Observations from a Strength Coach....

CSCCa in Orlando Florida

2010-04-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Next week I will be heading down to the CSCCa National Conference in Orlando, FL to hang out with the Fitness Anywhere crew and put on some early am workouts. I'm looking forward to seeing some great friends and to talk shop with some of the best strength and conditioning coaches on the planet. I am also planning to shoot a couple of 'Snatches & Beer' interviews with some coaches for our new coachdos.com membership site that is set to launch June 1, 2010!

I had an amazing time putting on my TRX workshop in Eugene at the University of Oregon and the feedback that we received from the collegiate strength coaches was awesome. The TRX will no doubt be infiltrating collegiate weight rooms all over the country very, very soon!

Check out this amazing TRX Strength and Conditioning video that Fitness Anywhere has put together!

If you haven't already pick-up your TRX P2 system.....get one NOW and DO WORK!

11th Annual COC Strength & Conditioning Clinic

2010-04-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again....spring is in the air and it's time for our 11th Annual Conditioning clinic! I am extremely excited about this year's event as we have some great presentations lined-up. Former NFL player turned trainer Pete Koch is on board this year talking about the use of genetic information in designing training program. Sean Skahan, strength and conditioning coach of the NHL Anaheim Ducks will be with us talking about Hockey Conditioning. We also have Mike Wunsch, training manager at Results Fitness (recently named one of the top gyms in the country by Men's Health Magazine!) talking about the 7 Objectives of a 21st Century Training Program. I will be rounding out the day and sending us home on fire with a 90-minute Metabolic Mayhem hands-on Conditioning circuit complete with TRX A-frame, sleds, battling ropes, Kettlebells, and more all based on my best selling book Cardio Strength Training!

Fitness Anywhere (TRX) and Perform Better are our awesome sponsors with food, great door prizes, t-shirts and much more. As always, this event serves as fundraiser for my Cougar Strength Program at College of the Canyons with 100% of the proceeds going directly into making our program great! Even my presenters donate their time for our cause and we love them for it!

If you are anywhere near the Southern California area on May 15, 2010 please try to attend....you will not regret this amazing event!

"Training" Trainers

2010-03-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is work with actual trainers. I love the enthusiasm and energy that I get from folks who train people for a living....it really motivates me to be a better coach and it also gives me great hope for the future of this industry when people are so eager to learn. Whether it's working with Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove's trainers at Results Fitness or getting sweaty in a hands-on with a hundred or so trainers at a Perform Better Summit, it's a BLAST for me.

I have had the great fortune of meeting some great people and just last weekend I had the privilege of doing a staff training in Pasadena at Phil and Michelle Dozois' Breakthru Fitness. Awesome facility, great trainers, and a FUN time! I am looking forward to doing a couple more staff trainings in 2010 including one that I am really excited about at Joe Dowdell's Peak Performance NYC in June!

Here's a short highlight clip of my visit to Breakthru Fitness last weekend!

Building Work Capacity....

2010-02-26T06:52:00.000-08:00

I'm often asked about my goals in my conditioning programming and my answer always seems to come back to one thing, WORK CAPACITY. If we can continue to turn the knob up and get more and more out of our athletes we will build their ability to keep pushing, to improve their all-important strength and power endurance. In essence we are assuring that over time, we will also be able to train harder and harder for longer periods of time with greater intensity. Perhaps most importantly, work capacity building sessions helps to forge amazing confidence...this is often the psychological variable that can be the difference between victory and defeat.

We push that envelope early and often with our football athletes, here is an example of a post-lifting fieldwork session....typical to what we have been doing since the beginning of February.

Coach Dos 2010 Speaking / Presenting Dates

2010-02-24T19:48:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post all my 2010 speaking and presenting dates for 2010.

March 12 - Staff Training @ Breakthrough Fitness, Pasadena, CA (Private)
March 27-28 - NSCA NW State Clinic @ University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
May 6-7 - TRX am workouts at the CSCCa National Convention in Orlando, FL
May 15 - Annual COC S&C Clinic @ College of the Canyons, Valencia, CA
June 4-6 - Perform Better Summit, Providence, RI
June - 8 - Staff Training @ Peak Performance NYC, NY (Private)
July 22-23 - 1st Annual Cougar Strength Sport-Speed camp @ College of the Canyons Valencia, CA
Aug 6-8 - Perform Better Summit, Long Beach, CA
Aug 14 - Staff Training @ Equinox South Bay, Hawthorne, CA (Private)

Should we really be scared of the BIG BAD SOY?!

2010-01-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

John Robbins is one of my personal heroes, in fact, it was largely in part to my reading Diet for a New America that set me on the path to being a lifelong vegan over 20 years ago.

In addition to Diet for a New America, Mr. Robbins has written what I consider one of the most well-written, informative, well-researched, life changing books I have ever read in The Food Revolution. His website at http://www.foodrevolution.org/ is an amazing resource for great vegan information. I found the following letter on his site years ago, it is a letter in response to an anti-soy article (one like MANY that we tend to see these days....) in Motherhood Magazine. I just felt that in this time of SOY BASHING, to the point where some are trying link childhood soy consumption with homosexuality....sigh, we might need a dose of reality. In his poignant style, Mr. Robbins tells the truth the way he does SO WELL...

Response To Misleading Article About Soy In Mothering Magazine

An article titled "The Whole Soy Story, The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food," by Kaayla T. Daniel, appeared in the May/June 2004 issue of Mothering Magazine. The article can be read at: http://www.mothering.com/growing_child/food/soy_story.html

The letters that Mothering received in response to the article can be read at: http://www.mothering.com/10-0-0/html/10-6-0/soy-letters.shtml

Here is the letter written in response to the article by John Robbins:

May, 2004

To the editor of Mothering Magazine:

I’ve been a devoted fan of Mothering, and read every issue for more than fifteen years. On many occasions I’ve given subscriptions as gifts to new mothers and families. I’ve always understood why Mothering readers have so much respect for the magazine, and place so much trust in it.

But the article you printed warning against soy products betrays that trust. Actually, it wasn’t an article, it was a diatribe. Under the guise of warning people, and pretending to be a voice of caution, it spreads fears that are unwarranted, exaggerated, and fictitious. Young mothers don’t have the time to investigate the credibility and balance of the articles you print. They trust you to do that for them. In this case, you failed them big time.

I have no association to the soy industry, but I do have a strong dedication to people having accurate information about foods. It is difficult in a short letter to respond to seven pages of biased material, particularly when each page is crowded with half-truths, statements taken out of context, and conclusions drawn inappropriately from data.

The article’s author, Kaayla Daniel, repeatedly says that people of China, Japan and other countries in Asia eat very little soy, so there is no historical precedent for eating the amounts being recommended by people like Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Christiane Northrup. This is a misleading half truth. It is true that in parts of Asia, most notably China, soy consumption has been low. But Asia is a very large area with several billion people.

What’s important is not the average soy consumption for the whole of Asia, but the soy consumption in those parts of Asia which demonstrate the highest levels of human health. And there is no question about where that is. The elder population of Okinawa (a prefecture of Japan) have the best health and greatest longevity on the planet.

This is important because the highest soy consumption in the world is in Okinawa. Many North Americans know of Okinawa only for being the site of one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II, and for now housing U.S. military bases. But the people of Okinawa have repeatedly been shown to be the healthiest and longest-lived people in the world. This has been demonstrated conclusively by the renowned Okinawa Centenarian Study, a 25-year study sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Health.

How much soy have the elder Okinawans eaten throughout their lives? The Okinawa Centenarian Study included an extremely thorough analysis of food consumption in the prefecture. The principle investigators and authors of the study (Makoto Suzuki, M.D., Bradley J. Willcox, M.D., and D. Craig Willcox, Ph.D.) state: “Okinawan elders eat an average of two servings of flavonoid-rich soy products per day.”

This is about 20 times more than the amount of soy Kaayla Daniel claims “Asians really eat.” When she says “there is no historical precedent for eating the large amounts of soy food now being consumed,” she is incorrect. Soy makes up twelve percent of the diet of Okinawan elders.

The authors of the Okinawan Centenarian Study analyzed the diet and health profiles of Okinawan elders and compared them to other elder populations throughout the world. They conclude that high soy consumption is one of the main reasons that Okinawans are at extremely low risk for hormone–dependent cancers, including cancers of the breast, prostate, ovaries, and colon. Compared to North Americans, they have a staggering 80 percent less breast cancer and prostate cancer, and less than half the ovarian cancer and colon cancer.

This enormously reduced cancer risk arises in part, the study’s authors say, from the Okinawans large consumption of isoflavones from soy. This is an important finding. The lowest cancer rates in the industrialized world are found in the Okinawans who consume the most soy.

Other studies have confirmed the link between soy consumption and reduced cancer risk. The Japan Public Health Center Study found the lowest breast cancer rates in those prefectures where women ate the most soy products. And a recent study published in the British medical journal Lancet showed that women who ate the most flavonoids (mostly isoflavones from soy products) had a substantially lower risk for breast cancer than those who had lower flavonoid intake.

The reason the ardently pro-pharmaceutical FDA wound up affirming that soybeans are a food that can prevent and even help cure disease was not, as Kaayla Daniel says, because the agency is in bed with the soy industry, but because the evidence was so convincing. The reason the FDA now allows food manufacturers to talk about the benefits of heart-healthy soy in their products is because the substantiating data are overwhelming.

Indeed, the authors of the 25-year Okinawa Centenarian Study state that high soy consumption in Okinawa is one of the primary reasons elder Okinawans have 80 percent fewer heart attacks than North Americans do. Their high soy consumption is also why, if Okinawans do suffer a heart attack, they are more than twice as likely to survive.

These are staggering numbers. The study’s authors state that if North Americans lived more like the elder Okinawans, and ate the amount of soy they do, we “would have to close 80 percent of the coronary care units and one-third of the cancer wards in the United States, and a lot of nursing homes would also be out of business. By 1990, Okinawan life expectancy figures had even surpassed the absolute limits of population life expectancy assumed by the Japan Population Research Institute. Limits had to be revised upwards simply to account for the phenomenal longevity of the Okinawans.”

It is not an accident that in Okinawa, home to the highest soy consumption in the world, heart disease is minimal, breast cancer is so rare that screening mammography is not needed, and most aging men have never heard of prostate cancer. The three leading killers in the West — coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer — occur in Okinawans with the lowest frequency in the world.

There’s also the fact that elder Okinawans have much stronger bones than we do, and less than half the hip fractures that we do. The authors of the Okinawa Centenarian Study attribute the increased bone strength and health in Okinawa to soy consumption. Many other studies confirm the connection between increased soy consumption and reduced osteoporosis.

I am very sorry that Mothering printed the article by Kaayla Daniels because it is so full of bias and fallacies. Its authoritative tone may sway some people to unnecessarily avoid soy, and that would be a shame. For most people, consumption of the levels of whole soy foods recommended by authors like Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Christiane Northrup, which correspond to the levels eaten by the Okinawans, are not only safe, but tremendously helpful to disease prevention and the creation of vibrant and resilient wellness. Of course if you are allergic to any food, then you shouldn’t eat it. But dairy products, for which soy products are often substituted, are more likely to produce allergic reactions than soy. And by the way…

-Cow’s milk provides more than nine times as much saturated fat as soy beverages, so is far more likely to contribute to heart disease.

-Soy beverages provide more than 10 times as much essential fatty acids as cow’s milk, and so provide a healthier quality of fat.

-Soy beverages are cholesterol-free, while cow’s milk contains 34 mg of cholesterol per cup, which again means that cow’s milk is far worse for your heart and cardiovascular system.

-Soy beverages lower both total and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels, while cow’s milk raises both

total and LDL cholesterol levels, providing yet more reasons soymilk is better for your health.

-Soy beverages contain numerous protective phytochemicals that may protect against chronic diseases such as heart disease and osteoporosis. Cow’s milk contains no phytochemicals.

-Men who consume one to two servings of soymilk per day are 70 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than men who don’t.

I do not understand why Mothering would allow its pages to be used for such a misleading article. I hope that you allow more balanced voices substantial space in the future to undo the damage you’ve done. Mothering’s readers expect and deserve sane and helpful articles, especially about subjects like nutrition. They don’t need more fear mongering. We’ve got quite enough of that in our society today.

Readers who want further information about health and longevity in Okinawa can see the excellent book The Okinawa Program.

And readers who want to see a balanced response to many of the specific allegations made against soy can visit: http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy.htm

John Robbins

Author, Diet For A New America, May All Be Fed, and The Food Revolution

CST Personalized Workout Cards!

2010-01-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

My friend and Men's Health Power Training and now Cardio Strength Training ENTHUSIAST Greg Labelle has outdone himself once again in helping to create an amazing pull-down menu workout card package for CST. You can customize everything from your complexes, density training sessions, 30:30 circuits, and even your Tabata protocols all at the click of your mouse. Get yours TODAY and you will receive the complete updated MPHT personalized pulldown menu cards for FREE ($32.99 value) if you type in "DOSCERCISE" in the Payment comments section!

Check out some actual screen shots below!

DO WORK PEOPLE!!!!

Cardio Strength Training making the rounds..

2010-01-15T10:49:00.000-08:00

Instead of posting all the pics that people have been sending me of my Cardio Strength Training book DOING WORK around the world I figured making a short video montage would be ideal! Enjoy and thanks SO MUCH for making CST such a GIANT success!!

For those CST lovers with a little more RISQUE taste here's my boy Frankie doing work with my book.....the Banned CST promo! HAHA!

13 Tips for Successful Blogging by Mike Robertson

2009-12-31T07:20:00.000-08:00

Mike Robertson is one of the smartest people I know....he also happens to write one of my fave and most informative blogs. I thought I would post his today as my 'guest blog'. Enjoy!

13 Tips for Fitness Blogging Success
Blogging I get e-mails on a weekly basis asking me about ways to break into the fitness writing industry. It's a little amusing to say the least - I absolutely loathed English throughout high school, and if you would've told me that I would be paid at any point in my life for my writing, I probably would've laughed in your face.

With that being said, when it comes to writing I'm still no Adam Bornstein, Adam Campbell, Lou Schuler or Sean Hyson. I am simply a guy who enjoys teaching people about my passion - fitness.

Over the past few years, here are a few facts about my writing and website:

•I've written well over 100 articles (I'm too lazy to count them all, so this is probably on the low-side).
•I've been blogging since 2006.
•My blog has grown from ~50 hits per day to one that gets anywhere from 800-1000 hits per day.
•My newsletter list has doubled in the past year and a half! (And no, it's not from 10 to 20)
I don't say any of this to blow sunshine up my rear end, or to make people believe I've become some sort of prolific writer. Instead, what I can offer are some tips and tricks to help you write successfully and grow your blog.

What I'm noticing is that while blogs are currently all the rage, the divide between the good and the bad is growing rapidly. The ones that follow the principles below grow on a consistent basis; others die a painful death in cyber space, never to be heard from again.

With that being said, here are 13 tips to help you become a better fitness blogger in 2010.

1. Content is still king.

Regardless of what techy people will tell you, great content will keep coming back to your website time-and-again.

Sure search engine optimization and great headlines will help, but if you're not providing great content, people will quickly stop visiting your site. There's nothing worse than a great headline followed up with sub-par content. NOTHING.

2. Keep it (primarily) positive.

Nobody likes a downer. If the entire mood of your blog is negative, people will eventually stop showing up.

Now, don't confuse this with being soft! If you're passionate about something, let it be known. I try to be as positive as possible, but sometimes things I see in the industry flat out piss me off. The goal, then, is to not just complain about what's wrong, but to provide solutions that you feel are more appropriate. Don't leave people hanging.

3. Use spell and grammar check.

Remember that whole thing about not being great at English?

