Hardcore Hip Hop For Hardcore Training

June 29, 2007

pe Hardcore Hip Hop For Hardcore Training Originally written 8/2005

I decided to write this article a few months ago but never got around to it until recently. It wasn’t until last weekend, when I scrolled through Dave Tate’s hip hop training mix on his iPod, that I realized this article was a necessity. Too many people are listening to, and worse yet, training to bad hip hop.

Before I get into my recommendations of hip hop to train to I must first tell you why I feel I am qualified to write such an article. Afterall, if I saw a hip hop article written by some thirty year old white dude who trains athletes for a living I would be quite skeptical myself.

The year was 1985 and like most kids from Jersey I listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen. Normally I listened to my mom and dad’s tapes but Born in the USA was the first tape that was ever mine. Around this time I was also introduced to The Who by some of my older cousins as well as U2 and Tom Petty. This was what I listened to all the time. That is until I got my first taste of hip hop. It was the Sugar Hill Gang, the Fat Boys, Slick Rick and Dougie Fresh. I played the tapes for some of my buddies and they were hooked instantly. Everyday at lunch we would do one of two things; play football or throw down the cardboard and have break dancing battles.

My love for hip hop did not turn to obsession until 1988. That was my freshman year of high school and it was also the year when two of the best, most controversial and most influential albums in hip hop history were released. The first was It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy. The social impact of that album had never previously been matched. Chuck D’s unmistakeably powerful voice over Terminator X’s violent, angry beats with the trademark siren created a noise that changed the face of hip hop forever. The second landmark album that was released that year was Straight Outta Compton by NWA. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy E, and MC Ren took gangsta rap to a new level and caused so much controversy that they recieved numerous threats from the government. To this day these two albums remain amongst the greatest of all time.

Throughout high school I was one of the few white kids I knew who listened to hip hop. Back then it wasn’t like it is now where everyone and their grandmother listens to Outkast on a regular basis. Like Eminem said, “hip hop is universal now, it’s so commercial now.” But it wasn’t always that way.

When I went off to college the first two friends I made who remain my brothers to this day, were black and Hispanic. Since they knew more people than I did I always hung with their crew. Strange as it sounds now I barely hung out with any white people or listened to anything but hip hop for the next few years.

Of course, in time I came back to Bruce and The Who, and now listen to a wider variety of music than almost anyone I know. However, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t listen to hip hop, and it’s been that way since ‘85. With that said, let’s get to the music.

Public Enemy- There is not much more that can be said about one of the most legendary groups in hip hop. The PE sound is unmistakeable and always makes you stand up and take notice.

Public Enemy # 1- The biggest hit from their 1987 debut, which created the buzz that would last for several years to come.
Bring Tha Noize- The song that put PE on the map with the unforgettable sound of Chuck D’s booming voice shouting out the opening line, “Bass, how low can you go…”
Bring Tha Noize Remix featuring Anthrax- An already great song becomes even better with Anthrax turning up the beat a notch.
Terminator X To the Edge of Panic- The classic PE sound, with sirens blaring and Chuck D ripping rhymes over the Bomb Squads flawless production and Terminator X’s turntable wizadry.
Rebel Without A Pause- More of the trademark PE sound from It Takes A Nation on Millions, including the unmistakeable sirens and Chuck D rhyming with purposeful anger.
Brothers Gonna Work It Out- Chucks much anticipated response to police brutality against a large group of black teenagers in Virginia Beach. This is always in high rotation on my training mixes.
Welcome to the Terrordome- PE stirred up an endless amount of controversy with the release of this 1994 single and made a hell of a song to get angry and lift heavy weights to in the process.

NWA

Straight Outta Compton- The song that started it all and changed hip hop forever. Although the video was played less than a handful of times on MTV, the image of Ice Cube busting through the Compton sign and shouting out the opening verse will be etched in hardcore hip hop fans memories forever.
Fuck Tha Police- At the time, the most controversial song in the history of hip hop.
100 Miles N Runnin- The group’s first hit song without Ice Cube.
Chin Check- After the death of Eazy E and the succesful solo careers of Dr. Dre and Ice Cube no one ever thought they would hear from NWA again. On the Next Friday soundtrack the group reunited and added Snoop Dogg to the mix to produce this comeback hit.

2Pac

Holler if Ya Hear Me- No hip hop list would be complete without including the late Tupac Shakur and this was one of his angriest tracks.

Mobb Deep

Survival of the Fittest- A very dark gloomy beat from one of New York’s biggest underground stars.
Shook Ones Part II- Recognized as one of the greatest hip hop songs ever, this is definitely a great one to train to. For those unfamiliar with this song, it is what Eminem was listening to in his headphones at the beginning of 8 Mile.

Busta Rhymes

This Means War- Busta’s angry raps over Ironman by Black Sabbath makes for an outstanding song to train to.

DMX

What’s My Name
Make A Move

D12- Eminem’s crew came upon the scene a few years ago but it wasn’t until their 2004 album, D12 World, that they truly established themselves as major players. D12 World was a strong contender for hip hop album of the year and featured several great songs to train to including the following:

Git Up
Loyalty
American Psycho II
Keep Talkin
How Come

Eminem- Although he is recognized by many as a pop rapper, Eminem is one of the best lyricists in hip hop history and can battle with the best of them. When he is angry, there is no one better on the mic.

