Thursday, November 20, 2008
With all of the advanced training techniques and information out there, sometime we get a little bit lost in our quest to be bigger, stronger, leaner, and more athletic. When it comes to size, volume and intensity play a role, there is no doubt about that, science backs up that fact. However, look around your typical gym; the biggest dudes are lifting the most weight, for the most part. If you want to get bigger, you really need to focus on getting STRONGER, particuarly in the 5-10 rep range. If you could squat 225X6 one year ago, and today you can quat 295X6, don't you think your legs will be bigger? Conversely, if you spent the whole year on a bad program, with poor nutrition and little rest, and can still only squat 225x6, WHY would your legs have grown...you haven't given them a reason to!
So why am I telling you this? Cut the fluff out of your program. Obviously on Max Effort work you need multiple sets to work on form, and to warm up your working sets, but once you are warm and into the heart of a good workout, get after it! Too often I see people doing extensive warmup sets on their 2nd, and 3rd exercise for a given muscle group. I can understand a light "feel" set to get the technique down, but once you have trained a muscle group in a workout, other exercises do not require all of the buiidup/warmup sets that people do.
In regards to nutrition, calories are a means to provide fuel for energy, restoration, and growth. If you are getting stronger, than odds are you are eating enough. If you are not, then sleep more and add some clean protein, fruit, and veggies to your diet.
Get stronger, get bigger!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
I have not made my stance on the Olympic Lifts a secret over the years. In short, I think they suck. While my opnion of them is basically unchanged, my reasoning for this opnion is somewhat different. Years ago, I was extremely influenced by HIT. While I learned a great deal from HIT, and still apply many of its philosophies into my training today, one of the things I didn't like is how close minded it is. I wouldn't even CONSIDER other training techniques because I was convinced they were all dangerous, inefficient, blah blah blah....I was being a moron.
Now, I don't like Olympic Lifts, not because they are dangerous, but because they are impractical. I actually do think that Olympic Lifts can help develop power...but so can a MYRIAD of other exercises, and in a fraction of the time. Broad jumps develop power. Box jumps develop power. Speed Squats develop power. Vertical jumps develop power. Tire flips develop power...the list goes on and on. Olympic lifting is a SKILL and nothing more. It takes a high degree of skill to safely and effectively perform a power clean or a dumbbell snatch. If I can spend 5 minutes teaching kids how to broad jump, and then spend 10 minutes broad jumping, I still have 45 minutes or so to turn them into jacked up monsters. If I spend 30 minutes on the clean, that drastically reduces the time I can spend on other areas. Many of my clients need to get more powerful AND get bigger, stronger, leaner, etc...to spend so much time on one lift is a waste of their time, money, and effort.
To get more powerful, you need a MAXIMAL INTENT to accelerate a load. This concept is known as compensatory accceleration. That is why box jumps are great...the height of the box necesitates the intent to jump high! Tire flips are another example. If you don't put all you have into that initial push, then be prepared to have a 450 pound tire headed back down towards your feet!
YOU BETTER PUT ALL YOU HAVE INTO IT!
IF you still feel the need to perform Olympic Lifts, then stick to High Pulls, and nothing else. We will implement them at times for variation, but my personal favorite power developers will always be any jump variations, band/speed squats, and tire flips.
Don't take it from me though...listen to Buddy Morris, Strength Coach for the Pitt Panthers football team...www.youtube.com/watch
Get lean, get jacked, get strong, dominate. Feel free to comment, let's get some discussion going.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Here is a guest post today from my buddy down in DC, Alan Stein, one of the top basketball strength coaches in the country. Alan hits the nail on the head with this one! Enjoy the article everyone.
Strength Coach Alan Stein, CCS, CSCS, in action
I urge you to read this entire blog, twice if necessary, and please forward to any player or coach you know. I also grant you permission to post this on your website or include in your next newsletter. This is one of the most meaningful blogs I have ever written.
After reading SLAM last week, which is one of my favorite magazines, I noticed several advertisements for vertical jump programs; created by guys claiming to be experts at improving a player’s explosiveness and athletic ability. Since I had never heard of any of these guys it prompted me to do a quick internet search and I found dozens and dozens of similar sites selling programs, gizmos, gadgets, and even pills that promised to deliver unbelievable improvement in one’s vertical jump. As a veteran strength & conditioning coach, it is obvious to me most of these sites and their creators are completely bogus. I actually found myself laughing out loud at some of the claims they made.
After researching further, it is my professional opinion that nearly every one of these programs is a sham. Theses are not credible strength coaches or performance specialists; they are simply con artists who are trying to trick honest kids out of hard earned money. And that is absolutely unacceptable in my eyes.
