There have been some times that I have been particularly proud of my wife Trina.  The first, is when I dropped a knee on Sea Gull Beach and she said yes.  The second is when she showed up on our wedding day and said, “I do”.  The third, is when she gave birth to our daughter Aleyda.  Recently, for her to get out of her comfort zone and get on stage to compete in a figure competition.  By the way, there are many moments that I am proud of my wife-just in case you are wondering.  These are just some big ones!

Trina has made comments over the years about her interest in maybe trying to do a figure or bodybuilding competition, just for the inner challenge to see if she could do it.  Well a year ago she went with me to a competition to see a friend of ours, Dustin Rose, who I helped provide his weight training programs for his first bodybuilding show, and that got her desire going.  You can see Dustins pics and video here=> http://www.varietytrainer.com/dustins-journey-completed/  She kept talking about it and finally committed to a competition-the Mt. Rogers 36th Annual Drug Free Bikini, Figure, and Bodybuilding Championships to be held at Woodbridge, VA the weekend before Thanksgiving.    She had 11 months to prepare and train.

To make this successful for Trina, she had to be more dedicated and focused then she has ever been with any workout she has ever done before and be surrounded with support staff that knew what they were doing.  Of course, I got the job of training her with the weights and cardio training.  Tanya Williams, certified nutritionist, worked with her weekly prescribing  a well balanced nutrition program-not a typical unhealthy bodybuilding diet.  Finally, friend and past competitor Venessa Smoley, met with her every Sunday to work on poses and provided her with all the positive feedback any one person would EVER need.

In the end, Trina was the one who made it the most successful.  She stayed dedicated and made sacrifices that most people would never have the discipline to do.  She followed directions (for 11 months) and did what her support staff told her to do, which ultimately earned her a second place finish as a first time competitor!!

Results do not come easy, but I am convinced anyone can get what they want if they are willing enough work for it!  I really admire Drug Free figure and bodybuilding competitors.  Just like sport athletes, they must stay focused and dedicated.  Hopefully, you can see a little clearer why I am so proud of my wife for her accomplishments.

To your health,

Jerry

If you look at the picture of a bicep curl.  Image “A” would be a concentric contraction (muscle shortening) as you bring the dumbbell up and a eccentric contraction (muscle lengthening) as you bring the dumbbell back down.  Image “B” shows an example of a isometric contraction.  The hand is anchored and as you would attempt to squeeze and perform the curl, the arm will not move and as a result much tension will develop in the bicep muscles.

A muscle can generate greater tension with a maximum isometric contraction than with a maximum concentric contraction, but not as much as with a maximum eccentric contraction.  This may seem confusing to a person who just goes through the motions in a weight room.  Now the gym rat, will understand these principles because he/she will put these practices into work and experience the outcomes of their efforts.

What I find great about isometrics is that it can be done in different ranges of motion and with just about any strength exercise.  Let’s go back to the bicep curl.  If we are looking at your elbow and we have the elbow fully extended, the joint angle would be at 180 degrees.  As we start our bicep curl the angle in the elbow will decrease.  You could stop at any angle and perform an isometric contraction.  Most trainers will either do isometric contractions at the mid point, which would be 90 degrees for this example; or at full contraction with the curl all the way up and tight.  I will point out, that if you are using a free weight you should take in consideration for positioning with gravity.

To gain strength from isometric training, the athlete must use an exercise load (resistance) of 60-80% of their muscle’s force-developing capacity and it must be sustained against that resistance for at least 6 seconds to allow time for peak tension to develop and the metabolic changes to begin to occur in the muscle.  Strength will develop at the position or angle degree in which the exercise is performed.  You can see how this could be beneficial if you find a “sticking point” in an exercise.

In the video, you see my wife Trina keeping an isometric contraction in a seated row position with the elbows pulled back and the scapula in a retracted position.  She was told to hold until failure.  I did this at the end of her back training session as a finisher and this was her second set.  She is training for a figure competition and I wanted to get her upper back muscles to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible so when she does her back pose her muscles will “pop” on stage.

