Looking to reaching new heights in 2011...

In my last post I talked about a “checklist” of how to go about setting goals. This time I will share some of the goals that I have set in the training/athletic category (this will touch on lifestyle as well) and also some of my professional goals.

I’m definitely not the master of goal setting and I have become better at practicing what I preach by writing my goals out and sharing them with as many people as possible so that I am subconsciously held more accountable. I will also print out all my goals and put them in a couple of very visible places so they smack me in the face every time I start slacking off.

I’ll break this post down into two categories, my athletic/training (as well as some lifestyle) goals will come first and then I will touch on some of my professional goals.

TRAINING/ATHLETIC GOALS

For training if I have to some it up in one sentence….I will become this guy…..

My after picture

BUT to do that there is going to be quite a bit of work. As I have mentioned, in the past 1-2 years I have let nagging injuries turn into some pretty serious issues that I need to fix (Note: this became very clear at Mike Robertson‘s Rehabbing The Low Back and Knee Seminar). Even though I have been training diligently around my troubles and working on them (even setting some PR’s in the process), it is obvious I need to take 1 step back to take 3 steps forward. So here is how I have set out my goals for the following year:

Phase I: Corrective emphasis

In this phase I am going to focus on getting rid of my weaknesses and restrictions as it is the most important thing for me right now to be able to achieve my athletic goals and stay injury free. In this area I have sought the help of a super smart performance coach and fellow Elite Mastermind member Mike Robertson to design me a program and keep me accountable (as well as see the things that I can’t see on myself). I can definitely say that even though I am great at program design for Hocevar Performance clients, I am not the best person to design my own programs because I am not objective at all, and the hard headedness does not help either (this is what usually make me push myself beyond the limit).

This doesn’t mean I will not train hard or that I will get super weak but my goal here is to maintain my strength and performance but acknowledging that great movement and correcting weak links comes first even if I have to suck up some loss of lbs on my lifts, etc.

Phase II: Getting strong as a mofo!

I wouldn’t consider myself anywhere near weak but I have this weird standards that resemble what that green guy above in the picture can do. I will post my current bests in the lifts I want to improve (some tested currently and some a while back). This may not even be a 2011 goal but it is a goal I strive for and I have broken it down to smaller goals for months to come after my corrective phase (bold numbers are my goal number, regular font are my current numbers – within the last 3 months):

Bench 335 lbs               375 lbs

Deadlift  (straight bar) 475 lbs               550 lbs

Trap Bar Deadlift 505 lbs               600 lbs

Front Squat 325 lbs               375 lbs

Chin Up + 135 lbs x 2         + 150 lbs x 3

I hit my PR for Sumo DL’s on this day

Like I said, some of those goals reach beyond 2011 but they are set and I have also broke them down into smaller increments in the coming year. There are also some other training numbers I have set out for myself but let me not go into too much overkill here.

Phase III: Specific Sports Performance

This is where I am going to focus on reaching some goals that have I put on the back burner for a while but I’m really motivated to achieve them now that I’m getting closer to my 30th birthday. It’s pretty much my way of saying I’m still a beast and can smash on these 20 year olds, especially on the court. So here it is:

Vertical Jump: 40 inches

40 Yard Dash:   4.4

Pretty good before I started having some nagging injuries

Even though I’m shooting for those numbers, I’m also going to work to get to the peak of my on court athleticism as far as change of direction, speed of jumping, etc. This also has some correlation to some of my professional goals which you will hear about later.

Here are some other goals that are just as important that fit into the athletic/training/lifestyle field:

1). My nutrition. I’m starting the year of with testing out a new nutritional protocol that is going to be put together by another fellow Elite Mastermind member Tyler English, with the focus of getting me down to between 7-8% body fat and maintaining as much of my muscle mass.