Lose Yourself- The 8 Mile Classic that everyone on the planet has listened to at least a dozen times.
Rabbit Run- This is an example of Eminem at his best, flowing seemlessly without taking a breath for minutes on end.
Nail In the Coffin- This is an unreleased song directed at The Source’s owner Benzino. To hear him rip the mans heart out on wax is awe inspiring.
The Source- This is another unreleased dis directed at Benzino and is yet another example of how good Eminem can be when he is mad and has a point to make. Do yourselves a favor and download these tracks.
If I Get Locked Up- This is a non album track which was done with Dr. Dre and Funk Master Flex. The beat itself gets you fired up.
Till I Collapse
Soldier
What You Say
The Way I Am Remix featuring Marilyn Manson

Eric B. & Rakim

Follow the Leader- For years, Rakim was known as the greatest rapper in the game. Although there have been many contenders for the thrown over recent years, Rakim has still laid down some of the best vocals in the history of the game over Eric B’s grimey beats. Follow the Leader is a classic from one of the greatest duos in hip hop history.
Know the Ledge- This was the the theme song to Tupac Shakur’s first movie, Juice.

EPMD

Headbanger- Although they have produced some of the greatest party songs in hip hop history, EPMD can still get angry on occasion and their best example of this came on this 1992 track featuring Redman and K-Solo.

House of Pain

Shamrocks & Shenanigans Remix- Sometime between The Beastie Boys debut and the time Eminem took over hip hop there was another white rap group known as House of Pain. This song was from their debut album and the remix features an angry guitar riff which fits perfectly with Everlast’s gravely vocals.

Ice Cube

The Nigga Ya Love To Hate- The opening track of Ice Cube’s debut solo album let everyone know from the get go that he was not fooling around.
Hello- Reunited with Dr. Dre, Cube let’s everyone know that, “I started this gangsta shit.”
Wicked

Wu Tang Clan

Aint Nothin Ta Fuck Wit- Shaolins finest produced one of the most highly revered albums in hip hop history with 1992’s Enter The 36 Chambers. Although nearly every track is a classic, this would probably be the best one to train to.

OutKast

Da Art Of Storytellin Part II- Long before they started making pop hits like Hey Ya, the boys from Atlanta made tons of hardcore underground hits. The distortion of the vocals is what makes this song.

Naughty By Nature

Uptown Anthem- Like EPMD, Naughty was always famous for their party jams. However, when Treach was given a rugged beat and decided to get angry, great things could happen. This song is one such example.

Cypress Hill

Aint Goin Out

Snoop Dogg

Serial Killa- Lately Snoop has become a pop rapper who makes love songs but there was a time back in ‘92 and ‘93 when Snoop was as hardcore as a rapper gets. This song from his debut classic, Doggystyle, featuring Tha Dogg Pound is a far cry from Drop It Like It’s Hot but is great for moving some heavy iron.

Jay Z Featuring Linkin Park- The jigga man was known for years as one of the best rappers in the game and made one party hit after another. To this day it’s impossible to go into a New York club and not hear at least two dozen Jay Z songs in one night. However, when he decided to team up with Linkin Park last year he produced some of the greatest hip hop training songs ever.

99 Problems- The original, featuring Rick Rubins production is also a great song but adding Linkin Park makes this one of the best songs of the year to train to.
Faint/Jigga What
Numb/ Encore

Run DMC

King of Rock- It would be sacreligious to leave Run DMC off this list. Long before Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine started making rock/rap a popular entity, Run DMC was combining the two genres on a regular basis. They started the trend twenty years before it became popular and Public Enemy took it to another level. On King of Rock, Run DMC prove why they are the legends they are.

There are probably several songs that have been left off the list as an oversight but I think that what I have provided covers a pretty wide spectrum of hardcore hip hop. Now you have the list and there are no excuses. Start buying and downloading these songs today. If I scroll through Dave’s or anyone elses iPod again and see Nelly on the training mix I will officially lose my mind.

Please leave your comments below.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment

The More Muscle Interview

June 28, 2007

Nutrition expert, Mike Roussell and I sat down for an interview recently and discussed the topic of building muscle.

Check it out:

MR: Jason, your transformation was pretty incredible going from 147lbs to 231lbs. How much trial and error did you think you went through training wise until you found what really worked?

JF: Oh man, Mike, I can’t even begin to tell you. I tried so many different methods and systems it was unbelievable. I actually started out as a beginner on a six day a week high volume body part split. This was back in the 80’s so I think I was just looking in the magazines at whatever Sean Ray or Aaron Baker or Gary Strydom were doing and just copy it exactly. Obviously that didn’t work out too well.

I entered high school weighing less than 100 pounds and after four years of training my ass off and growing almost a foot taller, I only weighed 147 pounds at graduation. So obviously, all my experimentation during high school didn’t work out to well either.

During those four years I was still doing whatever I could find in the magazines and even ordered some courses like Cybergenics and some other stuff that was popular at the time. I think the first training books I had were the Arnold Encyclopedia and one of Dr. Hatfields. I tried everything I read in both of those.

My experimentation during college was quite extensive and quite varied. I finally stumbled upon the HIT movement and Mike Mentzer and Arthur Jones. It was like a beacon of light and I adopted that training philosophy immediately. And for the first time I started to really grow, which isn’t shocking since I was so grossly overtrained. But as anyone who has had a similar experience can tell you, those gains don’t last too long either.

