On a daily basis I receive emails from newsletter subscribers asking variations of the very same question:
What is ’step over drive down?’
How do you ’step over drive down?’
What does ’step over drive down’ actually do?
I think you understand what I mean.
And this is a great question that clearly needs some further explanation.
The only way to get faster is to learn to apply more force to the ground. Simple Physics state that every action has an equalAnd opposite reaction. So it stands to reason that the more force you apply to the ground with every step, the more it is going to give back to you.
Now this is an overall concept of course. Athletes must use a variety of training methods to develop this ability. But it is this ability to apply greater force to the ground that determines how quickly an athlete can accelerate, change directions or maintain top speeds.
So I don’t want you to get the idea that if you practice one specific drill or do one specific lift in the weight room that you will now have done everything required to help athletes achieve all their speed goals.
The truth of the matter is that you have to build all of your speed development around this fact. By improving things such as flexibility, doing short hills runs, running at full speed, performing speed drills, strength training and plyometrics, athletes directly and indirectly improve their ability to apply more fore to the ground by becoming stronger, more coordinated and thus more efficient.
All of these elements added to a structured speed workout program will result in every athlete quickly improving their ability to run faster.
But for the purposes of this article, I want to focus on the action of ’step over drive down’ because efficiency is important and if your athletes’ running form is terrible, then they will not be able to take advantage of all the work that goes into mastering the ability to apply force to the ground.
Some coaches and trainers have suggested that doing speed training drillswill not improve technique. Some say that other elements of training will actually correct technique by their very nature.
In my experience working with thousands of athletes of various ages, sports and skill levels, I find that *certain* speed drills are an excellent and required means of reinforcing these ideas. So what exactly am I talking about?
First, lets break running down into two parts: accelerating and maximum velocityor speed maintenance.
Most sports rely heavily, if not exclusively, on acceleration. This means that athletes rarely reach full speed during while competing in their sport. A great example of this is American football where athletes compete mostly in spurts of running that last 5-20 yards. The only time they reach full speed and must try to maintain it is when a breakaway occurs.
I bring this up because there are going to be differences in the way athletes must run and think about running depending on whether they are accelerating or attempting to maintain top speeds. The differences are subtle but significant and must be addressed.
Yet, the overriding principle remains the same, they must ’step over, drive down’.
More specifically, athletes must learn to step over the opposite knee and drive the foot down into the ground so that the foot lands, generally speaking, beneath the hips.
As I just mentioned, there are subtle differences between where the foot strike will take place depending on what phase of running the athlete is in.
The important factor is that they be able to put themselves in a position to apply force to the ground as efficiently as possible.It’s really one of those paradoxes that we often find in athletics. At the end of the day, no matter what else an athlete trains and regardless of how great their coaching is, if they aren’t in a mechanical correct position upon foot strike, it doesn’t matter how perfect the rest of their training is, they’re going to under perform.
At the same time, all the mechanics in the world won’t help an athlete who doesn’t have the strength, coordination and flexibility required to apply that force.
And this is why athletes *need* a complete speed training program to help them achieve their full potential.It’s the reason why sometimes we see super strong athletes who can put up ridiculous weights in the weight room, but get them on the track or on the field and they’re slow as molasses on a cold winter morning.
It’s lack of efficiency, not lack of strength. As coaches and athletes we must change our focus.
And that’s’ why I cue the step over, drive down technique. As an athlete, and I pretty darn fast one I have to say, this was my Achilles heel. No one ever taught me how to do this properly and so I suffered from a number of the side effects of poor efficiency: painfully slow acceleration and chronic hamstring, arch and knee problems.
Talent took me to a pretty high level, but now I sometimes sit back and think to myself that curse afflicting many former athletes ‘what if…’
So that’s why I’ve made it one of my life’s missions to make sure that other athletes and coaches don’t allow themselves or their athletes to underachieve like I did.
Because if one person, one time had been a good enough coach to pull me aside and teach me how to ’step over, drive down’ my entire athletic career would have gone in a completely different direction.
So as I’ve spent all these years studying speed development, in many ways searching for the reasons why I didn’t achieve my athletic goals. ‘Step over, drive down’ is a Truth that always rings clear in my head as the primary solution to many athletes’ lack of achievement.
Over the years I’ve found a particular progression of cues, drills, exercises and techniques that, when taught in a specific order using specific ways of understanding how and why it works, athletes quickly make radical changes in their technique and efficiency.
And that means, of course, they got much faster.
But the truth is, you could have your own copy of Complete Speed Training in your hands to get a better understanding.
