Rocket Man

Yes, it has been “ a long, long time…” and for that we apologize. Again, real life (competing and coaching) has gotten in the way of, well, *writing* about competing and coaching.

One of the main reasons we have been devoid of new posting is that Coach Keen is, again, ‘downrange’ for some work on behalf of the USG. But, in one of our infrequent phone calls, we recently discussed his minimalist training while deployed to a country with no electrical grid, no comm grid, no internet, and thus obviously no commercial gyms. It was a great conversation, so I demanded a follow-up write-up. What a great thing the occasional sat-phone-enabled e-mail article is…

“
What I am training with down here is only as much as I wanted to carry with me. That amounts to my original version PackWeight, a JungleGym II/XT, some JumpStretch bands, and a mini double-end ball.

What anyone brings when you train on the road should depend upon what the specific goals are, as always. When I am in a place where I know there will be no facilities, and the eating will be bad, I plan accordingly. So, my goals for this 200 days is to not be any worse of a masters boxer when I return, and to weigh 180ish, leaner than I was when I left. (weighed about 195) These goals are what drove the tools I chose.

As you know, I focus on power-endurance as the “strength and conditioning” physical quality that really improves performance in the ring. Therefore, I rely on the JumpStretch bands and the PackWeight rather heavily as my conditioning tools. Also, as our GMAAC members know, I do a lot of isometrics, and so I can use varying combinations of the heavy JS bands and whatever suspension system I choose to bring for that, as well. I like to do band-based max tension isometrics, the Jay Schroeder extreme position holds, and even some fundamental static position stuff from gymnastics. The rest of it is rounded-out with strength-based bodyweight training, sort of a hybrid between the Convict Conditioning stuff and Building Gymnastic Bodies material… there are specific pieces I have taken from each of those, but about 50% of it is mine.

For boxing-specific work, luckily for me, I am an old guy. I don’t need to hit the heavy bag anymore, I just need to get my wind, and keep the hand-eye sharp. One of the benefits of globetrotting with fellow officers is there is always a few guys who have boxed before, even if it is just for the PT class at one of the service academies. Regardless, this means you can almost always find someone to do some ‘touch sparring’ with, if you don’t have gloves, and folks are always interested in learning how to do a little bit of “Mayweather mittwork,” and once I teach them the patterns then I have them feed me.

Finally, as I already mentioned, I like to use the mini double-end ball I got years ago on Ebay. I used my Google Fu to find a place where you can still buy them:
http://corporate.marketworks.com/storefrontprofiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=101468&c=254814&i=52695577

This thing and my ‘Joe Practice’ device have always been my favorite travel-training-tools for boxing, and that little sucker moves pretty fast, and will keep your handspeed where it needs to be. A month or two of real sparring in a canvas ring at home is all I need to be ready to fight.

In the end, the actual schedule all looks like this: Mon/Thurs AM – Roadwork and ‘Output’ Mitt Work; Tues/Fri AM – Mitt Work, Sparring, DE Ball; Mon/Thurs PM – Lower Body S&C; Tues/Fri PM – Upper S&C; Sat & Sun – light, long jog both days, with some ‘fun’ sparring
“
There you have it. Some more of Coach Keen doing “what he can, with what he has, where he is,” as he always likes to say.

Adjustable Kettlebells

Coach Keen


I pride myself on having one of the 'most diverse' (note: I did not say 'best') adjustable kettlebell collections out there.  I have accumulated these over the last few years, usually with the purpose of dragging a kettlebell with me wherever in the world our intrepid leaders have seen fit to send me, with widely varying results. (results varying on the success of the kettlebells or the trips, I will leave to you...)

We like to use these at our remaining GMAAC boxing gym locations because they provide just what we need in terms of what kettlebell training adds to boxing S&C: affordable, compact, progress-able, efficient power-endurance training.

Having fielded many questions about them from athletes, parents, friends, and e-acquaintances, we'll throw a quick review up here so that the broken record act can be over and done with:

Stop Making Excuses

As I write this, Sergio Martinez is less than 24 hours from winning another defense of his Championship and Ring Title at middleweight.  At, yes, 36 YEARS OLD.

