The post today is about the female athlete and how they can become strong and explosive.

A lot of the time the girls don’t get enough credit so I’m going to change that a bit.

All female athletes are welcome in our gym.

As long as you’re ready to go and put in a lot of hard work.

Trust me it will pay off during game time.

The series of exercises in the vid are designed to develop strength and explosiveness.

Trav and I are constantly telling our athletes to explode.

Being explosive while maintaining technique develops the true athlete.

You’ll see box jumps, pushups, trx work back extension and some strong man work.

Yep I said it, “strong man or should I say strong woman”.

 Being strong allows you to become more powerful.

This one’s for all the girls out there who wish to become better.

Stay Forged Strong!

- Joe -

Click here to view the embedded video.

Failure is a decision.

It’s a choice you make personally to give up.

Many people will try something and in the end, will not accomplish quite what they were looking to do.

Those that “decide” to quit – they are the only true failures.

If at first you don’t succeed, try again, and again, and AGAIN!

Failure is NOT an option at the Forged Athlete Gym here in Omaha NE!

If the outcome of what you were trying to do doesn’t happen at first, keep trying, keep pushing and you WILL SUCCEED!

You have the choice to succeed or fail.

Which will it be??

I hit my heavy deadlift day just today and you know what, I didn’t do quite what I wanted to do.

I attempted a weight that I have gotten in the past but I didn’t hit it today.

Did I fail?  NO – I haven’t decided to fail yet!  I just found a way how to NOT lift that particular weight today.

I will lift that weight, just in good time.

Our failures can teach us alot.

They can teach us what we may have been doing wrong.

They can tell us what we need to change.

In the end, it’s up to us to make sure to make the changes and do the things to be right.

If you decide to quit, then you have FAILED!

Make the choice to succeed!

Here’s the workout I cranked today.  It was a real ass kicker and it taught me alot of where I am now and what I need to do to get where I wanna be.

Click here to view the embedded video.

1A) 1 arm barbell snatch  4 x 3

2A) Barbell Deadlifts 3×3, 4×1

3A) Mixed grip weighted pull ups 3 x max

3B) Pistol squats 3 x 5/leg

4A) Heavy Back Extensions 3 x 15

4B) Sledge swings 3 x 10/Arm

4C) TRX pikes 3 x 15

Learn from your failures but don’t let your setbacks turn you into a real failure!

You only truly fail if you choose to quit!

Push forward!

Get Forged Strong!

Travis

Hope all is well and you’re kicking ass!

If not, work harder and push yourself beyond your limits.

Don’t find excuses and NEVER settle for less!

Find what it is that you need to work on and zero in on it like your life depends upon it!

You need to find your weak points!

All athletes have weak points.

For most its their backside.

The hamstrings, lower back, mid back, and upper back.

The main reason most athletes have weak backsides is because they can’t see them.

A lot of athletes train just their “mirror” muscles.

Curls, bench presses, tricep extensions, and lots of quad work make up a typical routine.  This routine is familiar to athletes that simply don’t know any better.

I was a victim of this!  I fell into the trap of training just what I could see.

I did bench, all the presses, squats, lunges, curls, and tricep work.  I also did do a ton of pulling movements as well but manly with the upper body.

This was largely due to the fact I was a wrestler and I did pull ups and peg board about every day.

If I could go back and do it over again I would’ve focused tons more time and energy in on the DEADLIFT,  KB swings, RDL’s, glute ham raises, and all the different variations of the good mornings.

Lets not forget about prowler and sled work!  That’s a must!

These string of exercises are CRUCIAL to help athletes build up explosive power and speed.

I was always under the misconception that my quads were what made me fast.  I was mistaken due to the whole “mirror muscle” thing.

Boy if I could go back and train like I do today or do what I know to do today!

Sub 4.3 40 yard dash perhaps??    Or even a 40+ vertical easy!?

I was edging on those number training the wrong way!!!

I would love to know BUT that’s not possible.

What is possible is YOU, reading this now, can train smarter and better.

Attack your backside for maximum strength, power, and speed development!

It’s the KEY!

I’ve got a killer backside workout and video for you below.

I love training my backside.

Here’s my backside focused training day:

Click here to view the embedded video.

1A) Speed Deadlifts w/ bands 8 x 3, 6* (*last set, without bands x 6)

2A) Sandbag Squats  4 x 8-12

2B) Mixed Grip Pull Ups and Reclined Rows  4 x Submax

3A) KB Complex – Alternating KB Clean x 6/arm + Double KB Swings x 12  x 3 rounds

3B) Weighted Back Extensions 3 x 12

4A) TRX Ab Circuit (Knee Tucks, Pike, Pendulum Swings)  3 x 12/movement

4B) Grip Work – Plate Pinches, KB Towel Farmer Walks  3 x Max Time/Distance

5A) 1 max Set of Pull Ups (this was killer, grip and back were fried!)

