Saturday: In Photos

Getting Up!

Here I am getting my vertical jump tested at 30.25 inches. That is up 2.25 inches from last year. I am 5'9 and 194 pounds. Almost everyone wants a higher vertical. Most put on goofy looking shoes, perform endless sets of calf raises and heaven forbid tons of leg extensions. So what does it take to have a jaw dropping vertical? Here are a few things:


1. Perform heavy squats (>85% 1RM)
2. Perform explosive squats (~50-60% 1RM)
3. Plyometrics (Box jumps, depth jumps, jump squats)
4. Train the posterior chain (calves, hamstrings, glutes, low back)
5. Descend fast into your jump and explode up.
6. Lose extra bodyfat. It weighs you down.

It really isn't rocket science. Using those few tips above anyone can put inches on their vertical.

Who Trained Your Personal Trainer

I recently had an article published in "Paducah Parenting". It was titled "Who Trained Your Personal Trainer". Here is the link if you are interested in checking it out:

http://www.paducahparenting.com/issues/27-28.pdf

New Years Resolutions

As the clocked ticked down the final minutes of 2008 I’m sure many of you thought about the last year in retrospect. You may have asked yourself: “How did this year fly by so fast?”, “Why didn’t I accomplish my last years resolution of ___________? “, “Why am I 10 lbs heavier this year than last?”. Then the retrospective view turns into a self improvement and annual ritual of making resolutions. Many people do this and it is fine if it works for you. People swear to themselves that “This is the year that ______”. Everyone wants to transform their lives and better themselves. People want to lose weight, get a better job, make more money, etc. Over this next week millions of people will evaluate their lives and what they want their resolutions to be. They will make their resolutions (many already have) and sadly many will fail (most probably already have). Now, let me let you in on a little secret. I do not like New Years resolutions nor do I make them. Instead I set goals. The goals may be short term and some long term but all are for the next year. I evaluate my life and break it down to different categories. For me personally they are similar to: Health and fitness goals, nutrition goals, business goals, relationship goals, education goals, personal goals, and financial goals. Once I establish these headings I then come up with my goals for each heading. Some may have only one and some may have 4 or five. I write these goals down. When writing something of this nature down it makes it more “concrete” and you are more likely to remember and work towards them. After I write my goals out I decide my plan of action. Goals just don’t obtain themselves. They all take steps, some big and some small, but you have to take some action. Figure out what steps it will take to reach your destination. You wouldn't get in your car and start driving to a destination without planning your route first. So what makes you think you can reach a goal without proper planning first? Put all you have into these endeavors, stay positive and look at them often. You may be surprised when you realize how many of these will happen if you put your mind to it.

Article

I had a recent article published on Elite FTS (elitefts.com). Below is the link:

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/show_and_go.htm

Here is an article review of it I came across also:

http://strength-basics.blogspot.com/2009/01/article-review-ten-tips-for-show-and-go.html

STRONG

I just received Joe DeFranco's documentary Strong. (www.strongmovie.com) Above is a clip from the movie. If this doesn't make you want to train then I don't know what will. I'm finishing up my Spike and heading to the gym to kill it on some legs.