I have been whining about rehabbing a torn achilles (that is, complete rupture, followed by 'open' surgical repair) at 35.  Yet here's a guy who spent 20 years working his way to the top and who, in his pre-fight interview with HBO talking about growing up impoverished in Argentina, said "I was 14 before I knew what 'dinner' actually was."

So, to me, and the rest of you, shut up and work.

I had a friend in the military who always told people who were bogged down in the details to "chop the wood that's in front of you," and as Rocky Balboa said, "you have to KEEP MOVING FORWARD."

Simple, almost knucklehead, advice, but mostly true nonetheless.

Lessons from Makko-Ho

Call it what you will, but Makko-Ho, or what some refer to as "meridian yoga," has a lot to teach us.  The movements themselves?  Sure.  Here is a simple graphic of the positions, and a jumping-off point for some videos online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEJMua-bmc0

More important than the movements themselves, however, is the 'system' one uses to progress.  Unlike Western programs that focus on how to get the most calorie burn with the very least amount of effort, or training with  ridiculous circuits and intervals that actually call for tracking your movements in 15-second increments, or powerlifter v. bodybuilder arguments that get athletes totally bogged down in 'sets and reps' as the be-all and end-all of training, the Makko-Ho system worries about the none of the above and has only six fundamental 'facets' that must be used to guide your training, in order for one to reap the benefits of the system:


Determination; Withstand Minor Pain; Overcome Laziness; Patience; Spirit of Independence; Refusal to Give Up


'Nuff said.

HomeBrew Functional Movement Bar

This is a tool that is not 'necesssary' for your boxing gym or its conditioning corner, per se, but is so cheap to make that you might as well.

We use this item to do 'chops' and 'lifts' per the likes of Gray Cook and Mike Boyle.  If you are not well-versed in the movement(s), see here:
http://www.functionalmovement.com/SITE/publications/downloads/cschoplift.pdf
or here:
http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/matriarch/MultiPiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_186_A_PageName_E_Cookchoplift

Anyway, the functional cable bar runs around $100. [  http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_4710_A_CategoryID_E_239  ]    The ones we use run around $5.  Granted, the product from Perform Better and Gray Cook is a good one, but seems to be a little more than our junior boxers need.

So what do we do?   Depending upon the size of youngsters/boxers we are going to have using this, we take a 2' or 3' long piece of 1.5" diameter PVC pipe, buy a couple of caps therefore, and then a couple of eye bolts with nuts.  Again, this raw material total is somewhere between three and five dollars.

Now, drill a hole in each one of the caps and put an eye bolt through there.  If you want it to be extra sturdy, put some Gorilla Glue or epoxy on the nut/bolt combo threads.  Then glue the caps on with epoxy or PVC glue, and voila.  You now have a 'functional movement bar' for about 1/20th the price.

What Are You In It For?

Here at GMAAC we are, first and foremost, sport-specific amateur coaches.  A lot of posts are information we pass along targeted at amateur athletes like the young men and women we coach, but the truth is that while the compliance levels of young athletes do seem to be getting worse by the year, being an athlete is one of the easier pieces of the equation.

All you have to do is make sure to have the will to work, and then place yourself in the hands of an outstanding, experienced, coach.  The problem is, those *coaches* are getting harder and harder to find as well, so this New Year's Message goes out to all the new, and even future, coaches out there.

Think hard about what it is you are doing, and why you are doing it.

There are a lot of 'coaches' out there who are actually just shepherding his or her son or daughter through the system in order to live vicariously through him or her; this is often either to somehow compensate for the coach's failed sporting career, or simply to make the child "a star" and/or earn him or her a scholarship. 

Bad reasons to be a coach.  Period. 

Coaching, in this era, is often unrewarding.  There are many parents who *would* fit into the demographic in the above paragraph, only they are too lazy.  These are the first people to willfully embarrass their children and berate them at a wrestling meet, and then yell at you for not coaching their otherworldly-gifted child with the necessary high-level tactics.  By the way, this parent never wrestled. 

