Posts Tagged ‘Dan Blewett Sports Performance’
February 8, 2012 | 
Author I flew out to Southern California almost two weeks ago to attend Alan Jaeger’s pro camp. Alan stumbled upon my blog a year ago after I linked to one of his long toss articles, and we both thought I’d learn some good stuff from the trip.
The camp was 4 days and geared mostly toward mental training, which I will discuss more in another post. Though I have been a lifetime self-taught long-tosser, I learned a few things from Alan that have had a profound affect on the way I’ve approached the training in my Warbird Academy since I returned home. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been crazy busy the last few weeks getting back from California, which was a tremendous experience, organizing my schedule (booked to the teeth) and writing new programming for 50 strength training students and 42 Warbird throwers. Here’s a few things to look forward to on my site in the next week or so:
1. Early results from the first 30 Warbird Throwers. A rough look at my data suggests that my group has gained on average 3 miles per hour and as high as 7. I’m pretty excited, and have new technology (Thanks Mike!) to share throwing data on my site. Check out the Player Velocities Page under the Warbird parent tab. If you’re not local you won’t know the names, but you can check the progress some of my hard workers have made. Nick Hieb, a Junior, just threw in front of a few college coaches and sat 3-4mph higher than he had previously peaked as of last year (his peak is about +5-6). Pretty excited about him – he’s earned it.
2. My Trip to LA for Alan Jaeger’s Pro Camp was awesome. I have lots to share but as of now too little time to share it. Soon – it was well worth the trip.
3. I’m going to share via video some of what I’ve learned about velocity this winter, and I’ve learned a whole, whole lot. The radar gun is the greatest pitchers’ training tool ever created, in my opinion. You’d be amazed how much pitch-by-pitch feedback can do for a thrower and a coach who wants his kids to throw harder. I’m not going to give away my proprietary program, but I will give you insight into what you can do at home today to throw harder immediately.
Thanks! Stay Tuned….
Welp, I’m officially 26. I’m like 45 in the baseball world, but so be it. Anyway, I’m going to share some of my vast wisdom on this day…26 little pearls for you. Enjoy or don’t. Read the rest of this entry »
At my gym we are the proud owners of not one, but TWO landmine devices. These snazzy little CV joints bolt to our Rogue Fitness Westside racks, and they provide us with smooth motions for our angled barbell training.
What is Angled Barbell training, you ask? Well, you can do it two ways: jam a barbell into the corner of a wall, or place it into a landmine attachment. Then, the barbell pivots on the axis and allows you to perform movements with less than the full gravity of the barbell and an arced range of motion.
We use these a lot, and they simply provide us with an extra stimulus in the gym. Angled barbell movements are unique. The following is a video featuring one of my young badasses, Ethan Newby.
One of my favorite mostly-lateral-sort-of-rotary core exercises is the landmine twist. We do ton of these and as my buddy Daryn says, “you just feel powerful doing them.” It’s really true – you get your hips and core into it and sling that weight like you own it.
If you’re interested in performing angled barbell training in your own gym or training facility, a good place to turn is my friend and trainer Nick Tumminello. He is releasing his new instructional DVD on October 8th. The DVD will be offered at a special reduced price with Free shipping, and include bonus videos for the first week of its release. I interned with Nick for almost two years; if you turn to me for training advice, you’re going to really like his exercises – his knack for thinking up creative training solutions is part of what makes him a special guy in the industry. Click the above link or the picture below to go to his site.
Having nothing to train for makes for difficulty in getting motivated. I’ve set goals for myself in some big lifts this offseason, and I decided to rub these goals in my friend, and trainer, Andrew’s face. We compete in tests of ability and strength when we are together, and I texted him last week to ensure he knew how much better I am soon going to be. Here’s how the conversation went:
Dan: Just a warning – I’m gonna be squatting 450, deadlifting 500 and jumping 33 inches by Christmas. Be prepared to be physically dominated via YouTube.
Andrew: By Christmas? That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard you say
Well, the competition is on, though with a catch – we will be competing only in the vertical and broad jump. The reason I am posting this is because both of us are going to provide you with our methods of reaching these goals and thusly humiliating the other. Both trainers, we are going to employ all of our tricks to get the big weight moving. I’ve squatted 390 (ass-to-grass, of course) as a 1RM in college, deadlifted 425 two years ago, and jumped 28 inches at my best in college. Never have I trained specifically to increase those numbers, but that’s just where my personal records stand. Andrew is, as we always have been, basically the same. He has historically jumped one inch higher, squatted about the same and deadlifted a little less than I. He’s a hair better in jumping, I’m a hair better deadlifting, and we’re about even in the squat. We’re a good matchup to see who can gain the most advantage on the other by way of a specific training plan, of which you’re going to get a peek… Read the rest of this entry »
Have you seen this video about the Seattle Mariners’ new approach to strength training? If you haven’t please check this out.
I got a kick out of this man Elliot running around calling everyone a “beautiful rotational athlete.” Interesting guy.
Now, I DO think he knows what he is doing, but he acts like his new program is a whirlwind of modern science – it isn’t. Good trainers have been doing for years what he is now introducing as revolutionary, and the training isn’t nearly as complex as he makes it out to be…case in point: he pulls out a chart of Dustin Ackley’s power curve, then a minute later shows one of their players doing lateral hops. Wow! All that technology boils down to…..lateral hopping. Lateral hopping is a good plyometric for pitchers but lets, please, not act like it’s never been done before. That could have been prescribed without dropping a dime on sophisticated software.
And take a look around this “bare” weight room. Little equipment? Hardly; they just removed the superfluous machines that no good trainer would keep around. The good things (and heavy, at that) are still there – squat racks and a lot of dumbbells. And the pulley systems are pretty expensive, despite being minimalistic, so I don’t like them pretending like it’s the gym Rocky trained in.
But Hooray for the Mariners, they do seem to have found someone who at least knows something, even if he is playing it up a bit too much.