The Concept of “Hard Work”

I often browse strength and conditioning videos from universities, not because of the program design or exercise selection (lots of these programs are lacking in these departments).  I watch the videos because of how hard the athletes work.  With very few exceptions, these athletes desire improvement and are put in the correct enviroment to suceed.

I was watching this video about Penn State’s strength and conditioning.  Now I’m not a big fan of Penn State, however I like their strength coaches attitude.  JT mentions that he has an introduction program for new athletes to get them into the gym and teach them one important concept “Hard Work” and then it is all easy from there. 

I couldn’t be simpler.  Sometimes the easiest solutions are right in front of you.  He teaches these kids hard work, and everything else falls in place. 

So how can you measure hard work?  I’ll resort to the most classic half time or pregame speech of all times, and not the “our house” speech.  I’m talking about the man in the mirror. 

Can you look yourself in the mirror at the end of a competition and know that you did your best?  AND are you man or woman enough to realize if you haven’t? 

That’s how you begin to establish hard work.  Next time you look into the mirror, do you have enough character to not want to let yourself down?

Penn State Strength and Conditioning

- Joe Hashey, CSCS -

3 Ways to Improve Your Bench NOW!

I do find the bench press as a valuable exercise for strength development in athletes.  Some strength coaches have dismissed it, replaced it with incline bench, or used other variations.  I like the simplicity, the value of the movement, and the easy progressions that can be made with the bench.

That being said, I don’t like the “what’s your bench” question as the be all and end all of strength.  Everything in moderation.

I do get the question “how do I bench more” quite often.  There are many long term solutions, for example identifying and working on weaknesses (chest, triceps, shoulders, thin from front to back, etc).

Clowning Around With Your Bench Press?

Those are important, but I will give you a few tips on how to add a few pounds to your bench press NOW.  I have received these tips, or used them, with elite athletes and strength coaches.  They work if executed properly!

Improve Your Bench NOW:

1. Squeeze The Bar – Choke the bar with your hands like it just ate your lunch, slapped you in the face, and kicked your dog.  Why?  This activates and recruits more motor units to stabilize the bar.  A rock solid grip will certainly improve your bench.  It also keeps the bar aligned with your forearms, instead of rolled back in your hand, to increase your mechanical advantage.  This HAS to be done mentally, the squeezing I’m talking about does not happen on its own.  What to do: Squeeze the bar for a 3 count.  Relax for a second, re-squeeze, take your air and remain tight.  The first squeeze will begin the activation and mentally prepare you for the bench.



2. Retract And Plant – Hopefully you are already performing this movement.  You should squeeze your shoulder blades back together as if you are trying to crush an egg with your back.  This will give you a solid base and lock your shoulders in place.  What to do: Before your bench, pull yourself off the bench, retract, and re-plant into the bench with your solid base. 



3. Put Your Butt Into It – Many people are familiar with the concept of “pulling the bar apart” on the way down and it works great.  As the bencher converts from eccentric to concentric, (pushing the bar back together), it will help if they squeeze the glutes as part of their leg drive.  What to do: Keep your butt planted on the bench, do not let it come up.  As the bar approaches your chest, squeeze your glutes HARD as part of your brace, and drive the bar back up after it touches lightly on your chest.

If these help, I have a few more, let me know.  Try them out and post your rep or weight results in the comments!

- Joe Hashey, CSCS -

A Slice of Humble Pie – Atlas Stone Day

I usually try to refrain from telling self degrading stories, but I will share this one. 

I ordered a set of Slater Stone molds, and a generous parent of an athlete here had a connection to get the concrete poured.  I made one at the 18 inch size, and another with a foam ball in the middle to make it lighter.  I figured these were more a present for me than for the guys that train here.

So the stones came today and I had to give them a try.  They are extremely smooth and well made.  On my first attempt on the lighter stone, it rolled out of my grip.  It took another try to lap it and get it up on the box, as I have only used stones twice before.  It was not easy!

I was proud of getting it up and deloaded it onto a tire and rope pile.  It was a struggle. 

Out comes my resident 8th grade “I can do anything” athlete.  He picked up the stone, tossed it up on the box, smiled and said “ha, that’s fun” and walked back into the gym. 

I need to get stronger before these guys catch up (or I need to catch up)!

I’m proud of all my guys.  Some have gone from no push-ups to sets of 15, a huge improvement.  Another young man has gone from zero body weight squats to 185+ with good form for a set (neuromuscular improvement).  Jake, above went from a 3 tire flip in 51 seconds last summer to 14 seconds last week.  Their hard work is really paying off, it is going to be a crazy summer!  I know I wasn’t that strong at that age! 

As a footnote for the haters – I do not believe in having your average high school or middle school athlete performing such heavy lifts, but there are exceptions to every rule.   There are only two athletes here I would even let try the atlas stones at this point.  If you want to know what I think about youth athlete training <==== check it out.

- Joe Hashey, CSCS -

PS – DON”T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER OVER IN THE RIGHT COLUMN!  I’ve added new free bonuses including Jim Smith’s “What Core Strength is NOT.”

Round 4 – Who Trains The Best – Swimmers

That’s right…swimmers.

Swimmers have to train extremely hard to perform at a high level.  Jim Smith of the Diesel Crew sent me a pair of videos to use after I posted Round 3 – NBA Training .  

So far I have posted videos from MMA fighters, NFL Stars and NBA Players.  Each time, the readers of the site (you guys) get to vote on which one is better.  The winner of the vote moves on to the next round to face winners from other sports. 

Which Athlete Trains The Best?As a frame of reference, remember that these are only clips of their massive training regimens, and keep in mind their sport.  Try not to compare swimmers to NFL players or visa versa.  The training is going to be slightly different.

Michael Phelps

Phelps 2

Phelps 3

Ian Thorpe
 

 I think this is a good post to “think outside our training box.”  Not many of us compete in swimming, so it provides another perspective.

MY OPINION:  That being said, I think both Phelps and Thorpe are beneficiaries of their body types, and endless hours in the pool.  Strength training obviously isn’t their strong suit.   Of course I don’t expect them to throw around serious weight in the gym, but I do expect exercises with good form and complete range of motion. 

I will take Ian Thorpe in this one.  Plus, he has an awesome swimming nickname Ian “Thorpedo.”  His exercises include more free weight variations.  Phelps had a decent clip performing Bulgarian Split Squats with a sandbag, but the machine work looked weak.  Again, these are just clips, but swimmers would have to include some work capacity.   Both athletes compete in sprints up to slightly longer swims (still in the short to medium distance range).

The Thorpedo probably celebrating my choice  - Although Phelps came out with many medals and records.

- Joe Hashey, CSCS -

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

The world wide internets  have been down all day, so I couldn’t get my “Tips To Increased Bench Reps” post up.  Don’t worry, it will be up this week!  Today I will post up some training pictures from the last two weeks. 

Often times photos are more descriptive than words when it comes to some of the training performed at Synergy Athletics.  Feel free to post any questions you have about the pictures in the comments. 

Remember, if you like these posts, please retweet them by clicking the button in the top right of this post!  Thank you.

Foam Marching for a warm-up and foot health

Sumo Dead Lifts with Increased ROM

Low Angle View of Dead Lifts with added Range of Motion

Sled Drags – Plates and Blue Stone

Step Over Sled Drags

Have some good training pictures – send them in! 

- Joe Hashey, CSCS -