1. You Never Feel Old

I still feel like I did in college – not old. Though I’m apparently “the oldest mid-twenties guy I’ve ever met” (Daryn), I still feel young and like I fit in BSing with all the younger kids I train. I’d put youngness factor at 19.

2. Bad Times Come and Go

I’m not going to knock on wood because I don’t believe in superstition. 2008-2009 was easily the worst year of my life, and 2010-2011 easily the best. Life goes up and down; get through it and keep marching.

3. People Are As Good To You As You Allow Them To Be

I have such good clients it blows my mind sometimes. No bad apples, just genuinely awesome people who work hard for me. I try to treat them like family and make sure they feel connected to me; maybe it’s why we get along so well.

4. The Opposite Sex Goes in Cycles

I get bored being single every once in a while and start to look around. Sometimes I find nothing and it frustrates me, sometimes I get bombarded; sometimes it’s dry but when it rains it pours. People feel hopeless about finding a good partner, but it’s not that big a deal – be open to others, let things come and they will.

5. Thermals Are Awesome

I’ve started wearing thermal shirts a lot. They are just right for my gym – it’s nippy in there all fall and winter. I can move in them, look like a respectable person and less of a gym rat, and they’re comfy.

6. Deadlifts Are Also Awesome…But They Don’t Work For Everyone

I tell people, if you had one exercise to do for the rest of your life, it should be the deadlift. But, for about 15% of people I’d say they really just don’t agree with their body. Backs hurt on deadlifts for some people, and rather than beat a square peg into a round hole, I take it off of their to-do list. Some people just aren’t built for certain lifts; its OK. There’s many more exercises out there that can get the job done.

7. Bodies Are Enigmas Sometimes

My arm has bothered me for the past two years in a mysterious, enigmatic way. I get really deep aches that make it difficult to bounce back between starts. This past season in August, it went away, for no reason at all save a tiny tweak in my mechanics. All that pain over a year and a half and it just packed up and went away. Weird.

8. Pursuing Some College Degrees Are A Terrible Financial Decision

Getting more degrees doesn’t necessarily make you more qualified. So, is the 60 grand you’re going to spend to get another really going to translate into more money? Today, maybe not. Law degrees and medical degrees in students who aren’t in the top 10% of their class are proving a terrible investment, landing people low-paying jobs that don’t justify the high loan costs. I’m not going back to school to get another degree in exercise, nutrition or any of it – I could continue learning in many other ways and extra letters next to my name won’t get me more clients. Not one person has ever asked for my credentials thus far; they just listen and judge for themselves if I know what I’m talking about. I do, so they listen and pay me, and I get results; that’s the biggest thing that matters.

9. Everything Is Arbitrary

That beautiful car? Some designer decided he liked the way it looked. Was there a reason he didn’t add one more curve or bend or line? If there was, it was simply because he didn’t want to. As much as things are based on research, they’re more often based on our judgment of “good enough.” Why did a painter decide his painting was complete instead of adding one more brush stroke? Because that’s what he felt was best. Much more in life falls under this category than you realize. Look around at all of your possessions, buildings, cars – they were all made by people who chose their shape, look and design.

10. If Everything Is Arbitrary, You Can Build Your Own Empire

If ultimately everything was built by someone who simply decided they would, and decided simply that they designed as best they saw fit..why don’t you? There’s no formula, just build it the way you think it should be built.

11. We Will All Die

…But who cares? While we are still here we should do something we’re passionate about, even it’s ultimately for nothing. I don’t believe in an afterlife, but I believe in doing something important my with life simply because it’s the only one I get.

12. Hungry People Don’t Stay Hungry For Long

They get what they want or they die trying.

13. You Probably Know What You Need To Be Doing

Go Do It. When you feel that tug of guilt, that you’re not living up to expectations or a promise to yourself, get up and go. It has to be today; tomorrow never comes.

14. You Can’t Blame People For Being Happy

Well, you can if being happy requires something sinister like smashing puppies with hammers. People are ultimately going to choose the path that they feel will lead them to happiness. Girlfriend broke up with you and was Facebook official with another dude 4 hours later? Well, she probably needs that. Don’t be bitter; let her go.