Luckily for me, they invited computers!

I write all my newsletters and articles in Microsoft Word, putting them through spell and grammar checking before they see the light of day. Sure, thing will slip through from time-to-time, but this simple yet effective tip will keep your posts looking tidy and professional.

4. Keep it fresh.

It's imperative that you work to keep your blog fresh. Consistently blogging about the same thing, or writing in the same way over and over, gets boring very quickly.

The easiest way to avoid this is to keep learning. If you're consistently reading articles and books, listening to Podcasts, and attending seminars, fresh content will never be an issue.

5. Use multiple writing styles.

This goes hand-in-hand with my previous point - by constantly changing or tweaking your writing style, you help keep your posts fresh and informative.

I'm sure there's some fancy term for this in the writing world, but I try and mix it up - sometimes I use stories, other times a Q&A format, and when all else fails, old-fashioned direct content gets the job done.

Try a host of different styles and see what works best for you.

6. The rule of 50+ blogs.

I have a rule that works well for many beginning bloggers and fitness writers - write a minimum of 50 blogs before you try and get an article published.

There's nothing magical about the number 50, but if you take the time to write 50 or more blogs, you have taken the time to find your creative "voice" and put it to work for you. As well, you have an idea of the creative process that goes into writing; at that point in time an article is really just a more in-depth blog post.

7. To niche or not to niche?

This is a huge question - it's not really a question of whether or not to niche yourself, rather, it's how niche do you want to be?

For instance, I consider myself in the very broad niche of fitness. I write about anatomy, fat loss, strength training, corrective exercise, etc. It may not be ideal from a marketing or sales perspective, but it helps me deal with my ADD a bit!

On the other hand, there are people that are very niche - for instance, fat loss experts who write solely about the many facets of fat loss.

You don't have to decide immediately, but if there's a topic you consider yourself to be strong in, start blogging on that topic first and foremost. From there, you can either work to dominate your niche, or expand your horizons.

8. Develop trust with your readers.

This is an important (albeit often forgotten) point.

It's human nature to want to trust each other. Many fitness bloggers make that hard, as their feelings and/or message tend to sway to-and-fro depending on what products they are currently pimping and promoting.

I have a strict rule, as many of my readers are also personal friends on Facebook and family members: If I wouldn't recommend the product to a friend or family member, I won't promote it. Period. I made this mistake once before with a product I wasn't 100% behind, and it will never happen again.

It's not easy, and it won't make you rich (at least not overnight!), but always put your readers' thoughts and needs first and foremost. If you do this, you'll never have a shortage of people checking your blog.

9. Did I mention content?

Yes, it really is that important.

Taking it one step further, I'm constantly reminded of a quote from Jim Rohn on the topic of sharing knowledge and wealth:

"If your glass is full, the only wall to add something more is to pour something out."

If you really want to help people out, keep teaching them things. I don't view my knowledge as proprietary or "secret." The only hold-up is that there's only so much content/information you can get across in a blog post. The logical hierarchy then becomes this:

Blog Post --> Article --> Manual, DVD or Seminar Topic

If something is really large in scope, it's no longer a simple blog post. To try and reduce it to such would be a disservice.

The goal, then, is to pair the message with the correct medium.

10. Read other great blogs.

There are two sure-fire ways to improve your writing skills:

1 - To write often (more on this later), and
2 - To read other peoples' blogs.

There are more than a dozen fitness blogs I read every single-day. Each and every one has a unique message, writing style, and niche they are catering to. Not only does this keep me chock-full of writing ideas, but it also inspires me to keep getting better myself.

Here are a few of my favorites; be sure to add them to your Favorites if you haven't already:

- Eric Cressey
- Alwyn Cosgrove
- Bill Hartman
- Leigh Peele
- Tony Gentilcore
- The FitCast
- TJ Lensch (aka TJ the Intern)
- Dan John
- Michael Boyle
- Robert "Dos" Remedios
- Chase Karnes
- Nate Green

11. Stay consistent with your message.

As the saying goes, "Consistency is key." It's no different in writing, but let's look at a prime example.

If you're a low-carb advocate one second, and a low-fat advocate the next, you need to be able to explain why you changed stances. If it's simply to make money or pimp a product, that's a problem.

This isn't to say that you can't change your mind - for instance, I've radically changed my thoughts on core training over the past 10 years. The goal with writing is to develop and espouse your philosophy; if you change your mind, why did you do it? Can you support it with research AND practical evidence? If so, that makes for great content and shows you're willing to change your stance in light of compelling or more complete information.

If you're doing something simply to pimp a product or create controversy, however, it's going to be difficult to see consistent success in ANY endeavor.

12. Stay current.

While I briefly mentioned this above, you have to stay current. Go to seminars, read books and articles, listen to Podcasts, etc.

If you're writing about things that were discussed five years ago, you're not going to do well. Blogging as a whole is successful because it satisfies people wneed for here and now information. If you're spewing thoughts that are old or outdated, it's simply not going to work.

Staying on the cutting edge of the information curve is critical to developing and maintaining a successful blog.

13. Keep writing!

Possibly the most important point of them all, keep writing!

Just like the first time you baked a cake, mowed the yard, or wrote a training program, the first time is never perfect. In fact, it's never perfect no matter how many times you try!

The goal, however, isn't perfection - it's the pursuit of perfection that's important (thanks Lexus!).

With each blog you write, you'll get better. Your vocabulary will increase, your style will improve, and your message will become more concise and direct. Whatever you do, if you have a message to convey, don't stop writing!

So this very short blog post has turned into quite the ordeal. What about you guys? Any tips from the fitness bloggers out there that I might have missed or overlooked?
Have a great New Year!

MR

Cardio Strength Training is HERE!!

2009-12-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

It's official folks, Cardio Strength Training has hit the bookstores and is being shipped out via amazon as I type! This is a very exciting day as I took this pic at Barnes & Noble in my home town of Valencia, CA this morning! The release actually surprised me as I was told the 'official' release date was to be January 5th but hey, now you can get it in time for Christmas! YIPPEE!

Shoot on over to your local bookstore or grab your copy at Amazon (see below). I hope all you you enjoy it, it was a blast to write this book! Here's is the foreword written by my good friend and one of the best fitness experts in the world, Alwyn Cosgrove!

"...in an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it"
- Herbert Simon

We truly live in the information age. A simple Google search for a term that was relatively unknown ten years ago – for example “Brazilian jiu jitsu”, will return at the time of writing, over one million web pages devoted to the topic. With the rapid growth of information, one can imagine that this number will double in less time than it’s taken to reach this amount.
Quite simply – there is more information on any topic available today than ever before – in fact, more information than you can possibly consume in a lifetime devoted to study. It’s just growing that fast.

The problem today Is not a lack of information – it’s a lack of filtering that information. So how do you filter information? At this point there is so much information available -- that you NEED to filter out as much as you take on board.

My personal filter is to heavily prioritize information that comes from "Real World" Practitioners whose livelihood depends upon delivering results or solving problems (and I'm a fanatic for proof).

It's that simple. I put my faith in real world results.

And that’s why I put my faith in Robert Dos Remedios.

With a proven track record, Coach Dos has more subjects come through his laboratory (the weight room and the field), giving him more real world information than you can find almost anywhere.

Dos is an expert at what he does not because he is a high profile coach that high level athletic talent seeks out to help refine their already considerable skills – no. Dos is an expert because he works with real people in the real world, hundreds of times every single day.
The topic of cardio strength training is as cutting edge as it gets. It's now proven in the scientific realm that strength training or interval training both outperform aerobic training for conditioning and fat loss.

It’s something that great coaches have known for years. They had to. Their job – their teams record and their kids futures and scholarships depended on it.

What science hasn't proven yet is that a strength training-interval training hybrid outperforms both strength and interval training.

It’s something that Coach Dos knows. He has to.

Welcome to Dos’s World. Wait for the researchers to catch up....

Alwyn Cosgrove

Don't forget to join the official "Cardio Strength Training: The Book" fan page on facebook today!

EXF Fitness and Perform Better Learn-By-Doing Seminars

2009-12-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

Perform Better and UK-based EXF Fitness have teamed-up to put on a great series of seminars much like the Perform Better 1-day seminars over here in the U.S.!

This is a great deal for the fitness professionals in the U.K. and a tremendous opportunity for professional growth and learning.

The seminars are being organized by my good friend Nick Grantham along with Charles Burch and Clare Pearce of EXF Fitness.....these are an AWESOME set of people who treated me like royalty when I presented in Newcastle earlier this year!

Speakers will include Nick Grantham and Neil Parsley (both of whom I presented with in Newcastle) along with my friend Charlotte Ord and many others. In fact, they will be hosting a 2-day summit in Birmingham May 8-9, 2010 that will include several U.S.A. speakers to be announced very soon!

For a complete listing of all EXF-Perform Better "Learn by doing" seminars click HERE!

Core Performance Women is here!

2009-12-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

One of my big influences in the strength and conditioning field is Mark Verstagen and once again he and Pete Williams have added another gem to their "Core Performance" series. Anyone who has read any of these books, heard Mark speak, or visited Athletes Performance will agree that Mark Verstagen is a 'real deal' guy with quality training and conditioning....and to top it off maybe one of the best people you will ever meet!

I was fortunate enough to read some excerpts that were forwarded to me by co-author Pete Williams and I can't wait to get my copy of the book!

Here is a excerpt from Chapter 8 - "A New Rear View"

Since the publication of our first book Core Performance in January of 2004, “core” training has become a popular buzzword. We’re proud to see it become part of the American vernacular, with so many people applying it to their own high-performance lifestyles.

Unfortunately, some have misappropriated Core Performance and its unique movement exercises to refer almost solely to washboard abs. Core Performance Movement has always been centered around Pillar Strength, an integrated system consisting of shoulder, torso (core), and hip stability.

That first book was embraced by men but even more so by women because they had a deeper appreciation for the seamless integration, depth, and intelligence behind this strategy, which wasn’t overly clouded by testosterone and ego. Women from our Core Performance community have provided powerful insight as to how they used the program to overcome challenges to achieve things they never thought possible. That’s helped us provide even more precise, female-specific solutions in this book.

Core Performance resonates with women because it provides the perfect focus. Women have been targeted with one group-fitness trend after another when all they really want (though I hesitate to even suggest I know what women want!) is a simple yet powerful system of achieving optimal performance.

When we look at movement, there’s a tendency to put labels on various disciplines such as yoga, Pilates, and their variations and insist people study and follow them instead of stepping back and recognizing that movement is the universal language we were born with; it’s instilled in our DNA.

No longer must you feel confined to a particular discipline to give you parts of what you need. We’re going to share with you the body’s natural ability to move, tuned to your needs as a woman. That said, the Core Performance system will allow you to integrate your other passions, like yoga and Pilates.

Pre-order your copy today!

Cardio Strength Training's Pre-Release is making the rounds!

2009-12-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

Book looks incredible and pre-released copies have gone out to all my friends who helped with contributions, quotes etc. Here's me with one of my big influences Frankie Addelia after a session at his "Lab" in Santa Clarita....DO WORK SON!

Look for more pics of Cardio Strength Training making the rounds around the country with some of the biggest names in strength and conditioning!

Coach Dos takes Brazil!

2009-11-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

Well, after some potential visa issues it's now official! I will be presenting at the 2nd International Forum on Functional Training in Sao Paulo, Brazil on December 5-6. This will be my very first visit to Brazil for either business or pleasure and I am looking forward to seeing some of the sights and experiencing and interacting with all the trainers over there!

I will be doing two lectures on Saturday the 5th, one on 'Training your clients like athletes' (based on my Men's Health Power Training principles...) and one on' CHAOS agility training for the general population' . I will also be doing an hands-on workshop on the CHAOS training on Sunday the 6th. We are expecting nearly 1000 people for this event so it should be an amazing weekend! VIVA BRASILIA!

Remember, my ENTIRE CHAOS sport-speed lecture along with all of the video clips of our drills is on my CHAOS DVD (see clip below). I am also going to run a bonus through the end of November where everyone who orders the CHAOS DVD will also get sent the Sleds & ladders DVD FREE !!

Pick those DVD's up TODAY!!!!

Rachel Cosgrove's Female Body Breakthrough is HERE!

2009-11-11T23:00:00.000-08:00

Most of you know that I endorse only a handful of products and people in general. It's generally been Alwyn Cosgrove, Mike Roussell, Mike Boyle, Smitty and his Diesel Crew and...well, that's really about it! Until now that is. My good friend and better half of the well-known Scotsman, Rachel Cosgrove has an amazing book was released yesterday (November 10th) from my very own publishers Rodale Books titled The Female Body Breakthrough. This is a GREAT book folks....

I have always said that Rachel Cosgrove is the 'Real Deal' when it comes to training and getting results....not just in her own training and competing but with her hundreds and hundreds of clients who have seen amazing results on her programs. I also know of Rachel's expertise firsthand as we teamed-up to make our best-selling Ultimate Core DVD !

Here's where I really want to help Rachel with her book sales and her website launch.... TOMORROW on Thursday November 12th, if you purchase The Female Body Breakthrough through Amazon by going HERE Rachel will be doing some amazing bonuses for you! After purchasing the book you will go back to The Female Body Breakthrough web page and input your information....you will then receive a HOST of FREE GIFTS including a Fit Chick Credo Poster, 3 months of video coaching with Rachel, and 5 free e-books! Pretty solid investment Bonus for the book's Amazon price of $14.95!!!

While the majority of my followers are men, I KNOW all of you have wives, girlfriends, friends etc. who would reap serious benefits on Rachel's programs....so start your Christmas Shopping NOW...I know I am going to!!

Mike Boyle's Strength Coach 3.0 is here!!

2009-10-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

At 12:00pm Eastern today, Wednesday October 21, Mike Boyle is releasing his newest resource, Functional Strength Coach 3.0 - A Joint by Joint Approach to Training.

Mike Boyle has been a HUGE influence in my training since I got into this game over 20 years ago (remember that Mike write the foreword to my book!). He is a 'go to guy' if there ever was one! I will be getting my hands on this program ASAP....AND SO SHOULD YOU!

I don't want to waste a bunch of space breaking down the details of what's covered in Functional Strength Coach 3.0. Click on the above link to get the details. But I do know this:

The program launches at noon and Mike is offering a pretty cool bonus to the first 100 people who order. There are TONS of people who are excited about this program so if you want to be one of The First 100 to get access to the bonus Mike is offering, you better get to the site a few minutes before noon EASTERN and get ready to repeatedly hit that 'refresh' button so you can beat all the other coaches and trainers who will be jockeying for one of those coveted spots (in addition to being one of the first people on the planet to get Mike Boyle's newest resource).

It's a rare occasion that a program comes out that you can call a 'Game Changer'.

But this is one of those programs that you *know* every coach and trainer worth their salt is going to be using and talking about, myself included.

And that starts in a few hours.

GET YOURS TODAY!!!!

EPOC & Afterburn – Are They Real or Is It HYPE?

2009-10-07T07:09:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I would post a guest blog from my good Friend Mike Roussell. Mike is an nutrition expert and author of the nutrition chapters in both Men's Health Power Training AND my upcoming book Cardio Strength Training. The topic of EPOC is one of the main focuses of my upcoming book (due out January 2010) and I think this blog post sums things up nicely!

I talk a lot about EPOC, Afterburn, and the idea of burning calories and fat even after your workout is over. Over the past couple blog posts there have been some questions from readers about this concept. Is is real? Is it over hyped? How many calories are we talking about? Here is a question/comment from a reader, Jack , about this very thing:

You wrote that “Metabolic Circuits are essential to really crank up your weight loss because they have been shown in research studies to increase the total number of calories that you burn over the 38 hours following your workout.” Is this the same as when people speak of EPOC or a separate phenomenon? I ask this because I have read that EPOC is about 8-15 percent or so (depending upon activity intensity) of the total kcal expenditure during the chosen activity. As such quite a number of writers claim that any metabolic boost is not nearly as significant as it is made out to be. Not being engrossed in all of the research leaves me slightly confused as to which is closer to the reality of the situation.