I could be here all day telling you about all the crazy stuff I did but I think it’s pretty safe to say that I was in the game and wasted an inordinate amount of time and money for a good ten years before I really figured out what really worked.

MR: It is one thing to find something that works for you personally but you routinely pack 20lbs of muscle on the frames of your clients in spans of only 3 months. How do you get results like when other people seemingly struggle endlessly to get bigger?

JF: At this point I have been training people for 14 years. During ten of those years I worked with clients for an average of ten hours per day; and twelve hours per day every summer. Now since I was always a C math student I can’t tell you how many hours that is right off the top of my head but, take it from me, it’s a friggin lot.

When you have that much experience doing anything you are bound to become somewhat proficient at it and just develop a knack for it and for reading people and recognizing commonalities.

Most people are making the same mistakes in their training and nutrition and some even have a faulty belief system that is holding them back. I address each of these issues and we’re off and running.

Training is not rocket science not matter how many people try to turn it into that. But figuring it all out isn’t simple either.

MR: Everyone nowadays is always worried about getting fat when “bulking up” what are some strategies that you use to ensure that you put on more muscle than fat? Or do you even care?

JF: Well, first of all, a lot of people that worry about that have a fear that is completely unfounded. If you are an athlete, under twenty years old or both, this is not that great of a concern unless you are eating deep fried chocolate donuts and dipping them in butter six times a day.

I have worked with plenty of guys who could eat whatever they wanted to and could still stay lean. In that case you have no excuse for not being able to pack on twenty pounds in a couple months.

If you have trouble staying lean there are a few adjustments you need to make. First off, you need to make smarter food choices. Eat lean proteins like chicken, fish, eggs, lean red meat and cottage cheese instead of burgers, hot dogs and pork chops. Next, be sure to keep your carb sources clean as well. This means fruits and veggies are at the top of the list followed by oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, and sweet potatoes. By now everyone knows the benefits of eating good fats like fish oil so I won’t bore people to death with that.

If just eating clean is not enough then we move onto more advanced strategies like carb cycling and calorie cycling. This takes some time to explain but to make it really simple for everyone, you should eat more calories and carbs on training days than you do on non training days. Bottom line. Training days are higher calorie days, off days are lower calorie days; pretty simple. Of course it’s more complicated than that but that’s the gist of it.

MR: What are the biggest mistakes you see people make when trying to pack on muscle? Is it usually related to nutrition or training?

JF: It’s hard to say if it’s one or the other because they do go hand in hand. But if I had to pick I would say it’s gotta be training. It doesn’t matter how great your diet is, if your training sucks, you’re not gonna make progress.

But, you know what, Mike? I’m not even going to cover the training mistakes that people make because looking at that is missing the bigger picture. You know what the biggest mistake people make really is? The one thing that everyone seems to do these days, especially with all of the conflicting information that is out there?
It is a lack of consistency and a lack of belief in what you are doing. There is so much information out there these days that people don’t know who or what to believe. And because of this they are confused. They are constantly reading something different and always in search of the next best thing. They do a workout for a week or two and then read so and so’s new article about changing your tempo every rep or some brand new way to fire up the CNS or some nonsense and they try that system. A week or two later they decide that is not working so they switch to something else. And so on and so on.

If you are always changing programs and training philosophies how can you ever make progress? You can’t; it’s that simple. If you don’t believe in what you are doing you will never, ever be successful. That is a universal principle that applies to everything in life. It has to apply to your training if you ever want to make real progress. You can use the crappiest training program in the world but if you are consistent, have the balls to train the way you really should and really and truly believe in what you are doing, you will get results.

Pick a training program, system or philosophy and stick with it; believe in what you are doing and train your ass off. You can’t fail if you do that.

MR: Okay so tell us a little about your new course on muscle building. What makes this stand out from other products?

JF: Well, first of all I tried to make it more of an entertaining read than a lot of the stuff out there so I included a lot of stories and personal anecdotes that people could relate to. The topics of sets and reps and proteins and carbs can be kind of boring so I try to spice it up a little bit.

Aside from that, I have tried to make it as simple to understand as possible while still including information that will help anyone from a raw beginner to an advanced lifter. I have had guys who have trained for over twenty years tell me that they learned quite a bit from reading Muscle Gaining Secrets, which makes me very happy to hear. If I can do that while not alienating beginners, then I know I achieved the goal I set out to accomplish.

I have included some unique methods of periodization which have rarely been covered. I detail every single mistake that people make in their training and show how these can be avoided. And of course, a book from me wouldn’t be complete without getting politically incorrect and calling bullshit where I see it. I definitely expose a lot of the gimmicks and nonsense that is out there and do my best to help people save time and money and avoid making all the same mistakes that I did.

MR: Jason, thanks for talking the time to sit down and talk with us. The information you gave out in this interview alone is enough to put 5-10lbs on somebody’s frame.

Click HERE now to start building muscle faster than you ever thought possible.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building | Leave a Comment

The Failure Mindset

June 28, 2007

I would like to thank everyone for all of the emails that have been flooding in during the last 48 hours and apologize for not being able to get back to everyone personally. I promise my staff and I are doing our best to get back to everyone and will be working around the clock today to handle all of your questions and concerns.

I woke up this morning to find an email in my inbox that I wanted to share with everyone because it demonstrates one of the biggest mistakes people could ever make and essentially guarantees failure in all that you do.

