Power Athlete

PowerAthletes Dominate!

2011-10-29T11:01:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to our own Ben Suttman and Tommy Ruff both scored in the Alter win over CJ last night 17-7

Ben

Tommy

Paleo Food Matrix

2011-10-27T08:46:00.001-04:00

I just found this, Robb Wolff of paleo fame has but together this interesting little matrix:

Thinking and Knowing

2011-10-26T09:38:00.001-04:00

I was reminded today of a belief I have held for a long time, from training all types of athletes.

good athletes think they can be successful, great athletes know they can be successful.

To make yourself as successful as your talent allows, you have to know you will be at the end of your route when the ball gets there, not spend your whole run thinking about your coverage, if your gloves are tight enough, if your running fast enough, etc, etc, etc. This type of thinking leads to chatter in your brain which allows for a much higher percentage of mistakes. I have seen great athletes overcome incredible adversity and still be successful, because of the depth of belief in their ability.

This seems like a simple task, to believe in yourself, but in truth it is quite difficult. You must believe without a doubt in a successful conclusion to your event even before you start, to put it a different way, you must believe you have won the race before your feet are on the starting blocks, the race is already won.

3 current power athletes mentioned in one Dayton Daily news piece

2011-09-11T18:17:00.001-04:00

Katie Grunder, Halle Pyle and Natalie Nusinow all were mentioned for their participation in the Centerville vs. Alter Girls soccer game

Congrats Sandy!

2011-09-07T07:59:00.001-04:00

Our very own Sandy Plunkett mentioned on ONU website

http://www.onu.edu/athletics/archive/plunkett_s_overtime_goal_lead_s_women_s_soccer_to_10_victory_over_earlham_ind

Attention all PowerAthletes:

2011-09-02T11:57:00.001-04:00

Listen to the message, please, listen to the message

How Bad Do You Want It from Greyskale Multimedia on Vimeo.

Passion trumps Logic

2011-08-31T14:02:00.001-04:00

Nutrition,the new drug of choice

2011-08-23T16:16:00.001-04:00

Awesome article on the use of food as another modality of performance enhancement. All my young athletes listen up, and my beat up college athletes, change your diet, improve your performance and recovery!

Where did Crossfit go wrong?

2011-08-19T09:23:00.001-04:00

Greg Glassman has made a permanent impression on the face of how we look at fitness, this is a fact that can not be questioned. And while I don’t train in a “crossfit style”, I do track and read where the community moves and progresses. I have great respect for the community as a whole.

I found it troubling while looking at the winners of the 2011 crossfit games today, and I wonder how crossfit has gone from producing fit women like the picture of Jolie Gentry above to who won the 2007 crossfit games, and Nichole Caroll below to the picture of the winner this year (she is on the right of the bottom picture). Four short years has changed the direction of the philosophy has gone from this:

To this:

It would seem to me that the allure of a large payday has changed the sport to friendly competition to win at all costs…..

End of a Great Sprint Session

2011-08-15T18:07:00.001-04:00

A combination of women’s soccer players and basketball players after they gave their all on a particularly difficult sprint sequence. Great Effort Ladies!

Squat Clean done the right way

2011-08-09T19:30:00.001-04:00

quick video of training this afternoon, Claire has been doing Olympic Lifts for about 10 days, weighs about 120 pounds and pulls 3 perfect squat cleans at 135 pounds. Not bad, not bad at all

How far are we from this in America?

2011-07-20T15:30:00.001-04:00

I was sent this disturbing picture by a friend, and at first I was self righteous about it, saying “how could they do that to those children”, then it dawned on me how close we are to doing this type of training with very young children in this country. Wake up people, a 4 year old shouldn’t be lifting weights or seeing a speed coach!

The amazing things humans can do….

2011-07-13T09:16:00.001-04:00

Introducing PowerStroke High Intensity Circuit Training For Active Adults.

2011-07-12T10:54:00.001-04:00

This week we at PowerAthlete rolled out the latest in Adult Fitness Training. PowerStroke High Intensity Circuit Training is a sequence of exercise placed in such a way to create the most beneficial workout possible. The circuits themselves include traditional dumbbell exercise, along with various sporting and plyometric movements. This combination of exercises done in the correct order, with short rest breaks, and a surprise set at the end of each circuit give any adult the results they are looking for. Each series of exercises is tailored to the individual participant, so we can maximize result!

Come give it a try, first workout is free for new clientele.Z

Amazing Quote

2011-04-28T07:12:00.001-04:00

Fitness Journalist Chris Shugart writes

“Working through difficulties carves you into a strong person. Doing things that are painful make you less susceptible to pain. Calluses are good. Scars give you character. Grit your teeth and juggernaut through those walls life builds up in front of you. Don’t look for the work-around. Go through”.

Running Distance, this is how I feel……

2011-04-19T07:21:00.001-04:00

Work Hard and Smart, and You Will Have Success

2011-02-16T07:46:00.001-05:00

Our own Lane Breyer winning his weight class in a recent wrestling tournament as a Freshman.

I’m behind on my blog….

