The Plague of The Mediocre Athlete: No Glutes = No Results

Here's a great article by Kelly Baggett, No Glutes = No Results. I think this is a big problem with athletes, especially skinny basketball players like myself. While going to this extent may not be neccesary for some of you, for others it might be your missing ingredient.

Evem if you don't need/want to follow this program, I hope you realize the importance of not only having strong, but properly functioning glutes. At the very least, I hope you start including glute activation drills in your warm-ups. Doing this along with some good joint mobility drills will only take you an extra 10 minutes and will go a long way in helping you stay injury free and get more out of your training. If you can't achieve proper form when lifting do to inactive muscles and lack of mobility/flexibility, how do you expect to get anything out of them?

On a seperate note, if you haven't already read all of Kelly's articles that pertain to you and your sport, DO SO NOW. This guy really knows his stuff and gives out a lot of great FREE info on his site.




- Max

Let's talk feet.....

Well, I haven't posted in quite a while. Don't worry though, I'm back. I have a lot on my mind so I'll be trying to post quite often so be sure to check back every couple of days.

Now, let's talk feet. If you haven't read either of these articles, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

Feet Hurt? Stop Wearing Shoes.

You Walk Wrong.

Hopefully, after you look those articles over, you'll understand why I hate most shoes and think people should stop wearing them. You'll also understand why I spent $80 to buy a pair Vibram Five Fingers.


Yesterday was the first day I wore them. Here's a few things I noticed:
1) Walking without shoes all day is hardwork. Today my feet and lower legs are sore. This is no surprise seeing how feet are probably the weakest part of most people's body.
2) My heels became very sore if I didn't make sure to walk correctly. Most of us bang our heels on the ground because of years of conventional shoe wearing.
3) I felt more energetic. I know it sounds weird, but being in contact with the ground of the earth gives you a sort of an energy. Some people might call this "chi". I don't. It's hard to explain, so I guess the only way to understand is to go barefoot all day outside or start wearing Five Fingers.
4) My joints felt much better throughout the day. It's very rare that I go the entire day without some discomfort.
5) I felt loose and relaxed. I was sitting down for much of the day, but I never felt tight or stiff as I normally do when sitting for long periods. This doesn't mean you should sit around all day. Get up and move.

Wow, that's a lot to notice after just one day of use. Besides the benefits of going barefoot or wearing Five Fingers listed in those articles, you might be wondering, "Max, what do you specifically hope to accomplish by wearing those weird slipper things?" Good question. Here's what I hope to accomplish:

a) I have weird, nasty feet. There I said it. I attribute this to years of wearing shoes that were too big for me. Some of it might be genetic, too. My toes clawed at the sole of the shoe to try and stay balanced. Now, well for some time now, I have what's known as Hammer Toes. It's not a pretty sight. Add on to that the fact that I have EXTREMELY high arches and that I'm also a supinator, and you have a recipe for disaster. It's no wonder that I have a history of ankle sprains and foot problems. I hope to correct these problems and return to the state of how God made us: barefoot.

b) I also have some other physical ailments that I hope going barefoot will correct. These are moslty lack of mobility in the ankles and hips. This doesn't mean I still won't be working directly on my mobility in these areas. I'm probably better than most, but still not at the level I want to be at. If you didn't already know, having optimum mobility paired with being strong leads to being able to stay low, jump high, run fast, and be explosive. Just in case any of those things are important to you.

So, there you have it. Even if you don't decide to wear Five Fingers, try going barefoot whenever you can. Around the house, when you work out, mowing the lawn (watch those toes), etc. I hope you've changed your mind on the facny new shoes with shocks and pumps you just got. We were made to be barefoot, just like we were made to eat earth-grown foods, lift heavy stuff, and move everyday. Something to think about. Well, I'm off to go deadlift at my gym while wearing my Five Fingers. I expect to get some looks.



- Max

Jump Training Blog

Here's a link to another cool blog dedicated to jump training and improving overall athleticism. This guy is more of a track person, but he still knows his stuff.


Enjoy.