“Jay, your new product looks great. Here’s my one and only problem with it though. You’re lying to the world. Nobody could ever gain 80lbs of muscle without tons of steroids and you know it. It’s impossible and it’s complete bullshit. I used to respect you but now that is all gone. I can’t believe you would do something like this. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Chris

Before I share my reply I should tell you that I know this guy. We have met three or four times and I even had lunch with him once. He’s about 132lbs and 25% bodyfat. Which I am not knocking; we all have to start somewhere. Back in the days he used to ask my advice on certain subjects and I always did my best to help him. When he decided to try the most asinine diet around in effort to get in better shape I warned him not to. He was determined to prove me wrong so he went on it for 16 weeks, taking before and after pics, only to finish a pound or two lighter at the same bodyfat percentage. He has been quite angry at the world ever since for some reason.

My reply…

“Chris, always a pleasure to hear from you. Sounds like training still isn’t going too well for you. I’m sorry to hear that. Anyway, where did you ever come up with the idea that gaining 80lbs of muscle is impossible? I never heard such a ridiculous statement in my entire life. I have actually known or known of several people who have achieved such a goal. If you know how to train and eat properly and have a set of balls on you and the desire to pursue and achieve goals this really isn’t that far out of the realms of reality.

One of my closest friends in the world is a guy named Mike Schwalb. Mike was the first athlete I ever trained. He came to me in 8th grade weighing 120 pounds. I trained him all through high school and college football and he became like a little brother to me. During that time, while mainly focusing on speed, strength and agility, Mike also gained 110 pounds of muscle and played his senior year at Gettysburg weighing 220 pounds. Not once did Mike touch a steroid. I know this for a fact. All he did was bust his ass in the gym and eat like a machine.

I have had several experiences like this in my gym. My close friend and long time training partner Todd Coker had a starting weight at my gym of 150 pounds and finished ten years later at 252 pounds. Now granted that’s a long time, but it shows what hard work and perseverance can lead to.

So as you can see from just those two examples, my gains weren’t even the most impressive in MY OWN GYM, let alone the world!

But I understand your plight. I really do, and I know what you’re thinking…

‘If only I had those kinds of genetics, I could out squat Jim Wendler.’

‘If only I took that many steroids, I could be as big as Jay Cutler.’

‘If only I had great genetics AND took a boatload of steroids, I could be the biggest and strongest guy in the world.’

Yeah, you could. The only thing you are missing is the attitude. Winners never make excuses.

You could have been something, Chris.

If only…”

Don’t let a negative belief system bring you down or hold you back from achieving your goals. If you want to gain 70- 100lbs of muscle don’t let anyone tell you it’s impossible. Believe me, it’s not.

To find out how, click here now.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Motivation, Muscle Building | Leave a Comment

Questions & Answers

June 27, 2007

I have been getting tons of questions in the last 24 hours about Muscle Gaining Secrets. It is impossible for me to get back to everyone personally but I am pleased to announce that I will stopping by the Turbulence Training Members Site tonight at 9pm (EST) to answer questions. Everyone that purchases Muscle Gaining Secrets during our 72 hour special launch sale also gets 3 FREE months membership at Craig Ballantyne’s kick ass Turbulence Training Members Site. I owe Craig and everyone who has purchased so far a huge debt of gratitude so to show my appreciation I will be answering questions live tonight.

Until then I am in the Big Apple on “business.”

Craig and I have a little tradition we call Tattoo Wednesdays wherein I go for some new ink every other Wednesday or so and Craig…well, does nothing really. But he does email me throughout my hours in the chair to keep me entertained. The strangest part is he doesn’t even ask what I am getting done or to see pictures. Bizaree…

But he enjoys the small part he plays in Tattoo Wednesdays and that’s all that matters, really.

As you can see I am severely sleep deprived from preparing for this launch and am now rambling. Anyway, hope to chat with you all tonight. I will take some caffeine and be ready to go. And lots of branched chains and glutamine and NO2. Cuz that stuff really works…
*******************

“Finally an information source that covers everything and in my mind will become the bottom line for most people when it comes to gaining muscle and strength. My good friend Jason Ferruggia has released what I think is the BEST source out there on the subject. While Jay is a friend of mine and I would do anything for him, I have to be honest…after reading this book, I was hesitant to help him by advertising it and giving it a testimonial. You see, the book is so good, I am seriously nervous about losing clients. While I am no where in the same league with Jay when it comes to adding insane strength and size to people, or preparing athletes for battle, among other things….I still work with the same population as Jay does and once this book hits the hands of my readers, clients, and future clients, I may lose a few customers (as well as many other strength and physique coaches out there.) Yes, it is that good! No Bull. I have read just about every book on the market when it comes to strength training, and this book trumps them all by a mile. Jay makes it very easy to read, he takes out all of the BS and replaces it with tons of usable information. He then adds so many bonuses to the package, that I really think he is insane for not charging more. If you are wanting to look better, put on huge slabs of muscle in little time, gain insane amounts of strength, or if you just want to understand all of this stuff much better…you cannot afford NOT to get this book. Don’t hesitate…order this NOW. Click here to order now.
Keith Scott
KeithScottTraining.com

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

The Kids Are Alright

June 26, 2007

TheKidsAreAlright The Kids Are Alright Originally published at EliteFTS.com 11/2005

Last night I closed the doors to my strength and conditioning facility for the last time. After over ten years in the same town and the same building, it was time for me to move on to new challenges. When I finished carrying the final few medicine balls out to my truck I locked the doors permanently. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to meet a few friends for dinner. When I arrived I walked into a surprise party thrown for me by over thirty of my closest clients. I was touched to say the least. Throughout the night we all shared stories and laughed about the good times we had over the last decade inside that tiny gym. People from all different walks of life had become family there and I knew my life would never be the same without them. Through teary eyed thank you’s and hugs, they all reciprocated the sentiment. After drinking a “few” beers it was time to make some speeches. I took a few of my favorite athletes aside and thanked them, from the bottom of my heart, for coming to me and putting their trust in me and making my life better over the years that I have known them. With tears in my eyes, I told them that I only hoped that they knew how much it meant to me and that no matter what happened and where we were in our lives, I would always consider them my little brothers.