2010-12-08T18:18:00.001-05:00

Coming off of some great successes by our athletes, we have increased our population significantly (which is awesome). Because of this I am a little busy training right now to post anything, new videos and pictures to come soon!

So your too tired to workout…

2010-11-05T10:10:00.001-04:00

quadruple amputee swimming the English channel….

Speed, Agility, Reactive, Quickness

2010-11-04T16:11:00.001-04:00

This was a joint concept dreamed up my myself and Mr. Frank Pirrello (engineer extraordinaire). Along with all the other forms of agility and speed work we do as part of our athletic conditioning programming, this adds a reactive agility concept into the works.

Don’t Forget Athletic Movement

2010-10-21T19:27:00.001-04:00

As trainers or coaches we spend a great deal of time breaking down movements, trying to find parts we can “train” or improve. Watching this vintage film of Sugar Ray Robinson prepare for a fight, it struck me that the training isn’t complex or complicated, movements aren’t broken down or over analyzed. Fluid motion, changes of direction, acceleration/deceleration, stability from the core radiating out (the medicine ball throws at his abdomen were and incredible display of balance and trunk stability). Amazing.

Old Man Hurdle Jump

2010-10-19T13:29:00.001-04:00

Working on the jumping aspect of my athlete’s programs, so therefore, I am jumping. Took this video today playing around with Hurdles compared to Box Jumps. We have had problems in the past with damaged shins with box jumps.

Measuring improvements in hip external rotation strength/power

2010-10-14T10:49:00.001-04:00

I am looking into measureable ways to show improvements in strength and power in the hip external rotators, as increasing strength in this musculature has shown to prevent or repair knee valgus (knock knees). Knee valgus characterizing medial collapse might be associated with knee injuries 1,4,5. It has been shown that increasing strength in the hip and hamstrings combine to show significant injury prevention qualities for patellofemoral, IT and ACL type injuries 1,2,3. In addition the Leetun Study, showed that athletes who did not sustain an injury were
significantly stronger in their hip abduction and hip external rotation muscles hip external rotation strength was the best predictor of injury 6.

With this in mind I am going to track the effect on landing/deceleration from a shallow depth jump effect on knee valgus compared with distance improvement on measurements of a maximal lateral broad jump or lateral bound. Because the lateral bound is explosive, compound (using the entire leg but emphasizing the external rotators) I think it is a real world way to look at hip strength and power improvements and how they may effect lower body biomechanics

1. Clin J Sport Med. 2000;10:169-175.treatment programs incorporating exercises designed to address hip impairments have demonstrated positive short- and long-term outcomes on knee injuries.

2. Ferber R, Davis IM, Williams DS. Gender differences in lower extremity mechanics
during running. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2003;18:350–357.

3. Markolf KL, Burchfield DM, Shapiro MM, Shepard MF, Finerman GA, Slauterbeck
JL. Combined knee loading states that generate high anterior cruciate ligament forces.
J Orthop Res. 1995;13:930–935

4.Nakagawa TH, Muniz TB, Baldon Rde M, Dias Maciel C, de Menezes Reiff RB, Serrao FV. The effect of additional strengthening of hip abductor and lateral rotator muscles in patellofemoral pain syndrome: a randomized controlled pilot study. Clin Rehabil. 2008;22:1051-1060. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269215508095357

5. Powers CM. The influence of altered lower-extremity kinematics on patellofemoral
joint dysfunction: a theoretical perspective. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2003;33:
639–646.

6. Leetun D, Ireland M, Wilson J, Ballantyne B, Davis I.

Core Stability Measures as Risk Factors for Lower Extremity Injury in Athletes

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
Official Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine
Volume 36(6), June 2004, pp 926-934

Never stop learning….

2010-10-13T08:50:00.001-04:00

I had the honor and pain of getting into a biomechanics conversation on a facebook yesterday with three strength coaches that are way above my pay grade, Charlie Weingroff, Dewey Nielson and Daniel Martinez. I ended up being totally wrong in my assessment of the situation, and the three of them graciously explained my mistake. Just when you think you know what is going on, life figures out a way to show you otherwise. Keep reading, keep learning, keep correcting and improving.

Strong correlation of maximal squat strength with sprint performance and vertical jump height

2010-10-12T14:18:00.001-04:00

In this research article the researchers found strong correlation between sprint speed, vertical jump and squat strength. If you are an athlete, and one, or more of these things are important to your performance, practice these skills. Forget the agility ladders, and the other toys, get strong first, practice sprinting and jumping, and watch the improvements happen. You have to build a stronger engine, before you make a faster car.

Battle rope training for swimmers

2010-09-30T09:08:00.001-04:00

The use of heavy ropes for cardiovascular/strength endurance work has become a staple modality for conditioning power athletes such as rugby and football players. We have been experimenting, with great success, using the ropes for conditioning other sports, most notably swimming. Using the ropes we can reproduce a similar motion to the swim strokes, with an explosive component, at the end of the rope stroke, with the strike on the ground. Here are examples of two of our fantastic swim athletes working the ropes,

Alex Osterhage Does a free style movement

Eric Limkeman Coach, Pro Triathlete and Washed Up Swimmer, demonstrates the Butterfly method

You don’t have to be a teenager to work hard. Just work smart!

