To start, this is not a bash on Crossfit. This is not a personal attack on Greg Glassman, Crossfit coaches or anybody who participates in Crossfit. This is simply my view of what Crossfit is and isn’t. With that said, I will bet my bottom dollar that I will personally be attacked by the...

When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe…. Then you’ll be...

The things I look for in a coach or employee (or anyone I want to be around for that matter): 1. They have to care – “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”. I can remember Michael Boyle saying this and it resonated from the second I heard it. But...

Are you lazy or do you just have poor time management skills?

This is a guest blog entry from my good friend Mike Richeson. Mike is one of the more intelligent humans I know who possess talent in several areas of life…. let’s just say that Mike doesn’t suck at life! His blog isn’t necessarily a fitness blog but more of a life blog. ———————————————————————————————– The other day, a friend of mine said, “You’re so lucky you’re healthy.” Given some of the context of the conversation, she was correct. I haven’t been put down because of some terrible disease, and I haven’t been banged up in a car accident. I’m very lucky in that regard. Part of the conversation was just health and fitness in general, though, and I tend to use those terms interchangeably. Yes, there’s a difference between health and fitness level, but fit people are...

When I think sport, I think strength and power. I hate the term “sport specific” but when I sport specificity I think complexing. A complex is when you pair two exercises together, a strength exercise followed by a power exercise of the same movement pattern. It is a great way to...

My good friend Robert Dos Remedios, better known as Coach Dos has a new ‘Member only’ premium site. This website is rockin’! It is chalk full of workouts, an extensive exercise library, interviews with fitness pros and much more. Seriously do yourself a favor and check it...

Listening to Dan John speak or reading his book offers several ah-ha moments along with some inspiration. I can’t say enough about his book ‘Never Let Go’….. I couldn’t put it down when I read it. Fantastic quotes like “the goal is to keep the goal the...

I was recently interviewed by Anthony Renna on the Strength Coach Podcast episode 42. A few things I spoke about were: ** Being “Brilliant at the Basics” **”Common Mistakes of a Mixed Martial Artist”**”Considerations and Training for MMA”**McGill’s...

What works best for a fighter? Linear or undulating periodization? Kettlebells or dumbbells? Olympic lifts from the floor or hang? What do you do for GPP? What exercises do you use to train pulsing? Did you grow a beard to look more like Ryan Reynolds (has nothing to do with this article but I...

Some of the training methods presented in this article are a continuation of my article, “Common Mistakes of a Mixed Martial Artist” and others are things that I have learned more about or added to my program over the last year. This should expose some training components that make MMA...

“I don’t have the time to travel”. This is the most common excuse that a trainer or coach gives for the fact that they don’t continue their education. Personally, I think it’s a lame excuse. Anthony Renna has now made it impossible for anyone to use that excuse....

Most of you already know who Michael Boyle is. Mike is one of the industries leaders and is definitely my biggest influence. I am VERY excited to not only feature Mike on the blog but also my favorite article he has written, 25 years, 25 mistakes. Like I have said time and time again. If you...

This is for the MMA folks who are being “good boys and girls” and are all ready doing soft-tissue work on themselves. Typically, the areas of focus tend to be the larger muscles like the quads, hip rotators and lats. But their are a few areas that MMA guys are commonly tight and...

I am sure you have seen this infomercial on tv. This is from Master Trainer (please don’t ask me what a Master Trainer is….. I have no idea) Leslee Bender. Apparently she has found a way to jack up you spine more than Pilates. Instead of herniating your discs from doing crunches,...

First off, if you are not training single leg movements for the lower body, you are crazy. Life and sport is on one leg. You don’t run two legs at a time….. rabbits do. Actually the reason for this post is not to state that single leg training is great for athletic performance or...

I just recently did an interview with Mike Robertson. Mike is the President of Robertson Training Systems and the co-owner of Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training (I-FAST) in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mike has made a name for himself as one of the premier performance coaches in the world,...

Q: You have emphasised the importance of power endurance for mixed martial arts. How do you train this component of strength? A: This is an interesting one. The term “power endurance” is actually an oxy-moron but at the same time it is something that exists within combat sports....

I have had numerous people ask me about P90X and I have to be honest……. I didn’t know what the hell it was. I thought it was a new type of motorcycle or 4 wheeler. I just finally got around to checking it out and I cringed the whole time I was watching! They use the science...

Strength is arguably the most important physical quality a person can have and even more so for an athlete. Strength is too commonly measured only in terms of the bench press. But we need to look at strength in a more balanced approach. So the question should not only be, how much can you...

