Kettlebell Oblique Raise (Windmill) 3-5 reps on each side

Kettlebell 2 Hand Swing 10-12 reps

TRX Push-up 10-12 reps

TRX Mountain Climbers 30 reps

Gym Rings Lying Pull-up 10-12 reps

5 Complete Rounds with little rest

This form of training is called circuit training or going from one exercise to another with little to no rest between each exercise.  I have been doing much more of this type of training recently because I can get more done in a shorter period of time.  Hey, the life of a strength coach is crazy and I really do not have much “free” time for myself.  I love it when people tell me they just don’t have enough time to workout.  When I ask them how many hours a day they work and they say 8 hours a day; I just can’t help it when I laugh at them since I average 12 hours a day.  Managing their time wisely is usually the problem as they sit there and watch a rerun of their favorite TV show.  EVERYONE needs some type of physical activity so as the Nike ads say-”just do it”.

If you feel that filming and sharing some of my personal workouts with you is helping you to come up with some training ideas for exercises and developing yourself a program; then just let me know and I will continue these clips a few times a month.  This website was originally put together to get training information out to people who seek it and will apply it.  All YOU have to do is request what you want to learn and/or see and I will do my best to fulfill those requests.

To your health,

Jerry

Mondays:  Total Body Weight Room Workout

Tuesdays: Speed Work, Acceleration/Deceleration Work, Agilities

Wednesdays: Total Body Circuit Training

Thursdays:  High Intensity Conditioning (Stadiums, Hill Sprints, etc)

BS Fridays: Total Body Weight Room Workout

Saturdays: Timed Mileage Run

Sundays: Rest, Recovery, Flexibility

My summer athletes are very dedicated and work really hard to prepare their bodies for their upcoming sport season.  Workouts are held at 6am and the most impressive part is that they all show up voluntarily to train.  In the video you will see athletes from field hockey, volleyball, wrestling, men’s basketball, women’s soccer, women’s water polo, and the diving team all participating in a Wednesday circuit training workout.  This is the workout they did:

A-1: TRX or Ring Suspended Push-up

A-2: Band Speed Row w/Scapular Retraction

A-3: Dumbbell Farmers Walk

A-4: 45 degree Back Extension w/plate

A-5: Kettle Bell Swing w/Alternating Lateral Step

A-6: Sit-up w/Plate

A-7: Bucket High Box Hop

A-8: Rope Climb

A-9: Light Weight Barbell Hang Clean

A-10: Speed Obstacle Hop

A-11: Tire Flip

Athletes will work at each station for 30 seconds and then rotate to the next station.  They will have 10 seconds to rest and get ready to start the next drill.  After all the stations have been completed they will get approximately 2 minutes rest and then repeat.  We ran four complete circuits.  These type of circuits not only get you stronger, more powerful, and conditioned; but it pushes you out of your comfort zone.  This is a desirable outcome for an athlete to become not only physically fit but mentally strong.

Try it-you may find it harder than it looks!

To your health,

Jerry

My Poor Man’s Protein recipe is one that I always give to everyone I work with.  It makes a great snack, desert, or even small meal.  The best part is that it is cheap, nutritious and easy to make.  All you need is fat free cottage cheese and your favorite brand of yogurt.

1 Cup of Fat Free Cottage Cheese

1 Cup Of Organic Blueberry Yogurt

Mix togather in a bowl and enjoy!  It equals approximately 35 grams of protein baby!!

Obviously, you can adjust the portion size and also add fresh fruit, raisins, and/or nuts for a more desired flavor or texture.

Hope this helps and feel free to post some of your favorite nutritious snack ideas in the comments section.

To your health,

Jerry

So let’s talk about hill sprints.  First look for a hill that is a gradual incline.  It does not have to be steep but it should be about 50 yards or more.  The steeper the incline the less yardage typically needed.  I also think it is best to find a hill that is grass and not rocky.  Obviously, if you live in a city this might challenge you some.

