2017 Juniata Strength and Conditioning Clinic

Last week, I attended the 2017 Juniata College Strength and Conditioning Clinic. Of all the years I’ve attended, and I’ve been to I think ALL but 2 since it first took place in 2000, this was one of the best, in my opinion!

Today, I went through y notes and compiled a list of all my biggest take-aways from the clinic, and shot a video covering them all.

2017 Juniata Strength and Conditioning Clinic
Part 1

2017 Juniata Strength and Conditioning Clinic
Part 1

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topics I cover, and of course let me know if you have any questions.

I hope you enjoy it.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Coaches: This Program Will Help You
Reduce ACL Tears and Other Knee Injuries: Deceleration Training

At the Juniata College Strength Clinic, I was recently asked about the incidence of Tommy John surgery with pitchers and other position players. Specifically, they wanted to know if Grip Strength could be a factor in the equation.

Could a lack of grip strength be a contributor to the increases in UCL tears and the need for Tommy John Surgery?

I dig into this topic in the video below:

Tommy John Surgery and Grip Strength for Baseball Players

Want to bulletproof your elbows? Get the best resource in the world to develop grip strength for baseball players:

Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball

There’s lots of reasons I respect Eric Cressey as a strength coach.

First and foremost is the fact that he is STRONG. Guy deadlifts over 600-lbs, despite the fact that he’s not a genetic freak or anywhere near 300lbs. RESPECT.

But the biggest reason is his ability to see deeper, and analyze possible solutions to problems, ASIDE FROM what everyone else sees.

I don’t like to bag on the Fitness Industry. I think that happens far too often.

The problem is not the industry itself, but rather, the bad apples spread throughout it that tend to spoil the proverbial bunch.

Every so often, a new buzz word or catch phrase comes out, and you can just see the Johnny-come-lately’s ready to to swoop in, pick up on the new terms, and use them like they thought of them.

In the video below, Eric Cressey touches on one of these such buzz words, “Ankle Mobility.”

He’s a bit more diplomatic than me in the way he covers this topic, as you’ll see when you watch the video, and he may even make you question your previosu thoughts about ankle mobility and how it influences movement patterns, such as the Squat.

Like Eric points out, there’s more to it than meets the eye.

This attention to detail is why I trust him so much.

This week, Cressey has dropped the price on one of his most popular products, the High Performance Handbook, by $50.

So for the next few days you can add this to your library at a much lower investment.

Eric Cressey is one of the best strength coaches in the world. If you’re a budding strength coach and you’re looking for someone to follow, Eric is the man, and High Performance Handbook is a great place to start.

Get it today. I can’t recommend it strongly enough.

All the best,

Jedd

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The High Performance Handbook Right Now $50 Off

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I was recently interviewed by Mart Brooks of ArtOfBaseball.net regarding grip and forearm training to increase performance and prevent injuries. Check it out below:

Want to improve your grip and wrist strength in order to hit more home runs, get more hits, strike out less, and just plain hit the ball harder next season?

Then what are you waiting for? The time to put in the work is right now.

My Ultimate Forearm Training System will get you there.

Around here, the kids are all back in school and they have the whole year ahead of them.

There’s tons of excitement as they look forward to the many possibilities and potential for the year.

I still remember my Senior year, when I said I was going to not play basketball (which I pretty much hated) and just concentrate on baseball.

I wanted to go into the school weight room three days a week and put on some serious muscle, because I was 6-feet tall and about 200-lbs, but thought for sure with hard work I could put on some muscle and show up for my Freshman Year in college looking like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

While I never ended up looking like Mark or Barry, I did end up putting on some muscle and planting the seeds that would grow into a life-long interest in weight training.

Unfortunately, at the time, I didn’t realize some of the things these guys were doing and taking in order to get so freakish. I also didn’t realize that there was a difference between training for size and for training with strength. I just went in there and did what I read about in bodybuilding magazines and didn’t understand the importance of proper loading and rep schemes in order to get stronger. If finding a balance between muscle gains and improvements in strength levels is something that you struggle with, then today’s article is perfect for you.

Today’s post comes from Eric Cressey. Eric is probably best known for his work with professional baseball players at his facility in Connecticut, Cressey Performance, but he is also know for his work in the arena of fitness and especially the field of strength & conditioning. His knowledge blows me away and he is one of the few professionals in the field I subscribe to. Every article, video and product he puts out is GOLD. Possibly his most well-recognized work, Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look Feel and Move Better is on sale for this week only for $50 off the regular price.

Enjoy today’s post from this world class author, speaker coach, and lifter.

5 Reasons You’re Not Getting Stronger

By: Eric Cressey

Like most lifters, I gained a lot of size and strength in my first 1-2 years of training in spite of the moronic stuff that I did. Looking back, I was about as informed as a chimp with a barbell – but things somehow worked out nonetheless. That is, however, until I hit a big fat plateau where things didn’t budge.

Truthfully, “big fat plateau” doesn’t even begin to do my shortcomings justice. No exaggeration: I spent 14 months trying to go from a 225-pound bench to 230. Take a moment and laugh at my past futility (or about how similar it sounds to your own plight), and we’ll continue.

All set? Good – because self-deprecating writing was never one of my strengths. I have, however, become quite good at picking heavy stuff off the floor – to the tune of a personal-best 660-pound deadlift at a body weight of 188.

Eric Cressey, 660-lb Deadlift

My other numbers aren’t too shabby, either, but this article isn’t about me; it’s about why YOU aren’t necessarily getting strong as fast as you’d like. To that end, I’d like to take a look at a few mistakes people commonly make in the quest to gain strength. Sadly, I’ve made most of these myself at some point, so hopefully I can save you some frustration.

Mistake #1: Only doing what’s fun and not what you need.

As you could probably tell, deadlifting is a strength of mine – and I enjoy it. Squatting, on the other hand, never came naturally to me. I always squatted, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it took the back seat to pulling heavy.

Eventually, though, I smartened up and took care of the issue – by always putting squatting before deadlifting in all my lower-body training sessions (twice a week). I eventually wound up with a Powerlifting USA Top 100 Squat in my weight class.

More interestingly, though, in addition to me dramatically improving my squat, a funny thing happened: I actually started to enjoy squatting. Whoever said that you can’t teach an old dog (or deadlifter) new tricks didn’t have the real scoop.

Mistake #2: Not taking deload periods.

One phrase of which I’ve grown quite fond is “fatigue masks fitness.” As a little frame of reference, my best vertical jump is 37.3” – but on most days, I won’t give you anything over 34” or so. The reason is very simple: most of your training career is going to be spent in some degree of fatigue. How you manage that fatigue is what dictates your adaptation over the long- term.

On one hand, you want to impose enough fatigue to create supercompensation – so that you’ll adapt and come back at a higher level of fitness. On the other hand, you don’t want to impose so much fatigue that you dig yourself a hole you can’t get out of without a significant amount of time off.

Good programs implement strategic overreaching follows by periods of lighter training stress to allow for adaptation to occur. You can’t just go in and hit personal bests in every single training session.

Mistake #3: Not rotating movements.

It never ceases to amaze me when a guy claims that he just can’t seem to add to his bench press (or any lift, for that matter), and when you ask him what he’s done to work on it of late, and he tells you “bench press.” Specificity is important, but if you aren’t rotating exercises, you’re missing out on an incredibly valuable training stimulus: rotating exercises.

While there is certainly a place for extended periods of specificity (Smolov squat cycles, for instance), you can’t push this approach indefinitely. Rotating my heaviest movements was one of the most important lessons I learned along my journey. In addition to helping to create adaptation, you’re also expanding your “motor program” and avoiding overuse injuries via pattern overload.

I’m not saying that you should overhaul your entire program with each trip to the gym, but there should be some semi-regular fluctuation in exercise selection. The more experienced you get, the more often you’ll want to rotate your exercises (I do it weekly). Assistance exercises ecan be shuffled every four weeks, though.

Mistake #4: Inconsistency in training.