You can see my specific drill progression on video. And watch as I perform each drill with perfect technique as I explain exactly what to look for, how to teach it and where and how athletes will do it wrong.
Because like I said. Without getting this technique down, the rest of your training is like trying to teach algebra to an infant: Pointless.
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Keeping a detailed training journal is one of the most important things you can do to ensure optimal and consistent progress in the gym. Without a journal, your training will be completely haphazard and you will never know if you are making progress or not; it’s just guesswork. It is imperative that you keep detailed records of every workout. This gives you a goal to beat in each succeeding week or month, and allows you to look back and make adjustments when things are not going as well as you had planned. As I have mentioned before you should constantly be striving to hit new PR’s (personal records) in your training. Without a training journal you will be hard pressed to remember all of your PR’s so will never even know what you are chasing. If you don’t keep a training journal, everything you do is just like driving without a map and your progress will be much slower than it could be.
That is why, in the Muscle Gaining Secrets system I have included pre-made workout log sheets to record everything and an online progress tracker to chart your phenomenal results. I have done everything for you, all you need to do is fill in the numbers. It is truly a fail proof system.
“Jason, I just thought that I should drop you a line and let you know that I have 13lbs in my 1st 3 weeks. This is the real deal and I thank you for helping me see the light.” Jake Tyler
“Thanks so much for this system. I have tried nearly everything before and couldn’t seem to get anywhere. With MGS everyone thinks I’m on steroids and can’t believe the progress I am making. I honestly can’t say enough good things about all you have done for me. Thanks again.” Chris Matthews
No post about training today. Instead I, like many Tri State area sports fans, would rather reflect on the end of an era and the loss of an old friend.
As everyone knows, they turned the lights out for the final time at Yankee Stadium last night and like Yogi Berra said, I too, “am sorry to see it over, I’ll tell you that.”
I can still remember the first time my dad took me to Yankee Stadium over 25 years ago, and the overwhelming excitement I felt when I first saw The House That Ruth Built, up close and personal, and heard Reggie Jackson’s name announced for the first time. I can vividly recall the 80’s, sitting in the blue seats, cheering on Donny Baseball and Big Dave even though they hadn’t won a world championship in years. And I was there for countless regular and post season games throughout the historic run of the 90’s, watching the heroics of Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neil and Mariano Rivera; memories I will never forget.
I had always hoped to bring my kids and my grandkids to Yankee Stadium but unfortunately will never get the chance. Like most Yankee fans I don’t want a bigger, better stadium. Yankee Stadium is perfect the way it is and most of us would have loved it to remain a landmark forever. I was there for my final visit this past Thursday night and still got goosebumps when I walked in and saw the field for the first time and heard Bob Sheppard’s voice.
It’s something you just have to experience to appreciate. And I will always be thankful that I did.
Last night was truly the end of an era and Yankee Stadium will be dearly missed.
Here are 5 random muscle building tips that may make a big difference in your training.
– Don’t exceed 5-6 reps on most of your warm up sets. Your first set could consist of a very light weight for 10-20 reps just to get loosened up and get the blood flowing but beyond that you want to keep the reps low. The reason for this is that you don’t want to build up too much lactic acid or accumulate too much fatigue with your warm ups.
– Don’t stretch before your workout in the hopes of preventing injury. This doesn’t work. The only benefit of stretching before a workout is to help you get into positions you might not be able to reach (such as a full squat) because you are tight in specific areas (such as the glutes and hip flexors). But stretching for the sake of injury prevention is an outdated idea and doesn’t really work.
– Don’t over-analyze and over-think everything you do in the gym. This never gets you anywhere. Don’t worry if the incline of the bench is supposed to be 30 degrees or 35 degrees. Don’t worry that if you don’t supinate at exactly the right time you won’t activate your biceps optimally. Don’t stress out about the exact grip width on the bar. If someone tells you that a 14 inch grip on the bench press hits your triceps better than anything else, but because of an injury or anatomical difference you can only comfortably use an 18 inch grip, don’t sweat it. People over-think themselves to death and they never get anywhere because of it. Go to the gym, get stronger, go home, eat, sleep and repeat. Don’t turn it into advanced calculus.
– Always train both sides of the joint with equal volume. Therefore if you do six sets of pressing exercises you need to do six sets per week of pulling exercises. If you do two sets of curls you should do two sets of triceps work. And so on and so on…
– If you can’t get your forearms to grow, try hitting them with more frequency than other muscle groups. They can easily be trained three times per week and recover without any problem. You could also do them first in your workout if you really want to prioritize them or at least on a different day than you do your biceps work. Don’t just do light sets of 20-50 reps, either; you need to hit the forearms heavy sometimes. And don’t forget about the behind the back wrist curl; this can be done with a lot of weight and will definitely spark some forearm growth. When you finish training the forearms, hit them with a deep stretch for both the extensors and flexors for 30-60 seconds.
