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! 
Brilliant at the Basics – Episode I
June 7, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
Strength Coach Mike Boyle recently wrote a really good blogpost. In it, he quoted Coach Dewey Neilsen:” Be Brilliant at the Basics.”
In the video below, I elaborate…
I was a guest speaker at a basketball camp today, and this whole brilliant at the basic thing, was the “theme” of my speech. Far too often we are in such a hurry (in sports and/or training) to get to the advanced stuff, but we fail to “master” the basics. So my next few blogposts will be real world examples of getting brilliant at the basics. I’ll include both basketball and fitness examples. First up… push-ups.
The first question to come out of ANY young (male) trainee’s mouth is; “how much ya bench?” Well, I like the bench press, but 95% of these guys can’t even perform a proper push-up yet. So why are they worrying about how much they can max out on on the bench press? I guess it’s in our DNA… in order to become a MAN, you HAVE TO max out on the bench! 
I also have some of my young high school guys asking me, “when do we get to bench press with those chains!?!”
While I LOVE that they are excited to try new things here in the weight room, there is no need for those advanced methods just yet. Let’s first learn to master a push-up!
Here are some common push-up errors that I see on a weekly basis…
So, “Be Brilliant at the Basics,” episode I is in the books. Check back in a couple days for some more examples along these lines.
If you have friends that could benefit from this post, please share it with ALL OF THEM!
Motivation…
May 7, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
If you’re in a rut or just need a little pick-me-up, hopefully this helps…
-As I stated in this blog post, I’m currently working around an injury. No need to stop training when injured (in 99% of the cases). There is always something you can do. Stop the excuses!
-Just Do It!
-Physiques that make your realize you can always do better…
Guys…
Ladies…
-“Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer.”
Marcia Wieder
-THE key ingredient while training is HARD WORK! …
-“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” – Muhammad Ali
Now go make it happen …
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!
The Many Uses of Bands in a Training Program
March 6, 2012 by danny · 5 Comments
Last week I mentioned in this blogpost that I’d be putting up a video of me performing many different exercises with the use of bands. Bands are a great tool to include in your toolbox. They take up very little space and you can travel with them when vacationing (or while on a business trip). If you put a TRX strap and some bands in your luggage, you could get a full workout in with no problem. I got my TRX straps and bands from Perform Better. Just click on the Perform Better link down and to the right and it’ll take you right to their website. Put “Superbands” in the search engine… I suggest getting a 1/2″ and 1″ band to get you started.
While the video below doesn’t include every band exercise imaginable, I did include quite a few. Hopefully it gives you some great ideas. As you’ll see, the bands can be used to add resistance to an exercise, add assistance to an exercise, or used as a stand-alone…
Superbands
Barbells, dumbbells, TRX Straps, bodyweight, kettlebells, and bands… use them all. They all can play a beneficial role in your training. I hope you enjoyed the video. I’m out…
Making The Most Of The Equipment That You Have Available
February 29, 2012 by danny · 2 Comments
For those of you that don’t already know, I’m currently training clients out of my basement. It has actually been working out great! You really do NOT need a ton of equipment to have many, many exercises to choose from. Yeah, in the not too distant future, I’m hoping to open my own training studio with more space. But even then, I plan on only using equipment that gives me the most bang for my buck. In other words, there is no way that I’m going to buy a piece of equipment that is designed to perform one, and only one exercise. That just doesn’t make sense, unless you own a big commercial gym and have room for every selectorized piece of equipment under the sun. And even then, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I mean, why would I buy a dip station when I can really only use it for ONE exercise.
With that said, let’s get into another way to perform dips with the equipment I already have available…
I already have 2 barbells and 2 squat racks so there is no need to go out and buy a dip station that would just take up more space unnecessarily. I purchased these pieces of equipment because the number of exercises available are unlimited. My clients use the rack and a barbell (or the rackS and barbellS if I’m training multiple clients at once) at pretty much every single session. So, the point is, if you are thinking about getting a home gym, ONLY get equipment that allows you to perform many different exercises. Make sure to make efficient use of the space that you have available.
Do you have any “clever” ways of using equipment for multiple exercises (even if not for its intended purpose)? If you have any questions about what the “essentials” are for a home gym, just leave a question/comment below.
I’ll be making a video showing you the many different uses I get out of bands. Talk about a big-bang-for-your buck piece of equipment! Check back in for that video sometime early next week (or maybe even later this week… if the twins take a looooong nap [at the SAME TIME!] and allow me to get put some good video time in).
Until next time…
Exercise of the Week – Band Resisted Chest Press
February 28, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
Bands can be a great tool in a lifting program. In the video below, you’ll see me using a band to make a standard dumbbell
Superbands
chest press (slight incline chest press, in this case) more difficult. The band matches the strength curve. In other words, when the lift becomes easier (the top portion of a chest press), the band stretches which adds tension/load to the exercise so that it is very difficult through the entire range of motion. This is known as accomodating resistance (a concept that powerlifters have mastered). Bands can be used in a number of ways. Me and my clients incorporate bands in one way or another at nearly every lifting session.