2010-09-27T07:20:00.001-04:00

I am posting this video in an effort to show the possibilities of achieving your fitness goals if you do it in a smart way. The person in this video is:

vital as anyone I work with
isn’t a teenager
has had knee reconstruction earlier in her life
is able to accomplish high intensity work sets
works smart, most of the time, using recovery techniques, foam rolling, static stretching, dynamic warm ups, etc

Don’t hold yourself back because of lack of knowledge on how to proceed. Find a qualified trainer to help you achieve your goals!

How do I add weight the right way?

2010-09-23T08:43:00.001-04:00

I am usually concerned with losing body fat for clients, but with football players the question is always, how do I gain mass?

The key to gaining mass is always increasing carbohydrates and calories. What this usually looks like, is eat more crappy food, which results in the a gain of some very negative (fat) weight, and very little positive (muscle) weight.

A sample positive meal plan for bulking or mass building for a 200 pound person would look like this:

Meal 1: 4-6 cups potatoes or 3-4 pieces of whole grain toast, 10 ounces of grilled meat or fish or 4-5 eggs, 1 banana
Meal 2: 2 cups of brown rice, 10 ounces of grilled meat, 1/4 cup of peanut or other nut butter
Meal 3: 3 cups of pasta, 10 ounces of grilled meat or fish, 1 table spoon of olive oil
Meal 4: Large sweet potato, 10 ounces of grilled meat or fish, any green veggie
Meal 5: 2 cups of brown rice, 10 ounces of grilled meat or fish, 1/4 cup of peanut or other nut butter
Meal 6: Cheat Meal (Ice Cream/Milkshakes with additional Whey protein)

Obviously adjust the food quantity for your individual starting weight, but as your weight increases, your calories need to increase to accommodate the increase metabolic needs. A 180 pound body needs more calories than a 160 pound body.

Our PowerAthlete Centerville Girls Dominate Again

2010-09-17T07:26:00.001-04:00

Claire and Amy were a huge part of the Centerville Lady Elks win over Beavercreek

A truly amazing individual

2010-09-13T07:39:00.001-04:00

Obviously it is possible to do whatever you envision for yourself, if you believe you can. Greg McElroy, quarterback of the No.1 ranked team in the nation, oh and a Rhodes Scholar candidate! Obviously a slacker!

Unquestionable Leg Strength!

2010-09-09T09:34:00.001-04:00

Its about the philosophy not the tools that you use!

2010-09-09T08:23:00.001-04:00

As always different trainers and gyms swear by one piece of equipment or another as the end all be all of training. Each week its a new tool, not technique or method, that is the only way to to complete conditioning. The video below is a little extreme, but it proves my point that you need to worry about your ultimate goals and produce a training philosophy around those goals, not worry about the tools that you are going to use to implement that philosophy. In this video, they use no traditional gym equipment, but I think you will agree they are pretty well rounded on all aspects of their fitness. Philosophy/Method not the tools!

Simple, Intense Circuit

2010-09-02T09:02:00.001-04:00

This video shows the circuit I used yesterday, it shows that large amounts of equipment are not necessary to get things done intensely. I design innovative circuits all the time, to keep client’s attention and to keep them motivated.

Fast Music Makes all the difference with Exercise Intensity

2010-08-31T08:46:00.001-04:00

Great study shows that the tempo of the music that you exercise to is one of the factors that changes your intensity of your exercise bout.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19793214

“Where are the videos of you"?

2010-08-30T11:54:00.001-04:00

I was told today by a client I trust, that if I was the face of PowerAthlete, then there should be some representation of me on the site, so we taped this morning workout. The workout itself is 100 reps each set, three sets.

Broke down it looked like this:

20 bar push ups

20 straight leg deadlifts

20 military press

20 back squat

20 bent rows

rest 2 minutes

repeat twice more.

Jack Lalanne - Sugarholics

2010-08-27T09:27:00.000-04:00

Amazing How dialed in Jack Lalanne was all those years before.....

I tried to tell you, drink more water

2010-08-25T13:51:00.001-04:00

http://www.economist.com/node/16881791?story_id=16881791

Alison scores a hat trick

2010-08-22T13:23:00.000-04:00

Our own Alison Ludwig score 3 times in her first scrimmage at Youngstown state university. Congrats Alison!

Do Better!

2010-08-21T22:09:00.001-04:00

"Raising your level of performance requires a proper mentality and meaning from within. This gives you the ability and drive to work on the things necessary to go to a higher level. When people ask me how to raise their level of performance, the first thing I ask is, How important is it to you?"

This quote by Wrestling coach Dan Gable can fit into any facet of your life your are trying to improve, from your body composition to your work performance.

Know what it takes to get you to your goal
Put together a plan to get you to that goal
Follow that plan feverishly as long as it guides you toward your ultimate goal
Don’t settle. Half way, half assed is not acceptable
Follow what you know is right to the best of your ability, or stop bitching about not being able to achieve your goals. Do the necessary work or shut the hell up!

