Random Ramblings from Jedd
Please read this post and put in your thoughts / comments in the comment box below…
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. (more…)
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.
I can’t hold back any longer! I am here to expose the Matrix.
Have you ever seen Keanu Reeves? Yes, he rides a motorcycle. Yes he has a band. And yes, he has a very substantial beard. I mean he could either be the 4th dude from ZZ Top, or rent the space in his beard for a butterfly or sparrow retreat.
