Another Leg Day, Another day for PRs

Last week jumped 49". This week jumped 50.5"
Last week hit 410 + 120lb chains in box squat. This week went 415 with a crack at 420.

So, yea, things are going well with leg work so far. Just hope this transfers well to the field as last Saturday I honestly thought I had one of my worst showings on the pitch in a long time. I may or may not, probably not, get into that later but for now lets discuss todays training.



Today was unfortunately cut short. Much shorter than I'd planned. Originally I wanted to get my training in early but was called in to cover a shift so my morning/ afternoon was shot. Got what I could done before a few prospects showed up to get their ass kicked via kettle bell.

Not to say the day was a waste. Still got some solid training in. Several jumps in all of which were over 48" on the tires. In fact I think I landed every one. Now just still chasing the magic 50+ range. Some reason that is a barrier I need to get over. Finally did but just barely with the 50.5". Im scraping cleans while Im in season. Unfortunately that lift just takes up too much time and I need to focus on movement and get my quickness/ first step faster on the pitch. I'll be tossing them back into the mix once track season rolls around in the next 3 months. Finished off with several sets of 3 on box squats and then rounded off with 4x5 on RDL's. Those are feeling solid as well. Finished at 330 and really felt I should've gone heavier.

Next week.

Deadlifting a Globe

Realistically I can use my atlas stones to do the same thing. However, the Globe is a little more versatile since its weight adjustable, the primary source of weight moves during the lift, and its much more portable than several stones.



I really felt this one in my biceps, hands, back, chest, and shoulders. With the ball adding another 14lbs I didn't think trying to pick up a 125lb kettlebell would be such a chore.

Another Globe Exercise

Continuing on my series of Globe Exercises heres one for the Triceps.



So what would be the usefulness of these variations over normal triceps work?
As for the press downs because of the Globe if you only place your hands on top there isn't going to be much change. Things like grip, shoulders, fingers, etc. really are not activated very effectively. Put those hands on the side and maintain a strong grip and now you got a full upper body exercise. Hands, wrists, forearms are all activated to maintain a hold on the ball. Shoulders, biceps, and chest are activated to clamp the arms onto the object to prevent it from slipping. So now we just made a simple triceps exercise into a monster 'isolation' workout.

The overhead variation I liked a lot better. Few reasons;
- It simulates more effectively the overhand throwing motions involved in a variety of sports
- It still forces activation from the target muscle groups listed above with the added BONUS of shoulder, core, and base stability.
- It can be tweaked to involve a rocking motion to involve the lower body as well. So what started out as one small muscle group just turned into a full body exercise for overhead throwers and hitters (think Baseball, Volleyball, Javelin, Rugby line-outs, Quarterbacks)

More to come later.

Pushup Challenge

Likewhoring at it's finest.

A little challenge for the week. It started as a weekend thing but figured I'd extend it and see how well I could do.

It's simple. LIKE my facebook page (The Body Forge - Strength Systems) and I do 5 push ups. Like the picture as well and its another 5. 10 total per individual. I think right now Im up to about 200. Pretty easy if you ask me. Ignore the date on there that says "Aug 20th" I lied.

Improving my vertical

I just BARELY missed 50" on an approach jump yesterday. Pretty bummed about that. Happy I hit a 49" jump but really thought I had the 51" that I had set up. Just couldn't stick the landing. Otherwise improvement seems to be moving right along. I think even my leg strength is improving very well despite everything Im trying to do lately.



Squat's felt good too. I switched to box squats because recovery is quicker and not as sore or tired the next day. Need my legs to function day to day so I can keep my fitness up and keep running for rugby. Once seasons over I'll be switching back to a 3 or 4 day squat program and get that depth back down. Mean time it's looking like once a week heavy squatting plus a dynamic power day. Top that off with 4 or 5 days of running plus game day and my legs will get plenty work.

Passing drill for Rugby With a Medicine Ball

This is a little quick drill I came up with before the weekend. Thought it would be good to try and improve my passing strength and just keep it fresh since I am limited on practices I can get to.



