Check out what all the hype is about...
Here is another one of Our Kick Butt Rockland County Bootcamps
Friday, November 14, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Weekly Sports performance Tip - Straight ahead Speed
It's impossible to be to fast in sports. You never hear a commentator say, "wow that guy was to fast".
So as a Sports Performance Coach, one of my main responsibilities is to get athletes faster.Not always the easiest thing to do.
If it was - all athletes wouldn't struggle with speed right?
The difficult part of increasing an athletes speed is determining what that individual athlete needs to do to get faster.What I do is figure out the problems or the weaknesses of the athletes. For example, it could be flexibility issues that prevent an athlete from being fast. Or it could be lack of strength, maybe specific muscle imbalances... you get the point.
However, of the years of training athletes I have come to a conclusion. 1 common thing most athletes don't possess.Yes, a good portion of it is technique. But, it's also the know how of where to position your body, posture, leg drive, and strike force...
Here's a nice clip of me getting into some of these facts -
So as a Sports Performance Coach, one of my main responsibilities is to get athletes faster.Not always the easiest thing to do.
If it was - all athletes wouldn't struggle with speed right?
The difficult part of increasing an athletes speed is determining what that individual athlete needs to do to get faster.What I do is figure out the problems or the weaknesses of the athletes. For example, it could be flexibility issues that prevent an athlete from being fast. Or it could be lack of strength, maybe specific muscle imbalances... you get the point.
However, of the years of training athletes I have come to a conclusion. 1 common thing most athletes don't possess.Yes, a good portion of it is technique. But, it's also the know how of where to position your body, posture, leg drive, and strike force...
Here's a nice clip of me getting into some of these facts -
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Exercise Machines SUCK
By Jason Zaretzky
Discover The 5 Reasons Why Exercise Machines Are A Waste Of Time
In today’s day and age we live in a technology dependant society. Almost everything we do revolves around some kind of mechanical or electrical device. This includes what just about everyone looks for in a gym. If you’re like most, when you walk into a fitness center, you usually look for the amount of equipment or how many resistance training machines there are on the exercise floor. “Is there a machine for my chest, back legs, arms etc…” This has been the biggest indicator when clarifying a gym’s effectiveness. Well, being that our population’s obesity epidemic is spreading world wide, and fitness levels have dramatically declined in the past twenty five years or so, I think it’s time to re-evaluate and determine what went wrong.
It has been during the past twenty five to thirty years when our obesity problem really started to take off. And due to the fact that our society has always been in search for the ’quick fix’, exercise really started to take off as well. Since exercise was “in”, and we desire the “magic solution, resistance training machine companies are heavily marketing their equipment. I hate to break it to you, but when it comes to getting healthy and more physically fit, nothing will yield better results than hard work, dedication, and motivation; not gimmicks or machines. Machines actually are an inferior method of exercise.
It’s time to go back to our roots and look like we did hundreds of years ago. When you think about it, humans have always done some form of activity, and we have always been obsessed with strength and physique. So my question to you is did we have machines hundreds of years ago? My next question is as a whole, who looked better as a population, us now or mankind hundreds of years ago?
Now I’m not saying exercise machines are useless, everything has its place, but I can come up with a couple of dozen reasons why exercise machines are not optimally efficient. Instead of boring you anymore than I already have I’ll provide you with my top five.
Here we go:
1.) Exercise machines are NOT an optimal form of exercise for most. Exercise machines are great for isolating specific muscles (i.e. – the standard leg extension machine for the quads), but because exercise machines are anchored to the ground, your stabilizer muscles (muscle that surround your joints and protect them from injury), do NOT get developed. Exercise machines do not allow you to stabilize the weight you are lifting in three dimensions, and since daily activities such as work and athletics do require you to use these important muscles (the stabilizers), exercise machines are an inferior method of exercise
2.) Exercise machines are NOT ideal to improve posture. Over the years in the fitness industry, I have seen an incredible amount of people that have poor posture. This includes forward head, rounded shoulders, flat lower backs, and other misalignment in spinal curvature. This is due to the lack of strength in postural muscles, making it hard to fight gravity, and since gravity is almost impossible to escape, those who can’t fight gravity efficiently will almost always have poor posture. By performing exercise on machines your body does not have to fight gravity, and on most traditional gym equipment your body doesn’t have to stabilize itself. However, by performing exercise in a prone, upright, or supine position, you can engage and load postural muscles to help with fight gravity, resulting in better posture.
3.) Exercise machines are just flat out BORING! I can remember a couple of years ago when I worked at a large health club filled with fancy ground based machines, I would sit and watch people go through their work outs. One day I saw a gentleman working on the chest press machine. It was hilarious. He actually appeared to be falling asleep. I mean yawn after yawn during repetitions. I think if the guy was on a lying leg press he may have actually dozed off. Now let’s analyze that situation. If he were on a flat bench performing dumbbell chest presses, do you think he would have been in that state of mind? Only if he wanted a nose job by dropping the dumbbells on his face. I have in the past and still do observe exercisers on the free weight floor. What I see is always a look of determination, motivation, and enthusiasm. My point here is that by participating in a free weight, non-machine based program, it not only forces you to concentrate and work harder, but it’s more fun, and the feeling of accomplishment is far superior than just going through the motions on exercise machines.
4.) Exercise machines CANNOT improve balance or stability. As I stated earlier, ground based exercise machines DO NOT require the use of your stabilizer muscles. These muscles not only protect your joints, but they also are responsible for your ability to stabilize and balance. Instead, try to incorporate some non-traditional methods of exercise like the use of a stability ball, or balancing on one leg, or doing some low level plyometrics. These types of exercises are extremely beneficial to increasing balance, stability, and agility. No machine can give you any of these qualities by itself.
