I constantly talk about the circle of influence and the importance of surrounding yourself with people that are where you want to be and are more successful than you. I will always seek out people that are on top of their game and learn as much as I can from them. I also believe that many times you need to create your own path to success. People tell me that I contradict myself since this is the exact opposite of following successful people and doing as they did and following their path. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘luka hocevar’
Make Your Own Path
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008Single Leg Vertical Jump
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008Single leg vertical jumping is a very useful thing. I know many basketball players that have a great vertical of two feet but not anywhere close while jumping of one foot. Hopefully I don’t have to explain how important an explosion and elevation of one foot is, when it come to gametime. I will take Lebron James as an example, as the majority of his dunks are of one foot while driving towards the basket. Since you are running it is faster to take of one foot rather than square up and jump off two feet.
Every type of jump has its advantages though. Jumping off two feet is more effective for rebounding because you will ussualy box out and go for the rebound straight up. Instead of choosing one or the other become good at both. The reason I am talking about it is because I have had the question come up lately and today another player and friend of mine asked me this:
“Is there a way to improve my one foot jumping to equal it to my two foot jump? I would like to have the ability to elevate from one foot of the drive!”
Now, this player has a very good vertical of two feet but not nearly as close that of one foot. So whats the catch? Well, here are some things that will explain and help you improve you one foot vertical: (more…)
Martin Rooney – Parisi Speed School Visit
Sunday, September 28th, 2008“Apply yourself, Get all the education you can, but then……do something. Don’t just stand there. Make it happen.” – Lee Iacocca
The words that I write from here on are going to be about educating yourself, opening your mind and “stepping outside of the box.” Education still is and always will be a driving force in my life, whether it be a new book, journal, teleseminar, seminar/conference, hands on experience and/or one on one communication with someone that is great at what you want to be great at.
Here I talk about the last one……
My trip to New York was a great experience where I put my learning process on warp speed in a three day weekend. The last day of our trip I also did something spontaneous that ended up being one of the best parts of our whole trip. I decided to take a chance and go visit Martin Rooney at the Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn, NJ. For those that do not know of Martin, he is a world class trainer, speaker, writer, motivator and has trained elite athletes from just about every sport conceivable, with a number of olympic athletes. If you want to find out more about Martin, check it out here.
Martin walking the talk
Now, I had no clue whether he will be there and if he was, if he had time to see us. On top of that we had quite a little bit of a trip and had to make it back to the airport in time. It turned out the trip was well worth it as Martin ended up being there and took the time to talk to us. What was supposed to be a 15 minute conversation ended up being around 3 hours!
The conversation made me understand more about why the best are the best. In the three hour conversation Martin was asking us just as many questions as we were asking him and he was just really intrigued with the subjects we were talking about. One of the things he said that stuck with me was: “I want to be the dumbest person when I walk in the room.” So no matter how much knowledge and experience you may have, you can always learn more and it may be from anyone in any field. Stay open to ideas and thoughts of others as they may give an “A-HA” moment.
A lot of the things that we talked about were not even about training but rather mindset, business, life, etc.. It also showed how the best care about the industry as they will take time to share their knowledge and experience with up and coming trainers that are passionate and seeking to know everything they can (never ending journey!). I definitely left the Parisi facility with a lot on my mind and at the same time very fortunate that I was able to meet Martin Rooney and take tons away from our conversation. For everyone that is an MMA athlete, coach or is interested in MMA training, visit Training For Warriors, as Martin has created a community where there is a ton of information available from articles, videos, forums and a great blog by Martin himself. This resource is free (just another great deed as this information is worth a bunch) and you would be crazy not to sign up if you are in any way involved in the martial arts.
Martin’s book – Training For Warriors
I will make an effort to pass it on just as Martin. These types of efforts help the industry become better and better and I hope that we can see more and more of it in the future.
Loaded Conditioning
Friday, September 26th, 2008Sometimes I just love doing some crazy conditioning stuff and I also love kettlebells (this deserves a post by itself), so why not combine the two!
I like for my athletes to have superior conditioning and go just as fast, jump as high and hit as hard at the end of the game as they did at the beginning. Everyone is all energy at the beginning but the athlete that finishes strong is going to be the victor the majority of the time. I like doing many different types of “evil” conditioning sessions, sometimes as a stand alone training session and sometimes just a time frame at the end of a training session (depending on the athlete, sport, time of year, etc…). One of the methods I like to use is loaded conditioning. Basically your body will be under load for the whole time of the exercise, which can take minutes. This is great for the MMA athlete as it truly caries over to the sport. This one will also build mental toughness believe me! In the video I am doing a shorter version while using 2 x 55lbs kettlebells. Enjoy!
