The klown is only seen at the peak phase of training. He torments throwers until they rip a bomb!
This week has been huge with the HS Track Athletes that I have been working with.
Jada Taylore of Neptune HS: Jada is only a sophomore and ripped a bomb this weekend. At a throw of 134 feet, that puts her #3 in the State. As for the shot put, we are going back to the glide. She doesn’t have an eye to watch her each practice, so it gets difficulty when you can’t get feedback. As a freshman she threw 36.9 feet in the shot put. So, common sense would tell us, she is more mature mentally and physically, so she should be able to surpass that this year.
Tara Daniels of Kingsway HS: Tara is a senior and has been consistently throwing over 40ft in the shot put and over 135 in the discus. She has been following the program to it’s finest details. This is one athlete that will text me about every little thing. It’s a pain in the ass for me to respond in time, but this is the type of athlete who gets better. Currently she is #2 in the State in the discus and #2 or#3 in the shot put. Not 100% sure.
Jason Bryan of Rumson HS: Jason is a junior who threw a personal best this week by 3 inches, tossing the shot over 55 feet! His discus throw yesterday was his 2nd best of all time at 144ft, following his PR of 149 feet. Jason threw the discus around 100 feet last year. He started the season off about the same distance and after pulling teeth to get him to throw, because he “hates the discus..” he has now improved around 50 feet in one year! Sick improvement!
Nick Pulli of West Deptford HS: Nick has been dropping bombs all outdoors. His PR as of yesterday is 58.8feet and his discus pr is 180 feet! He is only a junior and is usually throwing on his own without a coach. Self taught he is!!!! The big obstacle he has is the lifting program he is following. It’s not mine, it’s his football coach’s program. You know the one with the rep scheme ’12,10,8,6,10′? Bigger Stronger Faster…. it’s a Terrible program for track athletes, and even a worse program when your trying to make a gifted athlete perform it. After this upcoming football season he will be 100% FREE of the dark shadows of the football programming. Yes, this up coming football season! Nick is a junior! With PR’s of 180 (discus) and 58.8 (shot put) at mid season, this only makes the probability greater that he will go 200 & 63+
Vlad Castillo of Montgomery HS: Vlad is a sophomore… skinny as a rail but wired with an awesome nervous system. Vlad’s pr in the discus was 120ft and shot was 47 feet. Yesterday he tossed 133ft and 49.8ft. This is sick because the program he is currently on is heavy with a bit of dynamic movements following the heavy lift. It’s a short cycle and definitely didn’t expect him to throw this distance now. I was predicting it to happen at States/Meet of Champions when the program aimed for a nervous system manipulation. It happened now! So, maybe he will rip a bigger throw than predicted? That will be seen.
Jillian Gallogly of Holmdel HS: Jill had a double PR! She converted back to the glide technique which helped her display her strengths easier. She finally started smacking the discus over 100ft in practice with an awesome none reverse. She just recently started grunting… SHE IS GROWING!!!!!! She is on her way to Towson University. In preparation for college she has also been learning the hammer throw. Last year in July her personal best was 78 feet. She has thrown over 100ft numerous times this year!
Alden Littlfield is only a sophomore and when he started tossing early this spring he was around 35 feet give or take. Yesterday he tossed 41.8 feet! That’s a huge pr for him! Last year with the 1k discus he tossed 116 feet, well, now with the 1.5k he has tossed 124 feet!
Nick Rajoppe of Brick HS is a junior and has been tossing some big throws. His distances were consistently in the mid to high 115-120 feet at a body weight of 150lbs! Now that’s some power!
Garett Pynn of Leonia HS… IM WAITING FOR THAT BIG PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Side Notes:
Spencer Ross of Mahwah HS had a great showing by throwing 58+ at Penn Relays.
Stephen Mozia (NJ Resident) won the College Championship with a throw of 63+ at the Penn Relays
Corrine Kominkiewicz (NJ Resident) tossed a nice throw in the discus. I believe she was at 43 meters or so.
There are many other throwers that have performed well from Abe Flore’s group at Monmouth University to Joe Napoli’s group at Georgian Court. It’s amazing to see the performances that NJ has bee unleashing!
THis video is not the exercises described below. However, it is me demonstrating some of the programs geared towards speed.
Super Zapped!