When it comes to the question of how to gain muscle, there are many things you must know and do. But, often times what is more important than what you should do is what you shouldn’t do. With that in mind here are five muscle gaining mistakes you should avoid at all costs.
Training Too Often- In order to grow you must provide your body with the optimal stimulus and then back off and allow it time to rest and recover. Without ample rest time you will never grow to your maximal potential. For this reason I recommend that you don’t train with weights more than 3-4 days per week.
Training Strictly For the Pump- Far too often I see skinny guys in the gym pumping away 10-15 rep sets with weights lighter than my grandmother would use. Yes, high volume training leads to a great pump but a great pump does not always lead to muscle growth. You can get a pump by treading water for a few minutes but everyone knows that won’t turn you into a mass monster any time soon. Chasing the pump should only be a small concern in your workout; after you have gotten your more productive work out of the way.
Not Cycling Your Training Intensity- Overzealous skinny guys love to work themselves into the ground. They figure the harder they work the quicker the gains will come. The problem is that when you constantly train to failure you will eventually burn out your central nervous system and this will greatly slow down your recovery and thus the rate at which you build muscle. If you want to make long lasting gains you have to back off once in a while and give your body a break. After a period of reduced intensity you can ramp back up again and repeat the cycle.
Using the Wrong Exercise Order- One thing that is often overlooked by those interested in how to gain muscle is exercise order. Always start your workouts with the most demanding exercise. So if you are doing a clean or any other form of explosive lift or jump this exercise would usually come before squats or chin ups. If you are not doing explosive lifts or speed work, the biggest compound exercise should almost always come first. Therefore a deadlift would usually come before a chin up. Also, the heaviest, lowest rep sets should be done early in the workout and the higher rep work should be done at the end. There are exceptions to this rule and times when breaking it could actually be quite beneficial but for the most part his is how you should plan your training.
Not Using a Training Journal- If you want to get bigger and stronger you absolutely must record each and every workout you do in some type of notebook or training journal. This way you can know what is working and what isn’t and you can also measure your progress over time. The most important element of the training journal is that it gives you a quantifiable goal to beat every time you enter the gym. There is no way anyone (unless you have a photographic memory) can remember all of the details of every workout they do. So without a record of it you are just guessing and never know if you are doing more or less than the previous workout. And if you want to get bigger and stronger you had better be doing more; be it weight, sets or reps
Now you know how to gain muscle fast by avoiding those five deadly mistakes. Train hard and stay dedicated; you will be outgrowing your wardrobe before you know it.
I had another great talk with Stone Cold Steve Austin at the gym last week. Even though he is no longer an active wrestler, Steve still keeps himself in good shape and is absolutely huge. And as I have mentioned before, he remains one of the nicest and most respectful human beings you could ever hope to meet. One thing I notice about Steve when he trains is that his workouts never last longer than 45 minutes. I have been a big advocate of short workouts for years for a number of reasons such as enhanced recovery ability and a more favorable testosterone/ cortisol ratio and something that I cover in full detail in Muscle Gaining Secrets. Obviously Stone Cold knows that those long workouts that so many people favor are a road to nowhere.
Stone Cold is also a huge fan of ultimate fighting and gets quite passionate when discussing it. He has his own complimentary copy of Fit to Fight and said to me that he would “last about two minutes on some of those conditioning workouts those guys do,” but respected the hell out of anyone who could train like that.
If you want to get in the best shape of your life, incinerate bodyfat, skyrocket your conditioning level, and even earn the respect and admiration of tough guys like Stone Cold, pick up your copy of Fit to Fight now by clicking HERE.
I’m taking off for my birthday today and have handed the keys over to my buddy, and someone I admire and respect greatly, Jon Hinds of Monkey Bar Gym.
Enjoy…
What does it mean to be truly physically fit? Feeling physically fit is definitely different for each individual. Some people feel physical fitness is the ability to bench press 300 lbs, other people say it’s making it through a full hour aerobics class, or completing a 5k run. To me, true physical fitness is the ability to do all of these things and more, at any time. It’s the ability to instantaneously run and jump, push and pull, climb, catch, and react. You are truly physically fit when you are connected to your body in such a way that you can do anything you want to do.
