Posted on February 8th, 2010 by Luka Hocevar
I’m in my defensive stance driving the shooting guard to the left as it’s his weak side. My eye is on his waist so that I don’t lose focus of where his body is really going. I take a step back in anticipation of his drive but none the less the guard hesitates and blows by me.
One of the most frustrating feelings you can have as a basketball player.
Or how about the one where you get shut down by a defender because you’re always getting beat to the spot?
When I had those things happen to me, my frustrations would drive me to train harder and stay after practice to play defense on the best scorers on the pro team (I was on the junior team at the time). It made me better on defense because I got better at reading the offensive players. But I didn’t get quicker and still couldn’t beat some of the players to the spot.
Still frustrated, it led me to reading and studying speed, agility and quickness training (and anything else that would improve it) from every resource I could get including going to Olympic track and field coaches and training with them. I believe that’s when my passion for training really begun (I had a purpose!), the first step to becoming a strength coach, even though it would still be a long time before my basketball career ended. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: agility, basketball, explosiveness, gym, program, quickness, seattle, speed, strength training, vertical jump
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Posted on January 25th, 2010 by Luka Hocevar
Complexes. Created by Istavn Javorek in the 70’s, a former Romanian weight lifting coach who later brought the concepts to the U.S.
Love and hate.
I relate the former to the latter. I love the results that the complexes get me and my athletes/clients, but I hate thinking about doing them and waiting to pick up the barbell before my set is about to begin. They are probably one of the toughest things you can do when it comes to training/conditioning. If you don’t agree with me then please try a set of this barbell complex with 115 lbs on the bar (you should also focus on speed of movement as well as form and get through it under 1:30 minutes). Go for 3 sets with a 90 second break: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: athlete, cardio, complex, fat loss, kettlebell, loaded conditioning, personal training, renton, seattle, strength training, training barbell
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Posted on January 17th, 2010 by Luka Hocevar
Since I’m quoting Dave Tate, it would be wrong not to write the original: “passion fucking trumps everything!”
Honestly, the sentence should have held true in 2009, the year before that, and the year before that…..you know where I’m going with this…..it should hold true for every day of your life!
Even better I think the combination of passion and purpose trump everything.
I would like to believe that I follow that everyday, doing what I do because of passion and purpose. At the same time I cannot lie that sometimes life can take you of track and get your priorities mixed up. It has happened to me before and it still happens when there is a lot of things going on at once and the stress builds up. When it does, it helps when you get inspired and reminded what you are doing.
This Christmas I got reminded by someone I didn’t expect….. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: athletic performance, passionate personal trainer, personal training, renton, seattle, strength coach, underground gym
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Posted on December 11th, 2009 by Luka Hocevar
Wow, its been a long time coming…….long, long time……but WELCOME!
First I have to apologize for being MIA for so long and even though I have had a ton going on, there really isn’t any excuse for not providing you great information all this time. I hope you accept my deepest apologies. Really. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: boot camp, hocevar performance, new website, personal trainer, personal training, renton, seattle, strength training, underground gym
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Posted on August 20th, 2009 by Luka Hocevar
As you may know I love implementing kettlebell training into my athletes training programs as well as all my other clients training. I have done that because of a couple of reasons:
1. They work!
2. The training is versatile and fun (well, I call it fun).
3. They work!
I have been using kettlebells for almost 7 years now and there was a time where I trained exclusively with kettlebells while getting some of my greatest gains in strength and performance. I became an RKC (Russian Kettlebell Instructor) around 3 years ago and my team leader at the time was Kenneth Jay.
Kenneth is unique in the fact that he walks the walk, as you can see from some of his feats of strength (wait till the part where the senior instructors show their skills, you can even spot me in te vid)while also having an incredible knowledge base and staying in the trenches training Olympic and elite athletes as well as many others. His new book Viking Warrior Conditioning is an incredible resource on V02 max training and building a unstoppable conditioning machine. I have used the protocols for fat loss training and we’ve had some pretty crazy results.