15. They Can’t Take Away Your Experiences

Some crazy things happened last year, things that I’ll always remember. I won’t be sharing all of them on this forum, but I smile when I recall them every now and again. I’ll have them, rich, poor, or sick.

16. Good Friends Don’t Fade (As Fast)

It sucks being away from my friends back home, and unfortunately I have to choose who I make time for on my brief visits home. Good friends have longer staying power in a long-distance relationship, but ultimately they’ll all go away if you don’t tend to them.

17. Sometimes Your Body Is Stupid

I hurt my neck yesterday doing chin ups…with nothing around my neck. I have that nerve pain that makes it hard to move my head side to side. Nothing touched my head or neck when it happened – I was pulling up on a bar with a belt and a kettlebell attached to my waist. Inexplicable. It’ll go away, but it’s annoying. Sometimes your body hurts for no reason at all.

18. Being Cold Sucks

I asked for slippers for Christmas…another sign that I’m becoming old, frail and boring. But, my apartment is cold all the time (by choice) and I find myself seeking warmth like a cold-blooded creature. The winter sucks. Hard.

19. Trivial Interactions Don’t Add Much

Good friends last; trivial interactions don’t. Once I got rid of facebook and all that nonsense, I didn’t miss it at all. I didn’t wake up wondering what that guy from my college psych class was eating for breakfast. My life really hasn’t changed at all. If all the social networking is the way of the future, then why is it so easy to live without now that the habit is broken?

20. Guys Need To Shave

I don’t razor shave, but I keep my facial hair down to a shadow at most times. I go through phases where I want to grow a beard, but usually after 2 weeks I have to meet with a new client, parent, coach or whoever, and I’m very aware of how a scraggly beard looks to people – sloppy. People make snap judgments on appearance; having dirty-looking facial hair is going to detract from your image and credibility. Most chicks don’t really dig it, either.

21. Italian Beef is My Lord and Savior

Easily the best thing about the midwest. The only food I will buy for lunch is Italian Beef or McAllister’s Deli.

22. Don’t Dress Like A Slob (I’m Talking to YOU, College Kids)

I’m old enough to look down upon college students now, and boy do I ever – I hate the guys and girls walking around town in sweatshirts and pajama pants en route to class. News flash – you look like crap. What if you’re a single person and your ideal man or woman walks by you on the street? You’re screwed, that’s what. Dress like you want to make a positive impression on whoever you might meet. And, being a former college student, I remember being impressed with the occasional girl who would come to class every single day looking cute. I wear workout clothes to work, but when I go grocery shopping or errand running, I put on jeans and try to look like a respectable man. If I run across a Victoria’s Secret model at the Post Office, I’ll be ready.

23. Don’t Give Self Esteem Out For Free

My youngest guys have increased their swagger tenfold. I refer to them regularly as badasses, but only because they’ve earned that distinction. When they are late to training, aren’t focused, or just aren’t giving me the effort I expect, I let them know; I use the phrase “that was terrible” as much as any other in my gym. I’m not going to sugarcoat anything, no matter what age, but they get equal doses of positive reinforcement when they do get things right and go the extra mile.

If people get praise both good and bad outcomes, they don’t earn the right to feel like they have conquered their inadequecies. My guys and girls know that when I praise their work, they really deserved it and because of that they feel accomplished. When I chew them out or get in their ass about a poor job, they don’t turn down their lips and cry – they correct it because they know they aren’t meeting the high standard I hold for them. When people operate on that system of checks and balances, they learn that negative feedback and failure doesn’t have to affect their ability to succeed in the future and continue to feel positive about their work.

24. 9-5 Jobs Suck (So I hear)

My sister has one. She doesn’t love it. I have never had one, and I consider myself lucky, based on what I’ve heard. Avoid at all costs so say all.

25. Amalgamation Is A Cool Word

I need to use this word in a sentence before the year ends – it’s been on my desktop sticky note for 3 months now. My unique training style is an amalgamation of the methods of great strength coaches from whom I have learned – Fred Cantor, Nick Tumminello, Jeff Friday. I’ll cross that off my list.

26. I’ve Got A Pretty Good Life Through 26.

I consider myself lucky. Though I’ve worked for what I have, none of what I do would be possible without the invariable serendipity, luck, and support from friends, family and colleagues. I’ve had some big obstacles that would have ruined me if not for the right person at the right time giving me an extra little boost. We can’t control everything in life; hard, though, we may try.