By the way, the video was used by my colleague Jeff Jowers with permission, which is why it links to his site (which has quite a lot of very iseful information, so don’t be hesitant to hop over there).
I guess it can be a fat burning work out too
Loaded conditioning can use a lot of other implemets as well, such as dumbells, sandbags, kegs, etc… Choose them wisely and assess before blindly following. I do gurantee that this type of training will give you an edge in competition!
How To Save Your Knees
Thursday, September 25th, 2008A couple of years ago I talked to a colleague that played basketball with me (on a very high level) about his knee pain. I noticed that he had imbalances and was not doing anything about them, he said “I’ve had them before, nothing serious”. His team didn’t pay too much attention and kept him in practice for 4 hours a day (everything was sport specific and active play) while not looking into the issue. There was no recovery, corrective exercise, appropriate strength training, etc… Months later he tore his ACL. As bad as this was, less than a year later he injured it again (same ACL) because of innapropriate rehab and a speedy push to come back to playing. Much of it was not his fault as the people that surrounded him did not care enough about the player but rather the short term results of the team. Even though he is going to play again this year (after 2 years of non-stop issues), it’s not only physically, but also mentally tough for him to get back to his previous self.
Nobody really thinks or cares about knee issues until something bad happens. Remember, just because you don’t have knee pain, doesn’t mean that you are doing everything you should be to prevent it. Since I have had a lot of clients ask me about knee problems, I’m going to give some tips that are essential to incorporate into your training/recovery, so here goes:
1. Soft Tissue Work. For anyone that hasn’t purchased or doesn’t know what a foam roller is – find out and get it! Seriously though, Foam rollers are the poor mans massage therapist, soft tissue work for the masses. To explain what you do with in simple terms - Athletes (remeber if you have a body, you are an athlete….so it includes everyone) are instructed to use the roller to search for tender areas or trigger points and to roll these areas to decrease density and over-activity.. It is like self-deep tissue massage in a way. There will be many tight spots in your body, with the majority needing work, but in the case of the knee we will focus predominantly on the rectus femoris and quads.
Here is a little extra tip though: When you roll the quads and RF, begin by rolling with the leg extended and later on bend the knee and continue rolling it, this way you will change the length of the muscle while you are working it and the response will be better – trust me. As great as the foam roller is, nothing can replace soft tissue work performed by a specialist, for those who have never done it, I would recommend you find a good ART (Active Release Therapy) provider to get rid of the scar tissue and adhesions that have built up throughout your training. For those that have seen a practitioner, continue to do it…..
I know, I know, it was the only picture I could find….
2. Improve Ankle and Hip Mobility. I have said this many times over to my athletes, when you have knee issues the problem probably isn’t coming from the knee but rather the joint above or below it – hip or/and ankle. The lack of mobility in the hips can lead to knee problems and also low back issues and I can’t tell you how many athletes I see that have very imobile ankles (especially basketball players from all the taping and high top shoes). When you have crappy mobility in the ankles it makes the knee more mobile (unstable…..as the knee is meant to be a stable joint). I have shown a couple of exercises in previous posts but here is another one that you can use to improve ankle mobility.
Attention: Basketball Players!!!
3. Activate Your Glutes (Butt). The main reason I bring this up is because research has shown that people with patelo femoral issues had a lot more weakness in the hip abductors and external rotators (the focus is on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius). A great way to address is this to use activation drills during warm ups and even before certain exercises where you want the glutes to fire (deadlifts, box squats, etc…). I love the x-band walks in this situation, but keep in mind that you have to keep your trunk (core) tight and not compensate by leaning over (stand tall and stay tight).
Activating your glutes is good for SO many reasons
4. Balance Out Your Training. This one may sound logical to some of you but most people still do not adhere to it (even the people that know that should!). How many times have you just trained and focused on your quads because that’s just what everyone else does and you want them to be huge but completely forget about the glutes and hamstrings? Without even mentioning how important the posterior chain (backside of the body) is to performance and injury prevention. If you are not balncing out your training then you are asking for knee injuries.