The idea with the short passes is to work on using a very quick and short hip rotation while using the fingers and hands to get most of the work done. Useful for very short but quick pop passes that need to be accurate. Then rounded off with some longer range passes for added hip involvement and shoulders.

I didn't do any particular sets or reps scheme but just wanted to get a lot of reps in a short amount of time. Most of the sets were anywhere from 12-20 reps either side and 1-2 sets each.

300lb 7th grader wants to play peewee football

I caught wind of this last week but it seems like its picking up some momentum and wanted to share my thoughts for a minute. If you have yet to hear about this situation check it out-
Texas Pee Wee Football Player

This is stupid.

Most organizations have set rules in place and typically follows those. Right? So why is this kid even an issue? He's close to 3 bills on the scale yet wants to play ball with kids that realistically are ONE THIRD his size! The worst is the comments and feedback this story is receiving. But I'll get to that in a second.

First off, I need to bring up both sides here. I'd like to say I am not just talking out of my ass on this one but I've been through both ends of this argument already. Growing up I was already 5'8" 180lbs in 7th grade. I was pretty damn fat but also a LOT bigger than many kids my age. You think my peewee league was going to let me in? Forget about it. I never played football before than either. So it wasn't until freshman year I decided to play. Turns out I just wasn't any good at it nor liked football that much to begin with. Hindsight really wish we had a rugby club back then...anyways.

Fast forward about 6 or 7 years and there I was coaching a peewee league. I may not have been a very good player (I sucked) but I could coach pretty well. Now because of this I have perspective on the entire situation not just the tear jerker story this kids mother is trying to spin. People need to understand peewee is a developmental league but realistically its a d-league for those kids whose bodies forget to hit their growth spurt until they turn 16. We had kids that were 12 years old but only 5' and 115lbs. We had a few close to the league weight limits of 125 to run the ball, 135 to play anywhere, or even 150 to play offensive line but those were rare since the big boys went to play for the school. Where they don't have weight limits.

So lets paint a picture. There's 22 kids on the field. Combined weight barely over a ton. Roughly the total weight of a high school side or a college front line. They run around and make plays and awkwardly tackle each other while screaming in their high pitched kids voices. Parents cheer and coaches are calling plays. Now lets screw that situation up and throw a 6'2" 300lb grown man in there. Only he's not a man but a shy 7th grader. At least I'm going to guess he's shy. Can't imagine a outspoken young man willing to play beginner league with midgets. Regardless lets say he's on the defensive line because, well, obviously that's where he's going to be. The ball is snapped and he stands up, most beginning big lineman do that, and just walks through the center straight into the backfield. Maybe he makes a tackle. Maybe he puts his hands up essentially creating a 8' roadblock for passes. Or the team makes the dumb idea to run up the middle with him standing in the way and then the 120lb ball runner gets a concussion from running into the Fiat someone parked in the middle of the field.

Maybe a little overexagerrated but lets be realistic. He's big for high school and maybe small college standards and he wants to play with kids. I am not sure how many of my readers have ever made contact with someone who weighs 300lbs but its a odd experience. To hit, block, tackle, etc. a human being that weighs as much as a bear is a task. Even if they are standing still, fat, and nonathletic there is still the issue that you moving a dead weight object of 300 POUNDS. Once again assuming my readers are typically teenagers or adults, now imagine a scared shitless 12 year old that weighs about the same as Snookie being told that behemoth is his assignment.

So what are some viable solutions? Send the kid to a trainer or coach or camp to figure out how to play. If she can't afford a good one then simply set up a donation account and start raking money from sympathizers since Im sure there are plenty. Plus it only costs a few hundred to receive the type of training he needs so it won't take long. Bottom line the boy needs some confidence and hitting the gym and field are the only two ways thats going to happen.

There is a reason, once again, there are weight restrictions in peewee leagues. So this DOES NOT HAPPEN. It is legitimately comparable to a heavyweight wrestler demanding to go 135lbs or lighter because he is 'inexperienced and wants to wrestle with his friends'. Can you imagine what kind of crap that would stir up?