5.) You can mimic any exercise machine exercise without the machine and get the same benefits plus a lot more. Every exercise machine that is on the market today has been developed based on movements that the human body does naturally. With that being said, you can perform any exercise machine exercise without the use of an actual exercise machine. The chest press machine is essentially a bench press, the leg press machine is a squatting motion, the rowing machine (you know the one for your back muscles) can be done with free weights, and the list goes on and on. But the catch is that when you do these movements with body weight or free weights you get all the same benefits plus the development of balance, stability, and definitely more calories burned. Let’s not forget that when you perform body weight or free weight based movements, you will always engage you core muscles.
I don’t know about you, but if I have my choice I’m sure you can guess what it is. That’s right good old fashioned body weight, free weight, or other non – machine based movements. Now, it’s important to realize that I’m not saying that exercise machines are useless, but would you rather work out for hours at a time with boring exercise equipment, or would you like to get more bang for your buck by getting more out of one exercise like a squat, some form of a press, a rowing motion, a lunging motion, or even a twisting, or bending motion? Instead of using one to two dozen boring exercise machines all you have to do is have fun while incorporating the six movements I just mentioned and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your fitness goals more efficiently and faster than ever before.
JZ
Discover The 5 Reasons Why Exercise Machines Are A Waste Of Time
In today’s day and age we live in a technology dependant society. Almost everything we do revolves around some kind of mechanical or electrical device. This includes what just about everyone looks for in a gym. If you’re like most, when you walk into a fitness center, you usually look for the amount of equipment or how many resistance training machines there are on the exercise floor. “Is there a machine for my chest, back legs, arms etc…” This has been the biggest indicator when clarifying a gym’s effectiveness. Well, being that our population’s obesity epidemic is spreading world wide, and fitness levels have dramatically declined in the past twenty five years or so, I think it’s time to re-evaluate and determine what went wrong.
It has been during the past twenty five to thirty years when our obesity problem really started to take off. And due to the fact that our society has always been in search for the ’quick fix’, exercise really started to take off as well. Since exercise was “in”, and we desire the “magic solution, resistance training machine companies are heavily marketing their equipment. I hate to break it to you, but when it comes to getting healthy and more physically fit, nothing will yield better results than hard work, dedication, and motivation; not gimmicks or machines. Machines actually are an inferior method of exercise.
It’s time to go back to our roots and look like we did hundreds of years ago. When you think about it, humans have always done some form of activity, and we have always been obsessed with strength and physique. So my question to you is did we have machines hundreds of years ago? My next question is as a whole, who looked better as a population, us now or mankind hundreds of years ago?
Now I’m not saying exercise machines are useless, everything has its place, but I can come up with a couple of dozen reasons why exercise machines are not optimally efficient. Instead of boring you anymore than I already have I’ll provide you with my top five.
Here we go:
1.) Exercise machines are NOT an optimal form of exercise for most. Exercise machines are great for isolating specific muscles (i.e. – the standard leg extension machine for the quads), but because exercise machines are anchored to the ground, your stabilizer muscles (muscle that surround your joints and protect them from injury), do NOT get developed. Exercise machines do not allow you to stabilize the weight you are lifting in three dimensions, and since daily activities such as work and athletics do require you to use these important muscles (the stabilizers), exercise machines are an inferior method of exercise
2.) Exercise machines are NOT ideal to improve posture. Over the years in the fitness industry, I have seen an incredible amount of people that have poor posture. This includes forward head, rounded shoulders, flat lower backs, and other misalignment in spinal curvature. This is due to the lack of strength in postural muscles, making it hard to fight gravity, and since gravity is almost impossible to escape, those who can’t fight gravity efficiently will almost always have poor posture. By performing exercise on machines your body does not have to fight gravity, and on most traditional gym equipment your body doesn’t have to stabilize itself. However, by performing exercise in a prone, upright, or supine position, you can engage and load postural muscles to help with fight gravity, resulting in better posture.
3.) Exercise machines are just flat out BORING! I can remember a couple of years ago when I worked at a large health club filled with fancy ground based machines, I would sit and watch people go through their work outs. One day I saw a gentleman working on the chest press machine. It was hilarious. He actually appeared to be falling asleep. I mean yawn after yawn during repetitions. I think if the guy was on a lying leg press he may have actually dozed off. Now let’s analyze that situation. If he were on a flat bench performing dumbbell chest presses, do you think he would have been in that state of mind? Only if he wanted a nose job by dropping the dumbbells on his face. I have in the past and still do observe exercisers on the free weight floor. What I see is always a look of determination, motivation, and enthusiasm. My point here is that by participating in a free weight, non-machine based program, it not only forces you to concentrate and work harder, but it’s more fun, and the feeling of accomplishment is far superior than just going through the motions on exercise machines.
4.) Exercise machines CANNOT improve balance or stability. As I stated earlier, ground based exercise machines DO NOT require the use of your stabilizer muscles. These muscles not only protect your joints, but they also are responsible for your ability to stabilize and balance. Instead, try to incorporate some non-traditional methods of exercise like the use of a stability ball, or balancing on one leg, or doing some low level plyometrics. These types of exercises are extremely beneficial to increasing balance, stability, and agility. No machine can give you any of these qualities by itself.
5.) You can mimic any exercise machine exercise without the machine and get the same benefits plus a lot more. Every exercise machine that is on the market today has been developed based on movements that the human body does naturally. With that being said, you can perform any exercise machine exercise without the use of an actual exercise machine. The chest press machine is essentially a bench press, the leg press machine is a squatting motion, the rowing machine (you know the one for your back muscles) can be done with free weights, and the list goes on and on. But the catch is that when you do these movements with body weight or free weights you get all the same benefits plus the development of balance, stability, and definitely more calories burned. Let’s not forget that when you perform body weight or free weight based movements, you will always engage you core muscles.
I don’t know about you, but if I have my choice I’m sure you can guess what it is. That’s right good old fashioned body weight, free weight, or other non – machine based movements. Now, it’s important to realize that I’m not saying that exercise machines are useless, but would you rather work out for hours at a time with boring exercise equipment, or would you like to get more bang for your buck by getting more out of one exercise like a squat, some form of a press, a rowing motion, a lunging motion, or even a twisting, or bending motion? Instead of using one to two dozen boring exercise machines all you have to do is have fun while incorporating the six movements I just mentioned and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your fitness goals more efficiently and faster than ever before.
