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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.

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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

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

Injury prevention exercises are always a priority while writing up programs for my athletes.  I also hold these same ideals when it comes to training programs for my clients and yes even for myself.  I love going on backpacking trips and hiking those trails that take you away from civilization and back to nature.  There is a lot of good solid exercise involved in hiking a rocky trail with a 50 pound backpack loading you down the entire way.  So training for these trips is vital so I can truly enjoy the entire adventure and not get tired or injured along the way.

These ankle mobility techniques I believe have saved my ankles on more than one occasion.  Sometimes the trails are rocky and sometimes I have to cross a stream by going from rock to rock.  Let’s face it, rocks do not always stay in place and many times roll from under your foot.  Having mobility and being able to stabilize not only protects my ankles but also my knees and has helped to prevent falls.

I believe these simple type of joint mobility exercises are very important for everyone.  Give them a try and see if your ankles start feeling better in a few weeks; heck they will feel better right after you do them.

Hope these help!

Jerry

Training the muscles of the posterior chain is extremely important when it comes to injury prevention, strength, speed, and power.  This is a great exercise for the hamstrings, glutes, and core musculature.  These are important muscles responsible for running, sprinting, and jumping.  As shown in the video, you can perform the stability ball hamstring curl glute raise with one foot; but I recommend learning it with both feet on the ball first.

Stability Ball Hamstring Curl Glute Raise:

• Lay on the ground, extend your arms out to the sides, and place a stability ball under your calves and heels of your feet.
• Pull with your feet the stability ball back towards you until the bottom of your feet are on the ball.
• You will be trying to maintain a very tight mid-section as you do this.
• Squeeze your glutes and raise your hips until you are able to make a straight line from your knees through your hips and into your shoulder joints.
• Maintain the position and then extend the legs back out to your starting position but keep constant tension (contraction) in your core.  I would also like to point out that even though your core muscles are tight you should still be able to breath normally.
• Repeat for the deisred number of repititions or until you fatigue.

This exercise looks pretty easy but give it an honest go and you will be pleasantly surprised how effective this movement can be.

The BT Toe Touch, as explained in the video, does not have to be done exclusively on a Bosu Trainer.  It can be done on any semi-unstable surface.  Even a rigid pillow would work for beginners.  I do not and have never recommended someone stand on a stability ball.  I just thought I would include that for anyone thinking of going above and beyond which is not necessary.

There are many variations to this exercise as well.  You can reach out in various positions instead of bending down to touch the toes.  Many times I will set up cones around the bosu trainer and have the athletes reach out to touch each one.  You can also have someone toss you a ball or medicine ball.  Just make sure you always stabilize well before tossing it back.  If you are much more advanced, you can hop onto the bosu trainer with one foot.  So you can see there is variety to this and progression but the basic toe touch is the staple and many times all you really need to focus on.

Try implementing this exercise once or twice a week into the beginning of your weight training session.  It does not take long and over time the repetitions will add up.  A little work now may very well payoff big time later!

Keep on Training,

Jerry

In the picture directly below you will see how I am holding onto a rope in each hand.  The second picture will distinctly show how I am contracting all those upper back muscles which results in a tight scapular retracted position.

I explain in detail, in the video below, exactly how I use the rope and then demonstrate three of my top rope exercises for this movement.

I really can not stress enough how important this movement is.  It will not only serve as a great injury prevention exercise for strengthening the decelerating muscles for the shoulder (throwing movement) but also in general upper back development.  It is not really about how much resistance you use but more about how concentrated you can get your contraction.  These are also some great exercises that can be incorporated into a therapy program for anyone who has a winging of the scapula.  Visually, this will look like you have wings from your scapula protruding away from the body (medial border).  Alright, I do not want this post to head in a therapeutic direction so I will end it here.  If you have any questions or comments; please just ask and I will do my best to answer them for you.  Now get yourself a chunk of rope and give them a try!

To your health,

Jerry

A lot of people ask me about my personal training programs and workouts.  Recently, I had a request from a subscriber to post a sample of one of my workouts.  Well, I did one better:  I filmed it and I show clips of the workout in the video.  You ask, I listen, then I post what you want.  So here you go, the following is exactly what I did on this day in my personal workout.