If you have never used or tried isometric training, I would encourage you to start experimenting with it.  I covered a few benefits of it but mentioned nothing in regards to the injury prevention and rehabilitation capabilities which I am sure you now can see those possibilities.  If you have any questions or suggestions to share with everyone; please post them in the comments section below.

Hope this helps!

To your health,

Jerry

Personally, I am more of a free weight guy who relies more on squats, dead lifts, step-ups, RDLs, and lunges.  This list could easily continue.  A leg press is just another tool to use in conjunction with all leg exercises.  I have only one leg press machine in my weight room and it is made by Hammer Strength.  What I like about this particular piece of equipment is that it is uni-lateral.  Each side or foot plate moves independently from the the other.  So you can literally only do one leg at a time or alternate legs in a more walk like fashion.  This can also be beneficial in working on muscle imbalances between each leg because each foot plate will have it’s own weight and it won’t be shared weight between the two foot plates.

A uni-lateral leg press can be used just like a traditional leg press but typically that is not how I use mine with my athletes.  I have developed a leg press circuit which is very challenging with many benefits.  Not only will you get stronger with this circuit but you will become more coordinated (as weird as that sounds) and more stable in the legs.  This is done by really challenging the neuromuscular system.

When we squat or do a traditional leg press both legs are pushing down at the same time.  With the circuit I am about to share with you; your body will be challenged to fight those urges through isometric (static, no movement) muscular contractions taking place in one leg, while the other is performing concentric and eccentric (moving a weight away and back under control) muscular contractions.  This is not typical neuromuscular firing patterns used in most exercises.  I know for some of you this may sound a bit confusing but the best way to experience this and learn how this works is to actually try it.

Uni-Lateral Leg Press Circuit:

• Adjust the seat forward or backward so that when you place your feet on the foot plates the knees are bent to 90 degrees or deeper and your feet positioned high enough so the knees are not bent out past your toes.  You will push into the plates with the whole foot with most of the emphasis coming through your heels.
• Start with 10 regular leg presses.  Press both feet into the foot plates evenly so you are extending the legs at the same time to almost lockout and then returning back under control.
• Without resting, perform 12 alternating presses.  Try to time the alternating presses just like you would if you were walking.  When one leg is pressing forward, the other leg is coming back.  Keep tension in the legs at all times and do not touch the foot plate to the machine.
• Now bring both foot plates down, press just one foot plate forward about two inches out and hold (isometric) it there as still as you can as you press out 10 reps with the other leg.  This will be difficult because the leg you are trying to hold still will automatically want to push at the same time with the pressing leg.
• After 10 reps is completed bring the pressing leg down to within two inches and hold.  Now start pressing the opposite leg which was holding before for 10 reps.  This will even be more challenging because there will be a level of fatigue that will start to set in.
• Finally after this has been done you will end with 5 regular leg presses.  Your goal will be to try and press both foot plates at the same exact time throughout the entire range of motion forward and back.

The first time an athlete tries this circuit with any substantial amount of weight; they can not believe how hard this circuit is to execute properly from start to finish.  Many times they will have to lower the weight.  I came up with this circuit years ago by just screwing around with some strength interns playing around in the weight room.  I knew I was on to something immediately when trying to do it.  I experimented with the rep ranges for a few weeks until I came up with the ranges you see here.

If you have a uni-lateral leg press available to you; I would encourage you to challenge yourself with this workout.  Please let me know what you thought.  It might actually tell you something about the leg strength and coordination that you thought you had.  I tell my athletes and interns all the time.  A good strength coach does not train muscles.  I good strength coach trains the neurological system which controls the muscles.  This is the basis for which I train all my athletes by.

I hope this helps,

To your health,

Jerry

Jedd Johnson from Diesel Crew came up with the events and ran the competition.  Unfortunately, not many stepped up to compete besides myself and two other brave men (Chance Smith & Paul Berry Jr.).  It was competitive and one heck of a great time!

