Look What I Found

Well, I'm apparently not the only person in the world who thinks we should walk on our hands. I told you so. Check this article out: Gorilla Training 

Eat Well, Eat Alot, Get Big

      Most people don't realize that the main, THE MAIN, reason people put on size and strength is food. Many high school and college athletes do not see optimal results from their lifting because they are not eating correctly. I used to be a kid who saw little results from lifting and did not know why. I saw everyone getting string around me, but my lifts stayed the same. I bought whey protein and saw little results; I tried new ways of lifting but still saw little growth. Then I researched more and finally realized how much I needed to eat to put on weight. I have a very high metabolism; I'm someone who loses weight when I am lazy, so I get a weight gainer and began taking that twice a day. I also began eating better, replacing unnecessary foods with better ones, increasing my calorie intake to over 6,000 calories a day. Don't get me wrong, I realize that was way WAY overboard now, but here's my point. Soon, very soon, I saw increases in my strength and size. I gained almost 25 pounds in 2 months, obviously putting on a whole lot of fat; however my bench went up twenty-five pounds as well. To start seeing results like this, add at least 500 good calories to your diet and if that does not help more.

       Eating is the key to gaining muscle, and using a healthy weight gainer will help enormously. I use GNC Mass XXX. It sounds crazy, but it is just whey and a lot of good, complex carbs. The new formula has a tiny amount of creatine but not nearly enough to be dangerous or make your muscles puffy. It is much easier to drink a shake than eat alot of food, but take the shake a half a serving at a time. If you drink it all at one time you will crap out alot of it, wasting your money because shakes aren't cheap.
       If you stick to a natural diet, I suggest drinking a half gallon of milk a day, eating lean meats, plenty of fruits and veggies, and WHOLE WHEAT carbs. Complex, slow burning carbs are a key to putting on weight; and, believe it or not, fats are a key agent in your body's digestion of protein. High amounts of saturated fat is unhealthy, but they are necessary for digesting protein so do not eliminate them from your diet. So eat well, eat alot, and get big and strong. GO EAT!!

Crazy hits that should pump you up for the work week ahead. Work hard
and you will have the confidence to play like this.

Day 5

       To conclude the work week, I like to do something fun, so I end with strongman training. Good strongman training makes your whole body stronger, gives you endurance, provides muscle coordination, and burns fat. It works on functionality and "farmboy" strength that can be used outside of the weight room - for us the field. I got three friends to join in and we began, starting with farmers walks and tire flips. To do farmers walks, just find big buckets and fill them with water; you can also throw in some bricks or stones to make it heavier. These really help your grip strength, condition and strengthen your whole upper body (especially the lats), and work the legs as well, stabilizing your joints. The water is a good variable because it sloshes, forcing your lower body and core to stabilize the enter time. We split into pairs and would switch exercises, doing a total of 4 sets each and then ended with a tire flipping contest to see who could flip it the most times in 2 minutes.
       After that we did sledge hammer hits on the tire and worked on grip strength by holding heavy metal plates in each hand for as long as possible. The sledge hits provide a very functional exercise and offer a motion that is completely different from any exercise in the gym. It is very good for conditioning the shoulders and arms and helps flexibility and core strength. Moving to the other exercise, the grip holds are great for increasing grip strength, a very important aspect to overall strength. Having a strong grip helps your lifting in many ways and could make weight increases happen much easier. I cannot tell you how many times my hands have given out in the gym and prevented me from continuing my workout, so get your grip strong and it will help strengthen the rest of your body as well.
       Lastly, we finished up with the deck of cards game for pushups. We went through the whole deck using the number on the card to tell us how many pushups to do. Every face card is also ten pushups and diamonds are diamond pushups. If you are not tired after a workout, I beg you to try this. YOUR UPPER BODY WILL BE DEAD, I promise. It is the day after and my chest is still blown out, I cannot open a bottle of water, and my triceps hurt if I straighten my arms. I think it was effective.

Game Changers

      Since I already told you about my thursday lifting on monday, I'll talk about something different today. I like to draw my inspiration from just plain amazing athletes, so I'm going to share with you which athletes I find remarkable. First and foremost is Adrian Peterson; this guy is just a rocket. He won NFL rookie of the year in 2007 as a running-back for the Minnesota Vikings, and has become one of the most dominate running-backs in the NFL. You can see every muscle in this guys frame, yet he is not bulky or unproportional. He is the most athletic-looking man on the face of this earth, in my opinion. You would expect someone like this to be cocky and flaunt himself, but he does not. In fact, he is one of the hardest workers in the NFL and has no counts against him, a real role-model athlete.