Interesting article on picking a college

2010-08-21T10:52:00.001-04:00

And what to avoid……

Claire Falknor named to a top 10 list

2010-08-21T10:49:00.001-04:00

Dayton Daily News just released the “10 Miami Valley players to watch” list, the list is at the bottom of the article,

And our own Claire Falknor made the list. Keep up the hard work Claire!

Just Freakin’ Get It Done!

2010-08-18T18:39:00.001-04:00

If you want to succeed at anything, the key is mind set. If you want to be a doctor, you aren’t going to go through undergraduate work, with mediocre grades, and then complain that you didn’t get into a medical school! If you do, your an idiot. Its no different with changing your body composition, fitness level, or achieving athletic goals, if you don’t commit and really get it done, and you hope for a positive result, you are an idiot!

50+ years old and still getting it done!

2010-08-13T14:04:00.001-04:00

Dr Toni is an accomplished physicain, squash player and triathlete. here is video of a grueling db complex we did yesterday, I believe this is the 3 set with only a 30s break between each set!

Fall Sports In Season Program

2010-08-13T06:02:00.001-04:00

We are now implementing our in season program for our fall sport athletes. This program is designed to maintain their levels of strength, speed and general fitness, as well as giving continued focus to injury prevention and recovery from their sport practices. The programs are short and can easily be accomplished after a practice, or before a practice as an excellent preparation for that activity. Maintain your winning edge all season long with PowerAthlete!

Playing with the Flip Camera….

2010-08-11T17:17:00.001-04:00

A friend let me try out his flip video camera, so we shot Rick doing a bench lunge and a plank row, my present favorite

Rick is an engineer, marathon runner, new dad, and all around good guy.

Our own in the paper again

2010-08-04T17:42:00.001-04:00

My good friend Max Plunkett got his big ass in the newspaper again. Hogging the limelight Max!

http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/high-school-sports/wayne-alter-lead-area-in-top-division-recruits-843383.html

Fall Hours

2010-08-04T17:09:00.001-04:00

Here is the link to the Fall/Winter Schedule.

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BwJk0q8E8BmNMWYwOTE1ZDItYmUwMi00NTUyLTkyZTMtZThkNjIwMDA4MTM2&hl=en&authkey=CMO_-O0J

Just found the best website..

2010-08-02T18:09:00.001-04:00

In a time of economic uncertainty, and general unrest around the world, some genius has written the blog 1000 awesome things, things that will make you smile, things that you haven’t thought about lately, awesome things.

Amazingly Motivating Picture

2010-07-28T07:22:00.001-04:00

I am not one to post sexy pictures, but I think both men and women will agree this is a motivating picture.

Michele Levesque is the model.

I understand why, I really do…..

2010-07-27T19:49:00.001-04:00

I am not immune to the needs for motivation to exercise. I too have days that I am tired, scheduling problems, lack of good sleep, missing meals, etc.

Getting it done on the days that you can, hitting as many days as you can in a week with a freed up schedule allows for future hiccups without making them into disaster areas.

Push yourself when you can, so you don’t have to feel guilty when life deals you a crap hand!

Seriously…..

2010-07-25T15:35:00.001-04:00

I just read another article about hand wound care after intensive workouts. Seriously, if you have to worry on a regular basis that you hands are going to need a trauma surgeon after your done, maybe your workout isn’t just intensive, maybe its also poorly conceived! Intensity to the point were you are wearing out parts of your body during a single workout, smart? Think about it…..

Interesting eating perspective

2010-07-22T19:54:00.001-04:00

Calorie intake according to energy expenditure, translation: Eat now according to how much work you are going to do in the next 3 hours. Think about it and try and apply it to your calorie distribution throughout the day

I’ll make the diet think even more simple….

2010-07-22T18:54:00.001-04:00

a simple shopping list. Eat off of this list you can’t go wrong

Protein:

Eggs

Chicken Breast

Top Round Steak

Cottage Cheese

Carbs:

Oatmeal

Fruit: Apples

Blueberries

Bananas

Vegetables:

Spinach

Broccoli

Onions

Sweet Potatoes

Brown Rice

Fats:

Olive Oil

Fish Oil Capsules.

Almonds

Natural Peanut Butter

Diet and High Intensity Exercise

2010-07-22T07:06:00.001-04:00

An interesting research article, concerning lowering carbohydrate levels in the diet coupled with high intensity interval training. The interesting part of the article is the diet did all the major work as far as bodyfat loss, the role of the exercise was lean muscle mass protection (protecting the amounts of lean muscle means the participant thus loss bodyfat instead of the metabolically useful lean muscle). This study just re-enforces what I said in the last post, both diet and exercise are necessary to provide a sustainable lower bodyfat levels, and leaner overall body composition.

Diet

2010-07-21T18:19:00.001-04:00

I have had multiple conversations this week about food, eating, nutrition, weight loss, etc. All of these conversations come back to the same place, nutrition is 80% of maintaining or discovering your healthy weight balance. YOU CAN NOT OUT WORK A CRAPPY DIET, unless you are under the age of 30 for males and 20 for females, that is just how it is!