At the end of the night everyone handed me a big card that they had all signed. I sat down to read it this morning and was once again overwhelmed with emotion. It was during this time that I reflected on my last ten years in this business and what it means to be able to work with kids and impact their lives in a positive way.

Many of us who read this site are coaches or trainers or performance specialists and we spend a great majority of our time with kids between the ages of eight and twenty two. It is our job to make them better athletes. That is what they came to us for in the first place, right? That is what they are paying us for. But is that where the responsibility ends? Is that all we owe them?

When a kid hires one of us or plays for our team or school we are put in a position to be a role model weather we like it or not. You can not choose to not be a role model; it’s part of working with kids. When you sign up for this gig you automatically accept that responsibility. It is what you choose to do with that responsibility that matters most.

Aside from making them better athletes, I always took it upon myself to positively influence every kid’s life that ever walked into my gym. Kids, especially very young ones, can be extremely hard on each other and I would never allow that in my presence. I tried to stress hard work, leadership, team work and the ability to overcome adversity. I never did this by preaching or teaching but only through my actions. Kids see through B.S. in a heartbeat and can tell when some one is real. People have sometimes told me that your clients can not be your friends. You must always seperate business and friendship, they say. I couldn’t disagree more. This is a personal relationship business that we are all in. The most important thing we can do for the kids we work with is become their friend. Training should be their favorite thing in the world if you, as a coach, do your job properly.

Life as a teenager is a lot tougher than many of us choose to remember. Kids have enough stress in their lives on a regular basis that the last thing they need is more of it at the gym or at practice. Kids will not always tell their parents everything that is going on in their lives and they definitely will not always listen to their parents advice. But what they will do is tell things to and take advice from a positive older role model in their lives. And that, my friends, is a huge responsibility to shoulder.

Many times, younger or less experienced trainers will ask me for business advice. The first thing I tell them is that you have to genuinely care. I have learned several innovative ways to make money in this field over the last ten years but there is no more important tip I can share than that. You have to sincerely care about your clients and what is going on in their lives. If you simply see them as dollar signs, you will never be successful. You could be the greatest strength and conditioning coach in the world but without truly taking an interest in your clients and developing meaningful relationships with them, you will fail. An odd money making tip I give to aspiring performance coaches is to simply go watch their athletes play. This is something I had always done for years but never realized until recently exactly how many new clients and referrals I had gotten just by going to a Saturday morning game. The important thing was, that I never did it with those intentions in mind. If I did I might have dressed more professionally and had business cards and brochoures with me at every game. I only went to the games because I cared and I wanted to show my support for the kids that meant so much to me.

Along these lines, if I can offer one piece of strictly business advice to aspiring performance coaches it would be this: never take on a client you do not get along with and genuinely like as a person. Your first inclination will be to take on every client that comes your way but the repercussions of doing this can be disastrous. Strength and conditioning and personal training is and always will be a word of mouth business. If you are dealing with a client who you do not like and does not like you, ie. your personalities clash, how much word of mouth business do you think you will get from that client? How much can this person’s negativity hurt your business? It may seem like a good idea at first to take the money and deal with it, but in the end it is never worth it.

The years that a young athlete spends with you should be the time of their lives. As a coach or trainer, it should be yours as well. Have fun and don’t take things too seriously. Being great at improving speed and strength are one thing but changing some one’s life for the better is another. If, after working with an athlete for a year or two, you have made him significantly better on the field but have not positively influenced his life in any way, you have failed at your job. In fact, when some one comments on my ability to create a better athlete I am thankful and proud but the compliment has no deep meaning to it. Dropping some one’s forty time is not the equivalent of curing cancer or ending poverty. However, when I have an experience like I did one morning while moving out last week, I am deeply effected and I know what my real obligation to the kids I work with truly is.

The mother of one of my favorite high school athletes walked in and made a bee line across the gym towards me. With tears streaming down her face she thanked me for all I had done for her son (never once mentioning speed or strength or anything of that nature). She hugged me and made me promise that I would always continue to be a big brother and positive role model in her son’s life no matter where I went. To her and the many others who came to my gym over the last ten years I say… I will… I promise.

I think we all owe our young athletes that.

Lynyrd Skynyrd once asked, “If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?” If you have done significantly more for your athletes than simply improve their strength and conditioning, the answer to that question should always be yes. As I prepare to leave the place I have worked for the last decade and move on to a new phase of my life I can only hope that I have fulfilled my responsibilities to all of my athletes and that their answers to that question would all be the same.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Strength & Conditioning | Leave a Comment

The Road to Recovery

June 19, 2007

sergio oliva The Road to Recovery In the quest to get bigger, faster, and stronger many athletes overlook the most important aspect of training, which is recovery. The faster you can recover from an intense workout the faster progress will be made. Recovery does not mean just getting as much rest as possible in between training sessions. There are many steps to be taken in the road to recovery and if you want to reach your training goals it would be wise to utilize as many as possible.

