Revelations

Lately I have been thinking a lot about my training philosophy, what I believe in, what I have learned. I take a bunch of things from different people, and different places, and I do not believe any one discipline to be "right." I thought I would let you get inside my mind, and see what I believe in on a daily basis. This is very, very random...be warned!

1.) Olympic Lifts are good lifts...BUT they take WAY to long to teach, and the principles of compensatory acceleration are applicable to ANY lift. In addition, I have found that OL's are very tough on the joints. I honestly feel as though intense plyos and band squats are a far better option.

2.) I really, really hate football testing. I mean really, really hate it. My kids bust their ass for me all summer, getting ready to play the sport that they love, and then are tested under a completely moronic protocol...such as running a 300 yard shuttle an hour before they are tested on squats. It is then up to me to calm them down and tell them why they didn't test as well. If you aren't going to test athletes properly..DON'T DO IT AT ALL!

3.) On a side note, we had a number of kids perform very, very well, so this pleases me.

4.) To get big, you need a very large caloric intake. If you have a fast metabolism, it doesn't matter much where these calories come from (lucky bastards). If you have a slower metabolism, the extra calories need to come primarily from protein and fats. If you are a guy with a slower metabolism, it is better to get lean first. Bulking when you are fat will just make you...fatter.

5.) After much deliberation, I have decided that there are 3 ways to train if you are drug free. Total body workouts, uppers/lowers, and metabolic workouts. If you train with any sort of intensity, that is all you need. If you need to lift 6X/week to get gains...you should go work construction part time, they'll even pay you to train. Get variety from volume and exercise selection, not training splits.

6.) There is no such thing as a "mass gaining" program and a "cutting" program. If you eat big, you'll get bigger. End of story. If you limit calories, you'll get leaner. End of story.

7.) The 40 yard dash is the DUMBBEST test in all of sports. No wait, the 60 Yard Dash in baseball is...but you get my drift. Watch a football game, and you will know why. A 20 Yard Dash is a much better option. If you are running over 20 yards in a straight line, then you are doing something really good...or something really bad, and at that point, does it matter how fast you run the rest? I think fast is fast, plain and simple. Start guys from a 2 point stance, and use the lasers. Enough of this stance bullshit. This isn't the Olympics.

8.) For upper body workouts, use all "big" movements (compound movements OR exercises that target your chest, back, shoulders, and traps), during your training session. Then, allocate 5-10 minutes and bounce back and forth between bicep and tricep movements...you won't be dissapointed.

9.) Metabolic training, with a Max Effort Upper Body and/or a Max Effort Lower Body movement preceding the workout is a very, very good way to train. have you ever seen a fat person doing a Metabolic workout? I haven't either.

10.) Having athletes train with parachutes is VERY beneficial...if the athletes are between the ages of 4-12 years old. Having high school athletes train this way is criminal if the goal is speed development...get them STRONGER. If conditioning is the only goal, that is a different story. Overspeed training is a much better option.

11.) RDL's should not be done IN season...ever. GHR's are much better, they elongate the hamstring less, and cause less soreness. On that note, never perform sprints or overspeed training the day after RDL's. It is an injury waiting to happen.

12.) If you can't touch your toes, performing speed training is the last thing you should be doing to get faster. Perform heavy RDL's, stretch, foam roll, repeat. 4 weeks later you will be faster for it.

13.) The Summer Olympics is a joke..Baseball and softball are eliminated, and yet we get to watch sports like...ping pong, air rifle, bmx biking...WTF?

Greatness

Michael Phelps...all you can say is wow. I think it really hit me during his 100m Butterfly race, when he was a full body length ahead of the field, winning by 2 seconds...that was the BEST the world had to offer, and they couldn't get it done...amazing. The effort, the years of hard work, all came down to a period 0f 7 days that Michael will never forget. I am not quite sure if he is the greatest Olympian ever, as some are calling him. Jesse Owens may have something to say about that. But in a day in age of cheating, doping, steroid/HGH use, it is refreshing to see someone excel by doing things the right way; TRAINING HARD and having a relentless attitude.

