3 Things I’m Liking Right Now – Fat Gripz, Hip Thrusts, Basketball Season is Here
October 30, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
3 Things I’m Liking Right Now
Hip Thrusts
Not bad for a 3rd Grader!
Everyone have a safe and healthy week. I’ll talk to you soon…
Mid-August Randomness… Daxton’s 1st Time Bowling; The “Donut Burger” etc etc…
August 13, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
Here we go…
Daxton’s 1st Bowling Experience
Yesterday we celebrated Carson’s 12th birthday party at the bowling alley. A lot of fun! Here is Daxton’s 1st attempt…
Don’t Try This At Home (or at the fair)
So I went to the Boone County Fair to support some of my friends/clients that were showing their pigs/cows ‘n all that. Definitely interesting. Anyway, as I was walking back to the car to head home, I see this sign…
A heart attack waiting to happen!
Now, as you know, I’m a pretty healthy dude that also believes in enjoying life and splurging from time to time. But a donut plus a greasy burger rolled into one sandwich is probably about as bad as it gets. With that said, I just couldn’t pass it up. If I saw a sign for a six-legged duck, I’d probably have to stop and look just because I may never have that opportunity again… same thing with this donut burger – a once in a lifetime opportunity. ;)
What they did was cut a glazed donut in half and use it for the top and bottom half of the bun. I honestly don’t remember the last time I ate a donut, let alone combined with a burger. It turned out to be very tasty, very greasy, and very sticky for my fingers. It’s now crossed off my bucket list, and I can move on in life knowing that I owned that donut burger. 
Torn Calf
A few months back I tore my calf while playing basketball. I then considered “retiring” from playing hoops anymore because of the fact that I make my living training others and demonstrating moves/drills while giving basketball lessons. And getting hurt makes both of those tasks VERY tough! I’m still up in the air as to whether or not I’ll join my friends when our b-ball league rolls around next winter. And when they ask me to play a little pick up hoops here and there, I’m not sure if I’ll keep saying no thanks… or will I say, “screw it, I’m in!”
One of the girls that I train in the weight room and on the basketball court, is heading to college in about a week to play basketball. She’s coming off of knee surgery and has not gone up against live competition in months. So during a portion of our last couple lessons, we’ve played a little one-on-one and my calf has responded pretty well. No injuries, BUT I still do feel a little “twinge” as I push off of it. I don’t know how much of it is my head and how much of it is “real.” Injuries are a tricky thing. Wish me luck in keeping this calf healthy and help give me the strength to not push it too far and re-injury it! Please, I need you! 
Quads/Squats
Speaking of my calf injury, when I was hobbling around, I couldn’t do a whole for my quads (although I still got quite a bit of posterior chain work in … you know, hamstrings and glutes). But since I’ve returned to going full force with quad dominant movement again, my quads have responded really well. I used to think my legs were my weakness, but my quads have actually become one of my more developed body parts. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing for my calves. But, back to the positive…
This last month and a half or so, I’ve been mostly using 2 quad dominant exercises – Back Squats and Bulgarian Split Squats. But mainly back squats. Here’s a picture of my current quad development…
John Alvino posted this on facebook the other day and I shared it. In case you missed it, here it is again…
C'mon dude, find a squat rack!
Don’t be this guy. Be a man and work your legs!
Ladies, you like it when a guy has nice legs and glutes, right?
What do you think of Daxon’s 1st attempt at bowling? Is he the next Roy Munson? Or should I just keep him on the basketball courts?
Finally, would you dare try the donut burger? Or just too frightening for you?
The Week That Was: July 1st-7th…
July 9, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
I thought I’d take this time to go over some of the highlights of the past week in my life. So, let’s get right to it…
I) For the 4th of July we had some friends invite us over to their lake for some fun. I needed to be near water as this heat wave has been brutal! Here are some pictures…
Capri Foam Rolling her adductors on the beach.
Daxton and I in the water.
Capri "swimming."