Perhaps the best way to aid recovery is to avoid over-training. I will not go into great detail here about over-training because that is another article in itself. I will however give some of the signs of over-training to look out for. The first is an elevated morning heart rate. Take your heart rate first thing in the morning before getting out of bed, if it is five beats above normal this could be a symptom of over-training. Some other signs to look out for are lack of appetite, reduced sex drive, lack of energy and motivation, and insomnia. With that in mind let’s get on with the recovery methods.

Many people have said that bodybuilding ruined strength training and I for one agree. Bodybuilding training as it is typically practiced does nothing to improve an athlete’s performance, nor is it a useful method of gaining strength. The typical bodybuilding routine has one training each body part once per week with an outrageous number of sets and intensity techniques. The problem with training once per week is that it doesn’t take anywhere near that long for a muscle to recover. This is one of the bodybuilding myths that was started some time in the late 70’s and early 80’s. A muscle can actually be recovered and ready to be trained again sometimes in as little as 24 hours.

In the old days, when men trained like men, body parts were trained two to three and sometimes even six days a week. Now I am not by any means advocating that you start training each muscle everyday of the week but if you are stuck in the old habit of training each body part once every seven days its time to up the frequency. No wonder you are so sore, how could you ever adapt to training when you only do it once a week. Would you only practice a sport once a week? I don’t think so. Your training should be no different.

Another myth propagated by the bodybuilding world, which also began in the early 80’s, is the idea that one must train to failure. Nothing could be further from the truth. This notion came about when High Intensity Training (HIT) was being espoused as gospel. Mike Mentzer was the leader of this movement, however was also insane. In his 1925 classic “Secrets of Strength”, Earle Liederman wrote that, “a strong man never overextends himself in training.” Olympic lifters and powerlifters have never trained to failure, yet always make significant progress. Dr. Terry Todd, a world powerlifting champion often says if you are training to failure you are training to fail. Training to failure does nothing more than over stress the central nervous system and increase the time it takes to recover from training. Although it seems hardcore and intense it is generally not a good idea. In fact, well respected strength coach Chad Waterbury has stated that taking as little as one set to failure in a particular workout can extend the recovery process by up to 48 hours. Always end sets with at least one rep left in the tank.

Another thing you can do in the gym to cut down on your recovery time is to make sure you don’t train much longer than 60 minutes. Studies have shown that testosterone release peaks at about 30 minutes into a training session and returns to baseline at the one hour mark. Going past this time frame usually leads to cortisol production being higher than testosterone production. And for those that don’t know, cortisol is the hormone that eats away muscle tissue, not a good scenario to say the least.

Now that we have covered what we can do during our workouts to improve recovery lets examine what can be done outside the gym.

Post workout nutrition: Immediately after training it is imperative to consume a mix of high glycemic carbs and rapidly digestible protein. Biotest Surge fits the bill perfectly here. For two hours after training, protein synthesis and glycogen storage takes place at twice the normal rate. Recovery begins the second you end your last set, so the sooner you can get your post workout drink down the better. An hour or so after drinking your Surge you should have a meal consisting of a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein; ex. – 100gms carbs, 50 gms protein. When training for nothing else but to get as big as a house you can pretty much get away with eating everything in sight for these two hours.

In between the Surge and your next meal you could take advantage of another recovery technique known as contrast baths. This involves sitting in ice cold water for 30-60 seconds followed by jumping into hot water for another minute or so and then repeating for a course of about ten minutes. This can also be done in the shower by simply adjusting the temperature. Just make sure to use extreme temperatures.

Following the contrast bath/shower an ice massage on the muscles just worked has a great affect on speeding recovery. There is a specially designed tool for this known as a Cryocup, or you could just freeze some water in a Styrofoam or paper cup and peal half of it off and commence with the pain.

Taking a nap immediately after training can be another recovery booster. Anabolic hormones are released during sleep so taking advantage of this during the post workout period or at any other time is always a good idea. Ideally when looking to improve performance, eight hours of sleep should be the minimum for any athlete and even sometimes up to ten.

Now what if you have completed all the steps above on a specific training day is that all you can do to aid in recovery? Do you just sit back and wait now? Absolutely not, recovery is an ongoing process that can be furthered by stretching on off days, receiving chiropractic and Active Release treatments, and doing recovery workouts. Recovery workouts are meant to be short, easy sessions with the goal of getting blood to the muscle and healing it as quickly as possible.

The day after an intense pressing workout, your triceps could be pretty sore, so instead of doing nothing about it you could do a 100 rep set of band pushdowns to pump the muscle full of blood and healing nutrients and dramatically reduce soreness and recovery time. Hamstrings and lower back are a weakness for most athletes and need to be trained quite intensely. In between intense workouts you could do band leg curls, high rep reverse hypers, single leg band kickbacks, lying hip extensions, or bodyweight squats; the possibilities are endless. Sled dragging is also very useful as a recovery workout because there is no eccentric component to it therefore no damage is done to the muscle. There are countless ways of dragging the sled to aid recovery. The point is to not do too much, you don’t want to cause damage or work very hard during these sessions, a single, fairly easy set of 100 reps or a few trips with the sled is usually enough to do the trick.