That’s all, folks. Til next year…

A big shout out to the Black Keys, two nerdy white dudes who rock it out – Thanks for producing some great bluesy rock’n'roll!

Does your trainer at home know the little exercise tweaks that can make an exercise safe or unsafe for a baseball player?

Why is it named this? Well, I got stuck overnight in Madrid when the Philadelphia airport closed after Blizzard conditions around Christmas. I got home, made this workout to challenge some of the guys who made it in for workouts while numbers were thin from Holiday obligations.

Now, this workout has a sort of CrossFit feel to it, but don’t be mistaken – there is legitimate design behind it, unlike the whimsical Workout of The Day that defines what CrossFit is. Crossfitters come to the gym each day to perform an utterly random workout, one that demands high intensity but has no semblance of goals in it. Workouts of the Day include such things like 10 sets of 7 Burpees, 7 Thrusters and 7 Overhead Squats for time. If you’re asking yourself, “How does that make me a better functioning, well-balanced athlete?” Well, I don’t have an answer for you. If I picked a couple exercises out of a hat and said, “Go do these as hard as you can for 12 minutes,” well, then I would be teaching CrossFit. However, I only teach sensible training. CrossFit is nonsense; Thus, I don’t teach CrossFit. That’s my Philosophy degree in action for you.

Anyway, The Spanish Blizzard consists of the Following:

• 2 Minutes of Trap DL w/80% BW (Men) or 50% BW(Women). Record Reps.
• 2 Minutes Rest
• 2 Minutes of Floor Pull Ups w/feet on bench (Men) or on floor at 12rep max angle (women). Record Reps
• 2 Minutes Rest
• 2 Minutes of Medicine Ball Slams – 20lb (Men) or 10lb (Women) Record Reps.
• 3 Minutes Rest
• 80 Push Ups & 80 Overhead Squats with 10% BW. Women perform 60 pushups. Alternate Exercises in any fashion desired, until all reps are complete. Record Time.
• 3 Minutes Rest
• 4 Cycles: 15 Yard up and Back 45lb Plate Push, followed by 15 Yd one-way Push Up Side Walk, followed by sprint back to start. Record Time.

That’s the workout. I don’t do this with everyone, only those who have the strength and form down pat. It’s ridiculously hard, as you’re competing against yourself to go as hard as you can with good form the whole time, and your heart rate never comes down completely between exercises. One of our best guys had a DNF because he had to let go of some stomach contents.

But, as I said, the workout is balanced and whole-body intensive. We get a push (push ups), a pull (floor pull ups), a hip-dominant (trap DL), quad dominant (plate push and OH squats), anterior core (slams), anterior, anti-rotation and lateral hip (push up walks), and a hip mobility exercise (OH squats) in the workout – it gets nearly everything.

We score the workout in a standardized formula that I created that converts time to points, so we can add the reps to the point values from the two times circuits. Our overall leader is Anibal Torres, with 300 points, nudging me out by 5 points. I plan on destroying him in my next go-round, but Anibal is an athlete with a tremendous engine, as are the rest of the guys. Keenan Flynn and Jason Carter, the only ones to tackle it twice, cut some of their times in half and added tons of reps to their 2-minute drills. It’s been a nice challenge. If you want to try this at home, DON’T. But, if you want me to post the scoring formula, leave a comment and I’ll do it. Happy Blizzarding!

Working at a serious baseball academy is giving me the opportunity to run these things through a gauntlet of tests, and I already have high school, college and pro guys lined up as willing participants. Phantom won best in show at the Dallas ABCA convention this past January, so there is a lot of buzz about them in the baseball world right now.

So, If you haven’t heard of Phantom yet, here is what I have in my possession:

• Weighted Full Arm Sleeves
• Weighted Forearm Sleeves
• Weighted Calf Sleeves

From L to R: Full Arm, Forearm, Calf Sleeve

Now, what is a weighted sleeve, and what does it do?