Great time had by all! The water was perfect, and the brats, brownies, and EVERYTHING tasted great. I DID make sure to get in plenty of fruit and some veggies, however. ”Damage control,” I guess you could call it. Which leads to my next point…
II) I continued performing my training program which is geared towards “fat loss,” “get lean,” “get ripped,” or whatever you want to call it. I’ve been working my ass off and it hasn’t been easy (the training program hasn’t been easy, that is). That’s where the damage control comment came from up above as it wouldn’t make sense to go kill it in the weight room only to go out and eat like crap. I’m still going to detail what my “fat loss” program has looked like over the last couple of weeks, so stay tuned (should have it up next week sometime).
III) I went to watch a bunch of my basketball clients play in a tournament yesterday. It’s always fun to see them play 5-on-5 against live competition. I usually only see them working on their skills with no one else around (as in a 1-on-1 session), or with a couple of partners (as in 2-on-1 or a 3-on-1 session). Therefore, it’s hard to evaluate if some of the moves that we work on are “game-ready” yet.
Overall I was happy with the progress that they have been making. Still a lot of work to do, but they’re heading in the right direction!
One of the players (Jake Ryan – 7th-grader) that I’ve been working with played especially well. He had 23 points and they came in a variety of ways… pull-up jumpers; getting all the way to basketball; 9-10 at the FT line; and he had a couple 3’s. More important to me, is the fact that he is taking what he learns in our lessons and “transferring” it over to the game. For example, his head was always up and he did a great job of finding the open man; he changed speed (i.e. hesitation dribble); he “smoothly” changed directions (i.e. crossover dribble/between the legs dribble); AND, I was very happy to see that he combined both the change of direction and change of speed together at the same time (i.e. in the open court he hesitated, and went right in to the crossover). Great job Jake, your hard work is showing!
For a little more advanced version of what I’m talking about, check out how many of these change of direction moves are combined with a change of speed…
Nasty! BTW, the Deron Williams play is my favorite in the video (#2). He’s underrated for his ability to make defenders look like fools!
That’ll wrap things up for now. I hope you all had a great 4th of July week, and that you continue to work hard through the rest of the summer!
My New Article and Another Friend Visits Me Here In Illinois
June 25, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
Here is a little look at my week that was…
My New Article
I had a new article published over at FitWatch. The question was, “What Is a Normal Body Fat Percentage?” And it went something like this…
You look down at your stomach and give it a pinch. You think to yourself, I wonder what my body fat percentage is, and I wonder if it’s normal. KEEP READING…
Another Friend Comes to Town For a Visit
Last week, my buddy came in from Omaha to hit up Wrigley for a Cubs/Red Sox game. Great time! This week I had another visitor in town – Kevin Campbell. Kevin was one of my very first clients when I moved to California back in 2004. He was in 8th grade then. I trained this “kid” from that year all way until I moved back to Illinois last year! And I can now refer to him as a man. He’s currently 22 years old (turns 23 next week) and about to graduate from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. We were laughing about it when I asked him, “man, that day back in 8th grade when you walked into the gym to first meet your new trainer, did you think you’d be visiting me half way across the country 8 years later!?!” I’m very glad that we met that day as he has become a life-long friend. A funny little side story: As we talked at dinner before I dropped him off at the airport, part of our conversation went like this:
Kevin: When I met you at our first training session, I thought you smoked.
Me: What???!!!???
Kevin: Yeah, you kind of smelled like cigarette smoke, so I thought you were a smoker.
Me: What???!!!???
Yeah, that must have been a good first impression! You meet your trainer for the first time and you think that he/she smokes! Kevin now knows that even to this day, I have NEVER even taken a puff of a cigarette! Funny stuff!
It was great having Kevin in town as I got to show him where I grew, and take him around to some of the “hot spots” here in the Rockton/Roscoe area. He even came up and shot around in my old high school gym as I gave a basketball lesson to one of my current b-ball clients. I warned Kevin that he may need to cover his head when we take our first step into Hononegah’s (my alma mater) gym as my fans may run out of the bleachers and maul me… but it didn’t happen. How embarrassing for me.
Kevin and I also got a workout in down in my basement where I am currently training clients (I may not be at this location much longer… but I’ll save that teaser for another blogpost in the not too distant future). When McKenna visited me last week, he and I also got a session in. Man, I wish these guys were around ALL THE TIME to train with… it’s so much better to train when surrounded by someone there to push you!!!