I tell our clients from all walks of life that the best strength and conditioning programs are ones that are sustainable. I’ll take a terrible program executed with consistency over a great program that’s only done sporadically. This is absolutely huge for professional athletes who need to maximize progress in the off-season; they just can’t afford to have unplanned breaks in training if they want to improve from year to year. However, it’s equally important for general fitness folks who don’t have an extensive training background to fall back on, unlike the professional athletes.

If a program isn’t conducive to your goals and lifestyle, then it isn’t a good program. That’s why I went out of my way to create 2x/week, 3x/week, and 4x/week strength training options – plus five supplemental conditioning options and a host of exercise modifications – when I pulled Show and Go together; I wanted it to be a very versatile resource.

Likewise, I wanted it to be safe; a program isn’t good if it injures you and prevents you from exercising. Solid programs include targeted efforts to reduce the likelihood of injury via means like mobility warm-ups, supplemental stretching recommendations, specific progressions, fluctuations in training stress, and alternative exercises (“plan B”) in case you aren’t quite ready to execute “Plan A.”

For me personally, I attribute a lot of my progress to the fact that at one point, I actually went over eight years without missing a planned lift. It’s a bit extreme, I know, but there’s a lesson to be learned.

Mistake #5: Wrong rep schemes

Beginners can make strength gains on as little as 40% of their one-rep max. Past that initial period, the number moves to 70% – which is roughly a 12-rep max for most folks. Later, I’d say that the number creeps up to about 85% – which would be about a 5-rep max for an intermediate lifter. This last range is where you’ll find most people who head to the internet for strength training information.

What they don’t realize is that 85% isn’t going to get the job done for very long, either. My experience is that in advanced lifters, the fastest way to build strength is to perform singles at or above 90% of one-rep max with regularity. As long as exercises are rotated and deloading periods are included, this is a strategy that can be employed for an extended period of time. In fact, it was probably the single (no pun intended) most valuable discovery I made in my quest to get stronger.

I’m not saying that you should be attempting one-rep maxes each time you enter the gym, but I do think they’ll “just happen” if you employ this technique.

To take the guesswork out of all this and try some programming that considers all these crucial factors (and a whole lot more), check out Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look Feel and Move Better.

-Eric Cressey-

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Around here, the kids are all back in school and they have the whole year ahead of them.
There’s tons of excitement as they look forward to the many possibilities and potential for the year.
I still remember my Senior year, when I said I was going to not play basketball (which I pretty much hated) and just concentrate on baseball.
I wanted to go into the school weight room three days a week and put on some serious muscle, because I was 6-feet tall and about 200-lbs, but thought for sure with hard work I could put on some muscle and show up for my Freshman Year in college looking like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

While I never ended up looking like Mark or Barry, I did end up putting on some muscle and planting the seeds that would grow into a life-long interest in weight training.
Unfortunately, at the time, I didn’t realize some of the things these guys were doing and taking in order to get so freakish. I also didn’t realize that there was a difference between training for size and for training with strength. I just went in there and did what I read about in bodybuilding magazines and didn’t understand the importance of proper loading and rep schemes in order to get stronger. If finding a balance between muscle gains and improvements in strength levels is something that you struggle with, then today’s article is perfect for you.

Today’s post comes from Eric Cressey. Eric is probably best known for his work with professional baseball players at his facility in Connecticut, Cressey Performance, but he is also know for his work in the arena of fitness and especially the field of strength & conditioning. His knowledge blows me away and he is one of the few professionals in the field I subscribe to. Every article, video and product he puts out is GOLD. Possibly his most well-recognized work, Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look Feel and Move Better is on sale for this week only for $50 off the regular price.
Enjoy today’s post from this world class author, speaker coach, and lifter.

5 Reasons You’re Not Getting Stronger

By: Eric Cressey
Like most lifters, I gained a lot of size and strength in my first 1-2 years of training in spite of the moronic stuff that I did. Looking back, I was about as informed as a chimp with a barbell – but things somehow worked out nonetheless. That is, however, until I hit a big fat plateau where things didn’t budge.
Truthfully, “big fat plateau” doesn’t even begin to do my shortcomings justice. No exaggeration: I spent 14 months trying to go from a 225-pound bench to 230. Take a moment and laugh at my past futility (or about how similar it sounds to your own plight), and we’ll continue.
All set? Good – because self-deprecating writing was never one of my strengths. I have, however, become quite good at picking heavy stuff off the floor – to the tune of a personal-best 660-pound deadlift at a body weight of 188.

Eric Cressey, 660-lb Deadlift
My other numbers aren’t too shabby, either, but this article isn’t about me; it’s about why YOU aren’t necessarily getting strong as fast as you’d like. To that end, I’d like to take a look at a few mistakes people commonly make in the quest to gain strength. Sadly, I’ve made most of these myself at some point, so hopefully I can save you some frustration.

Mistake #1: Only doing what’s fun and not what you need.

As you could probably tell, deadlifting is a strength of mine – and I enjoy it. Squatting, on the other hand, never came naturally to me. I always squatted, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it took the back seat to pulling heavy.
Eventually, though, I smartened up and took care of the issue – by always putting squatting before deadlifting in all my lower-body training sessions (twice a week). I eventually wound up with a Powerlifting USA Top 100 Squat in my weight class.
More interestingly, though, in addition to me dramatically improving my squat, a funny thing happened: I actually started to enjoy squatting. Whoever said that you can’t teach an old dog (or deadlifter) new tricks didn’t have the real scoop.

Mistake #2: Not taking deload periods.

One phrase of which I’ve grown quite fond is “fatigue masks fitness.” As a little frame of reference, my best vertical jump is 37.3” – but on most days, I won’t give you anything over 34” or so. The reason is very simple: most of your training career is going to be spent in some degree of fatigue. How you manage that fatigue is what dictates your adaptation over the long- term.
On one hand, you want to impose enough fatigue to create supercompensation – so that you’ll adapt and come back at a higher level of fitness. On the other hand, you don’t want to impose so much fatigue that you dig yourself a hole you can’t get out of without a significant amount of time off.
Good programs implement strategic overreaching follows by periods of lighter training stress to allow for adaptation to occur. You can’t just go in and hit personal bests in every single training session.

Mistake #3: Not rotating movements.

It never ceases to amaze me when a guy claims that he just can’t seem to add to his bench press (or any lift, for that matter), and when you ask him what he’s done to work on it of late, and he tells you “bench press.” Specificity is important, but if you aren’t rotating exercises, you’re missing out on an incredibly valuable training stimulus: rotating exercises.
While there is certainly a place for extended periods of specificity (Smolov squat cycles, for instance), you can’t push this approach indefinitely. Rotating my heaviest movements was one of the most important lessons I learned along my journey. In addition to helping to create adaptation, you’re also expanding your “motor program” and avoiding overuse injuries via pattern overload.
I’m not saying that you should overhaul your entire program with each trip to the gym, but there should be some semi-regular fluctuation in exercise selection. The more experienced you get, the more often you’ll want to rotate your exercises (I do it weekly). Assistance exercises ecan be shuffled every four weeks, though.

Mistake #4: Inconsistency in training.

I tell our clients from all walks of life that the best strength and conditioning programs are ones that are sustainable. I’ll take a terrible program executed with consistency over a great program that’s only done sporadically. This is absolutely huge for professional athletes who need to maximize progress in the off-season; they just can’t afford to have unplanned breaks in training if they want to improve from year to year. However, it’s equally important for general fitness folks who don’t have an extensive training background to fall back on, unlike the professional athletes.
If a program isn’t conducive to your goals and lifestyle, then it isn’t a good program. That’s why I went out of my way to create 2x/week, 3x/week, and 4x/week strength training options – plus five supplemental conditioning options and a host of exercise modifications – when I pulled Show and Go together; I wanted it to be a very versatile resource.
Likewise, I wanted it to be safe; a program isn’t good if it injures you and prevents you from exercising. Solid programs include targeted efforts to reduce the likelihood of injury via means like mobility warm-ups, supplemental stretching recommendations, specific progressions, fluctuations in training stress, and alternative exercises (“plan B”) in case you aren’t quite ready to execute “Plan A.”
For me personally, I attribute a lot of my progress to the fact that at one point, I actually went over eight years without missing a planned lift. It’s a bit extreme, I know, but there’s a lesson to be learned.