So, what to focus on?  That kid who was berated by his or her misguided parent.  In today's society, amateur sports is still the best way to teach a child, adolescent or even adult discipline in a rewarding fashion, to educate them on the cycle of hard work/reward, and maybe most important instill a lifelong 'plan' for fitness.  So keep your eye on the ball, so to speak.  Winning bouts, matches, races and meets is fun, but be sure to teach your athletes the fundamentals, encourage them when things go poorly but provide honest feedback, point out what they have done right when things are going well, reward hard work, and most importantly help them to build healthy habits and turn themselves into fit, bulletproof adults. 

More Home-Brew ISO and Suspension Work

Last time I had the time to post we told you that we use two main pieces of equipment for isometric and suspension work: either a cam strap we make into a suspension device or a Universal Strength Apparatus (actually, a USA 'Pro').

The first option will run you about $20.  The cam strap suspension tool is, frankly, just as good as almost any of the 'suspension trainers' out there on the market, particularly any that have a single connection point for both handles (i.e. the TRX or old JungleGym).  A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video even more, so here's how we make and use one:


To throw it out there, we consider the USA Pro to be a worthwhile investment for a few reasons.  One is that you don't have to do any adjusting.  This is sort of laziness on your part if it is 'just you,' but if you have this hanging in your boxing gym or other facility, it is nice for folks to just be able to walk up to it and use it.  The second reason is somewhat related to the first, in that you have fixed handles to use, which makes your ISO work both much faster, and even more importantly *consistent*, both between sides and from workout-to-workout.

ISOs and Suspension Work

Take note, this is where we sell out...

In all seriousness, a number of our friends have asked 'what we use' to facilitate all the suspension and ISO work we do, and there are really only two honest answers:
1) A cam strap, or
2) a Universal Strength Apparatus (USA Pro, actually).

Choice #1 is what you use when you want to go the 'cheap' route.  Choice #2 is what you use when you want to avoid messing around with changing lengths, and trying to get them the same from workout to workout so that you can compare.  And, while a USA Pro is quite a bit more expensive than a cam strap, it is quite a bit cheaper than many of the 'commercial' options out there.

So, sometime in the near future we will post a video regarding what kind of cam strap to get and how to use it for this purpose, and in the meantime if you want to get a USA head on over to the BodyweightCulture site using the link below:

Losing Fat Weight and Weighing In - KISS

Once more, folks are asking us what the ‘secret’ is behind making weight here at GMAAC.  With the risk of displaying broken record syndrome, there are no secrets, folks.  All the information you need is already out there, you just have to find it and apply it.  One of our boxing coaches, who is eminently successful at this, doesn’t understand why people “can’t figure out ‘how’ to not eat,” as he puts it.  Anyway, in that spirit, here is his bitter little “cliff’s notes” version of how to be an off-season relatively lean 205# athlete, who once or twice a year needs to box as a light-heavyweight (178#) in 16 weeks:

1)       

1.  1.  If you have traditionally had problems making weight, read the book “The Foundation Diet,” which will help you develop the mindset necessary for successful body composition training and lifestyle.  Again, it’s probably your attitude and your lack of compliance holding you back, and not a lack of information.

2)      

2.  2.  Read Shelby Starne’s ebooks [available for purchase on the EliteFTS site] WRT the actual ‘diet,’ insofar as what food you will put in your mouth goes.  These books are not for the faint of heart, but they work and work well.

3)      
3.  3.  Don't buy in to the whole “Interval Training is all you need…” movement.  What we call “output” work is not only necessary as the ‘base’ of your conditioning ‘pyramid’ but burns more calories from fat, and burns a lot of calories over the course of weeks and months of a fight camp.

4)     
4.  4.  On the other hand, don’t do stupid, seated, repetitive exercises utilizing a piece of ‘cardio machinery’… this work burns less calories, and is so boring that it will actually make you stupider for having done it.  If you are going to do conditioning/output work, there is no reason you cannot find something specific to your competitive endeavors to perform for a long duration.  This activity will not only get you ‘in condition’ (both cardiovascularly and body comp-wise), but can also be used to improve your skill set.  Think 4 five-minute rounds of paced mitt work, instead of sitting on a stationary bike.