You now have quite a few tricks to use to recover faster than you ever thought possible. Put a few or all of them to use and I guarantee your training will improve dramatically.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building, Strength & Conditioning | Leave a Comment

Mass Confusion

June 15, 2007

deadlift1 Mass Confusion For EliteFTS- Originally written in 2004

Am I the only one who reads articles by other strength coaches and wonders if I’m losing my mind? Surely some of you have read some of these very same articles and ended up more confused than Ozzy after Sharon leaves him home alone. Reading about an iso-quasi-eccentric upside down fat bar hang clean supersetted with sub-maximal dynamic effort isometric depth jumps can have the profound effect of making you tear out your own hair in an effort to figure out a way to incorporate these methods into your workouts.

The sad fact is that many of the people who read these articles don’t realize that much of these methods are unnecessary and even useless. By constantly trying all of the most high tech, scientifically advanced new trends in strength training many of you will only end up spinning your wheels and never making true progress. Jumping from one method or system to the next, just because it seems more complex than the last, is not an efficient way to get bigger, stronger, and faster. As a strength coach your main goal is to get results with your athletes. Results win ball games and results can greatly increase the size of your wallet. The problem is that as a strength coach, you have to make a name for yourself and separate yourself from the pack. You have to do something radically different that no one else is doing, because then people will think you are a genius. They will think you are on to something special and must be an amazing strength coach who deserves a thousand dollars an hour and a private bedroom in the White House.

I know that I’m going to piss a lot of people off by saying this but, many strength coaches who end up famous have mastered the art of the over complicated training systems. Every gimmick and novelty idea they can think of is utilized and they know how to sell them. They use fancy training cycles, and incorporate every different method of lifting known to man in each individual cycle or sometimes in every cycle. And often times they use these methods with beginners, which is absolutely useless and unnecessary. If some one has only been training for a year, they are far from ready to start using bands and chains. If that same person can only bench 135, than they definitely don’t need to start doing dynamic effort sets with 80 pounds. Beginners don’t get stronger by getting faster, like advanced lifters do, beginners get stronger by simply GETTING STRONGER! Unfortunately many strength coaches forget this important fact and forget that they did not use these methods when they started lifting.

If you want to be known as a great strength coach, you have to constantly quote studies that validate your methods. For example, justify your use of extremely slow tempo lifting by explaining how accentuated eccentrics are necessary for muscle growth. After all Chuck Vogelpohl and the 280 pound Jim Wendler do so all the time. Come to think of it, I remember that scene in Pumping Iron when Arnold was doing seated cable rows with a very slow and controlled tempo. I think it was a 602 if my memory serves correctly. “According to studies a set must last 40-70 seconds to induce hypertrophy.” Remember that if you ever plan on building any muscle.

Another smart plan of action would be to incorporate the use of isometric training and explain the findings of 369 different studies that showed that you can recruit a much larger percentage of muscle fibers with an isometric contraction than you can with either a concentric or eccentric contraction. Talk about studies that showed greater cross sectional area improvement with isometric versus concentric training when explaining why an athlete or bodybuilder must use isometric training for hypertrophy gains. If that doesn’t convince them, describe how Westside powerlifter, J.L. Holdsworth went on to bench press 800 pounds by the constant use of isometrics…oh wait…never mind.

The great thing about using all of these complicated methods is that it makes you look incredibly smart and makes your critics look incredibly dumb. The only reason some one could say that your high tech methods don’t work is because that person is not as smart as you. They haven’t read the studies and are too stupid to be able to figure them all out and put all of the information to good use. If any one were brave enough to come out and say that many of these overly complicated systems were useless they would look like some big dummy who has been the junior high strength coach in some small town in Idaho since the sixties. It’s really a no lose situation.

Of course, by now you all realize that much of what I have said has been in jest. I have read all of the studies and used all of the methods, both on myself and with hundreds of clients. I have also gotten athletes bigger, stronger, and faster with far less complicated methods. There is a time and a place for everything. For years, I was like many of you, in search of the next best thing in strength training, trying every system I could get my hands on. I still read everything I can and always get new ideas everyday; many from all of the great authors here on Elitefts.com.

Believe it or not, I do believe that beginners could actually benefit from a more controlled tempo. Eccentric training, when done properly, can be of benefit to many advanced lifters. And there are even times when I will prescribe the use of isometrics in the training of certain individuals. There are many advanced methods that can work extremely well, the problem is that many strength coaches and trainers utilize them long before they are needed. Next time you read one of these new space age training programs, take a step back and think for a minute. Think about what methods the strongest lifters on the planet use. Think about how the best athletes train. Find out what kinds of results the author has gotten with his own clients. Think about what you have done in the past that has worked for you. Is it all just marketing hype and gimmicks or is it the real deal? You decide.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building, Strength & Conditioning | Leave a Comment

Surviving Max Effort Day

June 4, 2007

jonpall sword Surviving Max Effort Day Originally written for EliteFTS.com in 2003

I wasn’t feeling that great and should have known better. I didn’t sleep that well the night before and had been stressed out of my mind all day. I had a million things to do and barely had time to eat since breakfast. By the time my workout rolled around shortly after 6pm, I was shot. I thought about just putting my workout off until tomorrow. That would have been the smart thing to do. Unfortunately my training partners arrived and cranked up the music and started to talk some trash. I tried to fight it for a few minutes, “You don’t have it in you today,” I told myself. “Be smart.” Suddenly the sound of my own internal voice was drowned out by Marilyn Manson screaming through the speakers, “You can’t save yourself…”

Ah fuck it, I’m in.