Mistake #5: Wrong rep schemes

Beginners can make strength gains on as little as 40% of their one-rep max. Past that initial period, the number moves to 70% – which is roughly a 12-rep max for most folks. Later, I’d say that the number creeps up to about 85% – which would be about a 5-rep max for an intermediate lifter. This last range is where you’ll find most people who head to the internet for strength training information.
What they don’t realize is that 85% isn’t going to get the job done for very long, either. My experience is that in advanced lifters, the fastest way to build strength is to perform singles at or above 90% of one-rep max with regularity. As long as exercises are rotated and deloading periods are included, this is a strategy that can be employed for an extended period of time. In fact, it was probably the single (no pun intended) most valuable discovery I made in my quest to get stronger.
I’m not saying that you should be attempting one-rep maxes each time you enter the gym, but I do think they’ll “just happen” if you employ this technique.
To take the guesswork out of all this and try some programming that considers all these crucial factors (and a whole lot more), check out Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look Feel and Move Better.
-Eric Cressey-

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This is a guest post from Joe Meglio. Joe is the head strength coach at the Underground Strength Gym in Edison NJ and works with athletes, strength enthusiasts, and fitness clients on a daily basis. Joe was voted #1 Rising Star it Fitness and deadlifted over 3 Times Bodyweight at the age of 20.

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How to Improve Your Deadlift

by Joe Meglio

I don’t claim to know everything in the world of strength training, but if there is one thing that I know best, it is the deadlift. While I am not the best deadlifter in the world, I have put up some respectable numbers. At the age of 20 and bodyweight of 196 1/2 I pulled 600, 3 X my bodyweight.

The deadlift is truly the king all lifts because it works every single muscle in your body. It is the ultimate test of raw strength. Before you learn how you can improve your deadlift, let’s go over how to deadlift.

If you want to learn how you can shatter personal records and earn the respect you deserve from other strength coaches, lifters and friends check out these 6 deadlift tips below to start deadlifting like a champion.

600-lb Deadlift at 196.5-lb BW

1- Increase Deadlift Frequency

Dan John, once said if you want to get good at something then do it everyday. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating loading up the bar with 5 plates and deadlift every day BUT simply put, if you want to get good at anything start doing it more often.

This holds true especially for beginner and intermediate athletes who need to learn all the intricacies of the deadlift. The best results I’ve seen in the deadlift came while having one heavy deadlift day and on the second lower body day, focusing on speed deadlifts and learning to apply as much force as possible to the bar.

Generally speaking, the stronger you are the less often you can deadlift. Somebody who deadlifts 600, 700 + lbs will need a lot more time in-between deadlift workouts compared to somebody who is pulling 300 or 400lbs because their outputs are much higher and thus need more time to recover. Nonetheless, increasing frequency of the deadlift will help ingrain great technique and help you progressively get stronger over time.

2-Attack Your Weakness

Finding your sticking point in the deadlift is critical. There are 3 general areas when the deadlift will break down: off the floor, mid range and at lockout.

Weak off the Floor: If you are weak off the floor, focusing on the posterior chain, more specifically the hamstrings, will be critical to being strong off the floor because you need to be able to load up your hamstrings before you pull. If you fail to do this, your deadlift and strength off the floor will suffer.

Here are my top 5 lifts to help improve strength off the floor:

1) Deficit deadlifts
2) Speed deadlifts
3) GHR
4) Good mornings

Weak at the Mid-Range: If you are weak at the mid-range area, focus on training your back like a beast. Not just your upper and middle back but also your lower back is critical.

Here are my Top 6 back exercises for those who have weakness in the mid-range of the deadlift.

1) Chest supported rows
2) 1 arm rows
3) Barbell rows
4) Pull-ups
5) Barbell back extensions
6) Low rack pulls

Weak at Lockout: If you are weak at lockout focus on improving glute strength and grip strength. The glutes are critical to extending the hips and finishing the deadlift. Without strong and powerful glutes, you will have a hard time finishing the deadlift.

Here are my top 3 go to exercises to build strong glutes and finish the deadlift strong:

1) Barbell Glute Bridge
2) Barbell Hip Thrusts
3) RDL’s

3-Drop the Bar Between Reps

A lot of lifters and coaches don’t like deadlifts because it takes too long to recover from them. Instead of scrapping the deadlift, try dropping the bar in-between reps. Most injuries happen during the eccentric part of the lift so avoiding it is a good way to improve your ability to recover from the deadlift.

If you are a competitive powerlifter you will have to lower the bar to the ground but you can start dropping the bar for your assistance exercises.

4-Perfect Your Technique

Learning proper technique is important for not only safety reasons but also performance. While there are many different ways to setup, just find what works for you best and something that you can repeat every time you deadlift.

Here is your 6 step process to deadlifting like a champion:

• Start with a vertical jump stance and the bar over the midline of your foot (for conventional stance lifters)
• Sit your butt back and down until you hands reach the bar
• Make sure your hamstrings are loaded up, back is neutral and neck is packed
• Fill your belly with air, pull the slack out to create tension on your lats
• Squeeze the bar off the ground by leading with your chest and driving your feet down through the ground
• Once the bar passes your knees, snap and squeeze your glutes at the top

Practice your technique often. Make sure it is ingrained in your head and always try to improve it.

5-Find out What Stance Works Best for YOU

There are two different deadlift stances: sumo deadlifts or conventional deadlifts. Common knowledge would tell you that the sumo deadlift is easier because the bar path is shorter but this isn’t always the case. If you are built like me, longer arms, average legs and a shorter torso you are more built for the conventional deadlift.

Lifters who are good squatters and benches will lift with a sumo stance because generally speaking they have shorter arms and legs but a longer torso. The only way to truly know which stance you are stronger with is to experiment with both stances and see what works best for you.

6-Train Your Back Like a Beast

One of the big things that took my deadlift from 500lbs to 600lbs was how much stronger my back got. The back muscles are critical for stabilization during the deadlift and it is almost impossible to deadlift a lot of weight without having a back built like a beast.

Here are 5 awesome back exercises that you need to be doing:
1) Pull-ups
2) 1 arm DB rows
3) Chest supported rows
4) T Bar Rows
5) Bent Over Rows

And there you have it, 6 killer deadlift tips. If you want to shatter personal records and skyrocket your deadlift, start using these tips right now. Remember, the deadlift is more then just a great lift, it is your ticket to earning your man card and earning the respect you deserve.

P.S You can have instant access to my ‘Lift Like A Man’ 12 Week Muscle & Strength Building Course along with 4 Killer bonuses for ONLY $27 (total value of $163). You have to act fast this sale ends in 3 days.

Over the weekend, one of the biggest headlines in the baseball world was that of Andrew McCutchen, center-fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, having to leave the game Saturday versus the Cardinals, shortly after making a diving play in the outfield.

This news makes most Pirates fans shake when they lay down at night because McCutchen is one of the best players on the team and the team is having one its best years in recent history. Losing McCutchen could spell certain doom for the team as they are knee-deep in a pennant race with the Cincinnatti Reds, going into the mid-point of the season.

McCutchen did not leave the game right away, toughing out two more at-bats after rolling his wrist, but you could tell that it was seriously bothering him as he swung the bat due to the pain etched on his face. That’s never good. McCutchen had to sit out Sunday’s game as well, but as of writing has not been placed on the disabled list.

This is exactly the type of injury that players and coaches dread. McCutchen is highly athletic and plays aggressively all the time. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the dive, even after making the play, McCutchen’s glove rolled beneath his body somewhat and most likely either strained some soft tissue or knocked something out of alignment in his wrist.

Plus, when you hurt your hand or wrist in baseball, if it doesn’t get fixed right away, it will be there for everything you do. And it might not hurt so bad that it keeps you from playing, but it will be right there hiding and every so often bite you again when you swing the back, move your glove in a weird angle, or push the gate open to go to the plate. Eventually, it gets into your head and even though it doesn’t hurt bad it still distracts you.

When it comes to injuries, they are always best avoided. Unfortunately when you have a spirited player such as McCutchen, who readily puts his body on the line for the benefit of his team, diving, rolling, sliding hard into bases, and breaking up players, trauma such as this can happen sometimes.

