I love telling my client or athlete that we are going to hit the “core” hard and then walk them over to the pull-up bar for pulls or the trap bar for sets of deadlifts. I cringe every time I hear someone say that it’s time to blast the core and lay on the floor and begin crunching away for 50 reps. The definition of one’s core has gotten lost in translation over the years and we need to better understand what it really is. I like to refer to the core as – any muscles and structures that support and stabilize the pelvis, spine, and shoulders. I’d have to refer back to my old A&P text books to...

Find the silver lining in your injury **Disclaimer — I’m not a doctor and I’ve never played one on TV** My thoughts on this topic of injuries are simply from my personal experience and the experience of my clients and athletes. I am currently dealing with a shoulder injury due to my poor arm-bar escape technique, so this subject is fresh in my mind at the moment. The focus of this article is to discuss what you do AFTER you have sustained an injury. Are you going to be proactive and get better? Are you going to cower in the corner of the stall like Jim Carey in “Dumb & Dumber”? I vote being proactive; accept it, get your...

Here are 4 TRX movements we came up with that require a partner. FAI recommends one unit per person; however, we felt these were safe, effective alternatives that we incorporate on occasion to infuse a little competition and a lot of fun. Here is a brief breakdown on the 4 exercises: 1. TRX Suspended Burpee w/Knee Drive This exercise involves one person exercising while the other person provides a target for the knee drive. Your partner performs a suspended burpee with one foot in a foot cradle while you stand in front of them. On the way up he will grab the back of your head while driving the knee from the TRX leg into a target (either hands...

Guest article from my good friends at PerformancEDU. “Barefoot training” and “minimalist” shoes are making waves in athletic communities across the country.  Yet these two training innovations are not one and the same.  Minimalist shoes such as Vibram FiveFingers and Nike Free are joining the shoe landscape, partially in response to the bare-footing movement. “Great athletes have known forever that the key to balance and explosive movement is having as little between your foot and planet Earth as possible,” says author Christopher McDougall.  “Martial artists and gymnasts always go barefoot, and the best distance runners alive grew up covering massive miles with nothing on their feet.” McDougall’s book Born to Run critically examines the historical and cultural links between...

I love quotes.  They motivate, inspire, and help get me going when I need a little push. I have pages and pages of quotes that I refer to often. I like to pick a quote each morning and use it as my mantra for the day. I put them up on my fridge, the mirror in my bathroom, on the wall next to my desk; anywhere that I will see them frequently. I will say them to clients during a session, or email them at random times during the day just to help get their mind right. Here is my current “top 25″ list. This is a list that changes on a weekly basis. Use them  and share them...

Check out the latest interview I did with Josh Henkin from Ultimate Sandbag Training. We talk strength training for the combat athlete and discuss the fallacies and misconceptions that come about with what makes for real and effective MMA training. Listen in as we’ll dispel a lot of these myths and show how a well thought out MMA program can be amazingly effective. Interview link can be found on THIS PAGE

If you’ve ever witnessed or participated in a metabolic circuit designed for combat athletes, you’ve seen hard core. You’ve seen guys pushed to their physical limits. You’ve probably seen tire flips, prowler pushes, and ground & pound drills. You may have even seen some guys on their knees reaching for the nearest bucket. There are many variations out there these days, but the majority consist of circuits that are 3-5 rounds (sets) that last up to 5 minutes long and include a variety of compound movements designed to improve the athlete’s strength, power, endurance, coordination, and overall physical and mental toughness. The average individual would be completely exhausted and headed to the showers after one of these training sessions....