5. Do More Single Leg Work. I have talked about single leg more in depth in a previous post. Here are the main reasons for implementing it in your training: decrease imbalances between left/right leg, improved balance and proprioception, strengthen knee stabilizers (VMO and gluteals), providing a change of pace in training. Another thing to add, not only will single leg training prevent knee injuries, it will improve performance and increase potential for double leg exercises (squat, deadlift, etc…)
6. Making Sure You Have a Thorough Warm Up. As simple as this sounds, there are tons of people that skip the warm up because “they are short on time” and need to skip something. Bad idea! And there are those who do a quick one minute warm up and go right to heavy weights. Another bad idea! Apart from improving performance, a good warm up provides better lubrication for your joints (by increasing viscosity of sinovial fluid).
7. Learn How To Land Properly And Absorb Force. As I observe athletes when they land I see almost no knee break and absorption with the hips. What hapens in situations like this is that all the joints absorb the force rather than the muscles and tendons. When you jump up in the air try to land with minimal sound, soft knees, soft feet, lower into a half squat while pushing your hips back. Not only will your knees thank you but so will your ankles, hips and lower back.
Better land right!
8. Your Body Should Be In Proper Alignment. If you are out of alignment your knee may be taking a brunt of the load just doing everyday things such as walking. Now imagine sprinting, running, squatting and deadlifting, you better believe that it will add up and inury is looming. It is well worth investing the time and energy to get your body in alignment.
9. Lift The Right Way. Tons of people will tell me that they can’t do a certain exercise because it hurts their knees. After evaluation I findo out the only reason that it is hurting their knees, is because they are doing it wrong! I find the squat to be the main culprit. I each everyone how to squat properly, from athletes to old ladies, because it’s that important.
10. Look Out For The Irritated Rectus Femoris. First off, to see if the RF is causing any knee issues you have to perform the modified Thomas Test: Sit on the edge of a table or counter with your buttocks on the edge. From here, grab one knee and pull it to your chest while laying all the way back with the head and neck relaxed. What you’re looking for here is the position of the lower leg in relation to the ground. If your lower leg is perpendicular to the ground, you’re fine. However, if your lower leg is not at perpendicular, you have a short or stiff rectus femoris.
Modified Thomas Test
If you fail this test miserably, which many of you will, you have to focus on stretching your two joint hip flexor that crosses the hip and knee – the rectus femoris. If you failed the test above then definitely start using this stretch:
Rectus Femoris Stretch
11. Anti Inflamatory Diet. Nobody thought I was going to bring up nutrition while talking about knee issues huh? Well it is THAT important. Here is a little more in depth explanation from Mike Robertson:
“Diet plays a role in inflammation, especially dietary fats. The fats, more specifically the fatty acids, we ingest directly affect our body’s production of eicosanoids (hormone-like substances) and the ratio of pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory prostaglandins. Cutting back on saturated fat, and even omega-6 fatty acids (arachadonic acid), which tend to be pro-inflammatory, while increasing the intake of omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid), which are anti-inflammatory, will help to prevent the occurrence and progression of systemic inflammation associated with mild infection, poor diet, and obesity.”
I hope that these tips help you out while preventing knee injuries or helping rehab an already existing issue. If you would like something more in depth then look no further than the Buletproof Knees Manual which is an incredible product that outlines everything from anatomy of the knee to prevention strategies and rehab after knee injuries.
Post a comment if you use any of these strategies and they help you out.
Crazy Training
Monday, September 22nd, 2008I love training in a great atmosphere as it pushes you to new heights. When I train I like to shut everything out and go nuts! For me training is not just important because of my performance goals but it is also a release from the stress of life. How do you train and what does it mean for you?
I was just going through some videos on youtube and found a video of myself doing some chin ups when I was back home in Slovenia. I co-own a training center with my brother and my good friend and when I was there in March we would close the gym after the group training, put on some Jay-Z/Linkin Park and just go nuts.
Subtitles are yet to come…..
As you know I just attended the Ryan Lee Bootcamp and I can’t tell you what an even this was, but not to get off point here, I met Zach Even Esh (The Underground Strength Coach) who I can definitely associate with as he is also nicknamed “The Wild Man” and he gets after it himself and with his athletes just like I do.
Next time you train, shut everything out and have crazy intensity in your workout, I gurantee you will feel more confident than you have in a long time. Let me know in the comments how your next training session went.
Future of Youth Training
Friday, September 19th, 2008When I was young, growing up playing and practicing basketball was my life. Actually, it was my life for 25 years and always will play a huge role (by the way I’m still a killer on the court). I gave everything I had and achieved a lot. I was fortunate as I had some really good coaches when I was younger that instilled all the right things in me and I am truly grateful to them all. I also had some shitty coaches that got me injured (through improper training) and did not do much for my confidence, motivation or personal development. Think about that though, one coach can influence your life for the better while another one can steer you the wrong way (it can be completely unintentional).