Otherwise I will continue to improve my nutritional lifestyle which has overall been very good apart from some things sneaking in these past 3 months (protein bars, energy drinks,…). I’m a big proponent of the Precision Nutrition 90/10 rule but I’m always looking for new ways to improve nutrition that will help my performance, body composition as well as overall health, feeling and well being.

2). Start playing basketball 1-2x a week. This is something I really miss and I have been sporadic with it at best. I’m going to start 1x a week at the beginning of the year when the gym will be super busy and we have more projects and pick it up to 2x a week as the year goes along.

3). More activities in the great outdoors. I am very active as far as being outside and doing things but I miss combining challenges and the great outdoors so I will dedicate more of my time to hiking and weekend or day trips that include physical activities. It is something that I did quite a lot when I was living in Europe and seemed to drop off a bit when I moved to Seattle even though there are so many places to go and be active around here.

I’m also going to focus on getting 5 weekly walks around the park where we live. This is not only to relax my mind but it’s also where I come up with a lot of creative ideas.

4). Getting 7 hours of sleep a night. This may be the hardest but one of the most important for me. For everyone who knows me, you know this is lacking. There isn’t many things more important than sleep and when I get enough I’m always more productive and my mind is clearer. I tend to be a workaholic and night owl BUT I have improved in the last 3 months and will continue to do so. Not only will I work on getting more sleep, I will also make sure I’m getting to bed earlier (sleep before midnight is much more restful than sleep after midnight!)

That being said, sleep is more important than anything else I mentioned above and it’s they key to aging gracefully, maintaining hormonal balance, and having a really high quality of life.

These are the main things I will be focusing on in the area of , although I broke some of them down more specifically on my own goal setting sheet (the more specific the better).

PROFESSIONAL GOALS

At the end of the year I always look back and try to be as honest with myself as I can when it comes to:

- Things I did real good on and my strong areas (which is what you should constantly be in the forefront)

- The things I need to work on and address

- The things I would be better off cutting out or reducing my time spent on them

- The things I need to spend more time on because they are helping me reach my personal goals faster

This will help me get to the “meat and potatoes” of what needs to go and what I need more off. I am working towards minimalism and the things that produce the most positive affect in my life and career (minimalism is definitely hard for me).

Although it is hard to separate many of the goals I have set for myself apart from my expectations and goals for Hocevar Performance and the Renton Results Boot Camp, I will try to stick to my personal professional goals.

1). The expansion of Hocevar Performance (2.0)

I had to throw it in there because it is the biggest part of everything I do and my number one passion professionaly. The expansion and the move to a new space has been delayed because of some unfortunate situations but it is still the the number one task on my list and something I am working towards full throttle. This will open a lot of new doors for myself as well as the Hocevar Performance Team and most importantly it will allow us to not only better serve our clients but also affect many more people in the most positive way by expanding our programs.

My goal is to have a lease signed by the beginning of February. This has been a long time coming but without deadlines there is no accountability.

2). Seminars and presentations.

This past year I did two seminars/workshops with one being in Slovenia, Europe.

I really enjoy public speaking and I feel like I can relay things so much better when I am able to present my thoughts in front of people rather than in writing. I always like the interaction and seeing how much people get out of the seminars/workshops, especially when I can do hands on demonstrations and address what I am talking about.

Much of the speaking that I am doing in Europe is to fitness professionals which gives me a chance to influence so many more people. If I can help a trainer learn some new methods that they can apply when training their clients and getting them better results, rather than affecting just them I have also affected the people that they will train.

My goal for 2011 is to do three one day seminars, as well as multiple 3-4 hour workshops for our current members.

Hands on with 17 fitness professionals

3). Blogging and articles

In the coming months one of the projects that is high on my to do list is creating another blog site that will be specifically mine separate from the Hocevar Performance blog. The current HP blog will still have high quality content related to performance, training, nutrition, etc. as well as content related to the Renton Results Boot Camp, while my personal blog will be dedicated to fitness, performance training, mindset and self development as well as business building tips, travel, investments, and anything else I feel like talking about.