I don’t make the rules, I just observe and follow what I see. All the talk about different exercise protocols takes for granted that the diet is dialed in. News Flash: Overeating of carbohydrates and fat will accumulate as bodyfat, its a fact.

High protein, low carbohydrate and moderate fat diets coupled with high intensity exercise decreases bodyfat!

Calories matter, but only if the macronutrient (protein, fat, carbohydrates) balance is correct. a good target for women would be 1500 calories, and for men around 2000 calories. If your energy expenditure is high eat a 500-1000 more calories according to how hard you work, otherwise stick with these guidelines. That's it.

Eat more protein, vegetables and good plant based fats. Avoid processed foods, and starchy carbohydrates.

End of sermon.

Abandoning Crossfit Games 2011…because its really silly!

2010-07-18T16:35:00.001-04:00

I talked a while ago about competing in the 2011 Crossfit Games, and over the last couple of months of training, I and other strength coaches have put out a multitude of articles about the completely unusable nature of the crossfit system. With a “take no prisoners” intensity everyday, the inevitable central nervous system burn out is my main reasoning. Its really not fun or interesting to have to talk yourself into the same intensity of workout everyday, unless you have nothing other to do or any other responsibilities your life.

My training will continue as an on going experiment on bettering the programs I write for my athletes and soccer moms. That means looking for new approaches that allow them to live and compete in a state that is ready to take on the challenges that they aspire to accomplish, not be hurting and burned out indefinitely.

As I have said many, many times, it doesn’t take a genius to beat someone into the ground everyday. A moron can shout random exercises at a student until they puke. It’s how you program your conditioning around their life, not their life around the effects from your conditioning that makes a professional. If a mom can’t pick up her kid because of her constant beaten down state, it doesn’t improve her life, and thus isn’t productive.

End of sermon.

More Photos

2010-06-30T17:40:00.001-04:00

Yes, I recently figured out how to use the sport function on my camera, this is a really great sequence of the hang clean by Blaine K. an Ohio State Swimmer.

Mulit-Directional Triple Extension

2010-06-30T09:00:00.001-04:00

Took some pictures of one of my athletes laterally jumping and hang cleaning today. Triple extension is important, and triple extension in a 3 dimensional manner makes it athletic! This way you are training to react explosively in any direction your sport may take you.

Lateral Triple Extension

Resisted Triple Extension with a hang clean.

Pictures Courtesy of Taylor D., University of Kentucky Soccer Player

Photo Sequence 2

2010-06-28T16:57:00.001-04:00

Amy S performs a broad jump in this sequence. Centerville Soccer

Jump Sequence 1

2010-06-28T16:51:00.001-04:00

Photo Sequence of a Lateral Broad Jump by Sean K. Alter Football Player

box jump record broken again

2010-06-21T19:14:00.001-04:00

Max L jumped a 46” box today!

Structure and Progression

2010-06-20T18:51:00.001-04:00

For the last 6 months to a year, my workout partner and I, along with a select few clients have experimented with various high intensity methods of training. From timed workouts, to ladders, to combinations of weights, bodyweight and various other tools (suspension systems, sandbags, tractor tires, etc). Where we have shown progress to a certain degree, that progress can not be tracked or predicted. The biggest complaints are the various stages of overuse injuries, and a lack of ability to accurately increase and decrease intensity to elicit a desired response.

Most of my clients are in one way or another, athletes, that have continuing competitions through out the year, not just a single competition or a single cluster of competitions during the year. So I don’t have the luxury of killing them solidly, and hoping they recover for a single event, they must be have periods of intensity and periods of recovery in order to achieve super compensation and avoid overtraining and mental burnout.

I don’t want there to be any mistake, lessons learned from high intensity programming has a place in producing the fatigue response, but it is extremely difficult to gauge or program recovery in order to get to an improved super compensated response on a strict diet of balls to the wall intensity!

The other concern here is not just performance improvements, but also the recovery time is used to grew and strengthen the mechanical aspects of athletic movement, improvements in bone, ligament and tendon density, that allows for an increase in time spent training injury free. It is impossible to guarantee 100% injury free training, but you can increase this time with strategically placed recovery, without minimal loss of performance.

The unfortunate influx of training programs that use only what I call “primitive equipment” sandbags, tires, etc are limited in their adjustability, so they can only be used in a high intensity manner. This lack of adjustability, means they are easy to administer (it doesn’t take a great deal of ability to beat someone into the ground) with very little training, background,or education, and it makes athletes sweaty, tired and sore, so it must be working right? In the short term yes, in the long term, boredom and overtraining injuries are on the horizon. It is the same cycle of training/injury/rehabilitation shown with traditionally trained endurance athletes such as swimmers, rowers and runners.

I can attest that this process of discovery has been much like breaking and addiction for most athletes. When you have been trained at this intensity every day, all the time, backing down and re-starting intensity cycles is a daunting wall to climb. This being said I think it is necessary to examine the evidence of past training, regardless of your situation and learn from the positive and negative aspects, and make appropriate changes.