JZ
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Learn The Insider Secrets on How To Build The ‘Optimal’ Rapid Fat Loss workout
In the past, the cornerstone of most resistance training workouts has been performing exercises in a straight set format. Essentially, this means you perform a certain number of reps for a given exercise or you perform as many reps as possible for a given exercise and then you rest anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes based on your training goals before repeating this set a certain number of times based on your goals. For more of a fat loss and lean muscle gain emphasis shorter rest periods are ideal. For more of a strength or power emphasis, longer rest periods are prescribed.
So, what’s the problem with this format?
To be completely blunt, straight sets are an extremely inefficient way to order your exercises. In most commercial gyms you’ll typically see someone perform three sets of 10 reps for let’s say the bench press, or better yet a chest press machine (boy do I hate exercise machines – more on that later). They pump out 10 reps, go to the water fountain, talk with some buddies, watch a couple of highlights on ESPN, and then gingerly walk back to the bench area (or machine area) to hit up their second set. In general, most people, guys in particular, tend to take about 3-5 minutes between sets. In the case of three sets of 10 on the bench that means it would take up to 15 minutes to complete only one movement pattern (a horizontal push). That means you’d need at a minimum of an hour to perform no more than four measly exercises! No wonder body builders spend hours in the gym.
A much more effective and time-efficient approach to ordering your exercises is utilizing the alternating set format. Here you’ll perform one exercise, rest for a short period of time, then perform another non-competing exercise, rest for a short period of time, and so forth. Alternating sets allow you to work different areas of your body when you would otherwise be resting with the straight set format. Plus, by working another area of your body with a non-competing exercise you allow your body to recover from the previous exercise(s). The result is improved training economy and density: more work accomplished in less time, the cornerstone of any sound fat loss program. In addition we can now factor in some important corrective exercises like stretching tight muscles, working on mobility, or even doing some cardio based exercises too.
Here’s a quick example of what I’m talking about
Exercise#1- Squats
Exercise#2- Push up
Exercise#3- Step up
Exercise#4- Inverted row
Exercise#5- Lo – Ab heel taps
Perform this circuit up to five times or as many sets as you can handle in a 30 minute total body fat burning workout.
Basically, instead of getting just three sets on the bench in 15 minutes, you could have gotten in three, four (maybe more) sets of five different exercises. Plus, the intensity on each exercise will be just as high as in the straight set format because in this five exercise circuit you will have full recovery before you return to any given exercise (just as you did with the straight set format described earlier).
To recap, the key to creating the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss is to perform each exercise with maximal intensity while separated by brief rest periods in order to accumulate a high volume of total body work in the shortest amount of time possible. Circuit training provides for the best of both worlds and is thus simply unmatched for simultaneously maximizing fat loss and lean muscle gain. Use the following template I use with my many boot camp clients for some killer, yet simple fat loss circuits:
Exercise#1- Double-Leg
Exercise#2- Push
Exercise#3- Single-Leg
Exercise#4- Pull
Exercise#5- Core
Here’s a workout video showing you a great circuit you can perform anywhere;
I’ll be sharing some more great circuit training workouts from my boot camps in the weeks to come ;)
Your Total Body Fat Loss Solution
JZ
So, what’s the problem with this format?
To be completely blunt, straight sets are an extremely inefficient way to order your exercises. In most commercial gyms you’ll typically see someone perform three sets of 10 reps for let’s say the bench press, or better yet a chest press machine (boy do I hate exercise machines – more on that later). They pump out 10 reps, go to the water fountain, talk with some buddies, watch a couple of highlights on ESPN, and then gingerly walk back to the bench area (or machine area) to hit up their second set. In general, most people, guys in particular, tend to take about 3-5 minutes between sets. In the case of three sets of 10 on the bench that means it would take up to 15 minutes to complete only one movement pattern (a horizontal push). That means you’d need at a minimum of an hour to perform no more than four measly exercises! No wonder body builders spend hours in the gym.
A much more effective and time-efficient approach to ordering your exercises is utilizing the alternating set format. Here you’ll perform one exercise, rest for a short period of time, then perform another non-competing exercise, rest for a short period of time, and so forth. Alternating sets allow you to work different areas of your body when you would otherwise be resting with the straight set format. Plus, by working another area of your body with a non-competing exercise you allow your body to recover from the previous exercise(s). The result is improved training economy and density: more work accomplished in less time, the cornerstone of any sound fat loss program. In addition we can now factor in some important corrective exercises like stretching tight muscles, working on mobility, or even doing some cardio based exercises too.
Here’s a quick example of what I’m talking about
Exercise#1- Squats
Exercise#2- Push up
Exercise#3- Step up
Exercise#4- Inverted row
Exercise#5- Lo – Ab heel taps
Perform this circuit up to five times or as many sets as you can handle in a 30 minute total body fat burning workout.
Basically, instead of getting just three sets on the bench in 15 minutes, you could have gotten in three, four (maybe more) sets of five different exercises. Plus, the intensity on each exercise will be just as high as in the straight set format because in this five exercise circuit you will have full recovery before you return to any given exercise (just as you did with the straight set format described earlier).
To recap, the key to creating the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss is to perform each exercise with maximal intensity while separated by brief rest periods in order to accumulate a high volume of total body work in the shortest amount of time possible. Circuit training provides for the best of both worlds and is thus simply unmatched for simultaneously maximizing fat loss and lean muscle gain. Use the following template I use with my many boot camp clients for some killer, yet simple fat loss circuits:
Exercise#1- Double-Leg
Exercise#2- Push
Exercise#3- Single-Leg
Exercise#4- Pull
Exercise#5- Core
Here’s a workout video showing you a great circuit you can perform anywhere;
I’ll be sharing some more great circuit training workouts from my boot camps in the weeks to come ;)
Your Total Body Fat Loss Solution
JZ
Weekly Fit tip - Give your health a boost & avoid the plague of the cold and flu season
We are well into the fall and before you know it, we will be full swing into the winter. You know what that means right?