I will make sure that it is a top level blog that delivers real world information and not some b.s. I’m making up, or something I’ve heard and never done. Part of the reason I am doing it now is because I didn’t feel like I could talk about certain things before (I didn’t walk the walk). One thing I will never do is just sit behind the computer and not be in the trenches doing what I write about.

4). Information Products

The gym is and has been a priority and I am slowly systemizing things as well as having the most incredible team at Hocevar Performance that does a great job and helps me feel relaxed when I leave things in their hands. This will allow me to start working on my first information product within the next 4 months.

This is another area where I can reach a much larger audience and help many more people than I do on a day to day basis at the gym.

I will give you more details on this project sometime soon.

5). Continuing education

This has been high on my list all throughout the years and with Hocevar Performance growing I have been able to invest even more into my education. In 2010 I attended 10 different conference, seminar, workshops or masterminds either relating to training, nutrition or business. These ranged from across the U.S. to Europe and Canada.

In 2011 I will continue to take my education to the next level and attend an even amount of training (or rehab) and business seminars as well as be a member of the top coaching masterminds in fitness. I already have some events that I have circled the dates to attend:

- Chris McCombs Vegas Mastermind

- Elite Mastermind (Pat Rigsby) in Louisvlle

- Perform Better 3 Day Functional Training Summit in Long Beach

- Fitness Business Summit in Anaheim

- Bootcamp Bootcamp Conference in Louisville

- 1 Day Perform Better in Seattle

- Highline CC’s 1 Day Seminar

I’m sure I will be at others once I find out what all is ahead, as well as visiting a couple of top gyms around the country and hanging out to learn as much as possible from some of the top coaches in the world. This way I can combine my love of learning and traveling.

I’m also committing to watching one educational DVD a week and reading 50+ books this year.

In other words, I should never be bored.

WRAP UP

Quite a few goals for 2011, especially since there are other I didn’t list and I think everyone should also work on:

- Financial

- Home

- Personal Development

- Lifestyle/Social/Family

Let me know if there is something you would like to see more of on this (or my personal blog that is coming soon)?

Have you set your goals for 2011?

Let me hear them and if you haven’t set them yet then get to it!

I’ve always been a big fan of mixed martial arts and even though basketball was my favorite sport and the one I ended up pursuing, I grew up taking judo, kickboxing and karate for years.

Apart from liking the arts, I also did it because I wanted to be a bad ass. I actually ended up getting into way too much shit where I thought I could use my skills. (Not recommended.)

Things have come full circle and not only have I picked up MMA training again but I also train quite a few MMA fighters and wrestlers. I’ve learned from some of the top MMA…  Read more

Some of the exercises are specificand I will use them with different athletes (ex. rope chin up position leg raises will be used with some MMA fighters, as will the KB rotations). The Turkish Get Up can be used by most people even though I would choose to load it differently depending on the level of the athlete. We will start with just the bodyweight movement and then go change it up with KB’s, sandbags, barbells, DB’s.

Watch out for the splinters in the rope! Nylon works better believe me…

Sandbag Turkish Get Up

This will also give you tough forearms from the beating!

KB helicopters

The last one is really me trying some things out that I had learned from Steve Cotter and it really is one of the toughest resisting rotation exercises you can do for the trunk. Definitely wouldn’t use it with the majority of people but would modify it and stay stationary and do it with a tornado medicine ball.

Sometimes I will experiment a little on my recovery days…….or maybe its just because its late night and I’m going nuts!

Do you think you have a strong trunk?  

What can I do with a group of basketball players (14 – 18 years) for strength training when I do not have any equipment or a facility other than a basketball court? I also need to point out that we have around an hour and a half where the majority of the time is going to be used for skill training and playing.

First of I’m glad that you realize the importance of a strength training program/implementation for basketball players as it seems that many players are constantly playing year round, working on their skills and not paying much attention to true strength, speed, power training and also working on fixing imbalances.