After warming up we got started on three board presses. Although I tried to get psyched and do my best to perform, every rep was looking worse and worse. I knew I wasn’t going to be setting any PR’s that day but I at least wanted to put up a respectable number. Finally, after a long bout of self inflicted verbal abuse, I decided to try and at least tie my old 3 board PR. As I prepped for the attempt I noticed a slight twinge in my shoulder. I examined it closer and poked around a bit. It didn’t feel quite right. But it was too late; I had requested the weight and couldn’t look like a pussy and back out now. I got under the bench and somehow managed to successfully lockout the weight. It wasn’t pretty but I got it. I checked out my shoulder again and luckily it was no worse than it was thirty seconds earlier. I continued to massage it as I watched my partners finish their last attempts.

When everyone had finished I approached the rack to grab a pair of dumbbells for my assistance work. As I glanced around the room, something caught my eye. Someone who didn’t belong had entered the premises. It was the girl from the yoga studio next door. “What the hell is she doing here and what could she possibly want,” I wondered. “Can you please turn down the music,” she yelled. Angrily, I obliged. Then she said it was still too loud and was disturbing them next door. I nodded and she left.

“Motherless fuck-ing bitch!” I screamed to anyone and no one all at once.

“Throw two tens on that fucking bar!”

My training partners looked puzzled.

I couldn’t wait for them to figure it out so I grabbed them myself and got under the bar.

“Someone give me a fucking spot!” I yelled.

I unracked the weight, hit the boards and absolutely smoked it. After that we all had a good laugh and the rest of my workout was amazing.

The next morning the adrenaline had worn off and it felt like my shoulder had fallen off. No worries, I called up my ART specialist and scheduled a treatment. That and a few days of ice should take care of it. After a few days it started to get better and I started to think I was in the clear…

Fast forward to the following max effort day. As I approach 90% I notice that my shoulder is starting to hurt again but I keep going. Finally I grind out what happens to be a new PR. Feeling great, I decide to take one more attempt. My buddy Mark tells me it’s not worth it and that I have absolutely nothing left. “There’s not a shot in hell you’re getting more than that,” he informs me. I think about it for a second and decide that he is right. I pace around for a few minutes and all of the sudden, SNAP! I do my usual Jekyll and Hyde routine and remember what Tom Cruise taught us all who were fortunate enough to grow up in the eighties and watch Risky Business on the big screen, “Sometimes you just to have to say what the fuck.” And that’s what I did. I slapped another ten pounds on the bar and got it; a new PR.

During the next few days my shoulder continued to get worse. The following Monday I couldn’t even bench 185 so I did speed bench off two boards. I skipped max effort day that week and had to move up to three boards for the following speed day. The next week it was four boards. After two weeks off of max effort work I decided to test it. I did a five board press and promised myself that I would stay light. I broke that promise. After hitting 500, I called it a day. “Wow, doesn’t even feel that bad,” I thought.

Of course, we all know how this story ends. I haven’t pressed since and I am now in need of an MRI to see determine if there is a rotator cuff tear. I probably won’t be pressing heavy weights for quite a while.

The sad part about all this is that I always preach not training to failure and never attempting a weight you are not sure you will get on a max effort day. There is no point in doing either as it leads to CNS burnout and injuries. None of my athletes are ever allowed to do this. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t take my own advice. In fact, this wasn’t the first time I have pushed myself too far on max effort days. The truth is that I do it almost on a routine basis. It’s just something about me, it’s in my blood and I can’t control it. I only have two speeds; full blast, balls to the wall, out of control or off. There is no in between with me. That is something that I have yet learned to control.

Last summer I had one thirty minute block in the middle of the day to train. This is usually all I get in the summer because that is my busiest season training athletes. I got a bit behind schedule and before I knew it, thirty minutes had been reduced to twenty. I was determined that I would do rack pulls that day come hell or high water. The problem is I have two herniated disks from a bad skiing accident a few years ago and have to be extremely careful and always be sure to do an extensive warm up regimen. A sane person would have opted for some glute ham raises and hypers but I, on the other hand, decided that I could get my warm up and max effort rack pulls in all in the span of twenty minutes. At right around the eighteen minute mark, I pulled 585 and it felt like my back broke. I rested and stretched a few minutes and actually decided to throw another plate on. I did it again and wasn’t able to squat or dead lift until December.

The moral to the story is this; it doesn’t really make the slightest bit of difference what you do on a close grip fat bar four board press with chains on a random Tuesday night in January. That is not what matters in the end. The goal is for your bench press to go up. Every max effort day does not have to be an all out battle to the death. You want to strain and you want to work with weights over 90% but you have to be smart and be safe. The only way you can continue to break records and up your weights is if you are healthy. If you are constantly on the shelf with an injury you have defeated the purpose. No one gets stronger when they are hurt.

For now, I am trying to take Jim’s advice of staying calm when I train and keeping it on cruise control. Of course, you do want to push yourself. And some days you have to push yourself harder than others. Sometimes we all have to test ourselves and take it all the way to the edge. The key is to avoid falling off.

Train smart.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building, Strength & Conditioning | 2 Comments

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