All-in-all, it was great to have Kevin in town! And by the way, to this day I continue to train Kevin on-line. Talk about one dedicated dude!
Kevin getting after it at our training session.
Alright, I’m about to write-up my new training program… a fat loss program. That’s a first for me. I’ll explain what I mean in a blogpost later on in the week or by next week at the latest. See you then…
Brilliant at the Basics (Dribbling Skills) – Episode II
June 14, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
In case you missed “Episode I,” CLICK HERE. I’ll include the “introductory video” again today… to get you up to speed…
When it comes to dribbling skills, things are no different than with a quality strength training program. That is, you must first build a foundation (get brilliant at the basics), before you can even think about getting “all fancy.” It’s about working toward making progressions from week-to-week (again, just like you should be aiming to do when in the weight room).
There you have it, handles 101. Ok young ballers, go get it!
On a side note. I’ll be at Wrigley for Friday’s Cubs/Red Sox game! I can’t wait! I haven’t been to Wrigley for years and this will be my first time back at my favorite place on Earth since moving back to Illinois. And to make it even better, one of my best friends, McKenna, is driving in from Omaha to go to the game with me. He’s a long time Red Sox fan and this will be his first time at Wrigley. I’m interested to see how he thinks Wrigley Field compares to Fenway Park (or is it Pok?)
Anyway, good times are ahead, and to keep with the theme of brilliant at the basics, we’ll definitely keep it simple by starting off with an Old Style and a Chicago Style Hot Dog.
I'm gonna tear this up on Friday (minus the mustard)!
But not to worry y’all… I’ll get right back on my usual clean eating/living the next day. It’s about finding that balance… and an Old Style with a dog definitely fits in the plan from time to time!
Have a great rest of your week and a great weekend my friends. I know I will!
Off-Season Training for Basketball
June 4, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
I put up a similar blogpost a few weeks back. But in case you missed it, here it the “article version.” Powerbasketball.com published THIS ARTICLE that I wrote. The majority of the information comes in the video, so make sure to check that out. Remember, at this time of the year (late spring/early summer), skill development is HUGE!
Now, this boy has some skills!
I’m about to put up a couple blogposts per week with the following theme: Be Brilliant at the Basics. I’ll elaborate soon. So be sure to check back to find out what I’m talking about.
See you then!
Saying Goodbye To My First True Love
April 30, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
No, I’m not talking about the first girl that I fell in love with. I’m talking about basketball. I think it’s time to say goodbye…
This past Thursday night I headed up to Hononegah High School for open gym. I hadn’t played full court b-ball since the tourney I was in about a month ago – I gave the tourney highlights, HERE. The first game of open gym was all good. We won and I wasn’t rusty at all. I probably went 4-5 from the floor. And in the second game, I started the game off pulling up from the top of the key and hitting a 3. I thought to myself, man I feel good, pretty damn tired, but good! One of my teammates even said to me; “Geez, do you ever miss!?!”
We then had a couple more trips up and down the court. When we headed back down to our offensive end, I came off a screen, pushed off with my right foot, and then it happened!!! I felt a POP in my right calf. It felt like someone shot me!
The aftermath...
I hobbled over to the sideline in excruciating pain. I knew something was wrong and I couldn’t walk so I called up my dad to pick me up (he only lives a 1/2 mile from the school) and take me over to immediate care to get it checked out. It turns out I tore a muscle in my calf. Damn!
What’s Next?
Ever since I was 8-9 years old, I basically lived with a basketball in my hand… always dribbling around the neighborhood, on the bike path, while walking over to a friend’s house, etc etc. But I think it’s time to say goodbye to my first true love. Not goodbye, as in I’ll never shoot or dribble a ball again. I mean goodbye as in, I’m done playing in tournaments, pick-up games, open gyms, etc. I depend on my body to make a living. If I’m hurt, I can’t effectively demonstrate dribbling moves when giving basketball lessons, and I can’t effectively train people if I can’t demonstrate how to perform a certain lift.
