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. (more…)
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: (more…)
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. (more…)
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
General Specific Warm Ups – this will get you ready for the rest of the training session
As many may know that I use the conjugate periodization model a lot, mostly because it has produced superior results to other programs most of the time. The reality is that there is many methods that work if you apply them right. I tend to use different methods and training models when I feel they are going to be the most productive at that point in time. I also believe that the most effective program is the one that you are not on. That is why I love the conuugate model, because you can change the variables and continually progress.
Well, I decided that I needed a change and put together a 8 week program based on the two steps forward, one step back model. There are two 4 week blocks where the intensities go from moderate in week 1, a 10% increase in week 2, a 5% deload in week 3 and finally another 10% increase in week 4. The second cycle will be started at a 10% higher intensity than the previos one. Eachof the series of four week blocks prepares the trainee for the next. The programs main focus in these 8 weeks is improving strength and power.
Before we start we have a thororugh warm up that includes foam roll (or lacrosse ball), dynamic mobility, activation, general specific exercises (the sandbag tosses in the video…..the sandbag is around 40 lbs and we catch and throw in different positions. The two athletes I’m training are in wrestling and football). We have just finished the second week of the first block and here is the last training session (for power we are using Olympic Liftsa an their variations and I will be discussing them in a later post):
Power Snatch warm up to 5 sets x 2 reps (155 lbs)
Snatch Pull 5 sets x 5 reps (235 lbs)
Standing Military Press 5 sets x 5 reps (150 lbs)
Barbell Back Box Squat 5 sets x 5 reps (295 lbs)
Neutral DB Bench Press (slow eccentric)3 sets x 10 reps (105 lbs)
Pull Ups w/ Weight Vest (25 lbs)3 sets x failure
This training sesssion we finished with 3 rouns of thick rope climbing (10 feet with no legs x 2 without stopping) and single leg RDL holding a kettlebell in one hand (72 lbs x 10 reps/each leg).
So far the training has been going well and it has been a welocme switch from the conjugate training. The Olympic Lifts have the most potential to improve as they are very technical but they have already showed improvements in power production which is what was lacking with some of the guys.
I will keep you posted on the progress………….
X-Band Walks (overhead variation) -part of the warm up
Something that is completely off topic……one of my athletes puts bread into his protein smoothies?! I was wondering if anyone else has tried it? Also, let me know if you need the recipe…..
A creative way to improve upon some of your weaknesses is by performing a deck of cards training session utilizing bodyweight exercises. I tend to do this on unscheduled training days to work on some movements I want to improve and also strengthen some weaknesses. This way I can get in extra volume without wearing myself out too much. I tend to do this with my athletes so that there is a competitive environment, as we will compete to see who can get the most cards before the deck runs out. It can get quite crazy and the intensity is high.
The “Deck of Cards” training session is performed as follows: Grab a deck of cards and assign a certain exercise that targets your goals for the session to a suit (ex. heart – dive bomber push ups, diamond – squat jump, etc…..). Flip a card, the suit indicates the exercise and the number on the card represents the number of reps perform. Be sure to take out the 2,3 & 4 cards. The face cards represent 10 reps and the aces 11 reps, jokers mean 1o reps of each exercise. You can change the rules up and make it more or less difficult. Today our “extra” training session included:
Hearts – One Hand Push Ups (alternating)
Diamonds – Pistols (alternating)
Spades – Chin Ups
Clubs – Bodyweight Rows
Needless to say I got a lot of face cards…..
I really like rhe “Deck of Cards” training sessions. They get me working on my weaknesses but also allow me to enhance performance in areas I am already strong in. No matter what, always strive for improvement! Ask yourself honestly: Are you as good as you can be, as you want to be? Now, do something about it!