5)      
5.  5.  Finally, adopt a sound meet-week protocol.  There are some very smart people out there who have facepalm-dumb meet week strategies.  I like to do the following:

a.  Weigh-In Day (– 2):  Three servings of:  a bottle of water (12 or 16 oz.), a poached chicken breast, and a handful of strawberries or blueberries.  This is not the minimum, this is IT.

b.  Weigh-In Day (– 1): Two servings of the above.

c.  Weigh-In Day:  Nothing.  Yes, NOTHING until after you weigh in.

d.  Competition Day:  Start rehydrating with Smart Water as soon as you make weight, and then resume eating a ‘typical diet.’  If you try all the ridiculous “superhydration strategies” out there, and start ingesting crap like waxy maize supplements without having taken them before, you will end up feeling bloated and sluggish.  These strategies are fine for bodybuilding, where you are only worried about how you look, but they are not beneficial for weight class athletes who need to perform.

As promised, fairly simple, but definitely not 'easy'...

Monkeying Around

Coach Keen

Yeah, I’m punting on this one… But why not share one of the Boiler Room Gym’s favorite websites with the rest of GMAAC?

For all you GMAAC members who have not heard of the Monkey Bar Gym in Madison, WI, check it all out here:
http://monkeybargym.com/

Amongst all the great information on the site, you will find an outstanding article on improving vertical leap here:
http://monkeybargym.com/vertical-jump-training.html

If, by chance, you are too lazy to even read the article, there is a link to Jon Hinds’ free VJ program in the body of the article:
http://www.monkeybargym.com/images/stories/pdf/Jon_Hinds_Vertical_Jump_Training_Program.pdf

And, finally, while you’re on the site, you might as well download their free August workout templates to save for some rainy, off-season month when you don’t want to put too much thought into your programming and want something follow-along, but solid:
http://monkeybargym.com/images/stories/august_2010.pdf

http://monkeybargym.com/images/stories/august_24.pdf

And heck, why not look at their ‘workouts’ page and peruse some of the videos so you can see what you are doing…
http://monkeybargym.com/monkeybargym-workouts.html

Race-Day Reflections

Coach Mohr

I had a solid performance in my qualifier this a.m. I had planned on
doing a more thorough and methodical warm-up than when I would just shot-gun it, like in years past. I came up with a template based on
target cadence and max HR which generates a warm-up for you. I
entered all the data and copied the output onto an 8.5x11 sheet of
paper.... that I left on the dining room table this morning. The funny
thing was that on the paper was also my list of things to pack for the
race. Unfortunately, I didn't include "the list" on the list of things
to bring with me.

That not withstanding, I did have the most solid warm-up I've ever had
prior to a race. Even though the course is a flat (relatively) 1 km
circle, I still brought along my trainer (the rear wheel mount kind) so
I could concentrate on HR and cadence and not worry about cars or
runners or dog walkers or bird watchers (seriously...). I spent 20
minutes working up to around 135 bpm in my 50x19 ring. I then went to
the john and then got back on the bike and started my progressive
interval. It was 2 minutes in 50x17, but in the harder resistance zone
going at 90 rpm (crank cadence). I then rested for 2 minutes and went
up to 100 rpm. Then did the same for 110. My HR's at the end of the
intervals were 140, 155 and 165. I then got the bike off the trainer
and rode the actual race route where I would do more intervals. They
were less strict than I would have prescribed, but it felt right. I
would do a dig at a little faster rpm, but an easier gear just to help
with some potentiation (yeah, I made that up), but also to prime my
lactic acid flushing mechanisms (yeah, I made that up, too).

I wanted to finish my warm-up no more than 5 minutes prior to the start
of my event. That's a tough call to make because no one wants to blow
their wad in their warm-up. I've been fearful of doing that throughout
my running/cycling "career." However, today, I figured I didn't have
much to lose and some more knowledge to put in the vault. When I rolled
up to the line, there had apparently been a snafu with the previous
cyclist's time (he was 3 laps in before everyone realized that no one
was recording his time). So, they were basically looking for someone to
just start whenever they wanted. This worked out great for me, so I
said I'd be ready to go in like 2 minutes.