Cold and Flu season!!!
follow these 5 simple steps to avoid the plague of getting a cold or worse the dreaded flu.
1.) take you vitamins
if you haven't already, get in the habit of taking your Advocare vitamins. I strongly recommend The New MNS Max 3. But you should at least take the Coreplex and OmegaPlex.
And to give yourself a boost and to prevent yourself from getting sick do what I do.
When ever I feel a bit run down or like I may be coming up with something I immediately get on Seasonal Support & vitamin C. I feel this is the very reason I have been able to prevent myself from getting a cold for almost a year.
2.) Eat well - You are What you Eat!
Remember if you eat $h!t, you'll feel like $h!t too! And if you are not giving you body the nourishment it needs it won't be getting any of the critical nutrients it needs not only to keep you healthy, but to keep you looking good too.
3.) Break a sweat every day!
I don't care if what your excuse is - you can find the power within you to exercise and break a sweat everyday. By doing so will not only keep your waist line in check, it will do a world of wonders to reduce many things like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and of course getting a cold or the flu
4.) Keep the germs away
this time of year germs are all over the place, and its these germs that cause a lot of people to get sick. So, wash your hands every time you use the bathroom and before every time you have a meal.
5.) Get sleep!!!
To ensure that your body is capable of fighting off diseases and illness this time of year, get plenty of quality sleep.
Try going to bed by 10:30 every night and getting a minimum of 7 to 8 hours a night. By getting in by 10:30 you will ensure your body goes through each of it's recovery cycles (more on this in another post)
there you have it. put it to action and keep the illness away this season
JZ
Cold and Flu season!!!
follow these 5 simple steps to avoid the plague of getting a cold or worse the dreaded flu.
1.) take you vitamins
if you haven't already, get in the habit of taking your Advocare vitamins. I strongly recommend The New MNS Max 3. But you should at least take the Coreplex and OmegaPlex.
And to give yourself a boost and to prevent yourself from getting sick do what I do.
When ever I feel a bit run down or like I may be coming up with something I immediately get on Seasonal Support & vitamin C. I feel this is the very reason I have been able to prevent myself from getting a cold for almost a year.
2.) Eat well - You are What you Eat!
Remember if you eat $h!t, you'll feel like $h!t too! And if you are not giving you body the nourishment it needs it won't be getting any of the critical nutrients it needs not only to keep you healthy, but to keep you looking good too.
3.) Break a sweat every day!
I don't care if what your excuse is - you can find the power within you to exercise and break a sweat everyday. By doing so will not only keep your waist line in check, it will do a world of wonders to reduce many things like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and of course getting a cold or the flu
4.) Keep the germs away
this time of year germs are all over the place, and its these germs that cause a lot of people to get sick. So, wash your hands every time you use the bathroom and before every time you have a meal.
5.) Get sleep!!!
To ensure that your body is capable of fighting off diseases and illness this time of year, get plenty of quality sleep.
Try going to bed by 10:30 every night and getting a minimum of 7 to 8 hours a night. By getting in by 10:30 you will ensure your body goes through each of it's recovery cycles (more on this in another post)
there you have it. put it to action and keep the illness away this season
JZ
Monday, November 10, 2008
To Be or not to be...
It's now November!! Do you know what that means?
2 things -
1.) TO BE FITTER OR FATTER
HOLIDAY FATNESS SEASON is upon us!!!
That's right 'tis' the season to get fatter. The average American gains 8 -12 pounds of ugly unwanted FAT during the holiday season.
Did you know that it's roughly 8 weeks away until New Years. That means you are gonna gain about a pound a week until the ball drops leaving you feeling miserable and with the daunting typical New Years resolution to lose weight.
or
You can take action now and lose 16 - 24 pounds of fat (2 pounds a week x 8 weeks) leaving you looking like the main attraction of your New Years Party not worrying at all about what you look like.
2.) TO BE A FINE TUNED ATHLETIC MACHINE, OR NOT TO BE...
Spring Athletes Start to prepare for you season before it's too late!!!
It seems as though you spring season is far away right? Wrong! Your preseason will actually start some where in the next 12 - 16 weeks. That's just 4 months away.
You now have a choice to start getting ready now, so you are performing at game speed for the start of your preseason.
Don't be that guy that shows up on the first day of practice that can't do 5 push ups or has to run in the corner and vomit!
EITHER CASE THE CHOICE IS YOURS!!!
2 things -
1.) TO BE FITTER OR FATTER
HOLIDAY FATNESS SEASON is upon us!!!
That's right 'tis' the season to get fatter. The average American gains 8 -12 pounds of ugly unwanted FAT during the holiday season.
Did you know that it's roughly 8 weeks away until New Years. That means you are gonna gain about a pound a week until the ball drops leaving you feeling miserable and with the daunting typical New Years resolution to lose weight.
or
You can take action now and lose 16 - 24 pounds of fat (2 pounds a week x 8 weeks) leaving you looking like the main attraction of your New Years Party not worrying at all about what you look like.
2.) TO BE A FINE TUNED ATHLETIC MACHINE, OR NOT TO BE...
Spring Athletes Start to prepare for you season before it's too late!!!
It seems as though you spring season is far away right? Wrong! Your preseason will actually start some where in the next 12 - 16 weeks. That's just 4 months away.
You now have a choice to start getting ready now, so you are performing at game speed for the start of your preseason.
Don't be that guy that shows up on the first day of practice that can't do 5 push ups or has to run in the corner and vomit!
EITHER CASE THE CHOICE IS YOURS!!!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Q & A - IS this why I'm not losing so much fat
Q: My daily diet has been pretty much the same the last few weeks. Here is what I have been having;
some oatmeal & yogurt in the morning with maybe a protein shake
then I'll make a container full of either ground beef, chicken or something with some whole wheat pasta. and eat that for the rest of the day.
Is that enough food, or should I be eating more? Is that Why I'm still holding some fat?