For that reason, for baseball players who want to play hard and put up the big statistics as well, it is important to do everything possible to bullet-proof the body. For the forearms, wrists and hands, here are some simple exercises that you can start implementing in your training right away that will hit your lower arms from all angles and start turning your hands into iron.

Hammer Rotations

When swinging the bat, if you want to maximize your power, you have to have serious forearm strength to turn the bat. So for this one, we will target the muscles that rotate the forearm: the supinator, pronator, and others that support this movement.

For this one, you’ll need either a sledge hammer, axe, or some other long device to create leverage. Grip the hammer about half way down the handle. Start with the hammer head veritcal and from there, slowly rotate the hammer under control in both directions.

This video shows you a couple of variations of Sledge Hammer Rotations:

Plate Clamp Press

When squeezing the glove, the fingers do not ball up like a fist, they actually do a motion that is called clamping where the finger tips move toward the base of the palm. It is important to include this type of Grip training in your routine in order strengthen this movement correctly.

In order to strengthen your Clamping Grip, you will need four ten pound plates. Put them together in pairs with the smooth sides out. Wrap your fingers over the top of the plates and clamp them tightly into your palm. Now, perform a pressing movement overhead until you can feel the plates want to fall out. At that point, terminate the set, rest the hands for 30 seconds to a minute and then hit more reps.

Two tens is generally the thickness that works best for most people. To increase the weight by adding another dime can make it too large to fit in your hand, so if two tens is too light, try adding a chain through the center of the plates in order to add more resistance.

A couple ways to perform the Plate Clamp Press:

Pony Clamp Pinching

The thumb is an often neglected part of the hand, but it is very important to include it in your Grip training. One of the best ways is using a Pony Clamp. These are available at many hardware stores and even some dollar stores. I like the ones with flat handles the best.

Grip the Pony Clamp with one handle on the finger side and one on the thumb side and try to touch the handles together. You can perform this exercise for maximum reps, speed reps, holds for time, and if the resistance is too light for you, just wrap rubber bands around the clamp end to increase the resistance.

Here are a few variations you can do with the Pony Clamp:

The Pony Clamp with Extended Handles is one of the cool, effective, and simple training tools I show you how to make in Home Made Strength II: Grip Strength Edition. Click that link or the banner below to check it out today.

Extensor Bucket Lift

No Grip Training program is complete if it doesn’t feature some sort of extensor work. If you neglect your extensors, you not only can create an imbalance that could turn into an injury down the road, but you can also hold your strength development back. By strengthening the extensors you will also be able to further strength then flexors of the lower arms.

One way to do this is with an extensor bucket. I like to use an empty cheese ball loaded with steel and iron for the resistance. You can also use a pretzel container if cheese balls are “not your bag.”

Once you fill the container, stick the finger and thumb tips in and extend them out forcefully against the rim of the opening and then lift the container up. Once lifted, you can make the back of the forearm work even more intensely by flexing and extending the wrist.

Here is the Extensor Bucket in action:

These are just 4 simple exercises that you probably already have the equipment to perform, but there are hundreds of more ways to train for grip and forearm strength that can help you perform at a high level and stay injury free on the field.

My Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball has over 200 exercises in it. Remember, it’s not only important to have strong hands and forearms for playing the game, but if some kind of traumatic injury takes place, the athlete that is best prepared will often get back on the field more quickly.

Let’s hope that is what happens with McCutchen. He is a great player that loves the game and plays with passion and flair, and it would be a shame for him to miss a large portion of the season due to this injury.

If you want to bullet-proof your hands and forearms, check out Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

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The Coolest thing about Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball is that the overwhelming majority of people who have bought it from me do not even play baseball. UFTB is the most complete and most detailed resource of Grip and Forearm Training in existence. If you want training ideas for the lower arms, this is the resource you want. No one else can touch it in terms of content, illustrations, program layout, and of course my email product support.

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What Do Most Explosive Athletes Have in Common?

Whether you play basketball, football or any other power sport, the vertical jump is the ultimate indication of overall body power, more specifically lower body power. Most power sports require short and explosive movements and this is exactly what the vertical jump is. Keep in mind that you cannot jump slowly, you have to be explosive! You see, the athletes that jump the highest usually run the fastest, are the most explosive and are usually the most athletic.

BIG Vertical Jumps!

What else do athletes with big vertical jumps have in common? I would bet money that they have a high level of relative body strength, a low body fat level and a high rate of force development.

Let’s Get Serious

How many fat and out of shape athletes do you know with a 40 inch vertical jump? Not many. Chances are if you do know any fat and out of shape athletes that have a big vertical jump, they probably have a very high rate of force development.

When it comes to improving your vertical jump, most beginners, especially in high school, will improve their vertical jump by simply increasing their maximal strength and relative body strength. These increases in strength come through mastering basic bodyweight exercises like push up variations, pull ups, hand walking and rope climbing to name a few.

Big barbell exercises like squats, deadlifts and heavy pressing will help improve maximal strength. Strengthening the posterior chain is also critical to improving your vertical jump. Exercises like deadlift variations, glute ham raises, box squats, kettlebell swings and upright sled drags will build a strong and powerful posterior chain.

Don’t underestimate the role that strength plays in improving the vertical jump. Strength is the foundation upon which speed, power, agility and all other athletic abilities are built. If you want to see a serious improvement in your vertical jump start moving some serious weight!

While beginners should focus on getting stronger, advanced athletes need to dig a bit deeper.

First off, the athlete needs to determine where they are on the absolute strength to absolute speed continuum. Here is a great video Eric Cressey did describing this continuum.

In a nutshell, if you are more explosive than you are strong, you need to focus on maximal strength, however if you are stronger than you are explosive, you need to focus on reactive training. In order to optimize your performance and to maximize your vertical jump you should fall in the middle of the absolute strength to absolute speed continuum.

While maximal strength is an important component of increasing your vertical jump, athletes who already have a solid foundation of maximal strength should focus on improving rate of force development. This is where reactive training comes in-various jumps, sprinting, and medicine ball throws. For the purpose of this article, let’s focus on the jumping aspect as that will have the most carry over to the vertical jump. Check out my top 10 jumping exercises below to help improve your vertical jump.

Vertical Jump

• Start in an athletic position and the hands locked out overhead
• Explosively whip your arms down and jump as high as you can
• Land in an athletic position
• Reset and repeat

Here is a great video by Joe DeFranco

Box Jump (onto Tires)

• Start in an athletic position and the hands locked out overhead
• Explosively whip your arms down and jump as high as you can
• Tuck your knees in to ensure you clear the box
• Land in an athletic position
• Step down and repeat

Weighted Box Jump

• Start in an athletic position and the hands locked out overhead
• Explosively whip your arms down and jump as high as you can
• Tuck your knees in to ensure you clear the box
• Land in an athletic position
• Step down and repeat

Box Squat into Box Jump

• Start in an athletic position and perform a box squat
• Explosively jump out of the hole and onto the bigger box
• Tuck your knees in to ensure you clear the box
• Land in an athletic position
• Step down and repeat

Static Box Squat into Box Jump

• Start by sitting on a 12 inch box
• Explosively jump out of the hole and onto the bigger box
• Tuck your knees in to ensure you clear the box
• Land in an athletic position
• Step down and repeat

Squat Jump into Box Jump

• Hold 10lb dumbbells at your side
• Perform a squat jump
• As you are landing release the dumbbells and jump onto the box
• Land in an athletic position
• Step down and repeat

Broad Jump

• Start in an athletic position and the hands locked out overhead
• Explosively whip your arms down and jump as far as you can
• Land in an athletic position and without any rest immediately go into the next broad jump

Squat Jump into Broad Jump

• Hold 10lb dumbbells at your side
• Perform a squat jump
• As you are landing release the dumbbells and jump as far as you can
• Land in an athletic position and immediately go into your next broad jump

Heavy Sled Drags

• Load a sled up with maximal weight
• Lean forward and drive with your legs
• Apply as much force to the ground as possible
• Drag the sled for 10 yards
• Rest to you are fully recovered and go again

Depth Jumps

• Start by standing tall on a 12 inch box
• Step off the 12 inch box and immediately perform a box jump
• Land in an athletic position
• Step down and repeat

Putting it All Together

There you have it, a list of my top 10 favorite jumping exercises to help improve your vertical jump.