The key is constant experimentation, learning from mistakes, keeping what works, and moving on with a goal of consistent improvement..

Interesting pyramid

2010-06-19T19:47:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure you could explain nutrition any better.

Pictures from today

2010-06-19T09:37:00.001-04:00

Louise Flipping The Tire

Blaine K

The box Jump Challenge is up to 43” for sets of 12 jumps!

Take the multivitamin like I keep telling you!

2010-06-18T19:36:00.001-04:00

A new study in the journal Obesity, by Y. Li and colleagues, showed that compared to a placebo, a low-dose multivitamin caused obese volunteers to lose 7 lb (3.2 kg) of fat mass in 6 months, mostly from the abdominal region (4). The supplement also reduced LDL by 27%, increased HDL by a whopping 40% and increased resting energy expenditure

Tomorrow's fun

2010-06-18T19:28:00.001-04:00

warm ups:

anchored sit ups x 20 with 25% of bodyweight dumbbell on chest

Russian twists 40 seconds sprint

front plank 60s

Main Set:

continuous tire flips x 10

tire jumps x 10

push press x 50% bodyweight x 10

rest 2 min

should be a good time.

Keys to successful weight loss

2010-06-18T19:14:00.001-04:00

1. Nutrition – This is so important, it is almost 90% of the importance of the rest of the list combined. Whole natural foods, diet low in processed items (white flour and sugar), and high in lean proteins, fruits and vegetables will always be the best course to long term weight loss. Carbohydrate choices that favor whole fruits and vegetables over grain based carbohydrates should dominate your diet, but a small amount of whole grain carbohydrates will round out a sensible effective diet.

2. Intensive exercise – Intensive is a relative word. Intensive to the average person isn’t going to be intensive to an elite athlete. The key is to keep your average intensity scale in the “difficult be manageable” category. Interval training can be based on cardiovascular equipment like a treadmill or a airdyne exercise bike, or with circuited weight routines or bodyweight circuits. All of these forms of exercise can be combined to elicit the same effect of a portion of hard work followed by a portion of rest. 15-45 seconds of work to 60-90 seconds of rest for 6-15 intervals is a good scale for setting up the exercise circuit.

3. Hydration - Water makes up a large majority of your body, so getting into a dehydrate state is very detrimental to your over all metabolic levels. Water emulsifies fats in your system, flushes toxins from your digestive system, and allows for proper endocrine function.

4. Sleep – study after study has shown that people that get inadequate sleep eat more and gain more weight than those that sleep more. Enough said.

This is a short but important list of facts that will get you on the road to better body composition.

Box Jumps Pics

2010-06-10T16:24:00.001-04:00

40” box jumps, caught a couple of jumps on camera. Max L a breast stroke swimmer and Collin W a football player

Awesome example of power

2010-06-09T07:11:00.001-04:00

Workout from today

2010-06-02T19:14:00.001-04:00

- dynamic warm up and stretching

set 1

mountain climbers x 60

push ups x 30

dumbbell swings x 25 dumbbell weight equal to 25% of bodyweight

rest 90 seconds

set 2

overhead walking lunges 25#/45# weight plate 100 ft

dumbbell curl + shoulder press x 15 dumbbell weight equal to 15% of bodyweight

dumbbell squat + high pull x 15 dumbbell weight equal to 15% of bodyweight

set 3

30 seconds of plank (side/front/other side) with 12 jump squats between each section of plank

Took a few new pictures….

2010-05-30T18:21:00.002-04:00

Intensity and concentration, he finally gets what it takes and it shows. added 30 lean pounds of muscle and took 2 full seconds off of his 40 yd sprint time. Congrats Adam.

Collin, 20 pounds of muscle gain, 2 seconds off of 40 yard sprint time – also gets it! 110 pound dumbbell single snatches, dropped into the catch!

Andrew, 140 pounds bodyweight, 225 pound deadlift for multiple reps, 8th grade. Work Hard, and Smart, results will come

I ask a great deal from all of my athletes. Those with poor work ethic tend not to last long surrounded by those battling everyday to better themselves inch by inch.

Children in sports under massive stress

2010-05-28T10:06:00.001-04:00

Article from the NY Times about the level of commitment heaped on young kids playing sports today. Scary stuff. Let them play. Learning to move through play is dead unfortunately, and it falls upon often under qualified sport coaches to teach those those skills as well as the sport’s skills.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/health/25brod.html?ref=sports

Current Programming thoughts

2010-05-19T18:34:00.001-04:00

As I said in an earlier post, I have moved away from a "one size fits all" method, as started looking inward on what aspects bothered me about that approach. First you can only "scale" a workout to any particular level. A ring handstand push up can only be brought down so much before you change the specific demands of the program entirely. I have recently read and watched several interviews a number of athletes that have championed a "one size fits all" method to train athletes at their facilities. When asked about their own training, they now talk about "working on your weaknesses" and such. This points toward individualization for yourself, while still selling the "single system" to their clients, very peculiar?

Working on weaknesses would point toward individualized programming, or at the very least a multi pronged approach, where for example, smaller, weaker athletes work a larger portion of their time on strength based movements, and larger athletes work a majority of the time on bodyweight/metabolic movements and patterns to improve their efficiency. The goal as always to produce a whole, productive athlete.