I know how it is to not have a strength training facility and no equipment but that definitely doesn’t mean we should just skip the strength training! Before I give the last alternative, I think that it would be great to invest into some kettlebells, weighted vests,  medicine balls, a jungle gym, bands and a chin up bar (most basketball gyms actually have some place where you can do chin ups).

 If none of this is available then bodyweight would be used for all the exercises whether static or dynamic. I am going to write an example of a training session that includes a dynamic warm up, mobility, rate of force development training, strength. It is really important that you pay attention to form on some of the movements so that the players develop good habits and train the right movements and activate the right muscles.     

Dynamic Mobilty

Dynamic Warm Up/Mobility: Leg Swings (forward/back, side/side), Static Lunges, Lateral Lunges, Low Skipping, High Skipping, Cariocas, Butt Kicks, Inchworms, Static Hip Flexor Stretch

The first three exercises do for a set of 10/each, while doing the rest for around 20 yards and jogging back.

This can be followed by animal movements which are great for improving relative strength, trunk stability and mobility: Bear Crawls, Crab Walks (with tabletop holds at the coaches whistle), Bunny Hops. Do these for a given distance (ex. 25 yards) and focus on quality rather than quantity.

Rate of Force Development:   Squat Jumps w/ 3 second pause  4 x 6-8 (in the pause position make sure that the thighs are parallel to the floor and the back isn’t rounded)

Strength Training: Do these exercises as supersets which means back to back. All of them are going to be done with a partner/team mate so one player works while the other one rests.

1A). Wheelbarrow Walks (to make it easier hold legs closer to the knee and hold closer to ankles to make it harder). The focus should be on the hips not moving and keeping a rigid trunk that is not sagging. 3 sets  x 20 yards

1B). Chin Ups or Partner Bodyweight Rows If the player cannot perform 5 or more chin ups then he can have help from the partner on the way up and lower himself slowly for 5 seconds every rep. 3 sets x max. reps (with good form)

2A). 360 degree lunges (forward lunge, lateral lunge, reverse lunge/each leg = 1 rep). 3 sets x 5 reps

2B). Push Ups (if the player is advanced they can do feet elevated push ups, dive bomber push ups, explosive push ups, etc..) 3 sets x 12-15 reps

3A). Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts (go as low as your hip mobility will allow and maintain a straight back) 3 sets x 8-10 reps/each leg

3B). Side Planks 3 sets x 20-30 seconds/each side (progress/regress the movement depending on the players ability)

Some of the bodyweight strength exercises

This training session would take around 30 minutes and it would definitely be very helpful in a program that has no equipment and no previous strength training implementation. There is also room for progressions in all the exercises which means that all the players can continue to improve for a while.

This is obviously a general program and you may have to make minor tweaks, but I wanted to outline an example that is similar to things I have done with groups of athletes before and gotten great results (and lowered injury rates).

I keep hearing about single leg training and even though I have started implementing some lunges and step ups, I would like to get a good exercise that strengthens the posterior chain and works on hip stability. I tend to have problems with keeping a straight back in many exercises. Any ideas?

It’s great that you have started realizing the importance of single leg strength and implementing some exercises. I see a lot of compensation with people using certain exercises though and its important that you have the proper form. A great exercise is the single leg romanian deadlift which can look ugly real quick. A great way of doing it is adjusting a box and lowering it to the box then pausing for a second or two before pushing up through the hips. This way you can adjust the box to your level of hip mobility and/or hamstring flexibility and maintain a neural spine (straight back) and it teaches you to fire a lot of muscle fibers since you are eliminating some of the stretch reflex (I have noticed that thebottom portion of the single leg RDL is where the form goes to waste). Here is an example:

The music in the background contributed to using a 20% lesser weight…

What are some cheap, easy to make foods that I can eat post workout apart from my regular post workout shake? I’m a college, 5’10” and 155 lbs, my goals are to get bigger while improving my performance. I’m definitely on a budget but I know I have to eat right to get to my goals.