As a strength coach, pitching instructor and pitcher, I like the premise of this product. It is different than other velocity training modalities because of a few factors:

• The weight isn’t overly heavy (1/4 to 1/2 lb max), so throwing mechanics are unlikely to be affected.
• The weight STAYS WITH YOU during follow through, providing an increased muscle stimulus to the decelerating muscles of the throwing arm. This is a big advantage over weighted ball training, which provide only concentric (acceleration) loading of the arm, and no eccentric (deceleration) loading.
• The weights are distributed evenly over the arm, and are centered around the elbow, thus decreasing torque compared to a weighted ball, which would have all the weight at the fingertips.

Throwing is one of the best uses for the weighted full arm and forearm sleeves. The forearm sleeves would be perfect for hitting, and the calf sleeves for any number of lower body sprinting, jumping, plyometric, or baseball mechanics drills using the lower half.  I’m going to be working as well to see what kind of arm care exercises and mechanics drills might be enhanced by a weighted sleeve. Blackburns and scapula stabilization exercises quickly come to mind.

Full arm sleeve (note the author's pasty white arm)

A First Glance

Construction

-All black neoprene construction, with flat-seamed stitching. The stitching looks very sturdy, and overall they look like the will hold up well.  We shall put this to the test…

-Each sleeve has two elastic velcro bands used for tightening.

Fit and Sizing

Prior to trying these on, I took the time to measure my arm. I have big forearms and wide palms, which makes me a little weird with things like this. I size out to be an XL in all three sleeves. The Large forearm sleeve would not even make it past my hands, and the Large full arm sleeve made it halfway up my arm before it became too small.  My arm is sized as follows:

• Hands: 4″ from pinky to index finger
• Forearms: 13″ circumference
• Biceps: 14 3/4 circumference
• Calves: 15 3/4 circumference

You can talk to the people at Phantom about sizing, but from my own fit testing, if your forearms are 12″ or greater, go for XL. The XL forearm and full sleeve were snug but not constrictive. The XL calf sleeve fit perfect as perfect can be.

The Weights

The weights are slid into place in sewn-in pockets on the interior of each sleeve. They are made of a grey rubber which appears to be mixed with some kind of additive, maybe a metal powder, to give it extra mass.  The weight will flex and move with you, which is a good thing.

What Lies Ahead

These sleeves are going to take some serious punishment in our cages and on our mounds here at the BATT Academy in Glen Burnie, MD. There is much more to come on these products, and time will tell whether or not they can deliver on all of the hype. Because the premise behind them is good, my hunch is that they will, but we shall let the results speak for themselves. Stay tuned, as we will have a bunch of videos and write ups, and we will see what kind of velocity increases we can get out of some of our pitchers.

Plyometrics and ballistic movements are the name of the game, emphasizing the movement patterns that baseball players use most.  For my pitchers, this means exploding toward the plate and teaching their bodies to throw medicine balls at the speed of light.

Featured today are depth jumps and pitching push-offs.  Both work to build explosiveness in the lower half by developing greater Rate of Force Development (RFD) and muscle reactivity.

Depth jumps are simple and don’t require any added load, but are very neurologically demanding nonetheless.  Your reaction to the ground has to be lightning quick – as soon as you touch down your body needs to get back up as high as possible.  On our first day of our ballistic program we started with 3 sets of 6 reps, and we will be building on that in the coming 8-10 weeks.  People add inches to their verticals and improve their speed with this type of training, provided they already have the requisite strength.

Above we have Joe Lloyd, a pro pitcher who trains with me, performing push-offs. The goal here is simple: get out as far as you can as fast as you can.  Our goal is to build up the leg abductors and help launch the body toward the plate.  Pitchers who want to throw as hard as possible need to tap every possible avenue, including their push off down the mound.

Another angle…

Now these push-offs aren’t actually plyometrics, but rather just explosive movements.  The drill starts with the stride foot crossed over and in contact with the wall and the balance foot about 6-12 inches from the wall.  This allows us to load the back leg as the hips start to move forward, and the back leg powers the body forward right before balance would be lost .  This drill can help you lengthen your stride, if necessary, as well as get going forward with more power.

There are a ton of ways to vary and progress this exercise as well, which we will likely come back to in the near future…

This video is of John Scott, a high school catcher of mine who really wants to get better.  He pushes himself, pays attention to detail and works til the whistle, which makes my job easy.

This drill is a great starting point, and there is plenty of room for progression. As John’s conditioning improves, we will load the exercise and incorporate some rotary medicine ball throws into his sprawl to knee-pop.