You will be happy to hear that Hocevar Performance and Kettlebility are hosting Kenneth Jay for a 1 day workshop on The Quickest Way To Achieve Fat Loss and Forge a Heart Of Steel (the V02 max protocols). Kenneth will also be covering some of his insights on program design (this cannot be missed!). The workshop will take place at downtown Seattle Xplore Fitness.
We are really going all out with some of the bonuses (an extra workshop?) and spots are filling up fast, we have 12 8 spaces left. To check out all the information about the workshop, go over to http://www.kettlebility.com/content/workshops
Tags: conditioning, fat loss training, kenneth jay, kettlebell training, kettlebell workshop, seattle, viking warrior
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Posted on August 10th, 2009 by Luka Hocevar
I know many of you remember that one workout (maybe it there was more than one), even if it was 10 years ago, when you gave it everything you had and you threw up heavier shit than you ever though possible and you did it faster than ever.
As Dan John states in his book Never Let Go, out of five training sessions one will be great, one will suck, and three will be the trainings that you get in, get it done and get out. Every once in a while though you will have “that” training session where you just got nuts and it you couldn’t repeat it if you tried a hundred times. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: athlete training, hardcore training, personal trainer seattle, renton, seattle strength coach, sports performance, strongman training, underground strength gym seattle
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Posted on August 9th, 2009 by Luka Hocevar
Last week I was at the Perform Better Summit in Long Beach as I make it one of my goals to continuously get better at my craft whether from a training or a business standpoint. I attend the PB Summit every year because it is the most information packed weekend when it comes to new and relevant fitness, performance enhancement, rehab, fitness business etc. information and most importantly networking.
The biggest downside to the event is having to choose who you are going to see as there are overlapping lectures and hands on sessions! I don’t think that’s too bad of a downside.
So why am I bringing up the question “Are you still learning?” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: atlanta hawks strength and conditioning, basketball training, fitness experts, perform better summit
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Posted on August 5th, 2009 by Luka Hocevar
If the answer to that question is no, then my question is why the hell not?!
Training outside in nature is not only refreshing, it also changes the pace of workouts and takes you back to nature. I will train outdoors not only to get a change from always being in the gym but it’s a mix of hard training and relaxation. I can’t explain the feeling I get after going through a hard workout on the beach or on the trails. Afterwards I’ll just sit there and relax and think about things and because my mind is so clear it’s when I come up with some of my best ideas. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: beach workout, kettlebell training, outdoor, personal trainer, personal training, seattle, training, workout
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Posted on August 4th, 2009 by Luka Hocevar
I just came back from the Perform Better Summit last night and I can’t say how much of a great experience and incredible event they put on again. Chris Poirier and the crew do it every time!
I’m going to be posting my favorite lectures and have a more thorough review of the Summit later on…..but in the meantime I would like to leave you with a question (and answers) that came up in the Q & A part of the Summit that was related to what the lecturers thought about Crossfit.
Needless to say I had to pull the flipcam out! You are going ot have to turn up the volume but it will be well worth it. Dos has the funniest answer of all time, that s@*t still cracks me up! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: crossfit, fitness seminars, gray cook, mike boyle, perform better summit, personal trainer, personal training, robert dos remedios, seattle, training
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Posted on July 23rd, 2009 by Luka Hocevar
It’s getting real busy at Hocevar Performance and I tend to train a little too long, I must confess. The situation leaves me only so much time to take care of all the other things I need to, such as keeping this blog as interesting as possible. So much for all the time management books I’ve read!
Here are some thoughts and updates that will be extremely random, yet I hope you get something out of them, even if it’s just a good laugh (I guarantee that one!) Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: conditioning, kenneth jay, kettlebell workshop, personal trainer, rkc instructor, seattle, underground strength gym, viking warrior
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