Just curious if you can add some more clarity. I do not mean to come across as argumentative, I am just somewhat confused by what seems to be a back and forth between claims about significant metabolic boosts for 1+ days after certain types of activity and other claims that such impacts are largely overblown.

This is a great question. Yes, I was talking about EPOC or what Alwyn Cosgrove calls Afterburn.

What is EPOC/Afterburn? It is basically a phenomenon that occurs when you lift weights or do the metabolic type of training that I have been talking about the past couple of blog posts. The tabata protocol is a perfect example of something that elicits an afterburn effect. A very simple way of thinking about EPOC is that when you do this type of training you exert yourself beyond what your body is capable of handling (i.e. your body can’t keep up); it then uses the next 12, 24, or even 36 hours to ‘catch up’ metabolically. ‘Catch up’ = burning calories.

How many calories do you burn with EPOC? A bunch.

What is the reality of the situation? Is is 8%? 15% as Jack noted about?

I was emailing back and forth with Alwyn Cosgrove about this and here is what he had to say…

The “reality of the situation” is not going to be found in textbooks or papers unfortunately.

Basically it’s hard to truly measure caloric expenditure (during and post workout) of anaerobic activity and recovery when you are using a measure of aerobic work (traditionally oxygen debt).
Studies comparing the same volume of caloric work (ie same calories burned) from interval training or weight training to aerobic training, show a massive difference in total fat lost over a period of time?

Why? EPOC? Some other type of post workout change?

I don’t think we know the exact mechanism yet – we just know that SOMETHING happens post workout as a result of high intensity metabolic work that doesn’t happen with lower intensity work, even if calories burned during training are equal.

The numbers shown with EPOC don’t explain it completely. It would be nice to know exactly what happens, but more importantly we KNOW what happens — more fat loss.

Bottom Line - don’t be confused by “a back and forth between claims” – just do what has been shown over and over again to work.

Aside from all of this: – all the studies on EPOC are performed on aerobic work or standard weight training.

■The few studies on circuit based weight training show a higher effect.
■There has never been a formal study on the type of training we use. However – at 250 clients training 3 times a week for the past several years – I think I have more than enough “data”
■There aren’t any studies on an accumulative effect on EPOC (they all look at single workouts). If it’s even a 10% increase for 24 hours, is there an accumulative effect if you train every 24 hours? (there are studies showing an increased EPOC with two shorter daily sessions as opposed to one of the same total length) — the question is how long will the “between sessions” last?
We know that weight training increases resting energy expenditure and there is an EPOC effect. All we do is attempt to continuously ramp that effect up.

Again – in truth we don’t know the mechanisms behind this completely — I just know what results my clients get.
The research doesn’t disprove the results. It just looks at the mechanisms to explain the results.

(Mike again…) We talk a lot about EPOC in Warp Speed Fat Loss. As Alwyn said is all the extra calorie burning from EPOC? Not sure? Does is matter if we know exactly what it is from? Not entirely, as if you go on Warp Speed Fat Loss and lose 4 pounds a week for 4 weeks would you really care if it was EPOC or not? You’d just be happy you lost the weight right? So for now the jury is out but as soon as we learn more I’ll let you know. For the time being let’s just do what we know works —> This works

This article was written by Mike Roussell. Mike Roussell is a nationally renowned nutritionist and the president of the Naked Nutrition Network. He is currently a doctoral candidate in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. Learn More About Mike Click HereShare and Enjoy:

Fun in he 105 degree sun!

2009-09-25T06:24:00.001-07:00

My short term intern Russell Holley from the U.K. had a chance to shoot some vid during his stay with us. Here are his two lastest clips he has posted on his Blog site.

Here is a 'finisher' to our outdoor strongman session with our men's basketball team....about 2 min. to complete this circuit.

Here is our women's softball athletes getting after it as well.....at 3pm, this was a HOT one folks and these girls really attack these sessions with a lot of enthusiasm!

Oh! and can't forget......it's September 25th....Official 'Hug a Vegetarian Day'!

The Real Biggest Losers.....the viewers

2009-09-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have never watched an entire episode. I can't name any previous season winners or tell you what they're doing these days (although gaining weight is probably a solid guess though...). So why was I watching the Biggest Loser Season 2009 season opener this week? Well, I was noticing all of the Facebook status updates of my friends saying things like "Biggest Loser tonight CAN'T WAIT!" or "OMG! Biggest Loser this season is going to be the greatest EVER!". How could I NOT take a peek at this car crash?!

What did I see? Well morbidly obese people....duh. More importantly I was really quite shocked at what else I saw. I witnessed people being put through the ringer pushing sleds, doing plyometrics, climbing on Jacob's ladder treadmills.....all this with people who would be hard pressed to make it up a flight of stairs. On top of this I was, well, shocked to see trainers belittling, mocking, screaming at, and basically motherf#*king these people ad nauseum. Don't get me wrong, anyone who has seen me with some of my athletic groups will often get a lesson in new and exciting vocabulary but this is apples and oranges folks. There is nothing wrong with hard work but after watching for 10 min. I could see through all the bullshit.....this is TV pure and simple. Not much reality to it when the goal is to make the clients puke, cry, quit for ratings, period. People have been saying to me "well, Dos...this stuff is inspiring....it's awesome to see people reach their goals and get their lives back". At the cost of what though?! Psychological scarring, dangerous diet practices, unhealthy living?

Earlier this year Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. wrote an amazing insight into the psychology behind this Biggest Loser Phenomenon on the psychcentral.com blog. Not only did she talk about the reality of the impact of this type of training, environment etc. on the human psyche, we also gained insight into the dangerous diet and weight loss practices the contestants went through in order to win. This is from the season I winner Ryan Benson's myspace page:

"What I now know is that the show was just a quick fix for me. …I wanted to win so bad that the last ten days before the final weigh-in I didn’t eat one piece of solid food! If you’ve heard of “The Master Cleanse” that’s what I did. Its basically drinking lemonade made with water, fresh squeezed lemon juice, pure maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The rules of the show said we couldn’t use any weight-loss drugs, well I didn’t take any drugs, I just starved myself!
Twenty-four hours before the final weigh-in I stopped putting ANYTHING in my body, liquid or solid, then I started using some old high school wrestling tricks. I wore a rubber suit while jogging on the treadmill, and then spent a lot of time in the steam room. In the final 24 hours I probably dropped 10-13 lbs in just pure water weight. By the time of the final weigh-in I was peeing blood.

Was this healthy? Heck no! My wife wanted to kill me if I didn’t do it to myself first. But I was in a different place, I knew winning the show could put us in a better place financially and I was willing to do some crazy stuff. All this torture I put myself through has had no lasting effects on me (that I know of) and at the time it was sort of a fun adventure for me – but I am sure it reeked havoc on my system.

In the five days after the show was over I gained about 32 lbs. Not from eating, just from getting my system back to normal (mostly re-hydrating myself). So in five days I was back up to 240 – crazy!"

On Season III contestant Kai Hibbard ...

She recently wrote on a blog that in the two weeks before the finale she severely dehydrated herself using asparagus (a diuretic), colonics and six-hour stretches of hopping in and out of a sauna. She lost 19 pounds, which as she joked, 'rebounded to her rear end almost immediately.’

This is one of the most telling quotes from this blog post:

“If you give people enough money and put them into team environments, you can get them to do anything, even things that are painful and potentially harmful to their metabolisms. You can scream at them and walk on their legs and they will do it, even when you make them cry 14 times a day, they will do it. And you can trot out past winners and say, ‘Look, it works. See? It totally works.’”

Folks, this is NOT reality in any way, shape, or form!

More.....

"Aside from the harm the show brings its own contestants when they engage in drastic measures, The Biggest Loser can also shape viewers’ ideas about weight loss, perpetuating harmful myths and leading viewers to compare their results to the contestants’. In essence, The Biggest Loser shows that:

-Rapid weight-loss works
-If you aren’t dropping double-digits each week, you’re somehow failing
-The number on the scale is first and foremost
Eating well means depriving yourself (this resembles the crash diet mentality, something that isn’t realistic for your entire life)
-Willpower is the answer to weight loss"

Want more???

"Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, LD, director of nutrition for WebMD Health and the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic, writes: “The Biggest Loser competition might indeed result in big losses, but it defies all the professional wisdom about safe and effective weight loss. That’s because the contestants are not addressing lifestyle behaviors and eating habits that they need to change permanently, not just during a nine-week race. This approach is similar to a fad diet, and we all know about them: You can lose weight on just about any diet, but when it’s over you gain the weight right back — unless you’ve changed your behaviors.” (see her article on Medicine Net). "

Okay for all of you who have been uplifted and inspired by the multiple seasons of NBC's Biggest Loser I have a new show to pitch....."The Biggest Gainer". Yup, we take 20 anorexics and force feed the $hit out of them. We shove IV's in their arms and Pull their mouths open then dietitians shove food down their throat. When they refuse, vomit, or cry about it the dietitians will mock, belittle, and motherf$%ck them. At the end of the season we will have 'fixed' one of them and got them back to a 'normal weight' by all means possible. What do you think folks? Think people will dig this? Well? Well??? I thought so.....Sigh.

TRX, Ropes, & Bodyweight Circuit!

2009-09-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

Ran through a couple of tough circuits @ Frankie's lab Friday....thought I would share it with everyone. Each circuit was performed twice (2 rounds)....

Circuit #1:

TRX wheelbarrel walks - 2 times across 3 aerobic steps + 5 plyo push-ups
"Monkeying around" - pull-up and hang climbing variations two times across the bars
TRX push complex - Push-up, T's, and superman's 5 times each
Rope battle - 50 reps any style you choose

Circuit #2:

TRX feet elevated rows (with hinging hips) - 10 times
Hang leg raises - 10 reps of any variation of leg raise
TRX plank position pike + saw - 10 reps
Rope battle - 50 reps any style you choose.

Rest periods were up to the individual but the pace was emphasized....we normally just moved immediately to the next exercise with a quick pause between rounds. Enjoy this butt kicker!

Remember to pick up your TRX system from Fitness Anywhere right HERE . Not only will you get a free Fitness Anywhere $20 gift card, if you email me your order confirmation I will send you all 6 Power Training pull-down workout cards ($32.99 value) FREE!

"The Decree of Dos"

2009-09-01T08:24:00.001-07:00

Had an opportunity to do an interview with trainer John Izzo for his website.....good stuff! Take a peak here!
THE DECREE OF DOS

Last Day for CHAOS Sport-Speed DVD offer!

2009-08-31T14:51:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, today is the LAST DAY of the awesome 'special offer' when you by the CHAOS SPORT-SPEED DVD. When you purchase the DVD, you will also be sent the Sleds & Ladders DVD absolutely FREE ($34.95 value)! This DVD has all of our dynamic warm-ups, sled drills, and ladder drills that we use with our athletes. A lot of folks have take advantage of this one week offer but it's about to dissappear......

Go backwards to move forwards!

2009-08-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

I have a guest blog today from my good friend across the pond, conditioning expert Nick Grantham.

OK, this is not a post about taking a false step to move forward (we can do that another time!). A colleague sent me a clip of a coach with a nice, very polished video of some 'tennis specific' speed and agility drills. Knowing that I work with a group of young and talented tennis players, he thought I would be interested. I was...what I found really interesting was that all the drills were linear drills. There were some 'lateral' drills in there but the lateral drills were not lateral - facing forward at the start of the drill, then turning 90 degrees and running forwards is not a lateral drill, its just a linear drill in a different direction! I was also interested to see the distances covered (at least 20m)- the coach must have their tennis players playing on a huge court! Finally - there were no drills where the coach went backwards! This is one thing that really boils my P**S! The title of the blog post says it all, we need to coach our athletes to go backwards - but most books/DVD's are packed full of drills that go forwards, or left/right - maybe I just live in an alternate universe where people do have to move backwards from time to time!

It was a nice video but the content was lacking.

My advice for anyone wanting to develop tennis (or any sport really)specific speed and agility would be:

1. Work all multidimensional (that's one of Vern Gambetta's) - forward,BACKWARDS, left, right, up etc etc.

2. Keep the distances short - in tennis a point is played with between 3-7 changes of direction in a confined area - if your drills are in excess of 10m then you need to tighten things up.

3. Practice going BACKWARDS - everyone wants to get fast going forwards - everyone forgets that you need to be good going backwards as well!

Once again we have coaches taking 'track' drills that get people moving fast in a straight line (with the occasional left turn) trying to convince us that they will help with the performance of a multidimensional sport such as tennis! STOP IT!

Remember folks....only a few days left to take advantage of my SPECIAL OFFER FOR MY CHAOS SPORT-SPEED DVD!

Putting the 'sub 4.0 second forty' in perspective...

2009-08-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

It was only a matter of time before the 'what would Usain Bolt be able to do in the NFL?!" questions started to pop up. Well, the most recent article on his projected 40 yard sprint time has only served to fuel the fire. Seems that based on his world record 100 meter time he would have run an electronic timed 3.97 forty yard sprint or a 3.73 second hand-timed forty. This is even more impressive when we take a look at a short list of the 'fastest' NFL forty yard sprint performers....

Fastest NFL Combine 40-Yard Times
4.19 – Deion Sanders (DB), Florida State – 1989 (Hand Timed)
4.24 – Chris Johnson (RB), East Carolina – 2008
4.24 – Rondel Melendez (WR), Eastern Kentucky – 1999
4.28 – Jerome Mathis, (WR), Hampton – 2005 (electronic)
4.29 – Fabian Washington, (CB), Nebraska – 2005
4.30 – Darrent Williams, (CB), Oklahoma State – 2005
4.30 – Yamon Figurs, (WR), Kansas State – 2007

Ok, First off, why is it that when we hear that someone can flat out run in straight line that they somehow will automatically have success in the CHAOTIC game of football?? We are talking apples vs. oranges folks.....track athletes run in a straight line with occaional left turns, period. Football is about a 98% chaotic, change of direction sport where deceleration is as or maybe even MORE important than acceleration. Now factor in the fact that you will be, running routes against a defenders will and, oh...yeah....getting hit in the mouth, and we truly start to see the dissimilarities between these apples and oranges. Let's quit speculating how Bolt would do in the NFL.....this guys is sheduled to make over $10 million a year in endorsements soon so it is highly unlikely that he will be willing to let someone hit him in the mouth for NFL minimum $.

The demands of sports like football, soccer, volleyball, basketball etc. require SPORT-SPEED. This is speed in the real-world....the type of speed and strength that allows for quick acceleration and the ability to decelerate WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DECELERATE! This is what I call CHAOS.....training your athletes to be the most efficient at these demands. Here is a peek my CHAOS Sport-Speed DVD...check out this crazy special (below) that' I'm running for ONE WEEK ONLY!

If you pick up a copy of the CHAOS Sports-Speed DVD by August 31, I will send you the Sleds & Ladders DVD FREE! ($34.95 value) See highlights below

Pick up your CHAOS DVD NOW!!!!! All orders of this DVD processed by August 31 will have the Sleds & Ladders DVD automatically shipped out at the same time!

College of the Canyons Weight Room Tour....

2009-08-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

Had a chance to get a few more toys and tools for the old toolbox this past summer so I figured I would video a quick walkthrough of what might be one of the most versatile and useable community college weight rooms in the country! Not bad for a zero $ budget facility ey?!

Old School blog post but me Likey!