If you are a parent of a young child, please read!

2010-05-19T17:21:00.001-04:00

This article speaks to everything I tell parents of youth athletes. Develop Gross motor movements, and worry less about their "sport specific training" Build athletes first, specialize as they develop!

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/training_for_youth.htm

Over speed and High Speed Treadmills...For Clowns!

2010-05-13T09:36:00.001-04:00

http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/the-biggest-gimmick-in-strength-and-conditioning/

One of our own makes the Dayton Daily News

2010-05-07T07:53:00.001-04:00

http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/high-school-sports/chaminade-julienne/cj-football-player-finds-net-success-692151.html

Our very own John Buerschen made the sports page of the newspaper, due to his awesome singles tennis record

Amazing Physical Talent

2010-05-05T05:48:00.001-04:00

Moving forward with training

2010-04-21T07:26:00.001-04:00

The initial experiment with competition prep after evaluation, has shown a distinct lack of variety of planes of movement, almost exclusively linear motion, and an excess amount of hip extension exercises (deadlifts, Olympic lifts). The use of these movements are unquestioned, but just to excess. The on going plan is to have 4 heavy lifting days a month and fill the rest of the work days with as much variety as possible, including all implements at my disposal (sleds, sandbags, slides, airdyne bikes, rowers, etc) as well as multi directional plyometric drills. The variety also includes a variety of loading and repetition ranges, in order to work all energy pathways though out the week.

an example of a non-weight day:

sprint through the list:

airdyne bike 5 minutes hard

lateral barrier hops (barrier set at 14") x 20

ring rows x 20

slide leg curls x 20

db swings x 20 x 60#

row 250m sprint

bar push press x 12 x 135#

row 250m sprint

dolly rollouts x 20

high pulls from the floor x 10 x 135#

rest 2-3 minutes

repeat 3 sets

4-14-09

2010-04-14T15:27:00.001-04:00

warm up

5 dips

10 jump squats

15 ring rows

deadlift - dead tired after yesterday's bear complexes worked up to 405 x 5, Mike 405 x 1 x 2

metabolic:

1000m row

80 squats

60 sit ups

40 push ups

20 pullups

Paul: 8:57

Mike 9:25

Heavy weights, less reps, moderate calories = hard body!

2010-04-13T15:32:00.001-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/health/06real.html?src=sch

4-13-10

2010-04-13T09:50:00.001-04:00

Warmed up to a semi maximal bear complex (power clean + front squat + push press + back squat + push press) stopped at 225

5 x 1 of the bear complex at 225

5 rounds

10 pullups

20 box jumps

Forgotten entry

2010-04-12T17:25:00.001-04:00

Saturday 4-10-10

150 burpees for time

Paul 14:26

Mike 12:14 - awesome effort!

4-12-10

2010-04-12T17:23:00.001-04:00

warm ups

50 sit ups

20 back extensions

Squat Clean 3rm + 1 set (Paul 265# Mike 225#)

4 minutes of 95# thrusters - sucked

3 minutes of dumbbell swings 50# - get out of your head and push forward

2 minutes of pullups - numb by this point

1 minutes of knee tuck jumps - don't think just do!

total reps:

Paul: 200

Mike: 190

Words to remember EVERY TIME you train.......

2010-04-12T17:10:00.001-04:00

If you aren't breathing hard, and suffering at least a little, your probably wasting your time

Homemade power bars

2010-04-10T08:03:00.001-04:00

http://www.dailycamera.com/food/ci_14647083#axzz0khKyWfvy

4-9-10

2010-04-09T09:46:00.001-04:00

warm ups

10 push ups

20 mountain climbers

10 jump squats

weighted pullups 1 rm + 2 sets unweighted pullups (90#)

4 rounds:

100ft walking lunges

12 squat clean + jerk

12ea renegade rows

40# dumbbells

Paul 13:25

Mike 13:27

4-8-10

2010-04-08T10:19:00.001-04:00

warm ups

run 1 min

row 1 min

sit ups 1 min

Total Weight Lifted

1 rm Thruster (front squat+push press)

1 rm Overhead Squat

1 rm Deadlift

Mike (Thruster 235/OHS 205/Deadlift 455) 895# 110 pound improvement - awesome

Paul (Thruster 265/OHS 205/Deadlift 495) 965# 50 pound improvement

Death By 10 yds

1 10 yd sprint the first minute

2 10 yd sprints the second minute

etc until you can't make the prescribed # of lengths within the minute.

we made 15 minutes/lengths - sucked balls!