I recieved a question on training the pulse that I wanted to share. The question was: How does this compare / contrast with the theories of plyometrics? I was going to answer it myself but being the knucklehead I am, I didn’t want to confuse anyone. So I emailed Stuart...

Alright, alright……. I will talk a bit about the pulse. I have been getting emails asking me to talk about Stuart McGill’s “pulsing” idea. To be honest, I am still playing around with it, so I will give a sample (of course I am not giving it all away!!) of what I...

Look, the glutes are the biggest, most powerful muscle in our bodies. Yet nearly every time I see a new client, I see the same limiting factor…….Their ass is asleep!! Glute amnesia can lead to so many different things. Think about it. If the biggest muscle in your body is not doing...

I had a new article come out this week at strengthcoach.com. It is called “The Deadlift: teaching it and fixing it”. It is written more for trainers and coaches but can definatley serve some purpose for others. If you don’t have a membership to strengthcoach.com (why...

For those of you who have done any hydrotherapy like a cold plunge, I am sure you are aware of the benefits. There are not many things that make you feel better or recover faster from a hard training session than a cold plunge. It can be a bit shocking the first time you hop into 50 degree...

I did an audio interview this week at strengthcoach.com. It was on my recent article “Common mistakes of a mixed martial artist, from a strength and conditioning perspective” Have a listen...

Oh boy……This one is gonna stir the pot. How pilates became so popular, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the pretty girls in Lycra pants that do it or the fact that you can stay in one spot for an hour and call it exercise? Or, maybe it’s the list of lies and false...

Hunch back posture is not only predominately found in the “Computer Man”, but it seems to be a plague among kids and even athletes. Everywhere I go I see people with rounded shoulders and a head popping forward as if they were a rooster strutting it’s stuff for a hen. The...

The pushup is one of the most underrated exercises. It is a great corrective exercise, anterior core exercise and strength exercise. Yes big dudes, pushups are a great strength exercise (try throwing on a heavy weight vest and you will get the picture)! The pushup is what Gray Cook and Lee...

Aerobics suck!! There I said it. If you are doing 30 minutes to an hour of aerobic training to lose fat, you are wasting your time. If your goal is fat loss, high intensity interval training (HIIT) is your go to weapon. The downside to HIIT is…….well, it friggin’ sucks because it’s...

With all the fitness gimmicks and BS out there, I figured I would start a “Gimmick Exposed” feature to this blog. I may get some hate mail or get lynched in a dark alley at some point……..but oh well. Let’s start with the most recent piece of crap I’ve seen,...

Q: I recently pulled my quad while sprinting. This is a re-occurring problem. Along with my quad, last year I also pulled my hamstring twice. Is there anything I can do to hopefully prevent it happening again? A: With any injury, one of the first things we do is look for a weak synergist. When...

Trying to increase range of motion at the lumbar spine is DANGEROUS. I haven’t really written in depth on this because I honestly forget that people don’t already know this. It is a subject that has been written about extensively, so I did not want to beat a dead horse. But I continue to...

Q: I am a powerlifter and have recently had to stop squatting because of severe shoulder pain. What can I do to train around the pain? A: When someone’s shoulder is hurting during a back squat, it is usually a sign of shoulder impingement (external rotation + abduction). Depending on the...

One of my favorite quotes from Mike Boyle is “A bad program done well is better than a good program done poorly”. This holds so much truth. You can have the best program with the best exercises but they are close to worthless if the execution of the exercises are sloppy. As coaches we...

As promised, here is part 2. Enjoy!! 5. Lift light weights – Well, if you are going to lift weights. Make sure you lift light weights so that you don’t add any muscle. Because as you know now, muscle burns fat and we need to hold on to that fat. Fat Burning Solution: I have written this...

Yes, I realize nobody wants to get fat and stay fat. Hopefully the sarcasm will make it a fun read. I will post Part 2 tomorrow. 1. Eat 1-2 meals per day – By only eating 1-2 times per day, your body can really go after that lean muscle for fuel and hold on to more fat. One pound of fat...

Okay, more like 8 but 10 sounds cooler 1. The draw-in method (belly button towards the spine, TA activation) is not a good method to support spinal stability. In fact it de-stabilizes the spine. Your spine will buckle if you choose to draw-in while your body is under significant load. People...

The Olympic Lifts (OL’s), namely the Clean and the Snatch, get a bad wrap a lot of times. They are feared and frowned upon by many professionals including some doctors and physical therapists. There is also a concern among the general population along with parents worrying that their kids...