This article wouldn’t be complete without me telling you how to implement jumps into your training. Start performing jumps on your lower body days directly after your warm up and right before your main exercise. This is important because it will prime your central nervous system for the workout and because your body is not yet fatigued.

Start with the most basic progression of a jump and progress each week or two to a harder variation. It may even take as long as 3 weeks before your athletes really start getting good at certain jumps.

Here is a sample progression I use with my athletes:

• Week 1-Box Jump with a running start
• Week 2-Box jump from a static position
• Week 3-Box Squat into Box Jump
• Week 4-Static Box Squat into Box Jump
• Week 5-repeat week 2 with a higher box

You have a couple different options here. You can either progress each week to a harder exercise like the example above or you can pick one exercise and perform it week after week but alter the volume and intensity (see chart below). If you have the equipment for this option then go for it, if not stick with the example I provided above. I have had success with both options in the past.

For bounding exercises, perform no more than 3 jumps per set. Make sure you are getting full recovery and then repeat for 3-5 sets. If you are just starting to incorporate jumping into your program start with minimal volume and slowly increase the volume each week. For example, you can do 3 X 3 of broad jumps week 1, 4 X 3 week 2 and 5 X 3 week 3.

It is important to closely measure your volume and intensity. In order to do this I adhere to Prilepin’s Table. For example, say your 1 rep max box jump is 40 inches and all you have is a 36 inch box, you should perform around 5-7 singles for that workout. If your goal is to improve rate of force development, I do not recommend you jump below 70 percent of your 1 rep max.

I hope you enjoyed my top 10 jumping exercises to increase your vertical. Start by implementing a handful of these techniques into your training, or your athletes’ training, they will be come more explosive and start leaping higher and higher.

Of course, if you have any questions about this article, please leave a comment below and I’d be glad to address them and possibly do a follow-up sometime down the road. Make sure you head over to my website, MeglioFitness.com and sign up for my newsletter to receive 3 FREE gifts including a 4 free week program, my performance nutrition manual and an awesome interview with EliteFTS Athlete, Chad Smith.

Thanks.

Joe Meglio

Joe Meglio is a strength and conditioning coach at Zach Even-Esh’s underground strength gym. Joe is a former college baseball player and has competed in powerlifting and written for many national magazines and online websites including EliteFTS.com, Oneresult.com and STACK.com and Today’s Man to name a few. Joe is giving away a FREE 4 week training program and a FREE performance nutrition manual. Claim your FREE Gifts. For more information on Joe Meglio and his unique training methods, check out MeglioFitness.com

Hello DIESELS!

It’s not often I break from the routine of strength training and especially grip training posts, but I just wanted to put something up quick right now related to baseball.

I want to send out my Congratulations to Derek Jeter for getting the tremendous milestone of 3000 hits!

In case you don’t follow baseball, this is BIG DEAL. Jeter is only the 28th player in Major League Baseball history to accumulate 3000 hits.

When you consider that all 30+ baseball teams carry at least a 25-man roster, which for a period expands to 40 and they bring people up from the minors and send people back down all throughout the year, AND this kind of things has been happening since like 1901, you have thousands and thousands of people who played the game that never even came close to this mark.

Of the top of my head, Jeter has been playing since 1995, so that is like 17 seasons, counting this year. That is longevity. The Major League Baseball season can be a long grueling affair. You take bumps and get bruises. You dive, you slide, you jam body parts, get hit by balls, play dehydrated on short rest…ALL that stuff adds up to a significant amount of trauma and to accomplish 3000 hits in a career is amazing. You have to be able to stay healthy, avoid the disabled list, maintain your skills, get lots of at bats…There are so many things that have to go right in order to make this kind of thing happen, it is like the deck is stacked against you.

Now, yes – Jeter has struggled for parts of this season and last season, but I tell you what. He has looked damn good the last month, and even better the last few days. At the end of last season and beginning of this one, he seemed to be striking the ball on the handle more than the sweet spot, but now, it’s like he’s knocking it on the sweet spot again. An amazing turn-around.

Other Amazing Shit

As if it weren’t enough to accomplish the 3000 hit feat, Derek also did a few other memorable things. Check it out…

• Derek went 5 for 5! – In case you don’t know what this means, every single time he was up he got a base hit of some sort. This in itself is an awesome day. First off, you have to get up to bat 5 times which isn’t always that common. But he also drove the ball hard each time – it’s not like he legged out infield hits or anything…
• Number 3000 was a home run! – Of all 28 people who have gotten 3000 hits, the only other person to hit a home run on number 3000 was Wade Boggs. Wade played most of his career with the Yankees’ arch enemies, the Boston Red Sox, then played 3 or 4 season with the Yanks before getting traded. He hit number 3000 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which just happens to be the team that Jeter was playing against today.
• He Won the Game!

Derek not only stole the show today, but he also won the game for his team, knocking in the winning run in the 8th inning. It was incredible. It was as if it was a bad baseball movie script written for Justin Timberlake to play or something. The difference is Derek probably gets just as much tail as Timberlake, and he is a cooler dude that that ex-Backstreet Boy.

• He Beat Pete Rose! – In a Post I wrote like two years ago comparing Derek Jeter with Pete Rose, I talked about what would be required to beat Pete Rose’s number of hits. Rose has mor ehits than anyone in the history of MLB, and I said that it would be possible for Jeter to overtake him. Today, it was pointed out that Jeter actually has reached the 3000 hit milestone before Rose did in his career, so that is just freakin’ crazy!!!

Well, DIESELS, I’ve written far more than I meant to, but it just poured out of me. Derek Jeter plays the game and maintains a professionalism that i highly respect. I am so glad that he has finally accomplished it!

Thanks for bearing with me, if you are not a baseball fan!

All the best in your training!

Jedd

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Random Ramblings from Jedd

Please read this post and put in your thoughts / comments in the comment box below…

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Hello Diesels.

As I have posted before, I am a huge baseball (and especially New York Yankees) fan. I watch them every chance I get. I stay up to date on the Yankees’ rumor mill, trades, signings…all of it in-season and out.

However, putting all that drama aside, I also like to study what they do for strength and conditioning, and what other industry leaders are saying about strength and conditioning for baseball. I have a handful of baseball players that come to train every so often, and I like applying the stuff I learn to the training I do with them, plus I try to apply it to my own training. Although I will probably never play baseball again, I do indeed suit up for Slow Pitch softball during the summer and enjoy playing to the best of my ability because it is fun as hell and it is a good break from the “hardcore” training I am normally doing in the gym.
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Congratulations to the One Man Wrecking Crew, himself, Josh McIntyre.

Josh did more in the One Hand Deadlift than David Arquette and Charlie Sheen could probably do in the Two Man Deadlift last week, pulling 405-lbs to a legal height over the knee.
Freakin’ awesome, bro, and another win in the books. (more…)

Congratulations to the One Man Wrecking Crew, himself, Josh McIntyre.

Josh did more in the One Hand Deadlift than David Arquette and Charlie Sheen could probably do in the Two Man Deadlift last week, pulling 405-lbs to a legal height over the knee.

Freakin’ awesome, bro, and another win in the books. (more…)

This is an interview I did recently with Coach Joe Hashey, CSCS from Strength and Performance Headquarters in Endicott, NY. Joe recently released a new product called Power Muscle Recovery.

JEDD: Joe, thanks for taking the time to do this interview with me today. In case some of the readers are unfamiliar with you, could you tell us a bit about yourself?

JOE: Thanks for having me Jedd! I am a certified CSCS through the NSCA and own a gym in upstate New York that trains predominately athletes. I’ve been a long time reader of Diesel Crew and have contributed a few articles in the past. (more…)

Off Season Training for Baseball

A guest post by Joe Meglio

One of the biggest problems I see in high school, college, and professional baseball players is their off season training program. Too often I see these athletes performing the WRONG exercises. Some athletes focus on the “beach muscles” that don’t have any positive effect on performance. Others will only train their “core” and do rotator cuff work. While it is important to train the core and rotator cuff, by no means should they be the meat and potatoes of your program.

