It’s Crazy, You’re Stupid, You Can’t Do That

           It’s funny how certain people define training ideals. When you do something different or even “traditional” you’ll find how people see you, sure they’ll ask what you’re doing but they’ll always go to the “Wish I can do that” comment. In fitness there are many ways to get in shape, you have crossfit, animal training, Functional Movement, even that P90X or Insanity crap but the one thing to remember is that no matter what you’re doing someone will always give you a hard time and 99.9% of the time they’re the ones who don’t have a clue what real training is.

               

            In Commercial Fitness; you know the lame ads about the new gym in town, the deals of a lifetime, home workouts that you see in the infomercials and don’t get me started on those idiotic ghostwriters in the overrated Muscle Magazines, all of these don’t give you any real benefit of how to be successful in your training. They don’t give you in-depth details about starting from scratch, how to progress at your own level, teach you the value of self-discovery and relying on your own intuition to what can work for you.

            If you plan on using a gym, use equipment that’ll give you the most bang for your buck and that’s being as basic as possible, Barbells, Dumbbells, Racks, pull-up bar and keep the amount of machine work to a minimum if at all. Don’t research on the latest gadget or what machine can give you but instead look to the strength giants of olde, look to how they made their progress and became fit without the use of drugs, heavy supplements or protein shakes. These pioneers used basic formalities to create simple, progressive and useful functional strength and health. There are very few of these guys left and many of them never seem to get the credit when it’s due.

            I firmly believe in the power of intuition, having a sense of feeling through your energy and mind. In order to practice this, it’s best to think outside the norm, using your mind and body together to create an effortless affair of sensing what works, what’s wrong and how to use it to your advantage. Some people can learn fairly easily, others have a tough time and then there are those that have it but can’t accept it because it feels like you’re a crazy person and people will misread the difference between psychic energy and intuition, trust me they’re two very different things. You can follow along with these mainstream fitness fads all you want but in the end, you’re only hurting what’s really inside you, the gift of feeling what gives you the sense of what is useful to you.

            I've gotten looks and even some in my own family give me a hard time about my intuition and make it sound like I’m nuts. When you feel something, there’s energy to it, to me intuition is a version of the Force like in Star Wars. If you learn to believe and listen, you can hear your intuition speak to you. I’m not saying there should be voices in your head or believe in paranoia but what I’m pointing out is that there’s like a Jiminy Cricket, letting your conscience be your guide, telling you and your body what seems right or wrong and how to use it to make yourself successful in anything you want in life. I’m no expert on this and have no clue the science behind it but I really believe when something comes to you and it might be random at times or there’s a sense of energy you’re having don’t just knock it out and move on, listen to it, let it help you. I've learned for nearly a decade that if I want to build on something whether it’s writing, training or even listening to my favorite meditation, I listen to my intuition, it doesn't always have a voice but it gives energy that can be good or bad and I pay attention to it and when that happens, it hasn't failed me yet and whether I like it or not, it’s helping me find my true calling and what works for me in my own training.

            What do you really see? When you train, what feels right to you, what pushes you, what drives you to do the very best or put your best effort? To understand this stop listening to others and learn what you can do that works best for you.

            Want to know a secret? When you watch a DVD of a guy training and ask you to follow along, sure it’s great to get a workout in but in the end it’s just a man or woman working out on your TV, that’s it. To follow the same pace as your DVD trainer is just tedious and boring because you don’t have the same body type, the same speed, the same tempo and don’t always have the same height, the only person you should keep up with is yourself. Learn a technique or two but use your own pace to make your progress. Learn your body’s energy, create your own speed and tempo because you shouldn't need to be as fit as some other person, they’re already taken. See yourself getting fitter each day, learn to be effortless but at the same time make the effort to use what works best for you. Now go do that voodoo that you do so well.

Animal Ability

           Do you want to have the strength, mobility & toughness of an action hero? Well let me tell you about my own method that I have used training myself (& others as a former fitness trainer) to work towards this goal. Let me preface this by saying if you want to be a powerlifter, bodybuilder, etc you need proper guidance for steering this toward your specific goal. Also if you play a specific sport you need to make sure you add in specific skill development.
     
        My methods will take you 80-90% towards anyone of these categories. If you want to be prepared to take on anything then this is a (if not the) style to use. Strength, power, speed, agility, quickness, mobility & flexibility are what this style will help you build.
   
       So let's jump right in & quit the yammering, the following is a guideline to the order I have found works well in most cases. Now when I say most that means it is NOT written in stone. Do not be afraid to experiment! Just don't hurt yourself doing something weird. I train six days per week, one day conditioning/cardio type movements, the next more explosive/strength/power oriented work. I use Monday – Saturday with Sunday being a free day.