A: To quickly answer your questions - NO! to the first & YES to the second.
Let me explain. You obviously know you should be eating more food throughout the day.
The biggest misconception to dieting and losing body fat is just what you have done. People tend to eat less to lose weight (which isn't wrong by the way). People Just take it to the extreme (and starve themselves).
Think about it this way - I believe Alwyn Cosgrove is who I heard it from. Your body does the opposite of what you want it to do.
When you don't drink water - you hold water
When you lifts weight and workout - you are actually breaking down muscle tissue, not building it.
When you don't eat - your body goes into survival mode and you will store fat.
What you have to do is eat foods that have a high thermic effect (protein), along with plenty of fibrous veggies, and moderate starches and fats.
To make sense of it -
eat a protein and a veggie at every meal
eat every 3 hours
drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water.
Keep your starches for after your workouts and maybe breakfast
have some fruit
and do some weight training and interval based cardio
and you will have no choice but to get leaner
JZ
some oatmeal & yogurt in the morning with maybe a protein shake
then I'll make a container full of either ground beef, chicken or something with some whole wheat pasta. and eat that for the rest of the day.
Is that enough food, or should I be eating more? Is that Why I'm still holding some fat?
A: To quickly answer your questions - NO! to the first & YES to the second.
Let me explain. You obviously know you should be eating more food throughout the day.
The biggest misconception to dieting and losing body fat is just what you have done. People tend to eat less to lose weight (which isn't wrong by the way). People Just take it to the extreme (and starve themselves).
Think about it this way - I believe Alwyn Cosgrove is who I heard it from. Your body does the opposite of what you want it to do.
When you don't drink water - you hold water
When you lifts weight and workout - you are actually breaking down muscle tissue, not building it.
When you don't eat - your body goes into survival mode and you will store fat.
What you have to do is eat foods that have a high thermic effect (protein), along with plenty of fibrous veggies, and moderate starches and fats.
To make sense of it -
eat a protein and a veggie at every meal
eat every 3 hours
drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water.
Keep your starches for after your workouts and maybe breakfast
have some fruit
and do some weight training and interval based cardio
and you will have no choice but to get leaner
JZ
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Weekly Sports Tip - Agilty continued
Since I posted the last video of the correct way to teach and perform lateral movement, agility & deceleration, I have had some questions regarding what happens after you perfected the foot positioning and weight shifts in shuffles.
To get a refresher you can check out that post here watch the video
So to continue on with the progression above, here is what we have been doing with our athletes at Optimal Performance as they progress
Then once we are shuffling correctly on a consistent basis we progress to more dynamic movements - Check it out below;
If you master these 3 progressions I have provided - I guarantee that you will be more elusive and have a much easier time moving laterally. You Will be able to ' juke' the crap out of your opponents as well as be an unstoppable force when it comes to defense
In other words - You will BLOW BY PEOPLE & NO-ONE WILL BE ABLE TO BLOW BY YOU!!!
NOW GET TO IT!!!
train hard train smart
JZ
To get a refresher you can check out that post here watch the video
So to continue on with the progression above, here is what we have been doing with our athletes at Optimal Performance as they progress
Then once we are shuffling correctly on a consistent basis we progress to more dynamic movements - Check it out below;
If you master these 3 progressions I have provided - I guarantee that you will be more elusive and have a much easier time moving laterally. You Will be able to ' juke' the crap out of your opponents as well as be an unstoppable force when it comes to defense
In other words - You will BLOW BY PEOPLE & NO-ONE WILL BE ABLE TO BLOW BY YOU!!!
NOW GET TO IT!!!
train hard train smart
JZ
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The 7 Secrets To Developing The Complete Athlete
Let me ask you a few questions.
How does Tiger Woods consistently play his last hole as strong as his first? How is it that Michael Jordan could consider a comeback in the NBA, and play successfully, at an age when most professional athletes are stuck in their armchair counting their pension checks? How did Emmitt Smith play at the caliber he was able to year after year for as long as he did?
Three words.
Superior physical conditioning.
Compare two athletes in any sport. Given equal talent and skill, the player with superior physical conditioning will win every single time.
If you're serious about your sport, you must know and live these 7 principles that I call the 7 Secrets to Developing the Complete Athlete
1. Identify the abilities of the ideal athlete in your sport. The easiest way to initiate this part of the process is to picture the top athlete in your chosen sport. Ask yourself what abilities they possess that make them the best at what they do. Abilities are things like flexibility, strength, endurance, power, balance, reaction time, coordination, speed, and agility.Don't confuse abilities with skills that are specific to the chosen sport. For instance, a basketball player must be able to dribble while running up the court. That's a sport-specific skill, not an ability. The abilities are what underlie each skill. Now, examine each ability more closely. Think of the extreme of each ability and rate that level of ability a 10 on a zero to 10 scale. For instance, if you are examining flexibility, who are the most flexible athletes in the world?
Gymnasts! So gymnasts require a number 10 level of flexibility for successful performance. Olympic weightlifters would be a 10 for power. Power lifters would be a 10 for strength and so on for each ability. Next, take your chosen sport and compare it to the extreme. Let's use Lacrosse as an example. Does lacrosse require the same level of flexibility as gymnastics? Of course not! But, lacrosse does require some pretty significant amounts of flexibility in the spine, shoulders, and hips.
So while it may not require a level of 10 in flexibility we can estimate the ideal level of flexibility as a 7 or a 8 out of 10. At this point don't worry about trying to be exact when establishing the ideal abilities of a lacrosse player (or any other athlete for that matter) as your best estimation will not vary much from the ideal unless you really have no understanding of a lacrosse player's needs (or your specific sport). Repeat this process for each ability to create your ideal athlete, in this case a Lacrosse player.
When you finish you should have a chart that looks something like this. Keep in mind that the scores will be different for different sports.