Roll out like a mo fo and stretch!

That’s it!

Attack the backside!

Make sure you’re adding in a lot of hip extension type exercises in your routine to hit the weak areas of your body!

Until next time,

Get Forged Strong!

Travis

PS – Leave your comments and questions if you got em!

I’ve been hearing a lot about The Men’s Health “Spartacus Workout” Challenge lately and how it’s all this and that.

I will attest to this and say it’s a solid workout and it will crush you if you’re not in good condition.

There’s almost another “300″ craze going on again with this whole spartan training thing.  I like it!

You should always train with a warriors mentality!  It’s like I say – IT’S ALL OUT WAR when you train!

Something about this program that you need to know is that it WILL NOT get you stronger and more explosive and here’s why:

When you do sets of exercises for longer periods of time, like 60 secs with this workout, you’re body produces tons of lactic acid.

This is great for wrestlers and other athletes that need HUGE levels of work capacity, but if you’re trying to get strong, you need to lift heavy weights!

This workout will crush your lungs and give your muscle a burn like no other.

Don’t confuse this with “cross fit” as it’s not.

I like to use this style of training to build strength endurance and work capacity.  It’s also very good for cutting weight and body fat as well.

I’m currently throwing it in to my routine as I’m in a deload week using lots of bodyweight and high reps.  Next week it will be back to crushing the heavy work sets and big lifts.

You can check out the original “Spartacus Workout” HERE to see the ten exercises Men’s Health had in the plan.

I put my own twist on it to make it more my style.  Here it is:

The Spartacus Workout – Forged Style

Perform 10 exercises in the circuit @ 60 secs of work with 15 secs of rest with a 2 min break in between rounds.  Repeat for 3 rounds.  I did 2…

1A) Sandbag Front Squats

1B) TRX Knee Tucks

1C) 1 Arm Kettlebell Swings

1D) 1 Arm Push Ups

1E) Sandbag Front Lunges

1F) Kettlebell True High Pulls

1G) Sledgehammer Swings

1H) Rope Recline Rows

1I) Sandbag Power Press

1J) Sandbag Get Ups

This is a killer group of exercises!  It will crush YOU!

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Check Part 1 of the video here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Stay tuned for part 2!

PS – Leave you comments if you have any!

Hope everything is going strong for you with any and all adventures you may be embarking on.

I’ve been really hammering the pulling movements hard in my workouts lately.

One of my main objectives is to be able to hit 5 good single arm pull ups on each side.  Right now I can only manage just one.  That’s on a good day.

I’ve got to say that to be able to do a single arm pull up, you’ve got to build up some serious strength from your head all the way down to your toes.

It takes so much more than to just pull yourself up over the bar.

Obviously you need to have serious upper back and lat strength to pull yourself over the bar.  Your shoulders much be strong enough to stabilize your whole body and keep it straight.  To aid in your stability, you must have an extremely strong core to stay tight to prevent from swinging.  Grip strength is crucial and is the link between you and the bar.  Without a tight grip, your pull up will be non existent.

On top of all these qualities, you must be lean and in good shape.  If your fat and flaccid, you’ll have a lot of extra weight you’ll be trying to pull up over the bar.  This is just another reason why you need to eat clean and stay lean.

I’ve always had a love for pull ups ever since grade school.  I was one of the few students who could actually do pull ups back in elementary P.E. class.   I was one of the few that could climb the rope and ring the bell.  I had a peg board my father had build in my garage I would regularly climb.  My wrestling club had a 60 ft long jungle gym latter hanging from the ceiling we would have to climb around on at practices.

Pulling is such an overlooked movement with many athletes today.  Too many athletes focus on presses, curls, and tricep extensions.  Too many mirror muscles being used.

The back is the key to a lot of an athletes overall strength.  It supports most movements and is a HUGE part of the core.  It serves for good posture, stability and power development.

If you’re an athlete or avid strength trainee, you need to be incorporating pulling movements into your program.

Some guidelines when it comes to pulling abilities I like to go by when training my athletes are these:

• 6+ bodyweight pull ups
• 15+ reclined rope rows
• 10+ hanging Leg raises
• BW x 1.5 deadlift x 5

These are just a few of movements to require a strong back with all of the other qualities I talked about earlier.  Obviously, there are people of there that can’t perform these standards and with anything, you have to start somewhere.  With everything, there comes progression and regression.

I’m about to give you a few ways to increase your pulling abilities.  Try throwing these 2 exercises into your regimen as much as possible to increase your pulling strength.

1)      Reclined Rowing – This is using your own bodyweight but isn’t limited to this.  You can add chains and weighted vests to this movement to add resistance.

If you have blast straps or a TRX, you can use these easily to perform reclined rows.  You can also use a racked barbell or smith machine and simply set the bar at about hip height and walk your legs underneath to where you can pull yourself up.  I would build yourself up to being able to perform 20+ reps with added weight.  If you’re eating clean and dropping body fat, you should be able to move on to pull ups.