The last two weeks I did a dynamic warm up focusing on the mobility of my hips, the lengthening and shortening of the muscles through a repetitive stretch of 15 reps. I followed that with a strength phase. This is what it looked like:
Week 1
Monday
Power Clean w/push press 5×3
Back squat (full range of motion) 3×5
High Box Step ups w/one DB overhead (same leg stepping is the same arm holding the DB) 3×5
RDL’s 3×6 (bar touches shoe laces)
v-ups 3×15 (front Abdominals)
Wednesday
Bench Press 3×5
Seated Bench Press on a Hammer Strength Machine 3×8 (pause/release at bottom)
DB Bent over row 1×10/1×8/1×6 Super set w/lat hangs for time
Standing Over head Tricep Extensions w/DB 3×10
Push up hold with Kettlebell drag (10 each way)
Friday
Plate Circuit 1×10 each (
Scoop Snatch 3×5
DB Press into Windmills 3×5
Bulgarian Split Squats 3×6 superset w/Box jump on/off land to static hold for a 2 count x 6
Bar sides (rotational abdominals) 3×10 each way
Week 2
This was replicated for week 2 with some drop off in reps and increase in weight total. Some variations of the holding weight was also varied.
Week 3
Speed Emphasis (this workout is repeated exactly the same Monday/Wednesday/Friday)
Hang Clean Pulls 3×5
DB squat jumps 3×8 superset with box step jump ups w/ body weight
DB Flat Bench Press 3×8 Superset with explosive push ups 3×10
Hanging leg raises 3×10
Standing Plate Twists 3×10 each way
Posterior shoulder raise 3×8
Weeks 4 & 5 will be exactly the same as weeks 1 and 2. Yes, that’s the same sets, reps and weight. After that a recovery week will be performed on week 6. Then I change up the movements!
Training youth athletes can sometimes be difficult. I have found that having them perform 3-4 exercises followed by their own creation, has gotten more work done than ever! In this video is Brendon and Rocky. Both are super gifted kids that are training to be shot putters at the young age of twelve! As much as I expect workout perfection, I have to allow him to act out and be crazy! Here they are performing some hangs for time:
IMG_6946
and here is Brendon performing his own creation:
IMG_6944
Got to love it when a person gets hit with adversity, but he/she keeps moving forward!
- Coaches that don’t track their athletes progressions
- The Bigger Stronger Faster Program. PURE SHIT!
- People who perform Olympic lifts like a marathon. If you perform more than 5-6 reps per set (and that’s being generous) your doing too much!
- People that want a better body, or performance but won’t eat breakfast! A bagel IS NOT FOOD!
- People who don’t warm up properly! UGH!
- Coaches who make explosive athletes run 1 mile multiple time a week! NO KNOWLEDGE OF PHYSIOLOGY!
- Trainers that tell their clients to drink diet soda! ASPARTAME IS HEALTHY?
- People who don’t static stretch after a workout! Then they complain about having a bad back! STRETCH!
- People who don’t put their equipment away! DO YOU AT LEAST WIPE YOUR ASS?
- Kids that have poor nutrition but will take pre workout drinks and other supplements! EAT SOMETHING!
- People who don’t train legs! Who wants milk sticks? NOT ME!
- People who say raw milk is bad and you shouldn’t drink milk unless it’s pasteurized. JUST CLICK THE LINK!
- People who don’t eat fish because it “doesn’t taste good,” or take a daily fish oil pill. Listen, it’s great for your mind and heart so just TAKE IT!
And exhale! I think I can relax now.
Once or twice a year athletic programs will perform a 1rm (rep max) to gain a perspective of their athletes over all basic strength. Depending on the sport and its needs, strength coaches can develop the proper program from the resulting test maxes. A big obstacle that stands in the way of the strength coach is developing a program specific to each the sport and the athlete. How can a strength coach develop a workout plan that is athlete specific when there are thirty or more athletes with different adaptation levels, athletic ability and different levels of personal drive to succeed? These elements should all be considered when constructing a program that will allow athletes with different levels of ability to perform at their best.
For me, designing a program is like poetry; it has structure, flows smoothly, and has rhythm. I like to think of it as a bull-whip. The tempo of a whip is a transfer of the motion, starting with your arm, transferring that energy in a rhythmic fashion into the length of the leather, resulting in a nice effortless “CRACK” of the whip. This is how I construct a program. If at any moment the 1rm is not figured into a program properly then we will never get the greatest result at the end. As in the whip, if we never get a smooth rhythmic motion at the beginning then we will never get the “crack” we want at the end. Make sense?
I am guess everyone reading this knows how to arrive at a percentage of a 1rm right?
If it slips your mind then this will refresh your memory. Let’s say your actual 1rm in the Power Clean is 400lbs (182kgs). A basic ‘linear path of adaption program’ is a great way to track progression. As an example, I will choose a 6 week pre-season phase for Track & Field athletes.
The first week you want to use 65% of their max and progress forward from that.
400lbs x .65 = 260lbs
Simple enough right? Here is an example of what a six week program would look like using 400lbs as the 1rm.
