I was in my early teens and training at my first "Hardcore Gym". This gym was 7,500 sq ft. NO AC, just a bunch of stand up industrial fans. ALL the plates were deep dish Ivanko plates and there was rumbling throughout the entire gym, blended with some old rock cassette tapes that blasted through the gym. Usually AC/DC or Metallica, sometimes Def Leppard. The back 1/3 of the gym was lined up with leg equipment. Plenty of squat racks, 2 leg presses, 2 hack squats, 2 leg extensions, 2 leg … [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...]
5 Reasons to Surround Yourself with GREAT People for GREATER Success & LIFE
I say it all the time and I can not emphasize this enough.... You MUST surround yourself and engage with battery chargers, NOT battery drainers. On Monday, Dan Goodman (Co Owner of Varsity House Gym) traveled down to The Underground Strength Gym of Manasquan with his Head Coach, Adam Menner. We trained, talked business, shop and LIFE. I wanted Dan to take a birds eye view of my business as we work on the next strategy of growth & impact for my various businesses: - The … [Read more...]
Underground Strength Stories: Tom Platz Squats & Diamond Gym
It was the Winter of 1995 and I was driving to Diamond Gym with my training partners. Our typical 30 minute drive to Diamond was the 3 of us getting fired up to destroy the gym as we blasted music from my special Kenwood stereo. Back then, I had cassette tapes that were special mix tapes with our favorite music. But this one time, the guys were strangely silent. I was scared. Scared that our workout was going to be a wash. The entire 30 minute drive I could just feel their lack of … [Read more...]
Ep. 213 | Do You Skip Leg Day in the Gym AND in Life?
STRONG Life Podcast ep. 213, here we GO! Skipping leg day in the gym is 1 thing, skipping leg day in LIFE is another thing! There are NO shortcuts to achieving REAL Success. We ALL know this, but, how many people LIVE this. I had an athlete recently ask me, Do we have to train legs? I almost had to look around for the hidden camera, I thought it was a joke. But, it was NOT a joke. You see, people of ALL ages are weak minded. They seek comfort. They want easy. They think we OWE … [Read more...]
Us vs “Them”
No need to talk to me, I am here to do WORK. Before you even hit the gym, you've already been preparing for that training session. 24 hours in advance..... The day before you made sure your eating was on point. Plenty of protein to fuel yourself, some carbs to make sure the energy is on point because you know you're going to BATTLE it out in the gym today. You got to sleep a bit earlier than normal to ensure when you wake up, you feel READY. You are "mentally warming up" 24 hrs … [Read more...]
STRONG Life Insider: The Development of Muscular Bulk & Power
From Anthony Ditillo's Book, The Development of Muscular Bulk and Power There is something about bulk and power training that invades your very soul. It is extremely hard to put into words. The exercise movements themselves are quite simple to perform. The routines one must utilize in order to gain rapidly that much sought after strength are not especially interesting or dynamic in appearance. All in all, powerlifting and bulk training is a rather mechanical robot like procedure, which is … [Read more...]
Strength Coach Tips: Training Youth Athletes VS High School Athletes
I must admit, it breaks my heart when I see a “strength coach“ having a 12-year-old kid maxing out on the deadlift or maxing out on the back squat. I'm seeing kids who weigh under 100 lbs performing round back deadlifts, crashing onto a bench for a "box squat", benching while hip thrusting the heavens. This kind of dangerous training gives us ALL a bad name. Parents do NOT know the difference between the Coach who is training a young kid in the same manner of an adult powerlifter. In … [Read more...]
Safety Squat Bar VS The Straight Bar Squat for Athletes: Strength & Shoulder Health + 3 Week Squat Cycle
Above, Mark Chaillet Squats - Photo from Purposeful Primitive / Marty Gallagher After a recent squat workout with the athletes at The Underground Strength Gym, I began having a more serious conversation in my own mind regarding the use of the conjugate method, more specifically, how often to switch the safety squat bar vs the straight bar for squats with athletes, specifically, high school athletes. I share my thoughts in the videos below and in conversation form which you can also see … [Read more...]
203 | Marty Gallagher on Minimalist Strength Training
Photo Credit: Marty Gallagher's Purposeful Primitive Book STRONG Life Podcast ep.203. I LOVE talking training and life with Marty Gallagher. We speak often and we do it the "old school" way, via phone! Imagine that! In this episode Marty and I discuss the following topics: - Training 1 x week and getting stronger on a consistent basis. - How to adjust volume and intensity in your training for longevity and results. - Sprint Training and lessons learned from Charlie Francis. - … [Read more...]
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