Every Push deserves a PULL: Posterior Chain Development
Posterior chain development is extremely important for athletic development and for the prevention of injuries. One of the main objectives for posterior development is to make sure there are no strength imbalances between the front which is the anterior the back which is the posterior during physical activity….
Goal Setting: Create your outcome
This is something that we all use to give our wants and dreams a destination. I first learned about goal setting was my sophomore year in high school during a black student union meeting. Todd Lyght from the University of Notre Dame was invited to speak to us about his experience and to give us some tips and advice on how to set yourself up for success. The steps that he used were simple and straight to the point. At the time Notre Dame was the top college football organization in the country. One of the first topics he covered was goal setting and his system for setting his goals. Being a guy who loves examining systems and processes this was right up my alley!
Sleep: The "Magical" 8, Quality or Quantity
The issue usually is not the amount of sleep as measured in time, but the quality of sleep that you have, and this goes back to your habits and rituals if you will that you have established over your lifetime. There is usually no preparation for sleep time, and if you are over the age of 10 years old you have not had a ritual for sleep time that has worked to help you sleep in over 20-30 plus years, but even with that said we still fought the idea of going to sleep “early” before 9 pm. I remember when I was around 8-9 years old and it was the beginning of the school year and the time had not changed and it was still light at my bedtime(6 pm) and I literally had a temper tantrum in the bed kicking and crying because I could hear the other neighborhood kids playing outside and here I was being put to bed like a baby….
Top 6 Health and Performance Nutrition Tips that can Improve your Recovery and Healing
These all help in the management of the inflammatory response that is triggered from heavy bouts of exercise and or competitive events. These foods also provide the vitamins and minerals needed to promote healing and repair
The Butt and Gut Connection: The Top 5 Core Exercises
What are the known and some not commonly known benefits of strong Core muscles?
When we see someone with a six-pack we automatically associate that with strength, and while improving the tone and the look of the muscles has its benefits, you can’t ignore that the function of the core muscles is to stabilize the center of the body during movement.
Some of the benefits of having strong core muscles are:…
3 Tips To Help you lose that last 20 lbs
This is a basic form of calorie restriction. Although there are several different versions of intermittent fasting, they all have the same fundamental rule; No Food or drink with a caloric value are to be consumed during the fast….
This is tried and true way to increase your energy expenditure to 525-625cal of energy per day. This could possibly help you hit that 1 lb- 1.5 lb fat loss per week. However, the 1# rule to remember is that you can not train yourself out of a bad or inconsistent nutrition/diet routine…
This is a more holistic way of planning out your weight loss program, and in my opinion, this should be the first method you should try to lose unwanted fat….
Nurturing Wellness | Habits for a Healthy Body and Mind
When it comes to practicing daily health habits, pretty much the easiest thing to turn into a routine is the basics. Of course, life is not always cooperative, but ask yourself how consistent you are with self-care. Do you shower daily? Are you staying hydrated throughout the day? How much walking do you do weekly? Being healthy doesn't have to take up a lot of time. Instead, look at what you can do to make adjustments to your lifestyle. Add fruit and veggies to your diet. Make a conscious effort to head to bed earlier. Switch off from tech in the evening. Reduce your caffeine intake. Avoid sitting for long periods. These may seem like small things, but they are not trivial to your well-being. Over time, they build up to have a meaningful impact on your health, from head to toe.
Build a Stronger Kid: Lift and Learn
There is an age old question that goes back as far as I can remember, I tried to find out where or who came up with this myth and google failed to give me the definitive answer. But that is not important, what is important is that we are going to look at the benefits of learning to lift by briefly looking at the process of LEARNING to lift weights, which is based on two important principles. The first principle is developing the young person’s Relative muscular strength, which learning to perform basic bodyweight movements like a push-up, bodyweight squat, and lunge Pull-Ups, etc. with proper form and body control. In developing youth strength training programs for beginners exercises should in my opinion be limited to the use of specific types of resistance equipment like dumbbells, rubber bands, and tubes, with minimal intensity (lightweight) after they have learned how to properly execute the basic exercises that improve their Relative muscular strength. Developing relative strength varies and depends on the commitment of the individual youth, and their parents. After a solid foundation of relative strength has been developed, start developing their Absolute muscular Strength. This is when Free weights and resistance machines are added to the training program, examples of Free weight movements are……
Stay Ahead of the Game and Away from Pain
Joint pain and discomfort are two of the main factors that prevent people from maintaining an active lifestyle. If you are a fairly healthy person you may take for granted the normal function of your joints and ignore the factors that will have a negative effect on your joints if you don’t apply some preventative measures to help you manage the pain and discomfort you may experience while exercising. The is no absolute way to eliminate pain from physical activity especially if you are out of shape due to an old injury, a sedentary career, or any other physical limitation.