Optimal Abilities for Lacrosse;
Ability / Optimal Score
Strength - 6
Power - 8
Speed - 8
Coordination - 8
Endurance - 8
Reaction time - 8
Flexibility - 7
Agility - 8
Total Score - 61
2. Realistically assess your current abilities. Here's the hard part. Now you have to be honest with yourself. It's time to compare your current abilities with those of each extreme. You may or may not be a strong as a power lifter. It doesn't matter. BE HONEST! You gain nothing by overestimating or intentionally underestimating your own abilities.In fact, overestimation or underestimation of your abilities will promote absolute failure of your sports conditioning program. If you need to, get a second opinion from a trusted coach or mentor (friends tend to rate you favorably even if you lack a certain amount of ability. they're your friends after all). They quite often can provide you with the objective eye you'll need for proper self-assessment. When you've rated your own abilities, you should end up with a chart that looks something like this.
Your Current Abilities
Ability your Score
Strength - 6
Power - 6
Speed - 5
Coordination - 8
Endurance - 3
Reaction time - 5
Flexibility - 5
Agility - 5
Total Score - 43
Identify your weak points compared to the ideal. This part is easy. Simply put your abilities up against what you determined to be the ideal for your sport. Then just highlight those abilities that fall below your estimation of the ideal level for your sport.
3. Now, design an individualized training program to focus on your weak points. I think this is one of the most common areas where athletes make mistakes in their sport-specific conditioning program design. It is a waste of valuable time to focus your conditioning program on your abilities that are already at optimal levels or higher. Look at the example. "Your score" for strength was 6 out of 10 but the optimal score only requires that you possess a strength ability of 6 for successful performance. So how much time and effort should you be spending on strength? Enough to maintain your current levels. Any more than that will not improve your performance, in this case, as a Lacrosse player. However, "your" speed, endurance and agility ratings fall below the ideal for Lacrosse.
Therefore, the majority of your sports-specific Lacrosse conditioning program should revolve around improving those ability scores to achieve optimal levels.
4. Identify current muscle imbalances you currently have. Muscle imbalances are the main culprit when talking about injury. Most injuries occur because there is a significant imbalance between antagonistic (opposite) muscle groups. To compete at optimal levels there must be a balance throughout your entire body.For example, let's say that your pushing muscles (chest, shoulders and triceps) muscles are far stronger and tighter than the Pulling (upper and mid-back) muscles. That means you have a common imbalance between these two muscle groups and you are likely to hurt your rotator cuff (common shoulder injury). So what do you do about it? What you have to do is stretch the pushing muscles and strengthen your pulling muscles to create a balance between the two muscle groups, producing less stress on the shoulder joint resulting in an INJURY FREE Shoulder. Now this example is quite basic but you should get the point. It doesn't matter how strong you are in one movement, it matters how strong you are as an entire unit.
To find out if you have any imbalances it's a good idea to seek a qualified professional that has experience with assessing athletes and determining muscle length and tension relationships.
5. Identify and train in the energy system used in your sport. This is probably the biggest flaw in training and conditioning programs I see. Most trainers, even some of those who are considered experts in the field of sports-specific conditioning, screw up this part of their program design on a regular basis. To do this correctly, you must understand the physiology of the main energy systems and how they are used in your chosen sport.
Let me use two examples. A marathon runner and an Olympic Sprinter. A marathon runner relies very heavily on the aerobic energy system to provide energy over 26.2 miles of running in about two and a half hours. A Sprinter uses primarily the ATP/CP system to provide energy to run as fast as possible over a very short amount of time. So how much distance running and endurance training should a Sprinter do? Minimal, assuming our Sprinter has plenty of gas left in the tank after his short race. Get it?
Now these examples are extremes at opposite ends of the energy spectrum, so it's kind of easy to identify appropriate energy system training. What about sports with mixed energy needs? Take basketball for example. It sure looks like a lot of running, but it's not marathon-style running now is it. It's actually a whole lot of repetitive sprints followed by a lot of standing around and occasionally some light jogging. Research shows that basketball actually relies most heavily on short-term energy sources (85% ATP/CP and anaerobic glycolysis) and a little from intermediate energy systems (15% aerobic glycolysis). In other words, if your coach is having you run laps for conditioning you are wasting your time.
6. Identify and train the type strength used in your sport. Most athletes equate strength or being strong to maximal strength. In other words, how much weight can you lift? However, there are many different types of strength such as maximal strength, starting strength, explosive strength, speed-strength, strength-speed, and strength endurance.
Focus on the wrong type of strength training may improve performance in the weight room, but it does very little toward improved sports performance. For instance, it doesn't take a 300-pound bench press (high levels of maximal strength) to drive a golf ball 300 yards, but it does take higher levels of speed-strength and explosive strength than the norm. Most of a golfer's strength training should, therefore, be designed around increasing levels of speed-strength if the goal is to increase driving distance. A sprinter may need to improve his strength endurance to prevent slowing down at the end of a 200-meter dash. A baseball pitcher may need to increase explosive strength to increase throwing speed.
7. Hire a professional sports performance coach to design your individualized program. If you haven't realized by now, proper design and implementation of a sport-specific conditioning program is not as simple as it seems. Each individual athlete brings a unique set of abilities to the table, so "cookie-cutter" programming doesn't work.
Each sport has very specific needs for optimal performance. Only those who are trained to identify these abilities and needs can truly provide you with an optimal training program. Without proper guidance, your conditioning program becomes a "crap shoot". You may get lucky and actually improve your athletic performance, OR more likely, do nothing to improve performance.
By the way, a poorly designed sport-specific conditioning program can actually reduce your ability to perform at your best on game day. If you have learned anything from this special report, consult with a professional sports performance coach or strength and conditioning coach to make every play your best.
If you have learned anything from this special report, consult with a professional sports performance coach or strength and conditioning coach to make every play your best.
Best of Luck
JZ
How does Tiger Woods consistently play his last hole as strong as his first? How is it that Michael Jordan could consider a comeback in the NBA, and play successfully, at an age when most professional athletes are stuck in their armchair counting their pension checks? How did Emmitt Smith play at the caliber he was able to year after year for as long as he did?
