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

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

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

A Variety Trainer subscriber (Sherry) asked a simple question; it was “what else can you do with a stability ball other than crunches, sit-ups, and rollouts?”.   First, Sherry thank you very much for subscribing to the newsletter.  It really means a lot to me that you find the information that I am sharing useful.  Now to answer your question, there are literally hundreds maybe even thousands of exercises that you can do with a stability ball.  In the video, I had the athletes play around with the balls and I just randomly recorded a few of them.  As you can see, a stability ball can be used in more ways than actually just getting on top of it to perform exercises, although that was what it was originally designed for.

A stability ball can also be combined with weights such as dumbbells, kettlebells, and even with cable machines.  Try experimenting with a ball and see what you can come up with and be creative.  Many exercises were developed on those exact principles, but be careful.  Remember you are using a unstable object.  Always know your limitations and abilities.  Basically be smart.  I have never and will never tell someone to stand on a ball.  That is just asking for it!  I hope this helps Sherry and we have given you some new exercises or ideas to try out.

If you need answers to a question or would like to see a topic or certain exercise covered just let me know.  Also, if you have not signed up for the newsletter-please do so.  You will receive a Core Stabilization E-Book that has descriptive explanations and laid out programs for you to work with.  There is absolutely NO cost to you and I promise I won’t clog up your email with a lot of newsletters.  I will just update you periodically of the new posts or share some useful information with you for free.

Thank you,

Jerry

I learned this exercise from a kettlebell guru named Steve Cotter a few years ago and have been using it with my athletes ever since.   First take two kettlebells that you know you can safely perform a forward lunge with.  Snatch or press one of the kettlebells above your head and stabilize that weight with the shoulder and core musculature.  Leave the other kettlebell hang by your side.  Contract the abdomin by drawing the belly button in towards the spine (you should still be able to breath).  Keep this type of contraction throughout the  entire exercise.  Step forward with the opposite leg to the arm that is holding the kettlebell above the head (as demonstrated in the video) until you have created a ninety degree angle in the knee.  Then return to the standing position and repeat with the same leg for the desired number of reps.

The magic of this exercise is not that it is a total body exercise but the neurological firing that is taking place as the exercise is being executed.  The positioning of one arm above the head as you step forward with the opposite foot sends a signal through the body similar to any overhead throw, pull, or sprinting motion.  By making an athlete more aware of thier midsection throughout this movement; we can enhance the muscluar firing in the core that takes place in most athletic movements.  Please read that again and think about that for a moment.  This is exactly what is meant when a strength coach refers to training the neurological system instead of training the muscular system.

The contra-lat lunge is an awesome exercise for any athlete to do.  Although I prefer to use kettlebells; dumbbells can also be used instead.  Many of my clients have also benefitted from this exercise.  If you have never tried this, please give it a go and let me know what you think of it.  Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Train for results,

Jerry

On the seventh day of Gripmas my true love gave to me….BLOBS!!   Blobs are the ends of a dumbbell that have been cut off from the handle.  You then pinch grip these in various positions to strengthen your grip.  They can be held for time or used in curling motions (bicep curl) and pressing movements (military press).  Another use for them is to throw them like a shot put for explosion training.  I prefer the old style York dumbbells but I have known people that use other brands of dumbbells as well.  If you do not have access to any old dumbbells; they now sell commercial blobs.  These are a lot of fun to train with and very challenging as well.

On the eight day of Gripmas my true love gave to me…….Rope!  Rope is one of the best training tools you can get and you usually can get it very cheap or if you are in the right place at the right time; sometimes free.  You can buy rope on-line as well.  This video is only showing one way to use a rope.  The hand over hand climb will build incredible hand and upper body strength.  This wrestler is climbing a 2″ thick manilla rope.  Two inch diameter rope is usually more than adequate for most people.  If the hand over hand climb is two aggressive for you, then just grab the rope tightly and hang from the rope keeping a nice tight isometric contraction in the hands which you will feel right through the entire upper body.

As you have seen by the two videos, grip training will not only strengthen the hands, wrists, and forearms; but most of the upper body as well.  To prove my point, try this:  Put your arms straight down by your sides and clench your fists as hard as you can.  Do you feel how your whole upper body tenses up; tightening all the muscles?  When you squeeze your grip for any of the Gripmas exercises you will find that this happens every time.

Happy Gripping,

Jerry

There are so many ways to attack fat and using a low box is one way that produces fast results by stimulating the metabolic system.  Metabolic rate is a way to elevate the bodies processes to burn off calories for an extended period of time post exercise.  When your body gets active it has the ability to use stored fat as an energy source.  For the purpose of this post I do not want to go into much more detail than that.  Just understand there are ways to get the body to act like a fat burning machine and this is just one of those ways.