Many coaches and parents treat their kids like they are mini elite athletes (real early specialization in a certain sport and drilling them day in and day out) and train them that way too. That is a surefire way to early injuries and phsycological breakdown of kids. I have seen it happen time and again and instead of just disagreeing with these methods I decided to take action.
This is why I have become very involved in youth training, which is also why I became a certified member of the IYCA (International Youth Conditioning Association – the leaders in youth fitness & athletic development education). The main thing that attracted me to this organization is the passion that they have for changing the lives of kids. Whenever there is such passion for a cause that is close to my heart I am definitely in!
But there is a huge challenge as there has never been as many obese kids, unactive kids and athletic injuries in youth sports. Where do we start? I believe much of it should begin with the parents. You have to be a role model for your kids, from eating right, playing with your kids and encouraging activity and sports. I don’t want to hear anything from you if you are eating like crap and watching TV for hours and then wandering why your kid is overweight. Education is also a huge factor as parents don’t know what is right or wrong when it comes to youth training. If you care enough for your kid then do some research so that you can make sure that your kids are getting what they need.
I will tell you what they don’t need, an exercise game on the damn Wii! “It’s better than nothing”, is what I hear a lot. You must be crazy! It’s just like saying that a low calorie Twinky is a good food choice when trying to lose weight. What happened to kids playing outside all day and moving around, that’s what people did 20 years ago and tell me what the obesity rates were then?! I get real ramped up about this because I care and I will make a change (not try but will). If you can change the life of a kid through proper training and development and create a domino effect then maybe we can save a catastrophy from happening.
I found this going through some videos and thought it was funny yet ironic as it was exactly what what we were discussing with some coaches at the fitness seminar I am attending.
Are we becoming Wiidiots?
Let me know what you think about the condition of today’s youth and their training, influences and parent’s participation in the issue.
Some Thoughts….
Thursday, September 18th, 2008- “The family is a haven in a heartless world.” ~Attributed to Christopher Lasch
Yesterday my wife’s grandfather passed away. It reminds me how important family is and that we should take every chance to enjoy the time we spend with them on this earth!
- I am attending Ryan Lee’s Bootcamp with some of the top fitness professionals in the world. It is another step in becoming better, better as a man, fitness professional and athlete. My goal is to reach and help more people, make a better life for my family, create more free time to enjoy with my loved one’s and take over the world (damn, I’m getting carried away….dissregard the last one……insert evil laugh here). If you want to become the best at what you do then seek out people that are very successful and surround yourself with them, learn from them. What have you done lately to get better?
- Sometimes you cannot train as planned, especially when traveling. Don’t let this be an excuse to not get your workout in. Today my brother, Jeff and I used the hotel gym late at night to get our fix in (it was actually not a bad gym compareed to most). As we did not have tons of equipment we still used what we have. The training session consisted of 6 non stop rounds of:
- DB Snatches x 5 reps/each arm
- Chin Ups (slow eccentric) x 8 reps
- Alternating MB Push Ups x 8 reps/each arm
- Lateral Lunges x 8 reps/each leg
We finished with some trunk work and stretched. Definitely left me feeling better…….
- I don’t watch too much TV but I do love the I Wanna Work For Diddy Show. You can say what you want but the man is driven! Notice how I did not mention the people that are fighting for the job…..
- Since I just had some issues with my low back after pulling it in a session last week I feel that anyone that has low back pain will aleviate the pain with some hip stretches. Most times the hip flexor that is pulling on the spine and causing the problems, is the psoas. It is hard to get to in most cases, so I got a great tip and video from Joe Defranco….
That has to feel good….at least later on!
If you have any questions about anything strength and performance related, please post them on the blog and I will get to them a.s.a.p.
New York State Of Mind
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008I write this 6 days and 7 years after my trip to New York to attend Junior College upstate (Binghampton) and play basketball. It’s a long time since then but at times it doesn’t feel that long…….
For those not feeling like calculating, my first day of college was going to be September 11th 2001. I never made it to school that day as my plane was in the air and ready to land 20 minutes after the 9/11 attacks happened (for those that lost loved one’s – THEY WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN). Without describing all the chaos…..my plane ended up landing in Nova Scotia where I stayed around a week in a military camp before being set to go to New York on a bus. That was the beginning of my college experience in the United States and believe me it was only the beginning!