Three words.
Superior physical conditioning.
Compare two athletes in any sport. Given equal talent and skill, the player with superior physical conditioning will win every single time.
If you're serious about your sport, you must know and live these 7 principles that I call the 7 Secrets to Developing the Complete Athlete
1. Identify the abilities of the ideal athlete in your sport. The easiest way to initiate this part of the process is to picture the top athlete in your chosen sport. Ask yourself what abilities they possess that make them the best at what they do. Abilities are things like flexibility, strength, endurance, power, balance, reaction time, coordination, speed, and agility.Don't confuse abilities with skills that are specific to the chosen sport. For instance, a basketball player must be able to dribble while running up the court. That's a sport-specific skill, not an ability. The abilities are what underlie each skill. Now, examine each ability more closely. Think of the extreme of each ability and rate that level of ability a 10 on a zero to 10 scale. For instance, if you are examining flexibility, who are the most flexible athletes in the world?
Gymnasts! So gymnasts require a number 10 level of flexibility for successful performance. Olympic weightlifters would be a 10 for power. Power lifters would be a 10 for strength and so on for each ability. Next, take your chosen sport and compare it to the extreme. Let's use Lacrosse as an example. Does lacrosse require the same level of flexibility as gymnastics? Of course not! But, lacrosse does require some pretty significant amounts of flexibility in the spine, shoulders, and hips.
So while it may not require a level of 10 in flexibility we can estimate the ideal level of flexibility as a 7 or a 8 out of 10. At this point don't worry about trying to be exact when establishing the ideal abilities of a lacrosse player (or any other athlete for that matter) as your best estimation will not vary much from the ideal unless you really have no understanding of a lacrosse player's needs (or your specific sport). Repeat this process for each ability to create your ideal athlete, in this case a Lacrosse player.
When you finish you should have a chart that looks something like this. Keep in mind that the scores will be different for different sports.
Optimal Abilities for Lacrosse;
Ability / Optimal Score
Strength - 6
Power - 8
Speed - 8
Coordination - 8
Endurance - 8
Reaction time - 8
Flexibility - 7
Agility - 8
Total Score - 61
2. Realistically assess your current abilities. Here's the hard part. Now you have to be honest with yourself. It's time to compare your current abilities with those of each extreme. You may or may not be a strong as a power lifter. It doesn't matter. BE HONEST! You gain nothing by overestimating or intentionally underestimating your own abilities.In fact, overestimation or underestimation of your abilities will promote absolute failure of your sports conditioning program. If you need to, get a second opinion from a trusted coach or mentor (friends tend to rate you favorably even if you lack a certain amount of ability. they're your friends after all). They quite often can provide you with the objective eye you'll need for proper self-assessment. When you've rated your own abilities, you should end up with a chart that looks something like this.
Your Current Abilities
Ability your Score
Strength - 6
Power - 6
Speed - 5
Coordination - 8
Endurance - 3
Reaction time - 5
Flexibility - 5
Agility - 5
Total Score - 43
Identify your weak points compared to the ideal. This part is easy. Simply put your abilities up against what you determined to be the ideal for your sport. Then just highlight those abilities that fall below your estimation of the ideal level for your sport.
3. Now, design an individualized training program to focus on your weak points. I think this is one of the most common areas where athletes make mistakes in their sport-specific conditioning program design. It is a waste of valuable time to focus your conditioning program on your abilities that are already at optimal levels or higher. Look at the example. "Your score" for strength was 6 out of 10 but the optimal score only requires that you possess a strength ability of 6 for successful performance. So how much time and effort should you be spending on strength? Enough to maintain your current levels. Any more than that will not improve your performance, in this case, as a Lacrosse player. However, "your" speed, endurance and agility ratings fall below the ideal for Lacrosse.
Therefore, the majority of your sports-specific Lacrosse conditioning program should revolve around improving those ability scores to achieve optimal levels.
4. Identify current muscle imbalances you currently have. Muscle imbalances are the main culprit when talking about injury. Most injuries occur because there is a significant imbalance between antagonistic (opposite) muscle groups. To compete at optimal levels there must be a balance throughout your entire body.For example, let's say that your pushing muscles (chest, shoulders and triceps) muscles are far stronger and tighter than the Pulling (upper and mid-back) muscles. That means you have a common imbalance between these two muscle groups and you are likely to hurt your rotator cuff (common shoulder injury). So what do you do about it? What you have to do is stretch the pushing muscles and strengthen your pulling muscles to create a balance between the two muscle groups, producing less stress on the shoulder joint resulting in an INJURY FREE Shoulder. Now this example is quite basic but you should get the point. It doesn't matter how strong you are in one movement, it matters how strong you are as an entire unit.
To find out if you have any imbalances it's a good idea to seek a qualified professional that has experience with assessing athletes and determining muscle length and tension relationships.
5. Identify and train in the energy system used in your sport. This is probably the biggest flaw in training and conditioning programs I see. Most trainers, even some of those who are considered experts in the field of sports-specific conditioning, screw up this part of their program design on a regular basis. To do this correctly, you must understand the physiology of the main energy systems and how they are used in your chosen sport.
Let me use two examples. A marathon runner and an Olympic Sprinter. A marathon runner relies very heavily on the aerobic energy system to provide energy over 26.2 miles of running in about two and a half hours. A Sprinter uses primarily the ATP/CP system to provide energy to run as fast as possible over a very short amount of time. So how much distance running and endurance training should a Sprinter do? Minimal, assuming our Sprinter has plenty of gas left in the tank after his short race. Get it?
Now these examples are extremes at opposite ends of the energy spectrum, so it's kind of easy to identify appropriate energy system training. What about sports with mixed energy needs? Take basketball for example. It sure looks like a lot of running, but it's not marathon-style running now is it. It's actually a whole lot of repetitive sprints followed by a lot of standing around and occasionally some light jogging. Research shows that basketball actually relies most heavily on short-term energy sources (85% ATP/CP and anaerobic glycolysis) and a little from intermediate energy systems (15% aerobic glycolysis). In other words, if your coach is having you run laps for conditioning you are wasting your time.