      Secondly is Jonah Lomu, considered the best rugby player in history. He played for the New Zealand All-Blacks which is one of the best rugby teams year after year, and on top of that could play ANY position. At 6'5" 275 pounds, he was a monster and extremely fast, like Brandon Jacobs, only bigger and faster. Like I said he could play the as the fastest and quickest position, or slowest and strongest position on the field, comparable to a lineman who could be a wide-receiver, absolutely incredible. He dominated the sport of rugby, all opposing teams having to strategize a game plan around him. He is the New Zealand player portrayed in the new movie, Invictus, with Matt Damon. Every aspiring rugby player is now compared to him, but none can reproduce a talent quite like his, a true legend to the sport.

      Lastly, I leave you with a true monster, Sebastian Chabal, a French rugby player who is the most intimidating player to ever grace the field. He is very large, 6'3" 260 pounds, but that isn't the half of it. He has been called  the "Neanderthal," "Caveman," and other nicknames because he truly resembles a someone from 2,000,000 B.C. He is the hardest hitting player in rugby and strikes fear in the hearts of everyone who plays him, not the typical Frenchman. He is incredibly strong and not too friendly on camera. In one interview, the reporter asked him to reply in English and he said, "We are in France, so I will speak French," and walked out of the locker room. He provides both the mental and physical edge to his teams, leading many of them to victory. 
    


      These athletes are true testaments to the remarkable abilities of the human body, and I hope all who read this will use these athletes for motivation in your future training.

Day 3

      Just got back from the gym and I am BEAT. Day 3 is the lower body explosion day, dedicated to sprints and jumps; but it also includes the upper body by throwing in bear crawls and handstands. I mixed all of these together into a non-stop circuit that I was supposed to go through three times but only made it through twice haha. Since it was raining we, me and my friend Dan (shout out), did this on an indoor basketball court, starting with the sprints. We ran from hoop to hoop once, rested for ten seconds, then ran across and back, rested ten seconds, then ran hoop to hoop 3 times (so we added a basketball court each length). Right after this we went directly into bearcrawls to halfcourt, then transitioned to backwards bearcrawls for the remaining half. After, that we did 10 squat jumps, 20 reaction jumps (you jump directly when you hit the ground), and then 50 burnouts (stiff-legged calf jumps). Finally, we ended with 10 handstands. This routine burned the legs to the max and did a number on the upper-body as well.
      Since I already posted on the importance of jumping, bearcrawls, and handstands, I'll talk about sprinting. Obviously, sprinting is key to increasing speed and explosion; you can only increase your running speed by running your hardest (a thing to think about with lifting). However, sprinting also increases both strength and testosterone levels. Sprinters are very strong because of the explosion that there muscles are used to performing, just like lifters lifting heavy weight. Also, it has been proven that sprinting after a workout can increase testosterone levels up to 25 times their normal standing amounts, much more than a workout without sprints. Keep that in mind when you have extra gas in the tank after your next lift.
  

Day 2

       Sorry about not posting yesterday; it's day 3 of my training week and I am SOOO sore from day 1 and 2. The second day of training was dedicated to long-distance running and complemented with boxing and shoulder prehab. It is the rest day that gets in some cardio and sures up the shoulders. In any sport, especially rugby and football, the shoulders are very vulnerable. Two years ago, almost to the day, I tore the labarum in my left shoulder; I had to get surgery and go through therapy for 4 months....awful. The worst setback I have ever experienced; however I did everything right and came back to finish out the football season, against the will of my surgeon haha. The point is to treat your shoulders with respect; you get out what you put in. Beef those babies up and strengthen the little muscles of the rotator cuff.
       The best thing I did for my shoulders after football was boxing. Through boxing I gained the confidence and coordination back in my left arm and maintained almost all of my strength without touching a weight. It is a great exercise for both strength and conditioning, and that is why I will always incorporate it into my workout routines. Plus if push comes to shove, you have a pretty powerful right hook in your pocket.
      Shoulder prehab is a great way to prevent injury to your rotator cuff and labarum. It is a series of exercises that strengthen the stabilizing muscles inside of your shoulders. By doing several exercises like L,T,Y, and W lateral raises lying on a bosu ball or bench, you really strengthen those muscles in the backs of your shoulders. The key to all of these is clenching your shoulder blades together and pulling them back and down, helping to create good posture and muscle-recruitment patterns.
      Lastly, cardio is just plain good for you; I think running is the best because your an athlete. No eliptisizing or I might have to puke; this isn't the Jersey shore (no offense if you are from there haha). Like the nike commercials say, "ATHLETES RUN". There is no getting around running if you are trying to be the best in your sport, so like the my squatting advice, grow a sack (although you might want to restrain it in compression shorts) and run.