Which then brings up the next point. The flood of ignorant comments under every article that I can find. Its also one way or the other. Parents are crying that the kid should play. Others agree with me and say he needs to learn how to play ball at the school. What blows my mind is how those can say he should be allowed to play with the little kids but have absolutely no way to justify their logic. Mostly it just sounds like they feel bad because there is a sob story involved and 'Baby Huey' can't hang out with his buddies. That's life. Get used to it. Sure he is only in 7th grade but kids seriously need to stop being babied and coddled all the time and get used to life.

Pullup variety

Lately my arm has been a hot mess and its starting to take its toll during training. Mostly affecting my pullups which I hate to say I started to take a liking to recently. Unfortunately, now that my left bicep is strained from a shot I took to the elbow my last rugby tourny I've had to look at alternatives. Since I got my new S-4 rack up from Rogue I think I may have found something.




Pretty simple- Climb up. Climb down. Doesn't require much flexion in the arm so the bicep stays relatively inactive during the movement while back and forearms still get some work. Plus its just something different than what I've been doing lately.

I think my next challenge is to hang a rope down and climb that first before reaching the bars. We shall see.

Ultimate Ginger

This made me laugh and figured it was worth a share.



Would love to see this happen.

What to Wear to a Personal Training Job Interview

Sitting here just staring into cyberspace I came across a post that caught my interest on facebook. It asked the question "What should you wear to you interview as a PT?" I sort of thought that was a pretty legit question considering this really was not covered in my PT manual and looking around its not a very often discussed topic. When you think about it it's still pretty important. Here was my experience with interviewing and what I wore. Mind you, this worked for me so I can't exactly say this is the universal truth. I really can't imagine other gyms across the country would be a whole lot different.

First off, this is not your typical job interview. Not a minimum wage job nor some high end business opportunity. I've seen around that it was suggested business casual, a suit coat, nice pants, tie, etc.etc. Really that is overkill. Good pieces of advice I found originally were to dress the part. Not the part of if YOU are going in to get a lift but how would you look to train someone while at the same time still look professional. You may need to bring a change of clothes depending on the interview. I haven't run into an interview where they wanted an assessment workout the first day. Usually that is saved for the second interview. Still, bring some workout gear just in case and leave it in the car. Of course it doesn't hurt to ask ahead of time when they call.

Shirts. Something nice but sport professional is the best way I can describe this. So in other words that cut-off size too small tee from jr. high is NOT something you want to walk in with. To be honest you can't really go wrong with a sporty polo. In fact many gyms I'm seeing this is standard dress. It looks good and is still functional for the job. Underarmor has some pretty good golf polos. In fact that is what I wore was a solid black polo I picked up about a week beforehand. If you know me I am not much a golfer...at all. The shirt itself is still comfortable enough that it looks good and if I wanted I could get a workout in it. But the way I train there's no chance in hell I am wearing a $50 shirt to my gym.

What about pants? This can be a little tricky. I wouldn't exactly recommend athletic pants. If they look good then they may work but I opted for a pair of cargo khakis. Slacks or jeans just dont fit the job description. Anyone I see lifting in jeans is usually not taken too seriously while dress slacks just are not functional for the part. Looking back I think cargo khakis are a good option for physical therapists as well since at my gym the rehab guys almost always seem to be wearing that.

Shoes? Something athletic but nice. I went with a pair of 'dressy' sketchers I bought some time ago. They essentially go with any pants I choose so figured those will work well. With footwear I honestly think that anything would work as long as they look good and are not boots or loafers or something along those lines...or sandals. Thats a big NO.

As for anything else its always a good idea for any job interview to check the jewelry and be clean shaven. Have a recent haircut. Smell nice. Standard procedure there.

Just a couple other pointers. I've heard some crazy ass horror stories from interviewers and I really could not believe the crap some people say or do. Here's a decent list of DO NOT's;
-Wear clothes with mystery stains
-Forget to wipe the lunch off your mouth
-Come in drunk or wreaking of booze
-Swear like a sailor. Or trucker
-'Bro' talk doesn't fly
-Show up late
-Act disinterested
-Make demands (you CAN, however, negotiate within reason)


I may come back to this down the road and touch up some things. Once again this is what worked for me. Some facilities may be much looser on their impressions and might be looking for someone who is a little more down to earth. I've talked to a few guys that got jobs just by showing up to a workout. These are usually private or small gyms. Corporate places not so much. Other places may think that casual dress is under dressed. Frankly with how uptight and prissy gyms are getting I wouldn't want to work there anyways.