As a legitimate, long time basketball strength & conditioning coach as well as someone who has a valid, justifiable vertical jump training program on the market (the MVP program), these guys give people like me a bad rap. Their approach is sleazy and unprofessional and it makes me sick to think they make money swindling kids who are desperate to jump higher and improve their game. I don’t ever want to be mentioned in the same sentence as these hacks.
I am not going to name specific names, programs, or websites and this blog is not directed at anyone in particular, I am just taking aim at this group of con artists as a whole and want to expose them and their fallacies.
The claims these sites make are unbelievable. Some guarantee an increase in vertical jump of 8-12 inches in a matter of weeks. Others claim they will double your vertical jump, or better yet, get your vertical to 40 or 50 inches. But I will go more in depth on their claims towards the end of this post.
For someone to make such outlandish promises, they must be the best of the best, right? But after reading each site extensively, most of their “resumes” were paper thin. Most made claims to have worked with high level players, although not one recognizable player was ever named. Most made claims they have helped hundreds or even thousands of athletes, but where is the proof?
So I started to ask myself, what is their real resume? Who have they really worked with? Do they really even train athletes on a day to day basis or do they just pretend they do? I have worked as a full time private, professional strength & conditioning coach for the last 10 years, so I take grave offense to someone with an empty mug shot and phony resume claiming to be an expert in a field that I work so hard in.
Then I started asking myself a ton of other questions:
Why are all of their testimonials from people no one has heard of? How come most of the testimonials neglect to include the person’s last name or high school or some other way to truly identify them? How come these programs don’t have any recognizable athlete testimonials? I am well aware you do not have to work with NBA players or high profile players to be a quality strength coach or expert in vertical jump, but seriously, if their programs did what they claim, don’t you think just one noteworthy player would have used their services and been proud to say so? And what gives some of these guys the right to call themselves a vertical jump expert? How legit are the pictures they use? How do I know that is a 10 foot rim? How do I know they didn’t jump off of a bench to dunk like that?
And if you think their resumes and testimonials are a hoax, you should see the claims they make regarding the results you will get. As a real life strength & conditioning coach, I believe the results they claim are absolutely, positively not possible for 99% of the players in the world. A 50 inch vertical jump? An increase of 12 inches in 4 weeks? Touching your head on the rim when you are 5’7”?
Don’t believe me? Do you actually think a 50 inch vertical is really possible to attain for 99% of players?
I went online and looked up the results from the last two year’s NBA combines (2007 and 2008). These standardized tests were administered by the NBA’s top strength & conditioning coaches, guys with real experience and educational backgrounds. Their first test, the “No Step Vertical Jump” is measured accurately on a Vertec device and is done to standard - no shuffle step, no side step, no drop step and no gather step was allowed, just straight down and straight up.
Keeping the above guidelines in mind, guess how many guys in the past two year's NBA combine had a 50 inch jump? NONE. Not ONE player broke 40 inches on this particular test. Not even guys who are known for their hops: Jerryd Bayless, Al Thornton, Michael Beasley, or Derrick Rose. And these are the best players (and in many cases, the best athletes, in college basketball). For their second test, the "Max Vertical Jump," the athlete was allowed to take as many steps toward the Vertec as they felt necesary to acquire their maximum vertical jump. Everyone was required to start within the 15' arch and each athlete had the choice of a 1 or 2 foot takeoff. Even using this protocol, only 8 of the 160 players (5%) got a 40" vertical, with 42" being the highest. And that was with a running start! I am sure that if you look at the previous 10 years of NBA Combine results, you will see a similar pattern. If the best and most athletic college basketball superstars, who have been training under the watchful eye of proven college strength coaches aren't jumping 50 inches, I'm supposed to believe that any kid off of the street will be able to achieve that after following one of these vertical jump programs? Is that a joke?
One of the main reasons they trick so many kids is because they offer a money back guarantee, which is nothing more than a false sense of security. Let me tell you, as soon as you see “money back guarantee” on any type of workout product or program, you must question its credibility. NOTHING in this world is guaranteed. NOTHING. And to paraphrase Chris Farley in the movie Tommy Boy, “the only reason they have a guarantee is because they know they sold you a guaranteed piece of crap!” So why do they offer it? Because studies have shown time and time again that hardly anyone ever takes them up on their offer and asks for their money back because it is an actual admittance of failure. It well worth the risk for them to offer a money back guarantee because they know no one will actually do it. It is a ploy to move product. My parent’s taught me when I was very young, if something looks too good to be true, it almost always is.