Congrats Michael, I wish I could say we are related!

1st Annual PTS Strongman Competition

Thursday August 7th was our first annual Phelps Training Systems Strongman Competition. The athletes were divided into 2 teams, our morning (AM) training group vs our evening (PM) training group. There were 5 events: Bench 225lbs for reps, Tire Flip reps in 30 seconds, 15lb Med Ball Toss for distance, 315lb Trap Bar Farmer’s Walk for distance, and a 25 yard Timed Prowler Sprint. Points were awarded as follows:

1st: 10 points
2nd: 8 points
3rd: 6 points
4th: 4 points
5th: 2 points
6th: 1 point

We want to thank everyone for participating in the 2008 Phelps Training Systems Strongman Competition. Here are the complete rosters for each team:

Team AM Team PM
Chris Gray Kyle Macey
Dan DePuccio Chad Cassidy
Matt DePuccio Chris Sawyer
Steve Brink Everett Tune
A.J DeLago Obie Silue
Joe Paratore Andy Lyman
Brian O’Donnell Derek Foster
Kevin Smith Nick Ranali
Chris Okonski Vinny Falzo
Tyler Mulvihill Kyle Hendrickson


Congratulations to the Evening Training Group (Team PM) for winning the team competition which came down to the final event. Below are the scores, and be sure to scroll down to view recaps and results for each event.

Overall Team Standings

Team PM: 80
Team AM: 72

We also awarded prizes for outstanding individual achievements. Below are the individual results for the competitions

Chris Gray (AM)- 34 points
Chris Sawyer (PM)- 24 1/3 points
Kyle Macey (PM)- 18 1/3 points
Everett Tune (PM)- 18 points
Matt DePuccio (AM)- 18 points
6. Chad Cassidy (PM)- 9 points
6. Kevin Smith (AM)- 9 points


Event #1: 225 lb Bench Press
The event got off to a strong start in the 225lb Bench Press. The PM group, behind strong performances from Kyle Macey (16 reps), Chris Sawyer (16 reps), and Chad Cassidy (18 reps) jumped out to an early lead. The AM team appeared to be in a lot of trouble until Dan DePuccio matched Macey and Sawyer with 16 reps of his own. Everett Tune patiently waited, stepped up to the bar and proceeded to pound out 19 reps for the PM group to take over 1st place. Desperately needing points, team AM turned to Ithaca Guard Chris Gray, and he rose to the occasion with a PTS record 29 reps!

Video of Chris Gray repping 225 29 times!

1. Chris Gray (AM)- 29 reps
2. Everett Tune (PM)- 19 reps
3. Chad Cassidy (PM)- 18 reps
3. Chris Sawyer (PM)- 16 reps
3. Kyle Macey (PM)- 16 reps
3. Dan DePuccio (AM)- 16 reps

Event #2: Timed Tire Flip
With a lead after 1 event, the PM team looked to extend in the timed tire flip. Riding the efforts of Macey’s 11 flips and consistent performances from Sawyer, Cassidy and Derek Foster (each performed 10 flips) the PM team put together another strong event. But the AM group rallied behind Steve Brink, A.J. DeLago and Kevin Smith who posted 10 flips of their own. Once again, needing points, the AM group turned to Gray and he pounded out 12 flips in 30 seconds to win his 2nd straight event and cut into the PM group’s lead.

Video of Kyle Macey and Chris Gray Tire Flips


1. Chris Gray (AM)- 12 Flips
2. Kyle Macey (PM)- 11 Flips
3. Chris Sawyer (PM)- 10 Flips
Derek Foster (PM)- 10 Flips
3. Chad Cassidy (PM)- 10 Flips
3. Steve Brink (AM)- 10 Flips
3. Kevin Smith (AM)- 10 Flips
3. A.J. DeLago (AM)- 10 Flips

Event #3: 15 lb Med Ball Toss for Distance
Needing a strong performance, the AM group got just that when Matt DePuccio unleashed a huge throw to take over first place. Initially planning to sit out the event due to a weakened shoulder, Chris Gray decided to give it a try with his team needing the points. Using just his strong arm, Gray launched his throw over 50 feet to secure the win and bring his team even closer to the PM group.