Now that you have found your hill and established your yardage; it is time for the workout.  Start at the base of the hill and sprint as hard as you can, driving yourself forward with each powerful step, while swinging your arms loosely from your shoulders.  When you reach the top, turn and jog back to the starting position.  As you are jogging back down you should focus on your breathing and try to breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.  It has been proven you recover much faster with this breathing pattern than breathing forcefully in and out of your mouth.  When you reach your starting position repeat your sprint aggressively back to the top.  Do this for 5 trips to the top and then rest for 2 minutes or until you have gotten your breathing and heart rate back to near normal resting rates.  We desire this to ensure you are able to go ALL OUT when you sprint up.  We typically do 4-5 total sets.

I forgot to mention that you  should always do a good warm-up prior to and a good cool down after.  I will have my athletes perform a series of dynamic movements, followed by some low grade plyometrics, then complete a series of short progressive sprints for our warm-up.  For the cool down we typically will go for a short jog and focus on breathing, then we will walk and shake out our arms and legs.  We will finish with total body static stretching.  Sometimes we will also stretch with jump stretch bands.

Make sure you are getting outside and making the best of your surroundings.  You may be surprised how many training possibilities there might be if you just start looking to add a little variety into your program.

To your health,

Jerry

I had never really tried to bend steel before that and I have to admit, I think I’m hooked.  It was awesome to feel it start to go but it was by far not an easy thing to do.  The amount of tension and strength that is used throughout the entire body just to get it to bend was amazing.   It is in itself a workout.  I felt my muscles pumping full of blood.  Just like that “pumped up” feeling you get if you rep out bicep curls or dips.

I wanted to learn more so I got Jedd’s Nail Bending ebook and quickly realized that I did not know that much about it at all.  What I did quickly learn that you will make great strength gains from this type of training and it will carry right over into other training programs.  Think about the amount of tension that goes through your body on that last few reps of dead lifting, squatting, bench pressing, or any lift for that matter.  See how this can easily apply.

If you ever even thought about trying something like this then I would HIGHLY recommend his ebook.  It is over 200 pages of pure content and training exercises for the forearm, wrist, and grip.  The techniques described are very important to learn so not to injure yourself and really benefit from it.  Oh, did I mention how much fun it is, especially going down to the hardware store to get nails and bolts only to tell them that you are going to bend them in half!  That look alone is priceless.  If you want to get more information about Jedd’s Guide to Bending Nails just click the link posted here: Click Here!

Keep an open mind about these different applications that can be applied to your training.  You might be surprised by your results and increased gains.

To your health,

Jerry

The first event was to power clean 5 kegs in a row as fast as you can.  You had to show lockout above your head for it to count.  The kegs started from lightest to heaviest.  This was my best event and I think I could have done it much faster if given a second try.

The second event was a farmer’s hold for time using two 75 lb sandbags.  I did not think this event was hard but as I was not trying to concentrate on holding the bags; the left bag slipped a little in the left hand and then I was in trouble trying to just keep a grip on it.  Funny thing was my hands were not even fatigued.  I was a little bummed because I know I could have held them a lot longer.

The third event was to bear hug the heaviest keg there and walk for total distance in two minutes.  The distance was 50 feet and you had to circle the sandbag for a lap to count.  This was the hardest event for me.  I started off strong but oxygen debt crept in and found me.  My goal was cover as much ground as quickly as I could and not drop the keg.  Well, I did not drop the keg but it was challenging.

Setting up strongman events like this is a great way to add in a little variety to your existing training program.  These will not only challenge you physically but mentally as well.  Doing something like this with some friends will get those competitive juices following which will ultimately result in you pushing yourself and your limitations.

Trust me, you will have a blast and get a great workout in the process.  Give some of these a try or get creative and make up your own little strongman competition.

To your health,

Jerry

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Hey everyone, you heard about it and it is finally here and completed-Jedd Johnson’s Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball guide.   I am aware that some of you may not be familiar with who Mr. Johnson is so I caught up with him and did a little interview.  I think it is important to have some information about a coach who shares his or her most vital training information to help athletes and coaches get all they can out of their training to reach their goals.  Enjoy reading the brief interview and then I will share with you some bonuses that I put together for you.

Jedd, Can you give my readers some quick back ground information about yourself leading up to why you created the Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball program?