2009-08-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is a blog post from Men's Health Editor Adam Borntein from a few months ago.....I think 'certified badass' might be my new nickname! HAHA! Check out Adams BADASS blog @ http://workingout.menshealth.com/

BEST OF THE BEST

The missing blogger returns…sort of. I’m sorry for the lack of writing lately. Between celebrating Passover (which is not fun on a specialized diet—read: hello weight loss!), and being in six different states in the last six days, you’ll have to excuse me for the dearth of updates. But if there’s one thing non-stop traveling affords, it’s a chance to check in on some of our top contributors.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: one of my favorite “perks” of my job is working with the best minds in fitness and nutrition. The good become better and the better become the best by being humble—which means having the patience and willingness to learn from others. Alwyn Cosgrove summed it up well when he recently discussed his willingness to learn from anyone—regardless stature in a given field (and there are few that know more than Cosgrove; together with his wife Rachel, they act as a walking book of muscle knowledge). While I can’t offer you the direct access I have, I can provide you with a way to become indirectly influenced by their wisdom. Here are some of the sites I rely upon for quality information. Each week, I’ll try to drop another favorite into a post. If I made this list any longer, it’d start to sound like a speech at an award ceremony. Prepare to be educated (and hopefully not put to sleep).

Alwyn Cosgrove:
If you’ve ever picked up an issue of MH, you’re probably familiar with Cosgrove. He’s one of our top fitness experts, author of several books (including the very informative, The New Rules of Lifting), and a man who backs up his knowledge with incredible results at his facility—Results Fitness. Cosgrove has worked with enough clients and reads enough research to qualify for my hall of fame. Plus, he’s always one of the best speakers at conferences I attend, and he frequently requests that I call him “sir’—which makes him that much cooler.

Bill Hartman:
Whatever you do, be wary if you ever become involved in a long conversation with Bill. Why? Because he has so much knowledge that it might make your head hurt (or your fingers cringe trying to edit his brilliance). Bill is a humble guy (like everyone on this list), but don’t be fooled by his modesty. He is as good as they come in terms of knowledge, and when it comes to fixing any imbalances/injuries, there is no one better in the industry. Along with Mike Robertson (who will receive his own mention at another time), Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training (IFAST) is a hotspot for anyone who desires knowledge on improving your body. It took me a while, but I finally found a reason to visit Indiana (note to self: still avoid Gary).

Alan Aragon:
Yeah, yeah. I know. Alan appears on my blog quite frequently. But when you spend more time with Pubmed than your wife (I’m kidding…kind of), you’re bound to learn something. Besides, Alan took me from a guy who suffered from TWC his entire life, and provided the tools for a 6-pack. If he can help me, I’m pretty sure he can help anyone.

Craig Ballantyne:
Ladies and gentlemen, I present Mr. Turbulence Training. Craig has been writing programs for MH for years, and has appeared in many of our exercises videos. Besides walking the walk (he oftentimes uses himself as a subject to prove the effectiveness of his workouts), Craig does an excellent job of developing programs that fit people of different shapes, sizes, and skill levels. And the biggest mista some people make? Underestimating his workouts. I promise you they’re more difficult than they seem.

Robert Dos Remedios:
Many people know Dos from his excellent book, Power Training. I know Dos because the man is a certified badass. In terms of strength and conditioning coaches, few can match his ability at creating functional workouts that will not only make you look good, but will improve your performance in most activities. His effectiveness and applicability is what separates him from many people who jumped on the functional bandwagon.

Tony Gentilcore (and the folks at Cressey Performance):
Tony is loaded with great workouts (and some allegedly large biceps) that blend multiple philosophies to improve strength and performance. But the best part about Tony is his blog, which is a mix of training knowledge and sarcasm at it’s finest. If you read my blog, you should check his out—simply because he does a much better job of telling jokes (and loving himself). And while I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting everyone at CP, that doesn’t mean I don’t admire their knowledge. These guys have a real gym that I hope to visit one of these days. Up until now I haven’t—but mainly because I’m afraid I’ll never want to go back to the commercial gym I’m left to attend.

Nick Tumminello:
I’ve dropped Nick’s name a few times recently, and that’s because he’s quickly becoming one of my favorite fitness experts. Nick is one of the better contributors I’ve found at creating original exercises that benefit your training without becoming too gimmicky. Plus, I have enough confidence to allow him to design a program for me (where the final result will include me removing my clothes—never a good thing for anyone). As Cosgrove taught me—the learning process should be continual, and Nick does a great job of adding to my knowledge bank.

Mike Boyle:
I like to attach the phrase “world famous strength coach” whenever I mention Mike. It doesn’t matter what I ask him about, he’s always quick with an answer that’s articulate and detailed. He's worked as a strength coach for amateurs, college athletes, professional, and Olympian. You name it, and Mike has probably covered it. Still wondering if he gets the job done? His BU hockey team just won the national championship. Trophies always say more than words.

Others to check out (who I’ll ramble about later):
JC Santana, Chad Waterbury, Charles Staley, CJ Murphy, Dan John, David Jack, Jim Liston, Joe Defranco, Joe Dowdell, Mark Verstegen, Martin Rooney, Mike Mejia, Mike Robertson, Todd Durkin

BTW, be sure to check out my TRX special deal @ coachdos.com ....free gifts!!
DOS TRX Special!

Olympic lifts REALLY DO help improve athletic performance....

2009-08-20T10:24:00.001-07:00

Just pulled up a couple of older studies looks at the effects of Olympic lifting on things like short sprint and vertical jump performance. The first study compares Olympic lifting to traditional plyometric training on vertical jump performance and sprint performance.

The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
Article: pp. 433–437 Abstract
Volume 19, Issue 2 (May 2005)

Short-Term Effects on Lower-Body Functional Power Development: Weightlifting vs. Vertical Jump Training Programs
Valmor Tricoli1, 3, Leonardo Lamas1, 2, Roberto Carnevale2, and Carlos Ugrinowitsch1
1. Department of Sport, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil, 2. Center for Sports Conditioning, Esporte Clube Pinheiros, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil, 3. Address correspondence to Valmor Tricoli, E-mail: vtricoli@usp.br
Tricoli V, Lamas L, Carnevale R, Ugrinowitsch C (2005) Short-Term Effects on Lower-Body Functional Power Development: Weightlifting vs. Vertical Jump Training Programs. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: Vol. 19, No. 2 pp. 433–437 -->

Tricoli, V., L. Lamas, R. Carnevale, and C. Ugrinowitsch. Short-term effects on lower-body functional power development: Weightlifting vs. vertical jump training programs. J. Strength Cond. Res. 19(2):433–437. 2005.—Among sport conditioning coaches, there is considerable discussion regarding the efficiency of training methods that improve lower-body power. Heavy resistance training combined with vertical jump (VJ) training is a well-established training method; however, there is a lack of information about its combination with Olympic weightlifting (WL) exercises. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the short-term effects of heavy resistance training combined with either the VJ or WL program. Thirty-two young men were assigned to 3 groups: WL = 12, VJ = 12, and control = 8. These 32 men participated in an 8-week training study. The WL training program consisted of 3 × 6RM high pull, 4 × 4RM power clean, and 4 × 4RM clean and jerk. The VJ training program consisted of 6 × 4 double-leg hurdle hops, 4 × 4 alternated single-leg hurdle hops, 4 × 4 single-leg hurdle hops, and 4 × 4 40-cm drop jumps. Additionally, both groups performed 4 × 6RM half-squat exercises. Training volume was increased after 4 weeks. Pretesting and posttesting consisted of squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ) tests, 10- and 30-m sprint speeds, an agility test, a half-squat 1RM, and a clean-and-jerk 1RM (only for WL). The WL program significantly increased the 10-m sprint speed (p <>

Pretty significant stuff when a weightlifting program can increase sprint and jumping performance more than an actual jumping program. This most likely speaks to the efficacy of the Oly lifts helping to possible develop a more "syncronized" firing and strength/power of the body to perform things like sprint and jumps.

The next study looks at a group of football players and compares Olympic weightlifting vs. powerlifting protocol on sprint and vertical jump performance.

The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
Article: pp. 129–135 Abstract
Volume 18, Issue 1 (February 2004)

Comparison of Olympic vs. Traditional Power Lifting Training Programs in Football Players
Jay R. Hoffman1, 2, Joshua Cooper1, Michael Wendell1, and Jie Kang1
1. Department of Health and Exercise Science, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey 08628-0718, 2. Address correspondence to Dr. Jay R. Hoffman, E-mail: hoffmanj@tcnj.edu
Hoffman JR, Cooper J, Wendell M, Kang J (2004) Comparison of Olympic vs. Traditional Power Lifting Training Programs in Football Players. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: Vol. 18, No. 1 pp. 129–135 -->

Hoffman, J.R., J. Cooper, M. Wendell, and J. Kang. Comparison of olympic versus traditional power lifting training programs in football players. J. Strength Cond. Res. 18(1):129–135. 2004.—Twenty members of an National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III collegiate football team were assigned to either an Olympic lifting (OL) group or power lifting (PL) group. Each group was matched by position and trained 4-days·wk−1 for 15 weeks. Testing consisted of field tests to evaluate strength (1RM squat and bench press), 40-yard sprint, agility, vertical jump height (VJ), and vertical jump power (VJP). No significant pre- to posttraining differences were observed in 1RM bench press, 40-yard sprint, agility, VJ or in VJP in either group. Significant improvements were seen in 1RM squat in both the OL and PL groups. After log10-transformation, OL were observed to have a significantly greater improvement in ΔVJ than PL. Despite an 18% greater improvement in 1RM squat (p > 0.05), and a twofold greater improvement (p > 0.05) in 40-yard sprint time by OL, no further significant group differences were seen. Results suggest that OL can provide a significant advantage over PL in vertical jump performance changes.
Keywords: athletic performance, football, resistance training, periodized training

This study is a little more telling. Now we get to see a direct comparison.....Olympic weightlifting based training vs. traditional powerlifting training. The results are quite significant, twofold greater improvement in 40 yard times and significantly greater improvements in vertical jump.

What does all this mean? Well, if you are training athletes and are relying on heavy powerlifts or traditional plyos to improve vertical jump performance (which, BTW, is probably the #1 variable in predicting athletic ability) I want to make sure you're on our schedule!

If you wanna get better at Pull-ups get off the Lat-Pulldown Machine!

2009-08-18T09:40:00.001-07:00

Just read this research article in this month's Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. Practitioners have said this for a long time now but as I always say, it's nice when researchers confirm what we have found in our 'labs'.

Relationship of 1 repetition maximum lat-pull to pull-up and lat-pull repetitions in elite collegiate women swimmers.

Halet KA, Mayhew JL, Murphy C, Fanthorpe J.
Human Performance Laboratory, Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri 63501, USA.
The purposes of this study were to determine the relationships among pull-ups, lat-pull repetitions, and 1 repetition maximum (1RM) lat-pull in elite women swimmers and to assess the effect of various anthropometric dimensions on each exercise. Women members (n = 28) of an elite National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II swim team were measured for their ability to perform a maximum number of free-hanging pull-ups, 1RM lat-pull, and lat-pull repetitions at 80% of 1RM. Anthropometric dimensions included selected arm lengths, percent body fat (%fat), and lean body mass (LBM) estimated from skinfold measurements. The correlations of 1RM lat-pull with body mass (r = 0.38, p = 0.04) and LBM (r = 0.41, p = 0.03) were significant, whereas that with %fat (r = 0.13, p = 0.49) was not. The same variables had a significant negative pattern with pull-ups (r = -0.48, -0.43, -0.32, respectively). Pull-ups were moderately correlated with 1RM lat-pull (r = 0.34, p = 0.08) but not with lat-pull repetitions (r = 0.07, p = 0.73). The product of pull-ups times body mass (PU x BM) was a better predictor of 1RM lat-pull (r = 0.86, standard errors of estimate [SEEs] = 4.4 kg) than either measurement alone. The addition of %fat to PU x BM in a stepwise regression analysis raised the correlation (R = 0.90) and reduced the SEE (3.9 kg) only slightly. Addition of arm or forearm lengths failed to increase the multiple R significantly. These results confirmed that the seemingly analogous exercises of pull-ups and lat-pulls were not highly related and should not be substituted for one another in a training regimen.

The correlations showed that the lat pulldown and the pull-up were not very closely related. In addition, several factors seem to come into play when testing females on pull-up performance. The researchers stated that body mass was the main factor in the inability to perform pull-ups. Since the lat pulldown is in fact a different exercise than the pull-up, the researchers recommended not trying to substitute one of another in training. We can now see that moving to the lat pulldown machine in hopes of improving your pull-up ability is not a great strategy.

RECOVERY....The KEY to optimal performance?

2009-08-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

When you are dealing with athletes who push themselves in every phase of preparation it is IMPERATIVE that we stress the importance or rest and recovery. I found this tremendous resource in a Training and Conditioning Magazine article this month Called "The Rest of the Story" that we have just started implementing with our athletic teams at College of the Canyons. This is a very simple downloadable checklist that each athlete can tally themselves each day. At the very least it could open their eyes (and yours of course) and answer some serious questions about your training and their ability to take care of themselves. I HIGHLY recommend using this checklist for anyone working with athletes. This is ESPECIALLY crucial with our football athletes this time of year...I kick myself for not doing something like this years ago!

Click here for the downloadable file

The BEST Interval tracks on the planet!

2009-08-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

It was a little over a year ago when I first met BJ Gaddour or workoutmuse.com. At this time he and his partner in crime Topher Farell were just starting out creating MP3 tracks for various intervals like tabatas variations, 30:30 intervals etc. Well, the last year has been amazing for these guys.....their tracks are literally EVERYWHERE! Check us out DOING WORK with my fave 15:15 Tabata protocol variation at the Perform Better Summit in Chicago a few months ago!

We use the tabata tracks, the 30:30's and the 40:20 interval tracks a TON with our teams and I use them almost daily in my own training. In addition to coming up with custom interval tracks for me, workoutmuse has created tracks that enable you to perform CHAOSTM Sport-Speed Training by yourself...all you need is your iPod and voila! you have random verbal cues at your disposal. My boys have created an empire and it's only going to get bigger with the popularity of interval training for fat loss and fitness. In fact, Watch for the FREE bonus tracks that will be linked in my upcoming book Men's Health Cardio Strength Training due out January 2010 from Rodale books. CRANK IT now and get your tracks!!

Men's Health lists America's Top 10 Gyms!

2009-08-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

How cool is this guys? People ask me all the time, "Who do you go to for advice, ideas etc.?". Are you kidding me? I'm probably the most fortunate person in the world considering that Men's Health's recent rankings of the Top 10 gyms in America include a bevy of gyms owned by good friends of mine! Great job guys....and great job by Men's Health for sifting through the rubble to come up with 10 amazing training facilities. I'm proud just to be associated with some of these guys!

Drumroll Please!!!

Mike Boyle Strength & ConditioningWinchester, MA

Results Fitness Santa Clarita, CA

Peak Performance New York, NY

DeFranco's Wyckoff, NJ

Parisi Speed School Fair Lawn, NJ

The Institute of Human Performance (IHP) Boca Raton, FL

Competitive Athlete Training Zone (CATZ) Pasadena, CA

Fitness Quest 10 San Diego, CA

Philippi Sports Institute Las Vegas, NV

Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training (IFAST) Indianapolis, IN

Man do I love the fact that over the past few years Men's Health has really stepped their game up in terms of training and conditioning advice, programs, experts etc. If it wasn't for this, Men's Health Power Training would have never been published!

The Valslide Phenomenon!

2009-08-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

My Girl Valerie Waters at the IDEA show 'spreadin the word' about the Valslide!