1. Chris Gray (AM)
2. Matt DePuccio (AM)
3. Chris Sawyer (PM)
3. Nick Ranali (PM)
5. Derek Foster (PM)
5. Kyle Macey (PM)

Event #4: 315 lb Trap Bar Farmer’s Walk (25 yard distance)
Backing up his strong performance in the Med Ball Toss, Matt DePuccio stepped up and walked over 140 yards with 315 pounds to win the event for the AM team, and Brian O’Donnell’s 4th place finish helped bring the team even closer. Sawyer and Macey scored once again for the PM group to help preserve a slim, 2 point lead heading into the competition’s final event.

Matt DePuccio (AM)- 5 2/3 lengths
Chris Sawyer (PM)- 5 lengths
Kyle Macey (PM)- 5 lengths
4. Brian O’Donnell (AM)- 4 1/3 lengths
5. A.J. DeLago (AM)- 4 lengths
6. Chad Cassidy (PM)- 3 1/3 lengths

Event #5: 25 Yard Prowler Sprint
Fittingly, the competition came down to the final event with the PM team clinging to a slim 2 point lead in the overall team standings, a margin that got even closer when Kevin Smith through the 25 yards in 5.34 seconds to tie Chris Sawyer and give the AM team the lead with just one man left to go.

With the team title hanging in the balance, and his team needing a huge performance, Everett Tune ripped off a 4.87, by far the fastest time of the night to clinch the title for the PM team.

1. Everett Tune (PM)- 4.87 (All times in seconds)
2. Chris Sawyer (PM)- 5.34
2. Kevin Smith (AM)- 5.34
4. Chris Gray (AM)- 5.59
5. Steve Brink (AM)- 5.63
5. Kyle Macey (PM)- 5.63

Video of Everett Tune winning the Prowler Sprint.

Last Week

This is our last week of training the rest of our high school and college football players. We lost about half of our crew last week to training camp, with the rest to follow. While we will certainly miss those who have left us for the season, we look forward to cheering you on this fall! This summer was a blast, with endless laughs, intense moments, and bonds that were forged that will last for a long time.

Kick ass in training camp!

Rules

I love reading Zach Even-Esh's stuff (http://www.zacheven-esh.com/) because he constantly reminds us that rules in the strength training world need to be closely evaluated, and many times broken. I have broken so many "rules" this summer that I cannot even begin to count them.

-We have done overspeed training before ME Lower Body days.
-We go to failure (or what our athletes perceive as failure) on virtually EVERY set we do (except neck, core, and certain warmup sets).
-We have trained the same muscle groups on back to back days while performing a Metabolic Training circuit the day after a Repetition Upper Body Lift.
-We have trained Upper and Lower Body ME lifts on consecutive days.
-We have not done one single Hang Clean this summer as a part of our program.

I was told that all of these things were bad ideas, but sometimes the circumstances require you to bend the rules a little. And you know what? Sometimes when you bend the rules, you find that they were kind of silly to begin with. We had a training facility on M-Th this summer, which dictated what we trained, and when we trained it. We got it done, and got A LOT stronger, and significantly faster in the process.

I am so proud of our guys, because they demonstrated the POWER that an insane training environment has on strength and speed development.

Am I saying break all of the rules? Absolutely not, I am simply saying that if you are questioning something try it for yourself.

There is only one rule that I will never waver on, and that is SAFETY. I will never compromise the safety of my athletes during a workout.

Get Jacked!

Matt

Environment

Training environment is HUGE...A vastly, vastly underrated component of training. I am only going to ever train in a commercial facility again if I:

A.) Am out of town.
B.) Want to get really, really depressed and unmotivated to train.