Easy body weight workout

Ok, so I need to shift focus back to some training. This one is another easy as hell workout to do with just your own body! Pretty cool, right?

The rep schemes are what can be a little complicated. Theres options. Lots of options. Plus rest time and all that mess. So what Im going to do here is just outline a few workouts to give you an idea and hopefully depending on your environment you can formulate your own workout from there.

So the basics is a 1-2 upper body workout. This requires something that you can do a pulling movement from. We want to hit not just chest but back as well. Is a continuous superset of 10 reps. You can use a sturdy shelf, pullup bar, branch, picnic table, regular table, rings, or what have you to perform some sort of pulling motion. The chest work is just done with pushups. You can use any variety of pushups based on your skill level but it needs to be a pushing motion. So heres what one workout I did awhile ago-

Pushups 10 reps
Pullups 10 reps (cheated like crazy)
repeat for 10 sets. Minimal rest.

So in the case of that the idea was to hit 100 total reps. Trouble is my pullups are ,and have been for a long time, terrible. So had to almost go into a kip. Ideally this would have been better off replaced with a hanging row or something that I could have unloaded some of my body weight off my arms. But at the time I only had a branch that somehow was sturdy enough to support my 255lb ass outside the hotel I was staying at. The "fitness" room was total garbage.

Heres another;
Pushups 20 reps
Pulls 20 reps
Squats 20 reps
Repeat for 5-10 sets

Once again alter as you need to. A good option if you can do the pull motion is to get yourself a band. They're relatively cheap and extremely easy to transport. But with this workout I altered squats to be more of a squat jump. 20 body weight squats really didnt do much for me. Even for 140 reps.

Last example;

Pushups 10,12,14,16,18,20,18,16,14,12,10 - Mixed it up with wide, reg, and narrow hands
Squats (same) - Squat jumps
Pulls (same) - Hanging row (low branch with feet on a rock)
Situp variation (same) - did V-ups at the time

This one wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been in my head before giving it a run. When you add so many different exercises that are unrelated the rest time increases before returning to the same muscle group. So the superset I mentioned first really hit the upper body hard. Add in some legs and ab work and suddenly those arms are getting a lot more rest.

So anyways next time you're traveling and need a good workout in a pinch try one of these or any mix you can think of. Better to get some volume work in then just take a day off.

Usually. 

Crappy service...again?!?!

Man, I don't if I'm going to learn my lesson here. Buy from trusted sources and you can't go wrong. Even if it costs a few extra bucks. If you read my McMaster Carr post you already know where this might be going.

So before I blow up on some uncontrolled fit of rage theres a few things that any business should be good at-

NUMBER F&$%ING 1!! (so much for holding back already)
COMMUNICATION- Is it so damn hard to respond to emails? I know it takes time but if you are so busy go hire an intern or some broke college kid under the table to at least answer the easy shit and forward on what he/she cannot reply to. Wait...can't afford someone? Once again if you are THAT busy and still can't spring for some help then your prices are simply too low. Hey its great you want to cut the public a deal but when you can not even respond to some very concerned questions then you are going to have some pissed off costumers.

Number 2- Keep your stock updated
This I understand can be a little more complicated as it requires regular updating to the website. But my gripe here is how eagerly a company will charge you for a product that is not in stock nor won't be for some time. That essentially goes back to number-effing-1 on communication between supplier and distributor.

Number 3- Customer is always right
And for this the company that I am referring to just saved their ass from me bashing them on every forum I could find (of course, looking around there seems to be plenty out there doing that already). Sure I got better things to do with my time (lies) but when you almost get ripped for 1,500 you need to spread the word. Anyways, if the customer didn't get their product in a somewhat reasonable time frame then a refund needs to be issued. Most business I can think of won't even charge if they don't have the item in question and I like Best Buys policy (did I just say that?) that if it is not shipped in 30 days its automatically refunded. 