I took off, and within the first lap, I could tell that the warm-up was
effective. About a minute in to most max effort trials, I feel like my
legs fill up with lead, and I spend the rest of the race fighting
through dead leg syndrome. Today was a little different. The speed with which my fatigue set in was much slower. That has a big psychological
benefit because if you feel like you just got punched in the face within
the 1st lap, then you know that the next 7 laps are gonna be too hard to
continue at your original pace, so you back off. Either way, the guy
who put down the fastest time last year had a commitment today. So, he
did his qualifying run on Thursday and posted an 8-lap time of 12:40. I
knew that was gettable because a month ago I posted 14:11 for a
9-lapper, and I was 95% sure that I went though the traps at the 8-lap
mark at 12:38. Today, I started my watch a little late, but I could see
pretty early that I was making good time. Also, while there was a
little bit of a wind coming out of the North, it seemed to lessen by the
time I had to ride. Also, for alot of other riders, there were lots of
dog walkers and what not on the road to deal with. My ride was pretty
clear from that standpoint. Either way, my 2-lap time was around 3:06,
which was on target, but my 4-lap time was 6:08, which was much faster
than my original plan was for. I think I was at 9:12-ish by the
6-lapper, and my stopwatch had 12:21 as my overall time. The
scorekeeper said I was at 12:25, and I figure he's probably more
accurate than I was. Regardless, for a 5.2 mile race, that's 25.13 mph.
Since getting >25 mph for one of my TT's was a goal of mine this year,
I'm pretty pleased with the overall result. I ended up being the
fastest rider (2nd place went to the guy that did 12:40 on Thursday, and
third was the Master's Cat 3 racer that I think was a tick over 13:00).
It's probably as good as I have felt about a competition effort and
result as I've felt in an awful long time.

I'm not sure how much the warm-up help my overall performance, but it
seemed to get my body in a better "race mode" than previous plans. I'll
have it more dialed in for my 9/11 race.

Meet Prep

Coach Hansen

Results
After setting the stage with my RAW bench post, I'm sure you are all dying to know how my bench meet went… well, I will tell you: not that great. I did hit my opener of 402. On my second, 424 came halfway up and then stalled. I tried to grind through, and felt something funky going on with my right pec, decided that discretion was the better part of valor at that point, and passed on my third. Given how the pec felt I doubt I would have gotten it anyway, and if the mind doesn’t believe it, then you sure as heck aren't going to get the rep and ‘surprise yourself.’

Warm-ups
We arrived in Dubuque at exactly noon, since this was the latest you could weigh in. Fully dressed, I came in at 398lbs. Heavier than I would like, but I'm addressing that at the moment. We then headed to some weird restaurant to get some food, and based on the cuisine I mainly just tried to stay away from anything ‘off’ that would have given my any issues. Like many others, I get a nervous enough stomach from just competing, let alone what would happen if I ate the mystery-meat breakfast sausage that had been sitting out for 7 hours… so, off to the hotel room to relax for a few hours. We arrived back at the venue around 4:30 pm, as the rules meeting was at 5:15. After shooting the breeze with a few guys, and taking some empty-bar warm-ups on the bench we would be using, I decided to head over to the warm-up area for the rules meeting. It was here that I learned you couldn't use the thumb loops on wrist wraps; not a big deal, but any little change can affect your lifting, and it illustrates the point that you need to know the rules of the federation you are lifting in going in, as sometimes even the smallest ones can make a big difference.

I took my usual warm-ups: bar x10, 135x8 and 6, 225x6, 315x2, and then 365x1. I tried to space these out about 5 minutes apart, but that was a bit difficult as we only had two warm-up benches and lots of lifters. I hit the 365 about one minute before the first lifter went on stage, so the timing was right on as far as I was concerned. I found a chair close to the stairs, and waited for my name to be called. I will admit that I was quite nervous, as this was the first meet I had done in about 3 years, and by far the biggest. We were on a raised stage, in a large auditorium, in front of lots of people; I even had several friends who had come to see me lift and many more back at the gym wanting updates. None of this, based on my recent period of inactivity, helped my nerves.