Finding The Function in Disfunction: The Foundation of Functional Training
In 2010 2 years after I retired from professional football, I decided to enter this industry and to learn how to train and develop programs for individuals specifically youth athletes correctly, I did not want to give someone a canned program I received from a coach that made up based on an old program that was developed for college and professional athletes. So I started to reads every book, dozens of articles about strength and conditioning, and performance training. that is where I discovered the FMS (Functional Movement Sytems)……..
Are you Ceasar?
Leadership has always fascinated me, and I enjoy seeing, reading about how leaders are developed and in some cases born. But even in the case of a so-called natural-born leader, there was a process that brought out the leadership qualities and actions that were there from the beginning. The process that I am referring to is the process of learning to be of service and deeply caring for others not just on the surface but learning to truly care about the well-being, the happiness, and the security of others especially those that are not kin or friends, and the foundation of this is learning to care and love yourself and actually seeing that you are worthy of being loved and cared for. This usually is led by a parent that fearlessly loves them and teaches them how to care and most importantly how to show others in your presence that you care deeply for them……
Is your success Too expensive?
Over the last year, my goals have been good but that was not great! And so went my effort, it was good on a great day and ok on a good day; which equals average. As I prepare for the mid-year and as I look forward I will make my goals larger than my current life, this is scary but I need this more than anything. I don’t like being comfortable but it’s easy to be comfortable. I DON’T NEED IT EASY! As an athlete, I truly loved everything thing about playing sports but there were days that I did not like the preparation, the long hours watching game film, and even sometimes lifting weights (and anyone who knows me knows how much I love lifting weights).
Body Composition: Body FAT Mass v.s. Lean Muscle Mass
I can speak from experience as a trainer and former college and professional athlete that recording and tracking your body composition during training can improve your results and give you the blueprint to reaching your goals even if you fall off the wagon and regain that extra 20 - 25 lb over the holidays or on a vacation. There are 4 ways body composition can help improve your training experience along with your health in general, but only if you are looking for a long-term solution and not a quick fix plan that will leave you 30-40 lb heavier and wondering what happened. These are the 4 reasons you should be using body composition to improve your training experience………
What is Your WHY?
My "Why" is and always has been to help and serve people. That is one of the reasons I love team sports, it gave me the opportunity to be a part of a team and be a part of a collective unit. I never really paid attention or put a high value on my individual stats, my main goal was to be the best team player I could be and do whatever it took to win....
Energy System Development Series
Just a brief overview of what Energy Systems Development training is by definition is training specific energy system to produce the desired training effect that is specific to the goals of the training program. There are there main energy systems that the body taps into to acquire the energy to perform tasks depending on the duration and the intensity of the task. Here is a brief description of the three energy systems……
The F.R.E.A.K. in You needs to "R"ecover
The key to any effective recovery plan is to consistently implement all three of these suggested habits into your lifestyle as an athlete. This may seem simple to just get some sleep right? But in most cases, it is not always easy to find the time to get the recommended 6-8 hours of quality sleep that is required for the body to repair and recharge. It is possible though if your recovery is a priority to you and you want to be the best at what you do, here are a few suggestions that may help you get the sleep you have been missing.
The Missing Link
This is especially true for active athletic individuals at all levels. As a trainer/coach the focus on nutrition is essential to maximizing the benefits of the adaptations of the training program for everyone from youth, High School, College, and professional athletes to the Weekend Warriors of the community and the individual who just wants to lose weight that ever-illusive 15-25 lb and improve their body composition to be beach-ready.
Trust the Process... Even if you Don't!
Why play the game if you think you can't win A@#hole! Everyone hears this little voice in their head (if you love to compete). That is my challenge every day, some days it leads to productive work, but day some days it leads to just spinning my wheels in my office. But one thing that keeps me on task even on the days I am doing wheelies in my office chair (both figuratively and sometimes literally) is my process.