There were three events:

The first event was the log press.  We had 1 minute to clean and press a 12 inch log bar as many times as possible to full lockout with your head through.  I think the bar weighted 110-120 pounds which is not extremely heavy but none of us have a log bar to train with normally, so the awkwardness of it was the difficult part.  You just do not clean a log bar like a regular barbell.

The second event was the mace swing; which proved to be even more awkward and as you seen or will see from the video, very challenging.  We also had one minute to swing the mace back and around our head to the point of attention (straight up in front of our body) as many times as possible.  I personally liked this event the most but was honestly glad when it was over.

The third event was the kettlebell sled drag.  The sled was loaded with 50 pounds and a 50-55 pound kettlebell was attached and used as a handle.  What you had to do was pinch the kettlebell between your hands and back peddle a certain distance.  Quickest time won.  This actually proved to be my worst event as I quickly found out that I need some work on my back peddling skills.  I guess I am just not as quick as I once was (getting older sucks!).

In the end; Paul, Chance, and I had a great time and had some good laughs afterwards; especially with my graceful stumble across the finish line.

I think it is great to get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself with new and different types of training and strongman lifts will definitely do just that.  They can also be dangerous if not understood and done correctly.  Always make sure you understand the techniques involved in any of these types of exercises. Jedd Johnson is releasing a new DVD soon describing how to not only execute these movements correctly but also how to implement them into a training program.  I was able to review this DVD and it is totally awesome.  I will keep you posted when that will be available.

I would like to thank Jedd Johnson for organizing and running the event and Doug Smith for putting together what some say is the best strength & conditioning conference on the east coast!

I hope you enjoyed the video!  I was glad to share that with you all.

To your health,

Jerry

The workout seen in the video accomplished both of these at the same time.  There were only three exercises but when repeated in a circuit style approach over a five minute span; they become very taxing on the athlete.  Oxygen debt and muscle fatigue, which result in “burning” muscles quickly sets in.  An athlete’s mental toughness will quickly present itself.

The team was divided in half, with one half of the team always resting while the other half competed.  That’s right this was a competition!  Make something competitive and athletes work harder.  Every time they completed a circuit they got a point.  The circuit was 10 body weight touch squats to a D-Ball, then push a 45 lb plate across the weight room, and finally do 20 speed jacks (jumping jack done quickly and the hands must touch above the head).  They had 5 minutes to accumulate as many points as they could.  The girls resting kept track of the girls competing.  At the end of 5 minutes, the girls resting now got to compete and the others got to rest.  We did this for two full rounds for both groups.

After the workout was completed and the points added up; the 5 athletes with the fewest points had to do a fun challenge that the rest of the team came up with.  These are fun and a good way to reward the team for challenging themselves and working hard.

This workout, although not long, is demanding on the body and mind.  Give it a go and really try to push yourself.  You may just find out the 5 minutes feels like 10 minutes!  Repeating the whole thing again 5 minutes later makes it feel like 20 minutes!!

To your health,

Jerry

If your excuse is that pull-ups are boring then Monkey Pull-ups might just be what you are looking for.  I learned of this exercise variation years ago from the Diesel Crew guys (Jedd & Smitty) and have used it with my athletes ever since.  I am not sure if they called it monkey pull-ups back then, but they demonstrated it on a cable cross machine, climbing around back and forth on the crossbar.

Monkey Pull-ups:  Basically, you are performing a pull-up and each time you complete a rep you take one hand and change the grip position.  As you can see in the video, I have adapted this into my half racks with all my different pull-up grips, climbing rope, swivel grips, and the rack frame itself.

This is extremely taxing on the upper body, core, and grip.  By challenging my athletes, they really start to try and better themselves each time they do a set.  These are not easy.  If you are looking for some variety and you are pretty good at pull-ups; give these a try.  Ironically, you will find yourself starting to think they are fun.

If you have any other pull-up variations to add to this post; let me know or put it in the comments section below.  It is great to share training information with each other.  The benefits are for everyone!!