Tonight we had one of the best lifts I have ever witnessed. Chalk lathered the floor. Guys had their shirts off, proud of the work they have accomplished over the summer, and were screaming their hearts out in support of each other. A bunch of rap music and Linkin Park blared in the background, and I could not have been more proud. 17 college football players, under one roof, many of them from rival schools, enduring the pain, putting forth the effort...EARNING a spot on the travel squad, or the starting lineup, or the special teams unit.

Our guys have gotten stronger, and it doesn't have a thing to do with me, they MADE an environment where anything other than 100% intensity was unacceptable. Jim Wendler of Elite FTS said it best, when I heard him say that it doesn't matter what program you are on, it is what you put into the program; basically he was inferring that a crappy program performed with 100% heart and effort is better than a great program that is half assed.

And you know what? I couldn't agree more. The next time you go to work at Gold's, ask yourself, am I REALLY getting stronger? Bigger? In better shape? Get OUT of your comfort zone, and find a place to train that has some actual training environment; trust me, you won't regret it!

Get after it,

Matt

Board Press

I think that Board Presses have been outstanding additions to our strength training programs. While it is great to include full ROM exercise, the fact of the matter is that many athletes are limited by their weakest link in major muscle building movements such as the bench press, where the triceps often are not strong enough to move the barbell through the "sticking" point.

Board Presses are a GREAT solution because they allow the lifter to target heavier loads when training, and to really develop the triceps during this range of motion. By increasing your Board Press, you are own your way to a bigger bench, and we all know what that means; a bigger, more powerful chest and deltoid region.

There is a huge mental component of training that I feel often gets overlooked. By training on the Board Press for 3-5 weeks, you will become used to handling heavier loads, particularly on the eccentric portion of the lift. This will make for big gains when you return to the Bench Press because what you used to "think" was/felt heavy will now be light!

Shawn Lattimer has an outstanding article on the Board Press, including excellent directions on how to make your own:

http://www.criticalbench.com/board-press.htm

For putting the boards together, I would reccomend using "Gorilla Glue" Wood Glue. It is quick, easy, and very effective.

Athletes are NOT powerlifters, but many would benefit from incorporating more of their training techniques. One thing I have learned is that it is very, very naive to assume that all lifters are perfectly proportioned through the entire ROM of every exercise. Every lifter has his own "weak points" or sticking points, and those need to be addressed.

I would recommend starting with a 3 Board Press. It is 6 inches off of the chest, and represents the bottom third-bottom half of the lift for most guys, the "Bermuda Triangle" or sticking point of most Bench Presses.

Please check out PTS client Nick Ranali on the 3 Board Press. When I started working with Nick, he could Bench Press 205 X3. 3 Months and 10 pounds later, Nick crushes 255X4.5 on the 3 Board Press!

You Get Out What You Put In

Greetings Everyone, and welcome to my first blog post!

I hope to use this blog to share what's on my mind, to make you laugh, and most importantly, to make you think!

I have a phrase on the bottom of every program that every single one of my athletes is on. It says "You Get Out What You Put In." While I did intend for this to be used in terms of giving 110% in the weight room, I also think that it speaks volumes about life. Whether it is your job, your relationship, practice, or a strength training session, you HAVE to put effort into something if you want to reap the benefits.

As many of you know, I was the Head Strength Coach at Siena College for 2.5 years. While at Siena, as a very young strength coach (I was 24 during my first year) I spent a great deal of time trying to CONVINCE athletes to work hard. After several conversations with colleagues, and many failed efforts in my quest to get these athletes working hard, I simply gave up. I realized that if I have to convince you to work hard, as a college athlete, then it is already too late. As the saying goes, the cream always rises to the top, and Siena afforded me many tremendous student athletes who WERE willing to bust their ass for me.

Now that I am in the private side of this business, I love the fact that I rarely see this phenomenon play out. If you are paying $$ for something, then you really do want to be there, and it is a true joy being surrounded by those who want to better themselves. I have been amazed by this first crop of athletes I trained this summer, they have done whatever I have asked them to do, and rather than question it or give a half assed effort, have sold out and put their faith in me. It is just awesome to see.

Life is one big workout. If you don't put forth any effort, don't expect to see many results.

Enjoy the blog!