How to Build Muscle | Strength Training Workouts | Mass Gain Diet » Strength & Conditioning

Should Athletes Use “The Big 3?”

Jason Ferruggia — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:35:39 +0000

Question: Do you have to squat, bench press and deadlift to become a better athlete?

Answer: Absolutely not.

Athletes need to get stronger and more explosive. They also need to improve mobility, dynamic flexibility and agility.

Speed position players and weight class athletes need to minimize bodyfat. Many athletes need to improve conditioning, and often times they need to build muscle.

You can accomplish all of those tasks without any of the lifts you mentioned.

Athletes are not powerlifters so why would we assume that the three powerlifts are the best exercises for them?

Many times [...]

7 Ways to Minimize CNS Fatigue

Jason Ferruggia — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:59:32 +0000

There’s a simple formula for size and strength gains.

Supply the signal to force adaptation to occur without doing too much damage in the process.

In other words, you do the work necessary to force the muscle to grow bigger and stronger but consciously take steps to minimize three things:

Spinal compression Joint degradation CNS (central nervous system) fatigue

Like Lee Haney said,

“Stimulate, don’t annihilate.”

Today we’re going to focus on CNS fatigue. If the CNS is not recovered or ready to perform at max capacity your training and thus, your results will suffer.

Here are seven [...]

5 Ways to Improve or Maintain Your Athleticism

Jason Ferruggia — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:02:03 +0000

There are at least an equal amount of people who ruin their athleticism through their strength training efforts, as there are people who improve it.

The majority of guys who have been training for more than a decade have worse athletic ability than they did ten years earlier. It’s sad but true.

Many typical training protocols will slowly but surely ruin your athleticism. The overemphasis on maximal strength, the shortened ranges of motion, the imbalances created, the injuries accumulated…

It all adds up and one day before you know it you tear [...]

Off Season Training For Wrestlers

Jason Ferruggia — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:17:05 +0000

Question: Jay, wrestling season is almost over and I have a few guys lined up to come in after the season. I have a general idea of what I want to do with them, but just wanted to see if you have any special considerations for these guys.

Right now, my plan of attack is:

3-4 week recovery period with lots of SMR, stretching, rehabbing nagging injuries and imbalances, and bodyweight work

Off-season training- work a lot of strength work with submaximal weights, explosiveness with jumps, med ball work, and Olympic lifts [...]

Arthur Saxon on Conditioning

Jason Ferruggia — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:45:49 +0000

Arthur Saxon was a big influence on me, as obvious by the Renegade logo at the top of this site. I’m obsessed with old time strongmen and old school methods of training. One of the things I like about the early days of Physical Culture is that everyone did everything.

Meaning that bodybuilders lifted heavy weights and competed in contests where they had to do more than pose. Lifters possessed impressive physiques and usually didn’t gain unnecessary fat to simply improve their leverages on an exercise and lift more weight.

Olympic lifts [...]

Merrell Trail Glove Review

Jason Ferruggia — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:57:09 +0000

“Yeah, I got on sneaks but I need a new pair.”

Like most people who grew up listening to hip hop in the eighties and early nineties, I was a sneaker head. When birthdays or Christmas rolled around sneakers were the only thing I’d ask for. And when I had any extra money in my pocket I’d immediately hustle on over to Foot Locker to grab some fresh new kicks.

But those days are long gone.

That’s not to say I won’t stop dead in my tracks if I see a rare pair [...]

How to Become More Explosive

Jason Ferruggia — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:34:19 +0000

Being big and strong is great.

But how to become more explosive is a question all athletes need to be more concerned with.

Being big, strong and explosive makes someone a bad motherfucker.

In most sports strength without speed is useless. Strong, slow athletes usually don’t make it to the top, unless we’re talking bout sumo wrestling. But even then, being explosive would give you a huge advantage.

There are countless ways to develop explosive power but I like to keep things simple so here’s the easiest way to do it.

Simply add jumps to [...]

Renegade Football Strength is Back

Jason Ferruggia — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:05:53 +0000

Hey guys, I just wanted to give everyone a quick heads up and let you know that Renegade Football Strength is back up for sale for the first time in over a year and it’s all brand new and fully updated with new info, new programs, etc. for 2011.

I’ve got not just one, not two, but THREE full 12 week summer training programs for beginners to advanced athletes/lifters. Rookie, Veteran and All Pro workouts are included along with In Season workouts, summer speed, agility and conditioning work and much more.

The [...]

Functional Hypertrophy- Fact vs. Fiction

Jason Ferruggia — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:32:34 +0000

A lot of people, including myself, used to think that higher rep training developed what is known as non functional hypertrophy. This is also referred to as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. In simple terms the sarcoplasm has been described as a filler type gooey fluid inside the muscles that really doesn’t contract or produce force. Therefore it’s deemed non-functional because it kinda just sits there and looks pretty. In other words it’s good for bodybuilders, bad for athletes.

Myofibrillar hypertrophy is thought to be real muscle growth. The myofibrils have the ability to [...]

27 Tips For Healthier Shoulders- Part 2

Jason Ferruggia — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:24:57 +0000

I hope you guys enjoyed the first installment of this article. Today I’m serving up Part 2…

11) Do More Pushups- Pushups are still one of my top ten favorite exercises and always will be. They are also significantly better for your shoulders than any other form of horizontal pressing with a bar or dumbbells. Pushups are highly underrated because people don’t know how to load them properly or do advanced variations.

For loading you can get a weighted vest, chains, a Power Pushup (which is awesome) or even have a partner [...]