6. Identify and train the type strength used in your sport. Most athletes equate strength or being strong to maximal strength. In other words, how much weight can you lift? However, there are many different types of strength such as maximal strength, starting strength, explosive strength, speed-strength, strength-speed, and strength endurance.
Focus on the wrong type of strength training may improve performance in the weight room, but it does very little toward improved sports performance. For instance, it doesn't take a 300-pound bench press (high levels of maximal strength) to drive a golf ball 300 yards, but it does take higher levels of speed-strength and explosive strength than the norm. Most of a golfer's strength training should, therefore, be designed around increasing levels of speed-strength if the goal is to increase driving distance. A sprinter may need to improve his strength endurance to prevent slowing down at the end of a 200-meter dash. A baseball pitcher may need to increase explosive strength to increase throwing speed.
7. Hire a professional sports performance coach to design your individualized program. If you haven't realized by now, proper design and implementation of a sport-specific conditioning program is not as simple as it seems. Each individual athlete brings a unique set of abilities to the table, so "cookie-cutter" programming doesn't work.
Each sport has very specific needs for optimal performance. Only those who are trained to identify these abilities and needs can truly provide you with an optimal training program. Without proper guidance, your conditioning program becomes a "crap shoot". You may get lucky and actually improve your athletic performance, OR more likely, do nothing to improve performance.
By the way, a poorly designed sport-specific conditioning program can actually reduce your ability to perform at your best on game day. If you have learned anything from this special report, consult with a professional sports performance coach or strength and conditioning coach to make every play your best.
If you have learned anything from this special report, consult with a professional sports performance coach or strength and conditioning coach to make every play your best.
Best of Luck
JZ
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Weekly Fit tip - Protein Pancakes - A great Breakfast!!!
I get asked what is the best thing to eat for breakfast...
eggs and bacon, cereal, pancakes, etc...
I then go on and tell them that it is best to eat a protein at every meal including breakfast. I then tell them in addition to a protein, you need to eat a veggie and or fruit and in most cases it is ok to have a starchy carbohydrate too.
I then get a crazy look on the persons face.
So to clarify, here is my wife's (Optimal Girls) staple breakfast. She has this every day without fail. it is a complete blend of what I mentioned above
Protein Pancakes;
1/3 cup oatmeal
3 egg whites
10-20 grams of protein powder
splenda & Cinnamon to taste
she will sometimes have it with a banana or piece of fruit.
And if you are like me and need a little kick it is ok to add a table spoon of real maple syrup
(just a table spoon)
try it you'll be surprised.
enjoy
eggs and bacon, cereal, pancakes, etc...
I then go on and tell them that it is best to eat a protein at every meal including breakfast. I then tell them in addition to a protein, you need to eat a veggie and or fruit and in most cases it is ok to have a starchy carbohydrate too.
I then get a crazy look on the persons face.
So to clarify, here is my wife's (Optimal Girls) staple breakfast. She has this every day without fail. it is a complete blend of what I mentioned above
Protein Pancakes;
1/3 cup oatmeal
3 egg whites
10-20 grams of protein powder
splenda & Cinnamon to taste
she will sometimes have it with a banana or piece of fruit.
And if you are like me and need a little kick it is ok to add a table spoon of real maple syrup
(just a table spoon)
try it you'll be surprised.
enjoy
Monday, November 3, 2008
What Our Youth Looks Like today
What our youth looks like today;
The "let's eat candy and get FAT" holiday has come and gone. Instead of lecturing on how bad candy and sugar is, I'll just leave you with some alarming facts about our youth population;
" 30% of U.S. youth population is overweight "
Even more alarming - 15.2% are considered obese.
These numbers are on the rise and as parents, teachers and coaches we have a huge responsibility to change the tide of this sad epidemic.
The injury rate of our youth athletes that are involved in sports is unacceptable and becoming far too common.
over 3.5 million children under the age of 15 are treated for sports related injuries every year children ages 5-14 account for 40% of all reported sport related injuries "
more than half of these injuries occur at practice. These numbers are rising each year but they don't have to.
Pretty scary huh Do you see the common pattern here?
Our young champions are overweight, physical education is almost non-existent, and our children are getting injured more and more every year both in structured sports as well as recreational sports. It doesn't have to be this way. We need to be more proactive and make changes. That's why I opened Optimal Performance, to provide a safe and effective place for our youth (athletes & students alike) to change the deadly trends among us.
At Optimal Performance we now offer unlimited memberships in 1, 3 or 12 month options. This means you have unlimited access to the areas top coaches and on a consistent basis all for a cost effective monthly rate.
Don't wait for a change to happen to you - make the change happen to yourself!!!
JZ
The "let's eat candy and get FAT" holiday has come and gone. Instead of lecturing on how bad candy and sugar is, I'll just leave you with some alarming facts about our youth population;
" 30% of U.S. youth population is overweight "
Even more alarming - 15.2% are considered obese.
These numbers are on the rise and as parents, teachers and coaches we have a huge responsibility to change the tide of this sad epidemic.
The injury rate of our youth athletes that are involved in sports is unacceptable and becoming far too common.
over 3.5 million children under the age of 15 are treated for sports related injuries every year children ages 5-14 account for 40% of all reported sport related injuries "
more than half of these injuries occur at practice. These numbers are rising each year but they don't have to.
Pretty scary huh Do you see the common pattern here?
Our young champions are overweight, physical education is almost non-existent, and our children are getting injured more and more every year both in structured sports as well as recreational sports. It doesn't have to be this way. We need to be more proactive and make changes. That's why I opened Optimal Performance, to provide a safe and effective place for our youth (athletes & students alike) to change the deadly trends among us.
At Optimal Performance we now offer unlimited memberships in 1, 3 or 12 month options. This means you have unlimited access to the areas top coaches and on a consistent basis all for a cost effective monthly rate.
Don't wait for a change to happen to you - make the change happen to yourself!!!
JZ
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