To your health,

Jerry

COMPETITION DAY:

Dustin Rose

You could say that Dustin’s journey is now complete but it may have just really started.  If you are not familiar with his story let me give you a little background info but I would encourage you to go to the “Dustin’s Journey” tab on the website and review some of his nutrition info: CLICK HERE or his before pics and measurements CLICK HERE.

I was introduced to Dustin through a friend of mine he was dating.  Dustin had just completed a body transformation contest called Body For Life and he saw some decent results.  Dustin is what we in the strength industry would call a hard-gainer; meaning he is challenged to put on major muscle and weight.  Some people see this as a gift.  He always stayed in good shape and liked hitting the weights but was just not completely satisfied with all his efforts.

After he had completed the Body For Life challenge he came over for a visit and we went to the gym and did a little workout.  During the workout he had explained some of his frustrations and how he really deep down had a desire to compete in a body building competition.  I asked him how serious he really was and he said pretty serious but not sure what path to take to get there.  Well I had my video camera and I asked him if I could shoot a quick video for the variety trainer website.  Here is the video I shot that day: VIDEO .  He had no idea I was about to put him in front of the camera.

Now if you have been a long time follower of variety trainer than you might remember we had a log of Dustin’s progress and his comments & programs along the way.  Unfortunately, when we upgraded the website most of this information somehow got lost and did not transfer over-SORRY!  What did transfer you can still view.

You see Dustin had the ability and drive all along to do this he just needed a bit of a program adjustment to stimulate growth for his body type.  Well, a year later, with a small pec tear, and a deployment to Iraq; Dustin stayed the course and committed himself to the programs I gave him along with his nutrition plan.  He followed everything I said and he did completed his journey and competed in his first body building competition. And I might add that it was the novice Heavy Weight bracket!  He kicked some ass and took third.

Now here is the interesting part of this journey, I did not train Dustin directly as he had to move to North Carolina and then went to Iraq.  All the programs I sent him and advice was through the Internet.  He did this all without a trainer, just determination.  Another great example of what you can accomplish if you want it bad enough.

Now, I started this off as his journey “completed” but not so fast; Dustin is already focusing and training for another competition in November of this year.  He was an inspiration to us all, particularly my wife Trina who is now training to do her first women’s figure fitness competition and yes I am helping her with her training.  Maybe, I will have to start a “Trina’s Journey” here at variety trainer if there is an interest.  Just let me know!

Congratulations Dustin!  Everyone at variety trainer is very proud of you.  Keep up the good work!

To your health,

Jerry

PS- My wife Trina is a professional photographer and took Dustin’s pics.  If you ever are doing something like this and need and/or want awesome pics done to show off your results and live anywhere near central PA; you can visit her website:  www.trinashreckphotography.com

Typically when we train biceps we will do complex circuits or finishers at the end of workouts.  I wanted to share with you two of these circuits we do.  These are challenging high volume sets.

Triple Eight Set:

• These will be done one arm at a time so you can concentrate on the contraction and form.
• Grab a semi-heavy dumbbell that you can curl for eight reps.
• After the first eight reps are complete, set the dumbbell down and grab another dumbbell 5-10 lbs lighter and curl that for eight reps.
• Repeat one more time again dropping 5-10 lbs.  This will be a total of three sets of 8 on the one arm.
• Then switch to the other arm and repeat this process.
• When you are done go back to the first arm and repeat back and forth until 3 full sets are done on both arms.
• You will probably have to drop weight down little by little for each full set as you fatigue.

The Rack:

• Do with both arms at the same time.  Try to focus on good form throughout the entire workout.
• Grab the heaviest two dumbbells that you can successfully curl for five reps.
• Rest for 5-7 seconds.
• Then grab the next set of dumbbells 5 lbs lighter and curl them to failure.
• Rest for 5-7 seconds.
• Repeat this pattern through all the dumbbells on the dumbbell rack until you reach the 5 lb dumbbells.
• I’ll bet you 5 lb dumbbells never felt so heavy!!!
• Remember, focus on good form and technique.  This will be hard to do when you start fatiguing and you can no longer “feel” your arms.  This is the feeling you get when you have gone past the burn!  Enjoy it!!