As far as nutrition goes I’m just really a fan of the Precision Nutrition System and the Gourmet Nutrition Cook Book and while I think they are one of the best investments, I understand that it can be hard when you are on a tight budget with not much time to cook but trying to get big.

So rather than going on about meals that I prepare for myself I am going to ask a friend of mine to write a special post of power meals for after training that can be made quick and easy and on a low budget. In all honesty he was the one that helped me with creating good tasting, protein packing meals for my 12 hour workdays. I have read a ton of nutritional information, research, facts and also implemented it but in the real world you have to find some “real” solutions. This is some of the samerecipes and meals I will recommend to my athletes who love it and they actually do it (which is what matters at the end of the day). This means you are going to have to hold on for a little but I promise it will be worth its while! Check back soon…..

Dominate Flag Football, Pick Up Basketball, or Anywhere Else You Want To Show Off is up in the resource section of Built For Show. The article has tons of info and it also includes a sample training program, pictures and links of videos to different exercises.

I want you to get your butt over there right now, get to training and send me pics and videos of in “your face” dunks, incredible touchdown catches, or maybe just comment on your improved performance in mini golf after you got done implementing the info into your training.

Since its in PDF you can also download it as an e-book and send it to your friends (if they play any sports with you then you might wanna keep it from them and dominate them). Go HERE to get it.

Nate Green took a bank loan out to go to go to a couple of seminars three years ago (how many people tell me they can’t afford it, I understand but if you really want it then you do the “extra”) and today he has a contract with T-Nation, has his own book deal, is on the advisory board of Maximum Fitness and owns his own gym. Shows you that things happen when you take continuous action, dedicate yourself to a goal and walk the talk.

Built For Show is on the shelves starting today and I would recommend it to anyone serious about building a show worthy body that also has the “go”! I would rather Nate just tell you how it is though:

It’s time to admit why you really work out: to look good naked, build a show-worthy body, and hook up with beautiful women.

Unfortunately, most guys have absolutely no idea what kind of body automatically flips a girl’s attraction switch.

(I’ll give you a hint: it has absolutely nothing to do with ripped abs, biceps, or pecs.)

In Built for Show I’ll squash the BS, show you why the mainstream magazines and traditional workout programs have it all wrong, and give you a new plan of action to build the type of body you (and she) wants.

Life is too short to settle for anything less than an amazing body, beautiful women, and a lifestyle that serves you.

If you want it, go out and get it.

12 months of great programming for less than $14. If it fits within your goals you would be crazy not to get it! I highly endorse Nate’s work and on top of that you will love the witty writing and tips on how to hook up with women and be more productive (if this is a gift for your boyfriend then you can tear out the pages about hooking up).

Also, yours truly has an article in the resources section on the Built For Show site, so head over there and check it out!

Stop thinking about it and pick up Nate’s book here.

You can also check out Nate’s blog at www.thenategreenexperience.com

I’m describing a Friday, which may not be average but it’s the day before the weekend so what the hell, it sounds good to me. I get to the gym around 9 a.m. when I train the two owners of the gym. Afterwards I am pretty much busy with clients till 6 p.m. (other days till 8 or 9 p.m.) with short breaks here and there to eat my food and work on articles, do some research or knock some things of my to do list. This particular Friday I got a training session in with Matt Fields which looked something like this:

Front Squat Clusters

Foam Roll/Lacrosse Ball (MFR), Dynamic Mobility

Single Leg Box Jumps  4 x 5/each leg, 8 x 10 yard accelerations (different positions)  

1. Front Squats  (3×2) x 4 cluster sets w/ 245 lbs

EDT – 20 mins

2A). Decline Close Grip Bench Press   x 3 reps   (275 lbs)

2B). Weighted Chin Ups  x  3 reps   (+75 lbs)

3A). Swings   3 x 15 reps   (88 lbs)

3B). Static Lunges  3 x 10 reps/each leg (2 x 75 lbs)

4A). Blast Strap Scarecrows 3 x 12 reps

4B). Sandbag TGU’s 3 x 6/each side   (60 lbs)

4C). MB Throws 3 x 10/each side  (10 lbs)

After the training session I made dinner Gourmer Nutrition style and here is a peak at what was on the menu with a side of extra comments from my wife….