My whole life I’ve heard thousands of views about what it means to be physically fit, and most people believe that the a fit body is represented by today’s bodybuilders. We are too caught up in the idea of fashion over function. Bodybuilders are big, muscular, lean, tan, and just look strong, and they have done lots of hard work to construct their bodies in this way. However, bodybuilders have bodies that don’t allow them to do much of anything efficiently except lift weights and further sculpt their bodies. Bodybuilders have put themselves in an environment where functionality is not as important as plain old looks. True physical fitness will allow you to do anything you want or need to do.
Take a look at animals and how they’re perfectly suited to their environment in the wild. They can run, jump, climb, push and pull with unmatched efficiency. There was a time when we were active like that too – when we were kids. We were outdoors doing what felt was natural and fun. We just liked playing. Sweating and being out of breath used to be fun. Later we became adults and somewhere we forgot what made us healthy in the first place. No more playground games, now it’s just a computer and a desk. We no longer run, we jog. We don’t climb anything but the occasional staircase. And the only thing we push and pull are deadlines in the office. It’s sad, really sad. We have forgotten how to use our bodies. Maybe it’s time we open up the owner’s manual and regain these things we’ve lost. Most importantly, let’s make it fun again!
When people ask me how to gain weight the first thing I ask them is if they do deadlifts. If you are trying to get big but aren’t including deadlifts in your program you are wasting your time. There is simply no more effective mass building exercise than the deadlift.
From your neck to your calves, nearly every muscle in your body gets activated and receives a powerful growth stimulus from deadlifts.
Not only is the deadlift the most effective mass building exercise there is but it is also the most basic ,and has the greatest carryover to the real world. There aren’t many times in life where you would lie down on your back and press a weight up over your chest like you would during a bench press. But hardly a day goes by when you don’t bend down and pick something up off the floor. And that is what you do when you deadlift. So it trains you for real life situations and helps to prevent the oh-so-common lower back problems that plague hundreds of thousands of adults due to incredible weakness.
But the bottom line for all skinny guys and aspiring mass monsters is that if you want to know how to gain weight, you gotta learn how to deadlift.
Although the deadlift works the entire body from head to toe, it is especially effective at building huge traps, upper back muscles, spinal erectors, glutes, hamstrings and forearms. Plenty of puffed up bodybuilders have the big pecs and biceps but a deadlifter stands out from the crowd, looking powerful and intimidating with the mountainous traps and thick, ruggedly muscled upper and lower back.
To perform a proper deadlift, stand directly over the bar with your shins nearly touching it and feet approximately 8-14 inches apart. Squat down by breaking at the hips and pushing your glutes back. Keep your back tightly arched, chest up and head in line with your spine. Your upper body should be at a 45 degree angle in relation to the ground. Grab the bar with a vice grip and begin to pull up and back. As the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward powerfully, push your chest out and pull your shoulders back to lockout the weight.
When you lower the weight, be sure to begin by pushing your glutes back before you squat down. After the bar clears you knees, squat down while maintaining a tight arch in your lower back, allow the weights to touch the floor and repeat.
One mistake many beginners make when deadlifting is they try and control the eccentric or lowering portion of the exercise. This leads to injuries. Stay tight and lower the weights quickly but under control. You will often see even advanced lifters drop a deadlift quite quickly and loudly between reps. This is because they know the danger associated with a slow deadlift. Treat a set as a bunch of singles until your form is tight enough to do touch and go reps.
Also, be sure to always deadlift with bare feet. If this doesn’t fly with the gym owner, go with deadlift slippers or Chuck Taylors; but never running sneakers.
Remember- a lot of deadlifts lead to huge, muscular physiques. If there was only one thing I could teach you about how to gain weight that would be it. Now get to the gym and start pulling some big weights.
For more information on how to gain weight and build muscle rapidly click HERE.
By Patrick Beith & Latif Thomas
When it comes to the question of 
I had another great talk with Stone Cold Steve Austin at the gym last week. Even though he is no longer an active wrestler, Steve still keeps himself in good shape and is absolutely huge. And as I have mentioned before, he remains one of the nicest and most respectful human beings you could ever hope to meet. One thing I notice about Steve when he trains is that his workouts never last longer than 45 minutes. I have been a big advocate of short workouts for years for a number of reasons such as enhanced recovery ability and a more favorable testosterone/ cortisol ratio and something that I cover in full detail in 
I’m taking off for my birthday today and have handed the keys over to my buddy, and someone I admire and respect greatly, Jon Hinds of 
When people ask me 
