Although the majority of people continue to rely on exercises like sit ups and crunches when it comes to training the abdominals, research has proven that these movements place excessive loads on the lower back, leading to a lot of pain for a lot of people. Repeated, loaded spinal flexion is one of the leading causes for disc herniation. In fact, the traditional old school, slow speed sit up has been shown to place 730 pounds of compression on the spine! Other commonly used ab exercises place over 1,000 pounds of compression on the spine!… continue reading.

Question: Coach Ferruggia, I just wanted to let you know I have been a big fan of your stuff for years and appreciate what you do. I had a quick question about football. What do you do for conditioning with your football players? When do you do it in the weekly schedule? How often? Thanks a lot man, Jared Austin Answer: Jared,… continue reading.

By Josh Henkin Sandbags have a very rich history, maybe more so than any other training implement. For hundreds of years (possibly thousands) sandbags has been an integral training tool for athletes, specifically wrestlers. Why? They are an inexpensive tool that is incredibly versatile and can offer the benefits of unstable training with a challenging load. This is a benefit that many of today’s unstable gadgets can not provide. However, the benefits don’t stop there. Greater stabilizer, trunk, and grip strength can be developed with sandbags… continue reading.

By Dave “The Muscle Cook” Ruel Makes 4 Servings Ingredients * – 1 pound fresh tilapia fillets * – 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil * – 1 Tbsp. lime zest * – 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lime juice * – 1/4 cup orange juice (preferably freshly-squeezed) * – 1/2 thai red pepper (optional, only if you like it spicy) * – 1 tsp. seasalt * – 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper Directions * 1. In a bowl, mix olive oil, lime zest, lime juice, orange juice,… continue reading.

Question: Jason, how do you use chains and bands with your athletes? Do you use them on dynamic effort days only or maximal effort days as well? What are the loading parameters? Answer: The answer to your question is I don’t. About 10 years ago I got caught up using chains and bands with almost everyone I trained. We used them as a form of accommodating resistance on dynamic effort days and some… continue reading.

Q: What are the top two common myths that coaches still believe in regarding speed development? A: There are so many myths regarding speed development and proper training but I will give you some that I hear all of the time from coaches. 1. Speed work is running 100 yards or 200 yards or repeat 40’s with little or no rest. This is False. I have coaches tell me all the time that their athletes are doing speed work and then goes into telling me that his athletes are running beasts, suicides, repeat 100 meters, or repeat 40 yards dashes… continue reading.

This is a great recipe from Paleo Cookbooks. Ingredients 250g mince 1tsp salt 1/3 cup almond meal 3 cups baby spinach 1tsp dijon mustard (optional) 25g tomato paste 2tbs sage 1 sweet potato, medium Olive oil Instructions Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180o Celsius/350o Fahrenheit.  Place spinach in a bowl and cover with boiling water, leave for 2 minutes before draining as much liquid as possible from the spinach. Chop well.  Place spinach in a bowl along with mince, salt, almond… continue reading.

Let’s face it. Everyone wants to look better. I don’t know too many people that don’t want to gain more muscle or lose bodyfat. It’s human nature. You want to appeal to the opposite sex and command respect from you peers. I am obsessed with human performance and train for strength and function first and foremost, but even I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to look better. We all do. But wanting and doing are two entirely different things. Everyone wants to dramatically transform their… continue reading.

Question: Coach, can you give me a quick overview of how you implement plyos, speed and agility work with your athletes? Answer: Ok, just so everyone is on the same page here, plyos consist of jumping, bounding and hopping exercises. These can be done off of one or two legs. Some of the simplest and most effective plyos are vertical jumps for height, box jumps, hurdle jumps, and broad jumps. Speed work consists of short sprints from 10-50… continue reading.

Written in 2006 For Todays Man magazine Remember when exercise used to be fun; when you used to get endless hours of physical activity each week without ever dreading the thought of it? Remember when you used to be able to break out into a full sprint without the fear of pulling a hamstring? How about when you could stand up from your chair without your lower back hurting? Oh, to be young. Or maybe it’s actually what we were when we were young…athletes. Sure as we get older we lose muscle mass and flexibility but this can not be… continue reading.

“People think if they’re working 14 hour days that they are getting more done. WRONG.  If you work for 11 hours and then do something physical for 3 hours, you’ll be far more productive in those 11 hours than you’d be in 14 hours.  It takes energy to make energy- otherwise you’re just sitting at your desk in a daze, feeling overwhelmed by all the things you think you need to do.  And then that goes on for years and it comes time to retire, but you’re so out of shape you still can’t do anything… continue reading.

By John Alvino If your goal is to lose fat and build muscle as fast as possible, it is absolutely crucial that you focus your efforts on maximizing your production of the powerful fat burning hormone known as growth hormone (GH). GH is released by the pituitary, and GH levels in the body tend to peak during puberty, and then slowly (yet steadily) decline with age. GH plays a key role in the building and/or maintenance of muscle, as well as the burning of body fat. continue reading.

It happened again this morning, another victim claimed by the flat bench press. My buddy called and told me he tore his pec while benching heavy over the weekend. It didn’t shock me at all. This lift has been destroying shoulders and tearing pecs since the beginning. Back in the golden days of the Iron Game, when the military press was the upper body exercise of choice, nobody ever heard of rotator cuff injuries or pec tears. It was only after the bench press achieved extreme popularity that shoulders and… continue reading.

I was talking to my buddy before the big UFC fight this weekend and he said he hoped that, if nothing else, Brock Lesnar’s success would help make more people realize how important maximal strength training is for MMA. I couldn’t have agreed more. To this day there are still tons of guys who scoff at heavy strength training for combat sports. Conditioning is the most important quality a mixed martial artist or amateur wrestler needs, so that tends to be the main focus of a large majority of combat training programs while the strength… continue reading.

I finally got the ok from the doctor, yesterday, to go back to training. Nothing overhead and no heavy pressing, but I can ease my way back into everything else and finally start regaining all the weight I have lost this year. It’s been a long time and I couldn’t take much more of it. I feel like it’s Christmas morning right now and can’t wait to get to the gym today. I got a question about music yesterday and since, along with training, that is my favorite subject… continue reading.