Warm-up 5min on a upright bike

Dynamic Flexibility (Continued Warm-up)

Shoulder Circuit (5 exercises-explained in detail in my shoulder injury prevention article)

Tennis Ball Arch Rollouts (I always do these when I am going to train without shoes on)

Homemade Indian Club work

KB Oblique Raise 2 x 8-10 (both sides)

KB Towel Around The World Swing 3 x 10-12 (both directions)

Double KB Clean To Press 3 x 10

Single KB Clean To Press 2 x 8

Bucket Hop 3 x 12 Supersetted with Push Away Pull-up 3 x 5-8

Spiderman Push-up 2 x 20

Stability Ball Stabilization Press 3 x 6-9

Straight Leg/Arm KB Sit-up 3 x fatigue

Band Stretch

This might look like a lot at first glance but my rest periods were very short; typically no more than one minute.  A good portion of my rest periods were spent hitting the record button on the video camera or repositioning it.

If you have any questions or comments about this workout; please post them below.  Also, if this is something you thought was informative and beneficial, let me know and I will post more of these.  Thank you for your continued support and questions.

Keep your passion alive,

Jerry

On the sixth day of Gripmas my true love gave to me…Wrist Rollers!  If you never use wrist rollers; you are missing out on some awesome forearm training.  Making them is practically free.  I go over this extensively in the video.  I personally like to do wrist rollers once a week or once every other week at the end of my workout.  There are phases that I will train with them twice a week for three weeks and then not touch them and do some other grip training exercise for the next three weeks.

It’s all about variety for me and changing the stimulus that is applied to my body.  You need to understand that by not letting your body totally adapt to any one training stimulus, your body will continue to grow and get stronger.  This is exactly why I put together this website: I want to show people that there are many ways to accomplish your training goals.   Let me know what your goals are I can help you achieve them.

Jerry

Welcome to the forth day of Gripmas and my true love gave to me a…Rubber band!  Yes, I show you how to train the extensor muscles of the fingers, wrist, and forearm with a small piece of rubber.  I like using the gummy rubber bands that you can buy a bag of them in at staples for around a dollar.  You can also use the heavier rubber bands that you would find wrapped around raw veggies in the grocery store.

When talking about grip training most of it always revolves around the gripping action of the fingers and wrist.  Well, it is vitally important not to neglect the extensors.  I typically won’t train with a rubber band right in the gym.  I like using the rubber band while I am watching tv or doing some reading or research.  Kinda killing two birds with one stone.  Now I do have a ton of little rubber bands like the one shown in the video for my athletes to use.  I particularly use them with my tennis, golf, lacrosse, and field hockey players to try to decrease the incidence of elbow tendonitis that sometimes can come with those sports, but all of them will use the rubber bands from time to time in their training.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Enjoy,

Jerry Shreck

Throw Your Hips into Injury Prevention

How to improve the balance and strength in your hips to keep your body healthy and in the game

By Jerry Shreck, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach, Bucknell University

When most people think about training for injury prevention, the first thing that comes to mind is movements for the core, the shoulders, and the ankles. But one of the most important body parts is often altogether forgotten. The hips. Yet of all the areas of the body, I typically find the hip musculature of athletes to be not only the weakest but typically the most unbalanced. This is disturbing as I’ve found that once athletes learn neuromuscular control of the hips, the percentage of injuries, especially of the knee, can be significantly decreased.

In fact at Bucknell University, our athletic training staff has reported an overall decrease of major injuries over the last four years. Much of the credit has been attributed to the focus of our Functional Injury Prevention exercises that are done weekly during our weight-training sessions.

Unfortunately, with sports, injuries can never be completely eliminated. But if we prevent even one percent, I believe it’s worth it. And we’ve experienced significantly better results than just one percent!

Why the Hips?

The hip complex is astonishingly, well, complex. There are 24 muscles responsible for the movement of the hips. Consider all your hips can do: shift side to side, rotate forward and backward, twist (i.e., flexion, adduction, medial rotation, abduction, lateral rotation, extension), as well as the numerous combinations of the above. Just like the rotator cuff of the shoulder, it takes small intrinsic muscles, which act like stabilizers in the hip joint, to move so well and be so flexible.