Gourmet Nutrition

If you need a chef you can call me at…. Seriously though, I have never been real diligent at cooking but since I got the Gourmet Nutrition cook book I cook more than my wife does and peopl are actually complimenting my cooking without lying! If you want great tasting nutritious recipes that support your performance and physique goals then this cook book is the way to go.

Unstoppable

Here is the story from the Renton Reporter:

The U.S. Army and the Seattle Seahawks presented Renton High’s Armin Basic with the High School Player of the Week Award Thursday.

Basic led the Indians’ defense in the 35-0 shutout of Highline on Oct. 31. Basic totaled 14 tackles, six of them were tackles for a loss.

Several members of the Army, Mark Holleman (representing the Seahawks) and Trina (a Sea Gal) presented Basic with a $250 check that will go toward the school’s ASB fund, two tickets to the Seahawks’ game Nov. 23 against the Washigton Redskins, a personalized jersey, special Army and Seahawks footballs, and more.

Basic will be recognized on the jumbotron Hawkvision during the fourth quarter of the Nov. 23 game in front of the Qwest Field crowd.

“We just pick kids who stand out,” Holleman said. “He’s a good kid on and off the field. He exemplifies a lot of the Army’s values, like leadership and accountability.”

Basic wasn’t so sure if it was good or bad news when he first found out.

“I got called down to the office and I thought it was for something I did wrong,” Basic said. “But this is great. It feels really good.”

The win over Highline sealed a trip to the preliminary round of the 3A state playoffs for Renton (5-3 overall, 5-2 league), where team will play against Timberline at South Sound Stadium Friday night.

The road to success…

We look forward to big things from Armin on and off the field. The truth is he is just getting started…..stay posted.

18 years old, this is still in the testing stages…

If I break it down to the basics, there are two things that really influence the vertical jump: how much force you can apply into the ground and how fast you can apply that force. So you need to get relatively stronger and/or improve rate of force development. Some people need more of one while other need more of the other. Many athletes just need a lot of both!

You also need to pay attention to flexibility, mobility, posture, core strength (or whatever is the right term nowadays), etc. I am not going to bore you with that though and I will jump right into ten of the best exercises to improve your vertical jump (in no particular order). If you do not know how to do a certain exercise, then find a good strength coach in your area and let them help you with the technique. Here they are:

1. Snatch Grip Deadlifts. Hopefully you already know how important deadlifts are for posterior strength and improving performance, but this exercise is a regular deadlift with a wide grip (as in the snatch). Because of the grip you have to get deeper in the hole to maintain a neutral spine (straight back), thus recruiting even more muscles in the posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes,low back). This exercise will put a good amount of muscle on the backside of your legs and help improve your vertical. Then again, it will also keep you away from sitting too much for a couple of days.

2. Kettlebell Swings. To some this may be a new exercise but in reality it is “old school” and making quite a comeback. You start with feet as wide as in a squat position and hold the kettlebell between your legs, explode with the hips while maintaining a neitral spine and letting the kettlebell fly up in the air with the guidance of the arms. Let it drop without trying to slow it down with the arms but rather catching it with the hips before repeating the movement. This movement closely resembles the exact movement of the vertical jump. To get extra range of motion you can stand on two boxes while doing the exercise.