Here's a pic of he entrance to my home office....a kettlebell, TRX, and a pair of valslides, all I need to a kick butt home workout. People are always amazed when I pull out the Valslides and put them through the RINGER during my hands-on presentations at the Perform Better Summits. Quite simply put, as part of a circuit, a workout, or by themselves, valslides can flat our BREAK YOU.I don't endorse a lot of products and/or programs but I had no problem doing one for my friend Valerie Waters. Here is one of my collegiate basketball players doing a demo of our favorite valside exercise, the spiderman push-up.

If you take a peek at my earlier blog video of our exploits at this year's Perform Better Summit in Long Beach, CA you will once again see us performing, alligator walks, pikes, spiderman push-ups, mountain climbers, and even sled pushes with the valslide. If you don't have some, get some today!

Snatches & Beer - On Location in Long Beach!

2009-08-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Here is our latest installment of "Snatches and Beer" shot on location at this year's Perform Better Summit in Long Beach, CA. Okay, mostly beer this time but a great overall view at what goes down at these events = )

Great times folks....if you didn't get to it make sure to get there next year! Best fitness and conditioning summit on the planet, hands down!

Frankie's Lab, Valencia, CA

2009-08-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

There's a special little place located in our Local Health club here in beautiful Valencia, CA. Tucked away in the back corner of this pristine club full of cardio and weight machines is a spot we like to call "Frankie's Lab". The mad professor who runs this little slice of pain and anguish is Frank Addelia. Frank is a dear friend of mine and is a HUGE REASON why my tool box is SO FULL of great ideas and exercises. From Bodyweight to TRX to Ropes to kettlebells, Frankie comes up with some stuff that is right out of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein..... If you're on Facebook be sure to hit Frankie and I up as we have some amazing videos etc. of our exploits in the lab. If you're not on Facebook just click on Frankie's name in this post and you will get all the directions you need to join. You can also click on my Facebook link on the top left of my Blog page!

6am TRX circuit fun!

2009-08-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

Had a chance to givee our returners a break pull out our brand new freshmen football players at COC the past couple of days and do some teaching @ 6am. This morning we played with the TRX's, the kettlebells and some bodyweight exercises....take a peek!

One year since we lost our Boy....

2009-08-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

A year ago we lost a member of our family, Henry our English Bulldog. Henry led a full and awesome life and even though he passed away at 15 years old, we can't help but think that he still left us before his time. We miss you baby boy.....there will never be another Hen-Hen. This is for you son....

TRX Madness!

2009-08-04T19:35:00.001-07:00

Had a chance to meet the TRX crew including Jon Binder this weekend in Long Beach at the Perform Better Summit.....Watch for some vids and blog posts from me on the TRX site very soon. We have been using these bad boys like crazy with our teams and you will be amazed at seeing a TON of football players training and getting better on the TRX in our early morning workouts this summer. Had a great time incorporating them into my hands on with the help of my good friend (from 'Frankie's Lab' fame), Frank Addelia taking the inspirational crew of participants through some of our favorite explosive exercises on the TRX, if this tool isn't presently in your toolbox go get one NOW!

It's almost here! The Perform Better Summit, Long Beach

2009-07-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

If you are a trainer anywhere in Southern California and don't manage to make it to Long Beach this weekend you are MISSING THE BOAT to say the least! Perform Better has once again put on the most incredible contiuning education even the industry has ever seen. 3 days of some of the most amazing professionals in this field and to top it off, you also happen to be in one of the beautiful spots on So.Cal. Get on it folks......if you make it, be sure to say hello!

Some of the speakers this weekend....

Gray Cook, Mike Boyle, Alwyn Cosgrove, Martin Rooney, Brian Grasso, JC Santana, Robb Rogers, Mark Verstagen, Todd Wright, Todd Durkin, Don Chu, Eric Cressey AND MORE!!

COC Women's Volleyball...a reflection

2009-06-17T05:25:00.000-07:00

Just messing with my new computer and its movie maker....a little inspiration courtesy of some of my ex-female volleyball athletes. Enjoy!

Up for some Dosercise??

2009-06-15T15:51:00.001-07:00

Local sports editor for the Santa Clarita Valley Signal Newspaper Cary Osbourne wanted to get a taste of what's often (affectionately) coined 'Dosercise'....here is his story of that faithful day at COC....

By Cary OsborneSignal Sports Editorcosborne@the-signal.com661-259-1234-529Posted: June 12, 2009 8:34 p.m. document.write(writeModDate("June 13, 2009 4:55 a.m."));
POSTED June 13, 2009 4:55 a.m.

We entered an upstairs dance studio at the College of the Canyons gymnasium with AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” rattling the walls. “Was it a message?” I asked, as in, “Get ready for hell?” Robert dos Remedios just smirked as we carried in kettle bells. Over the years, I’ve heard countless times about how dos Remedios or “dos,” the head strength and conditioning coach at College of the Canyons, has gotten COC’s athletes into superior shape through punishing exercise. Greg Herrick, whose women’s basketball team runs a 40-minute stampede and consistently leads the state in scoring, has told me it’s dos who whips his players into shape. Garett Tujague, COC’s head football coach, says his team can play five quarters every game if it has to. Because of dos. I needed to see it first-hand. Tujague told me he had been training with dos, so I asked him if I could watch. Then I asked if I could join him. On June 3, I joined dos, Tujague and assistant strength and conditioning coach Daniel Corbet for a workout. It lasted 30 minutes. After the bells rang and the workout was over, my head was light. Oatmeal was in danger of flowing in a northerly direction. Sweat poured from my head. And I had the worst case of cottonmouth I can remember. The cause of all this was the challenging workout dos put us through. Just three days prior, I ran six miles. For the past four months, I have regularly run about 10 miles a week. I thought I would handle dos’ punishment well. But his philosophy of intense training, giving the maximum on every rep, was taxing on my body. Kettle bells, bear crawls, pushups, pushups with suspended rings, crunches, chopping with a weighted ball, mountain climbers with a band wrapped around the waist, squats. It was constant. dos told me that his kind of workouts are not popular. Not popular with athletes or in the fitness industry. “They’re not popular because of how you feel,” he said. dos said this circuit training uses the overload principle — overload the body to get maximum results. After we bear-crawled to pushups, we duck-walked with a light kettle bell, then a medium kettle bell, then a heavy kettle bell. After that exercise, I walked outside for some air, thinking I might puke, only to be told we had one more circuit left. It was four different exercises done in four minutes with maximum effort. Mountain climbers with a band, plank run, squats and pushups. At each station, I could see the remnants of sweat that dripped from Tujague’s, dos Remedios’, Corbet’s and my head. dos explained that this type of strenuous anaerobic exercise was better than aerobic exercise because it helped the body burn more calories in the long run. He mentioned excess post-exercise consumption, or EPOC for short. EPOC is an increased rate of oxygen intake after exercise and, because of it, the metabolic rate increases for a longer period of time. So as hellish as this exercise was, it was certainly good for me. And in the end, that’s what dos’ job is — to get results. Maybe that’s why Herrick and Tujague, whose teams are at the top of their conferences year in and year out, give him a lot of credit.

Cougar Strength and Coach Dos.....

2009-06-15T15:48:00.001-07:00

By Cary Osborne Signal Sports Editorcosborne@the-signal.com661-259-1234-529
document.write(writeModDate("June 12, 2009 8:25 p.m."));
POSTED June 12, 2009 8:25 p.m.

The sign on the office door reads: “Cougar Strength, Championships Start Here.” Inside the office, Robert dos Remedios talks about transformations.The sort of transformations that have helped win championships.dos Remedios, College of the Canyons’ strength and conditioning coach since 1998, has helped athletes become, as head football coach Garett Tujague puts it, “beasts.” “What I say is have somebody you trust take a picture of you in your skivvies, then when you’re done take another picture,” Tujague says of the strength and physique changes of his athletes.dos Remedios, 42, helps train a majority of the athletes at College of the Canyons.It’s football where the most publicized changes are made.Two of his star pupils are NFL players.dos Remedios said he remembers when NFL running back J.J. Arrington and defensive lineman Isaac Sopoaga arrived at College of the Canyons as vastly different athletes than when they left.“J.J. couldn’t have been more than 175 (pounds),” dos Remedios says. “Isaac was 225, 230 when he got here.”By the time Arrington left COC for Cal, he was up to at least 200 pounds and Sopoaga was nearly 300 when he arrived at Hawaii.Tujague puts it in better terms.He says Arrington’s lateral movement improved so much that he could “shake you in a phone booth.” Sopoaga got so strong he could lift himself from the ground into a standing position.The results come from a no-nonsense approach that constantly challenges the human body.dos Remedios says his program is not popular because of the way athletes feel after the workout.He pushes them to exhaustion, challenging them to overload their bodies.His athletes use sleds, rings and bands. They run in a sandpit, wheelbarrow each other up stairs and chop with a weighted ball.But dos Remedios is well-known across the country.He writes for Men’s Health magazine. He wrote the book “Men’s Health Power Training.” He is also called upon to speak to other trainers and coaches.Today, he is in Chicago to do that.In April, he spoke at the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association conference in April.“I know it was the first time they hear a JC coach talk,” he says.In 2006, he was awarded the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year.dos Remedios says there are plenty of examples of guys who have arrived at COC spindly and awkward and gone through his program and become big and mighty.The most success, he says, comes from the guys who spend three years in his program.An example he pointed to is David Padilla.Padilla, a center who started one varsity year at Valencia (2007), grayshirted in 2008 at COC then was a backup in 2009.Tujague says if the season were to begin today, Padilla would be the team’s starter.When he arrived at COC, though, he weighed 230 pounds.Padilla says he was in good shape, but never envisioned he would be where he is today — a 270-pound muscular football player.“Nervous, I’d have to say,” Padilla says of how he felt when he first arrived at COC. “There were a lot of big guys, a lot bigger than me. I knew I had to work to get to their level.”dos Remedios says that there are some grayshirts who take advantage of that time by making the most in the weight room, as they are ineligible to play in games.Padilla did just that.Recently, Padilla broke the school’s all-time power clean record, lifting 333 pounds three times in succession.Padilla credits dos Remedios.“He definitely puts us through hell,” Padilla says. “We are pushed to the limit everyday and it’s all about your personal effort you put in.”What is hell?The training is usually four times a week.Lifting is done for 45 to 50 minutes.Then another 35 to 40 minutes is spent doing exercises outside of a weight room.Those could be running in a sand pit, sled pulls, tire flipping or running the bleachers.Sounds simple?It’s not.The intensity and the types of exercises are unlike any the athletes saw prior to their arrival at COC.“We outwork everybody,” dos Remedios says.dos Remedios gives an example of the intensity of the workouts.He hands out index cards that asks the athlete to do four sets of eight reps on an exercise.On that first set, he expects them to do their max.Some kids will hand in cards where they increase weight from set to set.dos Remedios knows that the ones who decreased their weight from set to set were giving their everything from the beginning.The strength and conditioning coach says there is the hope that a thought crosses every athlete’s head when they’re training with him.The thought is that they want to quit or that they hate the exercise because of its intensity.Padilla says there are those that quit. Some on “dos Day.”“dos Day” falls on the first day of football practice with pads.After the practice, the football players go through conditioning drills — timed 100-yard dashes and bleacher runs, to name a few exercises.It’s a breath-taking, heart-racing, vomit-inducing hell ride.“In the end, you see people quitting,” Padilla says.That’s how the football team sifts out the dedicated from the non-dedicated.The women’s basketball team, head coach Greg Herrick says, made a transformation that’s not measured by pounds but by points.Herrick’s teams have led the state in scoring eight of the last 13 seasons.He said, though, that the old knock on the Cougars was that they couldn’t play defense.After dos Remedios arrived at COC in 1998, Herrick said that changed.“Ever since we had him, we’ve been physically able to guard people,” Herrick says. “Our leg strength has been such that we can guard people man to man.“He has transformed us from a one-dimensional team to do more things than just score.”It has also prepared his team to get faster on the fast break.Herrick says dos Remedios prepares his girls through torturous exercises in the school’s sand pit.And the strength and conditioning coach has been hard on the girls at times.Herrick says dos Remedios has even kicked girls out of the weight room for not giving enough effort.There’s a warning sign next to the football office at College of the Canyons.It reads, “June 15, 6 a.m., no excuses, no explanations.”That’s the first day of summer practice for the COC football team.It’s the first day dos Remedios gets to work with them as well.Tujague is quick to correct somebody who calls what dos Remedios dishes out as punishment.“We don’t call it punishing,” the coach says. “We call it getting better. We’re going to get better June 15th"

Reflections from the Perform Better Summit in Chicago...

2009-06-15T15:23:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm back from another great trip to Chicago and presenting (and attending!) the Perform Better 3-day Summit. Once again Perform Better has confirmed that they ARE unmatched as far as continuing education in this field. The lineup, as always was STACKED full of amazing lectures and hands-on sessions. I truly enjoyed hanging out with, learning from, and picking the brains of all my great colleagues. Folks like Brian Grasso, Robb Rogers, Mike Boyle, Gray Cook, JC Santana, Alwyn Cosgrove, Mike Robertson, Sue Falsone, Diane Vives, Bill Hartman, Todd Durkin, and Lee taft are just SOME of the folks I learned from this weekend....man, the list just went on and on. We are talking the BEST IN THE BUSINESS folks! As I always say, if you are a trainer, PT, strength coach etc. and you live ANYWHERE near ANY of the PB Summits and aren't in attendance, I TRULY have to question your dedication to your field, your continuing education process, and most importantly your clients and/or athletes. I came away with DOZENS of new ideas (along with some sore muscles....) this weekend. I can't wait for The Long Beach Summit in about a month...for me it's another chance to GET BETTER!!

Wednesday Morning Madness....

2009-06-07T06:56:00.001-07:00

I have had the great fortune to meet a great guy named Frank Addelia. Frank is a trainer at our local Spectrum club who specializes in TRX, kettlebells, clubbells, ropes etc. Basically the stuff that REALLY gets you in shape....FAST. After I teach my interval spin class on Wednesday am's me and my assisant Danny Corbet spend about a half hour doing what we call the Frank(enstein) workouts with Frankie. Awesome stuff.....just brutal! Check it out!

Cougar Strength

2009-05-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

My Winter/Spring intern Nick Wagner put together a great compilation video of what we do in our programs day in and day out. Thanks to Nick for all his hard work as he heads back to North Dakota to wrap up his undergraduate degree!

"Power Cleans" vs. "Cleans"

2009-05-05T13:49:00.001-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me when internet gurus insist on picking holes in my training videos. The funniest one is a blog that was forwarded to me drilling me about the form that "I allow" in my weight room. It was a power clean sequence of one of my kids pulling 333 x 3 reps. yes I say 'PULLING' as you can see if you take it frame by frame to make sure the he gets complete quadruple extension each rep (and that he does...this is the entire reason we incorporate Oly lifts BTW). The knock is that his feet are too wide etc. Oh yeah, I teach all of my kids to catch with their feet wide all the time (please note the sarcasm). I have females and lots of my male athletes who I can vid that would display clinic form on their lifts...I just happen to think that 333 x 3 is pretty special. here is the vid in question....

Here is another one of my kids pulling 286 x 3.....haven't heard much internet hating on this one although it was one of the very first YouTube vids I posted....

Lastly, for the 'gurus' who have somehow become experts at the Oly lifts behind their computer desks I need to clarify something. At the blog where I got hammered on allowing such awful form they posted an example (see below) of what they considered a 'good power clean'. One problem, it's not a Power clean. This is why I have a prob with internet wizard trainers, when you don't know the difference between a 'power clean' and a 'clean' or 'squat clean' you probably shouldn't be hosting a 'fitness blog' (what exactly does that even mean? 'Fitness Blog'...sigh).

My vids are up on YouTube for you to peruse.....unedited, real-world training. Enjoy.

