Diesel Crew - Muscle Building, Athletic Development, Strength Training, Grip Strength » strength and conditioning

RKC Board of Advisors

Jedd Johnson — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:17:04 +0000

I’ve got some pretty cool news to share with you today…

Smitty and I were recently named to a newly formed Board of Advisors within the RKC. I’m not exactly sure what all we will be called upon to do, as I don’t think there is a set agenda. However, I may call on you all in the Diesel Universe from time to time to get your opinion on some things.

Here is an excerpt from the April Dragondoor Newsletter in which the Board of Advisors was announced:

To make RKC even better we have formed the RKC Board of Advisors. A small number of accomplished RKCs from a variety of backgrounds, each with his or her own special talents, education, and experience will serve on the board for two years. Welcome to our board:”

This is very exiting, and I wish to express my sincere appreciation to everyone at Dragondoor for my selection to this group. I look forward to assisting and contributing however I can.

In addition to being mentioned on this board, one of my articles was also featured in this issue: Testing Radiant Tension Variations for Increased Performance in the Kettlebell Press.

This ability to manage tension is something I told my guys at The Grip Authority about a few months back, because I felt that it could also be of good use for applying it to Gripper Closes and other one-handed means of grip strength training.

Chin Strap Beard – CHECK

Look for more posts on Kettlebell Training down the line. I have some other stuff I have been kicking around in my head for future article ideas. It’s about time to get them onto “paper” so that they aren’t taking up so much space in my cluttered mind.

As always, if you have any questions on kettlebell training methods, leave a comment below and I will try to address them either in a video on my YouTube Channel, or an article here at my strength training site.

Again, as much as I love Grip Training, that ain’t all I love. I want to bring you all the information you want to know about, but in order to that, you have to tell me…so PLEASE DO!!!

Until then, all the best in your training.

Jedd

P.S. Have you check out our Advanced Kettlebell Training eBooks? If not, see below…

Sign up for the NEW DIESEL Strength and Fitness Newsletter
& receive an Exclusive Interview I conducted with World Record Powerlifter AJ Roberts.
In this interview, we discuss the concepts of the Westside Method
as well as AJ’s Mental Approach toward producing these World Record Numbers.
It truly is a look into the MIND OF A CHAMPION!

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Iron Masters Recognition – LTC Nathen Acree Jr

Jedd Johnson — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:51:29 +0000

Diesel Iron Masters

With Independence Day being here, today’s Iron Masters recognition comes at a perfect time.

Today we meet LTC Nathen Acree Jr, who retired from the Army in 1995 and was recently recalled at age 59.

LTC Nathen Acree Jr

The nomination for LTC Nathen Acree Jr was sent in by his son, Austin Acree.
CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP
Austin shared a great story about his dad. Check it out:

Iron Master

lifting since the 70′s

In 2005 when I was 14 I needed a kidney transplant, my father wanted to donate his kidney but the doctor said he was too old and his cholesterol was too high. So he went back to working out running 3 miles everyday and began weightlifting again. He was 55 at the time.

After 3 months of this intense training he had lost over 30 lbs. and significantly lowered his cholesterol. Long story short he was able to donate one of his kidneys and I’m alive today because of it.

Since this time he has had to deal with skin cancer and other health issues, but he hasn’t slacked. He has also been recalled to serve in the army at 59. Now he gets up at 3 AM to go run his 3 miles and lift weights with his fellow troops.

He may not win any lifting contests, but he’s the world’s strongest man to me.”

As you can see, another great story from the Diesel Universe. Thanks so much for sharing this story with us, Austin and to LTC Nathen Acree Jr, thank you so much for service for our country. I am proud to put this story up on the Diesel site. I wish you both nothing but the best in your health and training.

If you would like to nominate someone you know for Diesel Iron Masters, send me an email at jedd(dot)diesel(at)gmail(dot)com. Tell me about the person your recognizing and shoot me a picture so we can see who they are.