Sure thing Jerry – anything for you buddy.  By the way guys, Jerry is a great coach and very innovative thinker.  He has shown me a lot of impressive things over the years.

Here’s a little bit about me.  The first part of my life, I loved playing baseball.  It was pretty much all I really cared about spending my time doing all the way to college.  I ended up playing two years at Division II Mansfield University of PA.  Unfortunately, a couple of injuries left my arm in some pretty bad shape, so I decided I would no longer play.

By leaving baseball, this led me to the second love of my life, strength training.  I started serious work with weights in 1999 and have never stopped.  Unfortunately, after a few years away from baseball, my competitive fire started burning again and I looked for something to compete in.  I found Strongman and Grip Strength competitions.

I did my first Grip comp in 2003 and loved it right away.  I began traveling all over the nation to compete and along the way I won the US National Championship in 2005 and set a World Record in one of the main lifts in 2009.

However, after all these years I have always loved baseball.  Each year I attend pro games, high school games, Little League games.  I work with some baseball youngsters on strength training – I just love being around the game and I always wanted to put together something for baseball.  Finally in early 2010, I decided I was going to put something together that combined the two sports I have been the most successful in over the years – baseball and grip strength, and just recently finished Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball, an ebook on training for forearm and grip strength, endurance, and safety.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE PROGRAM

How can the program elevate a proven baseball players game or skills?

Baseball players have known for years that leg strength, core strength, arm and shoulder strength and hand strength are important for high performance and longevity in the game.  If any of those elements are weak, your performance will go down.  If an injury takes place in any of those parts of the body, your performance will go down.  So, it is important to make these parts of the body as strong, flexible and healthy as possible for top performance.

Over the years, there has been a tremendous amount of information developed around building strength in the legs, core, and arm for baseball.  Players understand they have to do work on the legs and run to stay fast and in shape.  They know they have to do ab work and rotational activities in order to be able to throw and hit the ball hard, and they know they have to keep their rotator cuff and the rest of the shoulder strong and healthy in order to have optimal arm speed, strength, and velocity.

Unfortunately, there is very little information out there about how to train the hands and forearms the right way to perform at a high level in baseball.  Most of the information that players get is hand-me-down information with very little carryover to baseball performance.

My manual is the definitive resource for building hand strength and forearm strength for baseball players.  The information inside will help batters, fielders, pitchers and catchers to be better players, while also keeping them healthy and in the game longer.  I include in it multiple ways to keep the lower arms healthy through stretching and other therapeutic means that most players, coaches, and trainers are not aware of.

Can your system be easily added into an athlete’s existing training program?

No doubt about it.  Including Grip training in the routine can be done several different ways and I go over this in the manual.  To make things easier, I include 20 full-scale Grip workouts that can be done either in their entirety or can be broken up into segments.  If time is limited, like I know it is for many teams, all the player or strength coach has to do is break my workout templates up into sections.  Each workout can be broken up into three separate smaller workouts.

Approximately how long will each workout take and how many days a week is recommended?

If doing a full-scale grip training workout, the workout can be done in 20 minutes, twice a week.  If broken up into segments, then the workouts can take as short as 5 minutes and can be done throughout the week.  This is all covered in the manual and you can pretty much sculpt the workouts however you would like to.  Plus, my exercise index in the manual includes over 200 movements, so if the template indicates a movement or lift for which you do not have the implement, you can go to that section of the manual and look for other similar movements that you can do that work the same movement patterns so you can get the most out of the time you put into your grip training.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE PROGRAM

What types of strength equipment or training tools will be needed to utilize the program?

I have covered an immense amount of equipment that can be used for training grip, but the great thing about it is about half of what I cover requires no special equipment.  You either already have it at your normal strength training facility, or it might be in your garage, or even your baseball equipment bag.  Specialized grip training equipment is available on the market and it is very good for developing hand and forearm strength, but with this manual I will show you ways how to build your own equipment or how to use hardware that is already at your home to build lower arm strength that will get you bigger numbers on the field.

I know this system was specifically created for baseball; but could other athletes and coaches use the training principles for their sports?