I have given a few basketball lessons and trained a number of people in the weight room since last Thursday’s incident. And let me tell you, it’s not the same! Now, I don’t think that if I continued to play that every time I stepped onto the court I’d walk away with injury. But the risk:reward just isn’t there anymore. If I’m hurt, I can’t do my job optimally. Because I play full court hoops so infrequently nowadays, I’m always VERY SORE the next day or two… which is no fun. In order to get rid of this soreness, I’d have to play a few times a week until I got accustomed to it. And that would just kill my body/joints.
So, on one hand I’m sad that I’m saying bye to playing competitively. But on the other hand, I’m ok with it. I mean, I’ve played more basketball in my life than most people would play in four lifetimes.
Making a Comeback?
Who knows, maybe I’ll miss it so much that I’ll make a Michael Jordan type of comeback. ”Retire” again. Then make another comeback. But I doubt it. I think for now on, all of my cardio is going to be the low-impact kind. Just like I preach to my clients that are 35 years old or older. I can still do battling ropes, use the prowler, do some barbell complexes, etc. etc.
If I do make a comeback, you’ll have to come back to this blog to find out. Because I’m pretty sure ESPN won’t be covering it. Although I wonder if I can get ESPN 8 The “Ocho” to air it?!?
Do you know what movie this is from?
Ok, I guess this it, the time to say goodbye has arrived… Goodbye basketball. Thanks for all that you’ve given me. You’ve changed my life. Thank you and I love you.
True Love
Have any of you made the tough decision to “retire” from a physical activity you love that was beating up your body? If so, how tough was it and did you stay with it? Please, let me know…
Demanding Great Execution vs. Over-Coaching … a Fine Line!
April 24, 2012 by danny · 3 Comments
Lee Taft is a very smart strength coach/movement coach/speed coach (whatever you want to call him). Anyway, I was reading one of his articles earlier today, and really liked this part of his article:
“Always remember the brain is programming the patterns. If they are sloppy that is how they will be programmed in the brain. Demand great execution.”
This is great advice! If you work with clients in the weight room, or athletes on the field/court/ice, keep in mind that the brain will remember poor movement patterns. So, do not let your clients/athletes get sloppy with their form. Once that poor movement pattern is repeated, it will be much more difficult for them to get it right later on. Be strict from the get-go so you set up for future success once you get more advanced down the line (i.e. add more weight to the bar in the weight room, or increase the speed of a drill on the playing field).
If you're training this guy, NEVER let him perform another rep like this again!
However…
If you “over-nitpick,” the client/athlete can get really frustrated that they are not “getting it.” So there is a fine line between demanding great execution and over-coaching. Knowing your client/athlete’s mental make-up is important. You can’t always treat everyone the same way. Some will respond really well even if they are getting frustrated that are having a hard time learning the new skill. They may have the attitude of, “BRING IT! I’m GOING to this. Let me try again!”
While others may need some extra positive reinforcement and encouragement or they’ll start to tune you out and get so frustrated that nothing gets accomplished during the training session or practice.
Having a bunch of regressions and progressions in your arsenal can be very helpful.
As a trainer/coach… some of this can be learned in a book. Some of it can only be learned “in the trenches.” This is why internet coaches/trainers that don’t work with people in person will always be a step behind coaches/trainers that have experience working with people right there in front of their face.
If you are a trainer or a coach, do you treat everyone the same? Or do you make modifications based on the individual that you are working with? Discuss below…
Early Off-Season Training For Basketball Players – Skill Development Is King
April 17, 2012 by danny · 4 Comments
I’ll let the video below provide the majority of the information. But briefly…
Quite often athletes get too caught up in, “harder is better.” i.e. “if I don’t put in 3 hours on the court working on my game, I’m not going to be the best player that I can be.” OR, “if I don’t leave the court feeling like I’m about to puke, I didn’t go hard enough.”
I like this mindset, as I know you are thinking, “I’ll do WHATEVER it takes to be the best player that I can be.” BUT, there are many aspects of your game that help you to become a great player – skill, heart, discipline, conditioning, strength, staying healthy, coachability, etc. etc. And let me tell you, right now in mid-April, conditioning is NOT very important. I’m obviously not saying that you should sit on the couch all day eating doritos and turn into a slob. But when you head to the gym to work on your game, emphasize skill development. Conditioning will become a higher priority as tryouts in October approaches. But for now, focus on improving your skeelz! And oh yeah, get in the weight room, will ya. Check out the video below as I go over two very important factors in getting the most out of your game: Efficiency and the “hierarchy” of off-season training for basketball.
Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts in the comments section below…
Now, go get in the gym and work on those handles, your pull-up J, and work to expand the range on your shot. And remember, do everything with a purpose! For every dribble, every shot, and every move, I want you to visualize that you are being guarded by the best defender in your conference. Go get it!
I’m 36 Years Old Today… but I feel like I’m 86!
March 26, 2012 by danny · 2 Comments
March 26th – another year in the books for me. Why do I feel like an 86 year old fart? Because I played in a basketball tournament this weekend… 4 games! I have blisters all over my feet, scratches and cuts all over my body (thanks for “letting us play,” refs!), and my knees, legs, shoulders, and legs are killing me. I haven’t played in a tournament in YEARRRRRS! But it was a lot of fun as I got to play with my old college coach… Carl Armato, my friends “Shinny,” and “Scooter,” as well as a bunch of players that made it when they could. In other words, because of people’s busy schedule, we were never really at full strength.
For example, in the 1st game we had Todd Townsend on our team. He played on Marquettte’s Final Four team back in the early 2000’s (with Dwyane Wade). He couldn’t make the rest of the games so we were scrambling and calling people left and right to see who we could pick up. We ended up getting enough each game for a full squad, but like I mentioned, it was tough to get a good rhythm going with new guys showing up for each of the 4 games.
This was a unique tourney as it was 4-on-4. The games were played on an elementary court, which is considerably smaller than a high school or college court.
Alright, to recap this weekend’s games…
Game 1
We got off to a good start in the opener on Friday night. It was a hard-fought game and we pulled away a bit at the end, winding up with about a 10 point victory.
Team - We got the W, and we’re “well on our way.”
Me – I played pretty well. I probably shot about 50 % from the floor and give myself a B for the game (grading on an A through F scale).
Game 2
I woke up Saturday morning sore as sh#t! I was thinking, “how am I going to make it through 3 more games!?!” Without the foam roller, lacrosse ball, and a THOROUGH warm-up between each game, there is no way I would have survived. But I did…
Unfortunately we got our ass kicked up and down the court in this game. They had a player that played at the University of Iowa and I think he hit 47 three’s on us (give or take). We got down big early, and stayed down big ’til the end. Frustrating! Me however, I was on fire. It was one of those games where basically everything I shot wound up in the bottom of the net… pull-up jumpers, spinning moves to the basket, And-1s, etc. etc. I’d guess I probably shot about 12-15 from the field.
Team – A BIG fat L!
Me – My best game of the tourney … A+
Game 3
Once again, we didn’t play very well as a team today. And once again, we didn’t defend the 3-ball well… at all! This was a game we should have won, damn it!
Team - Loss #2
Me – I shot average, played average. C
Note: I went out after this game with Shinny and Scooter and we “got after it” a bit. We went to a bar/comedy show to drown our sorrows. And let me tell, it’s hard to keep up with guys that weigh 2 times more than me! We had a fun night, and luckily our final game on Sunday did not tip ’til 3 p.m.
Game 4
Before the game I’m thinking to myself, “if we lose this game, I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight!” And I’m happy to report that we went out with a win. We put it all together… shot well, passed well, play some good D, and finally didn’t let our opponent GO OFF from 3-point land. Good way to close out a fun weekend.
Team - We won and finished 2-2 for the tournament.
Me – Good overall game and I shot it pretty well with a couple And-1s mixed in there. B+
Well, I don’t think that I’m going to be playing in a tournament anytime soon. They take a toll on the body, especially when you don’t play as much anymore. And although I treat my body pretty well in general, there is a BIG difference between being in “general” shape and basketball shape!!!
I’m going to make today an “active recovery” day (similar to what I go over in “My Body Is A MESS!”), then start up a new training block in a couple days.
As for my birthday, I have a few more clients to train, and then we’ll all head over to my parent’s house as my mom is cooking me up a nice little b-day dinner.
My first birthday with the babies = awesome!