       General Warm-up – I know, I know, boring, but it needs to be done. Take at least five (5) minutes of moving all or at least the majority of your joints. Do not just get on a bike for 5 minutes & think you have done good, because you haven't. Jumping Jacks or a variation are a good thing to start with, but you need some squatting/hinging, some reaching & twisting.

       Specific Warm-up – This is usually used mainly on  explosive/strength/power days as your body works best when your nervous system is stimulated. This usually (you may see this word a lot) consist of the first 3-5 exercises or movements simulating them. I even do this for explosive jumping/plyometric movements, I just do them without as much explosiveness.

       THE WORKOUT!
       Stamina/Conditioning/Cardio - I sometimes use a certain skill or skills I wish to learn at or near the beginning, but then I get into the meat. I use rounds/timed tempos with minimal rest between movements & rounds/tempos. I usually end the session with some odd work like muscle endurance in my feet, light resistance high reps.

       Explosive/Strength/Power – I usually (that word again) start with a jumping &/or sprinting drill. I try to make sure the combined rep total is 20. Depending on S/C/C day I choose drills that are not compromised from that training. This is important as it further stimulates the nervous system. This can allow stronger muscle contractions.

    Next I usually move to some high resistance lifts. I usually perform a squatting &/or hinging, upper body pull (vertical – horizontal), upper body push (vertical – horizontal), ofttimes I will follow with midsection or posterior chain work. I try to stick with certain basic movements & place specialized odd movements after basic heavier movements. Some people would choose to do it opposite, but in my experience the basic movements are so much heavier than odd movements that with focus it doesn't really matter that you have worked those muscles.
     
   A final comment before I go to the next part. E/S/P is not stamina/conditioning/cardio so take at least 0:30 or longer between movements. Having said that it is rare that I rest longer than 2:00.

       STRETCHING!!!! - This is the life saver. For the last five years I have been using http://www.yogabodynaturals.com/ method called Gravity Poses. I have no monetary interest in this company I just have found Lucas' Gravity Poses to work the best.
       RECAP:

       General Warm-up  5-10 minutes

       Specific Warm-up (especially on high resistance days) 5-10 minutes

       Stamina/Conditioning/Cardio 10-30 minutes

       Explosiveness/Strength/Power (jump, sprint, basics + esoteric) 15-30 minutes

       STRETCHING! 10-20 minutes

       Total Time S/C/C = 30 - 60 minutes

       Total Time E/S/P = 35 – 70 minutes

       You should always strive towards the lower end of the time scale. Most important take away is use the minimum amount needed to achieve your fastest gains.

       So if you wish to be prepared physically & mentally for any activity or sport try the Animal Ability style!

My Journey Into The Underground

        

       When my friend, Ben Bergman, asked me to write about my journey into the world of Underground Strength training, I didn't have to think twice about it. I was blessed to find several coaches back around 2004-2005 whose methods were unorthodox, but highly effective. Some of the strength & conditioning renegades I found then were Mike Mahler, Diesel Crew, Bud Jeffries, Greg Glasman, and Zach Even-Esh.

All of them were training in warehouses, garages, parks, back yards, or playgrounds; any where except in gyms.

     

        I still learn from all of them to this very day. However, Zach Even-Esh is in the spotlight today.

I had trained in martial arts for quite a few years and had always looked for something to that would fill the void in the training we'd been doing. I knew strength and power had to be improved to improve what I call "stopping power".

      When I learned of Zach's wrestling background and got his first training manuals, which I still have and study), something just clicked for me.

Though I opened one of the earliest CrossFit gyms in the USA, number 35 to be exact, I continued to follow Zach's methods. I was kind of the "black sheep" in CrossFit, and still am, because I believed in learning from all valid sources whether they are CrossFit or not.

     Let me clarify one thing right now, I refuse to become a CrossFit hater or basher even though it is now the "cool" thing to do. If someone who doesn't do CrossFit can whip Rich Froning, Jr., then maybe their opinion is worth listening to. We are one of a very small number of gyms that offer CrossFit and Underground Strength training, in fact our gym has become known as the Cave, not by its' legal name of CrossFit Gulf Coast.

   We are a strength-based training center. Our training regularly includes bench press, squats, deadlifts, and shoulder presses. All our athletes do strict pull-ups on a variety of apparatus like Zach's original Underground Strength Gym in NJ. Odd object lifts often replace barbell lifts, though we do a lot of heavy barbell work still.

   I could go on about this for hours, but let me narrow it down to the subject Ben asked me to talk about, that is why I go the Underground route and how it has affected my business. Underground Strength workouts are harder and longer than what most people are accustomed to, but they produce great results.  We usually train from 1 1/2 to 2 hours, not 15 minutes.

 Another plus for Underground training is the shorter learning curve with odd object lifts than with barbells. This is especially true for the Olympic lifts, though they are tremendous. Underground Strength has let us rise above the herd. I have refused to run a "cookie cutter" gym.  You could say, "I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference."