Monthly Archives: August 2010

Up through a dark alley way and along a deserted street, from the other side of a fenced in yard a guard dog barks a might warning. Hairs stand up on the menacing beast, though on second-glance his youthful eyes giveaway the pup still within, yearning for a good scratch behind the ears. Twenty paces or so beyond the pup on the porch, the eyes of the alpha is bearing down. Not a blink or a modest growl but the eyes have you deep in the sights. One move in the wrong direction and you will learn the greying beard masks a veteran's poise to get the tough job done.

September is here and finally the lazy days of summer and can be bid farewell. My faster, faster demeanour welcomes the end of August and warmly embrace September, a month of action and of stated intent.

Somewhere right now, a workforce is rolling its sleeves up, getting back to work and pouring through another pot of coffee. Somewhere in the deep recesses of a library a student is setting their sights on a great year and somewhere in the sporting world, a cagey old veteran is about to some the whole damn world, they've still got what it takes to lead.

Stated intent is a simple, yet brilliant thing. It is a firm contract that say’s, you will apply yourself and head straight towards your goals. Sadly, within a world that accepts last-place as a ribbon-winning event, stated intent gets lost in the shuffle. However, as you embark on this September, sign a contract of stated intent that instead of accepting less, asks for more. Ask more for yourself and push the boundaries of what you believe in. Believe in yourself and eliminate fear from the equation. Fear nothing, focus and apply.

Take the lead from that old greying dog on the porch and leave the bravado aside. While the band will play a mighty song and society now accepts the inevitable barking beast that lacks bite, go a different route. Show resolve, volition but with honour and even something very unfashionable now, good sportsmanship.

Applying yourself with all your might is possibly the single most challenging element for a teacher, coach or mentor to communicate to their students. Whether it is in academic studies, the workplace or athletic pursuits, this overall idea is near impossible to express in words sufficiently. Likely, or at least the route that has worked best for me, is the overall notion of honouring your past, your name and effectively taking yourself out of the equation and instead serving another.

For those in sport, ignore self-serving interests that have accepted the starlet vision, where your success is your own. Show good sportsmanship but realise amongst team sports, it is a team sport and just like a workplace pulling together, we are all part of the team. Quite possibly, that is the biggest story of them all because we are all part of the same team and its time to roll up your sleeve, dig in and get ready for September, a time of action and stated intent.

Prepared by John Davies

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s, Google+, Renegade Training™ on Google+ as well as or Twitter.

John’s present supplement stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Yok3d, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle (workout log 1, 2, 3, 4).

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk.

photos credit Ar'Shaun Johnson arshaunjohnsonphotography.com

There are many steps in building a record of success. Whether through your overall walk in life, your business career, academic studies of even in sporting world, there are numerous commonalities.

Success is not a random occurrence. It comes through hard work and determination within a mixture of knowledge and application. To be successful in today’s world you will need to apply yourself with a firm education and a heavy dose of resolve.

While many like to present an “easy road”, that is merely to get the “easy sale” from the unsuspecting consumer. The adage of “things, worth having are worth working for”, ring true throughout history as if you wish to be successful in any avenue of life, it requires drive, determination and dedication.

“Drive, determination and dedication” sit at the hub of the Renegade Wheel of Conditioning™ as well as our important “career creation” plan for developing leaders of tomorrow, today. Not only are these three characteristics key to success in sport conditioning, health and fitness but the foundation of career development and personal fulfilment.

Yet all too often in teaching and coaching ranks the “win at all costs” attitude has taken over without ever realizing that each action has a consequence and therefore, along with “drive, determination and dedication”, honour, commitment and loyalty must be affirmed. Without notions of solid values and mores, the “win at all costs” attitude leads down the road to ruin, where winning is losing.

From this point, we have a simple yet classical landscape to paint in the development of an individual and one that many will be familiar with because I ask you to do, what you do with all your might. Further, realise that success comes not through the easy stroll in life but rolling peaks and valleys. Sputters through the valley may be trying but they set the stage for greater success and in so doing by coming through troublesome day’s you achieve one of the greatest honours in life, you leave great footprints for others to follow.

Life is faced with many obstacles, some more daunting than the next but each a challenge nonetheless. Invariably, life will knock you down from time to time but understand the sole difference of those who stand on the victor’s podium and those who gaze upwards, is never allowing yourself to stay on the canvas as you realise adversity is something you overcome. Get back up, never stay down and remember as you dust yourself off for a new day, you are teaching great lessons for those who come after you. There are many storm clouds in the future but as surely they will come, I know I will press on through them and at days end will be proud of the walk I have taken.

I say this absolute voice of experience my friends. Without literary license or likewise, I have been counted-out on a few occasions, including some of the most dire nature. However, through those trials I have learned much and with those lessons teeming throughout my daily existence, I know how to win the tough fight. As challenges rise, fear does not play a role in my life and I press onward through the toughest valleys and venture upward.

Now with the cool autumn night’s breeze, I am ready for the challenge. My hands ball up, in wait and I refuse to be vanquished or falter for the memory who came before me and for those who will follow my path.

Adversity is something I have overcome.

This is who I am and this is what I am made of.

Prepared by John Davies

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s, Google+, Renegade Training™ on Google+ as well as or Twitter.

John’s present supplement stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Yok3d, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle (workout log 1, 2, 3, 4).

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk.

photos supplied from Renegade Training's "Deuce's Wild"

One of the most challenging visualizations within athletic based resistance training is that you lift a weight in your hands with your legs. The nature of such a statement is obtuse and possibly impossible for many to put into practice, simply because they have allowed lower body development to wane or failed to understand this key element. While I cannot imagine anyone consciously neglecting proper training measures, the industry is laden with incorrect technique as well as misguided goals and all too often dictated training regimes by those who do little that other train. Though there is nothing wrong with enjoying physical exercise, “training to train” lends itself to many problems, chiefly misunderstanding the need to develop broad general athletic abilities that understands “movement not musculature” and will in-turn possibly lead to a healthier more active life.

While “movements not musculature” is a clever sounding phrase, albeit with none intended, it equally signals a freeing up to the confines of the training room. One of the greatest limitations in the exercise facilities in the world is the use of habitual training measures that oddly turns the notion of “generalized” work into “specialized”. Though it is a peculiar notion, while many look to return to “back to basics” by choosing a few basic movements, they fail to recognize the “law of adaptation” and instead of desired training effect, learn perform the exercise better. The list is endless, none more glaring in body callisthenics or kettlebell lifting, where you are pinned into do a series of basic movements and lacking variation, perfect the movement as opposed to improving overall conditioning at the same rate.

Naturally, the familiarity of a movement can have its advantages and technical execution illicitness proper movement pattern but the problem of assimilation to exercises is one of the greatest issues for intermediate to elite level athletes. This “problem” if you will, gives clue to why many teams / players perform well in workouts but not in the field of competition, as there is only modest carryover to performance conditions. Along with understanding the nature of “chaos” training, like a student who scores poorly in exams after studying in a completely different environment (i.e. not studying in the same setting as an exam), by understanding the carryover effect from varying exercises is a profound clue to successful athletic training.

In so doing, with a freeing up from the relatively static nature of much of the resistance-training sector, dedicated coaches and athletes should embrace a wide variety of mediums. By constantly shifting different mediums and settings, the adaptation curve shifts forward and along with an improved training effect but the actual final performance will as well. Quite obviously, the same route to success can be used within athletic circles as within education and the development of leaders of tomorrow, today. By “painting with a broad brush” and exposes our students or those we mentor to a wide grouping of stimuli we will not only expose them to more expansive educational experience but further their ability to react to rapidly changing environments, ultimately a key tool in a leaders arsenal.

prepared by John Davies

The efficient use of time is one of the complex issues in modern society. Time is a valuable commodity and with little to spare, exercise is often one of the first to hit the chopping block.

Yet one of the best training approaches for generalized use is equally time sensitive. Training complexes assist in the development of overall fitness, will help reduce unwanted weight as well as improve power and force production. When designed properly as training complex will enhance all aspect of typical exercise regime but with a time sensitive manner. Within my approach, training complexes serve as a foundation of resistance training to teach leg and hip drive as well as overall “body harmony”. Returning to the one of the more obtuse notions of my theories on resistance training, one key is lifting a weight in your hands through force generated with your legs.

Utilizing the most basic complex in Renegade Training™, a lifter can generate and extraordinary workout in roughly twelve minutes, quite obviously allowing them to do additional work such as RED² and DMC™ to fill out a perfect balanced regime.

The set and rep scheme are performed in "ascending" and "descending" order, where the "focus" lift of each complex (the first lift in the sequence) is performed six total reps. As an example in a "PC to FS" "2:1 ascending" set, the Power Clean would be performed twice before one Front Squat to complete the first of three repetitions.

After reviewing proper technique of the Power Clean, Front Squat and Push Press / Split Jerk, perform the following training session. Rest intervals should be 45 seconds between sets and yes, welcome to the world of Renegade Training™.

You have twelve minutes to complete your task, time to get to work and get serious. This is not empty clatter because those who think this is false bravado or even clever marketing need to understand loud and clear that I demand excellence. I will not hear the slightest of waivers and find mental weakness inexcusable if not simply vile. Those who walk in the doorway of Renegade Training™ know we have a mandate to leave great paths for others to follow and this assumes each in line will press forward with a commitment to leaving a great legacy.  I warrant this work will be extremely challenging but in so doing, you will learn to breathe a fire that says adversity is something we overcome and yes, once again, if it's that easy, I don't want it. Throughout my life, I have pushed aside doubters and cheated the darkest fate against all odds and while there are many reasons for my success, with my back up against the wall the anyway, anyhow attitude is one card that can't be beat.

Get to work, it's time to build leaders of tomorrow, today.

1. Power Clean / Front Squat: Ascending 2:1, repeat x 3
2. Front Squat / Power Clean: Descending 2:1, repeat x 3
3. Front Squat / Push Press: Ascending 2:1, repeat x 3
4. Push Press / Front Squat: Descending 2:1, repeat x 3
5. Back Squat / Split Jerk: Ascending 2:1, repeat x 3
6. Split Jerk / Back Squat: Descending 2:1, repeat x 3
7. Power Clean / Front Squat: Ascending 3:1, repeat x 2
8. Front Squat / Power Clean: Descending 3:1, repeat x 2
9. Front Squat / Push Press: Ascending 3:1, repeat x 2
10. Push Press / Front Squat: Descending 3:1, repeat x 2
11. Back Squat / Split Jerk: Ascending 3:1, repeat x 2
12. Split Jerk / Back Squat: Descending 3:1, repeat x 2

prepared by John Davies

photos supplied from Renegade Training's "Dawn Patrol, part one"

With the start of High School and NCAA Football season upon us, I thought it best to turn my attention quickly to the gridiron. From my book, “Mastery on the Gridiron”, an important section on agility training:

From a physical perspective, Football is a game of electrifying speed, power and agility. In-fact you might look at agility as being both one the most deciding factors of an athlete’s development and equally misunderstood in their physical training. Improvements in agility, as it relates to on-field performance through a variety of manners:

• Resistance training
• Range of Motion
• SPP

Resistance training
Resistance training protocols are the main determinant of reactive strength / agility concerns. All lifts are performed with an understanding the posture, eccentric strength and loading parameters is the major influence on reactive strength ability. As you consider this aspect, machine based lifting regimes should become highly questionable as a training medium and should be eliminated for the most part given there inferior lack of the eccentric stimuli (most situations) in comparison to free weights and thus its training effect is greatly limited and not manageable from a compliance standpoint.

Range of Motion
As previously discussed, an athlete with “good bend” will be able to maintain proper body alignment on the field and illicit movement in the most explosive and fluid manner possible.

Dynamic range of motion is critical for our agility needs and cannot be underestimated. It is crucial given the very challenging demands sport skill demands.

Sport Specific Preparation (SPP)
This is certainly a murky area and confusing because for from a theoretical standpoint the most important part agility training is within our resistance section if you ignore the sports specific aspect of training. This is a point that many members of “the profession” will follow as they are looking at it purely from a textbook standpoint, yet in-truth we all know we are training Football players. Agility ladder, Cone drills and Bag drills are sport-specific work that will enhance on-field performance. While it would likely be better phrased as, “enhancing technical aspects of sport specific skills” that seems a flowery way to describe a training system. However, quite honestly I do not have the time or need to make this into a debate that is generally done by coaches who cannot keep their jobs much less know what it is like to win championships at every level, which I do. Straight-up and simple agility training crosses the line into SPP and needs to be done.

As it relates to its development of agility, my programs will make use of five distinct mediums in varying degrees. Each of these mediums is included in consideration of young athletes whose training necessitates early fundamental work. These five mediums utilized are:

• Rope Skip
• Agility ladders
• Cone Drills
• Shuttle drills
• Bag Drills

prepared by John Davies