For more information on the program, go here = > Iron Master

-Jedd-

P.S. Subscribe to my YouTube channel: Jedd on YouTube

Complex Training for Elite MMA Athletes

Jedd Johnson — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:00:14 +0000

COMPLEX TRAINING

Guest Blog Post from Franklin Joyner, Triumph Athletics

The beauty of complex training (CT) is that it’s simple and it works. CT is the blending of strength and speed. In essence, CT is nothing more than a ME exercise immediately followed by a DE exercise. This is an enormously effective style of training. To better understand why it is so effective we will first need to look at the science behind CT.

The Science Behind Complex Training

The Maximum Effort

Every muscle within the human body acts on a specific principle called the All or Nothing Principle. The muscle as a whole can produce varying levels of force, but an individual fiber is only capable of producing its own amount of force. If more force is required, then more fibers are recruited. The key is that when a muscle fiber is innervated by the central nervous system, the fiber is totally and completely activated. There is no varying degree of activation. It is all or nothing.

The Size Principle demands that small/slow Type I fibers are recruited first and as more force is required bigger/faster Type II fibers are recruited to complete the effort. Thus, muscle fiber recruitment is regulated by required force. In the unfatigued muscle, a sufficient number of muscle fibers will be recruited to supply the desired force. Initially, desired force may be accomplished with little or no involvement of Type II fast motor units. However, as slow units become fatigued and fail to produce force, fast units will be recruited as the CNS attempts to maintain desired force production by recruiting more muscle fibers. Consequently, the same force production in fatigued muscle will require a greater number of muscle fibers. This additional recruitment brings in fast, but more quickly fatigued fibers. In layman’s terms, if you want to lift a lot of weight you must teach your CNS to become proficient at innervating the biggest/fastest fibers. The best way to do this is by lifting near maximum weight. This is the primary goal of the ME exercise.

The Dynamic Effort

Dynamic effort is best defined as lifting a non-maximal load with the greatest speed possible. Some examples of DE training are plyometrics, Olympic lifting, and shock training. DE training is important for one main reason: The Recruitment Principle.

The Recruitment Principle holds that the CNS can be trained to bypass the Size Principle and selectively recruit Type II fibers immediately rather than getting them involved only after the entire pool of Type I fibers have been innervated. This is extremely important in sports because of the need for immediate force production. Examples are a vertical jump, swinging a bat, throwing a punch, or even producing velocity on a fastball. DE’s are how the CNS learns to produce immediate maximum force. The reason we do the ME before the DE is Post-Activation Potentiation.

Post-Activation Potentiation

The underlying principle surrounding Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP) is that maximum efforts induce a high degree of CNS stimulation, resulting in greater muscle fiber recruitment and force. Thus, you can produce a greater DE after your CNS has been “super stimulated” by the preceding ME.

Practical Application of Complex Training

CT can be scaled for use at any time in a program. We use this type of training most often as a transition between a strength/hypertrophy block and a specialization block. We increase the number and frequency of DE’s in our programs as we progress toward the specialization block (in season). As a result this is a great way to keep strength levels high while being able to incorporate more DE’s.

CT also provides a big bang for the buck for in season training. Because of time constraints during the season, athletes will often have time for only one or two sessions each week. CT allows athletes a time efficient means to maintain both absolute strength and explosiveness throughout the duration of the season. Below is a sample two day program using complexes for in season football players.

Day 1 (Lower)

Squat/BB squat jump 6 x 3/5
DB Lunge/split squat jump 2 x 5/3
Lateral Lunge/lateral bounds 2 x 5/3
GHR 2 x 10

Day 2 (Upper)

Bench/clapping push up 5 x 3/5
Pull up/DE sled row 3 x 5/5
Hang clean & press or jammer 2-3 x 3-5

In the video below I will demonstrate various complexes for all movement planes.

The Premier MMA Training Bible – Blunt Force Trauma

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