Instead of focusing on these exercises that don’t have any positive effect on athletic performance, baseball players should perform compound lifts. These lifts give you the best bang for your buck and help you optimize performance. Once the baseball season approaches, baseball players should start to include more jumps, medicine ball throws and sprints.

Below is a list of my top 10 lifts for baseball players in the off season.

Top 10 Exercises for Baseball Players

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I have a confession to make.

For years, I thought warming up was a joke – a waste of time. DUMB.

Trainers like Guy Razy would come to train with us and show us cool warm-up drills, and I would ignore them. DUMB.

Guys like Coach Mike wrote me emails telling me I needed to improve my flexibility and mobility and I put it off. DUMB.

Smitty and Brad told me how much better they felt after incorporating more of this stuff into their training and I ignored them. DUMB.

It wasn’t until more than a year later when Smitty and Brad actually ran me through a battery of intense warming up that I realized what I was missing. Now I warm-up intensely every single workout.

In addition to warm-up and dynamic flexibility strategies to get ready to WREAK HAVOC, I’ve also found that I respond well to jumping exercises before hitting the weights.

I’ve always loved jumping, but unfortunately my ceiling is too low for me to leap up on top of jump boxes, so that’s out of the question.

But I recently found something just as good. You’ve probably heard them called Kneeling Jumps, but I call them Up Downs.

Up Downs spark the Central Nervous System BIG TIME.

After doing these, I am ready to DROP BOMBS. I feel more aware, more focused, and I have hit several PR’s since including them. I want you to try these out.

How to Perform Up Downs

You may have seen these done differently elsewhere, but this is how I do them. This way actually makes it harder to perform them, causing you to work just a bit harder, focus more deeply, and as a result, pushing you to a better warm-up finisher.

Starting Position:

Kneel down on the gym floor, placing your entire shin flat on the ground, plantar flexing the foot. This position takes your ankles out of the movement and forces you to engage everything else more intensely.

Power Transfer:

It is imperative to get the arms involved in the movement in order to generate the power to get up off the ground and to the landing position. Swing them back to engage a sretch reflex, then fire your leg and glute power to drive yourself upwards.

Recovery Position:

Once airborne, you must pull your feet out from under you to stick the landing. Try to land as quietly as possible to absorb the energy, and get into an athletic position, like a puma ready to pounce on its prey.

Here’s a quick video demo showing some of the stuff I have done to modify Up Downs even more.

If you’re like me and have hated and dreaded warm-up, you should try this out.

Go through some dynamic warm-up and mobility stuff and then finish it off with some Up Downs or something similar to really prime the CNS. I think you’ll be surprised how good you feel.

Try them and let me know what you think. I think you’ll have a KICK-ASS workout setting MONSTER PR’s.

All the best,

Jedd

Strength Cardio

by Rick Walker, CSCS

As a strength athlete, you spend countless hours getting stronger. You focus on squatting more, pressing more, closing bigger grippers, and adding more and more slabs of functional mass. Nothing gets in the way of this and your laser like focus keeps you in the gym and on top of your game. It is just what we, as strength athletes, do.

Allow me for a second to change your thinking. In your quest for betterment under the bar, when was the last time you thought about the most important muscle in your body: Your Heart??

Let’s face it, squatting big rules and nothing beats a huge set of biceps, but if your heart stops working, none of that matters. (more…)

I opened up my YouTube account and checked out my Subscriptions the other day and couldn’t believe what I saw…

Jordan Vezina, RKC, recently uploaded his entire DVD, “The Corrections,” to YouTube.

I have had this DVD in electronic version since it first came out back in like 2008. Jordan is very knowledgeable about correcting technique and I even reviewed it prior to going to the RKC in September.

It’s not everyday that someone uploads an entire DVD on their own accord, especially a good quality one, like Jordan’s.

If you’re new to Kettlebells or if you’ve acquired some bad habits, you may want to check these out.

If you’d like to see what else Jordan has to offer, check out his YouTube Channel, his website, AverageToElite.com, and his blog, StrengthBeyondStrength.com.

Now, check out the various sections of the DVD.

The Corrections DVD – The Swing

The Corrections DVD – The Turkish Get-up

The Corrections DVD – The Goblet Squat

The Corrections DVD – The Clean

The Corrections DVD – The Snatch

Hope you enjoy it. And if you do, make sure you shoot Jordan a note at one of his sites or leave him a comment on his YouTube Channel.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO BATTLING FOREARM PAIN

I am always looking for and trying new ways to prevent and treat forearm discomfort and pain. This is something I have been trying for a while and I am interested in hearing what YOU think, and what you do to prevent and combat forearm pain in your training. Please leave a comment to let us know what you do to stay healthy…For now here is something I have been trying lately. Wondering what your thought are.

We’ve all heard of the acronym R.I.C.E for addressing pain and injury.

R = REST

I = ICE

C = COMPRESSION

E = ELEVATION

As you can see, the first letter, R, stands for REST.

Unfortunately, when your mental stability depends on your ability to get into the gym and hit it hard on a regular basis, REST isn’t always on our list of priorities.

Forearm pain is common for many dedicated strength enthusiasts. Labeled with many different names, including tendonitis, epicondylitis, and others, fixing forearm pain can be just about as hard putting the correct name on it.

I have dealt with this condition over the years, because of my concentration on Grip Strength Feats and competing in Grip Strength Contests. My hands and lower arms take a beating throughout the year.

To my benefit, since so much of my time has been devoted to keeping my lower arms healthy, I have spent a lot of time researching and putting into practice many methods for injury prevention and recovery.

To prevent and recover from nagging forearm pain, I have been using my own R.I.C.E. acronym that is slightly different from the classic one, but has served me very well for most of the nagging conditions that come with intense forearm and grip training.

R – Raise:

Just like Elevation from the classic acronym, I try to keep my arm raised above my heart when injured.

I also especially keep my lower arms off any hard surfaces at all times. If I put my elbow down on a desk or table, I put a towel between my arm and the table. I avoid any kind of undue stress or pressure from things like the edges of tables, doorways, etc. Reducing the amount of external trauma helps you manage the trauma you already have. Sounds crazy, but it makes a difference.

I – Increase Temperature:

I have had ZERO luck with Ice over the years, and Dick Hartzell has been warning that icing injuries doesn’t work since at least 2002, so I go a different routine and do all I can to increase blood flow to the forearms. As a preventive method, I will wear them at the beginning of a workout to get blood in there from the beginning, and if I feel any inflammation coming on, I keep them on when I am not even lifting in order to maintain that increased temperature within the area.

I try not to use them all the time in my workouts because I do not want to become “dependent” on them once the pain is gone. This might just be “in my head” but I’m not sure. My sleeves are loose and are worn to the point that they can really only be useful for increasing temperature and do nothing for aiding lifts.

C – Compression:

If I get pain the forearms, I compress the tendons down, away from the spot of pain. This elongates the area of tissue that rubs with other surfaces and can reduce inflammation in the main spot that is causing pain.

This type of wrap does not have to be expensive or flashy. I use an old velcro wrap when I start to feel my forearm start to ache. If you use this method, don’t wrap so tight that you cut circulation off through the rest of your lower arm. Just wrap it tight enough to change the way the forearm muscles move in your forearm.

E – Extensors:

Far too many people are strong in their flexors but weak in their extensors. This imbalance at the very least will keep you from developing your full potential for strength, while it can also lead to injuries.

I knew this for years, but still neglected my extensors until this year. BAD JEDD!!!

Now, I work extensors every single workout. One of the easiest ways to do this is with rubber bands. I have the IronMind Rubber Bands that I use at my desk, but I keep other rubber bands throughout the house, in the car, and in the gym, so I don’t lose or ruin my IronMind set. The rubber bands I use I got from Staples and are #83 rubber bands.

Just wrap the rubber band around the outside of your fingers and then open them up against the resistance. You should feel the muscles in the back of the forearm working. If not, then open your fingers more.

When I hit these with one rubber band, I go for 50 reps without stopping. When I do it with two rubber bands per hand, i shoot for at least 20 reps without stopping.