Newcastle and more.....

2009-04-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

So I'm off to Newcastle tomorrow for my 2-day Functional Training seminar hosted by Nick Grantham and Smart Fitness. Going to be an awesome few days in the U.K. and I'm looking forward to talking shop with some great coaches and trainers over there. Click here for all the seminar information.

On another note, I just uploaded a boatload of new short video clips on my YouTube page. Here are a couple of examples....

Lift Strong...this fight is far from over!

2009-04-12T11:59:00.001-07:00

Well, I was out of the country and I managed to miss the boat on the re-launch of the original liftstrong CD-ROM. Anyway, I think my great friend Alwyn Cosgrove blogged best so here is his posting on this VERY IMPORTANT project!

Lift Strong

It has now been over 1000 days since my bone marrow and stem cell transplant - a procedure that saved my life. For new readers - I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in 2004 - underwent chemotherapy and went into remission. Unfortunately I relapsed in early 2006 and had to have a transplant in June of that year.The day you have the transplant is considered day ZERO. The day you are literally reborn from the stem cells and up.Lift Strong is a product that I masterminded with the help of Mike Roussell, to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. With the the help of some great friends in this profession we turned our little project into an 800 page manual (that we produce on CD to keep costs down). Everyone volunteered their time and their information. No one makes any money from this product - it's all going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.The government is currently giving billions of dollars in economic aid to banks that basically messed up - yet cancer research is funded primarily by individual donations - not government help.When you actually stop and think how messed up it is that we have to put up a website to get public donations to help fight cancer treat while the government is bailing out financial institutions left and right it just boggles the mind. I mean, shouldn’t that be one of the first things we as a society are taking care of?Anyway - rant over.I'm a cancer survivor. But the fight hasn't stopped.

All the proceeds from the sale of this product go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.I urge you to support this cause and purchase this CD. Your purchase WILL make a difference.You are reading this today because I am alive after facing cancer twice.If I've ever made you stop and think, laugh, made you mad or taught you something - it's because I'm alive - it's because I beat cancer due to medical research due to donations from people like you funding projects like this.Again - I beat cancer an am alive today because of advanced medical treatment.I am alive today because of advanced medical treatment.Medical treatment discovered by research.Research funded by money.Money sourced from donations.Donations from people just like you.Please help.
www.liftstrong.com

Understanding the Olympic Lifts

2009-03-18T14:49:00.001-07:00

So I was recently fowarded an email from one of my best friends who happens to be a head S&C coach at a small college here in Southern California. The email was from someone who worked at one of the major movement analysis software companies. My friend sent him a link to view one of his athletes performing some Olympic Lifts. Let me start by saying that this female athlete is one of the best technical lifters and one of the STRONGEST female athlete I have ever seen in my life. This 'expert' watched the video of this girl performing power cleans and chose to critique her technique by starting his analysis with 'Well, it appears that this athlete is supposed to be performing a power clean...".

Come on now folks, there is a right and a wrong way to offer constructive criticism right? Anyway, he goes on to tell my friend that all 'good' weightlifters never shift their feet during their lifts. Wait a second....so you're telling me that all these years of me teaching a 'jumping base' (narrow, inside hip width) to start and a 'catching base' (slightly outside hip width) to finish a power clean or snatch have been a great waste of time?? I mean it was only natural for my athletes to shift their feet outward to catch the load in either lift right?! Well, I call bullshit. Take a peek at this clip that I found on YouTube. This is a random compilation of weightlifting clips from the highest level to Junior level lifters ALL of whom shift their feet outward to catch their loads. It never ceases to amaze me how non-practitioners always have these great tidbits to tell those of us who actually work with athletes all day. Sigh.

Newcastle Seminar Earlybird Registration ENDS TODAY!

2009-03-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day for the discounted 'earlybird' registration for our big Functional Training Summit in Newcastle on April 24-25!

Be sure to register online today to get the discounted pricing! This event is filling up FAST so get on it!

Download your Seminar Brochure here.

2009 Speaking Engagements -

2009-02-23T22:12:00.000-08:00

Thought I would list some of my confirmed speaking engagements for the spring and summer of 2009.

April 24-25 - Functional Training Seminar, Newcastle, England
May 7-8 - CSCCa National Conference, Nashville, TN
May 16 - 10th annual COC Cougar Strength Clinic, Valencia, CA
June 11-14 - Perform Better Summit, Chicago, IL
July 9-11 - NSCA National Conference, Las Vegas, NV
July 30 - August - 2 - Perform Better Summit, Long Beach, CA

Save 20% on Coach Dos' two Brand New DVD's!

2009-02-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

Both the CHAOS sport-speed and the Sleds & Ladders DVD are now ready for distribution. I've been talking about them for about a week now and have even posted a couple of clips from each (see earlier posts). I have decided to run a special when you buy both DVD's now.....save over 20% off the DVD prices! See descriptions and clips below.

SPECIAL sale HERE !!!

CHAOS Sport Speed Training. This is the highly acclaimed lecture that Coach Dos has given all over the country and has influenced conditioning programs worldwide. Formatted in the actual lecture format with slides and video clip examples, this DVD covers the rationale behind CHAOS training, the research affirming these effective speed training methods, and sound progressions for implementing these exercises into your existing programs. There is also an additional 17 action packed minutes of CHAOS training clips and instruction at the end of the lecture. This is the one sport-speed DVD you will refer to again and again!

Sleds & Ladders. In this DVD you will get a huge array of drill ideas including dynamic warm-up drills. Sled training using the Sled Dawg (including upper body rope pulling sled exercises). Some of the best ladder drills around including over-speed and under-speed training using mini-bands. You will be using drills from this DVD the moment you finish watching!

CHAOS Sport-Speed DVD is DONE!

2009-02-05T13:16:00.001-08:00

Okay, okay...I know! I've been talking about doing the CHAOS sport-speed lecture + drills DVD for about 5 years now. Well...IT'S DONE!!! Yippeeeeeee!! Take a peek at this short teaser clip and keep your eye out for the GREAT special sale I will be having within the next week for both this DVD and the Sleds & Ladders DVD!

Newcastle U.K. Functional Training Seminar April 25-26

2009-02-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

Wanted to update some information on the functional training seminar coming up in April in Newcastle. Host and presenter Nick Grantham has added an online registration page to his website for this great event! I hope that everyone in the area will make the trek up to beautiful Newcastle to hang out with us for that weekend!

Sleds and Ladders DVD just about ready for distribution!

2009-02-02T13:43:00.001-08:00

Keep your eye out for my new Sleds and Ladders DVD....should be ready to roll along with my CHAOS DVD this month! Look for a GREAT special offer when you purchase BOTH DVD's!!

Functional Training Summit, April 25-26, Newcastle England!

2009-01-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

It's OFFICIAL! I will be heading up to beautiful Newcastle England for my first seminar in the U.K.! My friend Nick Grantham has organized an amazing weekend at a world class facility. Check out the Seminar information for details on topics etc.

We will have 2 FULL DAYS of cutting edge training information at the amazing Kingston Park Stadium, home of the Newcastle Falcons rugby team. I hope everyone in the area will come and join us for this great weekend!

Heart Attack Grill! Yummy!

2009-01-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we can all stop wondering why we are all SOOOOOO damn fat in America...short commercial first then the carnage begins!

Watch CBS Videos Online

The internet and its self-proclaimed experts...

2008-12-26T13:04:00.001-08:00

One of the most valuable things I have ever heard came from Mike Boyle a few years ago. Mike talked of using a 'filter' when dealing with all the $hit out in the world of the world-wide-web. I talk about the importance of this filter every single time I talk to any audience regardless of my topic as I really believe that people need to take a VERY subjective look at the info floating around out there.

Case in point: I was recently sent some links to a blog where I was repeatedly bashed about everything from my inability to teach athletes proper technique to my improper use of training tools, to my crappy YouTube vids etc. This person (who has seemingly devoted a decent portion of his life on stalking err, I mean following me) went so far as to download my vids and then post still frames (albeit pretty strategically)to show how bad the technique was on some of my athletes. Now anyone who has ever went frame by frame on a vid clip understands that you can pick a random frame that might look downright funky in an otherwise decent clip of a lift. The sinister part is to pick and choose your frames to make your 'point' (whatever that is...). In fact, in one particular posting, this individual had 3 seemingly progressive pics from a clip of a hang clean...the problem is that the 'damning' pic was completely out of sequence, it was not even in the same repetition! Why not just post the entire vid? Anyway, let's go back to my original point...the FILTER. It's easy to play devil's advocate, poke at other real practitioners etc. when this is all you do. People like this individual, who's name I won't mention since I don't want his blog readership to get into the double digits just yet, are often folks who don't train anyone at all. They simply regurgitate information from their Exercise Physiology textbooks or their copy of Supertraining. No real life experience, no clients who can actually attest their ability or effectiveness... basically no place ever talking about folks like myself and many others who make their living in this field. Putting it bluntly....they are fakes disguising themselves as 'experts'. My question is expert of WHAT? Of video editing? Of citing research? Of regurgitating someone Else's information? Get in a weightroom and TRAIN somebody already. How do you completely $hit on something I do with the Olympic lifts then follow up with "well, I'm not an expert on the Oly lifts but...". WTF?

I had previously posted about this phenomena....the Internet guru/blogger/forum poster etc. etc. I was sort of hoping that times had changed a bit but considering that cockroaches have survived more than 300 million years.....sigh.

The "Advanced" Spiderman Push-up....

2008-10-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

So I was talking to another trainer the other day and the 'spiderman push-up' came up. When this trainer demonstrated the exercise for me, it looked nothing like the one that I use...nothing like the ones my demented Scottish friend Alwyn Cosgrove had taught me a while back. "DAMN!" I said to myself, "THIS is why I have always freaked out when people tell me that spiderman push-ups are easy!". For the record, AC's version KICKS ASS! :-)

Here's what most folks think a spiderman push-up looks like....Yawn.

Here's what the real deal looks like....GIDDY YUP and give it a go folks!

Kevin Larrabee's FITCAST

2008-10-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, you've probably heard of the FITCAST online but you might not have seen what's going on over there these days. My friend Kevin Larrabee has got things really bumping on his fitness and nutrition podcast. He has great guests and topics and even has a new voicemail question feature! I've done a couple of FITCAST interviews and had a great time on Kevin's show. Be sure to check out the great new special offer going on over there ASAP!

Are you SERIOUSLY not voting in this election?!

2008-10-08T17:36:00.001-07:00

Get off you asses people......time for some change

I'm at a loss for words.....

2008-10-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, DCF.....Dwarf Cage Fighting. I think the crate I used to keep my dog in was about this size....

The Sled Dawg -

2008-09-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

Been having just an amazing time with the 4 sled Dawgs that I got from Perform Better a while back.....check out some of the stuff our athletes have gotten into! One of the best investments I have made in years....check out Perform Better for ALL of your conditioning needs.

Our softball girls doing some rope pulling (on wet grass to boot!)

Bball players doing some lateral carioca dragging....

Good old fashioned sled pushing...

Some backward drags....

Election time...Let's have some FUN!

2008-09-10T20:36:00.001-07:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Rope Training....

2008-09-04T20:09:00.001-07:00

Got some great ideas using our manila rope with our athletes. Here is a clip from Anthony Diluglio's "Punch Gym" workouts using VERY simple rope battling drills. If you've never done anything with ropes this will look pretty easy to you......take my word, it's NOT. BTW, Anthony is a kick ass guy and his workouts are NO JOKE...I guarantee a heart rate check on these kids would be enlightening to say the least!

I'm Baaaaaaaaack!

2008-08-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...I'm the world's WORST blogger. Hey, what can I say? I'm a busy guy! Anyway, I saw this on the internet today and figured this would be the perfect 1st post after a LONG hiatus! BTW, can we all stop using the phrase "People are smarter than that!". Guess what folks, THEY'RE NOT.

Couple of observations:

How in the hell does it take so long for this guy to get stabilized on top of the ball?
Is this guy actually SPOTTING this brainiac?
I would throw this guy out of my gym if he threw DB's like this genious
Even the observing chick decides that this is too ridiculous to watch anymore....

Enjoy.....

No Shortcuts...if you want to be good, you gotta practice!

2008-06-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

Todd Wright from The University of Texas showed this clip during his lecture at the Perform Better Summit in Long Beach this past weekend. Sometimes people are too quick to lable someone as a 'natural' talent. This type of stuff fires me up and makes me want to be a better coach!

Warpspeed Fat loss....too good to be true?!

2008-06-10T06:19:00.000-07:00

So a while back I promoted the Warpspeed Fat loss program created by my good friends Alwyn Cosgrove and Mike Roussell (author of the nutrition chapter in my book). On my web forum folks have been discussion their experiences on this extreme fat loss program. I think the most important thing to remember is that this program is a brutal fat loss program for FAST FAT LOSS. I have read comments like "Can I continue on this program forever?" or "Does this diet work with the Men's Health Power Training program?" etc. The answer is no.....this is a get in - get out kick ass program that will result in you losing fat fast. Is it too good to be true? Uh no. Why do I say this? Well, it will kick your ass...you will put in the work to say the least BUT you will lose that fat you always wanted to lose. Sales of Warpspeed Fat loss have been booming and the feedback has been nothing short of amazing.

Interval tracks on your IPod!

2008-06-05T19:06:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I met a great guy named BJ Gaddour at the Chicago Perform Better 3-day summit. BJ has a company called workoutmuse....they create custom MP3 tracks to drive your entire workout! Amazing stuff guys....BJ and Topher Farrell create some incredible tracks with hard driving music and awesome recovery beats. PLEASE check them out....I have had them create custom tabata tracks along with numerous other cardio programs that are 100% dummy proof. Just put on the headphones, press play, and get your butt KICKED. Look for an incredible summer bonus package with workoutmuse and myself putting together various tracks, bonus e-book bonuses, and much more!

BJ and Topher are in the process of creating custom tracks for my CHAOS sport-speed training. These tracks will allow you to, for the first time, train CHAOS by yourself with verbal criven cues and motivating music beats!

Check out workoutmuse TODAY...you will be amazed at the quality of the tracks....I use them every single day!

Vegas workout.....

2008-05-27T16:37:00.001-07:00

I sorta dig Las Vegas.....okay, okay, I LOVE Vegas! We've all heard that saying "What happens in Vegas STAYS in Vegas" right? Well, not this time my friends....I wanted to tell everyone about a very cool, effective, and butt kicking workout that my good friend Matt Durant and I cranked out last weekend in a semi-hungover haze. First off our training goals in Vegas are quite simple and normally follow this 5-step process....

#1 Get your butt up in the morning and to the weight room
#2 Burn as many calories as you can in a short period of time
#3 Feel good about completing this session
#4 Party-hearty
#5 Repeat.....

Well, the partying part normally takes care of itself.....because of this, we NEED to be diligent about getting some training in. Anyway, my boy Matty came up with this little number...try this on for size....

-Superset #1 - Db 1-arm hang snatch 3 x 5, Free Motion cable push-pull rotation 3 x 10

-Superset #2 - DB Flat bench, Free Motion full-body cable wood chop

-Tri-set #1 - Pull-ups, 15lb. med ball burpees with jump, 1 min. eliptical sprint on highest incline Using a 10-8-6-4-2 set progression but keeping the eliptical sprint at 1 min.

-Countdown #1 - Lunge variation + push-up variations using a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 progression, alternating exercises

Short, sweet, butt-kicking...what more could you ask for in Sin City?! After that we hit the spa for some relaxation then off to business as usual in the best little city on the planet!

Things that make you go "Hmmmmm"....