So anyways to my closing statements I need to make a note that I seriously need to only buy from Rogue as much as I can and, at times, EliteFTS. Seriously some hands down best service I could imagine so far. Granted EFS is a little pricey but when they have a sale Im all over it. Especially their bands.

Gym update 8/6/12

Well its been a bit again since I posted last so heres a little update with the goings on at the new gym.

Everything is in! Well for the most part. Truck is a little fubared for the moment so transporting a few hundred pounds of concrete and rubber in the form of balls and tires is turning into a problem. At least until I can find someone with a vehicle and a few hours. Everything else is in. Racks, bars, weights...those damn weights. That reminds me to email this supplier on why the hell my bumpers are not in yet.

DERAIL---- So over 2 months ago I ordered about 1100lbs in bumpers and still have yet to hear about them coming in. Apparently they were out of stock with the rest of the country. Well word is going around that they are now in. Except this company I bought from has been dodging my emails for the past 2 weeks. Needless to say Im getting a little annoyed. Getting close to demanding my money back.

Back on track....

Theres a few things I think I want to tweak before I am really settled in. The flooring I bought took up a lot more space than I originally thought so I may reorganize it slightly. I need more mobility room on the one half of the facility. Right now theres barely enough room to fit my 2 prowlers without crashing into each other. Plus theres a slight angle to the floor so if you're not paying attention its very easy to drift into the wall. Done it twice so far.

So phase 1 is about finished. If you're wondering I have an idea of different 'phases' that this gym will go through. Phase 1 is what I have now. Phase 2 involves a turf floor of about 12'x50' and band anchor stations on the far wall. Phase 3 is the addition of an indoor throwing area. Probably hanging heavy mats and nets from the ceiling to allow every indoor and outdoor event possible. Phase 4 is the addition of dumbbells and squat rack. Phase 5? Probably a bigger facility. Chock full of good shit to play with including but not limited to a a tred sled, Woodway treadmill, proper testing equipment (laser speed test, vertimax, etc.), and a full compliment of strongman equipment. But thats sometime far down the road Id imagine.

Anyways apparently most of the pics I thought I uploaded never made it. Looks like my 4g doesn't work too well down in the basement that is my gym. May just need to spring for internet but coughing however much a month it is for that just is not worth it right now. Which stinks since I need some sort of connection for my credit card terminal. Hmmm. Well thats something for debate later.

Anyways, Im wondering on having a "Grand Opening" next month but not sure if there would even be a point. Could be fun. Will have to see what happens between then and now. Meantime I got to find me some more athletes and get some signups.

Sport Conditioning - 1000 meter shuttle

Theres a couple ways to go about this workout. Realistically it's not a workout by itself by a 'finisher' at the end of one. Whether it be practice, lifting, or some sort of other training.

Structure is simple enough. Need a field and a stopwatch helps. Unless you want to count in your head.

Theres 5 sprints total. 100 meters (length of field) and back. You can use a football field and run yards instead just know the times will be shorter. Running on the clock. Depending on your starting time is the key here. The whole point is to run on set intervals to strictly limit rest. Remember, the title says CONDITIONING. This is not a speed workout.

Once again, depending on the individuals fitness will determine how long the time is. If we are talking young kids you may want to drop the time to 3 minutes. More conditioned athlete under 2 minutes.

Just for an example here was my workout from yesterday;
-Set my intervals at 1:45.
-Hit start and get running there and back for a total of 200 meters. 
-When the time runs out then that starts my next set. So the faster I run the more rest I get.
-Repeat for a total of 5 times for 1000 meters.
-Takes about 9 minutes.

So really thats about it. Pretty simple right? And its easy enough to do. If you want more of a challenge then add a few or knock down the time. Run 1500 on 2 minutes or 1000 on 1:30 if you're going by mine.

I did this after my heavy leg workout and the hammies were pretty gassed afterwards. Still a good finisher to the day regardless. Give it a shot!