Mariusz Pudzianowski World Strongest Man MMA FIGHT - The funniest bloopers are right here






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First Day of Training

       I am about to embark on the first day of my summer-long  training regiment. Looking through many training techniques, manuals, blogs, etc. I have come come up with a schedule that I feel offers the best strength and conditioning out there. I am going to give you, my readers, first hand access to the routine because I have not done it before; this is a pretty exclusive offer so take advantage. This first day will consist of only lifting, a full body lift: squat, bench, power clean, bent-over row, DB military, calf raise, shrug, and lying-down face pulls. The main focus is on the squat, bench, clean, and row where I will be doing a technique used in 5/3/1 programs. You do 70% of your max for 5 reps, 80% of your max for 5 reps, and 90% of your max for as many as you can do. The percentages can be changed as long as you are keeping strict records of your lifting. The main goal is to beat your records every time you lift by only doing a short amount of reps with the lower weight and going all out on the last set. For the rest of the lifts I'll be doing 3 sets of increasing weight and fewer reps (8 6 4), except for the lying-down face pulls where I'll be trying for 3 sets of 20.
        I'll be doing the exact same workout on thursday, but with all different exercises: deadlift, military, front squat, pullups, DB bench,  DB row, close-grip bench, and barbell curls. The same concentrations apply with the first four lifts, and the same things apply with the last four as well, without the face pull routine. However, in this workout routine, I never do the same thing two weeks in a row. The following week I lift monday, tuesday, thursday, friday, but I split the upper and lower body apart. So now you have the main idea of my lifting routine for the summer. Soon, I will be explaining the other 3 parts two my weekly routine. Stay in tune.

GET FAST

       Many people think of speed training as simply running sprints, cone drills, or ladders; however, there are several additions to running that could greatly improve your speed in ways that running, by itself, cannot do. The best addition to running for speed is JUMPING; increasing your vertical and lateral jumping ability is a key factor in speed. It develops the explosive bursts that you need in any sport, especially contact sports. For volleyball, I tried several programs to increase my vertical, the most effective being Air Alert. However, that can only get you so far; after about 2 or 3 months of Air Alert, my gains stopped because the program only increased the repetitions of jumping exercises like chair rockets, stiff-legged jumping, and full squat jumps. This trained my jumping endurance and not jump explosion, so I began to look at other programs, and I came across one called Jump Manual. This program is the best designed jumping program and can be the most effective, although I only got to try it for two weeks before volleyball started. This program is more effective than Air Alert because it contains the other key element to developing speed...STRENGTH.

         Yes, you guessed it, LIFTING is necessary when trying to get wheels. Doing compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and benchpresses increase speed. However, you are not just trying to develop strength with these lifts; each lift you execute must be explosive and fast. You can descend the weight slow, but the press or lift must be done as fast as possible (obviously maintaing good form). The more weight you can move, the easier it is to move yourself; so lift, jump, and run yourself to new levels of speed and agility.  Show me a man who is strong, and you'll show me a man who can become fast. Show me a man who has hops, and you'll show me a man who is fast. Show me a man who has both strength and hops, and you'll show me a perfect contact athlete.

Tire Flipping

I have been waiting all semester to come home and get my own tractor tire so I could do some tire flips down my driveway, so yesterday I went to a big tire yard with a hundred bucks and told them to get me a 500 lb. tire. This guy rolls up in a tractor and pinches this humungous tire from a stack about 15 feet high and puts in right in the bed of my truck. I then asked how much the tire would cost and he said don't even worry about it. PERFECT!! I got my own tire for absolutely nothing in about fifteen minutes, and I encourage all of you to go to your local tire yard and do the exact same thing.