Again, as you can see these are challenging high volume sets that produce a lot of hypertrophy in the biceps.  In return, this will promote much muscle break down and growth.  I must warn you that if you never trained a single muscle group this way, you better be prepared for some muscle soreness the next few days.  Enjoy the “pump”!!

To your health,

Jerry

On this day, we ran the basketball team through a seven station circuit.  Each station was 30 seconds long with 20 seconds of rest between each.  They went through the circuit three times with 2 minute rest and water breaks between circuits.
“BLUE COLLAR” Circuit:

• Punching Bag:  Open hand, Forearm,and kneeing
• Rope Climb:  Hand over hand climb
• Land Mine Alternating speed press
• Bonnies: Alternating lateral bounding with pause
• Tire Sled Drag with Power Row:  Full squat to power row
• Bosu Trainer Toe Touch:  Balance on one foot, touch toe with opposite hand
• Tire Flip:  Drive tire up and over with two foot hop through

Although this is not a long day in the weight room; I believe these types of workouts accomplish more than just conditioning, strength, and power.  They help to create an atmosphere and attitude.  I preach this to the team to make them believe in themselves and in each other.  Confidence must be high on a college basketball team.  They must have fun also.  When you have this combination on a basketball court during a game; plays are made and not forced which results in lower turnovers and better scoring opportunities.

As a strength coach, it is not always about how strong can you get that athlete.  You have to look at the total package and what you are trying to produce to walk out on that court so they can be in the best position to play to their abilities!  Establish a “work ethic” relationship with your athletes and they will give you the effort you desire.

To your health,

Jerry

Our pre-season weight room workouts run three days a week.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are about hitting big emphasis lifts like cleans, jerks, sumo box squats, and single arm snatches.  We also supplement in pressing movements (bench press and incline db presses), pulling movements (one arm dumbbell rows and many pull-up variations), and tons of posterior chain exercises (glute/hams and reverse hypers).   I never forget to put a good focus on grip strength development.

On Saturdays, I run them through intense circuit training circuits called the “Beast”.  This has been a tradition the last couple of years for the wrestling team and something that they really get psyched up about.  I instruct them to throw everything out the window and just go for it!  Conquer and destroy each station to the best of their abilities until they are told to move to the next station.  It is insane and we would not want it any other way.

The following is the order of exercises for the “Beast” and although you might not know what each exercise is; I think you can appreciate how physically and mentally challenging this circuit really is.

1. Burpees
2. Heavy Punching Bag
3. 60 lb Kettle Bell Swing
4. Landmine Ab Bar Twist
5. 40 lb Dumbbell Curl
6. Box Depth Jumps
7. Double Arm Plank
8. Swivel Grip Pull-up
9. 65 lb Keg Power Clean To Press
10. Ring Push-up
11. Rocky Pull-up (Pipe hung from chains in a power rack)
12. Box Squat-2-Box Jump
13. D-Ball Seated Russian Twist
14. Tire Sled Push
15. Curved Fat Grip Wrist roll
16. Overhead D-Ball Box Squat
17. Rope Climb
18. Ab Roller
19. D-Ball Ab Slam-Jump-Catch
20. Double Landmine Squat Press
21. Band Triceps Extensions
22. Knees-2-Feet-2-Box Hop
23. Tire Flip
24. Softball Grip Chain Holds

Each of the 24 stations lasted for 30 seconds and they would rotate to the next station on a whistle command.  Twelve plus minutes of continuous work followed by a 5 minute rest period.  We would do three full rounds followed by a cool-down and long stretching session.

I want to stress that this is a very strenuous training circuit being done by trained Division I Collegiate athletes.  This type of training should not be done by a novice or someone who has not been prepared by training principles to attempt a circuit of this caliber.

We are looking forward to another successful wrestling season!

To your health,

Jerry