I will tell more life stories later and only if you’re interested. Seriously though, New York grew on me and it is till this day one of my favorite cities in the world (and I’ve been many places). It brings back many memories some bad, some good, but all of them just part of the dough that makes Luka Hocevar. I am glad to be back and at the same time attending Ryan Lee’s Bootcamp which is a fitness event with some of the best people in the industry speaking on a variety of topics (there’s tons going on).
So while in Queens, NY, waiting to pick up my brother from the airport (he is coming to the seminar with me), I drove by a park with some monkey bars and couldn’t resist not getting in a quick workout. To top it all off the sun was out and it was in the high 80′s, it felt like back in my college days when we would play basketball on the courts around the city. On this day my partner in crime was Jeff Jowers who brought his TRX system with him (we will be writing an article for strengthcoach.com about or use and programming with the TRX system), which made for a little extra spice in the training.
TRX is a great tool for working out anywhere……it also useful for hmmm (use your imagination)
Here is our workout:
- Bulgarian Squats on TRX x 10 reps/each leg
- Suspended Push Ups on TRX x 20 reps
- Roll Outs on TRX x 12 reps
- Face Pulls w/ TRX x 15 reps
Going through the circuit for 20 mins straight and then finishing off with a 100 varied chin ups/pull ups (sets of 4 with 10-15 seconds break in between sets). This was a great workout and it gave me crazy good energy!
Ruff Ryder workout…….whether you get it or not!
I love New York! I also tend to get my Brooklyn accent back when I hang around the city……….
One thing I was dissapointed about was not having enough time to visit Joe Defranco’s gym (one of my biggest influences in strength training). I hope I will be able to make it before I leave back for Seattle!
Bulletproof Body
Saturday, September 13th, 2008When I talk about “bulletproofing” the body, I am talking about conditioning the body in a way that minimizes it’s chances of injury. People deal with nagging injuries their whole life and just chop it up as part of getting older or being an athlete and training. This shouldn’t be the case as it is possible to make your body bulletproof and improve your quality of life, athletic career, save on medical costs (for all of you just treating the symptoms without addressing the cause) and maybe even improve romance in a relationship (no one feels like being romantic when their back is killing them). For us to be able to do that we have to have an understanding of how the body operates. Let’s focus on the responsibilites of the joints in the lower body.
Starting with the foot/ankle complex we can see that it has three degress of freedom, which tells us that it is a mobile joint. The knee on the other hand is a hinge joint as it has very little frontal and rotational mobility, making it a stable joint. Moving on up we come to the hip, which is a ball and socket joint and also has three planes of motion, making it a mobile joint just like the foot/ankle. One thing that is important to bring up is that even though the foot/ankle and hip joints are mobile joints, we have to look at this as controlled mobility. Controlled mobility means that they have to also be stable with the range of motion that they can provide. No joint is strictly mobile or stable.
The reason that I have explained this joint by joint approach for the lower body is to understand what happens in a single leg squat (a movement we use everyday, whether sitting down, training, playing sports…..and we are choosing the single leg squat to demonstrate the function of the joints ). It is the responsibility of the foot/ankle and hip to put the knee in the proper position, as they can both move in three planes of motion, while the knee has more or less just one. Guess what happens when we have mobility restrictions in the foot/ankle or hip (many times both)? Then the rotational forces/stress get passed on to the knee, which was not designed to handle that, predisposing it to a high chance of injury.
Let’s look at a good single leg squat:
Single leg squat of a box
The be able to execute this movement the person has to have enough dorsiflexion in the ankle (mobility) so that his/her heels stays on the ground. If the heel come of the ground then the majority of the weight is placed on the knee which predisposes it to patellar/femoral issues. The foot also has to control pronation (rotation of the tibia) and the hip has to control internal rotation (of the femur) as they both predispose the knee to meniscal and ligamnet damage. The lack of mobility in the hips can also mean that the lumbar spine (low back) will start flexing, creating back issues (back issues and their cause will receive a whole article).
If the movement patterns are not correct then we have to look at them and find the cause and fix/correct it. This is the art of bulletproofing. The more the movement is biomechanically sound, the more you maintain a balanced postuire – the less injuries you will have! Another thing to remember if it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t mean that it’s good for you.
Creating a bulletproof body has other components such as balance in training, strength, muscle activation, recovery, etc……Look for a post on these in the near future…..
Here are a couple of mobility exercises for the foot/ankle and hip that you can use right away:
Ankle Mobility
Leg Swings for hip mobility
For everyone that has ever had knee issues and for those that want to avoid them I will be talking about ways to bulletproof your knees tommorow. Throw away your crutches and I’ll see you then…..