Well, what would you say if I told you your 400lb max lift in the power clean is too heavy? Yes, I just told you that 400lbs is too heavy! Let me explain why. On the day an athlete attempts a 1rm he/she they’re in a state of arousal, and if they are a high school or college athlete they may have used a caffeine supplement to help aid in their performance. Athletes cannot keep up that type of intensity every workout. Strength coaches will argue that attempting the percentage of weights used and failing is still beneficial. Being successful on completing two sets of all its reps and failing on the third set has some room for argument. Yes, you are going all out and eventually getting stronger. However, is this type of strength, the strength we want in sports in order to jump higher, run faster or throw further? I’ve known many athletes that were strong, but terrible at sport.
What I have found with the athletes I have worked with, along with my own training, is to lessen the 1rm when making a program. A Power Clean of 400lbs is still 400lbs (for your ego, lifting war stories, etc). In the case of developing a plan that allows a progression of adaption, success at completing reps, a muscle contractile unit that moves more efficiently in the realm of displaying power and the overall goal, increase sports performance; 1rm weights must be lowered.
MY RULE OF THUMB is this:
- Power Clean/Snatch 1rm -30lbs
- Back Squat/Front Squat 1rm -40lbs
- Bench Press/Incline Press 1rm -30lbs
Lowering an athlete’s 1rm and implementing that weight into the micro/macr-cycles percentages will allow the weights to be heavy enough for you to adapt and grow each week with limited platues, but even more importantly, leading towards greater sports performance.
If you are truly a believer in following the original 1rm, be aware your athletes will miss reps and perform slower in sport. Even if they push hard and fast the reality is, if the weight is moving slow then their contraction is slow. If you are really set on having your athletes perform a true percentage of 1rm, then try to do it in your pre-season strength phase. Once you’re in season and in the thick of things follow my “RULE OF THUMB.” Another reason to follow my theory, it leaves room for energy in other areas like technique and quicker recovery. Has anyone seriously had a good technical day when they were extremely sore? I sure as hell haven’t. More times than not, an athlete would get injured.
Take the “meathead” out of lifting and bring in common sense. Move weight more efficiently, and do it consistently week in and week out by following a well laid out program that lowers the initial 1rm. Your performance depends on it!
Here is the article/link to Nick Vena’s opening meet at the Auburn University.
This is Bro Science from Youtube. I have to say this guy is pretty funny!
E= HUGE!!!
See more of his videos by clicking HERE
We may just need this today!
New Jersey has suffered the biggest natural disaster in it’s recorded history. In the past two weeks, we have had Hurricane Sandy, a small 2.0 Earthquake centered in Ringwood, NJ and a Nor’easter that dropped close to a foot of snow in Freehold, NJ and 6 inches on the Jersey Shore coast and the forecast predicts close to 70 degree temperatures this upcoming Monday. Is this odd to you? Not to me and others that believe the world is a living organism with other living organisms living with in it. Weird? No, you are a living organism with trillions of other organisms living on and within you. See the correlation? How about this… when YOU have a stomach ache or a cold, it is due to bacteria acting up and presenting itself as harmful. So, the human body increases temperature (fever), increases inflammation and even will trigger vomiting and diarrhea. What ever it takes to get that virus/bacteria out! Don’t you think the Earth would do the same?
Your thinking, “what is Earth’s bacteria?” It’s YOU, It’s ME! There are 7 billion people on the planet. Do you think this is a good thing? To put that into perspective, a heart’s life beats for roughly 2 billion beats in an average lifespan of 75 years of age. Basically, there are a lot of damn people walking this planet. We shit, we piss, we trash all over this planet, what do we expect? It’s terrible that this happens but this Earth and we must align ourselves with it in order to live PEACEFULLY.
Today while a client was warming up, he said that “if you take a petri dish and fill it with a bacteria, it will replicate, grow then drop off significantly to the point of none existing. Bacteria on a petri dish is like Humans on Earth… are we getting there with that picture yet? Well, I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but the weather is going to get worse, there will be more disasters and diseases. Some people will never be able to survive… others will, only if they are physically and mentally tough! Give yourself the chance to push your DNA to future generations. WORKOUT, EAT NUTRIENT DENSE FOODS, BE STRESS FREE… and when the times comes… REACT! DON’T THINK!
Jersey Trash Clothing is offering a shirt where the profits made will go to The American Red Cross and some other local charities within NJ. So, go to JERSEY STRONG…REVIVE. REBUILD. RECOVER. and get yours! Or you could head to the shore towns from central Jersey to Staten Island NY and lend a helping hand!
Jersey Strong- Revive. Rebuild.Recover.
Further reading on Natural Disasters and if you have what it takes to survive here WELCOME TO EARTH