Tire Flipping is probably the best possible strength and conditioning exercise you can do. Starting in a clean-like position with your chest against the tire, you drive the tire up and forward until your legs are extended. Then, dropping under the tire, putting your elbows under it, and switching your hands to a overhand pressing position, you extend both legs and arms and push it over. It is a full-body lift, strengthening your entire body, especially your legs and back, and conditions as well if continued for an extended period. Depending on the weight, doing more than twenty should take almost all of your energy; combine this with farmers walks and you have your work cut out for you. After you finish a strongman-type workout like this I promise you will feel stronger than any time you've walked out of the gym, so go grab a tire and start flipping. You will definitely notice significant strength and stamina gains.

Forgotten Exercises

There are so many exercises to choose from in this day and age that it can almost be overwhelming, so many of my posts will be dedicated to helping you choose the proper ones for your field. Many young people forget the importance of bodyweight exercises when it comes to strength and conditioning. I know many of you still do your pull-ups and even push-ups, but many just focus on exercises with weights; however, thinking back on developing as a child athlete, what do you remember doing? I recall two upper body "exercises" that really increased strength and stamina.

One exercise that has helped me out enormously is the handstand. I know... sounds very childish, but I promise it helps. When you start you might be discouraged with your lack of balance and stamina, but you will quickly improve. After a week, I guarantee you will be able to maintain a handstand for at least a few seconds, and you will activate many stabilizing muscles in the shoulders and back that you have not used in a long time. Look at breakdancers, THEY ARE JACKED, all from manipulating their body weight. From doing this I noticed a ten pound jump in my military press in one week. TEN POUNDS. I know that sounds crazy but it is true. Hopefully, you will experience the same gains from trying this.

Another exercise that I am experimenting with is the classic midget football drill, the bearcrawl. This can develop your whole upper body very quickly. I have recently been studying the movements and posture of silver-back gorillas, noticing their enormous upper bodies. Although humans are much different, I believe bearcrawls can be a key tool in developing the upper body. I encourage you to start incorporating them into your routine; I have, so I will be posting on the effect they have on my strength gains.

Think the squat is bad for you knees? Think it's too hard? Think it's not necessary for a strong

body? Grow a sack and squat.

Favorite Training Advice Besides My Own

Lately, I have been researching alot and taking advice from several established trainers. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT listen to anything that is in any muscle-building magazine like "Muscle and Fitness" or "Ironman Magazine." Everything in there is meant for a roid-head, vein-popping, chicken-leg, unproportional idiot. Instead, look to people like Elliot Hulse. He runs a very established website called hulsestrength.com and has a youtube channel called strengthcamp. I recommend going through the videos on his youtube channel and reading his strength journals on his website. He is a competitive strongman and was a runningback at St. John's University, very educated in strength and conditioning. He believes in a hard-working approach with a heavy dose of functional, multi-muscle exercises that strengthen and coordinate athletic movement. Look through his posts and give some feedback

The First Post: Creating a New Base

Since it is the summer and off-season for most contact athletes, the next few months that introduce my blog will be dedicated to getting ready for the fall. I am a second-year college rugby player with my background in football, but I played pretty much every sport growing up. I have gained 25 pounds in a three months for football, lost 20 pounds in a month and a half for volleyball, increased my squat by one hundred pounds in 4 months, and done similar for others. I encourage you, my new fan base, to read and comment on my posts, give me your feedback, and never give up on achieving your goals whether on or off the field.

Being a player of a contact sport takes a different mindset than anything else on this earth, and that mindset is the most important key to your team's success. This mindset will bring you to your knees while training, bring you to your feet after failing, and bring you to victory when playing. This drive, this inner voice that compells you to conquer your fears, this motivation to defeat your opponent, to instill fear in his heart by overcoming the fear in yours, will lead you. Sacrificing your time and energy, your glory, and sometimes your safety creates this thrill and satisfaction that nothing else can give. Being able to look your teammate in the eye and think, "He and I both know that I give it my all both on and off the field." This is what I want to bring you, my reader. Starting your training with these things in mind is crucial to your ultimate success because this drive won't let you skip a day, drop a weight, or stop short. What I will be sharing with you over the next few months can give you the off-the-field preparation to be able to give it all in the fall.