I don’t offer a money back guarantee on my MVP program. You know why? If you don’t get results, it is your fault, not mine. I know the program works; I have used versions of it with thousands of players. I also don’t make any promises for results. Some folks will make much better gains than others. The only thing I know is that if a person does the program, they will improve. How much they improve is dependent upon their genetics, their starting level, and their effort and consistency. Period.
Another reason I know most of these programs are counterfeit is because all of their websites have the exact same look; same layout, same color scheme, same rhetorical questions. This is because most of these guys have taken classes or read books from the same internet marketing people. And these people are experts at designing sites to trick folks into buying their product. These con artists spend more time on their computer working on their site than they do actually training players!
They spend hours and hours “writing copy,” which means they follow a specific template on what to write. Therefore all of their info follows the same pattern. They come up with a catchy headline. Then they list several problems their perfect customer has (can’t jump, no time, no money, etc.). Then they list several benefits to dispute these problems. Then they think of a few reasons why someone would not buy their product or program and then have an “answer” to that. It is called, “identify problem… agitate…. solve by using their program.” These guys are merely wordsmiths who prey on kids insecurities and they rely on the fine print to make it legal.
Don’t believe me? Go check out the sites yourself. They usually start off with a letter directly to you. Then they say this will be the most important thing you ever read. Then they make several ridiculous claims. Then they sprinkle in some questionable testimonials. Then they act like they don’t even want your business if you aren’t 100% serious or committed. Then they act like they are giving a huge discount. Then they start tacking on FREE stuff. Blah, blah, blah.
Now let’s kick some truth. The truth is your genetics do dictate your potential to jump. Muscle fiber type and CNS efficiency are just two examples of traits that will ultimately determine how high you can jump, both of which are nearly impossible to see just by looking at someone. Not everyone can have a 30 inch vertical, much less a 40 or 50. Not everyone will be able to dunk a basketball. Not everyone has the ability to play in college, must less the NBA. Period. We were all born with different abilities and potentials. Everyone can improve their vertical jump, but not everyone can achieve the results these spinsters claim. In fact, hardly anyone can.
Now, I don’t want to get accused of being hypocritical. I am proud of the fact that HoopsKing and I created and sell the MVP DVD, a 12 week vertical jump program (www.Vertical-Jump-Program.com), of which I make a modest royalty on. I am the first to admit that is part of how I make my living, in addition to training players full time. I stand by the fact the info in that program is legitimate and I make no guarantee on results. I know as a real strength coach; the results will be different for everyone. However, I have full confidence that if a player follows the program consistently, with great effort, and is accurate and progressive, they will make gains. For some that might mean 6 inches, for someone else 3. But at least it will be real! Also, I didn’t wake up one morning and proclaim myself a vertical jump expert. I have a solid educational background and 10 years of real life work experience on my resume, including work with Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, Montrose Christian HS, the Nike Skills Academies, the Jordan All American Classic, and the McDonalds All American game.
I would love to hear your feedback on this blog, whether you agree with me or not.
Feel free to email me at .
Alan Stein, CCS, CSCS
Below are actual claims I have seen made. Please note the misspellings and incorrect grammar is on their end, not mine!
· “If you've been wanting to dramatically, easily, and quickly enhance your athletic ability, so you'll dominate the competition and hold the capability of performing effortless magical plays, I've got the most important letter you'll ever read. Just take a minute and read below to see how you can crush your frustrating lack of athletic ability problems once and for all.”
· “How would you like to know exactly how to develop court dominating power, sick athleticism, rock sold strength, and 'Highlight Reel producing" quickness?”
· “I've helped athletes who didn't even have a lick of experience at the time and turned them into basketball heroes within weeks!”
· “Now You Can Discover the Power House Secrets that Can Easily Get You Flying Through the Air and Doing Electrifying Dunks!”
· “If you would like to learn what the pro's do to jump higher, become quicker, develop explosiveness, increase strength and improve overall athletic ability and performance…then this new program is just what your looking for!”
· “The 12 Super Secrets that will almost "instantly" increase your vertical leaping ability. These 12 secrets are so powerful they're guaranteed to increase your vertical by a minimum of 9 inches!”
· “Are you ready to explode off the ground and finish breaks with rim-rocking two handed monster dunks?”
· “Small research laboratory stumbles upon "vertical leap in a tablet" formula that -- for the very first time -- allows above-the-rim gains for the average, bench-warming baller.”
· “Explosive Lab-Tested And Doctor-Approved Discovery Biologically Forces Even Hard-Gainers To Unleash Rapid Vertical Jump Gains Of Up To 5 Inches In Just 15 Days!"