Impressions
As I said, I was nervous, more so than I usually am, and it definitely affected me. It seemed that I could not get a real tight arch, and the weights just felt ‘off.’ We used the very thin, competition-certified Ivanko kilo plates for the comp lifts, and normal pound weights for the warm-ups. At the Gold’s, where I have been training for this meet, we train with these huge rubber weights that sit way out on the bar. As I said before, even the smallest things can make a big difference, and I think that not only did the odd appearance of the bar play into my nerves, but the fact that the weights were so close to the center of the bar actually made the balance feel a little different, and between mind and matter things were feeling unsteady as I Iowered my opener. In a perfect world I would train with the same (sized, at least) weights I would be using in the competition, and in the future I will be sure my grip location is centered spot on, so that there is no chance of feeling any lateral shakiness due to the more ‘dense’ load-out.

Programming
In the end, would I call this meet a success? Yes. It was my first meet in three years, and I did hit my opener and get on the board. As everyone at GMAAC is always cramming down your throat, the only way to get better at competing is to compete, and I lived to tell the tale. More importantly, having a definite metric to shoot for and a deadline date when the meet would be held, it forced me to put together a few months of good, consistent training. I now also know what to expect at a much bigger, ‘regional,’ meet. When considering that at this time last year I couldn't bench an empty bar without pain, I feel I have come a long way back. When I started training for this meet I was only benching a very shaky 365, and that was without a noticeable pause. So, 402 with a LONG, IPF-legal pause is progress. I definitely need to work more on my shoulders, as well as the upper back and triceps. I am a firm believer that if you fail in the bench press, it is usually one of these smaller, accessory muscles that fails you. Some more paused reps are in order as well.

What Lies Ahead
As stated, I do plan on slimming down a little; how this will affect my power remains to be seen. There is another meet at the same venue on December 3, so right now I think I will compete there to establish another benchmark. Leading up to that meet, special attention will be given to the lats, upper back, triceps and shoulders, and as they get stronger the RAW bench numbers should climb. Continued rehab/prehab on my still-aching, though not injured, shoulders is a must. After I get the details ironed out, I will update my program for the world to critique.

Thanks for reading, and happy competing! We’ll see you on the platform.

Just Do It

Those who know us know that here at GMAAC, we *thrive* on competition.  Competition, and the success we enjoy, however, is not the 'end.'  It is the 'means' by which we keep moving ourselves forward on the journey, which is more important than the destination.  Competition, for us, is about accountability.  It provides metrics that tell you what you need to do to improve, and it is what gets you up at 0430 to train when you might otherwise sleep in. 

The philosophy portion of the lecture now over, it can't be denied that despite the fact competition is a training tool for us, we like to do our fair share of winning.  The reason that this seems to inspire comment from others is that we win in a wide variety of sports, many of which don't have a lot of overlap when it comes to skills or necessary attributes.  We have had a GMAAC coach medal in his LWC meet and place top-10 in a 900+ participant duathlon in the same season.  This year we had a GMAAC coach win gold at tournaments/meets in boxing, kettlebell sport, and armwrestling.

How do we do it?  We 'just do it,' that's how...  You have heard us say before that SPECIFICITY is KING.  This applies on all levels.  That is, when there is a boxing tournament coming up you need to do more boxing.  When you are skewing your training for boxing, you need to do more actual boxing.  Huh?  This is only to say that you need to spar as much as possible, and when you can't do that you should at least hit a double-end bag or do some quality mitt work.  Standing in one place hitting a heavy bag, or jogging, just don't cut the mustard.  Make your training specific, and therefore efficient. 

Similarly, when it comes to armwrestling we try to get to the table.  When you are NOT on the table, however, don't follow the madding crown and sit on the end of the bench to do wrist curls, or use hammer preacher curls as the base of your routine; set up some bands and simulate pulling, and do some heavy ISOs using your body weight where you are hanging from a suspension system with your arm in an AW pulling position.  Check out some Devon Larratt videos on YouTube and do an ISO "curl-hook" leaning over an incline bench...

The point here is that when training for sports, even our strength and conditioning work is sports-specific, and is programmed based on the actual sport needs, and not some ex-bodybuilder's (or even worse, physical therapist's) 'strength and conditioning template.'