Of course, most of us already use squats, dead lifts, lunges, step-ups, and various triple extension movements. And all of these, if done correctly, will hit various muscles of the hips. But for the purposes of injury prevention, we are looking for specific functional patterns. Always keep in mind that you are only as strong as your weakest link.

The exercises in this article are strength exercises, but neuromuscular control is just as important. Maybe some of you are saying right now, “That’s the same thing!” True, but I relate neuromuscular control to the amount of isolation and firing of an individual muscle to produce a certain movement and lessen the amount of stimulation of the surrounding musculature, which would normally be stimulated. This takes strict amounts of focus and practice at first. However, when mastered, the benefits pay off BIG TIME!

To learn this focus, I recommend the use of therabands (in a 9″x 2″ loop) to do the following circuits of exercise. The first circuit is the “Standing Hip Circuit.” For all of these exercises, you, the athlete, will stand with the band around your ankles. Your feet should be hip-width apart, and your knees slightly bent with the weight back on your heels.

Point your toes directly forward throughout every exercise. We do not want the hip to externally or internally rotate. This is important because as you do the exercises, you’ll automatically want to rotate at the hip.

There are five patterns of movements which consist of 10 reps each, equaling 50 total reps per hip.

Theraband Hip Forward

To perform the first exercise (above), step one leg forward while maintaining a slight bend in the knees, isolating all of the stimulation to the front of the hip. Pause for a two-second count, and return to the starting or “athletic” position.

Theraband Hip 45 Degree

The second movement (pictured above) is very similar to the first. However, instead of stepping forward, you’ll step out to a 45-degree angle.

Remember to keep your toes pointing directly forward with a slight bend in the knees. The legs should not straighten at any time throughout the exercise.

Theraband Hip Side

For the next movement, you’ll step out to the side.

Theraband Hip 135 Degree

Again, similar to the above exercises, but this time you’ll step out to about 135 degrees.

Theraband Hip Backward

Throughout all of these movements, make sure your form is strict and focus on exactly which portion of the hip (musculature) doing the work. Your focus should correlate to the direction of the movement. The last or fifth movement is straight back.

These exercises can be performed in consecutive sets or circuit training style (Around the World). Start with the standing hip circuit in consecutive sets per hip twice a week. After two weeks, progress to an “Around the World” circuit. This involves doing one rep and progressing to the next movement until you’ve gone all the way through the ten patterns and repeat until 50 reps are achieved. Then run the order counter-clockwise for 50 reps. This style or circuit will usually be done for two weeks.

The first week or two, you’ll very likely experience DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) in the hips. After all, these are muscles most of us haven’t focused on in the past. Just remember, this is a good sign that they are isolating and getting the neuromuscular firing we’re looking for.

After you’ve learned these controlled movement patterns, it’s time to progress to the “Walking Hip Circuit.” This is a series of four different movements related to the standing hip circuit. The first movement is a forward 45-degree step. But instead of returning the lead foot back to the athletic position, step forward with the trail leg (maintaining good form) until the foot reaches the athletic position. Then repeat starting with the opposite foot out to a forward 45 degree angle (toes forward!). Continue this for 15-20 yards. Then reverse direction and come backward, stepping out at 135-degree angles. The third movement is side stepping for the 15 to 20 yards and then finish side stepping back for the distance.

Forward 45 Degree Walk

Backward 135 Degree Walk

Hip Side Walk

It’s easy to start getting careless with your form during the walking circuits, so it’s important to constantly remind yourself to focus on form throughout the series of movements.

Additional exercises for the hips are always emphasized. These would include manual resistance adduction/abduction, manual resistance hip flexion, glute/ham raises, reverse hypers, and various other exercises.

Also try jogging, cutting, jumping, carioca, and bounding speed exercises while wearing the theraband loop around the ankles. You could even try to play five minutes of basketball while wearing the bands. These can be fun drills that help you focus on using your hips when it counts most—during your sporting and skill-building activities.

Across the board, I’ve seen improvements in all types of athletes: from basketball players to power lifters to track and field athletes. This type of training can really help you break through training plateaus. And, most importantly, reduce the number of injuries as you strengthen a weak area and gain neuromuscular awareness of the hip complex.

Take a one-month challenge and try these exercises. I guarantee you will notice improvements in all your lower body and triple extension exercises. And help keep you in whatever you call your game.