3. Depth Jumps. A depth jump is a great exercise even though many consider it advanced it can be altered to the level of the athlete by adjusting the height of the box. It is performed by stepping of the box (NOT jumping) and exploding up immediately after landing. The muscles are stretched rapidly right at the landing phase and enables them contract faster as you explode upward. You should spend the least amount of time on the ground as humanly possible (less than 0.15 seconds is what I am looking for), otherwise the exercise doesn’t have the effect that you are looking for. This exercise is very effective if used correctly but you have to make sure the athlete is ready for it and doesn’t crumble at landing.

This is a depth jump onto a box but you see the short ground contact. Courtesy of Defranco’s Training

4. Bulgarian Split Squats. This is similar to a single leg squat  except that the non working leg is elevated on a box or bench behind you. Hold dumbells in each hand and descend until your kne touches the floor then explode back up to the beginning position. This exercise will “smash” your glutes and quads while also stretching your hip flexors and correcting imbalances in your legs (unilateral exercise). That’s a three for one deal so it deserves its spot in the top 10.

5. Static Hip Flexor Stretch. As you may know I’m not the greatest fan of static stretching, especially when it comes to any explosive movements such as speed and jump training. I feel the exact opposite when it comes to the hip flexors! You have to stretch them aggresively, I’m talking about stretching them like you want to rip them apart (what I’m saying is don’t just go through the motions). You might be asking why that is right? Most athletes just have incredibly tight hip flexors and it prevents the hip from extending, literally pulling you back down when trying to jump. So when you stretch them hard you put them to sleep (long slow stretch). To show you what a difference it makes, start by jumping as high as you can. Now stretch your hip flexors for 30 seconds on each side two times and then try jumping again. I bet you will jump 1-2 inches higher than you did before!

Two things to remember though, this is about the only stretch you should do before jumping and you should do it throughout the day and not just before you get ready to jump. Here is the static hip flexor stretch:

Defranco again…he just has all the answers. Thanks Joe!

6. Box squats (w/bands). If you are not doing box squats, then you need to find out how and get on the program. I love them because they teach the athlete to sit back in the squat and use his posterior chain (hamstrings,glutes). Apart from that it trains the explosive aspect as you sit down and then have to fire your muscles from a complete standstill. This is great for certain athletic movements such as sprinting out of the blocks and a start of the football lineman,etc.

We will use the bands to accelerate the negative portion of the lift. It comes back to Newton’s 3rd law (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction), meaning that the faster you can descend the faster you will explode up and the higher your jump will be. The bands also ad tension at the top of the lift so you have to accelerate the whole time and apply more force at the top then you do at the bottom of the lift.

Bands not included

7. Trap bar deadlifts of a box. If you aren’t doing deadlifts then you aren’t serious about your performance and you definitely don’t want to jump higher. For some the regular deadlift is a little out of the way because of restrictions in flexibility, mobility and injuries. The trap bar allows you to stand inside the bar and hold the barbell on the side thus lowering the stress on your low back. Athletes love this and it makes them a lot more comfortable doing the exercise. Standing on the box will put extra work on the hamstrings which will help you with running and jumping.

Just do it

8. Power Clean/Snatch. I have talked about the olympic lifts before and in a previous post I discussed how some coaches make them out to be impossible to learn. It can and should be learned as it teaches the athlete to explode as it is impossible to perform an olympic lift slowly. Even though the learning curve is a little higher for these exercises, it is worth the work. You may have also noticed that it works the posterior chain – almost a prerequisite to make the list!

9. Weighted ab work. The abs or should I say “core” (abs and low back) is the link between the lower and upper body. It is responsible for transfering the force from the former to the latter. You can have strong legs and upper body but if you core is weak you’re not going anywhere! Work the abs hard with different exercises and make sure that you use weighted movements too. We will use kettlebells, medicine balls, standing rotational cable work, etc. Make sure that the abs are not whats holding you back to a better vertical!