- Max

Switching to a Full Body Training Split

For some time now (at least a year) I've been usually following a 4 x week training template with an upper/lower blody split. For most of that time I was using Joe DeFranco's Westside for Skinny Bastards program (or least something pretty similar) and it definitely has worked. Lately, I've been a little frustrated with my lack of improvement (especially with gaining size) and I've just been a little bored in general with my training. The more I read about ectomorphs (those with thin bone structure and long limbs), which I am, the more I'm starting to think I might do better with a 3x a week full body split. I've noticed that I tend to gain more mass with more frequent training, as opposed to going 3-4 days before I work the same muscles again. I 'm still going to have a specific emphasis on each day (max effort, dynamic effort, repitition effort) like WSFSB did. Here's what the basic layout for each day would look like:

1. Explosive Movement
2. Squating Movement (inculdes single leg variations like step-ups, lunges, etc.)
3. Horizontal Press/Pull or Vertical Press/Pull superset
4. Posterior Chain/Hamstring Movement
5. Abs/Grip Circuit

And here's what a typical week of training might look like:

Day 1 - Max Effort:
Dynamic warm-up/Joint Mobility drills
1. 1 arm DB Snatch 8 x 2
2. Box Squat (heavy) 6 x 3-5
3A. DB Bench Press (heavy) 5 x 5
3B. 1 arm DB Row (heavy) 5 x 5
4. Barbell Goodmorning 3 x 10
5A. DB Farmer's Walk 3 x distance
5B. Back XT 3 x 10-12
5C. Ground Ab Circuit 3 rounds

Day 2 - Repetition Effort/Accesory
Dynamic warm-up/Joint Mobility drills
1. Barbell Hang Clean 5 x 2
2. DB Bulgarian Split Squat 2 x 10
3A. Chin-up (medium) 4 x 8
3B. 1 arm DB Military Press (medium) 4 x 8
4. 1 leg DB RDL's 2 x 10
5A. DB Hex Holds 3 x 10 sec.
5B. Woodchoppers 3 x 10

Day 3 - Dynamic Effort and Rep. Effort
Dynamic warm-up/Joint Mobility drills
1. Box Squats w/ Bands (speed squats w/ heavy band tension, light weight) 10 x 2
2A. Push-up Variation (light) 3 x 10
2B. Inverted Row (light) 3 x 10
3A. Rack Pulls 6 x 2, 1 x 15
3B. Deadlifts w/ added ROM 2 x 3
4A. Farmer's Walk 2 x distance
4B. Back XT 2 x 8
4C. Ab Plank Variations 1 x each variation as long as possible

I'll try this for 3-4 weeks and let you know how it goes. My diet will stay the same so I know how well I respond to this type of training. Everyone needs to switch it up every so often... Remember that your body adapts to anything in a few or even a couple of weeks. With WSFSB, I was switching up the volume every week and changing exercises every 2-3 weeks depending on how I was feeling. I never though of changing the number of days I lift a week.

Always try to improve. Never become satisfied.



- Max

Playgrounds, Kettlebells, and Stones...Oh My!

Since the weather was nice today, I hit up the local playground to get some work done. Here's what my training looked like:

Upper Body Rep. Effort - I hit all these in circuit style fashion, resting about a min. between rounds

1A. Pull-up variations x 6, 5, 4
1B. Push-up w/ feet elevated x 18, 15, 12
1C. Kettlebell Snatch x 6 l/r, 7 l/r, 8 l/r
1D. Stone Military Press x 10, 10, 10 (I found a nice heavy one @ my house and brought it with)
1E. 1 arm Recline Body Rows x 8, 6, 6

Conditioning - 3 rounds

2A. Bear Crawl x 100 ft.
2B. Jump Rope x 100
2C. KB Swing x 25

And for good measure:

3. KB Swings x 100







Train outside when you can. Just be resourceful and use your imagination. Bodyweight training can be brutal and there are thousands of variations of basics...










Train hard. Be creative.

- Max

Contrast Showers

If you've read my past posts, you know that I'm a big fan of Contrast Showers (Hot/Cold Showers) or baths. As far as I know, scientific research isn't conclusive on these as far as how much they help with recovery. All I know is that when I utilize them, I feel great.

This guy is also a fan.










Train Hard. Recover Hard.


- Max

Today's Training

I was feeling a little under the weather for a couple days this week, so I decided to make up for it with a little higher volume than usual today...


Dynamic Warm-up and Mobility drills

1A. 1 arm DB Snatch 70lbs x 2, 75lbs x 2, 80lbs x 2, 85lbs x 1 (all reps with each arm)
1B. Broad Jump/Vert. Jump 4 x 2/2
Rest: 60 sec.
2A. Box Squat Pistols (with DB's) 40lbs x 8, 70lbs x 8, 80lbs x 6
2B. Back XT 45lbs x 8, 50lbs x 8
Rest: 60 sec.
3A. Barbell RDL 135 x 10, 135 x 10
3B. 1 leg Back XT BW x 5, BW x 6 (with each leg)
Rest: 60 sec.
4. Ab Circuit - Sprinter Sit-ups, Toe Touches, Hip Thrusts, V-ups all x 10 for 2 rounds
Rest: 30 sec.


Later:

KB Swings x 200 no rest