the topics / questions I cover and answer are: … [Read more...]
QnA: Football Strength & Conditioning
In a world where blaming others and lack of responsibility is running rampant, I want to turn the page for a moment. I am asked often about "sports specific training" and running 2 gyms and listening to parents and athletes get duped has me questioning when the bull shit will end. Parents talk to me about "football specific workouts" or "baseball specific workouts"..... Is squatting, deadlifting, throwing objects, jumping, sprinting, carrying and lunging NOT specific? The development of a … [Read more...]