2008-05-22T06:49:00.001-07:00

The Amazon.com reviews of my book have been amazing, the feedback is awesome. I often read reviews where people say that some info was missing etc. yet if you read the entire book, this info can usually be found in there somewhere. This is the first time I have ever seen someone review my book WITHOUT ever reading it. I liken this to people who say they hate the Atkins diet or the Ornish diet but have never actually read the books.

The funny thing is that if you read the review, it's actually pretty positive. The fact that your home gym set-up makes it difficult/impossible to perform my workouts warrants a 2-star rating? Sigh.......

My be better suited for some..., April 20, 2008
By ________________
I try not to review items that I do not actually own, however I have done a lot of research on the book (including forum chats with the author and others on the program) and it became clear that this workout, while very effective, is very hard to do in a home gym. I was very close to buying the book. People who use this program seem to rave about it, but at the same time the program itself prevents more people from doing the program. I work out in a home gym, but I do not have one of the key pieces of equipment that is pretty essential to the program - a power rack. This is a simple, but very large piece of equipment that I do not have room for in my home gym. After spending close to $2,000 on home gym equipement (and getting very good results with that equipment) I am not willing to a) buy a gym membership, or b) replace the equipment that I am already getting good results with. This is a bit of a shame because I really like the principals and ideas that the book is founded on, as well as the ability to design your own program. Perhaps one day when I move into a bigger house and have room for a power rack and stacks of free weights, I will give this workout a shot. That being said right now this workout is not for me, but for those who have access to all of the equipment (and space... you also need higher ceilings! My basement ceiling is a bit low for some of the exercises too) you will have better luck with the program.

The awesome thing is that there are a bunch of GREAT reader follow-up comments to this review. Thanks again to all of my supporters!

Reminder folks.....less than 4 days left in my 2-DVD bonus special with the FREE coachdos.com knit beanie!

Warp Speed Fat loss is HERE!

2008-05-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that I DO NOT pump a bunch of products from others in the industry. Well, here I go.....my good Friend and fat Loss WIZARD Alwyn Cosgrove has teamed-up with nutrition expert Mike Roussell (cough-cough, author of the nutrition chapter of the best-selling Men's Health Power Training) to create a 28-day Extreme diet and weight loss system called "Warp Speed fat Loss". If you buy just ONE fat-loss program, BUY THIS ONE! This is the real-deal folks.....Bill Hartman did this program and I barely recognized him when i just saw him in Chicago. Bill lost 20+ lbs. of fat and is looking Jack-Dizzle these days. Mike Robertson also did the program and lost 10lbs. in 2 weeks....trust me folks, this baby works!

CHECK IT OUT TODAY!

Combination lifts -

2008-05-05T20:09:00.001-07:00

This is one of our favorite combo lifts in our Cougar Strength Programs. This is one of our volleyball athletes performing a power shrug + hang clean + front step-up....a brutally tough combo but one that can be done with a decent amount of weight. Heather is throwing around approx. 120lbs. here.

Remember that the Combination lifting DVD that Alwyn Cosgrove and myself made is still available with the free 12-week bonus cardio-strength program download! Also, don't forget that the nearly 3 hours of footage from the 2 DVD Olympic lifting hands-on seminar / Program design set is now available as well!

Olympic Lifting Hands-on Workshop DVD set!

2008-04-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it's here! Almost 2 hours of hands-on footage of me teaching Olympic lifting progression, techniques, cues, variations etc. This is an invaluable tool for anyone looking to learn or even find a more efficient way to teach the Olympic lift variations to clients, athletes etc.

In addition, this DVD set includes a bonus one hour lecture covering my training philosophy, my views on the fitness industry today, and how the best-selling Men's Health Power Training book came about!

You can get this DVD set here!

A Proud day for College of the Canyons!

2008-04-27T19:14:00.001-07:00

Two more former COC Cougar football players got drafted by NFL teams today !

Cornerback Justin Tryon from Arizona State University and Linebacker Joey LaRocque from Oregon State were drafted on the 2nd day of the NFL draft. Tryon was taken in the 4th round with the 125th pick to the Washington Redskins while LaRocque was taken in the 7th round with the the 243rd pick by the Chicago Bears. Both of these athletes were unbelievable workers for me and my conditioning programs during their 2 years with us @ COC, Congrats guys!

These two now join other COC Cougar football alums Domata Peko (Bengals), Jon Fanene (Bengals), Issac Sopoaga (49ers) , and JJ Arrington (Cardinals) in the NFL ranks!

9th Annual Cougar Strength & Conditioning Clinic !

2008-04-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendars folks! Alwyn Cosgrove and myself will be spending the day on Sat. May 17, 2008 on our campus holding a hands-on conditioning clinic. The day is PACKED with tons of great information! Hope those of you within driving distance will make it!

Clinic Brochure

Men's Health Power Training Website!

2008-03-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, the folks at Men's Health have done it again. They have created an INCREDIBLE website for my book. EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about Power Training...all the chapters, exercises, pictures, descriptions, workouts, and videos can now be found online at the Power Training Webpage.

Be sure to check it out ASAP! Heck, you don't even need to buy the book anymore now that this site is up and running!! :-( On second thought, some of you still need to get your signed copy while they last (with a BOATLOAD of free bonuses)! This book has proven to be one of the best selling Men's Health books ever!

Men's Health Power Training - What a WILD RIDE!

2008-03-01T07:22:00.001-08:00

I tell ya, it's been an amazing experience with this book. The feedback, the success stories, the great reviews etc. etc. etc. Seems like rather than dying down, this thing continues to grow in popularity. Take a look at some of the reviews from Amazon...they are awesome. This is one of my favorites!

Coach Dos is the Real Deal, January 19, 2008
By
biggamehunter78 - See all my reviews
Out with the old, in with what works! Coach Dos is the man. I wish I would have had this information back in the day when I was young enough to make a difference playing sports. Instead of trying to balloon up and look like a meathead, we could have actually made muscle and power where it counted. My definition of who looks tough and who is tough has changed dramatically. This won't give you fake pumped up type muscles, it will give you real powerful muscles! Anyway, I have been doing this exact program for 3 weeks and I can already tell a world of difference in my life and recreational sports performance. This program is unbelievable. It's hard work and not for the faint of heart, but if you commit, it will change your life. Very highly recommended. Way to go Coach!

Anyway, I still have the Power Training 'special offer' available, in fact, I have sweetened the pot so take a look ASAP! (MORE FREE STUFF!). In fact, I have added free bonuses to all of my DVD orders, and several of my other products!

Lastly, I have a special thread on my discussion forum where members have been posting their training progress etc. Pretty amazing results folks! Come on by!

Let's put things in perspective.....

2008-02-25T09:48:00.000-08:00

Many of you have probably seen this lecture by Dr. Randy Pausch a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who is dying of pancreatic cancer. This isn't the actual lecture, rather, it is a portion of it that was done on the Oprah Winfrey show.

I just felt like it really hit home. I believe that we really need to enjoy and APPRECIATE our lives, our families, and our friends and live life to the fullest.....life is WAY too short. Make it a GREAT day today folks!

Here is a complete transcript of his lecture -
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/pauschlastlecturetranscript.pdf

Power Training Workout Card Generator!

2008-02-09T12:13:00.001-08:00

Well, folks have been asking and we've delivered! Power Training enthusiast Greg LaBelle has helped me develop the best workout card generator around. These cards are custom designed for all the Power Training workouts....in either 'Full Body' or 'Push-Pull' schemes....in all three12-week workouts (Total Fitness, Hypertrophy, or Strength). Each and every movement pattern has a built-in pull-down menu featuring all of the incredible Power Training exercises.

Check it out folks! You will never go back to your old workout card ways! You can purchase these generators at my website!

Swiss Ball Tricks

2008-01-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

Many of you folks have seen the youtube video of this guy jumping onto and landing (successfully) on a Swiss Ball. Well, here are his outtakes....this is why only nimrods do this stuff.

Something that's NOT stupid is the Metabolic Acceleration DVD that Alwyn Cosgrove and myself just launched this week. It's got some KILLER timed sets, density training, complexes, and Tabatas....check it out!!

A Look into NBC's "The Biggest Loser"

2008-01-21T13:07:00.002-08:00

I teach an online fitness class at my college and I get a lot of questions regarding TV weight loss shows. Most of the questions seem to come from perhaps the most popular weight loss show of all, NBC's "The Biggest Loser". The typical question goes something like this "Why do all of the contestants lose so much weight at first, then seem to taper off dramatically in their losses??"

I was reading my Friend Adam Campbell's blog the other day and I thought his post about the show was worthy of another look.....

The Biggest Loser's Weight Loss Secret
I'll try not to make it a habit to talk about NBC's THE BIGGEST LOSER, but since last night's show may have confused people, I thought I'd try to explain.

Here's the background: Contestants on this show are big people, with women weighing between 200 and 300 pounds, and men somewhere between 300 and 400. In fact, the heaviest contestant is a former college football player named TRENT whose starting weight was around 435 pounds.

Now, in the first week, contestants on the show lost a tremendous amount of weight--around 10 to 30 pounds each, depending on their starting weight. In general, the lighter they were, the less total weight they lost, while heavier people dropped more. Trent, for example, lost 29 pounds in the first week.

After watching this, I was pretty convinced they had contestants on low-carb diets because they were obviously experiencing a large amount of water loss. That is, Trent didn't lose 29 pounds of fat. He lost some fat, but he also lost a lot of water. Why? Because when carbohydrates are restricted, your carbohydrate stores--known as glycogen--are reduced. With each gram of glycogen, which is stored in your liver and muscles, you store about 3 to 4 grams of water. The result: As glycogen levels are reduced, so is water weight.

Keep in mind that the more muscle you have, the more glycogen you can store--so a 400-pound former college football player like Trent can store more glycogen than 210-pound woman who's never worked out. Thus, he's likely to lose a greater amount of water.

Also, a higher protein intake also has a bit of a diuretic effect. So that can lead to even greater water loss. What's more, the contestants were exercising vigorously, which also reduces glycogen.

Before I continue, I should point out that the show doesn't reveal what type of diets the contestants are actually eating. However, near the end of the program, they suggested that people eat a low-fat diet to lose weight, and that Subway offers great options for such an approach. This is nice product placement, but I'm not sure it gives us any insight into the diets of the contestants.

Would you get the same effect of stunning initial weight loss from a low-calorie, low-fat, high-carb diet? "Probably not, simply because protein intake would be lower and glycogen wouldn't be as depleted," says my TNT DIET coauthor, Jeff Volek, Ph.D., R.D. I wouldn't be suprised if they had the people on a low-carb, low-fat, high-protein diet which, in my opinion, is a pretty miserable way to eat, and not particularly healthy. (A low-carb diet, ideally, will be high in fat.) Remember, the producers of the show want amazing results, so I think we can pretty much assume they'll use dietary strategies to ensure this happens.

Still with me? Fast forward to Week 2, the episode that aired last night. This time, the weight loss of the contestants was much less astounding. It seemed to be an average of about 3 pounds, although one woman gained a pound,and another didn't lose any weight. When the contestants saw the results, they were shocked and disappointed. They all expected double-digit weight loss again. And even their trainers seemed dumbfounded, which is just odd. After all, the contestants certainly didn't lose 20 pounds of pure FAT in the first week. Nor did they simply stop losing fat the second week.

So why such a dramatic difference in results from Week 1 to Week 2. I'll let Jeff Volek explain, since he can do so far more eloquently than me:
Body weight on a daily basis can fluctuate plus or minus 3 to 4% on average. So if you take a 400-pound person, the difference between the low and high end (388 and 412 pounds) is 24 pounds.

So there's your 10 to 20 pound weight loss and, combined with the water loss, it's not inconceivable that this is happening.

It's likely that at the second weigh-in they aren't bloated, so they're at the bottom end of the 3 to 4% weight fluctuation, which makes it harder to see the big weight loss numbers.

If you watch the show, you should see much more realistic weight loss numbers from here on out. (Although they may be greater than the average person's since, right now, their only job is to lose weight, and they also may have more to lose than most.)

The lesson: Weight loss can fluctuate dramatically. However, fat loss tends to be linear. In other words, if you're sticking to a solid diet plan, the fat will be coming off at a steady rate of, say, 2 pounds a week, even if your scale shows you losing lots one week and nothing the next.
For example, if you start the TNT DIET and lose 10 or 12 pounds the first couple of weeks due to an initial reduction in glycogen, you may seem to stall on weeks 3 and 4. Don't be fooled: You probably didn't lose 12 pounds of fat the first two weeks, but you also didn't stop losing fat in weeks 3 and 4. It's just that the scale isn't necessarily providing an accurate gauge of your fat loss from week to week.

This happens all the time, and I refer to it as your "fat loss catching up to your initial weight loss." Case in point: In Jeff's studies at UConn, they may see an impressive weight loss at first, then it slows (even "stops") for a couple of weeks, and then it settles in at a couple of pounds a week. At the end of the 12-week study, when they measure study participants with DEXA--the most sophisticated body fat measurement instrument--they find that the weight loss is typically all fat. And in cases when study participants are lifting weights, fat loss is often GREATER than the weight loss because they're also building muscle. (Click HERE for an example.)
This stuff isn't magic. If your clothes are fitting better, you're losing fat--even if your scale isn't moving.

One family, One week's worth of food !

2008-01-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

I'm sure that many of you have seen this email circulating around these days. Don't know exactly how accurate the depictions are but if it's pretty close, it really serves to illustrate how different our world cultures can truly be! Enjoy!

Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira City Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11 Favorite foods: fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks
Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07
United States: The Revis family of North Carolina Food expenditure for one week: $341.98 Favorite foods: spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09 Favorite foods: pizza, crab, pasta, chicken

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27 Family recipe: Pig's knuckles with carrots, celery and parsnips

Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53 Family recipe: Okra and mutton

Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo Food expenditure for one week : $31.55 Family recipe : Potato soup with cabbage

Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03 Family recipe: Mushroom, cheese and pork

Kuwait: The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City Food expenditure for one week: 63.63 dinar or $221.45Family recipe: Chicken biryani with basmati rice

China: The Dong family of Beijing Food expenditure for one week: 1,233.76 Yuan or $155.06Favorite foods: fried shredded pork with sweet and sour sauce

United States: The Caven family of California Food expenditure for one week: $159.18Favorite foods: beef stew, berry yogurt sundae, clam chowder, ice cream

Mongolia: The Batsuuri family of Ulaanbaatar Food expenditure for one week: 41,985.85 togrogs or $40.02 Family recipe: Mutton dumplings

Great Britain: The Bainton family of Cllingbourne Ducis Food expenditure for one week: 155.54 British Pounds or $253.15 Favorite foods: avocado, mayonnaise sandwich, prawn cocktail, chocolate fudge cake with cream

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23 Favorite foods: soup with fresh sheep meat

MH Power Training Special offer is BACK!

2008-01-04T00:51:00.000-08:00

The books are back in stock and the new t-shirts have arrived....so what does this mean?! Well, it means that we are back in business for the special offer that we previously offered! Thanks SO MUCH to all the folks that took advantage of the first offering, and for those who waited patiently while amazon.com was out of stock etc. Be sure to visit my Special Offer page again @ http://www.coachdos.com/ to see what's included in this great deal. The book sales have been skyrocketing and the feedback has been amazing....thanks to all of you who have supported me and this project.

P.S. Alwyn Cosgrove and I are very close to the release of our Metabolic Training DVD so watch for details VERY SOON!

Iron weights - 1.... Powerlifter - 0

2007-12-25T07:41:00.000-08:00

Yup...looks like that was the final score alright.....

Weightlifter Knocks Himself Out Cold - Watch more free videos

Has the pendulum swung back the other way again?!