This kind of high-rep work is great for blowing the forearms up and flushing the area with blood, especially the spot on the back of the forearm/elbow that gets riddled with pain from lateral epicondylitis.

If you don’t like the idea of hitting Rubber Bands for so many reps, another variation of Rubber Band Extensions I like is the Double Extension. This is done by first extending the fingers against the band and then fully extending the wrist. This heightens the level of contraction in the muscles in the back of the forearm, stimulating them even more intensely. I work this variation in quite often and love it.

First, Extend the Fingers and then Extend the Wrist for the Rubber Band Double Extension

Keeping your lower arms and hands strong and healthy requires a balanced approach between proper strength training and injury prevention in your program.

The things above is just a sampling of what I do to stay healthy for Feats and Contests. I do a lot of other things outside of the gym to prevent issues from occurring and to keep current conditions from worsening, but these are some of the things that you can do that require very little time and money. They are just slightly different from the classic medical approach.

What are some things you do? Leave your comments below.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Want a proven program that will help your forearm and elbow pain? Check out Fixing Elbow Pain by clicking the banner below.

Ultimate Forearm Training Feedback

I recently got a note from a Baseball Player named Noe Saul that sent in this feedback about Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball:

“I have read all the bonuses and those by themselves are amazing products. They really add way more to the program then I expected. And as for the manual, I am completely blown away Jedd… I knew it was an amazing product to begin with but when I began to read the manual it was at a whole new level. I give this an A+ Jedd. Amazing is what I describe this product as. I really like that you have all the exercises so we can mix it up. Can we make our own circuits? Thanks a bunch Jedd this will be put to use right away.”

Noe, thanks a lot for the solid feedback, my friend!

If you haven’t picked up Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball and you are either a player or a coach, you really need to get this thing. Why?

Because it’s a literal Grip Strength Exercise ENCYCLOPEDIA.

This thing has 200 exercises in it using a variety of equipment, including Pinch Plates, Grippers, Fat Bars, Dumbbells, Barbells, Axles, Ropes, Kettlebells, Hubs, Rubber Bands, Sand Buckets, Lever Pinch Devices, and just about every other piece of equipment ever invented for training Grip.

Aside from all that, I also show you a bunch of stuff you can make on your own to train grip with as well. I know a lot of people out there don’t have a huge budget to go out and buy a crapload of Grippers and other specialized Grip training equipment. For that reason I show a bunch of Home Made Grip Training Remedies that you can make from wood, steel, and other stuff you get from the hardware store.

In the feedback above, Noe asks, “Can we make our own circuits?”

The answer is DEFINITELY!

I put together 20 workouts that can be done in their entirety or can be broken up into pieces to meet the time constraints you have in your own workout. Plus, you can pull out any exercise you don’t like or don’t have the equipment for and then plug something else in there that you prefer or DO have the equipment for.

On top of all of that, I also stuck in the book an extensive section on injury prevention and rehab. This includes tools that I have bought and used over the years to recover from injuries I have had, ways to warm-up prior to grip contests, and other things I have done. Believe me – I PUT MY HANDS THROUGH HELL and know how annoying an injury can be in the hands or lower arms, so i packed that section with good solid stuff as well.

You’ll also see that Noe talked about all of the bonuses being good enough to be products on their own. Check out the bonuses included in this unbelievable package:

Loaded Bat Grip Training Guide: I show you how to use loaded bat training to gain grip strength without risking your mechanics.

Tube Ball Grip Training Guide: I show you how to keep your lower arms injury free all season long using simple movements with the Tube Ball. They’re not just for rotator cuffs any more.

Year-Round Strength Training Program Guide: I show you how to set up your year-round training program to match what else is going on in your athletic schedule without risking overtraining and maximizing your results.

Essential Forearm Stretches for Baseball: These are the exercises I do every workout to ward off injuries from my high intensity grip training.

20 Done-for-You Grip and Forearm Workouts: I put together 20 workouts for you so you never get board and can use them to branch off into other good solid workouts.

8-Week Grip Training Program (Video & Print-out): This has been a bonus I have used on several products that has gotten a lot of good feedback over the last couple of years. This comes with a video that demonstrates all of the movements.

Grip Considerations for the Bench Press: Want a big bench? Set yourself apart by doing these simple movements to increase your grip strength and the control you have over the bar. SURPRISE! These movements will translate to baseball as well.

Medicine Ball Training Manual: Smitty put this bonus together a couple years back and it is always popular. You won’t believe the variety of Med Ball exercises Smitty shows you for core power, explosive ability and strength.

This package is loaded with value. There is no risk.

Don’t even think of it as a purchase, consider it an investment in your training going forward. And if you get it and don’t like it, there is a 30-day money back guarantee.

You can get it here = > Forearm Strength Training for Baseball

Thanks again to Noe for that outstanding testimonial. That is why I work so hard on these products so that I can really make a solid impression with you.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Explosive Medicine Ball Training for Speed and Power Development

By: John Cortese

http://CortesePerformance.com

Medicine ball throws are an excellent way to develop explosive power. I learned of these throws a few years ago from the late, world-renown speed coach, Charlie Francis; and world-famous Olympic sprint coach, Dan Pfaff.
CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

Explosive Medicine Ball Training for Speed and Power Development

By: John Cortese

http://CortesePerformance.com
Medicine ball throws are an excellent way to develop explosive power. I learned of these throws a few years ago from the late, world-renown speed coach, Charlie Francis; and world-famous Olympic sprint coach, Dan Pfaff.
CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

Hard to believe another year has gone by and the Annual Juniata Strength Clinic is in the books. It’s always great to see the other regulars. I have become extremely good friends with many of them and look forward to going every year.

Before I get going too far into this, I first want to thank Coach Doug Smith, the Juniata Strength Coach and organizer of the yearly clinic. This is the most cost-effective clinic I know of for the number of CEU’s that are available, and it is my pleasure to present or conduct a hands-on presentation each year.

Unfortunately, I was only able to attend on day of the clinic this year, as my fiancee got pretty darn sick on Friday night. I drove home to take care of her and missed Saturday’s agenda. However, I attended many presentations and hands-on sessions on Friday and I want to go over them here and share with you all some of the highlights the presenters shared.

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I have written many ebooks and produced many DVD’s, but until now I have never worked on my own solo project for a specific sport. Today, I released Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball, so I wanted to tell you all a little bit about it.

Why I Wrote Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball

I played baseball for 15 years in my youth and I love to watch the game. In fact, we just got tickets for a Yankees game in August and I feel like a kid at Christmas time waiting for the day to come. I knew I wanted to write a program for some sport for a long time, but my ever increasing love and obsession with the game of baseball led me toward penning something that would help baseball players.

Recently, I checked around the net to see what information was available on Forearm and Grip Strength training for baseball, and I found that there is a quite a bit of general information out there, but very little good information.

Why I Chose “Forearm Training” instead of “Grip Training”

If you’ve been coming to the Diesel site for a while, you know I talk a lot about training Grip in a lot of my posts, so it would come as no surprise that I would put something together about lower arm and hand training, however, for some it was quite a surprise to see me put something out on Forearm Training. I named it Forearm Training instead of Grip Training, because a lot of the general public still gets confused sometimes about what exactly the word Grip means. The manual is packed with both methods of Forearm Training and Grip Training.

Why is Grip and Forearm Training Important for Baseball?

Baseball is a sport of strength and power. In Baseball, force is often generated by the legs, transferred up through the core and into the torso, and then directed through the ball, bat, or glove. If there is any weakness, pain, or imbalance in the elbow, forearm, wrist, or hands, then the transfer of the power that our body generates can’t be 100% effective.

Baseball Coaches and players have understood the importance of hand and forearm strength for decades, but unfortunately there have been very few good resources available about how to develop this strength. Often the information that is passed down from parents, coaches, and older players is out-dated recycled information, which limits players’ development. Thus the reason people are still doing the same exercises in 2010 that I was doing as a child, high school player, and college player.

Below are many facets of the game that involve the use of the hands.

