I’m here to tell you Sasquatch is REAL!

You better believe it.

I mean think about it.  Do you actually think that some (out of work crazy old men) hunters would actually make it up that they saw something incredible and lie about seeing Sasquatch (just to make their own miserable lives exciting)?

Don’t miss this post!
Well, you just don’t believe in humanity then.  These (flannel wearers) men wouldn’t put their reputation and integrity on the line and make fake footprints (with a fake molded gigantic foot) just for some fleeting notoriety?

I mean, can you deny these photos?

If you tell me Sasquatch is NOT real, what’s next?  The Easter Bunny?  Spandex isn’t cool?  Mentos isn’t the fresh maker?

Well, the reason I know Sasquatch is real is that I’ve seen something even rarer than a Yeti sighting – a legit squat from a highschool athlete.

The Building of the High School Athlete

“A boy comes to me with a spark of interest and it becomes a flame. I feed the flame and it becomes a fire. I feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze.” Cus D’Amato

Do you remember that feeling when one of your athletes hit that first 135 lb squat or that 225 lb bench press or whatever PR they were going for?  That overwhelming sense of pride?

I’d love to have to feeling every minute of every day.  For some reason you think back about the time YOU hit a PR.  You are so happy for them and excited for them because you know how it feels.  Also, you were part of this small victory.

Mike, one of my athletes, is coming into his senior year.  Wrestling season is starting soon and he is testing out of his strength phase.  We are moving into the pre-season conditioning and speed phase.

I took Mike from a spark, that first day he come to train, to a flame.

He started with the barbell when his friends were in the highschool weightroom with too much weight and too little range of motion.

He started with little kettlebells when no one around here knows what kettlebells are.

I always told him, “Form, form, form” and the weight will come.  When I got Mike he was lean but weak.

He was not only weak, he was dedicated…and that is all you need.

Mike has recently hit in the gym:

Full Squat:  315 lbs

Front Squat:  265 lbs

Sumo Dead:  405 lbs

Bench Press:  255 lbs

Double 65 lb Kettlebell Clean & Press for 3 reps

5 x 10 Thick Grip Pull-ups

The music in the video is from Try.Fail.Repeat, they’re AWESOME!  Go to their site and buy all of their music!

The Program

Top 10 Tips for Athletic Strength Training Programs

1.  Start With No weight, Work on Form. As a coach, watch EVERTHING!  The breathing, posture, the stability, the movement, the balance, their feedback.  It is that important.  Break them down and rebuild them.

2.  Again, FORM is King. Chaos can be trained but this is in addition to fixed, linear strength training movements.  Fix their form, fix their posture.  Do not push the weight, push the discipline.

3.  Include Everything and Include NOTHING. There are kettlebells, dbs, barbells, chains, bands, sandbags, tires, thick ropes and about 1000 other freaking “tools”.  Use them all!  But, there are times when you should NOT use any tools, ie. go back to bodyweight training.  That is a very real, very important and very productive form of training.

4.  Where are the Compensations. Watch them with eagle eyes.  Is one arm lagging, do they push to the side when squatting, is their running mechanics off, how do they land from a jump?  Remember, you can see compensations when they use barbells, but you will see completely different compensations when they use db’s or even bodyweight.

5.  Be Like Water.

I’m not talking about static stretching.  I’m not talking about dynamic stretching.  I’m not talking about conventional, linear mobility movements & patterns.  I’m talking about flow. When you put tension (load) on the body, it tightens to overcome (or be overcome) by this tension.  Put this on top of crappy form and short range of motion exercises, YOU WILL LOCK THE ATHLETE UP.  The tension must be released and movement must be enhanced and promoted.  Think moving like an animal.  This is the biggest revelation I’ve had in the last year.

6.  There is no Perfect Program. Remember that.  As the athlete changes, so too does the workout AND the program.  You must change the workout real-time (according to their feedback, recovery and your observations) and you must change the program as the athlete evolves.  As they develop, as they fail.  All programs work up until a point.  It all adheres to the SAID principle.  Put the body on a “new” volume, a “new” exercise or a “new” program and there will be a compensation to overcome this stimuli. The program must be reactive and progressive.

7.  Full Range of Motion. Use the tools through a full range of motion.  Full squats, pressing with the bar touching your chest, pull-ups to the chest,  lunges from a deficit, and so on…  Google Law of Repetitive Motion.

8.  Talk, Call, Email, Twitter (I hate myself) Other Trainers. You have to keep learning, you have to keep asking questions, you have to NEVER BE SATISFIED WITH YOUR CURRENT LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITY TO HELP MAKE THE ATHLETE BETTER.  As soon as you quit, I will beat you.  Because I’m f*cking relentless, because I am never satisfied.  I want to learn.

9. Teach While You Train. Do NOT put the athlete on an exercise unless they know why they are doing it.  If they know WHY, then they will do it with purpose.  And if you don’t know why you are making them do it, then don’t make them do it.  If you want them to do it and it has a purpose, but they can’t do it – then regress the exercise.  Because there is always a way and there is a progression and regression to all exercises.

10.  Live Every Minute of Your Life. Hey, it is going to be over soon, you better be good to people, you better love your family and friends with the red hot intensity of 1000 suns and you better give to others when no one is looking.

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under accelerated muscular development, strength training muscle building workouts, strength training powerlifting, strength training to improve athletic performance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.