No question.  Hand strength is important for many sports, especially football, rugby, MMA, wrestling, and many others, and the movements in this manual can be used to assist those athletes as well.  The therapy section still applies to all those sports because injuries take place in them as well, and if you currently have a lower arm injury, I will show you in the manual some of the ways that I have overcome injuries in the past as well.

Jedd, I would like to thank you for your time and answering these questions.  Is there anything else you would like to add about the Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball program?

Yes, Jerry … Thousands of athletes are going to be picking this up and the ones that get this and start implementing the program are going to have a decided advantage over other players who do not.  So, strike while the iron is hot and get Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball now.

Awesome Jedd, I can’t wait to share this with my readers of variety trainer.  Thank you!

CLICK HERE TO GET THE PROGRAM

I really want everyone to know that Jedd is a first class coach and this 400+ page manual is NO JOKE.  Pure content and tons of extra bonuses.  Now let’s talk MORE bonuses!  When you get the manual here at VarietyTrainer.com, I’ll send you my Nutritional Guide For Serious Athletes.  This is full of valuable nutritional information that any serious athlete needs to understand how to maximize their training results.  THERE’S MORE: I am also giving away a 15 Week Baseball Strength Training Program to be used directly with Jedd’s Ultimate Forearm Training System.  I hope you truly take advantage of what is being offered to you.  To pick up these additional bonuses email me your receipt showing that you picked up the manual and I will forward you the link to the bonuses.  Click over now and you won’t believe what all is included!

To your health,

Jerry

DON’T WASTE ANYMORE TIME:  GET THE PROGRAM

I was amazed at how well the first Muscle Meal video post was received and how many requests I had for another quick and easy breakfast meal that I had to share my famous breakfast egg sandwich.  What is great about it is how simple it is to make and so little clean up afterwards not to mention how nutritious it is.  These are all things I love when it comes to breakfast foods and trying to get to the weight room at 5:30 AM.

Here are the ingredients:

2 Organic Eggs (egg whites could be substituted)

1 Slice of Cheese

Bread or Bagel of choice (always go with wheat or 12 gran breads or natural home baked bread with no preservatives)

Pinch of Pepper

1/2 Teaspoon Hot Sauce (optional)

Slice of Ham or Turkey Bacon (optional)

Prep: Just follow the directions in the video.

Obviously, you could modify the ingredients to your liking.  I failed to mention that a nice piece of fruit like a banana or orange with this really helps to complete this small meal.  I really try and get most of my shopping done these days at farmers markets.  The food is healthier for you and is ALWAYS cheaper than a grocery store.  I also feel good that I am supporting local farmers in our area.  If you never shop at farmers markets then you MUST start.  Trust me you will thank me!

Hope you enjoy my breakfast sandwich.

To your health,

Jerry

The majority of strength coaches use bands in some form or another and for good reason.  One band alone can provide you with a vast variety of different exercises and applications for use.  In this video post, I demonstrate how to do seven different exercises for the upper back and core without really moving anywhere or changing any weights.  In reality, I probably could have stayed there and shown you about forty more exercise with just that one band set-up.

So as you can see, bands can be a very valuable and cost effective training tool to have and implement into any training program.  I have used bands for years and encourage individuals to learn how to work with them if you never have.  They are great to travel with and can be set up and used just about anywhere.  Just like any other training tool; you need to respect it and know your limits and the limits of the band to avoid injury.

If you have any questions or comments about band training; please just ask.  Also, be sure to check out the other band training videos that I have posted.

Keep adding Variety to those workouts!!

To your health,

Jerry

This video was put together to show the Legend Fitness Pro Series Glute Ham Developer.  I totally endorse this piece of strength equipment as a solid training tool that is built like a tank.  We have three of them and have put them through the ringer with a lot of athletes for the last four years and they still are just as nice and functional as the first day we got them.  The entire frame is welded together; no bolts and the steel is all American so you know it is sturdy.

I have Legend Fitness Equipment in our facilities and I will say this company is legit.  They stand by their strength products and  emphasize quality by not cutting corners.  If you have any questions about the Glute Ham Developer or any other Legend Fitness Product; please do not hesitate to contact me and ask.

To your health,

Jerry