Hitting: The hands hold and control the bat, taking the bat to where it is supposed to go and transferring all the leg and core power through the bat and into the ball. A neglected aspect of the baseball swing lies in the microscopic adjustments that take place when making the bat hit the moving pitch. This is heavily controlled by the last two fingers of the hand, yet almost nobody targets these important fingers.

Pitching: Pitching involves transferring the power generated by the legs and core throughout the wind-up into the ball by snapping the wrist like the end of a bull whip. Pitching also involves the ability to angle the wrist through varying degrees of rotation and deviation for pitches such as curveballs, sliders, sinkers, and screwballs.

Catching: Catchers themselves have to play a large portion of the game with their mitt held wide open for the pitcher to use as a target. They have to catch balls coming all speeds and angles and have to be able to maneuver their glove quickly, especially for pitches in the dirt. This requires full range of motion.

Tagging: How many times have we experienced or seen on TV a player applying a tag only to see the ball pop out at the last second and no out is recorded? What if you don’t have time to cover up the glove with your off hand? This movement pattern is called pinching and requires specific strategies to train, and the equipment you need is already in your weight room or garage.

Diving: How many times have we seen outfielders dive for a ball only to roll their wrist underneath them and miss half the season or more? With correct lower arm strengthening protocols, we can become more resilient against injury and allow us to bounce back quicker if we do experience an injury of this kind.

Sliding: When you slide there is always a chance to bend a wrist too far back, jam a finger on a bag or shoe, or get stepped on by a cleat. We have to do everything we can to make our hands bullet proof, and this can be done with the short and concise workouts I have already planned for you. Don’t have much equipment? No problem. I have given you hundreds of movements to choose from with many alternatives for the equipment you use.

Unilateral Imbalance: Baseball is loaded with unilateral movement and imbalance. Throwing, Pitching, Non-Switch Hitting, and Catching are all examples of things we do with one side of the body but not the other. This leads to cumulative trauma throughout various parts of our bodies and eventually injury and downtime. This problem is compounded by improper grip training practices. I will show you how to maintain balance in your training with proper exercise selection.

What is in Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball?

Here is an abbreviated Table of Contents of the Manual. This just includes the main sections of the manual.

SPORT-SPECIFIC DEMANDS OF THE LOWER ARMS 29
COMMON INJURIES AND CONDITIONS ASSOC’D WITH BASEBALL 32
HOW THE LOWER ARMS WORK 34
FULL BODY STRENGTH TRAINING 64
CONVENTIONAL GYM EQUIPMENT 72
SPORT SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT 79
HOME MADE GRIP EQUIPMENT 85
CROSS TRAINING TOOLS 97
SPECIALIZED GRIP EQUIPMENT 112
EXERCISE INDEX 132
GRIP & FOREARM ISOLATION 133
GRIP & FOREARM INTEGRATION 246
SPORT SPECIFIC GRIP & FOREARM MOVEMENTS 297
RECOVERY & PREVENTION METHODS 302
RECOVERY & PREVENTION TOOLS 317
RECOVERY & PREVENTION ACTIVITIES 340
RECOVERY & PREVENTION SERVICES 354

What is Grip and Forearm Isolation?

Grip and Forearm Isolation refers to training a specific aspect of grip or forearm training in a way so that the effort is almost completely focused in the lower arm and hand area. For example, an isolation movement for pinch is Block Weight Deadlifts. Even though stability takes place at the shoulder and movement takes place at the waist, hips, and knees, there is not substantial force generated at any area except the hand in pinch gripping and hold the Block Weight in the hand. Other examples of Grip and Forearm Isolation include Gripper Closes and Reverse Wrist Curls.

What is Grip and Forearm Integration?

Grip and Forearm Integration involves working large portions of the body as the principle target of the exercise, yet the Grip or the Forearms still remains a significant limiting factor in being able to complete the movement. An example would Thick Rope Climbing. It takes upper body strength, coordination, and stamina in order to climb a rope and by using a very thick rope, the demand on the grip is increased.

What is Better, Isolation or Integration?

Both types of training are extremely important.

Grip Isolation is necessary for establishing a foundation in the lower arms. By working in Isolation, we can strengthen the individual components of the lower arm and take care of any neglected areas or weaknesses. For instance, a commonly neglected area of the lower arm is the extensor muscles. We can isolate them in order to bring up our weaknesses and re-establish antagonistic balance. Weaknesses in the lower arms might come from an injury such as a broken arm or hand. By isolating, we can direct our attention to a specific area or aspect.

Grip Integration is the next step. Sporting activities generally don’t involve isolated sections of the body. Instead, the body works together

By working Grip Integration in our strength training, we are working our bodies in a more sport-specific way. Also, by performing Grip Integration movements, the hands and forearms have the potential to move and generate force over a wider path of movement. This can be seen in many varieties of Swings and Cleans using Grip-intensive equipment such as Thick Bar Dumbbells, and with Thick Rope Training, such as sled pulls.

What if I Don’t Play Baseball? Is this Manual any Good to Me?

I wrote this manual as a way for the baseball player, coach or parent to gain a better understanding of lower arm training and how to turn it into improved performance on the field. The members of the Diesel Universe may have a better understanding of these concepts because they have been coming here for years, but the Exercise Index in the manual is HUGE – 200 pages – and there is still a tremendous amount of information in the manual that has never been covered before here on the site, especially along the lines of preventive measures for the lower arms. I cover Injury Prevention and Recovery Methods in detail, coming from what I have researched over the years and what I have used to battle my own lower arm, hand and thumb problems.

To wrap it all up, this manual is huge and jam packed with information on lower arm training. I am very happy with how it turned out and think it is going to be an important resource for years to come for baseball players and participants in other sports as well.

You check it out here = > Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball

Thanks for your support and all the best in your training.

-Jedd-

Hey everybody. I hope you are doing well.

Just a quick video for you regarding a project I have been working very hard on for the last couple of months…

Forearm Training for Baseball < = = Free video on Grip Strength for Baseball.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for the video, or if you know someone who might benefit from this information, please forward it on.

Thanks,

-Jedd-

How to Bend Nails | How to Tear Cards | Feats of Grip Strength Explained | How to Build Your Own Equipment | How to Lift Atlas Stones | The Sh*t You’ve Never Seen | Sled Dragging for Athletes | The Road to the Record DVD

Smitty and I have participated at the NSCA’s PA Strength and Conditioning Clinic at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA for several years now.

We have done speaking presentations on Grip Strength, the Core Training, On-line Marketing, Chaos Theory and many other topics.

CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

Hey, before you get too far into this post, make sure you add me as a friend on Facebook.
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My nightly shift with my little girl usually allows me to watch a few innings of Yankees Baseball replays.

The more baseball I watch this Spring, the more it makes me want to suit back up and try my hand at it.

Some of you may not know this, but baseball was a major part of my life from the time I was a child all the way until I was in college.

A Skinny Jedd Johnson Pitching at MU (1998)

I excelled in High School and enjoyed two years of play at Division II Mansfield University. That is where I learned the most about the game both from the head coach and the other players.
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Bat speed, long ball power, and bat control are three aspects of batting over which you can have better command with increased forearm strength.

In order to train your forearms to turn them into bat thrashing and ball flattening power generators, you’ve got to hit them from a variety of angles.

CHECK OUT THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

DEMOLITION CLUB

A couple of weeks back, I put up a post introducing the Demolition Club. If you missed it, it’s right here = = >>What is the Demolition Club?

I have been experimenting with club and mace swinging for quite some time and recently I got the idea to have a buddy of mine put a handle on the giant artillery shell I had collecting dust for years.

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Stronger Grip Mace / Core Club

Since putting up the post last week about the Stronger Grip Mace and Core Clubs being available here, I have had some readers ask me about how to perform mace swings with them.

It seems like many people are making this movement more difficult than it should be…

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I want to CHANGE stuff up today!

I’m going to throw out a post that’s a little bit different from what you’re used to at Diesel and then I want your opinion on the subject by leaving a comment below.

Here at Diesel, you’ve seen tons of stuff on feats of grip strength. We’ve discussed MMA training and fighting, and building strong muscle.

Today, I would like to write about something a little different and then put out some questions to you and I’d like to see what you all think.

As you may or may not know, I love the New York Yankees. (more…)