· "What follows below explains the most amazing, non-steroidal discovery to impact the athletic world, ever!"
· “Forget old-school plyometrics... if you are one of the 99.2% of ballers born with "inferior genetics", then this will easily be the most important discovery of your life because this new formula, forcefully and unfairly can re-wire your central nervous system and supercharge your muscular power... for straight up-and-down vertical jump gains of 10 inches or more... all without the use of "jumping programs" or "platform shoes"...”
· “If you can touch the net, I guarantee you can dunk.”
Great stuff Alan! Thanks for exposing the lies and scandals that permeate this industry!
Everyone please go check out Alan's website www.strongerteam.com, and for a Vertical Leap program that is REAL and works, check out his MVP program on the site.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
This past summer, my best friend from high school got married down in New Orleans. He has an awesome job, as he works directly under the General Manager for the New Orleans Hornets. At the wedding ceremony, I got to talking to one of the Head Scouts for the Hornets. He told me (in a very thick Texas drawl) "Son, there are 2 different kind of Point Guards in the NBA....The quick and the dead...either you're quick...or you're dead!" He followed this with a loud bellowing laugh that startled me more than his punchline, but his point was well taken.
In many ways, gaining speed is the "holy grail" of the strength and conditioning professionals. Speed kills...and it kills your career. Odds are, an inability to play your sport at the next level is largely a result of a lack of skill development, a lack of size, and a lack of SPEED. But how does one get faster? How does one truly see results? I have seen so many trainers spend an hour on speed training with young kids where they solely perform running mechanics drills, ladders, hurdles, and "dot drills." Notice not one sprint is included in here. Not one cone drill. Gaining speed is really very simple; in fact is it so simple that many parents, coaches, and athletes want to make it into far, far more than what it really entails.
1.) Central Nervous System Efficiency. This is the ability of your CNS to "fire" and signal your motor units to get those muscles moving. This is a LARGELY genetically predetermined trait, although it can be improved to a certain degree. Overspeed chords, plyos, and safe explosive exercises such as box jumps, band squats, high pulls, etc. can help.
2.) Body composition. A famous trainer once told me "Fat don't fly!." And he is right. Carrying excess bodyfat will NOT help your speed at all. Get leaner, get faster. Notice I said GET LEANER not GET SMALLER. Don't focus on the scale, take measurements, focus on your body composition. You are going to need plenty of muscle if you want to be faster. Crash dieting and sucking weight is no way to get fast. Keep your protein, fruit, and vegetable intake high, and strategically eat your complex carbs and fats.
3.) Lower body strength. Many athletes who spent hours and hours using gadgets, gizmos, and gadgets to get faster are weak! Do you think Olympic sprinters are weak in their lower body? Hell no! These guys can squat a house, and if your lower body is weak, then odds are this is limiting your ability to exert force into the ground with each stride that you take. In particular, get those glutes and hamstrings STRONG!
If you truly want to get faster, get leaner, get stronger, and sprint HARD 1-3 times per week. The results may shock you.
Monday, November 03, 2008
As an athlete, you hear these phrases all of the time: "Don't give up." "Never quit." "Don't Stop Believing."
www.youtube.com/watch
But how many people TRULY have this attitude in life? I think that there are many situations where we could all do a better job at giving 100% in everything we do, irregardless of the adversity that we face.
On Friday Night, I witnessed one of the most entertaining football games that I have ever seen. Down 26-0 with 2 minutes left in the first half of the Section 2 Class AA playoffs, the LaSalle Cadets were left for dead. I'm not going to lie, I found myself even feeling bad for the boys who worked so hard with us all summer and fall. What unfolded over the next 26 minutes of football was like something out of a Disney movie. While Saratoga focused on star Running Back Marquis Terrell, Quarterback Mike Murray showed a lot of heart, guts, and poise as he lead his team all the way back to a 41-39 victory. Senior TE Mike Blais, who has been extremely reliable all season, made a great catch in the endzone to seal the game with 11 seconds left, leaving us fans, parents, and coaches in shock at what we had just witnessed.
Saratoga was an outstanding, well coached football team. Their was little doubt that they left it all on the field Friday Night, and even though that loss has to sting, they should hold their heads high.
As for the LaSalle Cadets? They advance to get another shot at Schenectady in the Class AA Super Bowl at Colonie High School, Friday, 11/7/08, @7pm.
Don't ever stop believing, play to the last whistle, and give 100% all of the time, because you never know what can happen. See you on Friday!
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