2)      Negative Pull Ups – This is basically taking your pull ups and cutting out the actual pulling part.  To do this, grab a bench and set it up near a pull up bar.  Jump up and squeeze your back as tight as you can while having your chin over the bar.  From here lower yourself as slow as humanly possible.  Repeat for 8-10 reps or until you can’t hold on any longer.  This is great to add eccentric strength.  You add good stability to your pull and in time should be able to perform good regular pull ups.  Its all about being consistent.

From this point on, its all about progression.  Once you can do 1-2 pull ups do multiple sets.  I like trying to get anywhere from 25-50+ total reps of that movement.  If you can only get 1 good pull up, split it up into 50 sets.  Throw in a set in between your other exercises while you rest.  Soon you’ll be able to perform 3, 4, 5+ pull ups in a set and it all just keeps goes up from there.  Just stay consistent and the results will come.

For me, the most I’ve ever done in a set was 34 good pull ups.  To increase this number I’m going to focus on single arm pull ups.  I’ll do weighted 2 arm pull ups, rows, and obviously throw in every different style of grip I can to keep increasing the bottom line.

I figure if I can get myself to 5 good 1 arm pull ups per side, my overall strength will go up in my pulling abilities and I’ll tear up my total reps of pull ups.  I’ll be also focusing on high reps work every now and then while I’m doing this to make sure and keep my strength endurance to perform lots of reps.

The main reason for this post is to get you focused on how important pulls are in your training.  If you’re not currently pulling more than your pushing, make the change.  I guarantee your results will go up!

Get Forged Strong!

Travis

Boy it’s been a crazy weekend!

I just got back from Louisville, KY at Bootcamp, Bootcamp, where I met up with lots of other fitness pros that came from around the country and world.

I was stoked! I met up with a pal  Zach Even-Esh and met and made some more new pals likes Jason C Brown and Pamela MacElree, who are two of the most sought out kettlebell gurus in the country.    I also met some other really inspirational people as well!

Overall it was a great weekend but, I couldn’t just travel to Louisville and hang with a ton of the biggest boot camp owners and fitness pro’s in the world without repping The Forged Athlete!

On the last day of the seminar, TRX had a “40-40” challenge which is 40 atomic push ups with a min rest in between then immediately 40 reclined rows.  I was able to complete the task and win myself a brand spanking new TRX!  I’m thrilled!  It’s in the mail as I write this now!

The TRX in my opinion is one of the best pieces of equipment to train one to get strong as heck with simple “suspended” bodyweight exercises.  I also feel it’s one of the best ways to train your core to build a solid mid section as well.  The exercise options and difficulty levels you can bring yourself to with the TRX are endless.  Besides a good pair of Olympic rings, the TRX is by far, the best bodyweight training system out there.

Which reminds me to let you all in on some really cool info about what’s going to be taking place in a few months. The Forged Athlete will be holding TRX “Underground” Suspension Training Boot Camps.  These camps will rip you up, BIG TIME!   You’ll build crazy strength, power, loads of new muscle, and of course, help increase insane amounts of athletic ability.

In the mean time, check me out tearing up this “40-40” challenge.  I should’ve turned it into a “50-50” challenge.  Ha Ha!  Next time…

Get Forged Strong!

TRX 40-40 Challenge Forged Style

It was a light day today for my training. We worked for speed during our lifts. At the end of the workout big T and I felt so great that we deiced to do a little extra work on the side. To give you guys an idea on what we did hear is a list below of the exercises we worked with. Remember the whole time each rep is done with speed. We are always telling each other to explode through movments. This was a light upperbody day, check it out.

Bench 3-5×5

Bent Row 3-4×10

Pull ups 3xmax

pushups 3x 6-10

During the end of the workout we felt so great we deicded to add a few things. We grabbed some 100lb dumb bells and walked those heavy ass things down the gym and back. We also crushed some TRX bicep curls and tricep extentions. My forearms were on fire from the Db farmers walks. Not to mention my upper back and entire body to go along with that. I would like to hear if anyone is carrying anything for their workouts and the expericance they get from doing it. Send us a comment on what you guys do.. Till next time stay forged strong. Coach Joe

If you don’t already know, the TRX is a suspension based training system that focuses on functional core and bodyweight training.  The beauty of this piece of equipment is that you can take it virtually anywhere and it has 100’s of uses.   Use it at home, in the park, at the gym, or any where you can anchor it. 

 Joe and I have been using this tool for years!  Its amazing for really jacking up your bodyweight workouts to a whole new level.  I also use is to push and pull the prowler around as well.  Very versatile!  Here is a video we made of a couple of our recent workouts with the TRX.  This is part one.  Stay tuned for part 2 coming soon. 

If you are interested in getting your very own TRX, check this site out and order yours today!  Click Here

Click here to view the embedded video.