Weighted abs with kettlebells

Medicine Ball Circuit Ab Training 

10. Vertical jumping. Guess what? To improve your vertical jump you actually have to practice jumping! I know crazy right. Many times athletes jumping technique just sucks and they can’t jump high even though they have good strength, speed and flexibility. Just correcting form can improve the vertical by inches!! When working on your vertical make sure quality and not quantity is the focus. Do it right before you increase volume.

I hope that these tips help you gain some extra inches and create a lot of comments starting with “I just dunked on someone….”. I encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section. Here is some jumping drills that we worked on in the last training session:

Box squat jump into broad jump

1. More people should learn how to clean and it doesn’t take a lifetime to do it. I have a decent clean technique and I have used the exercise for many years with great results. I have been hesitant to use the clean with athletes that do not have good technique already. I realized this may have been a mistake after reading an article from Charles Staley. The technique in the clean is important but I think that many coaches make it out to be “mission impossible” to learn it. We shouldn’t be looking for form that is set for the international competition stage but rather form that is safe and that will enhance our athlete’s performance.

What a beautiful clean. You should learn it from her…

2. Shoulder Impingement. So many people say they have shoulder impingement, I also often tell my clients that they have it (because they do), but in all honetsy almost everyone has shoulder impingement (regardless of age, sport, gender, etc.) and there are several factors that determine whether the person will be in pain: Tissue quality (younger individuals regenerate faster than older ones, so treatment varies), degree of eleveation (flexion and abduction of humerus impinges the tendons more), acromion type (flat acromions have more contact with tendons than hooked ones), bone spurs (bone spurs on the bottom side will make impingement worse), strength of the rotator cuff (the stronger it is, the easier it is to depress the humeral head), scapular stability, thoracic spine mobility, increased internal rotation (increases degree of impingement), breathing patterns (makes shoulders shrug and you get extra tightness in certain muscles that increase impingement), other issues further down the kinetic chain (sooo many examples…).

That’s a lot of different things that cause impingement! It just  shows how many things you can work on to improve your situation if you have shoulder issues. If you are serious about fixing your shoulder issuse then you might want to look into the Inside Out Warm Up manual and DVD from Mike Robertson and Bill Hartman.

The above information is courtesy of Eric Cressey who is strength coach extraordinaire with a knack for fixing shoulders (probably one of the best out there). If you are interested in the most up to date in the trenches reserach an dthoughts on performance and strength training then you should also look into signing up for his newsletter which is filled with great useful information.

 3. Training individualization. Many people tell me that they did a certain exercise or applied a certain method and it worked amazingly so I should also apply it to all of my clients. So a sample size of one person proves that something really works?! I am going to go ahead and say no. I’ve seen people do the dumbest stuff and actually get some results (long term issues not included) and then relay what they have used to others, passing along suspect information. There are things that we can apply in many situations (after being tried and tested on a wide variety of clients) but remember that no two clients are ever the same and even though we should include the sound principles of training we should also account for individual tendencies.

This worked for me so use it with all of your clients….

4. Deadlifts. I think I just wanted to throw this one after reading Mike Boyle’s article on strengthcoach.com. I think everyone should deadlift (with very few exceptions). Even though I have a tough time with everyone doing “regular deadlifts”, there are so many different variations to progress, and even more importantly regress, the movement. I will use kettlebell, dumbell, trap bar, plate, etc. deadlifts depending on the clients training history and evaluation. In many cases the deadlift is easier to teach than the squat (who’d have though that) and the results from implementing it are always great. Remember that there should be no shortcuts with teaching proper form.

For everyone

Some of this wisdom is so common sense but the truth is that common sense is not so common these days! At times it takes something to budge me and remember the basics, the 80/20 pareto principle and not to get too complicated just for the sake of it sounding advanced. On the other hand I do not have any illusions of discovering ground breaking training methods and rehab protocols, etc. I do know that the thing that makes me smart is listening to people that are smarter than me.