4-6-10

2010-04-06T18:06:00.001-04:00

warm ups

12 squat snatch @ 65#

15 ring rows

20 dolly roll outs

bodyweight bench press max reps x 3

row 20 x 20:40

much better showing on the rower. all sprints less than 1:35/500m

4-5-10

2010-04-05T10:15:00.001-04:00

warm ups

5 burpees

5 handstand push ups (bullshit move)

5 sit ups

squat snatch 3rm +3

21 squat+push press 135# (paul 1:42 mike 2:40)

rest 2 min

15 squat+push press 135# (paul 1:06 mike 1:44)

rest 2 min

9 squat+push press 135# (paul :37 mike :58)

Catch Up From Last Week

2010-04-05T07:22:00.001-04:00

Wednesday:

After Posted workout, planned to run a quick 3 miles of trails, took a wrong turn, turned into 6 miles of trails/roads/trails again. bad idea

Thursday: Off

Friday:

warm ups:

10 squats

10 lunges

10 jump lunges

10 jump squats

stretch for 1 min

Push Press 1 rm + 2 (255#)

5 db burpees x 15# dumbbells

7 x deadlifts x 225#

100 ft broad jumps

x5 for time

Paul: 6:52

Mile: 6:10

Saturday:

warm ups:

10 burpee broad jumps

10 roman sit ups

back squat 3rm +1 (365#) legs dead by this point in the week

3 rounds:

500m row

10 squat clean to overhead 135#

10 pullups

Paul: 13:42

Mike 13:55

Word to recovery: Not enough to support proper growth/strength gains. We will maintain this format for a couple of more weeks, but with no additional increases in strength over that period, there will be a change in programming in order to enhance both metabolic and strength gains.

Nuf Said

2010-04-01T16:11:00.001-04:00

"When a warrior learns to stop the internal dialogue, everything becomes possible; the most far-fetched schemes become attainable." -Carlos Castaneda

3-31-10

2010-03-31T16:50:00.001-04:00

warm ups:

-10 elbow to knees

1 length walking lunges

8ea side 60# sandbag get ups

x4 (yes, x4)

Strength:

-Front Squats 2rm +1

Metabolic:

-50 yd shuttle (2x25yds)

10 pullups

7 ground to shoulder 155#

paul: 3:55

mike 4:06

30-3-10

2010-03-30T16:45:00.001-04:00

warm ups:

10 dolly pike ups

10 pullups

10 roman hyper extensions

3 max set of bar dips

for time:

500m row

12 bodyweight deadlifts

21 box jumps

11:24 mike

11:29 paul

9:51 sion

3-29-10

2010-03-29T18:16:00.001-04:00

warm ups

decline knee ups x 15

pullups x 10

handstand push ups x 5

As fast as possible:

15 thrusters (front squat+push press) 115#

run 100 ft

50 single snatches 50# dumbbell

run 100 ft

200 jump rope

run 100 ft

50 dumbbell swings 50# dumbbells

farmers walk the dumbbells 100 ft

15 power snatches 115#

3-24-10

2010-03-24T17:17:00.001-04:00

warm ups

10 push ups

20 mountain climbers

10 jump squats

weighted pullups 1 rm + 2 sets unweighted pullups

4 rounds:

100ft walking lunges

12 squat clean + jerk

12ea renegade rows

40# dumbbells

Interesting supplement usefulness chart....

2010-03-23T17:36:00.001-04:00

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-oil-supplements/

You want pulling strength, this is pulling strength!

2010-03-22T18:14:00.001-04:00

3-22-10

2010-03-22T10:00:00.001-04:00

warm ups

50 sit ups

20 back extensions

Squat Clean 3rm + 1 set (Paul 255# Mike 205#)

4 minutes of 95# thrusters - sucked

3 minutes of dumbbell swings 50# - get out of your head and push forward

2 minutes of strict pullups

1 minutes of knee tuck jumps - the finishing blow!

Intensity

2010-03-21T14:08:00.001-04:00

Thinking about this weeks programs for the individual clients of our facility, it always comes back to tempering intensity with recovery. Anyone that has achieved any decent level of fitness will tell you, they had to understand intensity and stimulus before they made any headway. No one got seriously, multi dimensionally fit by doing yoga breathing or pilates on its own.

Without adequate stimulus, the body has no reason to change. I have said that more times that I chose to remember. What this means is, you have to give your body a reason to use up its stored resources, in order to make you better, because it won't give those resources up without a reason.

Walking through the gym in your brand new gym clothes and shoes, stretching for 45 minutes and then walking on a treadmill for 10 minutes is not going to get it done.

Whatever you want to label/name (or not label) your method of multi dimensional intensive conditioning, it must include methods to make you breath hard, and lift relatively heavy stuff, preferably at the same time. Just running, or just lifting is not gonna do it!

The other part is continuously escalating intensity. Don't sit on your butt once you have reached a decent level and expect your body to maintain your levels of fitness. You must progress in some manner, every time you train.

This is where the art and science of program design comes in. You can hunt and peck your way for a while, but a solid educational background in exercise physiology and its associated theory is a necessary key to continued improvement.

3-20-10

2010-03-21T10:22:00.001-04:00

warm ups

5 burpee broad jumps

5 chest to bar chin ups

5 85# OHS

Dumbbell Complex:

6 rounds:

6 x squat

6 x thruster (squat + push press)

6 x high pull

6 power snatch

6 jump squats

40# dumbbells

All 6 sets AFAP

By round 3 it becomes all mental, pushing the body when it is telling you to let it die!