If you have not watched the video yet; then please look at the following list of defined exercises.  They are listed in the order that is shown in the video.  The athletes in the video are Bucknell University softball and basketball players.

1. Quick Step Circle Box

2. Squat Jumps

3. Lateral Quick Step

4. Double Touch Quick Step

5. Command Quick steps (Circle Left/Right)

6. Lateral Hand Walk

Understand that these are just a few exercises that can be used with a low box; but what if you do not have a low box.  Hey thats ok, just about anything will work that is approximately between 4-10″ high and stable enough to do the exercises.  Besides doing the Squat Jumps and lateral hand walks; you really are not putting much of your body weight onto the box.  It’s just a lot of touch and go.  If you excluded the and walks you could even use just a plain old shoe box.  Just make sure you put something in the box to weigh it down so it does not slide around on you if your foot hits the box.

Now that you have learned a few new exercises; let’s put them together into some workouts to burn up some calories and loose some fat.  If you can burn off 3500 calories you will loose one pound of weight.  If you eat properly and do these exercises as prescribed below (3-4 days a week) you would have the potential to loose 1-3 pounds a week for the first three to five weeks and then the stimulus would have to be increased or changed entirely so the body does not have a chance to adapt to this training.

Workout 1:

A-1:  Quick Step Circle Box Right 30sec Rest 10sec

A-2:  Quick Step Circle Box Left 30sec Rets 10sec

A-3:  Squat Jump 20-30sec Rest 15sec

A-4:  Lateral Hand Walks 30sec Rest 10sec

A-5: Lateral Quick Step 30sec Rest 1-2min and repeat circuit 2-3 times

Workout 2:

B-1:  Quick Touch in Place 30sec Rest 10sec

B-2:  Lateral Quick Step 30sec Rest 15 sec

B-3:  Squat Jump 30sec Rest 15sec

B-4:  Lateral Quick Step 30sec Rest 10sec

B-5:  Quick Touch in Place 45sec Rest 1-2min and repeat circuit 2-3 times

Workout 3: (Advanced)

C-1:  Command Quick Steps Left and Right 30sec No rest

C-2:  Lateral Hand Walks 20sec No Rest

C-3:  Squat Jump 20-30sec Rest 30-45sec

C-4:  Double Touch Quick Step 30sec No rest

C-5:  Lateral Hand Walks 20sec No Rest

C-6:  Squat Jump 20-30sec Rest 2min repeat 2 times

Workout 4: (No Sturdy Low Box)

D-1:  Quick Touch Circle Box Left 30sec rest 15sec

D-2:  Quick Touch Circle Box Right 30sec rest 15sec

D-3:  Lateral Quick Step 30sec rest 15sec

D-4:  Double Touch Quick Step 30sec rest 15sec

D-5:  Lateral Quick Step 30sec rest 15sec

D-6:  Double Touch Quick Step 30sec rest 1-2min repeat 2-3 times

These circuits are very challenging for the majority of people and athletes.  Depending on your level of fitness; you might just want to learn and master the exercises individually and then create mini circuits.  The main point of emphasis here is that you have to challenge your body and get yourself out of your “comfort zone” to produce a metabolic rate increase and watch the fat melt off your body.

Many fitness guru’s would charge for you for this information, but I want you to start learning different ways to train your body to get the RESULTS YOU WANT.  I do have some future training programs and information products in the works and I want to make sure these are the quality products you want; and I WILL supply you with no BS and exactly what works.

Stay tuned because this will be a wild ride.  I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know if these programs gave you the results I claim.

Enjoy your health,

Jerry

The entire workout lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes.  I did want them to be physically spent but my main objective was to make them focus on the ultimate goal no matter what was asked of them.  See wrestling is a tough sport but to compete at the Division I level in college is no joke and to get to the big show takes not only physical dedication but a lot of mental toughness and focus.  As a strength coach you not only train athletes to become stronger and stay healthy; you train their minds to be focused and hope that you are making them into focused confident men ready to go head to head with anyone who steps onto the matt.  I realize I am saying “focused” a lot but that is a term my athletes always hear me telling them as I try to drive it into their heads.

As you watch the video, you will see that there are so many things you can do with a tire sled.  This is one of my most valuable training tools that I have and the total cost to build one is about $7.00.  If you have any questions about this type of training or would like to leave a comment; hit the comments button and let your thoughts out.

Train with a purpose,

Jerry

Here is the second round of Diesel Crew’s fitness challenge.