John Brzenk said it best in a response to a guy assailing him about how Brzenk could possibly be such a dominant armwrestler when he doesn't train that heavy, doesn't deadlift at all, and didn't even know what the farmer's walk was.  Brzenk replied to this line of criticism as follows: "If you want to be great at basketball, play basketball; if you want to be great at tennis, go play a lot of tennis; if you want to be a great armwrestler you need to get to the table, a lot.  So, I don't know how much I can or could bench, because I take the majority of my 'max lifts' at the armwrestling table."

Seems self-evident, but, when you get down to brass tacks, there are few coaches and athletes who couldn't use at least a little more specific, *targeted*, training.  If you *have* a sport, *focus* on that sport.  Until next time...

So Far, So Good

Coach Hand


Well, I am due the next article/post on here, but am feeling lazy and uncreative.  There, I admitted it. So, I am just going to recycle an e-mail Keen sent me from a couple weekends ago during GMAAC’s latest official competition showing at a state sports festival, and hope there's a lesson in it:

“…it was pretty ridiculous, because there was this little fighter south of 140 who had fast hands, but for some reason had this right to the body he liked to lead with, and kept landing, but every time he would throw it he would pull his glove back to like his hip, and then keep it down there for a few seconds. It was so bad I was standing up on my toes waiting for him to get KTFO each time he did it, but it just didn’t happen, and he won the fight easy and damn did his coach talk him up afterwards. No mention of that ridiculous hitch.

Then, there’s this big dude competing as a heavyweight armwrestler, and winning, but he is standing there with his feet right next to each other, directly under his hips. Had like the worst leverage setup ever. I saw a guy from a lighter class trying to talk to him about it, and he just shrugged him off.

So I am sitting around my brother’s house later watching “The Magnificent Seven” on TNT HD and it gets to the part with the little exchange where Steve McQueen tells the old dude with the stupid plan “Sounds like that fellow back home, that fell off a ten-story building… yeah, on the way down people on every floor heard him saying ‘So far, So good…’ “  Just sort of made me laugh at the time, and I thought of those two proud morons. “

So, what is the point of this? The point is made in the narrative. You CANNOT afford, as an athlete, to ignore fundamentals and then, just because you are sliding by, think you are 'all that.'

This is, in large part, our responsibility as coaches. The coach of the boxer, if his defense was really that atrocious, can’t help but have noticed, and needs to have said something. If I had to guess, he probably falls into the “well, that’s just his style, and it seems to work for him…” trap. If something is technically incorrect, and can get you hurt or cost a victory, it is not a matter of style. It is a matter of stupidity and laziness, and you need to do what it takes to succeed, regardless of what you think your ‘style’ is.

Along the same lines, while it is something coaches should be constantly vigilant for, it is ultimately the athlete’s responsibility. This is who will win or lose if the day comes that someone exposes the technical flaw.

So, study your sport and the proper mechanics thereof. Then, NEVER STOP evaluating your own technique, to include through video review, and asking others to spot-check you, at a minimum. You’ll enjoy a better winning percentage and greater longevity. Just be sure you don’t get caught in the trap of “So far, So good…”

Hold It Just a Little Longer...

We have received lots of questions from our athletes and parents about the hows and whys RE: our implementation of what Coach Keen always refers to, in his training short-hand, as "Jay Schroeder EXTREME ISOs!!!"… Given that he does use this method a lot, *and* the fact that they are not actually Jay Schroeder isometrics as prescribed at his facility (at least, as best we can tell), we figured some explanation was due.

First, some history:

Many folks in the S&C community remember the hype surrounding Adam Archuletta and the 2001 NFL Combine, when he created a stir with not only his outstanding performance, but what people began to understand his combine training to be. Videos on ESPN of him doing ‘crazy stuff’ lit a fire of curiosity in people that was only stoked by the Jay Schroeder video ‘Freak of Training’… Our own Coach Keen bought that video, but found it so ambiguous as to methods and implementation as to almost completely preclude constructing a program just based on watching it.