2007-12-20T05:52:00.001-08:00

Ugh.....are we back to the "stand on one foot - atop a dyna disc - doing 5 lb. bicep curls" workouts again?! I'm afraid we might be folks. The crazy things I used to see a few years ago are being seen more and more in my gym. There was a time when my gym looked like a training facility for Circue De Soleil wannabes and while it's no where near the old "bubble boy workouts" (my favorite term for some of the infamous Swiss ball 'exercises' I used to see), it seems to me that trainers are starting to reach into the old-school grab bag to keep their clients happy?? BTW, your clients should be happy with RESULTS not with the fact that they dig their workouts because they remind them of Gymboree play dates. It's disturbing that in 2007, a time when we know that unsupported, free weight, compound exercises should be the rule rather than the exception, we are seeing this phenomenon re-appear. Hey, if a guy wants to do 5lb. bicep curls sitting on top of a Swiss ball while his trainer is being paid $80 an hour to spot him (yes he's being SPOTTED in the above pic....), that's his prerogative. Peace.

Mad Hops!

2007-12-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

I think that a lot of volleyball vertical jumps are either blown out of proportion or carry somewhat of an Urban Legend appeal. Regardless, Cuba's 6'5 Leonel Marshall has some amazing hops. He has a reported 50in. approach jump...if this is true, the crazy thing is that a 6'5 man probably has a standing reach or 8'6 or so. Add in the 50 in. jump and it puts his touch at about 12'8". Giddy-yup! Enjoy the freak show.

Longer is better.....or so they think

2007-12-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

I have been teaching indoor spin cycling classes for about 10 years now. It's an enjoyable activity for me as I am able to get a super-intense workout completed in a relatively short period of time. For years, the classes at my club ranged from 45min. to 60 min.....we even had the occasional 2 to 3 hour marathon classes usually offered on the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas etc. (you know, the big guilt days). I recently started a 30min. "High Intensity Interval Spin" class....I mean we ALL know the effectiveness of anaerobic-style training on fat loss, fitness, even aerobic system benefits right? Uhh, apparently not all of us do... I mean I get one of the best workouts of my life during this 30 min. class, usually dropping more calories than I do in a HARD 45 min. spin class...crawling off my bike as I leave the room. When I look around at the rest of the class, however, I just don't see the effort that I would hope to see in such a short spin class (ahh, the dreaded comfort zone...). To top it off, my 60 min. class is completely full (55+ people) most days....my 30 min. interval class maybe gets a dozen members. People just don't see the value in coming to a class that's "only 30 minutes". It's to bad, we have come a long way in this field when it comes to conditioning concepts.....it just hasn't trickled down to Joe or Jane-Gym goer!

CATZ - Training made SIMPLE!

2007-12-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of doing a couple of CHAOS sport-speed DVD's with my good friend and colleague Jim Liston so I made my way down to Pasadena to visit Jim at his new facility. Jim is the brains and the brawn behind the ever-growing CATZ sport training facility franchises that are tearing across the USA. To say that I was impressed with Jim's brand new facility in Pasadena, CA would be a BIG understatement. The last time I was there it was a beat-down, old warehouse and now it is a thing of beauty (see the pics for yourself). The thing that sets Jim's facility (and all the CATZ facilities across the country) from other places is a very simple premise.....no gimmicks, no gadgets, no easy way to get to the top. You have to WORK to reach your goals, the higher the goals, the harder the work. I have known Jim for many, many years now and we have always talked about what it takes to get athletes ready to perform, to get people fit, to get kids healthy. The answer? Hard work. I tell you one thing, if you've ever met Jim you find out one thing very quickly, this is a guy who loves what he does and does what he does with a vengeance. His attitude and energy is contagious and it shows in every single person he come in contact with. Just being in his place, talking with him etc. and you want to get a workout in ASAP! This is why Jim is so successful at what he does...this is also why I am so proud to be associated with Jim and the CATZ way of training!

Concept......

To completion!

Keep your eye out for our 2-DVD set on CHAOS Sport-Speed training. It will be like nothing you have ever seen! Jim and I will be presenting on CHAOS at the NSCA National Convention this July in Las Vegas and I will be taking CHAOS training on the road with the Perform Better 3-day Functional Training Summits!

Good news for the weekend!

2007-12-07T14:41:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me from my good friend Mike Roussell (who, BTW, wrote the nutrition chapter in my book). Looks like great news for the weekend ey?! Let's get healthy!

“From a nutritional standpoint, beer contains more protein and B vitamins than wine. The antioxidant content of beer is equivalent to that of wine, but the specific antioxidants are different because the barley and hops used in the production of beer contain flavonoids different from those in the grapes used in the production of wine. The benefits of moderate alcohol consumption have not been generally endorsed by physicians for fear that heavy consumers may consider any message as a permissive license to drink in excess. Discussions with patients regarding alcohol consumption should be made in the context of a general medical examination. There is no evidence to support endorsement of one type of alcoholic beverage over another.”

-Nutritional and health benefits of beer( Am J Med Sci. 2000 Nov;320(5):320-6.)

Pressure on the carotid artery....

2007-11-29T13:06:00.001-08:00

Olympic weightlifting coach Bob Takano used to talk about one of the dangers of a loaded bar resting too high on the neck during a Clean catch. The dangers involved the weight of the bar pressing against the carotid artery and cutting off blood circulation.....too much pressure for a period of time and we could get something like this.

This is the first time I have actually seen this happen.....yikes!

Walking the walk in this field.....

2007-11-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

Just some random thoughts about experts in this field. The fitness and conditioning world is filled with tons and tons of 'experts'....it really is tough to filter through and find out who is legit and who isn't. My Friend Alwyn Cosgrove made the analogy comparing a fitness expert and a black belt martial artist. I really like this comparison! If you are a legit black belt you will surely be able to stand the test of your expertise, same goes for being a legit fitness expert right? Anyone can say that they are an expert or that they are a blackbelt and the reality is that, for the most part, you will never get called out on it. People will usually take your word for it right? The true test is getting called out on it and walking the walk. 'Fake' fitness experts get exposed when you find that they don't actually train folks, they don't get results, or they don't really make a living in this field. 'Fake' blackbelts probably end up getting their ass kicked.

Here is legendary strength and conditioning "expert" Chuck Berry at work on the USC campus

Power Training Bonus Offer.... FINAL DAYS!

2007-11-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

The sales of the special offer I have had for my book have gone MUCH better than I expected! I am actually to the point where I only have a few books left to sell along with the other bonuses. Take advantage of this offer as I will no longer offer it once all of the books are gone! The offer includes:

- A Signed copy of Power Training ($20 value)
-Coach dos.com t-shirt ($20 value)
- Advanced 12-week 'Cardio Strength training' program to go along with your PT workouts ($50 value)
-Free shipping in the U.S.A. ($10 value...extra $10 for locations outside the U.S.A.)

Order your Power Training Bonus Package TODAY! Power Training Special Offer !

Awesome pics by Embry Rucker!

2007-11-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

It never ceases to amaze me how good some people are at their chosen crafts. During the writing of my feature article in the Dec. 2007 Men's Health issue (The New Rules of Strength) I not only got to meet a great writer in Joe Kita but also an extrordinary photographer by the name of Embry Rucker. Embry and his assistant drove up to Santa Clarita to spend most of the day shooting photos for this article. It was about 105+ degrees that day and they were in the gym with me and my basketball players, in the weightroom with me and 80+ football players, and outside in the sweltering heat taking shot after shot! Well, Embry ended-up getting some great shots for the article but many of the ones that didn't make the Men's Health article were fantastic. These are from Embry's blog....make sure to check it out as he has some great photos posted both there and on his website @ http://www.embryrucker.com/ .

From Embry's Blog on Oct. 30, 2007.....
the cougars of coach Dos
*I went up to 'College of the Canyons' for Men's Health last month to shoot Coach Dos AKA Robert Dos Remedios, & some of his athletes.... it was a thousand degrees & these guys worked there asses off...
Posted by embry_rucker at 7:39 PM

"The New Rules of Strength"

2007-11-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I had the great fortune to have a feature article written about me and my book called "The New Rules of Strength" in this month's Men's Health (Dec. 2007). It was a great experience as I got to meet and hang out with a great writer by the name of Joe Kita. Joe is a great guy and a hell of a writer having written several best selling books including Another Shot: How I Relived My Life in Less Than a Year which helped land him a visit to the Oprah Winfrey show! Now most of us know that once you get to the Oprah show, you've pretty much arrived at whatever it is that you do!

Anyway, it was a tremendous honor to have an article written about me by such a great writer.....here it is!

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=fitness.tips&conitem=f5a7dd1c3d006110VgnVCM10000013281eac____&page=1

Internet Trainers Part DEUX!

2007-11-20T17:45:00.001-08:00

Ugh! Here we go again.... so a while back a trainer from Canada decided to email a good friend of mine to tell him that he was too skinny and too fat to give training advice and that multiple bouts of fighting cancer was no excuse for his physical state. Being the person that I am, I emailed this trainer and basically asked him if he was A) psychotic B) stupid or C) a little of both. It turns out that he was a lot of both. I was forwarded his blog from a couple of months after and the guy calls me out by name as 'randomly' emailing him one day to tell him that he had a chicken-neck and birth-giving hips (okay, okay so I did throw a few jabs at him...) and that I said something about celebrity trainers not knowing anything. First off, I would NEVER email someone for no reason and say something like that. Secondly, I never actually called him a celebrity trainer since I don't believe that training one of the Olsen Twins would actually classify you as a trainer. I mean, how would one of those sessions go? "Hey Ashley/Mary Kate, eat this sandwich and don't move around too much....gotta get ready for swimsuit season". Anyway, I digress, the thing that this really comes down to is the whole idea of throwing stones when you live in a glass house. I mean, are you really going to call someone out on his physique while you have an incredibly awkward one yourself? (and DIDN'T have to go through 2 massive bouts of chemo...) This is why I think there is actually something not right with this guy....he goes out of his way to email someone to tell him that cancer is no big deal (and at the same time also talked smack about Valerie Waters, a REAL celebrity trainer who actually knows what she's doing) in the process. Why? I would normally say that there is some other underlying issue but there isn't....this dude is just a jackass....there's a lot of them out there folks. Welcome to the World Wide Web!!!!

Damn you Mike Boyle..Damn you to HELL!

2007-11-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, so many of you know that Mike Boyle has taken his existing website that was chock-full of great articles, info, forums etc. and made it into a pay site. So what has the response been like? Well, for me, my first reaction was "It's about time". So many of us have used Mike's information, cited his articles, prodded him for information in the past...for FREE. Why would anyone scoff at the fact that Mike has finally decided that his information is now actually worth $?! Believe it or not people have scoffed....and boy do they continue to scoff. Well, I think that this is actually Mike Boyle's fault! Yup, I said it....Mike has spoiled all of us into believing that great, sound, effective training advice is something that you get for FREE. Damn you Mike! Damn YOU!

Okay, seriously, let's analyze this shall we? I believe that the cost for a subscription to www.strengthcoach.com is $67 ....A YEAR. Yeah guys....$67 a year....$5.58 per month.... $.18 per day. Damn you Boyle! What do you think we're all made out of money or something?! Where the hell am I gonna come up with frickin $.18 per day?! If I spend that $.18 cents on Mike's stupid website how will I afford my $4.25 Starbucks iced cafe latte (soy of course) each weekday morning? Yeah, the latte that costs me $4.25 each day...$93 each month....and $1122 each year?! Oh wait! What about that $1.19 pack of gum I get every week?? That strengthcoach.com membership might mean that I might have to give up my $62 yearly gum allowance.

Okay the sarcasm is getting to me. Bottom line.....I went onto strengthcoach.com the other day (for the first time) just to explore. Within about 30 min. I had printed 3 training spreadsheets, wrote about 4 pages of notes, and got two new exercises that I implemented THAT DAY. Hmmm, would that be worth $.18 for that day? What was that worth to me in terms of $? Well, I have paid over $300 to attend a conference and got MUCH less usable info than that. You can't even put a price on something like this...to be able to get info that is usable right now is incredible. Even to find a little way to tweak an exercise so that you can now implement it with your athletes/clients is invaluable. Sure we can all say that we can search and find free stuff all over the 'www' for free but that is really hit and miss. I have read comments from folks that have said that they can just email professionals in this field and get the answers to all of their questions for free. Really? I get about 20-30 emails per day from people all over the world (who don't know me) asking me for advice, information, programs etc. and I couldn't possibly spend the time to answer and help everyone individually (at least in any sort of detail). I wonder who these 'professionals' are that have all day to answer questions from people they don't know on the Internet? Sure, I have a great circle of friends in this industry that I can rely on for answers to my questions but I don't believe that just anyone who emails these guys would get the same answers as me. Does that make sense?

Maybe it's just me.....I love to learn new stuff, I enjoy reading about how others train their athletes/clients, I don't mind spending money.....hell, I spend more the $67 a week on beer alone and lastly for those who scoff at paying $.18 a day for a surplus of information (that is so large that you couldn't possibly read through it all) I have a couple of thoughts....

#1 You should probably go get a job.
#2 If you are training people for a living, you might want to change jobs as you aren't doing it very well (if you can't afford $.18 a day).
#3 You are probably one of those guys who already knows it all so you wouldn't be reading this blog anyway.

Peace out! DOS

P.S BTW, I am almost out of books so my MH Power Training Special Offer is just about to end (so do someone up for Christmas will ya?!)

NEVER give up!

2007-10-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

-Michael Jordan-

Okay, want to see what can happen when you flat-out never give up? Check this out....simply AMAZING!

http://www.d3football.com/dailydose/2007/10/28/trinity-millsaps-and-the-must-see-moment?loc=interstitialskip

Wow! Talk about athletic ability!

2007-10-15T09:36:00.001-07:00

Found this video a few days ago. I am completely awestruck at this girl's ability to change direction and moreso her ability to decelerate. This is a great demo of CHAOS Training and the application to sport performance!

My weekend to remember!

2007-10-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

Just got back from my weekend up in Eugene Oregon where I got to see my Cal Golden Bears pull off an amazing win in one of the most hostile college football environments in the country, Autzen Stadium!. On top of that, I got to hang out with my former college strength coach and mentor Robin "the Messiah" Pound (who lives in Portland) and shoot the shit about old times.

Got to be a part of ESPN Gameday with Corso, Herbstreet, Fowler and about 3ooo+ Oregon Duck fans bright and early on gameday....no worries, though, found some great CAL fans to enjoy the game with!

So what did I come away with? Hmmm...let's see. Well, first off, the University of Oregon has as much of a college environment as any SEC or Big-10 school. Second, CAL is pretty good football team that will give USC everything if can handle and then some come November 10th. 3rd, Desean Jackson IS all that and a bag of Doritos and 4th, I was once again reminded why I love college football so frickin much! Giddy-YUP!

GO BEARS!

Men's Health Fit Schools

2007-09-25T09:10:00.001-07:00

My friend and editor at Men's Health Scott Quill has started a really great program to fight childhood obesity and improve Physical Education in our schools. As a former K-12 Physical Educator, I can attest to the lack of activity our youngsters are being exposed to each and every day. Please support this new program!

www.MensHealth.com/FitSchools

Mission Statement:

The Men's Health FitSchools Initiative helps fight childhood obesity by improving physical education. With support from fit-minded companies and leading youth fitness experts, Men's Health provides the resources and information necessary to ensure students a healthy, active life.

5 Principles of MH FitSchools:
1. Help schools build a safe, inclusive, and accepting environment for physical activity.
2. Make fitness a fun and engaging experience that kids will look forward to.
3. Introduce kids to a variety of activities, so every child has the opportunity to enjoy exercise.
4. Give kids the knowledge to improve every minute outside school, and throughout the rest of their lives.
5. Inspire schools and communities to take control of their health, and work together to find solutions that will help at-risk children.