I think later on in the week or next week I’ll film a bunch of exercises/ideas for you to check out as far as how to use bands in your program. I got my bands @ Perform Better. If you are interested in picking up some bands, just click on the Perform Better link down and to the right of the screen. Type “superbands” in the search engine and it’ll take you to all the options. I suggest getting the 1/2″ and 1″ bands to start with. I am using the 1″ inch band in the video below…
Tomorrow I’ll be back with a clever way to make the most out of the equipment that you have available. If you train at a place that has 2,384 different pieces of equipment, then this post won’t be for you. Stay away, we don’t want you back! Kidding, kidding. But if you are training out of your house (like I currently am), or train at a gym with limited equipment, this exercise/post will be right up your alley.
See you tomorrow…
My New iHoops Basketball Article…
October 20, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment
Yes, the articles that I am about to go over were written for a basketball website. BUT, the information can be beneficial for anyone that is a) new to training, or b) exiting the “newbie” stage of training and transitioning to the “intermediate” stage.
Body weight training
My article, “Basketball Strength Training for Newbies” was published over a year ago. After iHoops published it, I received a bunch of e-mails and comments on the iHoops ’site from youngsters that went something like this; “the information in this article is great, but I need more. I’m new to lifting but want results FAST! What else do you have for me?” While I appreciate the enthusiasm, it is not smart to “skip steps.” Body weight exercises are all that most newbies need. But in time (if they are consistent), they need to start adding significant load (weight) to their lifts in order to get optimal results.
So, I decided to give these youngsters some more advanced exercises with some programming notes to go along with it. I just hope they spent some time working on building that “foundation” with the information I provided in “Basketball Strength Training for Newbies.”
Entering the intermediate stage
Ok, onto the new article that is now up on the iHoops website… “5 Intermediate Strength-Training Lifts for Basketball Players.” Again, if you’ve been working at the newbie level for awhile and you’re starting to transition into the intermediate stage, I think you’ll find this article useful (even if you are not a basketball player).
Enjoy - 5 Intermediate Strength-Training Lifts for Basketball Players
If you like the article, I’d appreciate it if you hit the like button below and/or gave me some love on twitter. Thank you!
Crossfit for Athletes – Really?
August 15, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment
I get Crossfit questions all the time from people. I usually just forward them a link or two and tell them that these articles basically echo my thoughts. For example … The Truth About Crossfit
This saves me time.
But I thought I’d make a Crossfit post right here on my site. So, in the future I will be able to just forward this link onto those that ask me their Crossfit questions.
You could just read the above article, but in case you are not in the mood to do so, here are some of my thoughts.
-I do not think that Crossfit is all bad
-The camaraderie is great! This can’t be overlooked as working with a group of motivated people can by HUGE in getting great results. But this does not mean the program design is smart, safe, or optimal.
-If you are just a person that is looking to drop a few pounds and, “get in shape,” Crossfit certainly can “work.” They use big compound movements, work hard, and each workout presents a challenge in which they try to outperform previous performances. But again, this can be done with a program designed to meet the individuals needs - rather than randomly doing a little this and a little that, with no regard to the individuals goals, health history, training age, etc. etc.
Crossfit For Athletes
Now this is where it can get a little ridiculous. Eric Cressey wrote a great blogpost awhile back titled, “Crossfit For Baseball?” Even though he highlights baseball, the theme of his post holds true for all sports. This morning I went out for breakfast (second breakfast ) and sitting right next to me was a former MLB player (I’ll keep him nameless). I overhear him telling another guy that they just opened up an AWESOME training facility. He tells the guy that it is over 15,000 square feet and as he starts to describe it. I’m thinking wow, this sounds pretty kick ass! He then goes on to say, ~ “we’re going to be training softball players, baseball players, and athletes from various other sports. We’re using Crossfit, blah, blah, blah.” NOOOOOO!
So here’s what we have; a big name MLBer that probably contributed to putting together this beautiful facility, and they get to use his name to attract many clients/athletes… to use Crossfit to train their athletes.?. Yeah, this MLBer had skills on the field, but this does not qualify him to make sound decisions (including the trainer(s) to hire) when it comes to program design to best meet the needs of their athletes.
Now, some Crossfitters may read this and say that they modify the program to meet the needs of their clients. That’s all good and dandy, and here’s my response; then you are not doing Crossfit. You are writing up an individualized program for your client. And again, if you are doing Crossfit with your athletes, then you are doing them a disservice (go read Eric’s article from above if you haven’t already).
Once again, I want to reiterate, Crossfit is not all bad. My advice is to take the good from Crossfit (and the good from other philosophies/methods) and use it all to give your client’s programs (or your own programs) individualization… especially if they are athlete’s that are expected to complete at a high level where improved performance and injury prevention is paramount.
Ah, done. Now I can just forward this blogpost to all the people that ask me about Crossfit. You feel free to do the same.
I know this is the kind of post that will probably bring the hate mail. That’s ok, I just hope posts like this will at least make people take a step back and consider their training methods/philosophies. If I made you think then I did my job.