Soon came the whole Jay Schroeder/DB Hammer/Brad Nuttall identity scandal on the internet, with the takeaway, GMAAC-wise, being that Coach Keen also emerged from that information fracas with “The Best Sports Book Ever” in his vast library, in an attempt to further understand and implement this type of program.

In the near future after the arrival of DB Hammer and Inno-Sport, there were other training groups and individuals who seemed to implement these isos, or other similar quasi-Inno-Sport and quasi-Evo Sport methods, into their training regimes, to include WannaGetFast and Kelly Baggett.

Coach Keen, after having seen almost all the products offered by the above-named individuals, has settled on his *own* way of implementing what he calls the “Jay Schroeder EXTREME ISOs,” but which are, in fact, just isometrics done in a way that he prefers (read: finds effective) after cobbling together all the above training materials. His opinion is that he does things about half Jay Schroeder-style and half Inno-Sport-style, but that idea is confusing in itself if you are one of the many people who believe that Jay Schroeder and DB Hammer may in fact be one and the same.

That, however, is enough for now. Regardless of who 'invented' them, and who is writing under what pseudonym, the bottom line is that Coach Keen has observed (recorded) measurable improvement when using these methods, primarily in power and power-endurance. The lower body use of these methods seems particularly helpful to the vertical jump. So, when programming these ISOs for GMAAC athletes (usually as part of 'GPP' or 'Off-Season' programs) his progression/set of rules is as follows:

1) First, when doing the bodyweight-only (which includes adding external load, via a weighted vest or belt) EXTREME ISOs, he uses a group of positions that closely resembles what is rumored to be Jay Schroeder’s core group:
• Lunges
• Push-Ups
• Scap Pull-Ups/Rows
• Wall Squats
• Glute-Ham or Single-Leg Reaching DL
These movements are, unless otherwise noted, held for a total duration of 5 minutes per contraction (per limb, if a unilateral movement). If an athlete is a 'true' power/strength athlete (as opposed to power-endurance), Coach Keen starts him or her off with 20% bodyweight added, and all ISOs are held to one minute (instead of five), with weight added once one minute is reached.

2) When performing these ISOs, the key is to, WHILE MAINTAINING PERFECT FORM, use the antagonists to pull oneself into as far a stretch position as possible, and then try to pull farther still, actively causing the opposing muscle pairs to ‘duke it out'. This is incredibly intense, and potentially painful, when done properly.

3) When performing the ISOs that utilize dumbbells (DB), the progression over time is from a hold -> drop and hold -> drop and reversal of movement:
• DB Upright Rows
• DB Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise
• DB Curl
• USSR Lunges
• Ankle Weight Hip Extension
These movements are initially performed with a 5-7# dumbbell for each movement for a timed hold. Once an individual can hold the dumbbell for 45 seconds, then progression is made to a drop-and-catch with a 5-7# dumbbell. Once the individual can ‘stick the catch’ for 3 sets of 15 reps per movement, a progression is made where the dumbbell is reversed as rapidly as possible, instead of stopped/caught, and held for 10 seconds, after the reversal motion, at the beginning of the eccentric portion of the movement (where the drop would be initiated from) before completely relaxing and dropping the weight again. 2-4 sets of 5-10 reps are done here, with speed and mastery being the goal. The USSR Lunges are simply bouncing/bodyweight lunges done with the same force absorption principles as the DB shoulder/upper work.

4) The EXTREME ISOs are usually done as a ‘recovery workout’ in a macrocycle, done on alternating days with very heavy or system/CNS-intensive work (heavy, long timed KB sets, or a lot of squatting and pressing above 90%) and the DB Iso/Hold/Rebound work is done in a completely separate macrocyle, where it would be alternated with lots of heavy, short-duration (15-20 sec) isometrics and isotonics performed near CJC, a la Inno-Sport and DB Hammer.

Did this post fully explain the reasons and methods for use of these isometric protocols? No, absolutely not, and we know it. But, that is largely because, like most folks out there trying to implement this type of work, we are experimenting and trying to find a way to make it all fit in. Also, it has hopefully shed some light on how and why we have implemented these low-load, but high power and duration, ISOs. Give them a try, and please give us your feedback.